Tuesday, June 27, 2006

A monkey on my back

 

She was carried like this for most of that day, she was hot and tired so I didn't blame her, just wish someone could have carried me... Posted by Picasa

Grand Canyon by Zachary

 

I am rather pleased with this picture I took... Posted by Picasa

Thursday, June 22, 2006

At the Grand Canyon

  Posted by Picasa

Day 11 Coming to you from north of Hollywood.

Memorable? Yes this trip will be that. A lot has happened since the flat in Oklahoma City. There is good news and there is bad news… The good news is that we get much better gas mileage and the bad news is that we had 800 dollars worth of camping gear and clothing and such stolen from us. We were staying in Amarillo Texas and I didn’t even think to bring the luggage roof case attached to my van into the place we were staying. To make a long story short it was gone in the morning.

That was in Amarillo Texas. The next day we made it to Arizona and the day after (father’s day) was wonderful. I was able to go and see the Grand Canyon with my family. It was my first time there and I have to say that there are no words that would do such a beautiful sight justice so I will not even make the attempt, you must go and see it for yourself. We spent a day after that still in Arizona and the next day (the 19th) we made it to Las Vegas. That is another memorable story…

We stayed in Circus Circus (it was my first time to Vegas as well) and decided to stay for two days. Over the course of those two days we lost 80 dollars (remember I am unemployed so couldn’t blow much more than that). My wife and I were feeling a little sorry for ourselves for not winning anything and then it happened. Our second night there (the night of the 20th) a fire broke out on our hotel floor at about midnight and we had to evacuate the building until almost 3 a.m. When we finally were able to return to our room we luckily didn’t have any damage to our things. I called the main desk and said that there was no way we were going to be paying for staying there that night because for half the night we were outside waiting for the fire to be safely extinguished. I called again in the morning to make sure that before I checked out there would be no charges for our second night there and was pleasantly surprised to find that they must have accidentally taken off both nights so we ended up staying free. I guess sometimes Lady Luck shows herself in unexpected ways.

My trip should be over in a few days but the memories of it will linger for some time (and hopefully if I am any kind of a father my kids will look back on this trip with nostalgia and love). I lived in Monterey California about 5 years ago when I was studying Arabic and so we will be returning there in 2 days time to stay with some old friends who we haven’t seen since I lived there. My journey will finally end when I stop at my best friend’s house in Sacramento California and pick him up to come with us for the final leg up to Portland Oregon.

Please let me know if there are any of you who live in or near Portland Oregon (my blog email is on the right hand side)… Maybe we could get a beer and hang out.

Take care.

Zachary Scott-Singley

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Day Four Across the United States (blogging from Oklahoma right now)

So we are on day four of our trip and so far we have had a lot of fun. National parks have been our lifeline during our travels because of my dog Benny. You may be asking how my luck is holding out on this trip, well if you are asking, the answer is that it hasn't been holding out at all. Today I almost wrecked my van when a tire blew off of my vehicle... Let me explain a little better, I was driving to Oklahoma City when I felt something explode on the rear of the van, the tire didn't pop, but somehow the tread on the tire blew off of it and it looked like I was driving on a balloon tire all of a sudden.

I had to slow down to 20 miles an hour and limp into the nearest tire center which happened to be Walmart. All in all it the price of the new tire was a few dollars shy of 100 so that was an unexpected expense (especially when gas is so high as well).

Something else I would like to explain is about my home and job. I have neither as of yet, but it isn't for lack of trying. I have gone to job fairs, posted my resume all over the net (ie. monster.com, usajobs, hotjobs, etc). I am willing to relocate anywhere in the US or Europe and yet I still can't seem to find work. Something I have to admit is that I have been putting off telling you all about that because it is something I am embarrassed by. My other friends who have left the military have all found work or perused school and I have yet to become a productive member of society. Another thing is that school begins in August for both my children and we still don't know where we will live or if I will even have a job by then (knocking on wood right now). That is enough of my pity party, I just thought I should be honest with those of you who have been so loyal to me during my deployment to Iraq, my homecoming, and my exodus from the US Army.

Take care

Zachary Scott-Singley

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

TRIP

So it starts this Sunday, what you ask? Our road trip across America, we will be driving from North Carolina to Oregon. It will be wonderful traveling with my family and showing them some of the things that make this country great.