New Orleans aka Don't Inhale the Powdered Sugar

New Orleans was our last big stop, and it was a pretty cool city. I've never been to a place with so much personality, and between the beautiful houses and beads hanging from trees, I was pretty smitten.

Everything is colorful and a little spooky, and our Airbnb hosts were quick to point out that this was a judgement-free place where most people did as they pleased. People roamed the streets with a Bloody Mary in hand, live music poured out of doorways, and there were many businesses clearly in an upswing after Katrina. 

We eventually wandered down to The French Quarter, and because we had so many suggestions about places to go, we decided to stop in a variety of places and get something small, like a drink or an appetizer. Basically, we ate our way down Royal street. 

This was a bar that rotated slowly like a carousel.

This is the Andrew Jackson Hotel, which is apparently haunted.

These are little kids, looking in the window at the bakery in Cafe Du Monde, watching the beignets being made.

My father and friend Tim warned us that when eating beignets, it was important not to inhale the powered sugar as you're eating them.

Someone didn't listen.

This is the Andrew Jackson park, which was quite lovely. I've been meaning to find out why so many things are named after our 7th president...

Because I was so frustrated with the unimpressed photos my iPhone was taking, I bought this funny lens attachment that has a wide-angle, micro, and fish eye lens.

You'll be shocked to know that two adults can entertain themselves for a full twenty minutes playing with a fish eye lens:

You have to eat Louisiana oysters in New Orleans!!

Darts in the backyard:

Slim Goodies is where we ate breakfast before hitting the road. Their menu told the story of bouncing back after the hurricane, and how they handed out cheeseburgers for weeks.

A small note about our GPS...it frequently looses track of us...and thinks we're swimming.

We're visiting cousins in Georgia and Arlington, and then spending a few days in Lancaster with Momma and Grammy Hitchcock before heading home. It's weird to think about going home! Back to our jobs...and plants...and our paychecks. Well, our paychecks will be nice.

Albuquerque and Austin

We raced through New Mexico, getting to my friend Brett's place late and leaving the next morning. He did take us to this Albuquerque gem called The Frontier, complete with several John Wayne paintings:

This one is made with nails:

And why this one is not in every living room in America, I'll never know:

The frustrating thing about traveling without a good camera is that sometimes you want to take a breathtaking picture of the oil fields of Texas, slowing churning into the ground against an azure sky, and it comes out like this turd of a photo:

Stupid iPhone.

Our stop is Austin was quite nice. I assumed that I would love Denver and be unimpressed by Austin, and it was quite the reverse! My friend Dan and his girlfriend Katie showed us around, and Austin seems to be filled with bistro lights, food trucks, and craft beer places with picnic table patio seating. The river running through the city makes it feel a little like a western Portland. I would totally live there.

Alas, we left in the morning for the South, and in the purple sky of the setting sun and the soft glow of the Waffle House sign... I knew we were getting close.

During this trip, we've been using the Glympse app to let our parents know exactly where the hell we are. It updates in real time, shows our destination, and shows our speed. If we're maintaining the speed limit, my parents know that Hitchcock is driving. At least ten miles over the speed limit, well, that's me. As my second cousin Susan says, "When I see a speed limit sign, I know it's just a suggestion. I know what's really in their hearts."

La Jolla and Disneyland!

We waited for James, Jenn, and the Wee Baby Jack to sweep through Las Vegas, then made our way over to La Jolla. My family vacations here every summer at the same time, with the same three families. It's always a welcome and relaxing stop, and was our halfway point.

Garrett and Heather brought their new puppy, Fox, who is the cutest dog in the world if not the most hyper one. We had a blast playing with him:

My cousin Nicole gave him one of those little stuffed Chick-Fill-A cows...which didn't last very long:

This is the second year we've rented a house instead of cramming into a hotel room. This house had a great patio, and three bedrooms. Below is Dad, Hitch, and proof that AJ was there:

On Thursday, we went to Disneyland with Garrett and Heather. Hitchcock has never been to a Disney anything, so we were ready to see him filled with child-like joy. Garrett had a 20 churro quota to fill:

The cute couple is getting married in May!!

In line for Indiana Jones:

Splash Mountain:

Lego store in Downtown Disneyland:

The trolley through California Adventure:

At some point, we were walking toward California Scream, and Garrett suddenly had a frozen banana in his hand. Out of nowhere. Like a boss!

If we were to guage Hitchcock experience in the following six photos...you would think he didn't have any fun on any of the rides...but we swear he did!

Grumpy on Splash Mountain:

Pensive during the final drop:

Perturbed on Space Mountain:

Wistful on California Scream:

Possibly Dead on Tower of Terror:

Suspicious at It's a Small World:

Suspiciously Calm while fighting aliens on Astro Blaster:

At least he had fun mugging for the camera:

We spent the full 16 hours, basking in Disney goodness, then it was time to return to La Jolla.

At some point, James was lamenting about the lack of fashionable head gear for baby boys. So we gave him the Tupac:

Don't drink more than one French 75, or you'll start to look like this:

How cute is my friend Francine's new baby, Beau?? Such a cute little peanut!

We literally took zero pictures in Phoenix, mostly because we were so excited to have access to a TV in my dad's guesthouse, went day drinking with My friend Louis, and were the guests of honor at a party hosted by my Mom and her friend Lisa. They played a game where they read us passages from famous books, and Hitchcock and I competed to guess the answers. Frankly, it doesn't really matter who won...but it wasn't me. Hitchcock even correctly guessed 50 Shades of Grey. That ain't right!!

Las Vegas!

To go from 61 degrees in San Francisco to 102 degrees in Las Vegas was...uncomfortable. But we made our way to the Hoover Dam and snapped a couple of pictures:

We stayed in Vegas with my great aunt Deanna, and we had more fun staying up late and gabbing with her, than we did on the strip.

We went to New York, New York for a burger, had a coffee in Paris, and played black jack in the Bellagio.

If you've never been to the themed city casinos, it's kind of like a sound stage of a real city. There are false store fronts, and the little manhole covers even steamed! 

Paris has little fountains and coffee shops, even a crepe shop. The feet of the Eiffel Tower are in the casino. 

The Bellagio is where my gambling dreams came true.

I put down $20 and won $80. BIG MONEY!! My hubby was my good luck charm.

We're excited to get out of the heat and back to the California coast. La Jolla, here we come!