Houston we have a problem

We got to see more of Austin today. Spent quite a bit of time there, actually. The morning consisted of seeing the Flag Ship Whole Foods in downtown in order to kill time. Here, we also got a quick bite to eat since we were not sure if we were going to eat at Facebook. I don't know where we got the assumption that we would be provided lunch haha. At Whole Foods we got a roll of sushi to share, which was of course delicious.

Finally at noon, we met up with our host in front of her office building. I was really excited, like a 6 year old going into willy wonka's chococlate factory excited.


We walk out of the elevator and on to the 10th Floor of the building to see a small masthead with the word "Facebook" on it. Double clear doors lead us to the front security desk. We sign a form, get printed out name tags and walk through another clear door an into a strange land where facebook is made...sort of.

When you walk in that clear door, you are in the dining area. There is a buffet style eatery with sensible options for lunch. I'll get back to that...

Our host takes us on a tour, I couldn't really hear what she was saying as she was talking quitely. The office takes up an entire floor (and their expanding to the floor up). The space is basically a big room with desks with Dell monitors. The employees, when hired, get to pick whether they want a PC or  Mac. And they get their personal laptop as well as their desktop. So theres lines of computers for each segment. User Operations has one of the bigger rooms as there are more of those employees. Advertising and sales share a shmedium room --and when I say room i mean like open area type thing. Idk how to describe it but yeah...

I want to add that a guy had 5 Yuelglings next to him while working...And there was a keg-erator with a keg tapped.

We got to eat lunch at Facebook. It was very strange and there was a kid-like atmosphere in the cafeteria dining area which i described earlier. It seemed that the employees tend to make "clicks".
Lunch was great. Fresh food, many options, overall satisfactory.

I made a turkey with cheddar sandwhich and had peas and carrots as a side. We got fondu for dessert with fruit, marshmallows, and bunt cake. The FB employees really have it good there.

It was funny to see the choices made by the employees. They all ate relatively healthy. I feel there must be some pressure to look good as everyone is young. 20's 30's in this office. Austin is also one of those places where the organic, hippy, recycle, vegan, thing is huge and influential. Despite the associated phrase "everything's bigger in Texas", the people in Austin were quite the contradictory.


We drove to Houston towards the end of the afternoon, which was a really quick drive. Got there, checked into the hotel, and chilled for a little. We went down to the concierge to ask where a good place was to go for steaks. He recommended a few places. We decided on this place called Saltgrass which looked to be in our price range.  It turned out to be kind of divey place, but the food was really good.

We got steaks like planned which were so amazingly amazing. The portions were huge, so we both had a lot of leftovers. Our meals consisted of fresh bread, potato soup, steak, and a side. The price was really good for the amount of food we got.



After dinner, we went back to the hotel. There wasn't much to do or see in Houston. It just seemed like a place with all mega highways that looped up and over each other. Houston is another city where most people commute to the downtown for work. We were pretty exhausted from the heat and walking around Austin all day. Getting to sleep early was a great plan since we were excited to go to New Orleans.

Mees

Keeping Austin Weird

We arrived in Austin today. Boring drive from Pecos to Austin. We drove around, and had lunch at a Tex Mex place called Maria Maria. It was delicious. A very different, higher end type tex mex. I guess thats authentic Tex Mex considering the state we were in lol.

This was my meal. I got chicken taquitos.

Above is the meal sean got. I believe it was some sort of beef burrito. He gave me his avocado :)

After eating, we went to the house. We had be advised that no one would be home, so we were to go through an unlocked door in the back of the house. Well that door was locked. We stood on the deck trying to get ahold of the host and then we saw a kid who came down the stairs and unlocked the door for us. He said a quick hello and told us his mom left "directions/instructions" on the counter. We took a look at this list. It was a well thought out and organized suggestions of what to see. This was great. It really helped us get to know the city.

We dropped off our things and headed back out into Austin. We drove around until we go to a park. It was a place that people could go swimming and the water stayed 68 degrees year round. We walked around this park and saw a drum circle!  Then we walked around to see the people and the water. It was gorgeous. Aside from a few floating peices of garbage, the water looked refreshing. People had floaties and kayaks.

We tried to find a few other locations after that but totatly failed. By that time it was getting closer to dinner time and we wanted to head back into the AC and meet the rest of the family. So back at the house, no one had arrived home from work yet. We chilled for about 10 mins until the family walked through the door. They were immediately friendly and curious that we were comfortable. They asked if they could take us to dinner, and of course we accepted. Before dinner, we waited a bit for the babysitter to arrive. In the mean time, Allison, the Princeton Alumni, wanted to show us the bridge that bats come out of every night.

We were dropped off at the hotel near the bridge, It's a real touristy thing to see, and of course we saw it. It was actually pretty cool. A lot of people were there watching either from the bridge--which was packed--or people were on boats.

After the bats, we went to a Sushi fusion place that was absolutely the best meal we've had so far on the trip. The dinner consisted of tempura onion rings, grilled edamame, rolls of all sorts with awesome sauces, and desserts from a world renowned pastry chef. Overall, very Austin cuisine, and very good.

Tomorrow our host is taking us on a tour of Facebook facility. I am super excited.Here's hoping to husband finding at the facebook facility if not networking. I would so live and work in Austin. It is a really cool excentric city. I hope to go back soon

Mees

Santa Fe to ...not Carlsbad

Santa Fe was really nice. Driving around the downtown, we got the vibe that rich people come here to go on spa vacations. There were ritzy stores and restaurants.

Finding our hosts house was kind of difficult. He lived down this dirt road with only a few other houses around. All sharing the same string of mailboxes. The property seemed big since there was really no yard. The surrounding plots of land were dry and very southwestern. The house was nice and big, and we had good company. The house in general was very open and airy. I suppose designed this way in order to have the dry air circulate throughout the house.


We hung out on his back porch for most of the evening just talking.

He had a nice little garden where he even picked his own collard greens to cook for dinner. Our host was very chill and made us feel right at home. He told us we would hear coyotes in the night, and we sure did. I woke up several times to the howling outside of the house.








He owned the western saddle Russell Crowe's crimson cheeks sat in for the movie 3:10 to Yuma. His dog Gio was awesome, and if  we could've stayed longer, we absolutely would have. We had awesome coffee, made with chicory (a Louisiana thing) , and had a good breakfast to send us on our way out. It was sad to leave.





Carlsbad Fail. The caverns were way out of the way so we couldn't get to see them. No camping either cause my tonsils are swollen and gross and I think i have tonsilitis. I feel like crap. The dry weather got to me. We ended up just driving until we got into Texas. We got a hotel and chilled. It was good to make the drive to Austin much shorter.

Tomorrow I drive 6 hours or so to Austin. I'm excited to see Texas and to shop!

Mees

Pheonix to Santa Fe

It's getting to the point where on top of not knowing what day it is, I don't know where I am or where I am going. Waking up in a new place everyday is trippy. But that could be due to the lack of sleep.

Today was a grueling some 7 hour leg to Santa Fe, not including the extra driving around the cities to "explore".

I though Phoenix was pretty chill. Very suburban-like function of the city. No real need for public transportation there. It definitely seems as though in the next 50 years or so, the city will grow and the all the foreclosed homes will be occupied. It has great potential. I really like how that city is set up. It is simple to navigate but also very pretty. Not really much to do, but overall, I'd go back.

Driving around the city, we stopped and got Jamba Juice. It was pretty hot. So stopping to park and walk around was a no-go. We we're itching at this point to see something different. Here, we stayed at a Double Tree. It was super nice and comfortable. Huge pool with a beautiful open area where we swam and looked at the stars. Something that is always taken for granted. We were relaxed after swimming. It was so perfect since it was absurdly hot, when the sun went down the water was still nice and warm. In the morning we had another breakfast. At this point we were sort of getting sick of the hotel breakfasts or at least I was.

In Santa Fe, we are staying at yet another nice house. The guy is really cool too. He welcomed us like we'd known him forever. Being really relaxed from the start, I felt really comfortable. Sometimes, walking into strangers homes in this situation, you can feel as if you are impeding. The guy also has a really good dog, Gio. Gio is quite the character. He is about 2 or so, but huge. A German Shepard and maybe husky mix. Very temper mental and sweet dog.

Tomorrow, if we wake up early enough, we are gonna jump in the hot tub and then head out to Carlsbad. We dunno really what the plan is there yet. We may or may not camp. We may just drive closer to Houston or Austin. I forget which one is first.

Mees

Universal and Santa Monica

July 20th, 2011

It was a very busy day. We woke up and went to the Santa Monica Pier. My little cousin who has her permit drove us. She actually is a very good driver, though I still felt like i was gonna die haha.

The pier and 3rd Stree Promenade was very touristy but pretty cool overall. The tempertature over there is much better than other spots in LA. The ocean breeze isn't a bad thing to live by. After some mexican food for lunch we went over to Universal Studios.

Walking through the City Walk, my Uncle and I were talking about Kevin Smith and if there would be a third Jay and Silent Bob movie. We walk a couple more steps, see a camera crew with a huddle of people around and poof, there is Kevin Smith interviewing some random guy. It was pretty awesome to have a star sighting in LA.


My first star sighting of the trip was in Chicago at a Country Club. Brad Wollack a writer for Chelsea Lately and a sometimes guest host of the round table on the show.

After gauking at Kevin Smith, we went in Universal. First waiting in line for the Simpsons ride which used to be Back to the Future. The ride was awesome! I don't typically do rides, and i especially don't do roller coasters. This virtual reality ride was pretty badass. Anyway after that we did the studio tour, which was great, and similar to what i remember when i went at like age 10. Last we had time for the Shrek 4D which was great.

We ended the night eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. Our waitress didn't know where Baltimore was. I nearly died when she said "wherever Maryland is".

The days events led us to get back pretty late. 10:30 we finally stepped foot in their house. I was supposed to meet with my friend who recently moved to Santa Monica, but I flaked as I was exahausted.

July 21

We woke up went to the post office to mail some stuff home, had a Jamba Juice, packed the car, said our goodbyes and left for Pheonix. The hotel here is pretty nice, we had dinner at Crackle Barrel and then went swimming, at night it was still over 100 degrees. But swimming was awesome and so relaxing. It was nice to lay out and see the stars.

Mees

LA LA Land

Today was really chill. We woke up and just hung out at the house most of the day.

In the afternoon we went to my Aunt's friends house, who is an actress. I won't say her name on account that she may not want her business out there. But if you are a friend of mine in real life or facebook life, you should know who it is as I got a little overzealous when I found out. I'll give you a hint, she was on LOST. Back to the point, we went swimming at this lady's house. She was teaching a violin lesson at the time and was unable to be outside with us. We hung out there for a while and while the lessons were still going on we decided to leave. We were hungry and ready to go.


After dinner my cousin and I went for a wog (Walking and Jogging). On the way back we stopped at her best friends house to see her parents. Her friend is at camp. So we walk in and say hello. The mother is working on her daughters resume. I happen to know a lot about resumes and actually in my last semester of college took a class thats focus was interviews and resumes and things of that relm.
Anyway. the mom was confused with using word, so I sat down to help. In the process, I realized the resume was a mess. So I gently informed her that this one particular thing should be changed and she like had an epiphany. She was such a character. Hyper, happy, energetic... Her epiphany was very dramatic..and it was that I work on her daughters resume. Which I happily obliged. I sat for what was probably somewhere around 75 minutes editing this resume. In the process, the mom made me call the daughter and explain to her the things I was doing. It was quite hilarous and strange. Speaking with someone I have never met and helping her out. She was very appreciative. This girl had huge aspirations and is close to meeting her goals. She is studying and getting certified to become and EMT and a paramedic. She works out with a trainer, does P90x, runs with a 40 lbs vest amoungst other things.

If I could function around people and guts, I would love to be an RN or an EMT/Paramedic. Unfourtunately, I don't have the stomach for it. But anyway, this girl wants to do something great with her life. Went into college knowing what she wanted to do. I commend this girl for her asprirations. I am glad that I did something thats somewhat self-less. On my stressful and busy roadtrip, I was able to help out someone that is going to do good things with her life.

Tomorrow its back to the stress of what is this mayhem of vacation. I'm not really sure what the plan is but it is something along the lines of...

Breakfast: Jamba Juice
Lunch: Mexican Food
Dinner:?

Days Events:
Something to do with Santa Monica
Universal Studios
Seeing the Hollywood sign

I am hoping to squeeze in some time to see a friend of mine from home that recently moved to Santa Monica.

Hopefully tomorrow isn't too obscene.

Mees

Francisco, that's a fun name to say pt 2

I LOVED SAN FRANCISCO.

It is a beautiful, kind of crazy, but really fun city.

Most of the homless are crazy and mean.

View from the apartment.

Mermaids in Ghirardelli Square

 View of the city



Other than that, our stay was really nice. A young alum gave us her apartment. We didn't even meet her and she left the keys for us. Her apartment was sick. High ceilings, big windows, fairly spacious for a San Fran Apartment. 1 1/2 bathrooms, giant closet..i could go on but im sure you get the jist. The location was ideal. Close to a parking garage, and right in the shopping district.

The people in SF are dressed well for the most part. Occasionally you see the crazy Californians dressed in crazy eclectic clothing.

We walked and biked a lot. Saw the pyramid building, the ferry place market, the Frisco Bay.

At the end of the day, I drove down Lombard Street in the famous windey road. That was a lot of fun. Going up the hills to the top of that street was intense. Our van kept drifting backwards, so i would have to slam on the gas to avoid the idiot behind me who kept pulling so close to me knowing i was burning tires to try and avoid the drift.

We did an impromptu drive to LA. We were exhausted and pretty much saw all there was to see of San Francisco. We arrived around 12:30 AM happy to see our relatives.

Mees