Where in the WORLD is Black Dynamite? And why?

When I was around 6 years old I saw Pee Wee's Big Adventure and I was mesmerized. The giant T-Rex! The "Tequila" bar scene! Large Marge! Ever since then, I've always wanted to do an EPIC road trip and see things like that. Ok maybe not Large Marge, but you know what I mean. Dorky things like the biggest ball of yarn and silly stuff like that. More importantly, I wanted to see the country. This country. Experience the awe and beauty that something as simple and natural as a silent sunset in Utah, or the sound of a waterfall in Wyoming can bring to a person. Growing up in the shadow of one of the biggest cities in the world can make you forget that there is a vast expanse out there full of varied climates, people, food, and sounds, and that it's always ready to be discovered. I was lucky enough to have moved from that shadow since then to some beautiful states, and met the most wonderful people, and that has only fueled my curiosity.

Sometime last summer while I was drinking my sorrows away at Funky Buddha while simultaneously fostering my passion for darn good beer, I decided I had to do this trip. And it had to be now. My lease on my Corolla would be ending in October and I needed to act. Plus, I was not married, didn't have a boyfriend anymore (hence the sorrows), didn't have children of my own, was lucky enough to have the kind of job where I could take a summer to do this, and still had tons of energy to spare. First I thought I would get a truck AND a camper and do it that way. And then I woke up. I very quickly realized that acquiring both would be quite expensive and difficult to find the room at my tiny duplex for parking the camper. However, I was set on a truck. After extensive research (I am a total nerd after all!), I settled on a Toyota Tacoma. It had enough torque to be able to tow should I need to, got 21 hwy mpg, 19 city, which was the most fuel-efficient for a truck, and generally looked badass. The biggest plus was that should I play hard ball, it would fall within my budget, which as a teacher, you could imagine, was pitifully small. To make a long story short, eventually I got an even better deal that I could've hoped AND got upgraded to a Pre-Runner crew cab! Yay!!

Also, sometime in August, I had reconnected with Ryan. His older brother was the reason for my sorrow, and when he had broken up with me so suddenly, I had no contact information for Ryan or his sister and couldn't tell them that regardless of the ceased relationship with Nathan, I valued their friendship and didn't want that to end. Thankfully, the universe worked it's magic and we had a chance reunion in Altamonte Springs that resulted in a renewed friendship that transcends anything I ever had with Ryan's brother. He is like my little brother and boy do we act like it, ha ha! We annoy each other, crack on each other, are brutally honest, but look out for each other, and deeply care for one another.

For months I had been trying to convince Ryan he HAD to do this trip with me. He's 25, he'll be starting school in earnest for nursing next year, he had the time, he hasn't seen the country...he NEEDED to take the opportunity while he still could. Finally, he agreed and decided to come with me. Yay! I would've done this alone, but my parents were terrified and would not give me their blessing. Now they could rest assured I wouldn't be in danger of being kidnapped or raped at some random gas station or rest stop in who knows where. Or that if I still were, that the person would grab us both at least, making it slightly more difficult to hide us. But I'd like to think I'm tough enough to fend pretty well for myself. I am a Puerto Rican/Cuban girl from Hudson County, New Jersey after all! Ha ha!

Next was to map out the itinerary. After trying multiple websites that claim to do this and enduring frustration after frustration, I finally found www.roadtrippers.com and got this!:

So....we had the map, the truck, the people, and excitement. Now all we needed to do was finish up school, throw a baby shower, say our farewells, and get packed! Which you'll see in the next post*!

*I promise they'll be shorter and photo heavy from now on. :-)