The Best Kept Secret

I stayed in a very exclusive and expensive place this weekend named Hilton Head. I stayed on the beach and it was wonderful. Everyone around for the most part was old and rich. I got my hair done while I was there. I spent an hour finding a salon, my GPS kept telling me I had arrived at my destination and I saw nothing. I guess it really was exclusive, so exclusive I would have had to truck through trees to get there I assume, considering that was all that was around. So I finally found a place to get my hair done. Now if I didn't already know I was in a very rich place, I sure as hell found out when it came time to pay. 55$ haircut 125$ color. ouch. My bad I guess. I should've listened to my mom and not tipped her as much cuz that is really expensive and I was never going to see her again, but no, tipped her 40$ ouch. again ouch. The next day I woke up and layed out by the pool and on the beach. and now I look like a lobster. The perfect temperature outside threw me off, I usually only get burnt like that in blistering heat. Later that night I went out to eat at a fancy shmansy restaurant. It was very good, I drank a bottle of wine for free and hungout with the owners after. It was fun to hangout with younger people and locals. It seemed that everyone that comes to visit there is very rich and somewhat snobby. The people who live there (at least the ones I met) are fun outgoing people who like to surf and have a good time, not just golf and buy timeshares like all of the other people I had met.
It really is one of the best kept secrets. Hilton Head Island, look it up.

From Mullets to Beauty

I traveled a few places in South Carolina, my favorite place was a town called Charleston. Many of these towns I have been at are very historic, lots of revolutionary and Civil war sites. Unfortunately I have yet to visit any one in particular. I see towns and signs for different forts etc., but I find myself just wanting to drive on, not stop and waste time, just go. Then if I am somewhere for the weekend I am too tired to want to do anything but just relax.
Charleston was a gorgeous city. The buildings and everything about it was a relief. I drove into the city, and it was an actual city, with buildings and city lights, imagine that. I have to be honest, a Walmart at this point would've excited me. (I hate Walmart) Anyways I went up to the restaurant/bar on the roof the night I got there. I had a couple drinks with this couple around my age. The woman stayed behind as her husband excused himself. She was so excited to be free of her husband it was like she been locked up for 10 years or something. Sooooo, this girl loved me and wanted to go out to the bars. So we did. We took a cab through the ghetto of the city to arrive a cute downtown area. There was an amazing amount of beautiful people in this city. It was nice, considering I felt as though I hadn't seen anything but a lot of bad hair-cuts for a while there. It was fun, met a coast guard who was sorta cute but that's about it. Guys are the same sneaky sleezys anywhere, but over here they fool you with their initial very well-practiced manners. Then they get comfortable and they are the same old little excited boys. UGh.
I had to search the bar three times for the drunk girl's purse then I had to search her purse and find her money/cc cards because she was supposed to be paying. (that is the only reason i agreed to go with her, free cab ride and drinks... ok) I also had to find her, in a dark alley kissing someone who was not her husband. That girl can thank me for not waking up in the gutter the next morning. Man. That was crazy. Oh yeah, and the dirty old man at the bar gave me his card with his room number written on it. Eww. Gross old man. Really? Hmm nice try I guess.
What I learned in South Carolina; there are lots of really naturally gorgeous people here. And I really like the people I got to work with. Everyone has a great attitudes and makes the classes I teach, a lot more fun. From Monterey= strait-blank-professional to The Carolinas=funny-entertaining-and goofy, they are professional too, they just try to have as much fun as they can while working.
After seeing the drunk girl kiss someone outside her marriage, and have a lot of openly married men hit on me... I have no faith in marriage. If you disagree let me know, but I am pretty sure it is just a loosing battle. Thanks Y'all!

Some explaining...

Yes Mother I realize I am in more than one town... Let me explain the phrase.. I got the phrase nice town weird folk from a little place named Ashville, North Carolina. This was such a cool place. It was the liberal area and I actually saw gay people walking around and lots of people with pink hair. I began to feel a little more at ease. These were the type of people I'm used to, liberals, lesbians, and tattoed peeps. The funny thing about the town, was that in almost every store it was advertised, weird is fun, or weird.... something. I felt the most comfortable in this town at this point. It was just funny for it to be advertised We are weird here!. You don't go to San Francisco or Berkeley and see advertisements about how weird everything is, you can just see it.

So, I am leaving the town and I stop at this shop where there is a shirt hanging in front that says, "Nice Town, Weird Folk. Asheville, North Carolina" I can't take credit for the phrase, that's where it came from.

Weirder and Weirder, and Slower and Slower

Yup, it just keeps getting weirder and weirder and slower and slower. The time is just dragging on slowly but it may be because of the speed of things and people around me. I saw a sign today speed limit 60 minimun 45. Do people really need to be told they have to drive faster than 45mph on the freeway? Yeah it was a freeway, not one of them therrrre highways. An actual interstate.

I drove from Wilmington, North Carolina to Florence, South Carolina. On the way I got to travel on some more really fun two lane roads again with the ditches on each side. Only this time, the ditches were swampy ditches. That smelled nice. Also the roads just seemed to clutter more and more with trash as I drove along. It is a bit irritating on these roads for a few reasons:

People can turn around if they decide to and make u-turn, so it isn't uncommon to have someone appear as if from nowhere going as slow as 15mph.

To change highways, you must cross over them, like a left turn, and dodge the semis who seem to drive faster than normal cars.

There is nothing around. I mean nothing. Actually there is really green grass, greenest I have ever seen. And of course trees, and occasional lakes, rivers and streams which is kinda cool. Sometimes you will drive into what may be a "town" or umm-- more like a village, town is too big a word for what these are. In these villages, there will be maybe five buildings and three of them are abandoned. All of which open or closed, look like something from a horror film. The one that is open is always selling soda and "collectables." I wonder what kind of things these places consider, collectables. Hub cabs maybe? That reference will make sense later.

And one more thing about these highways, people just through a trailer in the middle of nothingness, these highways being their street. So they start to drive 20mph two miles before they get to their dirt road, cuz even they have to look for that stick they hammered into the ground, nailed a piece of wood to, and scratched their last name on it. That's a street sign right therrrr y'all.

These houses you see driving are pretty nuts. One minute there is a beautiful home with a barn cows and chickens. Then you drive further and see trailers, mobile homes, trailer/dumps, more trailers. Half of these places of residency, or shacks, look as though they have been abandoned for years and barely standing. Then you will notice a little kid run out of the "shack" and a man sittin in his lawn chair on the porch with a cigarette. In these "villages" they either don't have trash pick-up or can't afford it, so they just pile it in their lawns. This makes it unclear if someone lives there, or if it's a dump. However, no matter WHAT there is always a beautiful church within ten miles. Priorties seems to be in order here...uhh why not hold off on that five story church being built a half-mile from three others nearby, and maybe pick up some trash? But no, churches are the most important, obviously.

Driving down the highway it must be an unspoken rule, to wave. I kept thinking what the heck are these people waving at, but by the fifth one I realized, "OOOOOhhhh they are waving at me. That's why they sit in their porch all day, they are waiting for someone to drive by to wave to."

I arrived at my hotel last night and my bed looked like the maid took a nap in it and there was nothing in the restaurant but nachos, potato skins and fried chicken wings. I have yet to have a hotel with an elevator (aside from Virginia) and at every hotel, the hot water is on the right, and the cold on the left. It's like twilight zone or something.

I wake up this morning and try to go to my location for the day to teach my class. I find out, I am beyond the point of no return, I am somewhere that my GPS can't tell me where to go. I must say I felt more in the middle of nowhere than I had yet. No wonder why people from these areas are scarred to death coming to California the first time. So I get directions and as I'm driving to work I see this house. ( This is where the hub cap reference comes in) This house has a chain-link fence all around it and from the base to the top, it is covered with hub caps. Now I didn't notice that the entire house was covered from top to bottom with hub caps as well until I drove back by it returning from work. I tried to take a picture as I was driving by but, all of the owners of the ten vehicles parked in front were chillin there to pull out their shotgun and get anyone that pissed them off.

I drove to Columbia, South Carolina today but I have nothing else to say now except that
I can't eat anything that isn't deep fried, dripping with grease, and topped with bacon and sour cream. Welcome to Obese America ladies and gentlemen!

Nice Town, Weird Folk

Yo Yo bang bang jiggy jiggy wit it. Whaddup Heather here. Thanks for the shout out Timmy V right back at cha!

Sooo, I graduated in December celebrated all night, and started my first, full time "real" job the following morning almost breaking my ankle running out the door.

I am fully trained now flyin solo over here on the other side of the country. I havn't been the best at keepin people updated on whats goin on over here so, Timmy and I decided to start writing blogs.

Well, I'm over here on the east coast where people's jaw drops to the floor when you tell them you're from Cali. It feels like an entirely different country. I began in Vir-gina, yes I said gina. There I ate some fried chicken, and flew down the freeway in the left lane while everyone else cruised along drivin 50 on the right. That's right, the left lane is actually used as a passing lane here. Now it's great that everyone leaves the lane open for me but they also like to cut you off going 50. It's not just their driving that is slow, they talk slow usiing words like, "fixin, ma'am, yall" and "whaaaaaat?" not just what but "whaaaaaat?" With a twang, or drawl or whatever it is.

Now I've moved on to North Carolina. In a land where there is a lot of, trees that look like really big twigs, confederate flags, fried foods (and huge people that eat them), mullets and signs that read "Servants Wanted". There is every donimation of church on every corner with gospel music playing in grocery stores, and African American people who thank you for having a conversation with them.

I am havin a good time, enjoyin my paid hotels, overtime hours and interesting people. I basically teach a class and then drive anywhere from 2-6 hours to the next place. This isn't too bad considering you get to see scenic views (sarcasm) of tree lined roads that look the same for the entire drive. It is only crappy when you are running on your 9th hour of work and you are drivin on a two lane road that is pitch black through thunderstorms and hail storms where your windshield wipers won't go fast enough to even see the road ahead. You can't pullover and let it pass cuz there is ditches on both sides of the road and huge trucks riding up on your rear.

I'm in the best place so far, named Wrightsville Beach. I am staying right on the water and I dipped my toes in the Atlantic yesterday! That's what's up y'all, until next time.