The Cross Country Trip

Same thing as yesterday, except Kate was gone for most of the day, so we couldn’t go to the boardwalk. Basically we just watched Law and Order and biked to Wawa for food.

No pics again

Our first day on the Jersey shore.

Woke up at 11 today. We (Jasper, Kate and I) are staying at a separatemotel than Jasper’s friends tonight, because there were too many people at the house.

We got breakfast, and went to the boardwalk to look at the stores and beach.

Really not much going on, like in North Carolina. Just hanging out and relaxing on the beach, biking to Wawa (the east coast’s 7-11), and other things of that nature.

The beaches here are nice, the water is tolerably warm,  and the waves are huge; good for bodysurfing.

No pics because I don’t want to tow the camera around everywhere.

Woke up, grabbed breakfast at a local diner, and went on a driving tour of the nation’s capital.

We drove by all the major landmarks to snap some photos: the white house, the jefferson memorial, the lincoln memorial, the washington monument, the mason’s monument, and the capital building. All of these are pictured below, except for the lincoln memorial, I may have not got a picture of that one.

DC in general is a really cool city. Actually cooler than Seattle, I think. All the buildings legally have to be smaller than the washington monument, so (as Kate remarked) it dosen’t feel like a “cavernous” city with huge sky scrapers. It has more of a freindly feel, even though it’s a huge buisness center.

After the DC tour, we had a few hour drive to the Jersey Shore, where more of Jasper’s freinds are staying, and so will we for a few days. The Jersey Shore is where everyone fromthe mainland goes to ecscape the mugginess of normal mainland life. About half of the population is transient, so almost all of the houses there are rented out by people. During the summer its a giant community of vacationers.

We are going to stay here for a few days, probably just hang out at the beach, or the two mile boardwalk.

Pics of DC:

Stayed in North Carolina until 2, when we left for Virgina. It was a four hour drive to our hotel. I got Japser into japanese comic books (graphic novels, or manga) so he read those for most of the trip. I listened to music, slept, and stared out the window.

The hotel was technically in Virginia, but it was right next to DC. When we pulled off the highway we saw some fireworks in the distance. That was the extent of our 4th of July festivities. I completely forgot that it was the 4th until the fireworks, and everyone was too tired to go watch some up close anyway.

At the hotel, we watched some Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and went to bed.

Did the same thing as yesterday. Woke up late, ate breakfast and went to the pool until dinnertime. After dinner, played the Wii and went to sleep.

We really aren’t doing much here in North Carolina, just relaxing. Sorry for the short posts. They’ll pick up tomorrow and the day after; we’ll be in Washington DC then.

(Happy birthday Andrew!)

Just staying at Japser’s freinds house today; no driving.

Its nice to wake up and not have to know that you need to rush to breakfast, pack everything, load it on the trolly, take it downstairs, pack it in the car, etc.

Got to sleep in; Jasper and I woke up at 11. Had breakfast, watched TV, and went to a pool. A different one than the one from yesterday. This pool has a legit waterslide and a lazy river in it.

We swam for most of the day, came back to the house, watched TV, played the Wii, and went to bed.

Again, no pics. Sorry.

Left around 12 yesterday for Jasper’s freinds house in North Carolina. It took about 4 hours to get there. We are going to stay there for three or four days, so Jasper and Kate can see their freinds.

When we got there we unpacked, and went straight to their pool. Its pretty nice here, probably in the 90′s during the day, so it makes for good pool weather.

The pool has a slide here, and its a huge pool. And not a wimpy slide, this one is like 30 feet high, with multiple twists and such. Its legit.

No pics for today

Got up at 9 to make the 9:30 breakfast cutoff. After breakfast, Jasper and I went to the Atlanta Aquarium. It has the largest tank in the world (I think), to house a whale shark. The whale shark is HUGE. I think Jasper got a picture of it also. In addition to the whale shark there were other cool sea critters, like beluga whales, asian otters, rockfish, cuttlefish etc. I had never seen beluga whales before; they were pretty amazing. Almost as big as the whale shark, and playful like a dolphin.

After the aquarium we all packed into the car and drove a few hours till Augusta.

In Augusta, I almost landed a kickflip for the first time. I landed it, but slipped out from under the board almost as soon as my feet touched. Japser hurt his foot the day before skateboarding, so he couldn’t skate today.

Pics of the aquarium (taken by jasper for the first time)