getting to texasss

I still can't believe that just two days ago I was eating lunch in central park... now i am in the middle of the desert in north texas. i saw tumble weeds and prairie dogs!

 Had a connecting flight into Dallas.. the airport was beyond huge! And the airport was full of people in military garb so I assume a huge military base was nearby. and i truly felt like an outsider when i got onto my connecting flight to amarillo when i saw a group of 40-something women hair teased, sprayed, and dyed, with enough makeup to cover 4 women each  with twangy accents and leopard print and sequined clothes-- i have truly arrived in the south!

This was the plane I took from dallas to amarillo. it was the smallest commercial plane that i've ever been on. didn't seat more than 60 people... but once you reach amarillo you realize it's not exactly a tourist destination 

This might be kinda fuzzy but you can see the circular irrigation patterns as you descend to amarillo (which is experiencing a rather heavy drought).  when i was flying to dallas a guy a few seats away told me that amarillo is cattle country. this is partly true... amarillo is also oil country. There are oil refineries everywhere and as you drive you can smell odor coming from them. weather as i flew in was 110 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 mile per hour winds. the pilot rightly described the weather as walking through a blow dryer.  

  the archetecture of homes nearby the dorms are so strange! :D

no one has garages for their cars (mainly trucks). they have car ports like the one here on the left

someone's backyard cacti

went swimming in a dam on the lake meredith recreation area. it was so nice and cold! like an oasis compared to how dry the general area is.

I finally got my webcam set up. hopefully i get skyping with people soon!

spent a day goofing off!

singing rolling stones songs in the car with scott is a favorite activity

 lookin unattractive with scott! lol

ice creammmm

had a picnic on the great lawn in central park

with amandaaaa

and janeee

i really wanted to steal this boy.... i'm a creeper :P

 bus ride back to jerseyyy

went on an awesome adventure finding hot wings and good ramen with tim!

yup

you can never add enough chili oil to a bowl of ramen!

view of manhattan from jerseyyy

The george washington bridge from a park in fort lee, nj (the sky was falling)

walking along the hudson river with maria!

a series of maria photos. :D

fun day in nj :)

Snuck into Aimee's (the kid sister, age 16) room and logged evidence! 

Went to mitsuwa with Tim (a japanese crazy market in edgewater, nj). he ate 1.5 red bean pancakes in the shape of fishies (as seen here) and 1.3 bowls of delicious ramen and was still hungry!

That's where we got the ramen... soooo good! 

japanese bookstore had.... so many hello kitty barretts. insane.

ghetto fabulous 

tim says he's still hungry but slips into a heavy sleep (i think it was a food coma) while i watched new episodes of south park! he woke up 2 hours later and ate more food... lol :P

i dont think this is a fortune!

the momma. don't ask my why i love this photo so much!

then the family went to see aimee (aforementioned kid sister) in her high school's concert choir

she's so cute! :D

summer adventure starting... now!

The parents' house in jerseyy! all of my dad's gardening is starting to yield results!

My mom has always wanted a japanese maple tree. i'm pretty sure she stole a young tree she found somewhere and is in the process of trying to make it grow large enough to plant somewhere in the front yard.

Hung around the city with Jane for lunch for a bit. we passed a park with several etchings to commemorate iconic persons and characters named Peter

My favorite one!

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a person use a public phonebooth! there's a shoulder in frame of a man who blew a razberry at me and made weird noises while in passing... presumably because i was taking a random picture on a streetcorner

Must see: "Hobo with a Shotgun"

 Frozen yogurt with Jane! fruit and walnuts and mochi on top of pomegranate, cheesecake, and strawberry flavored frozen yogurt! 0.39 cents per oz!

Home of the deep fried hot dog. i hate hotdogs but these are really good! 

lunch with jane! :)

This is an awful picture bc I was trying to be sneaky! But this was taken... I think when I switched from the a train to the L train in union square... NYPD in the subway station on one of those doofy thingies... I forget what they're called, but it made me laugh!

These are the most recent photos taken this weekend ... a day at the Iris Gardens with the sister and the momma!