Another Round of Golf Anyone?

Last week, John and I went to North Carolina to get away and visit my Nana and Gaga. We drove 16 hours cross country to get there, and this is our trip TO the NC.

I've decided to split this into two blogs because while I took around 150 photos and am not publishing all of them, there's still alot of ground to cover. Or mountains to climb, if you will.


We left at 8:25 in the morning and our trip started at 0 of course. We made our adventure official the night before, and I wound up being so busy with packing and cleaning etc that I didn't sleep at all. I stayed up all night, and John drove first. I tried to sleep with little success and popped in the mix CD that Jill made for us.



We stopped at a Starbucks in Tyler, TX I believe because i figured if I couldn't sleep I might as well caffeinate myself up!!! I told John to turn the wrong way and we wound up making a big 2 mile circle back to the Starbucks which was employed by country folk. It was trippy.
I have a feeling this is somewhere still in Texas right before Louisiana. The first town we drove through was Shreveport, a whopping 3 hours away from Dallas.

There are about a million signs leading into Shreveport advertising the casinos, and all of them stream below their adds, "Gambling Problem? Call 1800-bla-blah"(not they don't really say bla blah, how apathetic would that be? "Just kidding, there's no real number to call. We don't really care, gamble your life, savings, and family away") We thought it was ironic.
This is the Horses-hoe Casino in Shreveport and it's made from pure gold. It's beautiful. It's not made from pure gold. And it's not that beautiful. I do remember being awed by this building as a child though.

All cartoon images were stolen and added to these pictures from Natalie Dee.


Sara, John, and Shelby were making there way back from Austin July 4th. I'd been busy all week doing MTV stuff for my little sisters band (le sigh) and was ready to party American style.


I cooked (I say cooked, I mean tossed) a few salads and waited. And waited. And waited.


They showed at 7, having stopped for kolaches in West on the way back. We made it to the party at 8ish.
We had missed the majority of eating, but there was plenty of food left. Hebrew Nationals (which I'm sad to say are my favorite hot dogs, being that hot dogs are my favorite food, being that I'm a vegan and seeing this spread was torture-ish) and brats. An array of salads, I brought the cole slaw y'all, and I grated that cabbage and carrots fresh too. I also ate most of the cole slaw, so there. Chips, dips, etc. You're regular party spread.





Kandle might have been complimenting the food, or she may have been talking to Marla. I guess we'll never know.
Continuing with the spread are an array of empty beer bottles, empty tipped-over plastic cups, American flags, and some salads.





Oh and a cannibal cupcake.



We ate stofasap (shit tons of food as soon as possible) seeing as we'd insinuated in the car on the way to the party.


I went to HS with these lovely ladies. Shelby and I always understood each other, seeing as we both have giant bazooms. It's hard not to look at them, no?
There were some lovely ladies in and out of the hot tub, along with 2 babies.


There are two babies in this picture. I have circled the babies.





By the way, this picture is gorgeous in full size. It's obviously sized down for the blog, but everyone looks beautiful and the colors are brilliant.



Here is an upstairs porch eye view of the festivities at the pool.


Dipped legs, poolside lounging, rowdy water games, hot tub catch-up.














In the upstairs kitchen was an array of alcohol, most of which was gone.





I've xed the empty containers.


(P.S. these may or may not have been empty)





Chance was making lovely 4th of July martinis. I had 3/4ths of one and then gave it up for dead because it was very alcoholic, yet delicious.


Thanks to Chance for tending counter.
I saw these bottles propped above the sink, of which I was surprised more had not been emptied.
The line by the peppermint schnapps reads, "I think it's still half full."
This is my weeks worth of optimism. Remember the other Pool times?
Ok, I took two versions of this picture. In this one, Hampton was drunk and looks that way, but everyone else looks acceptable. The other picture reveals everyone's bad side, including Hampton. So I sacrificed you Lindsay darling, for the good of the others.






These are the things that makes Dale cool in this picture:


1)His poker face. Dead stare.


2)His casual demeanor.


3)His can o' beer which could be a PBR or a Schlitz but is probably a Budweiser.


4)The covering of the label. Dale is not an advertisement.


5)Pants that I believe to be linen. If they aren't linen, then don't read #5.



Whilst circling the group for pictures, some tried to look non-chalant, others candid, and some entertaining.





The floating squirrel head said the funniest thing right after this picture was taken, but I don't remember.
Look at Hampton's boobs y'all. Look at em.


Boobies.


And Katie is so casual and trendy. She's drinking a Starbucks and holding her phone in one hand, that is classy.





































Which one's Candie? Nobody knows.
Here's more babies playing by the pool. Babies will soon overpower the dynamic of the group. Babies are coming.





I went swimming shortly after this and put the camera on dry land. Unfortunately in my wet stupor I forget to grab my camera for some important moments such as Chances constant cannonballs and the hookah.





Most importantly I didn't grab it in time for our second daylight. The sparkling.









Here is a small re-creation of the insanity that was the sparklers. Everyone at the party, everyone had at least one sparkler. We were all standing within close proximity to each other, burning each other, and really seeing each other for the first time as we could have been standing under fluorescent lighting. I found a mole on my arm that I never knew was there. We saw the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Through the mists of the deep, we didn't need no fireworks show.
Watch below:















I had a good Fourth of July. Things are changing. Things are always changing. And I'm happy to say that I've blogged every 4th of July for the past 4 4ths. So, this is my 4th 4th to blog. This is maybe my favorite holiday. Not necessarily because I feel so patriotic on this one particular day or because I love cookouts or smoke and sparklers. I always feel closer to people today. It's a real reason to watch Bill Pullmans amazing "Independence Day" speech. It's a real reason to watch fireworks. It's a real reason to take a holiday and a day off from work. There's no worry if my boyfriends mother is going to like the present I bought her, or whether we finished all our shopping. There's no worry whether the turkey is going to cook in time or if there is something the vegetarians can eat. There's no wondering how to communicate with long lost relatives whom come out of the woodwork once a year. Yet there's champagne and food and "exercise" and music and dancing. Everyone smells like chlorine when they wake up the next day. Everyone's hair falls and make-up fades and all we're left with is each other. The Fourth of July is refreshing. It's a well made mojito. It's a cold shower on a hot day. I'm sad I didn't stay later at the party, I think I've learned carpooling is not always the best solution, but I had a good one. And I loved my cole slaw. I loved the peeps. I think we should have more potlucks.

Seeing as it takes me all day to blog and I still smell like chlorine, I must bid adieu. Hopefully I'll be going to the cat auditions tomorrow and will photo blog then.

If not then, sooner.