03/12/2009
A road trip cannot be a road trip without the occasional car problem. I had various so far, but this was the first one actually on the road.
On the way from Michigan to Chicago, driving down the I-94, under an almost snowy weather, we suddenly heard a very loud and disturbing noise coming from the rear left side of the car. We quickly pulled over, put on our huge jackets (the weather can't be handled with just a t-shirt and flip-flops anymore) and got out to face the damage.
The rear, left tire was not just flat. It had practically exploded. 
Anyway, no biggie I thought. I got a spare, so we'll change it and we'll be on our way. I went round the back, brought out the jack and the rest of the tools, and.... well... I didn't get much further from there to be honest.
To start with, I was fiddling with the jack and a long metal rod for about ten minutes, trying to figure out how to make them work together and get the damn car to rise. You should have seen my face. I was probably like a 6-month old kid, trying to fit the triangle in the circle. Trying from every possible angle and with all likely combinations, but I just couldn't get it to work.
I decided to leave that aside and try to get the spare wheel from under the van. Little did I know that I was in for yet another failure. How the hell do you get that wheel from under there? I knew that the long metal rod was the one to be used, but where the hell was I supposed to stick it? (Careful with the answers on this one.......) I was looking everywhere, under the van, on the side, behind the bumper, under the mattress. I ended up unscrewing something that I was not supposed to.
So there we are, both me and H., looking at each other baffled and feeling incompetent. She threw the idea of calling the AAA, but I felt too embarrassed to call road-side service just for a flat tire! (It wasn't just flat by the way, the whole damn thing exploded, but still. The procedure was the same...) Anyway, my initial reaction of not wanting to call the AAA was just me being in denied that I was useless and that I did need help to change the tire.
So we did call them and half an hour later they arrived. Changed the tire in a matter of 10 minutes and that was that.
At least we were not completely stupid. The jack was missing a tool, which is why we couldn't get it to work and to get the spare tyre off, I needed to remove a bit of rubber from behind the bumper, which I did not even notice it was possible. So with my competence not fully ridiculed and a good tyre in place, we continued our journey towards Chicago.
M.
06/10/2009
I know I owe you guys a bunch of updates from burning man onwards (and they are coming, don't worry), but I just HAD to tell you about the past few days.
This past weekend has probably been the most exciting and fun-filled weekend of my life! I kid you not! Is it really possible to fit more than 100 bands playing live, crazy twister games, a Charlie the Unicorn themed party,
endless amounts of cake, 
several beers and a party on a bridge in 65 hours? Apparently it is...
Friday morning and I'm up fairly early. ACL is about to begin. What is this? It's the Austin City Limits Music festival, (yes, I am back in Austin by the way) a musical extravaganza in the greenest park of Austin that lasts three days and hosts some of the biggest names of the musical world. 
And the festival kicks off with names such as Mishka, the Avett Brothers, Phoenix, Thievery Corporation, Kings of Leon and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! And by around midnight that the music ended, I went to a friend's place where we thought the most normal thing to do is play twister at 3am.
Saturday, festive day (did I mention it was my birthday that day? No? Well, it was! :) ) and the music begins once again. Bring it on !!!, Airborne Toxic Event, Flogging Molly, And you will know us by the trail of the dead, Ghostland Observatory and so many more. And the best part of it? All of those under the pouring rain! 
Austin city centre is just behind us.
I'm not crying my eyes out. I'm just really exhausted. And no, that's not sh1t on my chest.
Thousands and thousands of people jumping, singing and crowd-surfing, wet to the bone and knee-deep in mud.
And as if that was not enough, come the end of the music, a friend comes to pick me up. He takes me home to have a shower (believe me, I needed it) and gives me a set of white clothes to wear. (??) We then drive out to some house where I've never been before, go walk around the back and suddenly two girls jump out of nowhere and shout "Welcome to candy mountain Charlie"! They dragged me into the house, only to find that the two girls were L. and D., disguised as unicorns and they had thrown a Charlie the unicorn-themed, surprise birthday party for me. 
The unicorn possy
Unicorns, bananas, candy and starfish all over the place! I couldn't believe what they had put together! So many people, so many costumes, so many sweets and the biggest cupcake I had ever seen in my life to top it all! The whole thing was just surreal.
Candy mountain in the flesh!
The biggest cupcake I have ever seen!!!
And then my face in it!
The choo choo shoe is back!
Sunday and final day of ACL. To be honest, I did not care about most of the bands. I was only waiting for Pearl Jam to come on, closing the festival and sending us to awe-land. And indeed they did. And there was no better way to end this extraordinary weekend, than by having a few beers at one of my favourite spots in town. But then, as I was moisting my throat with the delicious, cold, amber-colored, wheat-based drink, the phone rang, only to invite us to a... bridge party!
The name of it explains it all. It's a party. On a bridge. With DJs, speakers, sound systems, lots of people dancing etc. INSANE!!!
I got home at about 4am again and by that point, I could not feel my legs. After 65 hours of constant craziness and jumping around, recovering was in order.....
M.
P.S.1: ACL photos taken by Hillary Jenkins. Party photos taken by Tabitha Halfmann and Brent Thomas
P.S.2: If you have no idea what I'm on about when talking about unicorns, bananas and starfish, do yourself the favor and get educated.
21/08/2009
Ok, there are a couple of zeros missing, but it's no big deal...
The time has come to leave Austin. I stayed in this vibrant city for three weeks and I had a blast. It is time, however, to head out west and start approaching Burning Man (for the ones who have not done their homework, a relative article will follow).
So, Charlie is ready...
the route already selected on the GPS...
and off to Chico, California we gooooooo! There is a long way ahead of us!
Μ.
11/08/2009
I have decided to continue my trip with someone. Someone reliable who will follow me around everywhere and will make my life just a bit easier.
We only met recently and we have decided to continue this trip together until wherever possible. We're going to go through the weirdest of places and will share everything.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor to present you to...
...Charlie!
Charlie will be my new mode of transport for the rest of my trip around the USA. In fact, it's not just my car, but my proper house. :)
Anyone feels like joining? ;)
M.
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