Thursday, October 30, 2008

San Diego Trumps All



My favorite stop of this entire journey was San Diego. The first 3 nights we stayed at the coolest hostel ever, located right on Pacific Beach. Nightly beer pong tournaments and free bbq's led to a ton of fun on the beach. The weather was simply perfect, the people were beautiful and tan, and the city itself was just pretty and easy to travel. The next night we stayed in the Gas Lamp Quarter, which gave us walking access to the downtown area and Balboa Park.


So Southern California as a whole has been the highlight of the trip thus far (and came in perfect timing as the funds have run dry, home is in the near-future). Leaving San Diego presented the decision of where to stop along the southern part of the US. Based on my bank account and lack of interest in much more, I decided just to hightail it to the next free place I had to sleep (about 2,200 miles away Austin, Tx). The drive was long and took me just along the southern border, with nothing to look at but tumble weed and cactus after cactus. The most entertainment I had along the way were the very nerve-racking border patrol stops (similar to a DUI checkpoint, but clearly with different intentions). There were 3 of them along the way, which I obviously successfully completed.


Arriving in Austin, I hadn't seen my "free tour guide" in years, so while playing a solid game of catch-up, he showed me the city. I enjoyed the couple-of-day stay, but was interested in heading east, hoping to catch the end of the World Series in Tampa. When that proved to be a lost cause, Atlanta was the final destination on my journey. I am currently staying with a good friend, avoiding the reality of home as long as possible. And essentially that is where it all ends.

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