Texas: mosquitoes, sweet tea, and southern boys

First things first.

Mosquitoes.

I forgot all about them suckers. They are pesty lil things that getchya without you even knowin' it! You Cali friends don't know about them and I have been spoiled rotten to have the pleasure to forget about them. I had more itchin' bites on my legs after the first couple days than...

(well to be completely honest I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to come up with something funny to compare as many bites on my legs as I had but I can't so just know I couldn't stop scratchin' my legs to save my life) 

ok moving on...

SWEETfreakinTEA

ah heaven...so my first real glass of sweet tea in a long time...I'm gettin lunch at Taco Bueno (another southern delishiousness) and I fill up my cup with Dr.Pepper and out of the corner of my I spot the tea urn labeled "SWEET" and I immediately realize my soda decision is a failure. I looked at my friend and literally out loud with more excitement than a kid seeing Mickey for the first time at DisneyWorld said "Oh my gosh!!! I forgot, I'm in Texas! I can get SWEET TEA!" 

then I proceeded to dump out my DP and refill  my cup with some southern greatness as the gentleman in line behind us tried his hardest to keep his laughter in.

lets not forget...Southern Boys.

they are just....mhm...way better than Cali boys could ever wish to be and I am not sorry if that upsets you.

gentlemen...who open doors for you call you ma'am with a heart meltin' southern accent (which I'm glad to say mine came back a lil bit hopefully it'll stay that way for a lil while) strong willed, two steppin', god fearin', football or baseball playin',  muscular, tan...they have a true love for the Texas Rangers they look good in boots and wranglers and they are just all around way hotter down there and I was definitely provided with some good eye candy my whole trip!

okay and time for details,

so when I first got there I stayed in Denton with my best friend and sister, Caitlin Collins and yes of course I was secretly keepin' my eyes open for Eli Young Band members the whole time I was there. Now I had never experienced the city so she took me out to Fry Street. Apparently this is the bar hoppin' street, Denton is very much a college town with TWU and UNT so this street was crawlin' with students. It was a Tuesday so everything was cheap...and I mean DIRT cheap. I was amazed. .75$ wells and like 1$ or 2$ beers. I tried Ziegenbock for the first time and loved it. I also ran into Aaron Sheppard which was absolutely delightful and definitely a blast from the past. One of the bars I really liked was Lucky Lou's and for good reason...

I walk in and I make eye contact with a girl sittin' down with a group of friends and immediately recognize her as a good friend and old softball teammate from like 14U or something like that...now her names Ali and I always thought great things of her and really liked her so of course I wanted to say hello...but I have those fears that run through every normal person's mind in this situation that are just ridiculous because they are never true and usually the other party involved is thinkin' the exact same thing... it's like a "who's gonna be the one that looks dumb and says something" kinda thing ... those fears were I haven't seen her in probs about 7 years or so...so #1 it may not be her #2 she wont know who I am and I'll look foolish #3 she's with a group of friends and probably doesn't care that I am here at all haha

sooooo I sit down at a table by her and do what any normal person would do at this moment...

Facebook...

and after a good 30 minutes I finally decide it is her and  to interrupt her tables convo to ask who she was and thank the Lord it was her and that she recognized me when I came in too and was thinkin the same thing I was..I was delighted to catch up for a sec with an old friend :)

we then made our way from Fry street to the Square which is downtown Denton and we went to a couple other really awesome bars... 

all I can say is Shiner Ruby Redbird is the ultimate summer beer and Denton is a good Texas experience

The next day was spent with my wonderful family and catchin' up with some old friends People like my daddy and Patty and Sam and Glo and Luke Bedford and Zach McKim and Rebecca Niven and Christina Martinez, and  Drew Smith and Barbara Smith
It was good to see them all plus tons more
I ate at Tino's of course as any good Mesquitian would.

There is just somethin' about Texas. I love it. The people, the traditions, the whole ambiance is just different and wonderful. 

Well Thursday rolls around and I get to go see the boys play at the Ballpark in Arlington. I am one happy girl. Especially because my good friend Jordan Hartsell takes me with her to sit in her amazing season ticket seats... I've never had better seats. ( big THANK YOU to Donna and Jay) I was real bummed to find out my husband Josh Hamilton had the day off and was not in the line up...at least he did come in to hit towards the end.  I absolutely love baseball and the Texas Rangers just as much so it is safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by people who share that same passion. BUT IT WAS SO HOT. Lord I forgot how hot and humid Texas is! I've been spoiled with great weather in California and I have turned into somewhat of a wimp for that Texas sun...

 Unfortunately we lost but I did get a random text from my cousin Leah who just so happened to be at the game as well! I was very excited to get to see her. This girl is one of my heroes...she battled and beat leukemia as a sophomore in high school...that's truly amazing. And she looks great! I'm very proud of her.

After the game we headed to Katy Trail Ice House in uptown. This is a must go if you're ever in the area, I had an old friend tell me about it so I had to check it out. The culture at the restaurant is great, the patio is huge and they have plenty of local Texas beers on tap at their 50ft long bar top. A couple I enjoyed were Shiner Blonde and Live Oak Pilz.We also stopped in at the Magic Time Machine for dessert and old times sake...I really do miss working there. Another must go if you're in the area and I won't tell you why..I'll let you experience it on your own! That night we went out to Cowboys Red River for some dancin' I saw an old friend Cody Lanford which is always a pleasure and also experienced seeing another old friend...except this time I was so epically wrong about who it was...I guess I just had so much courage from the Ali experience and a little courage from the Shiner...

I see someone who looks like an old friend of mine ..and I mean he could be his twin...same hair same build and even same clothing style! and facial structure was crazy similar and it wasn't until I so courageously went up to him at the bar and loudly set my beer down next to him to get his attention waiting for him to turn around and notice me and say something along the lines of "HEY! what are you doing here"  that he turns around and looks me in the eyes ...I realize this is not him...But I'm quick! 

So I just winked and said "have a good night good lookin'" and walked away...not embarrassed because I pulled it off nicely and right after that he passed out put his head down on the bar and was escorted out by security because the alcohol had gotten the best of him by then.

the next couple nights I am skippin' and gonna come back to because they are they days that I got to check of 2 places out of my book so I have a separate blog coming soon for them:)

The last couple nights were spent in Dallas. One night Caitlin and I snuck on the roof of one of the downtown buildings... had an amazing view. We ate dinner in the West End and also went to victory park and Deep Ellum and other places walkin' around Dallas. Another night I went with some friends Thomas, Laura, Caitlin, Jordan and my roadtrip buddy Sam to a bar called Milo Butterfinger's by SMU. I really liked that place we watched the Rangers game played darts and had great company my last night in Dallas.

Overall I had a blast...so much fun that I was so tired I was absolutely worthless on the drive home and my poor friend Sam had to pick up my slack on the drivin' side because I just couldn't keep my eyes open.

It's always good to go back to Texas for a little while...but who knows when I'll be back.

Wreckless Driving and Ranger Tanck

Well what's a road trip without getting pulled over at least once?

If you've ever been pulled over in Texas you know that the Texas Rangers will give a ticket to their own mom for going 77 in a 75 on her birthday after the lunch he took her out to.
Definitely takes a special kind of person

(And by that I mean 2 true Texas girls with a little bit of innocence and excitement to be 'back home in Texas')

to sweet talk a southern accented, cowboy hatted, boot wearin, true Texas Ranger into nothing but a warning.
I mean we were only going 90... 15 over.. Not that bad!

All I can say is it's a good thing Sam has a '74 F250 Classic truck on her insurance and that I know Josh Hamilton's stats and can talk baseball better than most guys you will ever meet.

We sweet talked Ranger Tanck
(typical west Texas name right?!?!)
So well that he was even contributing to the conversation like he would rather chat with us than drive around pulling over all those crazy California drivers haha.

Anyone from Texas knows you have this deep love and pride for the Great State. && We tend to be quite arrogant about it when we aren't here.
Well the Ranger definitely respected our honesty when we said
"We are just so excited to be in Texas we want to get to Dallas as fast as we can"
And he adored and shared our Texas pride
So yes we got away clean:)

And now cruise control is set at 75

A southern accent never fails a damsel in distress.

The Rockstar Road Trip

So it's midnight in California and my friend Sam and I are on our way to Texas. We've had this adventure planed for months. It's quite exciting and we are crazy for starting at midnight but why wait till morning? That's eight hours of drive time we would miss out on!

I bought a brand new waterproof phone cover for this trip and it's legit. I took a shower with my phone today. Sounds weird but I had a Pandora shower radio and it was awesome! Unfortunately I cannot enjoy my new case while its plugged into Sam's car because the cord doesn't fit for the music. So I took it off for now. But I'm super anal about my phone being out of its case because I'm quite destructive with my phones...but hey I'll be in the car the next 24 hours so it should be fine!
We are driving my friends brand new 2012 Elantra. Great on gas, roomy and best of all only 2171 miles on it:) don't worry, we are gonna double that plus some this trip! Well as we get in the car we have rockstars and red bulls at hand. And Sam proceeds to tell me that she has this problem with spilling things in her new car so she put towels on the seats. Totally understandable! Also she shows me the taser just in case. Two girls...1500 miles...and a taser... Haha. Well you never know what will happen!. ..
So let me tell you what did...
Not ten minutes on the highway...
Sam puts the taser back in its spot and all the sudden I hear a "ssspppp" sound!!! My heart stopped...and Sam doesn't say anything! I was so scared I thought she was being tased... While driving!!
(Oh just imagine the unfortunate experience that would have turned out to be!)
I turn my head and get a nice spray in the face of ROCKSTAR! No worries the taser got the can, not Sam. It was spraying ALL OVER THE BRAND NEW CAR & MY PRECIOUS iPHONE IS OUT OF ITS PROTECTIVE GEAR!!!!
I grab the can and put my finger over the spraying ridiculousness... And froze.. What do I do now?!? I roll the window down and hold it outside and Sam keeps saying to toss it but I hate littering so it took me a good 15 seconds to finally decide to let it go.

"Did that really just happen?"
Oh yes, it did.

Well my phone got a little sticky but it's okay:) and the car...well it smells like energy drink! Kinda like its rained Rockstar inside the car.

The adventures have begun:) I am so excited! There's a couple places in the book I can hit while I am in Texas. Hopefully I can hit some! But if not I'll be going back home to Texas again soon!

It's only 30 minutes into this trip ad we already have a story to tell.. 23.5 more hours and lots more stories to come.

"Travel makes a wise man better, and a fool worse."
-Thomas Fuller

I have a dream...

So I am Reachelle Spieker and this is my story
About a year ago I made a whimsical decision... within two weeks I..
*sold everything I owned...sounds intense but I was 20, let's be honest what did I really have?
*broke my apartment lease WAYY too early I don't ever recommend that I owed them too much money for too long and I was living on the other side of the country!
*quit my job.. not like it was anything epic..I dressed as a doll (Jessie from Toy Story) and gave people food and bubbly fizzing drinks and made kids think I was really in 3 cartoon movies with hopes their parents tipped me fat for my waitress service...which most of them did=]
*aaaaand I dropped out of college! I know, I know, sounds like a derogatory term "college dropout" but I can give you a long list of millionaires who decided reading from boring text books and doing group projects to get a piece of paper, a "degree" congratulating you for mastering MLA format was not going to give them the "degree" of life THEY were looking for.
(disclaimer-college is great, just not for everyone.)
all of this to move to 1500 miles away from Dallas, Texas to north of LA (don't be too jealous I live in a god forsaken desert...beaches and palm trees are a couple hours and hellish traffic away).
I left everything I knew...my friends...my family...my comfort zone...my life. To start new and find myself.
Well I can't say it was easy but it has been worth it! I have learned more in this past year than I did all through college.
&& This is what I've come up with so far. I'm free spirited and down for anything. I want nothing more than to make the world my playground and experience everything. I want to meet the different people who inhabit this great earth and learn all about them and their culture. The best way to bring people together is to get to know one another better. I LOVE to travel and find adventure...I have a motto "Life is all about the stories you can tell at the end." I am an adventurizer...which by definition that I made up, is 'someone who lusts for, seeks, and creates adventure, everywhere.'

I started to develop a dream over the past year. Patricia Schultz, a freelance travel writer, has a book called "1,000 Places To See Before You Die." My dream is to see all 1,000 places before I turn 25. I know its lofty and crazy and absolutely ridiculous. And I am 21&1/2 so I need to get it going! BUT that's me, I believe in the impossible, I dream big, and I never give up. So I don't know how I am going to do this. I have no plan at all and definitely do not have the means, as of right now, to drop everything and fly across the world to Zelazowa Wola, Poland to see Frederic Chopin's birthplace. And no I didn't make that up its on page 301 =]
But I do know that the universe has a way of putting things in order when you commit to your decisions wholeheartedly.

I have to give a big shout out to  RJ Breisacher of http://baseballdreamin.blogspot.com/
I recently met up with him while he was traveling in LA. Not only does he have an amazing story but he inspired me to follow through with this blog which I have been "talking about doing" for way too long. Check him out and follow his journey through all 30 MLB ballparks this summer!

Also to my good friend Alex Gordon for his incredible just do it attitude and his advice
"Nike that Shit!"

So this blog is about my journey to visit all 1,000 places and the adventures I have on the way.
It's going to be a long journey. I don't know where this blog will go...but I am excited to see=]

"Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground."
-Judith Thurman