Sunday May 30th 2004

Dear Journal,

I'm in the back of Maddi's car, we just left our motel and we're driving from Amarillo, Texas, through Oklahoma, Missouri, and stopping for the night in Lebanon, Kansas. Woohoo! California was a lot of fun. The weather is great- no humidity! I never realized how different the west coast is from the east coast! So different, but good times nonetheless.

We left California on Thursday morning and stayed in fabulous Las Vegas that night. Vegas was fun. We walked the strip and went to the Stratosphere. The girls insisted on one of those Vegas buffets, then we went up to the observation deck and the view was amazing. We were gonna ride the roller coaster up there but it was windy so they closed it down. Later we did some gambling and won about $10, haha! We decided to walk the strip but apparently we were on the wrong side of town, we kept getting hit on by creepy guys, including one who said we've got "a case of the sexies." Then he asked us if we wanted to spark a joint. Good stuff. After we walked a little farther a limo pulled up beside us and there was this old guy and this blonde woman and they invited us into their limo. We politely declined but they kept asking. The woman was Russian, and they were probably harmless but we weren't getting in!! We hit a few more casinos but then we were tired so we headed back to the hotel soon after. The next day we drove onto Arizona. We got to the Grand Canyon late afternoon. The girls had never seen it and they were amazed. I still remember hiking to the bottom on a family vacation a few years back. I miss family vacations! We stayed in Winslow, Arizona that night. We got really stoned that night and went to bed. Yesterday we drove on the interstate all day and got to Amarillo last night before 8. We bought some beer and ordered some pizza and just chilled. Now it's on to Kansas! We just passed "the biggest cross in the western hemisphere!" haha. So we've been to some sketchy little towns where we've stuck out like sore thumbs, but our road trip is going well and we're having a great time road trippin' ...

Laura Leigh

That road trip was my first ever experience driving stick shift. Nothing like a cross country drive to cut your teeth. I'll never forget stalling out repeatedly at a toll booth, half screaming half laughing as we skidded through. Elizabeth did a stellar job of mapping out the entire trip.