Palm Springs, CA

Through some mountains, rain, light snow, herds of sheep, orange groves, acres of windmill farms, and an agricultural inspection stop, we finally made it to the great state of California. First stop, Palm Springs. This quiet town is filled with classic cars of the 50s, 60s and 70s, beautiful palm trees, and quaint little shops and boutiques, all built with mid-century modern architecture and surrounded by mountains. We spent our time here perusing the streets, visiting the shops, and relaxing. We guess you can say we used this time to take a much needed break and to recharge our batteries for the next leg of our trip - Los Angeles.


Welcome to California


Agricultural stop. Asked us if we were bringing back any fruits or vegetables.


Downtown Palm Springs.


Kim enjoying the town.


Classic car dealership. Lorenzo's Dad would love this.


Palm tree lined streets with the mountain backdrop.

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!

During the drive from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, we literally and unexpectedly drove directly through the Hoover Dam. The roads approaching and leaving the dam are curvy and high in the mountains, and the view of Hoover Dam was amazing. As we approached Vegas, our excitement grew as we could see the city skyline and the Stratosphere hotel in the distance. We stayed at the Flamingo, one of the larger hotels located right in the middle of the strip. The Flamingo was probably the largest hotel either of us had ever stayed at with over 3,500 guest rooms, a 77,000 sqaure foot casino, numerous shops and restaurants, live flamingos in the garden near the pool, and even a UPS store. The Flamingo is the oldest active hotel on the strip, and was created by notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel. Right after we checked in, our first stop was the strip. We expected to see tons of hotels and casinos with bright lights and buffets (which we did), but we were surprised at the amount of shopping on the strip. Almost every casino has shops, many of the casinos are connected by malls, and the mall with the most designer brands in one place - The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (where Lorenzo bought a pair of electric blue retro one Jordans at Nike Town) - is on the strip. In addition to gambling, shopping, and walking the strip, three of our favorite experiences in Vegas were eating at the Bellagio buffet, watching the Bellagio water show, and watching Mystere, the longest running Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas.


The Hoover Dam


Kim and Lorenzo on the strip at night


Lorenzo admiring his new Jordans...they're SICK!


The Golden Nugget casino on Freemont Street, the original Vegas strip.


Kim doing a little gambling. Too bad we didn't win any money!


Lorenzo's first plate at the Bellagio buffet


The Bellagio water show


The end of Mystere

Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim)

We entered the Grand Canyon at the South Rim (main entrance). It had snowed at the Grand Canyon a few days prior to our arrival, but when we arrived most of the roads and main walkways had been plowed. The snow made it slightly difficult to walk around the unplowed areas of the park, but it also provided amazing views of the canyon that we would not have otherwise seen. When you first enter the park through the main gate, its about a 3 mile drive to the canyon itself. As we walked to the canyon for our first view, we were filled with anticipation and excitement. The one word we both used to describe the canyone was awesome. The view is breathtaking, but hard to take in all at once. The width of the canyon seems to span for miles and it is a long way down. Its so grand (pun intended) its hard to wrap your mind around it. After getting our first view of the canyon near the visitor's center, we headed to our charming little cabin room at the Bright Angel Lodge. A company called Xanterra (http://www.xanterra.com) runs all of the lodging the Grand Canyon and many other other national parks, so the prices are a bit high for what you get. However, it was worth it to us to stay inside the park because our cabin was a matter of feet from the canyon edge. Within the park there are gift shops, restaurants, and chances to see wildlife. At night, the park was extremely dark with very few lights so we didn't spend much time outside after sunset and we suggest being careful walking around at night. We saw the canyon change colors from bright oranges and reds, to deep blues and purples as the day went on and the sun went down. We browsed the gift shops, ate at both the Bright Angel Lodge and Maswick restaurants, and experienced the canyon at both day and night, sunrise and sunset, clear and fog. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Next stop, VEGAS BABY!


Lorenzo at the Canyon's edge


Our room at the Bright Angel Lodge


The Bright Angel Lodge


Kimalee enjoying the canyon


Romantic moment (our names in the canyon snow)


Tourists at the canyon earlier in the day


Together in the cold of the canyon


The canyon later in the evening

Racial Profiling Incident in Yavapai County Arizona

We've been looking forward to this stop the entire trip, but ran into a minor complication as we traveled through the mountains and desolate towns of Arizona. To make a long story short, racial profiling and all around ignorance is alive and well in this country. Especially in remote locations, where the residents hardly see people that look like us, except from what they watch on television.

Got pulled over today (Feb 4th) in random town Arizona for what was a clear cut case of "Driving While Black" (DWB). No speeding, no lights out, no not wearing my seat belt, no traffic violations, nothing legitimate. But, a warning for having my GPS in the windshield. BOGUS!!! And that's why there was no actual ticket written. Supposedly its illegal to have your GPS in the windshield in the state of Arizona. Funny now many other (non-black) people passed us on the side of the road with theirs in the windshield, and the system came with the window mount. That mount will now work on the dashboard, as the officer suggested. Furthermore, I'm from Virginia, where its perfectly legal. I'm not looking up windshield obstruction laws per every state I travel through as I make my way throughout the country. He pulled out of the median after I passed him and rode along side me for a mile or 2 before getting behind me and turning his lights on. He pulled me over and asked me to step out of the car. And he had the audacity to continually ask me if I had drugs in the car. Are you kidding me? ABSOLUTELY NOT! NEVER! I guess all black people are supposed to be involved with drugs in some way? Clearly this guy got his police training from watching too much television. He tried to break me today because he himself was broken. Its a crying shame how after obtaining 5 college degrees between us, traveling throughout the world, meeting people, working, and learning so much, and now even with an African American president in 2010, we still have situations that occur like this one, in middle of nowhere towns across the nation, and BIG cities alike. Can we please finally get out of the age of so much ignorance? After traveling through the deep south where you would generally expect this type of treatment, and following the civil rights trail, I have a new appreciation for those whom came before me and experienced much worse. The south is actually where we've received the greatest hospitality along this cross-country road trip. Shout out to the wonderful people we encountered in places like Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Atlanta, Memphis and Little Rock. True southern hospitality can ONLY be found in the south. So for all you brown people whom are reading our words, if you're ever traveling interstate 17 North in Prescott, Arizona towards the Grand Canyon, beware of officer H. Shrum, #K63, Beat 5, of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office located at 255 E Gurley, Prescott, AZ. 86301. We're not the average road travelers. With my wife as an Attorney, I'd say we know a little bit. The situation itself is dead serious. But he himself, and his baseless actions today are almost comical. I kept my cool this time, because I have bigger things to accomplish, that do not involve ignorance in the state of Arizona. And at this point, the southwestern United States is dead last on my list of favorite places in the world. We will not be coming back here for anything.

Tucson and Phoenix, AR

On our way to Tucson, we stopped at Saguaro National Park to see giant 200 year old cactuses that can grow to 60 to 70 feet tall. We then visited downtown Tucson, where we encountered a small but annoying car issue involving the engine idling hard. Lorenzo changed one ignition coil himself in the Autozone parking lot with the parking lot lights and a small flashlight held by Kim to provide light. Unfortunately, the ignition coil didn't fix the car problem so we spent the majority of the next day, 7 hours to be exact, at the super slow Pep Boys to have another coil and spark plugs replaced. Although this was frustrating, it was also a learning experience and we can't complain too much about considering that we had already driven the car almost 3000 miles. We took it in stride (and maybe a bit of impatience and complaining), and back on the road we went. On to Phoenix. In Phoenix, we were able to relax at the Millennium Resort in the resort town of Scottsdale, where we enjoyed great mountain views and fantastic weather. We also shopped a bit at the Fashion Square Mall (not to be confused with the one in Charlottesville, VA - two totally different malls). Here we saw Kim's favorite, the new Banana Republic Concept Store, and Lorenzo played a bit at the world's first ever Microsoft store. We traveled downtown to tour the Heard Museum of Native American History and to see where the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks play ball. We also toured Arizona State University, got some choice pics for our little brother Kevin, who will be choosing colleges pretty soon (note to Kevin...don't pick ASU its too far from home), and viewed all the bicycles, palm and orange trees sprawling the campus. We really enjoyed our time in Phoenix, specifically Scottsdale, and will definitely be coming back. Next stop, Grand Canyon National Park.


Beware. Good thing we are not traveling in the middle of summer.


Welcome to Arizona


Kim taking a break against the rocks


At Saguaro National Park


Sun setting behind giant Saguaro cactus


Slight automotive hiccup


View from the Resort in Scottsdale, AZ


Phoenix sunset

Interstate 10 to El Paso, TX

After San Antonio, our next stop was El Paso, TX, approximately 10 hours from San Antonio. Not only did we have to drive through the empty deserts and mountains of west Texas with nothing to see but the occasional oil rig (better make sure the gas tank is always full because the stops are few and far between), we also encountered 4 distinct types of weather along the I-10. When we started out, it was a bit overcast and slightly raining. As we drove along enjoying the views, the sky became very calm, still, and eerily dark blue. We considered turning around but there was really no where to go. Suddenly and unexpectedly the sky opened up and M&M sized drops of hail pummelled the car and coated the road with ice. Luckily we were near an exit so we got off and waited the rest of the storm out. Shortly after the hail, the sun came out and the weather was fantastic. It was so nice we put on our sunglasses and stopped at a rest area to take pictures. A few hours later, the rain began again and as we began to ascend to a higher elevation, the rain turned to snow. We were relieved and happy once we FINALLY pulled into El Paso. In El Paso, we drove by the Mexico-United States border and were advised NOT to go to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico because of gang activity - you don't have to tell us twice! We were content to shop and eat on the USA side. We also attempted to go to White Sands National Monument, approximately 1.5 hours from El Paso, but the fog on the mountain at about 5700 feet was way too dense to drive through so we headed back.


Hail covering the I-10


Zo holding the hail


Enjoying the view and the nice weather


Mountain views and cloudy skies on I-10


Mountain too foggy to continue to White Sands


Mexico border crossing to Ciudad Juarez

Austin, Lockhart, & San Antonio, TX

From Dallas, Texas we headed toward Austin. There we visited the University of Texas, the Texas State Capital building, and South Congress street - the home of live music. On the way to San Antonio we made a not-so-quick stop in the extremely small, but charming town of Lockhart, Texas, the official capital of Texas BBQ. Texas BBQ is distinguished from BBQ from other states because it does not have BBQ sauce. Being non-Texans, and accustomed to North Carolina vinegar based BBQ, we would tend to think of Texas BBQ as smoked meat, but in Texas, they call it BBQ. We sampled the BBQ brisket, ribs, and sausage at Smitty's Market. When we first walked in the door to Smitty's Market, we were greeted with the strong smell of BBQ, thick white smoke that burned our eyes a bit, and black walls. Once you order your chosen meat, it is served on brown butcher paper with white bread - no plate needed. We went through quite an ordeal to get our BBQ, but it was more than worth it. In San Antonio, we toured the Alamo,a former mission and fortress, browsed the Riverwalk, and sampled a bit of what we suspect is the world's largest cinnamon bun (3.5 lbs from Lulu's).


Texas State Capital Building (Downtown Austin, TX)


Welcome to Lockhart, Texas


Delicious


Lorenzo cruising the black walls of Smitty's BBQ


The Alamo


Lorenzo & Kim at the Riverwalk


Kim sizing up the GIANT 3.5 pound cinnamon bun