From Kira to Beverly

In order to "boldy go," one must have the right vessel to do so.  This is where Beverly comes in.

One week before I met Riss, I purchased a 2005 Dodge Neon from Carmax.  At the time, it was exactly what I needed.  I needed something reliable that could get me around Columbia, something that wasn't falling apart like my 1992 Volvo, and something that could get me to my family who were just 2 1/2 hours away in Myrtle Beach.  I named the Neon "Kira" after the Bajoran first officer from the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

A lot of memories were made for Riss and I with that car. That was the car that took us on our first road trip together, to the Bahamas.  It took us to many other road trips, such as Lake Lure, up to Virginia to see her family and, most importantly, it was the car that took us from Columbia to Louisville.  I'll never forget that day.  The weekend before, South Carolina had beaten the defending national champions, Alabama in football.  Someone in Five Points wrote the score of the game on my back windshield in lipstick and I kept it there as we drove up to Louisville.  This was also the car that got us all around Louisville and helped us explore our new surroundings. 

My favorite memory of Kira, however, was the night I took Riss to the parking lot of the Colonial Center basketball arena and let her drive for the first time.  She was so excited and got the hang of it pretty quickly!  After I took her home that night, she looked at her roommate and said "that's the guy I'm going to marry one day."

Kira was there in the first days of our relationship and was there as we began our new life in Louisville.  However, the mileage began building up and Kira began to break down. Just like the character in Deep Space Nine, Kira was not meant for long trips of exploration.  Road trips to Chicago, Virginia, Myrtle Beach (which was now 10 1/2 hours away), St. Louis and other places began to take it's toll.  The car developed a bad vibration, the motor struts gave out, the tires began giving out one by one, the cam sensor went out, the dashboard split and it was clear that we needed something new.

Riss and I did a lot of research and found that the most reliable car on the road was the Toyota Camry.  We wanted something that was durable and would last for a long, long time.  Unforunately, many Camrys were either out of our price range or had high mileage on them. No bank wanted to give us a loan because I owed more on the Neon than the value of the car itself.  It was a stressful month as we tried to get a loan.  Just when we had given up, we discovered a blue 2010 Toyota Camry with low mileage at Toyota of Louisville.  I called them up, told them our financial situation and our bad luck.  By the end of the day, they had worked with us and we walked away with the car we wanted at a pretty good deal.  We even got the color we wanted.

We named the Camry "Beverly" after Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Dr. Crusher wore the blue doctor's outfit, was reliable and kept people safe. 

Beverly has come to represent more than just a new car to us.  She's the first major purchase Riss and I have done as husband and wife.  While Kira provided great memories, Beverly will last a long time and take us to places we have never been before.  It's a car that really fits who we are, and we can't wait until our first major road trip in it!

Turkey Day

Family, football and so much food that you just want to sleep all afternoon.  Oh yeah, and there's that whole giving thanks thing. :-D  Those are the things I love about Thanksgiving!

This past Thanksgiving, Riss and I made the 9-hour drive from Louisville to Front Royal, VA to visit her family.  The past couple of years her parents have come to visit us, but this year it was their turn to host.  Unfortunately for me, I was suffering from some bad allergies.  Never a good thing before a long drive or a vacation.

The trip to Front Royal by car from Louisville can be looked at in three parts: Three hours of nothing until you hit the KY/WV line, followed by four hours through West Virginia and two hours along Interstate 81 in VA.  While the first leg is boring and the third leg is scenic, the second leg is, well, interesting.  In many places, West Virginia looks like a land that time forgot. In many towns and cities, it looks as if nothing has been built since the 1960s while the toll roads are one of the few in the US that do not accept plastic.  Overall the drive is quite scenic, especially in the fall, but we've driven it so many times that the only thing we seem to really notice are the steep and windy roads between Charleston and Beckley.  Driving through, Riss and I often wonder what people do for fun in West Virginia.  Then we remember the answer to a trivia question asked one night at trivia:  What state has more strip clubs and adult stores per capita than any other US state?  You guessed it, West Virginia.

Once we got to Riss's parents, they greeted us inside, along with their dogs Chloe and Lucy, who is a new addition to the Slaughter family.  The next morning, the food was being finished and the family came over.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous at first.  Though Riss and I have been together for three years, we've only been married for just over a month.  Unlike most everyone there, I did not grow up in Front Royal, I prefer city life 100 times more than country life, I don't like to hunt, my politics tend to lean a little to the left, and I can't play golf to save my life.  What could we possibly talk about??  In real short time, that nervousness went away.  I felt like I was part of the family and was treated like part of the family.  They're all nice people who seem to understand how important family is.  Everyone got along and the food was great.  Afterwards, everyone sat in the living room and watched the Redskins beat up on the Dallas Cowboys.  That RGIII, he's pretty good.

Side note, Riss's Uncle Mike totally surprised me when he mentioned he read a Harry Turtledove book about lizard aliens that invade the earth during World War II.  I thought I was the only geek who read that book! 

Friday was a relaxing day spent mostly at the house as a cold front moved in.  Saturday, Riss and I and her parents went into town, grabbed some lunch.  That afternoon, Riss, myself and her dad (Kevin) went to visit her grandad.  I really enjoyed that afternoon.  The four of us just sat around and talked about all kinds of things.  Kevin and I tried to fix his printer, but instead broke the cartridges.  Riss kept trying to tell us how to do it, but when you get men tyring to put something together, they listen to no one from the outside...not even those pesky directions in the box!

Saturday night was a great way to end the weekend:  We ordered Melting Pot pizza and watched my beloved Gamecocks beat the stuffing out of the Clemson Tigers. 

Our long weekend with Riss's family was great.  So great, that we were both a little sad to head out on Sunday.  As we do every time we visit, we stopped by the cemetery where Riss's grandmother is buried to pay a visit on our way out of town. 

Besides the almost bumper to bumper traffic on 81, the drive back was actually quite smooth.   I was still feeling a little rough from my allergy issues during and after the drive home, but we made it in one piece.  I even got us home in time for me to watch The Walking Dead.  (I might have gone a few miles over the speed limit in a couple of places on the way back.) :-P  

Riss's dad, Kevin (left) and Uncle Rick prepare the turkey and ham.

Some of Riss's family on the couch about to watch the Redskins.

A Mini-Trip to Cincy

Last Saturday, November 3rd, we rented a car (ours is on its last leg, but that's a story for another day) and headed up to Cincinnati for the night. Cincy is only an hour and a half away from Louisville, but it feels longer than that because of perpetual road construction, bad drivers, and traffic. I-71 has to be one of the worst interstates ever!

The reason for our trip was to attend a charity function benefiting children who have disabilities or who are from underprivileged backgrounds through the game of baseball. Many former Major League Hall-of-Famers were there, including Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, and Pete Rose (who isn't in the Hall but probably should be). We even received a VIP pass, which allowed us into a room with the players before the actual event, and included an open bar. It was in this room that I got to get my picture taken with Pete Rose. Pretty cool!

After dinner, we were introduced to the children who were nominated for the awards. One little girl was visually impaired and was wearing big glasses. She reminded me so much of me at that age. She didn't win, but still, she was so cute! The former players then shared stories of their days in the game. These stories stayed pretty PG-rated, since there were kids in the audience. I bet those same stories would be told completely differently in a different crowd!

After the event, we came back to the hotel bar for a little bit to have a drink. The next morning, we packed our bags and headed back down to Louisville to watch some football on an 100-inch projection screen!

The event was fun, and it benefited a great cause. Nathan and I were both a bit disappointed though. We get to attend these events and meet these famous people because of his job, which he has only had for two years. This is still new and exciting for us, especially so for Nathan. He's been following baseball since he was in kindergarten. Nathan is still struck with child-like wonder when he's in a room with such great players. Even though we get to do these things every now and then, it is still not a typical, run-of-the-mill experience for us. Some of the people we met at the event, though, take this for granted. If Babe Ruth were alive, having lunch with him a few times would be no big deal for them. They have the money and the influence and they know it. I guess we were both just disillusioned...

When Our Journeys Began

Riss and I standing in the clear waters of the Bahamas, December of 2009. 

It was our first trip together.

On a beautiful, Saturday afternoon in October, I stood at the altar across from this beautiful woman in a wedding dress who was about to become my wife.  She held my hands, looked me in the eyes and vowed to "boldly go" on life's adventures with me.  Those in attendance laughed, knowing good and well how much we love Star Trek.  But it really goes deeper than that.  It speaks a lot to our outlook on life in general. 

Since I was a little kid I have always been fascinated by maps.  When I was four years old, I got on a children's television show in South Carolina because I knew the capital of all 50 states.  I would get lost in maps of all sorts, wondering what it was like to see those places. Today, I have over 150 maps and about 25 atlases...and counting.   

When Riss and I first met, one of the things that we connected on right away was that we both loved to travel.  We wanted to see all the world had to offer and learn about new places.  As we would come to learn, getting in the car and going places became something that always brought us joy, and even re-connected us when things were difficult.  The first few months of our relationship were trying, I'll admit. There even came a point where we weren't sure we were going to make it.  That December, the week before Christmas, she and I got into the car and headed south for a few days in the Bahamas.  I think we were both a little nervous about how things would work.  The start of the relationship had its share of rough patches, so how were we going to handle 10 hours in a car together?  The answer: brilliantly.  With it just the two of us away from school and work, we got to know each other a LOT better.  We learned so much about each other and really began to understand one another better after that.  By the time we had reached Ft. Lauderdale to take the cruise ship over to Freeport, we were already having the time of our lives. 

The Bahamas was our first trip together.  We took long walks on isolated beaches, at brunch on the beach, danced the night away at a local fish fry, and enjoyed all the excitement around us.  (I think I ate chonch every meal, including breakfast!)  It was also during this trip that we first told each other "I love you."

The Bahamas was the first of many trips we would take thereafter.  Since the Bahamas, we have been to Niagara Falls, Lake Lure, Toronto, Washington, DC (several times since it's close to her parents), Indianapolis (very underrated city with tons of things to do), St. Louis, San Diego (the honeymoon!!), Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.  In all, we've been to 17 states in just three years.

Looking forward to many more trips together, and writing about our adventures!



Our Introduction

Nathan and I have been meaning to do this for a while now. What better time to start than soon after our wedding, right?? Although we've been together for a little over 3 years now, marriage is definitely a watershed event. We've now begun our life together.

A little about us...

 I am Marissa and my husband is Nathan. Originally from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I was born legally blind. I moved to South Carolina in 2009 to attend graduate school. The day after I moved there, I met Nathan, who is from South Carolina. He actually hired me for the work-study job I had at the museum on campus. It was apparent right away that we had a connection. It didn't take long for our friendship to turn into something more. A year later, we were both unhappy in our careers and surroundings, so he started looking for another job. Lo and behold! he applied for and got a near-perfect job working as the Exhibitions Director for a baseball museum. History, sports, museums all combined into one job - perfect! I certainly wasn't going to stay in South Carolina without him, so we packed up and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. We love, love, love it here! In the last few months, I also got a great job, working in social media for an organization that makes products for people who are blind and visually impaired. We were married October 6, 2012 in a beautiful, very "us" ceremony here in Louisville. We are so excited to start our life together in this great city!

What's up with the title?

Even if you're not a trekkie, you may have heard of the saying "Boldly go where no man {or woman, thank you} has gone before" from the TV shows Star Trek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nathan is a HUGE trekkie. He's loved it since he was little. I would have laughed in your face if you had told me three years ago that I'd be a Trek fan now. But I am. He got me into it -- that darn peer pressure!

But the name symbolizes more than just our mutual geekdom. Nathan once asked me what I wanted to see in the world. Being legally blind, I can't "see" everything, but I want to see everything. I want to go everywhere in the world, have new experiences throughout my life. The world is such a big place--I think it is imperative to see as much of it as possible. Nathan feels the same way, one of the many reasons why I love him. In our wedding vows, I vowed to "boldly go on life's adventures" with Nathan. So, we want to "boldly go" everywhere. Or almost everywhere. I'm not sure I want to go to Saudi Arabia or the North Pole!

This will be our accounts of our journeys together, whether we're journeying to Shelbyville, only a few miles away, or the Kamchatka peninsula. In the 19th century, travelogues were the big thing at the time. This will be our "travelblogue," if you will.

We can't wait to get started!