Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The house was full and noisy last night as the participants in "Return to Jeffersons" starting showing up. Before the sun had risen, they piled into the rented Toyota van and hit the road. So far we have received a couple of text messages, but are eagerly awaiting images and reports from the first day. Check back here to follow their progress.

BULLETIN! BULLETIN! BULLETIN! The first report from the road has arrived!

We left the Zechiel household at 5:30a, driving to Anaheim to pick up Josh. Once there, we stopped off at THE original pancake house for a quick but delicious breakfast. The pancakes there are truly the finest ever, and all of the waitress seemed enthusiastic about our trip.

After we were full, we set off at about 6:45a on the real beginning of the journey. It was evident immediately that certain parts of this journey would be improved over the the previous from the very beginning, due in part to the highly superior vehicle we were using. Our rented 2009 Toyota Sienna is roomy, comfortable, smooth and powerful. Although we love the original road trip van and look upon it with feelings of nostalgia, this driving experience now is superior.

After taking the 91 to the 15, we entered the 40 in Barstow, which would take us much of the way across the country. California seemed to go by pretty fast. Lots of it is empty. We soon entered Arizona, where there are lots of washes. There was the Big Sandy Wash, the Rattlesnake Wash, Peacock Wash, and Markham Wash, where Mark Ahrens goes to wash his ham. Interestingly, these washes are where all of the residents of the state come to bathe and do laundry. Due to a law passed by former governer Janet Napolitano, Showers are illegal in Arizona. She is using her new position in the Obama administration to pass similar federal legislation. In Arizona, we also encountered an evil mouse snow skiing in the sky. It was pretty terrifying. Not much else was in this part of Arizona though. There was a traffic jam for a few miles, which was entirely Victors fault, since he predicted that everything would go ok. Some suggest Victor is in league with Dratchmaster in this reguard, but he strenuously denies this. The jam let up, and after we passed a truck sleeping on the side of the road, as well as an invisible moose 20 miles long, we entered New Mexico.

New Mexico is truly a pointless state. There is nothing there except a Carls Jr. and a Walmart it just adds time and miles to our journey. Bill Richardson should be ashamed. Josh made use of this Walmart to try and buy a headphone adapter. He came back with the most technically advanced string of adapters imaginable but it didn’t work, which shows something about adapters in New Mexico. Also, the government of New Mexico seems to exist soley to do road construction projects and to catch speeders. Vast stretched of road were under construction. And every few miles we would see one of those temporary electronic road signs that said "100 Days and Nights of Summer, COPS EVERYWHERE". Luckily, we did not experience any such cops, and after driving and driving and driving, we plowed through Newkirk, which was fast but good, and, we finally made it to Texas.

In Texas, we stopped off at a gas station to fill up and go to the bathroom, but the bathroom had the longest line of any bathroom in history, because everything is bigger in Texas (except the welcome sign). So some of us went by the side of the road. Also, this gas station was run by an old wrinkly woman, who looked as though she beat up death every day to maintain her life. She also looked as though she might be fairly grouchy, but she was in fact super nice. This is obviously very God fearing country, although God fearing has a new definition in Vega, Texas, where before you drive in front of a Church, you encounter a yellow warning sign, the kind usually reserved for signal ahead or dangerous curves or falling rocks, that warns CHURCH! Amarillo also features the "Jesus Christ is Lord - Not a Swear Word" travel center, where travellers can get a meal, shower, and a moral lesson simply by reading the sign at the front, for this was indeed the full title of the travel center. The counties in Texas have strange names. First off, they are called parishes. The strangest are Deaf Smith Parish and Oldham Parish. After intense deliberation, Victor decided he would rather have relations with a deaf Smith of unspecified gender over Arianna Huffington. We kept going. After we passed Amarillo, we noticed a giant lightning storm to the north of us. It was quite spectacular, covering the entire horizon, with lightning lighting up the sky literally every few seconds.

We were originally planning on getting to Oklahoma City tonight, and we probably would have, had it not been for the Machiavellian scheming of Dratchmaster, who left a tire in the middle of Interstate 40 just west of Weatherford, OK. Upon striking it, we exited immediately, and after realizing that no major damage had been done, decided to stay at a Holiday Inn Express, where we write to you now.

Tomorrow, we make it to Jefferson’s, despite Dratchmaster’s nefarious plots and weather control. Nothing can keep us from the delectable southern food for which we came.

Wyatt, Patrick, Alex, Victor and Josh at the Original Pancake House. Apparently it took both John and Ake to snap the picture.

The scenery of the California highway has nothing over Wyatt's fingertip. Alex works up his best tired smile for the photographer.

Leaving the great state of California.

Victor provides his usual navigation skills.

Patrick gasses up the van while Victor helps the group to see where they are going.

Ake wakes up long enough to flash a peace sign.

I'm sure by this time Josh wonders what he has gotten himself into.

The cops are everywhere.

Stuck in traffic, John decides to go hood surfing (again).

Leaving the great state of Arizona.

Patrick, Alex and Victor chow down.

Ake and Josh enjoy a few minutes out of the van.

Self portrait of Alex that includes Josh.

John takes a break and leaves the driving to Patrick.

Josh and Victor survey their Holiday Inn Express motel room.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Beginning in Weatherford, OK, we stepped out of our room at 8:15a and devoured perhaps the most delicious continental breakfast ever offered at a Holiday Inn Express. The cinnamon rolls were fantastic. This is why God made cinnamon rolls. It was like dating Scarlet Johannsen. If it were not for Dratchmaster, we would have never been given the pleasure of such a fine breakfast, so we are counting this one as a personal victory.

While John was filling up the gas tank, he discovered that the back bumper to the van had come loose, no doubt because of running over the tire the night before. However, with a few of us *slamming* it into place, we managed to get it to hold. We set out on the road, but realized our problems were not quite over yet, as the underneath cover to the van was still making a scraping noise against the front left tire. We pulled over and asked at a gas station for any type of string or cord we could use for tying the shield into place. They were nice and gave us a bungee cord with hooks on the ends that we managed to rig up in such a way that it is no longer giving us problems.

We continued to drive through Oklahoma City, and it was at this point that the landscape became much more green, as contrasted with the desert of the southwest. In Oklahoma, they have trees in the water. Throughout the course of the day, we ran across some very interesting signs including "Toad Suck Park", "Gobble-Fite Lumber Co", and my personal favorite, which we failed to get a picture of, sadly, "Badcock and More" (as if you needed more) which still perplexes us. After we got into Arkansas, we were going to phone ahead and order pizza from "Big Daddy’s Pizza", but sadly, after trying the number, we discovered that they had gone out of business. This was after going through all the drama of trying to agree on which toppings to order. We went to the Taco Bell instead, and had a very efficient pit stop.

It was around this time that Wyatt decided to digest the Horny Goat Weed, (one of the two doses), which caused him to have strange dreams all through the South. He now uses it as an excuse for any sort of erratic behavior he displays. After we passed through Arkansas, we came to Memphis, where Victor made the traffic bad. John displayed excellent multi-tasking abilities, which we will not go into detail about. After a quick bridge ride over the Mississippi River which inspired a song, we were in Tennessee. It was here that we parted with the I-40 (finally), and Josh read about fifty pages of his book. From here we were on state roads and US Highways. We have not been pulled over yet, which we are proud of.

Mark mentioned us in Hearts Up (shout out to Grace Lutheran), but Josh, Alex, and John are slightly worried that the congregation will now view them as demented. Once we reached Mississippi, the number of Baptist churches increased exponentially. Everywhere! Their only real competition appears to be the Church of Christ. John and Victor at this point elected to take a slightly different route than the GPS recommended, cutting through the back country on a slightly more direct route from the X-Files. There was a bonfire, and at one point, the road didn’t exist.

We crossed into Alabama, and made it to Jefferson’s in Albertville around 9:00p, which was exactly what we predicted. We were warmly greeted by our charmingly skeptical waitress Donna, a reporter and photographer named Jonathan (who wrote us up in the local newspaper!), and the general manager of the restaurant, Alex, who generously comped our entire meal. This Jefferson’s was obviously new, as there were not many dollar bills on the wall, but it was very nice and spacious. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and food, and had a delicious meal through and through. Ake had the BBQ platter, which he particularly enjoyed, and Alex had the best baked beans he had ever tried. All in all, we were extremely satisfied with our experience, and we were glad that we could christen the new store.

On our way out, we met two star-struck waitresses, who were locals, and who seemed very impressed that we were from Los Angeles, asking if we knew Paris Hilton or Lauren Conrad, and though they spoke ill of an ex-president who will remain unnamed, (good job in North Korea, Mr President), their acrobatic exploits have won them a place both in our hearts and on this website.

We now write to you from a Days Inn in Gadsden, the very hotel where we first encountered the Ghost Cat. We let you know if he appears tonight. Have to go to bed now.

On the road again with Victor behind the wheel.

Wyatt and Patrick waiting for Arkansas.

Leaving the great state of Oklahoma.

"Toad Suck Park" does, indeed, exist. Anyone want to guess how it got its name?

Leaving the great state of Arkansas.

They spent about 10 minutes in Tennessee.

The state of Mississippi seems to be having strange effects on Wyatt and Patrick.

Ake keeps lookout while the other are busy... shopping?

Finally the boys reach Alabama!

Patrick, Victor, Wyatt, Ake and Alex reach the first Jeffersons in time for a truly wonderful dinner. The hospitality shown to the boys is second to none.

Patrick, Ake, John, Wyatt, Alex, Victor, Josh and Donna Bond, another super hot Jefferson's waitress celebrate their arrival.

Ake meets with Reporter Jonathan.

Josh and Alex are having a good time at Jefferson's.

Alex, Victor, Ake and Patrick are joined by Manager Alex at the Albertville Jefferson's.

John shows off one of the $2.00 bills that the boys took along. They will only use currency with Thomas Jefferson to make purchases within the restaurant chain.

Someone was bemused by a dollar bill left on the wall. Who could hate "Transformers"?

Friday, August 14, 2009

What a day this has been! After we awoke, we did indeed encounter the spirit of the ghost cat, which had taken control of the alarm clock, causing it to display random times, and at points move backwards, causing temporal distortion. It was quite terrifying. Fortunately Josh was able to document the disturbance, so we have video proof. This did not dampen our spirits, though, and we soon left and made the short drive to the Gadsden's Jefferson's. On the way there, we engaged in intense debate about who snored the loudest, and crowned Patrick king as the loudest snorer. We soon arrived at the Jefferson's and had to park in the back this time, noticing their freshly refurbished patio. We decided to enter through the front, so that we could pass the entrance of Dratchmaster's café, a questionable establishment open only for 3 hours a day.

We were overjoyed when Lauren, the waitress who served us in the 2008 trip, opened the door and greeted us. She remembered us and seemed happy to see us. We welcomed the warm weather and the resulting wardrobe changes that the staff sported. Sean, the manager, greeted us, and introduced us to the other waitresses, one of whom was from California. All of them were very friendly, and seemed enthusiastic about our visit. We ordered a bunch of food, including Wyatt's entire basket of turbo wings, all tasty, and the drinks came with that crushed ice that Mary so loved. We searched for our $2.00 bills left during the first trip, but unfortunately could not find them. After we finished our delicious meal, and a rousing sing-along of "Don't Stop Believing", we said our goodbyes after our meal was very generously comped.

We got back into the van and made the short jaunt to Jacksonville (like the Stephen King story "The Jaunt"). When we arrived, we immediately noticed the marquis in front, stating "Welcome Quest 4 Jefferson's". This was pretty exciting, and the van erupted in cheers (and flames, quickly put out by said cheers). We parked, walked in, and were greeted by Joy, who had served us on the previous trip. This Jefferson's was very crowded, with only one available table. We ordered only appetizers here, including wings and corn nuggets, composed primarily of corn in nugget shape. JT, a cook who had no relation to the JT who ended up in the slammer, came out and greeted us. The toilet is soon to be converted to a ride at Six Flags, named "Toilet Nation" (similar to the film "Fast Food Nation", directed by Richard Linklater). We unfortunately were again unable to find our original $2.00 bill. As we walked out, we were given a complimentary Mountain Dew for the road.

We then left for the Rome location. Upon arriving, we were delighted to see our names written on the windows, and were greeted with much fanfare, including a T-shirt, giant card, and giant $2.00 bill signed by the staff (one of whom looks like LaFayette from True Blood). They had added a new room to the back, which we ate in, and moved the tables together so that they could sit down and enjoy our meal with us. The entire staff was incredibly friendly, and one called Victor out by name, revealing to us that he was kind of a big thing in these parts. They offered to add more decoration to our van, which they did, and it turned out brilliantly, making the original URL seem sparse by comparison. Rachel spearheaded the operation to decorate our van, and Lauren served us. We had pie at this location. Mmm...pie pie pie... Victor also braved the oysters, completing the trinity. We were disappointed that we did not see Patty and Jim, but perhaps we will see them in the Belleville location. Before we left, they requested our signature on blown-up pictures of two-dollar bills, which they were going to hang up in all the different restaurant locations. We then went outside and took a group photo with all the waitresses. It was finally time to say goodbye, though none of us really wanted to. In fact, many contemplated settling down and living in Rome for the rest of our lives. After numerous hugs, we reluctantly crawled into our newly decorated van, and headed to Brentwood, Tennessee.

On the way to Brentwood, we were bombarded with countless Internet meme references from the middle seats. Not to be outdone by Journey, we engaged in a spirited Disney Afternoon TV show theme sing-along. There was much beautiful scenery. Shortly after Chattanooga, we encountered many fireworks stores, including a Big Daddy's fireworks store, who apparently left the pizza business to pursue his first passion of pyrotechnics. Across the river was his competition, called Tennessee Alabama fireworks, boasting the largest fireworks display ever, which we believed, due to the fact they also offered cold beer and gasoline. We drove on and soon arrived in Brentwood. The new Jefferson's, which is not yet open to the public, is going to prove to be a very nice location. Jeff Ninnytitcher arrived shortly after, bringing with him two pizzas he had graciously purchased for us. He shook us by the hand, ushered us inside, and gave us free reign over the liquor cabinet. It was pretty awesome having a relaxed conversation with the almighty Ninnytitcher, whose Ms Pac-Man skills pwned Alex's like a nubnub. We talked about our trip, future locations to be opened, and the meaning of life, which by the way, is Lauren. We had a dollar-bill decorating contest, which Patrick was blissfully unaware of as he sat on the throne. Jeff Ninnytitcher acted as judge, choosing Ake's for originality and Josh's via raffle, who also won as he blissfully sat on the throne. We then put our customary two-dollar bill above the doorway, as we had little competition anywhere else in the store. It was finally time to say goodbye. We thanked Jeff Ninnytitcher profusely. It was so nice of him to give us free food and come just to see us. We were grateful, and hope to see him again soon. We want him to open up a Jefferson's in the Orange Circle.

We drove off into the sunset, heading toward Belleville Illinois. We drove through Kentucky, and shortly after crossing into Illinois, stopped in Metropolis (similar to Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1929)), which featured a gas station that sported much Superman paraphernalia, including bathroom signs, and photo-op cutouts. Patrick drove the rest of the way to Belleville, but once we got here, we had a little difficulty finding a hotel, as there was a cowboy convention in town, obviously staged by Dratchmaster himself. So, we are staying in a Hilton. Looking forward to Belleville Jefferson's tomorrow.

According to the note left on the wall, their room might not meet the same high standards as, say, one would in Bombay, India.

Alex and Ake pack up from the "Ghost Cat Motel" and get ready to visit the first Jefferson's of the day.

Victor, Patrick, John, Josh, Wyatt and Ake prepare to enter Jefferson's Gadsden.

Victor meets with Manager Sean in the Gadsden, Alabama Jefferson's.

Waitress Lauren serves the gang in the Gadsden Jefferson's. Note the dollar bills hanging from the ceiling.

Josh gives "thumbs up" to the $2.00 bill decorated by the Orange County Jefferson's Crew 2. Those are eveyone's initials along the bottom of the bill.

The Gadsden Jefferson's waitress pose with the "California Kids" as they depart for Jacksonville.

Jacksonville was waiting for 'em! Victor, Alex, Ake, Wyatt, Josh and Patrick pose below the marquee welcoming them on their quest.

Patrick lets himself in to the Jacksonville Jefferson's.

John searches in vain for the $2.00 bill left on thier previous trip.

JT and Joy pose with the gang in Jacksonville.

Time to leave the great state of Alabama, heading for Rome, Georgia.

Rome was also waiting for the gang with colorful artwork. Alex, Josh, Wyatt, John, Ake, Victor and Patrick pose before entering.

The Rome Jefferson's crew presents the gang with a giant greeting card, signed by all. It's clear that Jefferson's waitresses put the "hot" in "hot wings"!

Alex and Patrick display a custom T-Shirt prepared especially for them.

The back of the shirt.

Alex poses with "Rome Welcomes the Crazy Californians!" We agree, they are crazy.

John and the "Jefferson's Tour 2009". The kids should have sold tickets.

Victor downs a plate of oysters in Rome, Georgia.

Beautiful and artistic! Plus, the van looks good too!

It's a wonder that several of the boys didn't come home engaged. Time to leave Rome and head into Tennessee.

Alex, Victor, Patrick, Wyatt, Josh and Ake meet with Jeff "Ninnytitcher" Webb and the soon to be opened in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Looks like they were serious about "access to the liquor cabinet".

Jeff "Ninnytitcher" Webb changes his mind about the liquor cabinet.

Jeff Webb (founder of Jefferson's) serves pizza and drinks to the gang.

Victor takes a tour of the kitchen while discussing with Jeff Webb how he might open a Jefferson's in California.

The $2.00 bill placed above the threshold in the soon to be opened Jefferson's.

Alex being "pwned like a nubnub" at Ms Pac-Man.

Ake shows off his prize for winning the most original dollar bill decorating contest.

Josh and his T-Shirt drawing prize.

Victor stands guard. I hope they remembered to remove that Coke can before leaving.

Josh and Ake pose in Metropolis.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Hey Nonny Nonny,

We woke up at the Hilton Garden Inn, where Alex took a 30-minute shower. Victor officially conceded defeat to Patrick in the snoring contest. After checking out, we made the drive to the Belleville Jefferson’s. When we arrived, we were the first people there, but by the time we left, it was quite full, as were we. Our waitresses were Sarah and Kacie, and they treated us very well. Little Jim called, and instructed them to comp our meal. He was sad he could not be there, but had to take care of his children. Victor realized his dream of becoming an air traffic controller, but quit after killing 137 girl scouts and drinking himself into a deep depression.

While we were there, we saw Stephen King sitting in the Richard Dreyfuss booth. King was not in Krippendorf’s Tribe. The cool thing about this particular Jefferson’s, as Ninnytitcher put it, was that they are "out of sight, out of mind", and thus are able to experiment with their menu. We tried out their fried macaroni and toasted ravioli, which was quite good. Josh once again confirmed the "Go to the bathroom and get a free t-shirt" theorem, and John was able to locate the OCJC dollar bill from the first trip. We thanked them, and left for Lawrence, Kansas.

On the way we experienced a little bit of rain. We drove through St. Louis and saw the Gateway Arch. St. Louis himself was not there; he was off interceding to God for our sins, though his arch was pretty badass.

We arrived in Kansas, saw Dorothy’s house (though she had moved), and after missing our first exit, made it to Lawrence. Lisa Bari would be proud. It was raining, so we kind of had to skedaddle in order to avoid getting very wet. The owner at Lawrence greeted us immediately and generously gave all of us free T-shirts and appetizers. We were once again able to locate the 2008 dollar bill hung to the ceiling along with Mary Whitelaw’s Pac-man dollar. Alex and Victor re-entered their 90s alternative rock band. It was here that we met Gary Busey, who was truly enamored with our trip, and Victor in particular, and wished us good luck. Our waitress was impressed to see we paid exclusively with two dollar bills.

After we left Lawrence, The Village Witch showed up and tried to steal us. After giving her the slip, we managed to make our way back onto the interstate, where we composed the most amazing epic poem ever. This rivals the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. You will never, ever, ever hear this. A little later, we noted that monsters showed up in Kansas, and the battle for PF, Kansas had begun. Luckily, the military showed up because they always do. We took a pit stop in Wichita, Kansas, and John was disappointed.

Sincerely,

John Smithsoninstan and Neil LaBute, director of "In the Company of Men"

Victor, Alex, Josh, Wyatt, Ake and John (Patrick must be the photographer) pose before entering the Belleville, IL Jefferson's.

John locates their original $2.00 bill left on the original Quest4Jeffersons.

Wyatt, Josh, John, Ake, Alex, Victor and Patrick ready to order in Belleville.

The gang with hot waitresses Sarah and Kacie at the Belleville Jefferson's.

On the road again. Those hot wings may have been too much for Ake.

The St. Louis Arch. St. Louis himself was unavailable.

Leaving the great state of Illinois.

Leaving the great state of Missouri.

Outside the Lawrence, Kansas Jefferson's.

The boys dutifully left their heat in the car.

Ake poses with Jason, the owner of the Lawrence Jefferson's.

Mary's original $2.00 bill from the 2008 "Quest for Jefferson's" is found.

Alex and Victor return to their 90's alternative rock band.

Josh reviews the menu in Lawrence.

The only way to make purchases in a Jefferson's restaurant.

The final hot Jefferson's waitress of the trip. Patrick, John, Ake, Alex, Wyatt, Josh and Victor seem to have their T-Shirts and are ready to head home.

Adding another $2.00 bill next to their original from the 2008 trip.

"Gary Busey" posing with Victor, Patrick, Wyatt, Alex and Ake.

This way to the "Village Witch".

On the Kansas Turnpike they asked this toll booth operator if they could take her picture, then snapped it as she said "No".

Ake seems to resent the hex being put upon him from the back seat.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

The kids arrived home safely around 11:30p. No traffic tickets along the way. Yeah!

I was able to grab the camera, but we don't have any commentary about the last day to post yet, look back here for it RSN.

BULLETIN! BULLETIN! BULLETIN! The final report from the road has arrived!

We arrived in Amarillo around 3:00a and followed the road signs to a Days Inn. Patrick went in to check if they had rooms, but the man at the front desk seemed more interested in shuffling papers. He shuffled and shuffled for several minutes, and then told Patrick they had only one smoking room and one non smoking room available. So we decided to search around. We saw a Microtel nearby, and since we knew of them from the 2005 road trip, we went there. It was fine, except for the fact that we were totally unable to access the Internet, even though they had a network set up for free Wi-Fi. We blame Dratchmaster - his last desperate attempt to disrupt our trip. Also, images of female anatomy were featured on the door.

We awoke the next day around 9:00a for a scheduled 9:30a Departure, but didn't quite make it, leaving at about 9:45a. We stopped by the Days Inn we were planning on staying at the night before, to hijack their Internet, thus getting back at the paper shuffler. We then set off on the road for the journey home. We were soon in New Mexico again, and were quite unhappy about that, although we did gain an extra hour, which was nice. Maybe Bill Richardson isn't so bad after all. We drove through Albuquerque, which has some of the most colorful highway overpasses ever. Eventually, we came to a stop in Grants, NM. Whenever anyone writes a grant, it comes through here. We stopped to get gas, then went to a Subway. Although the time spent at the Subway was a bit longer than ideal, it was tasty, especially for Alex, who had been craving Subway the entire trip (except for when he was at Jeffersons). Victor ordered a Tunafished sandwiched.

After leaving Grants, we drove and drove and were finally in Arizona, where we gained another hour because they are not on daylight savings time. We were aware that in some cities in this state, they use speed cameras to take pictures of people going to fast, who then get a ticket mailed to them. We did not see any on the way over, however twice this time, we noticed signs that said "Speed Camera Ahead." Shortly after this sign, there would be a police car with a giant camera on top, taking pictures of offenders. It seems totally pointless for the state of Arizona to do this. With advanced warning, everyone slows down for a few seconds then speeds up again. Thus the state gets no revenue and people still speed. Janet Napolitano can go and suck it. (Not that we didn't appreciate the warning though.) Also, the state was on fire.

Arizona seemed to go for a long time. We stopped for gas one more time right on old Route 66. John was excited that they sold Lunchables and bought one. Victor also bought a BBQ beef sandwich for the car that wasn't very good. As we got closer to California, the excitement grew. Finally, we crossed the California* river, entering our home state. We had to stop briefly at an inspection station where they asked us where we were coming from and if we had any produce. But we didn't produce any. After driving and driving through the dark, we finally reached the end of I-40, and entered Barstow. It was here we stopped for gas for the final time at Terrible's Gas station. Anyone who uses the restroom at Terrible's will understand immediately why the station has this name. Also, John mistakenly bought spicy peanuts, which he did not want but Victor thought they were fantastic. Wyatt bought spicy lima beans which were interesting.

After some very fast driving on the final stretch, we finally made it back to Lake Forest. John and Alex's parents were there to welcome us. We said goodbye to Wyatt, Ake, and Josh who left for their respective houses. It was great having them on the trip. Victor spent the night because he had to return the van early next morning. The paint proved trickier than expected to remove. Windex with some thorough scrubbing got most of it, but the next morning, a razor blade was necessary to get rid of all of it. It was still worth it though, as the paint was awesome. The van return was easy, and after a report was filled out for the small amount of damage incurred form the tire in the road, it was gone. The total mileage we put on in 5 days was 4,669, although no one at Hertz seemed to care.

All in all this was a fantastic trip. In fact, many parts were perhaps even better than the 2008 Quest. We made it to all the restaurants on time, we were welcomed with great fanfare, we got a behind the scenes tour with Jeff Ninnytitcher, and had a fantastic time together. We are already discussing a future trip, when there will be even more Jefferson's. The question: will it still be done in 5 days? We will see.

*Many people know this river as the Colorado River. It is not though. It is the California River. Trust us.

A television in the bed of your pick-up truck is apparently not uncommon in Texas.