arizona

After staying two days in Albuquerque, we spent that Saturday driving and driving and driving some more. The highlight of that day was definitely the fabulous local grocery store that had lots of authentic Mexican foods - sweet breads, huge piles of peppers - and happy Mexican music pulsing through the store. Other than that we attempted to visit a place called Acoma Pueblo, which basically an ancient city perched a top a giant rock - but would have cost something like $50, so we decided to skip it. We also passed on the kitschy wigwam hotels we later passed on Route 66 when we were looking for a place to stay that night. Although it was tempting, they looked a bit run down and also a little spendy. Instead we stayed at “OK” RV campground in Holbrook, AZ. As we have found in several of the smaller towns we’ve visited and stayed in, the people are very eager to send us lots of places and pile us up with brochures, and this campground manager was no exception. Not only did he give us loads of reading materials, we also received a very large poster of a Native American girl feeding a goat!

As we headed out Sunday morning with our armload of pamphlets, we went straight to the Petrified Forest National Park. There we saw the beautiful reds and browns of the “Painted Desert“, the cone shaped structures of the “Teepees” with beautiful layers of blues and purples, and of course all of the petrified wood you could ever want to see in your life. As I was taking pictures of the “Teepees,” I turned to notice that Guy was missing, and saw him rapidly climbing one of the structures. For someone who got so nervous about me pretending to jump from “Lover’s Leap” back in Missouri, I was a bit surprised to see him attempting this somewhat nerve-wracking (and I think against the rules) feat. When we safely returned, I asked him what that was all about, and he said, “you told me climbing one of these would prove my love to you.” Oops, I guess I had jokingly said a passing comment about that, but didn’t think he had even heard me, let alone think I was serious and do it!  Can you find him in this photo?

As the afternoon passed we learned how much of the petrified wood is stolen from this lovely place equal to one ton per month! Apparently so many people feel guilty about doing it, though, that they end up sending the stolen wood back, with letter of apology attached. All of the beautiful quartz and crystals that were embedded in these pieces of wood are long gone, though, so I was a bit saddened when we got to the “Crystal Trail” and the “Rainbow Forest” (which I imagined as this beautiful glittering and magical place glimmering with jewels, and found nothing of the sort!).

After stopping at one of the cheesy local stores "Geronimo,"selling the most hilarious souvenirs, we decided to stay at the Kaibab National Forest just south of the Grand Canyon, where we would spend the following day. It would be our first dispersed camping experience, with no showers, bathrooms, lights, or people anywhere in our vicinity. I boldly announced how excited I was to do this, and we even played some catch before sunset in our private little utopia. While playing cards, Guy turned out the lights, to show me how pitch black it would be that night, and believe me, it was dark! When nature inevitably decided to call, I swung the door wide open, only to hear what sounded like a large animal just feet away from me! Only after lots of noise was made, headlights turned on, and all flashlights, headlights, and lanterns were in use, did I venture one foot out of the van to take care of business. Oh, I am embarrassingly such a city girl.  Although there is so much more to this bathroom story, I will refrain from telling it to you, although I'm sure Guy will divulge the full details on his blog.

Well, somehow I survived the depths of the untamed wild, and we headed to the Grandest of Canyons the following morning. There is no way to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon, and so I will not even try it. My feeble attempts of capturing it on film are exactly that - feeble. But it far exceeded my expectations, and I savored every minute we spent there. It is by far my favorite experience I have had thus far on our journey.

After much, um, “discussion” that night we ended up pulling into a Walmart in Peyson, AZ, to get some rest. Under the right circumstances I can see how sleeping in a Walmart parking lot could provide an adequate and free place to stay, but this was not the case for me. Because I was rattled and the parking lot was noisy, bright and full of activity (not to mention exhaust fumes) I got about an hour of sleep that night! After a rocky morning start, we headed to Guy’s sister Margaret and her boyfriend Tom’s house in Tucson for what turned out to be a great day. Not only did they provide a much-needed shower, but lots of laughter and good company. They have three darling rescue dogs, a coop full of chickens, and Tom made us a delicious stir fry dinner followed by the most decadent chocolate brownies I’ve ever tasted!

Wednesday morning we headed down the road about fifteen miles to where my Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary live, also in Tucson. After we spent some time chatting, we took a fantastic hike by their house, where we got to see all types of cactus and local flowers and plants. We returned for an outstanding dinner made by Mary and got to hear all sorts of great stories from Jim and Mary about how they met and the many travels and experiences they’ve had. Thursday morning Jim took his turn in the kitchen and whipped up a great breakfast and generously gave us passes to the Desert Museum just down the road. I absolutely loved it there. It was full of beautiful landscaping, animals, snakes, reptiles and birds, and had historical, geological, and ecological elements to it as well. We spent several hours there, and my favorite part had to be the hummingbird exhibit, where I got to take some close up photos of hummingbirds, as well as see tiny little hummingbird nests! That evening Mary made another great meal and we got to hear some more adventure stories. If anyone could write a book about their collective stories, these two would be the perfect candidates!

Friday morning we headed back to Margaret and Tom’s and spent the afternoon at Sabino Canyon. Unlike the Grand Canyon, where we looked down over the land, here we took a shuttle bus winding through the canyon grounds. The scenery was beautiful and a great way to spend the day. After another delicious dinner we had fun hanging out playing games. Margaret and Tom caught wind my birthday was coming up and were very generous…they gave me a large iron skillet for campground cooking and two portable showers! I’m very excited to try both items out. Margaret also made me a dream-catcher fashioned from her chicken’s feathers that I promptly hung in our van. It was very thoughtful and I love it (especially because I love the chickens so much!).

After being fed chocolate chip pancakes (yum!) Saturday morning, we headed towards Phoenix, where my other uncle Jim (my dad's brother) lives in Tempe with his wife Vicki. I was ecstatic that my sister was able to fly down for the weekend to be with us there. It was great to meet my cousins Fawn and Landon, whom I had never met before. After visiting by the pool at their beautiful home, Amy, Guy and I headed out to get some pub food and walk around town. We ended up walking by the “fake lake” as we called it and then went to meet back up with the fam where they treated us to an incredible Mexican dinner at Los Sombreros. After dinner we drove up to New River to meet up with our friends Brad and Graham (who had also flown in for the weekend, like my sister) for the evening.

Sunday Guy headed out for a testosterone filled-day of playing in the dessert with the boys, while I spent time hanging out with my family. My sister and I later hooked up with her friend Shawn at Chuy’s, and then it was already time for her to leave…time goes by so quickly! We joined Brad and Graham for some dinner before crashing into bed. Monday morning we headed out for a two hour drive to the city of Sedona, where we spent the day. We drove around to see the beautiful red rocks, a unique church built right into the rocks, and hiked a trail in the blistering heat of the day (due to my bad planning).  We had intended to take an "easy" route, but accidentally veered onto a "moderate" trail which really should have been "difficult!"  There was one one point I felt as though I was going to pass out, but so glad we went on the hike despite that fact.  We walked past the cute shops and restaurants (albeit expensive), had lunch and just took in the beautiful sights of the town.

It was sad leaving Arizona this morning - but we have been able to spend time with a lot of wonderful family members.  Thanks to all the Arizona people for your wonderful hospitality, generosity and wonderful meals! 

I am ecstatic to get to currently be in state I have been longing to get to most on this trip...California.  More to come.  :)

Tulsa was dumb. There is just no other way to say it. I’m sorry if you have deep feelings of affection for this town, but really, it was just pointless. I will say it was nice to spend time in the library updating my blog, but other than that, nothing happened in Tulsa worth repeating.

That Monday night, we stayed in Walnut Creek State Park, just west of Tulsa. It was a huge park and we found an incredible campsite with absolutely breath-taking views of the lake, and made it just in time to witness a stunning sunset. While there were no working bathrooms anywhere near us, the next morning we drove a bit to find one. When I opened the door, I knew I was going to have to be really brave to get through this experience. This was by far the most disgusting shower situation I have encountered yet. You know those lovely butterfly gardens you can visit? I felt like I was at one of those except instead of butterflies, there were a million disgusting ones. As I stood under the “stream” of water (more like trickle) I had a large moth swoop in on me, a four inch unidentifiable bug dive bomb me, and several other bugs, including a few wasps circle my head. But, at least the water was hot, and I managed to get cleaned up.

Tuesday morning we headed to Oklahoma City where we stopped at the National Memorial. Its crazy for me to think that happened 15 years ago already. It was still a very powerful place to visit: seeing memorabilia hanging on the fence for loved ones and the field of chairs that stood to represent the 168 people lost in the bombing were very moving to see. There were even smaller chairs to represent the children lost, and that was definitely the hardest visual for me to see. After the memorial we just walked around the city a bit, and hung out at a park. We ate dinner at a Mexican place in the city and had some scrumptious enchiladas. I’m glad that Guy suggested a motel for the night, because it was definitely time for a break from the van. Plus, its amazing how nice it is to have a working toilet feet from your bed and not have to go outside!

Wednesday we left Oklahoma City to head towards Amarillo, Texas. We drove. And drove. And drove some more. I got a bit car sick, and during one of our gas station stops, some old men stopped Guy to talk. They were sitting at a card table in the middle of a gas station and asked him where he was from. They told him he “sure had a pretty daughter.” When Guy relayed this story to me I died laughing. He claims it’s a common saying, but I surely hadn’t heard it before, and really think its kind of creepy. Right around Amarillo, we stopped at this place along Route 66 called the Cadillac Ranch. Its basically a row of old Cadillac’s buried headfirst and covered in graffiti. Totally the type of thing you would expect to see on Route 66.

Though we had reached our destination for the night, we decided to keep going, so we could drive less the next day. We kept our eyes open for rest stops, and pulled into one just west of Santa Rosa. I couldn’t believe the line up of semis, trucks and cars at this place. I was worried we might get “busted” trying to sleep at one of these places, but obviously that was not going to be an issue. This morning we woke up and only had a two hour drive left to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I loved seeing the landscape change with the mountains and desert-like grounds and wide open sky that you could see for miles across. When we got in town all the adobe/spanish-style houses were so cute and bright colors were in abundance. Guy said he had a great place in mind for lunch, so I obliged. I indulged the most incredible huevos rancheros I have ever tasted and was in total and complete food heaven. From there we went to the “Old Town,” which is essentially, well, the old part of town. There we saw a beautiful old Catholic church and quaint little shops selling mostly pottery, jewelry, art and turquoise. It felt a bit like a tourist trap, but was pleasant either way.

Now here we are at our house in Albuquerque, staying with our first Couchsurfing host, Bob. (For those of you not familiar with couch-surfing, its basically a “service” done via the internet where you sign up to either stay at someone else’s house or host someone else at your own home.) He has a very typical Spanish-style house with beautiful landscaping and just a short walking distance to downtown Albuquerque. He took us to a delicious pizza place and then gave us a tour of downtown before heading home for the night. He has been an incredible host - totally opening us his home to us and even giving us a key to the house so we can come and go as we please while we are here. Now that’s trust!

Today we ventured out to Petroglyphs National Monument to view the ancient drawings made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. It was certainly interesting, many images were very recognizable, others…not so much. That being said, there is presently much debate from Native America members what the interpretation of such images are, so who am I to begin to have a clue? The landscape was beautiful, weather outstanding, and overall it was a very neat experience. Later in the afternoon we headed to Asian Noodle Restaurant (which was rated the best noodle place in America by some food magazine). Yum! After that we took a walk to the downtown plaza and headed home. I am hopeful that we will home out once more to get some yummy dessert before calling it a night…

missouri

I guess a lot has happened since last Wednesday…but we just haven’t made the time for blog updating! I’m hoping not to write too much to bore with details, but we’ll just see what happens.

Still in Des Moines, IA, Thursday morning we got up to go check out the leaky windshield on the van (which Guy had JUST replaced), and luckily (or should I say hopefully), it was an easy and free fix. We then went to Target to purchase a few items. I went to take out my wallet, at which time I discovered I was missing my check card and driver’s license. I couldn’t believe it! With all of the lists I had made and times I checked my bags, I forgot two of the most important items for the trip. Of course I panicked, felt stupid, etc., but to make a long story short, I discovered it was at my parent’s house (thank God), and they offered to mail it to me at my next destination.

After spending some time with Guy's uncle Jeff, that afternoon we started on our way towards St. Louis, MO. During this time I’m pretty sure the walls of the van were closing in on us (read about it in the book), but somehow we managed to stay alive until dusk, at which time we decided to pull over for the night to do some stealth camping in Nauvoo, IA. And yes, for our first night of pulling this off, we went down by the river. How appropriate. I had my first "wilderness bathroom experience," which I successfully pulled off. I woke up in the night a bit chilly (it got down to about 34 degrees!), but we made it through the night without any knocks on the window. The biggest “disaster” of the evening included me managing to drop my cell phone into the depths of the van between the exterior and interior paneling via a cup holder. After several scrapes, burns, and tools pulled out, it was finally retrieved. I think Guy is beginning to think I’m a walking accident (which, to those who know me, its kind of true.)

Friday morning Guy woke up all excited to explore the quaint little town of Nauvoo. He couldn’t wait to see what all the little tiny buildings dotted around the city were all about, since we couldn’t see clearly the night before. As we headed to the first building, Guy noticed they were starting a tour, and so we joined.  The little brick building included a man talking about the history of making bricks (how appropriate). As he spoke, the subject matter slowly began to morph into the Mormon faith, and his testimony. I think we both realized at the same time that the cute little buildings were part of an entire Mormon village. After we were asked where we had taken our "Missions", we decided to skip town and keep moving south.

Hannibal was the next town we stopped in that day, which is the hometown of author Mark Twain, and the setting which he draws upon for his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. It was a lovely little town, but thought it was a little over the top that absolutely everything was related to Mark Twain: restaurants, hotels, riverboats, even Tom Sawyer’s fence that you could write on for $10. We took a trip up to "Lover’s Leap", (you know, one of the those cliffs where couples who for one reason or another aren’t allowed to be together so suicide is the better option than not being together). A certain gentleman friend of mine got a bit upset when I decided to demonstrate what a flying leap might look like off the cliff. His response: “I told your mom I wouldn’t let anything happen to you!” Well, needless to say, I survived and lived to tell the story.

It was quite refreshing for me to end the day in St. Louis, Missouri, where we were going to be staying with my cousin Katie and her boyfriend Mark. I admittedly didn’t know a whole lot about St. Louis, but it turned out to be a beautiful city with lots of pretty brick buildings, dogwood trees in full bloom, and rich with history and culture. It felt as if we had fallen right onto summer’s doorstep. Katie and Mark had the most adorable house and were gracious to let us stay with them. They took us to dinner in the Soulard neighborhood, where we enjoyed some delicious St. Louis style pizza and great conversation outside on the patio.

Saturday morning we said goodbye to Katie and Mark, and went to pick up my forgotten cards at the downtown post office that my parents mailed to me. We both took our turns of feeling pretty sick that day, but managed to walk a little downtown, shoot some photos of the Gateway Arch and just enjoy the beautiful weather. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t go for a ride up the Arch, but due to the wait, we decided to skip it and get back on the road.

We pulled into a campsite just west of St. Louis, where we were able to cook some dinner, do some laundry and just relax. It was a gorgeous night and nice to be able to just be outside and enjoy it. Sunday we got a late start driving west, (attempting to get close to Oklahoma), where we secured a campsite in Cathage, MO. We had dinner at a local diner where the locals proceeded to peer at us with uncertain looks and the portions were GIGANTIC! Everything was smothered in sauces and gravy, and I got over 3 oversized filets of fried catfish.  I think its safe to say we are in southern territory.

As we were settling in for the night last night at our campsite, Guy decided to make one final trip to the restroom. It seemed like only seconds passed and I heard the van door open again.  “There is a goose by the men’s bathroom, and its scaring me,” he said.  Sure enough, I look down at the bathroom, and there is a large white goose honking loudly and appearing to be guarding the men’s bathroom door. My mother has told me stories of how I used to always love the geese when I was little and tried to pet them even if they hissed at me, so what was there to be afraid of now? I walked down to the bathroom with him, and after a closer look, decided maybe it was best if I just escorted him to the women’s bathroom. “What if we get trapped in here?” he questioned. There was no way I would let a goose hold me hostage in a bathroom all night. We peaked out of the door and looked, and our goose had luckily moved on, for now. Throughout the night, I heard him wildly honking, roaming the campgrounds as if he lost his baby. I felt terrible for this goose and was so worried for him! The next morning we discovered that the goose belonged to the campground owner, and it likes to be petted by men, but hisses at women. Maybe he was just hoping to be Guy’s friend, and needed some love…

Well, today are presently in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I have spent the last few hours in a library.  I am enjoying blogging, but realizing that I need to write more often so I don't have such huge blog posts.  Either that, or just write less!  Tune in soon for more stories along route 66.

iowa

The journey has begun.


Monday morning I woke up groggy, and a bit surprised that I made it through the night without waking up once, which hadn’t happened in weeks. I spent the entire morning frantically packing and getting things ready, with only minutes to spare before Guy arrived. Over the last week, I had said my goodbyes to co-workers, friends, and family, with only one remaining this morning - my mother.

We loaded the van, and just like the blink of this past week, we were ready to go. As was “custom” with several other goodbyes I experienced, I was fine during the actual farewell, but preceded to lose it in my vehicle while driving away. Today was no exception. As we pulled away, my mom was waving by herself, and the reality sunk in. I would not see loved ones for quite awhile. I have only been away from home for very short times: I never left for college, moved away, missed holidays or studied abroad. This trip is a pretty big deal, you might say.

While I was teary, I also felt a huge sense of relief, and that was quite unexpected. With all of the planning we’ve done, all of the anticipation, the moment Guy and I had been waiting for had finally arrived. As we rolled down the freeway, I was finally able to let go of all of the anxiety I’d been carrying about what had to get done.

We both wanted to get out of the “city” before taking our first stop, so we waited until we got to St. Peter, MN for lunch. We spent about an hour there just poking around. After getting turned around on the streets of Iowa a few times, we found ourselves at “The Grotto of the Redemption,” a place that Guy really wanted to show me in West Bend, IA, about 20 miles from our final destination. I had no idea what to expect, but it was actually quite impressive! Apparently a priest created this grotto out of tons of small rocks, stones and crystals, and it depicts the life of Jesus. Pretty random to have this big display in the middle of small town Iowa. Its kind of like the spiritual equivalent of the largest ball of twine. From there we went to meet up with Guy’s “grandma” Betty and husband Alvin. We went to the local diner, the “Family Table” for dinner and spent some time chatting before heading to bed.

Tuesday morning we took our time getting going for the day, and then had lunch at the local Pizza Ranch. I had never heard of a Pizza Ranch, but apparently they are pretty popular in small towns. Next, Betty took us to the nursing home where Guy’s great-grandmother lives (and is the oldest person there at 96). She was an adorable, smiley old lady, and it was so cute watching Guy interact with her. After visiting a few hours, we went to meet up with Guy’s aunt, uncle and two cousins for dinner in Sac City, where the family lives and farms. They are a great family, and it was a very fun time. Before heading out the next morning, we had a final breakfast at the “Family Table” before heading east to Ankeny, IA. It was wonderful staying with Betty and Alvin, they were very generous and welcoming to us.

Before heading to Ankeny, we met up with Guy’s friend Becca at the Art Museum in Des Moines. Not only was the museum great, but Becca was fantastic as well. She was so excited about our trip and gave a lot of helpful advice and info to us which will be invaluable for both our U.S. and South America portions of the trip. Thanks Becca!

Which brings me to the present moment…where we are residing with Guy’s uncle Jeff, wife, and two daughters. Like everyone else we’ve encountered on this trip, these people have been so hospitable, and such a nice family. We went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and are now just hanging out before heading to bed. Tomorrow we will attempt our first “solo” part of the journey - maybe camping or van “dwelling.” More to follow…

the leap

I am traveling the world over the next year.

As I write those words, I am in disbelief.  Although I've known this fact for quite some time now, it still hasn't sunk in that this trip is actually happening!  I often wonder when it will hit me...perhaps sometime along the Pacific Coast highway, or more likely when I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, trapped in the van, on the middle of some random street.  I have just spent the day celebrating Easter with my family, and tomorrow Guy and I will begin our first leg of the journey, which will include the two of us driving across the U.S. in a well-equipt conversion van.  We have spent a good amount of time getting ready for this journey, and are both feeling quite ready to begin our adventure.

When I've told people about what Guy and I will be doing over the next year, most people's responses include "Wow, I wish I could do that!" or "I've thought about doing that before but just never had the guts/money/time/etc. to do it," or "What an incredible adventure!"  And while I definitely agree with these sentiments, I have to admit I've definitely had my moments of...well...straight up panic.  Who quits their job in a terrible economy?  What if I can't find a job when we get back?  What if I get a life threatening illness while traveling abroad?  What if I break my leg and have to come home right away?  What if I get kidnapped and my kidneys are removed and I wake up in a tub of ice?  What if Guy's adorable laugh begins to sound like a hysterical hyena after months together in a van and I just can't take it anymore?  What if we're in the middle of the desert and Guy wants to break up with me?  What if I come back with nothing?  What if?  What if?  What if...

As much as I laid awake at night wasting energy on these tiring and sometimes ridiculous scenarios, what has haunted me more than anything is the thought of not going on this journey.  Of course there are the practical justifications for going: I have no mortgage, no kids, no debt.  But even more than that, ever since Guy introduced this "radical" idea to me, I have felt a sense of having to do this, desiring to do this, more than I have wanted to do anything else my entire life.  I feel as though we are on the brink of life-changing experience, and that makes the fears quiet down a bit, and the "what ifs" begin to change.  What if I learn more about myself?  What if I have opportunities I've never had and I embrace them?  What if I discover something I'm passionate about and that directs my career path?  What it this trip brings me and Guy closer together?  What if we learn how to support each other in difficult situations?  What is I return home having gained more than money, a job, a home, or so-called "security" could ever give me?  What if I realize this is exactly where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing? 

The truth is that there are going to be some really wonderful times, and some really hard times ahead.  The day is here, the time has come to move forward into this next year, with all of its unknowns.

I am ready to take the leap.