Day 3: AR and OK

9:00am Drove from Little Rock to Ozark National Forest
12:30pm Stopped at a little store for sandwiches
1:00pm Searched for waterfalls, hiked around King's Bluff
3:00pm Drove to Springdale, AR
5:00pm Early dinner of veggie nachos
6:00pm Drove to Tulsa, OK
7:45pm Arrived in Tulsa, OK

Thoughts:
• There was snow on the ground but it was really quite warm, close to 60 degrees!
• There is not a lot to see in Arkansas, but the Black Angus cows are pretty.
• The waterfalls featured on Roadtripper.com were NOT easy to find, and we never actually even found the ones we were looking for! We happened to pass Pedestal Rocks Scenic Point and went on a 2 mile hike to find a random waterfall. 
• Arkansas has very strange names: Bucksnort (Ok this was in TN, sorry AR), Toad Suck Park, Pickle's Gap Village, Booger Hollow, Booger County.
• There are hardly any places to stop along the road throughout the Ozark National Park to look at the view. One of the only places we came across that was a scenic stopping point didn't even have any kind of view!! Silly Arkansas. You were nice to drive through, but you are a very peculiar place.
• Arkansas has tons of Mexican and Chinese restaurants, cuz that's the American way!
• Tulsa seems like a huge, bright, happenin city compared to anything we saw in Arkansas.
• Tulsa is super windy.

Car playlist:
John Mayer (He has become our morning ritual music)
Dixie Chicks
Ed Sheeran
Bonnie Rait
Audiobook - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Black angus cows

Mom was all about this gnarly tree

Rolling mountains

Bout the only place with food we saw in the entire Ozark National Forest!!

Nice little wood burning stove in the middle of the store

Lots of oldschool tools and food

Entrance to the hiking trail to King's Bluff

We did the trail to the right around King's Bluff to see a waterfall

Mama Ku bein a trooper on our wet hike!

Our hike

Deer tracks! We swear we saw bear tracks too, but I think they were just from a big dog :-P

We thought we missed the waterfall and we decided to have a comical attitude about it instead of a negative one. Good thing too cuz we eventually found it!

Hide ya wife, hide ya kids

Pretty overlook

Waterfall. Not huge or spectacular, but high!

Ummm part of the rail was missing?? Made my feetsies feel a little bloodless looking down!

Mama Ku tried to get one of the waterfall coming out my mouf

Posin

Waterfall

Larger view

Other side of the overlook

Hey Mama Ku!

Pretty

Another waterfall!

We loved this moss. Felt like a carpet under our feet.

Hikin back to the car

Came across this beautiful smiling horse and he got right up on the fence for us to take this shot :)

Arkansas

Pretty sky

Gonna make our way across Oklahoma next to get to Amarillo, TX!

Day 2: TN and AR

We left Nashville at 9:30am and made it to Memphis at 1pm. Stopped once for gas and stretching. 

We were gonna get barbecue in Memphis for lunch, but found a Southern restaurant instead. I had the veggie plate (your selection of 4 "veggies) and I chose green beans, lima beans, mac n cheese, and coleslaw. Mama Ku had a cup of white bean soup that had some kick to it! Good food, but nothing that different from what I get in Georgia. Perhaps we will get barbecue around Arkansas mañana.

We walked around downtown Memphis after lunch to work our legs a bit and everyone was really friendly. There is a trolley line that goes through downtown which was quite quaint. We stumbled upon a protest demonstration that appeared to be for Immigrant and Refuge Rights. I believe a lot of homeless people are getting crap from the police despite that they have nowhere to go. For lunchtime in downtown Memphis, the place was a lot more deserted than we imagined it would be.

Overall, Tennessee was an interesting place. Nashville has a replica of the Parthenon and Memphis has a pyramid. Like what?? But hey, they are memorable landmarks so props to them! Upon looking up these landmarks, I learned that "The Pyramid Arena has not been regularly used as a sports venue since 2004. The facility is currently being converted into a Bass Pro Shops 'megastore'." Yes. Interesting indeed.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that we were going to bring an induction burner for meals, but we decided last minute not to bring it and we have been managing just fine. Tonight, we split a foot-long tuna sandwich from Subway and spent a whopping total of $7.

Car playlist:
John Mayer
Audiobook - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Nickel Creek
Dixie Chicks

Our herbal tea selection, although we still haven't actually tried these yet!

Our modest but sufficient breakfast selection at the Econolodge

These spiral cinnamon rolls remind me of my childhood :)

Cool rocks along the drive

Jacob! This is for you!

Old barn

Hootie in my lap during the drive

Solar farm!

Pyramid in Memphis, TN

Mama Ku with her white bean soup and cornbread

Yours truly with a plate of veggies. Btdubs, how did mac n cheese ever get in the veggie category??

Check out this chair!! FASHION.

Trolley in Memphis, TN

Protest

Welcome to Arkansas!

Cheap gas!

Road work traffic

This older woman behind me was playin the drums on her steering wheel somethin serious while her younger passenger tried to ignore her :)

Beautiful sunset

Pretty. Look closely, there are birds all over the sky!

Just look at all those birds!!

I really loved the sky here. It was so flat during the drive, it was a really beautiful sunset. 

FISH. CHINESE FOOD. This sign just made us laugh. This is how Little Rock does things!

I'm super excited about hiking around Ozark National Forest tomorrow!! Waterfalls, here we come :)

Day 1: Tennessee

We set out on the road at 11:45am and got to Nashville around 3pm (we went back an hour). Took a pit stop in Chattanooga to stretch our legs. We've decided to pick up a postcard of each place we stop to help document our travels. Looking forward to seeing my dear friends Erin and Brandon tonight!! Mama Ku is still under the weather so she may stay and rest. I think Ima play around on my mini guitar a bit before it's time for dinner :)

Car playlist:
John Mayer
Sara Bareilles
Ed Sheeran
James Taylor


Ready to go!

Trunk packed 

More stuffs

Leaving Atlanta!

Hootie, my co-pilot

This is the non-smoking entrance. Smokers enter from the back.

Cajun boiled peanuts. Cuz I'm still Southern. Nomderful!!

Rock walls in Tennessee

Our room at Econolodge

Thanks for checkin up on us! More tomorrow :)

Night before

It's the night before Mama Ku and I head out on our road trip and we're super excited! After battling the flu (and giving it to my poor mother), we're still not 100%, but we are in good spirits. We've got most of our stuff packed and waiting by the door to go out to the Pilot in the morning :)

We are taking a pretty leisurely journey, and I'm looking forward to exploring some nature along the way. Below is the tentative schedule for the week!

Monday, 12.16.2013
Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN

Tuesday, 12.17.2013
Nashville, TN to Little Rock, AR

Wednesday, 12.18.2013
Little Rock, AR to Ozark National Park (Arkansas)
I'm really looking forward to hiking around and seeing waterfalls in this park!

Thursday, 12.19.2013
Ozark National Park to Amarillo, TX

Friday, 12.20.2013
Amarillo, TX to Albuquerque, NM
We're planning on going through Taos and Santa Fe. Should be some pretty good scenery. 

Saturday, 12.21.2013
Albuquerque, NM
We will join forces with the rest of the Ku's in Albuquerque!


Mama Ku and I are very much into eating vegetables and we are bringing along an induction burner and saucepan to heat veggies! Many of you will find this extremely unexciting, but for us, a bowl of peas or steamed cauliflower is a delicious dinner! I am also, of course, bringing my favorite snacks: dehydrated bananas, dried mango, seaweed, TJ's inner peas, wasabi peas, granola, and various herbal teas!

Can't wait to write my first official entry from the road tomorrow :)


Playlist:
"I keep blowin' down the road, well now they call me the breeze."
Call Me The Breeze by John Mayer (Original by Lynyrd Skynyrd) 

Adventure time!

Hello Ku followers, I'm so sorry I went on such a long hiatus! A lot has been going on in my life this year, but I am thrilled to be starting my blogging back with an ADVENTURE!!

What type of adventure, you ask? Well, I am road tripping to California and back! During the first week of my trip, my mother will accompany me as we explore and journey west along route 66. We'll then join my Popcycle and brothers for the holidays in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and LA! I'll then be spending several weeks hanging with family, friends, and exploring the wonders of the United States while making my way home. I cannot wait, check out the routes I'll be taking!

East to West

West to East

Fear not, I will be posting pictures, thoughts, and lessons all along the way :)  I don't leave for another couple weeks, but I cannot wait to share my experiences with everyone, so please be sure to check back for updates! 

Not all of us are Italian... But that doesn't mean we can't make fresh pasta!!

I have been dying to make fresh pasta for awhile now, even though I have attempted it before. When I did it previously, I did not have a pasta roller, which definitely made things more difficult.

I finally got one (yes I am accumulating every kitchen gadget possible) and I absolutely love it!! On this lovely Sunday, I made agnolotti (similar to ravioli) and farfalle (bow-tie) pasta!

Agnolotti

I filled the agnolotti with puréed carrot, broccoli, scallion, and tofu that had been marinated in a peanut sauce. I had made a calzone earlier this week with the same ingredients and I'm having fun making  Asian=inspired dishes fused with Italian techniques :) Agnolotti is similar to ravioli because they are stuffed pastas, but they are made slightly different. I found a wonderfully simple and easy method for these gems from this YouTube video. I have a ravioli press that I will try out soon, but I wanted to try agnolotti first. Look how cute they are!!

I've had the fried bow-tie pasta at Copeland's and decided to alter that for these little stuffed pouches. I don't like frying things because it's not healthy and makes a mess all over my kitchen! So I have been translating every fried recipe to oven baking instead. These agnolotti boiled up in no time at all and I drained and rinsed them in a colander to cool them. I then dunked each one in an egg/soymilk mixture and then into a seasoned breadcrumb powder. Broiled for about 10 minutes or so in the toaster oven and voila, look how they puffed up!! I used extra tofu/peanut sauce topped with scallions and spicy sesame oil as a dipping sauce. This would make awesome party/superbowl food! I am looking forward to trying it again with a spinach and "tofu ricotta" mixture and dipping them in marinara sauce!!

I had leftover pasta after filling my agnolotti so I made little farfalle pasta. Super easy technique found on this YouTube video. 

I'm freezing the farfalle pasta and extra agnolotti for a yummy meal down the road :-D If you've ever wanted to make fresh pasta, I encourage you to go ahead and try it!! It's so rewarding making your own and it tastes delicious! 

Vietnamese bun

I make this dish 2-4 times a week. It's super healthy, easy to make, and wonderfully delicious :) The noodles and peanuts really help make this a substantial and filling meal. I don't claim that this recipe is authentic, but it's how I make it. Grilled meat is usually added, so feel free to add and subtract ingredients as you like!

Nuoc Cham sauce / dressing

5 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup fish sauce

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (if you only have the bottled stuff, don't even bother making this)

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 Thai chilis, minced (more if you're feelin frisky)

Put everything in a container and shake. Let sit for at least an hour before using to let the flavors party together. This yields enough dressing to last about a dozen or so salads, depending on how wet you like your salad. I often double this recipe to make sure I have some for awhile; however, I always have these ingredients on hand, and I recommend you do the same!

I live alone so this recipe only yields one salad. But it's very easy to increase quantities for more goodness!

Bun salad

1/2 head of Romaine lettuce (use the other half to make it again!)

Vermicelli bun noodles (I separate about 2 inches worth of noodles from the block for 1 salad)

1 carrot, grated

1/3 of a large cucumber, half peeled and seeded, cut into small chunks

Handful of scallions, chopped (approximately 1/4 cup, or 3 scallions)

Handful of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

Handful of cilantro, chopped

Half a handful of mint, chopped (optional, I find the mint to be a bit overwhelming, but a small amount is nice)

Boil a small pot of water for the noodles and prepare the veggies while you wait. I don't time the noodles, I just test them along the way. When they're done, drain, rinse under cold water, and let drain again. Combine all ingredients into a bowl, pour dressing over, and ENJOY!!

Tips:

• Get fish sauce and noodles at an Asian grocery store. Stock up!

• Get Thai chilies in bulk. Wash, dry, put in a ziplock bag, and store in freezer. These are great to have on hand to spice up your life!

• I use a veggie peeler to make lots of small peels of the carrot instead of grating it because I find it easier and faster than using a box grater.

• When you get scallions, wash and chop all of them when they're nice and fresh. Then put them in a ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer. This way you will have ready-to-use scallions for soups, stir fries, garnishes, etc.

• Store peanuts (and other nuts) in the freezer if you have room. Freezing prolongs their shelf life because the cold keeps their oils from going rancid.