Bomp Bomp de dow de Bomp Bomp de dow de Bomp Bomp..du du du du du du du

SWEET HOME ALABAMA....

Gasino??

Yes, that is a casino attached to this gas station so I have dubbed it a "Gasino". Who needs a Taco Bell or Wendy's when you can have Texas Hold 'Em and Nickel Slots?

The Other LA

Just crossed into Louisiana (and our 10th state) on our return trip home. We are roughly 400 miles from Tuscaloosa. Started the morning right with some breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana in Arlington. TC was a favorite of mine when we lived in San Antonio, glad that Dallas had one. Nothing starts a morning like Chorizo and Egg, Barbacoa, and Bean/Cheese tacos!!

We also found a contraband banana under the console. Sorry California!

1 more state sign to go........

The day that was....

Today's trip has been relatively uneventful. Left Tucson at 8am and have been on the road ever since. It is now 6:36 and we have another 300 miles to our hotel in Arlington, Tx. The Bro phrased it best today when he said he has a new found appreciation for planes, buses and trains.

The highlights of the day include an ungodly stench emitting from the rear of the van earlier today followed up by canned beanie weenies and a gas station brisket taco eaten in a mad attempt at retaliation. Some of you are confused, but I'm sure others get the drift without further explanation. There will be payback, oh yes.....

There is little else to report because there was little else to see. As I posted on Facebook, I never knew where the Gambler's train bound for nowhere was heading but I am now 99% sure that nowhere is somewhere between Tucson and Midland, Tx. The speed limit even changed to a legal 80 MPH. It's almost impossible to have a wreck when the roads are completely straight and you are the only car on the road.

We think we have now heard every comedian and every bit on Blue Collar Comedy on Sirius radio. We are into multiple repeats at this point.

3580 miles down with approximately 900 more to go until Tuscaloosa sometime tomorrow...

KIA Sedona review in an hour

Some have been curious about the Kia Sedona mini van we rented for the Roadie and have been calling the "Man"i Van. I assume everyone else knows as little about Kia products as I do. Here is a quick road test and evaluation we just conducted over the past hour. We could not find a way to measure how far it takes to stop when braking at 70mph. We don't have a tape measure and our GPS won't count feet. If anyone has any ideas, we'll update our evaluation:

9.1 seconds…..zero to 60.
60-80mph (passing punch) 7.5 seconds
No engine noises, knocking, slipping, etc...(23K miles on it now).
Rear passenger captain seat would not come out. Also got stuck in down position once.
Satellite radio was great and is built into factory radio. (Subscription separate).
Rear speakers seemed to be louder than front. Needed to turn them down some with the fader.
Ample cup holders…..10.
Roomy….full grown man can nap in floor (with one rear captain seat removed).
Driver side sliding door has been getting stuck
Smooth ride
6 interior lights. Rear started turning itself on and off one night for some reason.
No light in the cargo area. The one above the rear passenger seat is not sufficiently bright enough to find your stuff in the cargo area at night.
Smooth yet tight steering. Current driver says like an Accord.
Good turning radius for parking lot parking
Front and Rear Heating and Cooling changed temperatures quickly. Got hot when you wanted it hot and cold when you wanted it cold.
Big windows in the rear sliding doors actually roll down. Never have seen that in a mini van. Great for a dog, we assume, we didn’t have one.
Handles snow and ice with minimal sliding at 35mph and lower. Tended to slide more above 40mph.
Seats are very firm. Little cushy give. Give them a 6 in comfort level….but I guess it’s not too bad since we’ve gone over 2800 miles and everyone’s back is still good.
Rear passenger captain seat should recline more. Can’t get a good nap in it.
Adequate headroom for 6’1 males in front. ¾ of a Taco Bell straw between top of head and roof.
All dial controls are in good reach for driver
Clock in front of van is easy to change time
Two 12 volt chargers in front…great for charging phones and laptops. Needs another one or two in the rear.
Cool 2nd rear view mirror that flips down so you can watch kids in the back of the van.
Mirror in sunshade was not lighted
Big accessory cargo between front seats currently holding 2 big taco bell cups, 1 water bottle with sunflower shells in it, 1 cell phone, 1 DC to AC invertor, 1 digital camera, 1 pen, 1 box of BC powder, 2 tubes of blistex, $2.80 in change…….doesn’t appear to be removable or flip. Has room underneath it to put your feet when you are sleeping in the floor (1 captain seat must be removed).
Some road noise through windows. 1 of us thought it was great…another thought there was a little much….a 3rd was asleep and did not participate in this evaluation
Deep floor in the cargo area……18 inch (maybe) drop down.
Sunglass holder is located above and to the left of driver’s head near door which is convenient. Unfortunately, the sunglass holder is too small for my sunglasses to fit in.
5 Oh S$%# handles in the roof…one for the front passenger, and four in the rear. Not needed so far on this trip.
2 rear coat hangers…not needed.
CD player makes CD’s very hot when you eject them.
No external thermometer. A car without a thermometer...how does that happen anymore?
No feature to track gas mileage. Odometer was very basic with 2 trip counters.
Rear captain require front passenger to scoot up a tad for 6’1 male to be comfortable.
The Bro says more functional and ease than his suburban. Fun to drive as much as a mini van can be fun…

Overall, we give it a 5 on the "Man"ly scale. I mean seriously, it's a mini van, did you really think it would be any higher?

Any other questions or tests you would like us to answer over the next two days, just let us know. We assume it won't float so don't even bother asking us to try it.

Another day...another mile....

We are closing in on the 120 hour mark of the Roadie. Today’s highlight was reaching the Western most part of the United States that any of us has ever traveled. That particular landmark of our lives is the 4ft piece of real estate behind the light pole above. This pole is located on the pier in Venice Beach. Everyone went behind the light pole before we started our trip back. This was the road trip equivalent of touching the mailbox or road sign at the end of the street when running as a kid.

We also saw Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys walking with a girl on the pier.

Everyone put their foot into the Pacific Ocean and the Cuz is attempting to bring back the late 80’s tight role jean style. The Pacific Ocean will fool you too…1st wave barely covers the foot, 2nd wave barely covers the foot, 3rd wave barely covers the foot, 4th wave BOOM….soaked blue jeans to the knees! Water is chilly in January.

We are just outside of Phoenix right now with plans to stop in Tucson for the night. Tomorrow will be a big time road day as we will go all the way from Tucson to somewhere on the Eastern side of Dallas….approx 960 miles. This will setup the final 600 mile drive on Sunday back to Tuscaloosa. As I type, we are currently on mile 2722 of the Pasadena Roadie.

For those curious as to what we do in the van, here is a quick list of recent conversations:

1. What is your preferred method of eating sunflower seeds? How do you crack them…front teeth or back teeth? Favorite flavored sunflower seed and why..

2. Most recently…where is the nearest Krispy Kreme to our location right now? Do you dunk your doughnut in milk? What else do you dunk in milk?

3. An ongoing storyline involving Kirk Herbstreit having a famous recipe for Indian Tacos and wanting to cook for us

4. Many, many, multi million dollar product ideas.

5. Who’s GPS, map program gives better directions….the Bro’s Iphone Vs My Microsoft laptop program and Telenav program on Blackberry. For the record, my programs did not lead us into a dead end parking lot while looking for the Pacific Ocean.

6. The sun and its relation to sneezing. Any light and its relation to sneezing.

7. Songs that have the names of streets that we saw in Los Angeles in them.

As you can see, this is not only a Man getaway…there are important topics being covered for the betterment of society.

Thanks LA...You've been great!!

Time to head 'em up and move 'em out. Tentative agenda for the day....go stick foot into the Pacific Ocean....drive to Tucson. Stop, sleep, drive again...the story of my life.

What a Day!!!!

What a great day and great game! Bama was just too strong today. Richardson and Ingram are an unstoppable combo. Defense played well too. I would not suggest hitting Saban in the head with the Gatorade cooler again. He didn't appear to care for that. Roll Tide!

Colt McCoy exhibited pure class in his post game interview. Wishing nothing but the best for him! He will go down in Texas history as a legend....if not all of college football. Class, Class, Class for 4 years.

Quick rundown of the day. Maybe we'll explain more in future posts for some of these:

1. Made it to the game
2. Rose Bowl is an absolute gorgeous setting
3. Had picture made with the Lombardi Trophy
4. Had picture made with the Bobby Bowden Grill from the AllState commerical. DADGUM!!
5. Went to our pre-game tailgate party.
6. Was disappointed with our party. Not what was described to us.
7. Met a father and son in same situation.
8. Voiced concern to RazorGator employees
9. Was told we were wrong and we were getting what we paid for. There was another tailgate party that we did not pay to attend.
10. Told them they were wrong and showed them their own website and "father" who evidently is a wealthy oil man said "I will show you what money and a lawsuit can do in a small Texas town on Monday."
11. Manager went to get VP of operations for event when a third frustrated group heard us and joined in.
12. VP of operations came and gave the same runaround and I told her we had a couple of ways to resolve this A) Take us where we really should be B) Be prepared for a mob as I go around to every table and find out who else was misled by the advertising.
13. VP needed to look something up on computer
14 15 minutes later, told VP I am now the owner of www.razorgatorsucks.com (not a threat...I do own it now) and it will be up and running on Monday.
15. VP escorts our group to where we should have been in the first place.
16. Met Marcus Allen, Brian Orakpo, Jerry West and Bob Riley. Also had picture made with Robert Horry. Told him that he probably didn't remember that we had played Techmo Bowl together in college. He laughed and said "I probably whooped that (butt) didn't I?" I told him he did, but he also cheated because he played with the Raiders and Bo Jackson was unstoppable. Everyone knew that for competitive Techmo Bowl, no one could be the Raiders (That too is a true story).
17. Went to game and had a blast!! From the Josh Groban National Anthem to the confetti blasting at the trophy presentation. Best time at a football game EVER!
18. Sat in Rose Bowl until they kicked us out. Didn't want to sit in traffic.
19. Made it back to the house we are staying in.
20. Updating Blog
21. Going to bed.....Good night

HEADING TO THE ROSE BOWL

Leaving for the game. For up to the minute updates today and tonight, you'll need to be friends with Troy on Facebook...

Roll Tide and Hook 'Em Horns!!

To our LA Friends...

Words can not express our gratitude to our friends in LA for allowing us to stay in their beautiful home. Your generosity is overwhelming and your home is beautiful.

Thank you for your kindness!!

THE OLD BLUE CREW