The State Wide Tour

So my traveling has once again begun. A long time friend, Ebeth, and I are taking to the road and traveling. The ultimate destination: Seattle, Washington, by way of the northern states from Birmingham, Alabama. Once we arrive to the ultimate destination, we will return back to Alabama via the southern states. This is going to be one hell of a trip, lasting about a month, give or take a few days. Who is ready?? I am.


Ebeth arrived in Birmingham September 11th. The following morning we were set to leave. First, a huge breakfast for mom, my brother and sister-in-law, my step father and step sister, we feasted upon biscuits, homemade sausage gravy, and lightly scrambled eggs with herbs. It was great to see everyone and enjoy a meal before we left, but it pushed our departure time up by hours. After a few pictures, mom just had to take them, Ebeth and I were all loaded in my red audi and pulled out of the driveway. Our adventure had begun! Officially.

First stop, Jonesboro Arkansas. My cousins, Johnna and Travis, have a house on a lovely spread of land. They have horses and two children who are cute as pie. We stayed two nights in Arkansas. Johnna was a lovely guide. There isn’t much to Arkansas (sorry if this offends those who live there). Arkansas is lovely. It is covered with farm land. We were told that Arkansas produces massive amounts of rice and even ships it to Japan. Pretty cool. We ate Vietnamese food and saw the small town of Jonesboro. Ebeth and I, in the past showed horses, she showed hunter jumpers and I showed Saddlebreds. When we were at the farm, Johnna let us ride a quarter horse, a first for me. It was completely different, a totally different experience for me. You reined the horse, meaning you would use one hand to guide the horse and to hole the reins. He was very sensitive to the word “whoa”. When you said it, he did it. I mean complete stop, no fussing. It was great. It was really cool to experience it. Then it was up to the house to make an old fashioned dinner – chicken and dumplings. It was so good.
1 – store brought chicken, picked clean, no skin, bite sized
2 carrots, small dice
2 celery sticks, small dice
1 onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 c. chicken stock
½ c. butter plus 2 T.
½ c. flour
1 T. olive oil
Cornstarch for thickening
1 can of biscuits, cut into fourths
Salt and pepper
Method:
In a large pot, heat 2 T. butter and oil. Sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery. Once all vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes, melt butter completely and stir flour in. this is called making a roux – a thickening agent for soups. Cook while continuing to stir for 2 to 3 minutes. You want to cook the flour out, the raw taste. With a whisk, slowly add the chicken stock while whisking the mixture. Let the mixture come to a boil. If the mixture is not thick enough (should coat the back of a wooden spoon, when you run your finger across the back, the liquid should stay in place, not going into the clean space), combine cornstarch with liquid from the pot. Then whisk in slowly. (remember to let the new addition come to a boil, before adding more cornstarch). Once the liquid is thick enough, add the chicken and the biscuit fourths. Do not stir this mixture until the dumplings are cooked. You can shake the pan and push the dumplings down into the liquid, BUT BE CAREFUL! This should cook another 10 to 15 minutes. Then ladle into bowls and enjoy!

The following day we left to stay a few nights in Chicago, Illinois with a high school friend. We were going through St. Louis to see THE Arch or the Gateway Arch. We parked at the waterfront, got out quickly, snapped a few pictures and were on our way again. It was a great stop and well worth it. Then another couple of hours in the car and we were in Chicago. Here we meet up with some high school friends, Amy and Katie. We got a deep dish pizza, as only Chicago can provide and some red wine. It was a great night, spent catching up and eating and drinking! Who doesn’t love that kind of night? The next day we spend exploring the city, seeing the bean, the Chicago museum and the Sears tower, now called the Willis tower (stupid renaming!) The night was spent dining on another meal I created: chicken scallopini, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and for dessert, homemade brownies with vanilla ice cream. And of course, red wine! After dinner, we went to a neighborhood bar and drank whiskey and answered trivia questions. It was a great night!

After two nights in Chicago, we left to travel to South Dakota. Now I will be honest, I have no expectations of this state. I didn’t even know where it was, except for in the Midwest somewhere. It took us longer than expected to get to Sioux Falls from Chicago, but we got there. We were staying with my mother’s little sister from her sorority days at Florida State, Charlene. Go Pi Phi! We ate dinner and just hung out, catching up. I had not seen her and her daughter, Jordan, since I was five. We decided to stay another night, so the next day we toured Sioux Falls – seeing the falls and visiting the places of work where out hostesses worked. It was pretty cool. Then we went to have a true English beer at a true English pub. It was great! For dinner we went to a Japanese restaurant. On this leg of the trip I did not cook, except for Ebeth and me – scrambled eggs and black beans, sooo good!

We stayed in South Dakota for a few days, but we moved from Sioux Falls to visit a corn palace, the Badlands, Wall drug and Mount Rushmore. The corn palace was a side of a building that was covered in corn to make a mural. Inside of this building was a gym that was holding a polka dance. It wasn’t too cool inside, except for the murals up on the stage. The Badlands was so cool! We went hiking on this awesome trail – climbing a wooden ladder and crawling on rocks to this beautiful view! The Badlands is this mountainous area that just erupted on the prairie grasslands of South Dakota. From afar, you just see big mountains, but when you get up close you can see the colors and the texture of the mountains forming. To me, the Badlands look like lots of drip castles put together to make this badass formation of rocks on the setting of The Little House on the Prairie. From here went around the loop that took us to the Badlands to Wall drug. This is a shopping mall that got known for offering ice water for free for travelers. The place grew to develop into a tourist attraction – offering more than just water – ice cream, food, souvenirs, even a place to get hitched (married, but also a place for you to tie up your horse). We stopped for a second, to get Ebeth an ice cream and then got on our way. Our last stop in South Dakota was Mount Rushmore. It was about an hour away and it was I guess worth the trip. It was cool to see the four presidents on this monumental slab of rock. I think some things you just have to see because you have to see them, this is one of them. It was then back into the car and off to a sleeping destination somewhere in Wyoming.

We woke up the next morning early to go to Yellowstone National park. It was a long day. We drove to old faithful – Ebeth and I watched the geyser go off around 2:53. After the explosion, she went to hike and I went to find food and read in the sun. It was a perfect day for the both of us. Then by 6pm, we were back in the car and off to find another place to sleep somewhere in Idaho.

From Idaho we only did one sight seeing thing – the Craters of the Moon. This is located in Idaho and it is pretty cool, like the Badlands. Idaho is pretty flat and grassy and filled with lots of haystacks, like the other states we have visited. The land to the left and right of us were covered with corn fields and bales of hay, for just about every state, except in Alabama. It was great. Anyways, this particular site is lava that has cooled and made these amazing craters and people believed it is a replica of the moon – hence the name. Driving through Idaho, we passed so many volcanoes, not necessarily dormant. These volcanoes, a long time ago, once flowed lava and made formations. Lava tunnels were made to carry the lava thousands of feet away from the active sight. The tunnels would cool leaving behind large openings through the underground. It was so cool. We walked in a tunnel, Indian Tunnel. We walked on lava and climbed over lava rocks. We climbed out of the tunnel and saw what seemed miles of lava fields. It looked so weird, but so cool. I can’t even really describe it. You just need to go experience it for yourself. GO.

We left Craters of the Moon and left for Portland Oregon. Here we meet up with a childhood friend, Amanda. She just moved out to Portland about a month ago to practice being a doula, like a midwife but you cannot do medical things during the birth. Ebeth and I spent a few days here just spending time with Amanda, catching up on our lives and seeing the city of Portland and the beach of the Oregon coast. I made dinner for Amanda, Ebeth and one of Amanda’s best friends from college, Romana. I believe, Amanda and Romana lived together in college and once again, they are living together. I had heard a lot about her and it was great to finally meet her. We have had a blast hanging out here and seeing Portland. But cooking has been the best part. Ebeth and I have been living off of fast food it seems, so cooking was a treat for me as well. I made mushroom risotto (chanterelles Romana had picked), a variety of mushrooms, pork tenderloin with salsa verde, spinach with breadcrumbs and cheese and asparagus with shallots for Ebeth. For dessert Amanda made shortcake with blackberries Romana had picked and hand whipped cream. It was a yummy dinner! And of course red wine. Our time in Portland has been a joy to spend with old friends and new friends. Ebeth and I are leaving tomorrow to head to Seattle, Washington to stay with some cousins, Beth, Cindy, Elliot and Ruby. It is going to be great to settle for a week or so. Stay tuned and I will write about Seattle, maybe. If you know anything to do or see or eat in California, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, let me know! That is how we are heading home.