More pictures to come soon but these phone pictures will do for now. It saddens me that often times my tiny little IPHONE camera contains better pictures than my $600 dslr...but whatever.
Remember a couple of years ago when I threw around phrases like, "Mom, I promise I will never go on the hitchhiking race again"? Well, I thought there was just an assumed clause in there that said something like, "Unless I meet a super hot guy that wants to go on the hitch race". So there you have it Mama. I promise to never do anything remotely scary again unless a super hot guy wants to go, in which case, I'm only human.
So this was my team this year! I could NOT have asked for a better team. Jasmine is a beautiful woman with a sweet spirit who happens to speak Espanol and brought her own sign-making materials. She left precious notes for our drivers and worked the road for a solid 16 hours with me. I love her, and if I hadn't been so distracted with hot guy, I would know her entire life story by now and she would be my best friend. Our team name was "HTB and the Double V's". HTB is a evolved nickname for Terry. Before I knew him, I referred to him as "Hot Terry" to all my friends. Then Randy started calling him Terr Bear in order to publicly embarrass me with behind the back bear claw gestures at poetry slams. At some point it combined into Hot Terr Bear...and then eventually shortened to HTB. Randy has since decided to protect his lady card by dropping the "H" and simply referring to him as "TB". So there you have it. HTB and the Vagabonding Vixens. Or, HTB & VV's. Perhaps a one syllable word will suffice the next time I need a team name.
I would also like to take this time to point out the ATLANTA sign on the right...which I am over proud of.
And here we are in the back of Larry Angel's trucker cab...
This is the whole crazy hitching group at the bottom of Raging Rainbow Falls! This is where we camp for the rest of the week after a long day of hitching. Gorgeous! At Gorges State Park in North Carolina. Immediately after posting this picture, my Mommy dearest sent me several emails with links to modest one-piece swim suits...because she hasn't actually been swimming with me since I was 11 years old...
Sorry Mum. Agree to disagree. To which she replied "Whatever".
So with Terry's black lung cough all week, and my body a Thanksgiving meal for bugs in the forest...we made the decision to leave a day early. Got there Monday night and left Thursday afternoon. We had made record time with nice drivers hitching on Monday that I was SURE we had used all of our lucky juice for hitching to Myrtle Beach. But nope, nope. Chester and Edith pulled up to a stop sign on my corner, let us in, stopped by their house and got us a phone book to chase rental car companies. Terry scored us a car at the Asheville Airport and voila! No more hitching.
So, these pictures are out of order because that's what blogger does and I'm too lazy to fix it. Here's Jazzy!
(I hope she likes her nickname because I love to nickname everyone. I called one of my smaller male students "Baby Unicorn" for the better half of this school year. I can't always explain myself)
This picture has nothing to do with the hitch race at all. I try to make everything a surprise for Terry. EVERY. THING. And then I can hardly wait and I just want to tell him all about my surprises before they get here. Actual quote: "Carisse, if you tell me ahead of time then they aren't surprises. They're just plans."
Sooo...I googled snakes in Austin and found a Snake Farm in New Braunfels. He loved it! And then he put this lizard on my shoulder. Who is Terry you ask? Oh, just a hot guy with a golden heart that kissed me on the dance floor back in February and kept coming back ever since...
It was around this time Monday morning that my Mother began her prayer and fasting for my safety...
Here's all the crew with our pretty signs at the beginning of the race! Aaron's Mom's house inVan, TX. Let me say a few words about Aaron Bell. Aaron is my crazy friend, who is dating my crazy bestie Darby, and together they pressure me to do crazy things that I never regret. Like staying out past 9pm. Aaron encouraged me to put in my resume that led to my move to Austin, Aaron introduced me to Terry, Aaron made a phone call that got me a new job, and because of Aaron I've had the pleasure of experiencing hitchhiking, paddle boards, kayaks, canoes, jumping off stuff, mopeds, side cars, scuba diving...and a thousand other things I can't remember right now that make me feel like a kid again. And Darby does all of these PLUS decorates my house, prays with me, and talks me off the ledge 4 out of 7 days a week. Love them so much.
Terry and I on one of Aaron's scooters. This is Terry's impression of my scuba face.
Back to The Great Hitchhiking Race 9. This was our second ride, William, a roofer by day and MMA fighter by night that made us listen to podcasts about peace and harmony and UFO's...
