New Tires!

Well, our plan had been to take a ferry over to the San Juan Islands today, but the weather was pretty cold and rainy so we decided to head back inland for the day. Before doing so, we treated ourselves to a lazy morning and some make-your-own waffles at the hotel. They were so fun to make that I even hooked Phoenix up with one :)

View from the breakfast area of the hotel in Anacortes

Our next order of business was to get new tires for my car, ones that would be fit for Alaska! We found some ATs with a good warranty and had those installed. It took a while, so we shopped a little and got some Thai food for lunch. It was still pouring down rain, so by the time we got back to the car we looked like drowned rats - lucky for Phoenix he got to stay in the car and was annoyed, but warm and dry!

After picking up my car from the shop, we didn't really know what to do. One plan was to drive around the Olympic Mountains, but the weather was so bad we figured the visibility would be too low to make it worth it. We were fairly close to Everett so we decided to play around there for the afternoon. Made several attempts at finding a beach access point, but everything was either closed, or it was raining too hard to get out when we got there. We did find a cute neighborhood park to let Phoenix stretch his legs.

My beefy new tires!

Despite having slept like a baby last night, we were both ready to call it a day around 6:30. Got a room near the highway, ate some left over Thai and watched some crime shows on tv. I'm now looking over the map and waiting for my laundry to finish up downstairs.

Island hopping

My mom and I headed to the islands today. It was only about an hours drive (maybe less?) from downtown Seattle till we were at the small ferry town outside of Everett. We decided that lunch inland would be cheaper than island grub, so we tried our luck at a Mexican food place by the shore. The food was pretty good, not extra traditional or anything, but tasty none the less. We finished lunch and took Phoenix for a walk around the small neighborhood by the restaurant.

We queued up to get on the ferry and once on, went to check out the upper deck. The trip to the first island was only about 15-20 mins long, but it was nice to sit and let someone else drive for a little while :) We drove from island town to island town all day - occasionally getting pretty turned around on the old city streets. There were lots of opportunities to get out of the car and explore the beaches and beautiful views.

Deception Pass, WA

As night fell, and we found our way to a really cool hotel set right into a hill side over looking the water. Its beautiful here! We're less than a mile away from the ferry we will take in the morning to get over to the San Juan Islands. Had a fantastic dinner at the Rock Fish Grill, a cozy little place on the main drag. I had a home made veggie burger and a couple local beers brewed on the island!

Full Circle

Today was a day of recharging and preparation. I woke up early to get a jump start on all the things I needed to get taken care of. Checked with the front desk to rent my room another night and headed off to find a grocery store. Once I did, I was again met with my weak spot - build your own salads. I made a fantastic brunch/lunch for myself and headed off for a few more errands.

Awesome sign posted at a gas station in Seattle

So, back to the hotel, errands run and dog walked, I started relaxing and taking care of the few odds and ends that needed looking up on the internet, mainly where I could get the least expensive new tires, and how exactly to get to the Arrivals section of the SeaTac airport.


Finally 9:00 showed up, and I hopped in the car to head to the airport to pick up my mom. Needless to say, it was not the effortless endeavor Google had laid out for me, but in the end I was a little early if anything. We went out to eat at a place called 13 Coins; way fancier than what I intended, but it was fun none the less. The lavishly tall leather booths and modern chandlers were really cool. I know its only been a hair over two weeks since I've seen my mom, but sitting across from her, it felt like no time had passed - I'm so excited to explore Washington with her :)

Light fixture at 13 Coins

Rainy Day Dream Away...

I had so much fun exploring Seattle today, I hadn't even intended to go downtown, but I had trouble finding my hotel and decided to drive into the city. I maneuvered my way towards the Space Needle since honestly, that was the only thing I recognized. While driving around looking for parking I found something even more interesting! I had totally forgotten that Seattle has a Rock n Roll museum, I recognized it right away from the wild architecture. Mike was on the phone with me and he agreed I should skip the Needle and hit up the rock museum.

Prayer labyrinth outside the museum.

It was really neat, there was a whole exhibit on Jimi Hendrix which included a lot of his guitars, journals, and even one of his crazy velvet jumpsuits. There were a few other rooms of exhibits, but I liked the Hendrix one the most. After a few hours of looking, listening, and playing in the interactive music studio up stairs, I went for a little walk around the Space Needle - can you believe they want $18 per person to go up? Crazy!

'If VI was IX' @ the Experimental Music Project

Nope, I didn't go up :P

At that point I was starving so I popped into a sports bar across the way for a bite and a pint. Had these strange little fritter things for dinner - they were the only vegetarian item on the menu, kind of heavy but not bad. I also had a really good local IPA, I forgot the name already, I'll insert it later if I come across it again. Oh, one of the people in the booth behind me was going on and on to his friends about how cool Austin is, totally bitter-sweet.

The sun actually came out for a few mins, and the drive back to the hotel was nice. I *really* prefer dry roads, I need new tires and new windshield wipers so bad!! After being on the road solo for over a week, I'm really excited for my mom coming to hang out with me in Seattle tomorrow. She'll be here from tomorrow night till Saturday morning, not a lot of time, but I know we'll have fun while she's here :)

Farewell, Oregon - I'll be back!

Yesterday I finally made it to Portland! I've been looking forward to exploring Portland ever since I knew I was taking this trip :) Pedro hooked me up with his friend John who graciously let me spend the night at his house. But in addition to the crash pad, John and his girlfriend also served as fantastic Portland tour guides.

We went out for dinner at Vita Cafe, which is an amazing vegetarian restaurant. I had the closest thing to real chicken fried steak I've ever had since being a vegetarian, and the mashed potatoes with almond gravy were awesome too! After that we did a small pub tour, hitting up BarBar and Amnesia - both very cool, very homey feeling bars.  I think Portland feels pretty similar to Austin, I would have really loved to have run into some live music!

I woke up around 10am this morning, John had made some really interesting suggestions for today, but since I had Phoenix with me I really couldn't do everything on the list. One thing I was really looking forward to finding though was Multonomah Falls - and it happened to be dog friendly too! I believe its the largest water fall in Oregon, and one of the largest in the United States. It was about 30 mins east of town, another beautiful drive with loads of small waterfalls along the way. Multonomah was gorgeous, and somehow even bigger than I expected! The rain let up just long enough for me to make it to the small foot bridge about half way up with falls, so cool!

By the time I made it out of the Visitor's Center the rain had really picked up and it stormed for the rest of today's drive. I gotta say, I've become a much more confident highway driver over the last week, not to say I'm not still extremely cautious, I can just tell that my stress level is going down, especially in the rain. Anyways, I'm here in a small town outside of Olympia, Washington. It's still pouring down rain, but weather.com says it might let up tomorrow!

Top of the World

Nothing too exciting today, just lots of driving! I did however stumble upon my favorite view of the trip so far. Ironicly I don't think it photographed well, but I haven't uploaded the pictures from my camera yet, so we'll see. The Oregon coast is so beautiful, I would love to live up here one day, besides I think I could really get used to not pumping my own gas ;)

It was so much prettier than this, and I was standing on the edge of a super high cliff!

When I got into Lincoln City I dropped off some stuff at the hotel and took Phoenix to the beach. He loves running into the waves to bite the white water. Now he's a wet sandy mess, but I haven't peeled the comforter off this bed, so I guess he's not hurting anything.

I stopped off at a grocery store while running some errands and got the most fantastic build-your-own salad for dinner, those fresh veggies already have me feeling refreshed. I'm chilling now in the hotel room uploading photos to a photobucket account - its slow going because the internet connection isn't great, but I'll be sure to have the login info posted as soon as everything is up :)

I think I'm falling for Oregon

I overslept this morning and was a little late getting out of the room. This was unfortunate because I was hoping to hit the hot tub one more time before checking out. I packed up my car, which had now become a total wreck (again,) I grabbed some coffee and crossed the beautiful historic bridge spanning the bay just north of the hotel.

Please reserve your instinct to scold me, but shortly after taking off I picked up a couple of hitch hikers. They were a young married couple on their way home from the Rainbow Gathering. They've been on the road for months, and are nearly to their destination in Canada. The girl, Kacy's mom lives here in Coss Bay, so thats where I dropped them off. These poor kids were exhausted and starving, they ate up all the trail mix I could put my hands on. I'm not entirely sure what inspired me to pull over for them, but I know I made the right call.

I got to the room with some day light left, and took the opportunity to rearrange the car again. Oh, and I spoke too soon, this Motel 6 has a hot tub and a dry sauna! Oregon rocks! I got in the sauna, but the thermostat wasn't up very high so I didn't stay in too long.

I've been eating Subway almost everyday, and I just felt like tonight called for something different, I hadn't eaten at all today so I decided to splurge and get myself some Italian food - Phoenix and I split dinner, and it was much better than I expected!

Awesome fountain at the Italian place where I picked up dinner

I Can't Drive 35

I spent the morning walking around 'Old Town' Eureka. My original intent was to peek in at the Eureka location of the art gallery I used to work at in Austin. They seem to be doing great, lots of familiar artists, and some really interesting new ones. I asked the owner to help me track down a piece from one of my favorite artists, his wife actually knew the exact piece I was talking about, so hopefully I'll get an email about it soon! I don't know if I'll be able to afford it, but I've kicked myself ever since the gallery closed for not having bought it then. While talking shop a bit, I got some somber news, turns out my old manager at the Austin shop passed away :(

At the recommendation of the gallery owner, I had lunch at a cool little place called Lost Coast Brewery, I've never actually had tofu tacos before, they were delicious! Talked to my friend Pedro for a bit on the phone, he hooked me up with a place to crash with one of his friends in Portland - score! After lunch I continued walking around town, Eureka is an adorable little town! The sun felt so nice I really hated the idea of getting back in the car, but I had a lot of road to cover, so in I went.


Driving along the coast was so pretty! There were lots of places to pull off for pictures, and I did my best not to pull off at all of them - still got quite a few in though ;)

About 30 miles south of Oregon I got the first speeding ticket of the trip :( I was going 50 in a 35 - damn these little mountain towns! ;) At first the cop was extremely rude and condescending towards me, but by the end of it my Texas charm had him laughing, joking around and wishing me a safe trip. Its weird, California tickets don't have the fee scale printed on the back, so I have no clue if I owe $100 or $500? He was also very insistent that the court could require me to appear in person to clear up the ticket, ha right.....

Soon after, I got to the most beautiful Motel 6 I have ever seen. I'm convinced there are no ugly views in Oregon, because there is no other way to justify my getting to watch a beautiful sunset over the water right from my room. Although I do kind of suspect that this location didn't start out as a Motel 6 - its too nice, and theres even a hot tub! As someone who has been touring Motel 6's for over a week now, I've got to tell you, Motel 6s never have hot tubs! I hadn't planned on needing a bathing suit on this trip, but I also wasn't about to miss out on a chance to get in :) The best I could do to improvise was cutoff shorts and a tank top - the water felt sooo good! I only had the tub to myself for a few lovely minutes, but the company that eventually joined me was nice too - to be honest, I've been going a bit stir crazy with Phoenix being on the receiving end of the majority of my recent conversations ;)

Walking on Broken Glass

This morning I woke up early and feeling really motivated to get on the road. I straightened up the room, did my best to catch up on the news and then hit the road. I was thinking it was Monday, so I was really frustrated by all the car shops being closed - (I need an oil change,) but when I stopped at a cool little side of the road joint it was pointed out to me that I was in plenty of time for breakfast, seeing as how it was Sunday - oops! ok, repair shops, you're forgiven :) So, this little diner was from right out of the movies, everyone knew and/or was related to everyone - this was a double edge sward because although it allowed me to fly under the radar for a bit, I was eventually singled out and interrogated about my trip. Did I know where I'd go? What would I do? Did I have everything I needed? It was totally charming, and ended with some insiders advice on the best spots to explore at Glass Beach.

About an hour down the road I found the suggested parking lot for my long awaited Glass Beech mission! It was really pretty, especially when the sun came out. I sat on some rocks right in the surf (gave up on shoes being dry) and picked through the smooth colorful pieces of glass while Phoenix romped in the waves. I found a few small pieces of cobalt, but most of it was clear, brown or green. It was really pretty when the sun came out and made everything sparkle. I tried to find the museum associated with the beach, but it alluded me. Onward!

I drove for what seemed like forever along hours and hours of winding mountain roads. Without really realizing it, I had crossed into Redwood territory! The trees went so high into the fog that many of them just got lost in the clouds. I hadn't planned on finding that tree you can drive through, but it snuck up on me, and for $5.00 I absolutely had to do it! Again, giddy tourist style, I took a whole bunch of pictures - at least this time I was the only one around ;)

Bring on the Rain!

This morning I woke up kind of late - god bless those black-out curtains ;) I did some laundry at the hotel, checked out, (forgot my pillow,) and hit the road. I fudged the law a bit and returned Brandy's call while driving, but I used speaker phone, so I'm not sure if I really was breaking the law - apparently in California there is a huge fine for holding your phone while driving. It was good touching base with her, we haven't really talked much since I left Austin. I've been meaning to catch up on my phone calls, but since finding out about the cell phone rules I've decided to put it off till Oregon.

I drove through some really beautiful country side this afternoon. Miles and miles of green grass, manicured vineyards and really steep hills! I'm not sure where the line is drawn between hills and mountains, but these were definitely pushing it. I've been really tempted to stop at one of these little wineries for a tasting, but so far I haven't. I really think its something I'd have more fun doing with a friend, and although a few advertise as being pet friendly, I really think it would just be lost on Phoenix ;)

I've ended up in another really adorable town, I can't pronounce it, its called Ukiah. Again, due to this nasty weather, I can't fully appreciate how cool it is here, though through the fog I can see that the town is nestled in at the foot of huge hills just to the west of town. I had never heard of this place before, but a looked it up on line , and apparently its been ranked as the best small town in California to live in, and someone ranked it as the 6th best place to live in the whole U.S. so I'm itching to get out this evening and see what its all about.

I just walked over to this cheesy roadside diner for take-out, and now I'm back in the room working on my plan for tomorrow. There is an organic brewery about a mile up the street from here that was recommended by the waitress, she said there is live music tonight, so I think I'll probably go check that out later. Also, there is a hot spring around here somewhere, I think its too late for me to find it this evening, but I hope to get the details on that in the morning.

This constant rain has been kind of a drag, but I've decided not to let it detour me from any of the points along the road I want to see, so once I hit the road tomorrow I'll be heading straight to Glass Beach. I've been looking forward to going there for months, its a little bit out of the way, and I had considered skipping it due to the cold and rain, but screw it, at least it wont be crowded! :)

Like a California King

Doug and I didn't get to the motel in San Jose till pretty late last night, but even still, we stayed up a few more hours, drinking beer and trying to hang on to the last few hours of our road trip. Morning came incredibly early, we were up and out of the room before 8:00am. For the first time in a week, I drove my car. The airport was only about a mile away, and it looked like it was straight out of The Jetsons! I was sorry to see Doug go, hes been a blast to hang out with, but as we speak, his flight has already landed, and he's safe and sound enjoying SXSW, I just know I'm definitely grateful to have had him along for the send off.

I went back to the motel and attempted to catch a bit more sleep, but it was to no avail; I kept getting texts and calls so I decided to go with it. I repacked the car - don't think I improved it any, but at least Phoenix's kennel is up closer to me now. I cleaned out the room and checked out. It was cold and raining off and on all morning, and I'm a nervous highway driver as it is, so the rain really kept me on my toes. It only took a little bit over an hour to get to San Francisco.

I didn't really know what to do there, but was damn sure I wanted to find the Golden Gate Bridge and cross it first thing! It was easy to find, actually happened to be on the same road I came into town on. Driving though downtown San Francisco was really cute too, beautiful architecture and really lovely views. So, I was feeling really giddy as I approached and finally crossed the bridge. I was being such a dorky tourist, snapping pictures the whole way, I even got out on the other side to take some more in the rain.

Before leaving San Jose, I had verified that it wasn't really feasible for me to stay in San Francisco, even the Motel 6 wanted $100 for a night, so I decided to press on through the next couple small towns. All was well, but by the time I made it to the beach and then to the San Rafael area I was starving! I stopped at a cute little place called The Broken Drum, and since it was raining and gross I just sorta decided to hang out there for the afternoon. They had wifi and micro-brew beer so the decision came pretty easily ;) In fact, I overstayed and ended up with a parking ticket - oops!

While I was at the restaurant I booked a room in a nearby motel. As far as I can remember, this is my first solo hotel room. Its not a bad little place, king size bed actually! Flying solo is definitely different, and I have to admit, getting on the highway by myself this morning was freaky at first, but after a few miles, I was jammin out to the radio, pulling over to check things out, basically doing whatever I wanted, it was fun, and I quickly felt really empowered :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Yesterday turned out to be all about rest and relaxation!  We left Samantha and Jesse's house in Culver City and chilled in Doug's friend Eric's backyard pretty much all day :) I took a nap in the sunshine and Phoenix totally enjoyed getting to run around!

When Eric got home from work, we went to Pasadena for some really good Indian food! It was nice having a little walking tour of the downtown area too! After all that we went back to the house and split a bottle of wine on the porch. I crashed out pretty early so the guys could hang out.

Today we have been driving all day - still a few more hours till San Jose. I can't believe Doug is leaving tomorrow :( He has been such an awesome road trip buddy, the tone is definitely going to change a bit without him!

We've been trying to stay off highways as much as possible on this trip, so we got on a little scenic road called '1' to ride up the coast. It was hands down the prettiest drive of the trip so far!  After about an hour and a half though we were informed that the road was closed, and the only detour was actually 60 miles behind us. We are at this moment still trying to right ourselves haha at least it was the pretty drive and not some west Texas b.s.!

Our hope for the day was to get to San Jose early enough to find a bar with green beer, but now I think we'd settle for a six pack the hotel room! I think the place were going has wifi so I hope to put up a picture or two from yesterday and today :)

The Time to Hesitate is Through

Yesterday was just about perfect!  We woke up, packed the car, drank some coffee and checked out of our cheesy motel.  While walking stuff out to the car I saw my first glimpse of snow! Snow capped mountains are something I've been waiting for this whole trip,  and they were absolutely beautiful!  Windmills also dotted the landscape,  not the old-fashioned wooden ones, but huge metal structures dancing in the wind. In all we only drove a couple hours and ended up with some time to kill before meeting up with Doug's friends.

Sean and Kate eventually found us at the Venice dog park, and they were awesome tour guides to Venice Beach.  Wow. It was like the 'drag' in Austin,  but turned up to eleven ;) If I lived here, I would definitely hang on that beach way too often! And, unannounced to me, our walk through town happened to lead us passed a small apartment complex where Jim Morrison used to live! Hardcore goosebumps!!

Surprising to Doug and I, we had a hard time finding a restaurant that would allow Phoenix on the porch. But, when we did, it was perfect!  Half priced drinks, in the shade, right off the beach,  and couldn't have asked for better company!  Sean and Kate are so lovely, I hope to see them again soon!

We let the minutes slide by in Venice, but picked up the slack around 7:00pm and met one of my oldest best friends and her boyfriend (our hosts for the evening) at their very cute apartment in Culver City. We walked to a fantastic vegetarian restaurant by their house, everything was vegetarian *unless * you asked for meat - such a cool concept,  Austin??

Had a great time reminiscing, drinking wine, and watching the Ricky Gervais show. There is something about knowing someone from childhood and connecting as adults that just makes you feel that all is right with the world.  I'd be lying If I said I didn't have the urge to stay way too long here,  such an amazing experience!

California!

Well, we finally made it to Jason's house last night at around 10:30. Due to the traffic and it being a Sunday, it was a bit too late to go to his local pub as we had planned, so we stayed in and went through some of the pictures he had taken of Bisbee before we arrived - he is a very talented photographer! Another late night of beers and bullshitting before crashing out in the living room. Phoenix slept in the captain's chair so as to keep an eye out for the three cats roaming around unpleased at his presence.

Morning came early, but our motivation to do anything about it came kind of late. Took our time packing up the bedding and getting ready. Showering in a home and not a hotel was a welcome change :) After getting dressed, I spent a good twenty minutes trying to rearrange the explosion of bags in the back of my car. Four days, to go from perfectly organized to chaos and back again seems like an alright pace ;)

When I finished with the car, it was definitely breakfast time. Jason had told us about a dinner he liked down the road, we eventually found it, and it turned out to have some really good veggie options - they also served really huge portions, so Phoenix was happy. After breakfast we tried our hands at repairing the chip that appeared in my windshield yesterday - not a perfect fix, but I think it looks a lot better! We had some time to kill while that dried, so I set to the business of booking a place to stay in Twentynine Palms, CA.

Never would have guessed a syringe is needed to fix a chipped windshield!

So, with glue dried, bags packed, and Phoenix loaded, we headed to California. Another beautiful, mountain filled drive. Like yesterday, this was a short trip, I guess we were in the car about 4 hours, 5 max. I spent the first half of the drive attaching new clips to Phoenix's backpack - I pictured that being an easy fix, but it took forever! After passing into California, we drove right into another beautiful sunset, again it seemed to just get prettier as the minutes passed - I don't know what it is about the southwest, maybe its the mountains, but these last three evenings have been spectacular!

Mojave Desert

When the signs for Twentynine Palms started showing up, we were anxious to get some dinner and check into the motel. Since neither of us had been there before, and it was pretty dark out, I decided to pull up the address on my phone - it said 24 miles left! This sounded crazy because the town is super tiny, I called the office and was assured that yes, we were in fact about 24 miles out. I accidentally booked a motel in the wrong town - whoops!

But it worked out just fine, those are 24 miles we wont have to drive tomorrow, and I ended up getting yet another free pizza from Papa Johns for dinner! We finally found the correct motel in the neighboring town of Joshua Tree. Its a nice room with free wifi and continental breakfast tomorrow. We're currently in pizza comas, flipping channels and trying to find what we can about the earthquake in Japan. Driving through the country and sleeping on a budget has kept us fairly out of touch with up to date information about these events. Such a terrible tragedy. I heard on NPR today that SXSW has already raised over $23,000 for aid, I hope that beautiful Austin love continues to pour in.

Phoenix in Phoenix!

Well, I was hoping to post my next hello from my computer,  but we are stuck in stand-still traffic on the way to Phoenix so it looks like now will suffice!

We woke up slow this morning, sipping coffee and looking at maps. I was blown away when I opened the curtains,  just as I suspected, we were surrounded by huge steep hills! They looked gorgeous against the bright blue sky!

We got out by the promised 11:00am check-out and packed up the cars. We still had some exploring to do around town, so with Phoenix in tow, we walked up and down Brewery Street,  peering in the windows of closed shops and galleries - apparently no one wakes up before 11 around here ;)

One of the first places we saw open was The Stock Exchange, I'm not sure if this bar was as old as it looks, but it definitely dressed the part! Doug had noticed that their Sunday Special included an Amber from the Alaska Brew co.  So we sat on the porch, had our beer and bid farewell to Bisbee.

We picked up some lunch in Douglas and headed out to explore Chiricahua National Monument. Ok, I've seen a whole lot of beautiful over the last couple days, but this place gave me goosebumps! The rock formations were so incredible!!

I can't wait to get my pictures from the hike posted!  We took the Natural Bridge trail, I thought the first quarter of the trail had set out to kill me - unnecessarily steep! Haha, no, it was steep but very well worth it, and I felt great after. The view at the top was breath taking, I've never seen anything like it! We finished our lunch at the trail head and hit the road to Phoenix.

That brings us up to date, and still in traffic! Hope to be writing tomorrow from California :)

Shredding into the Sunset

Well, this post will probably be pretty short, the place were staying doesnt seem to have internet,  so this is being pecked out on my phone.

We left our green motel around 8:00 this morning and headed down to the next town for breakfast. Not a lot of options were available,  so we ended up at a non-drive-in Sonic. Swear to god, it took over an hour to get our food!

We had a lot of ground to cover today in order to meet Jason in Bisbee. About 10 hours is what we were figuring. Hit the road again, nearly ran out of gas before we found the most expensive gas in the trip so far, $4.19/gal!

We jammed my new mix CDs all day, and I don't think there was a single moment all day when we couldn't see mountains :) So beautiful!! El Paso seemed to take forever to get to, but was surprisingly cool to drive through - not really what I was expecting!

Bye, Texas!

Leaving Texas was fun, I got out and took some pictures,  I'll tac one up here when I get some wifi! We burned through New Mexico really fast, and the view was spectacular the whole way :)

Arizona gave us an amazing sunset which just got better and better with time. Mike, we totally shredded into the sunset with your mix CD - it was glorious ;)

On our way to Bisbee we pulled off in Douglas to find batteries, unaware of our actual location,  we came dangerously close to stumbling into Mexico. Haha oops!

We finally pulled into Bisbee around 7pm, this place is so cool! Its a badass old artist town on this hillside, I haven't seen it in the day time but saw some pictures at dinner and it looks awesome - I can't wait to wake up and check it out tomorrow!

We met up with Jason,  and he gets huge points for finding a very sweet hotel.  Its a room in what looks to be an old house above some shops on Brewery Street.  Walking distance to all sorts of good bars and restaurants!

Silver King Hotel - the little apartment on the top right was our room

Sorry,  trying to keep this short has proved difficult,  I just have so much to share!  Tomorrow were going to be checking out the town and hiking in this nearby park. Crashing in Phoenix at Jason's,  so I should have no problem with internet :)

On the road!!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my family in San Antonio. I was freaking out and afraid I didn't have time to see them, but I ended up being able to push back my plans with Christi. We all met up at the Amaya Deli, it took a while for everyone to trickle in, but we slowly circled up and looked through some old photographs I'd never seen before. When everyone got there the grill was lit and Jane and Cliff made the most delicious veggie burgers, my Aunt and Uncle can cook!  I had a great time seeing everyone, but leaving was pretty rough.

My dad drove me back to Austin, and that was really cool because he and I really haven't spent that much time together recently. We talked about plans for this year's Burning Man, as well as my plans for Alaska. I was actually really late getting back to Austin, so as soon as I could I headed up to north Austin to see Christi. I hung out up there for as long as I could before having to say my last goodbyes

When I got home Brandy was chillin with my cousin Sam, which was weird because they don't actually usually get along that well. But apparently they'd gotten their shit talked out well enough because we all hung out while I packed up my cloths. I got these awesome 'Space Bags" from my parents and they were perfect for getting way too many cloths into the back of my car ;) I had such a great time with them and Mike, and of course there was a spur of the moment photo shoot - this one involving a dinosaur toy, a hair brush and a de-christening mission ;)

Part of Sam's mission was to pick up my mattress and box-springs, so I ended up sleeping my last night in Austin on Brandy's couch. It was a bit jarring this morning when I woke up and realized how fast the clock was ticking. Brandy took off to get us Torchy's tacos and juice, which was awesome because we had our work cut out for us. While she was gone, I started packing up my car. I tetrised things around for a while and ended up finding that I had a lot more room than I needed :)

Brandy and I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. Really, it only took about three hours, but we got that place looking brand new!! Today was a day of ceremonial 'lasts', so we went to la Feria to have one last margarita together. Sitting in the sun felt awesome, and as bitter sweet as it was, having my last solo-conversation with Brandy was exactly what I needed.

4:00 was the meet up time for my final send off, which I decided weeks ago would be at Uncle Billy's. Brandy and I showed up first, then Shawna, Doug, Mike, Samantha, my dad and grandparents, and finally Mom showed up! We all ate like kings! Hugs were plentiful, and I did my best to keep it together while saying good bye to some of the very most important people in my life - until we meet again!! :)

Around 8:30 Doug and I hit the road!!! I am officially on this road trip! We didn't make it quite as far as we had hoped to because of all the water-works, but we have made it to Sanora, TX. I am currently writing from a strange dichotomy of creepy meets adorable? Everything in this room is painted sea foam green, everything! Regardless of the charming/creepiness of this place, I love that I am on the road to Alaska!!

East Austin field trip

Wow, another day of getting a lot done, and still kind of feeling like it wasn't enough! I had a great time trying though! The only thing I didn't get done that was actually on the list, was going to the grocery store - I was able to talk myself out of that fairly easily by reasoning that if I get fruits and veggies too soon before the trip they might go bad before I get to them - sound logic! ;)

My first order of business was to help Brandy get that couch into her apartment. Being the super muscular women that we are, we just dragged the sucker down the hallway. Though, as soon as we got to the door we realized we had a logistics problem - skinny hallway, skinny door, wide couch. And who you may wonder came stumbling up those stairs just at that moment? Yep, Leslie. Drunk as a skunk, but totally down to lend a hand. He actually solved the spacial relations issue we had come across and threw in some physical labor too!

After I thanked Leslie with a beer, and invited him to sign my car, I had a really quick lunch with Brandy, which wasn't on the list, but was a nice surprise. My first 'written in stone' thing to do today was to meet for a picnic with Shawna and Autumn in Zilker Park. I was looking forward to giving them these matching necklaces I had gotten for us, but also I just wanted to chill out with them, I think that might actually have been the first time that just us three have hung out. Anyways, we sat with the dogs on the south side of rock island and watched this crazy kite surfing guy for a while. As it turned out, I had messed up the online ordering thing, but lucked out and ended up getting a free pizza out of it! So we chowed down on that while Phoenix and Bobo sniffed around and whimpered anxiously. We left when it started to get chilly, I really didn't want to say goodbye, god, I'm going to miss the hell out of those two!

After the park I went home to change, and then over to my old roommate Nancy's house. I had been kind of afraid that I wouldn't get to see her before I left, so when we finally set something up last night I was very relived. Rick and Carl were over too, they are the across-the-pool neighbors. We all hung out and caught up on recent happenings, its weird, I used to see those guys everyday, but before today it had been months! Carl gave me a gift card to Twin Liquors, and Nancy gave me a $20 with specific instructions to buy this super yummy smelling body wash she had that we all decided probably wouldn't be an easy find in Alaska. I'm glad we all got to hang out, they always make me feel so at home even though I haven't lived there in ages!

I continued my east-side field trip and headed over to my friend Matt's house. I had plenty of stuff to pay his way, mostly kitchen gear, but also a few books that I wanted him to have. I get along well with him for a few reasons, but one of the reasons I've kept such an eye on him, is that he's doing what I'm right about to do. Packed a few bags and left to a town thousands of miles away, sight unseen - and, from what I can tell, has changed and grown for the better. While I was over, we watched this really interesting documentary called Fat Head. Definitely an interesting perspective - I think I'd like to watch it again some time when I'm not brain dead and half asleep. I must mention that when he signed my car, he added the first '23' - well done ;) By the way, the ceiling is almost full, I'm so glad I chose to go the chalk board direction, its come out better than I ever expected!

Drink sunsets.

Sorry for not adding a blog last night, I came home and dropped right into bed!

Well,  I woke up yesterday with a long list of things to do, first of which was to get a little vehicle 101 for the road c/o David. He also wanted to give my car a once-over to make sure everything under the hood looked road worthy - she passed! Though he did tell me to get new tires and an oil change before I take off.

My good intentions were pleasantly diverted when I reminded Brandy that we still had to have purple margaritas, and if we didn't do it now, we may not have another chance before I leave. Purple ritas are the signature drink at Baby Acapulco's - they are roomered to contain Everclear, and you are only allowed two. These have been a past-time of Brandy and mine for years, so the prospect of missing our last set was really not an option - even at 1:00pm ;)

We had a great time sitting on the patio, eating chips and salsa and drinking our purples. I'm really going to have a hard time with out her, she is my partner in crime, my sister, my voice of reason, my mirror, oh, and also shes my best friend ;) So, we spent the afternoon solving the worlds problems - as we usually do ;) Then went home for a well earned afternoon cat-nap.

I got a few more things together at my apartment, took out a few loads of trash and left some offerings down at the mail box. Now, I'm sure this happens at other complexes, but its new to me; here people leave things on the mailboxes that are basically too cool to throw away, but not really worth the trip to goodwill. I've gotten my fair of fun junk, and have probably passed-on enough stuff to sink a ship :P

Its been a long standing tradition that Tuesdays = Uncle Billy's. So around 5:30 the usual suspects met up on the porch for our $2 pints and the Big Nate's plate (french fries and onion rings with cheese and avocado - I know) In addition to the usual subjects, Bonnie met us too :) She came for the company, but also to give me some mix CDs for the road! She is such a sweet heart, I'm so blessed to have such awesome, strong, inspirational women to call my friends!

After that, without revealing too many details that aren't up for public display, I met up with Sophie and a couple friends for dinner. I suppose things could have gone one of two ways, but I feel like it actually went really well, and perhaps some burned bridges got their first phase of a re-build? Hope so. Sophie gave me this really cool print of Sark's - How to be Really Alive I love it, and it's coming along as one of the few frivolous things I'm taking with me to Alaska!

Now to power through today. I have a lot on my plate, and will probably be out until the wee hours again, so you may or may not hear from me this evening, but at the very least I'll be sure to get a re-cap out in the morning :)

Toaster trouble

This morning I woke up feeling kind of overwhelmed, so far this feeling had led to my being very productive, but today I just felt anxiety. I looked down to my phone and saw Brandy had texted me to come over for coffee. I thought a change of venue might help, so I went over for a few mins. I still felt antsy, so I headed back home and sat on my porch for some deep breathing. It took a while to get my head in the game, but once I did I decided to start slow and tackle something easy and fun. Music for the trip needed to be sorted anyways, so thats what I did for about an hour.

Brandy and I had planned to go visit Alex today but I only ended up with about 20 mins notice while I was waste deep in CDs and decisions. It worked out fine, though we only got to chill with Alex and her kids for about an hour. That was the first time I'd seen her new baby, pretty freakin cute! Him and big brother Arrion both have this cough that seems to be going around, Brandy and I have it too. It was good to see them all, Arrion is such a funny little boy, really smart too! I'm going to have to swing back by Alex's before I leave so she can sign my car - can't believe we took Brandy's car on accident!

After that I was still feeling a little off kilter, but didn't have much time to address it - doctor's appointment and I was already running late. Other than taking forever, the appointment went fine. I came back home and got back to the business of sorting through the last of my stuff. Junk drawer in my kitchen is now empty - yes! And most of my kitchen pantry got picked through by Mike. Oh, but thats not why I invited him up - this is funny! So, I went to remove my parent's toaster from the bottom shelf of my pantry (Mike insisted he take the doors off my pantry when I painted them so as to insure a pro-job) so, I go to get this toaster and its stuck, which is weird because it seemed to have room on all sides, until I investigate a little closer - Mike had drilled the pantry door right into the side of my toaster :P

My mom scooped me up to run some errands, which was really helpful because we ended up doing a couple things I probably would have skipped all together. After the running around, we went to Magnolia Cafe, one of my favorite quintessential Austin diners. Had to have that Mag Mud one more time before leaving town! Queso, black beans, fresh pico and avocado all mixed up for chip-dipping yumminess! We shot the shit for a little while, then she dropped me of at the Saloon to meet some neighbors for $1 LoneStar night. Only stayed for about an hour before my employed neighbors (suckas!) started yawning.

Tonight I think I'll go through a few more things in my kitchen, though I think I'm pretty much done :) Really just need to start cleaning, which I'm not that psyched about, but I really want my entire deposit back, so I'll do it! Man, it's really starting to look sparse in here! I think I'm also going to throw some photos up to their appropriate days, so flip back through if you care to, I think I should  have lots of eye candy up shortly!

Live. Laugh. Love.

This morning was slow and easy. I got dressed and went to Brandy's to wait for my mom to pick me up for breakfast. After coffee I stepped out of Brandy's to find Jess and her friend Lisa scratching their heads at the prospect of getting my couch down the stairs. I joined the head scratching and bribed Doug over to help. After a little bit of picking up and maneuvering, we actually decided to abandon the mission. Just too damn heavy to get down three flights safely. The couch is at this moment still sitting right where I left it yesterday, but I'm hoping to get it moved into Brandy's casa tomorrow.

So, my mom was caught in Kite Festival traffic and it took her quite a while to get to my house, but when she finally did we piled into the car and headed to Whip-in for breakfast naan. The original idea was to have coffee with breakfast, but since it took her forever and a day to get there, we scrapped that idea and ordered beers. Sitting in the sun was fantastic, spring has finally sprung in Austin. Gorgeous day, awesome food and amazing friends :)

After breakfast we came back to my apartment and left on foot for the kite festival. Doug, Brandy, my mom and I, with three dogs in tow. We walked the crowded path down to Zilker and then claimed our space right up next to the big blue bear kite. We had a few friends and neighbors stop by, Mike first, then Allen and co, then Nick. The sun felt amazing, the hundreds of kites in the sky were majestic, and the parasol photo-shoot at dusk took the cake.

Mike at Kite Fest 2011

After all that business I had dinner plans with my friend Karen. Her sister Christi was also able to make it, which was a great surprise, I'm so glad I got so see them both before leaving :) We talked about and looked at pictures from Karen's recent honeymoon to Panama. Definitely adding that one to list of places to go before I die, she saw some truly amazing things with her new husband! We talked about plans for Crater Lake, it looks like we missed the boat to actually stay in the park on the weekend of Bobby's birthday this year, so we discussed staying outside the park or possibly waiting till next year. I guess its still up in the air, but sucks that it looks like the ideal we were all imagining probably wont happen. Regardless of the bad news, it was really great to see them both, Christi gave me a beautiful silver bracelet with the inscription 'Live. Laugh. Love.' - she says it's the way she wants me to always live my life. It brought as all to tears, and I will wear and treasure it always.

Christi, Karen, and me at Hula Hut 

One big, blurry hug :)

Ok, sorry for the little hic-up there! My party last night was so amazing that there was really no responsible way to blog during it ;)

So, yesterday was my last day of work. I got in at noon, cleaned out my desk, answered all my emails, organized my paper work ect, and the day really flew by. My boss even let me out a hair early so I could make it to my party on time :) It felt weird giving her my keys, and she even joked that I could still back out if I wanted to. Kathy, my boss, is such an awesome lady. She has been like a mom to me for years, I know its hurting her to let me go, but I think she definitely understands that I need to do this.

My master plan for painting the ceiling of my car was for all the people at my going away party (and the stragglers I'm hanging out with this week ;) to sign it. Which, by the way was a huge success,  I really enjoyed reading all the multi-colored love this morning. I hope to throw a picture of it up here, maybe tomorrow, again, the sun has gone down so taking a picture now wont really capture anything.

Anyways, the party was so much fun! I really could not have ordered a better evening :) It was like one big awesome (and slightly blurry) hug! We had the party at Uncle Billy's out on the porch, and at our peak had taken up four tables, but then gradually decreased to the two large picnic benches in the back. There were several people who I would have loved to see there, though could not make it, but on the whole, it was really perfect! Even got all of my 'moms' from the Nature Center out - which is kind of a big thing ;) The Mansfield ladies also showed, which I thought was very sweet, they've really been a second family to me for years and it  wouldn't have felt right without them!

Phase two of the party took place at my complex in Mike's back yard area, and this is also where the details get sketchy....I'm told my brother climbed to the roof....Ha, I also recall being told that I had no business blogging in my condition ;) I feel like it would have been a long string of random shout-outs, I love you's, and smiley faces.

This morning I woke up, and headed over to Brandy's for coffee. We chilled out and recounted the evening, (a phone call down to Mike revealed a few clues.) After words I had a really nice time having lunch with my mom. We went to La Feria (again, with the TexMex I'm afraid to leave behind) This was her turn to check and make sure my heads on straight. I thinks shes satisfied that I'm going for good enough reasons, though at the end of the day I think shes still hoping I'll back out. Shes such a huge part of my life, and definitely one of my best friends. Its going to be really rough not seeing her everyday.

Her and my dad came over to get some of the crap that I will be keeping at their house. Basically my hope chest, and a laundry basket of things I couldn't throw away. They also helped me get my humongous couch outside. Its still up here on the third floor, but at least the battle of getting it out the door is over. Jess is coming in the morning for it, hopefully she and her friends can get it downstairs safely. I was planning to be there to help her, but tomorrow is the kite festival so I may not actually be around.

Well, so after couch moving, Mike and I basically spent the rest of the day on the green belt. We hiked to 'the mountain' and chilled out up there for a while, I got kind of depressed for a bit, I think it was a combo of Mike's music, and again realizing the gravity of what I'm really doing. Moving 5,000 miles away from the all awesome, amazing people who love and support me is starting to become quite heavy. I know its not as big a deal as it would have been even 10 years ago, with computers, cell phones, Skype, ect I will be able to get a hold of anyone, basically anytime, but I don't know, it was just hitting me kind of hard.  I guess highs sometimes come with lows, and last night was definitely a high :) I really can't express how much fun that was, really, a perfect evening!!

Yessss

So this was the last day of waking up early (for work) in my very near future (tomorrow, my last day, I go in at 12pm.) I wasn't quite as chipper today as I was yesterday morning, but this cold seems to coming in waves. Work went great, and I actually did begin to tackle cleaning out my desk. It didn't feel that unnatural, I had put that stuff there, and it was mine to take back out.

We had a meeting that lasted past when I was supposed to leave, so when I finally did get out an hour later I was kind of antsy to get to the bank for my rent money. By the way, my pro-rated rent for 11 days + water was $194. Yessss! After the bank I went to pick up sushi rice to start cooking for tonights dinner at Doug's. I got the rice cooking and traded between painting my car and tending the rice for the next hour or so (if you haven't had the pleasure of cooking sushi rice, it takes a lot of attention) But, I finished painting my car's ceiling! It looks so good! I took a picture, but the sun had already gone down, so it didn't come out very well.

Well, so once the car was finished I packed up all my sushi supplies (kit, wasabi, chopsticks, ect) and a huge pot of rice and headed next door to Doug's apartment. He had beers poured (bless him) and veggies chopped! We made batch after batch of sushi - more than any of us needed, I have lunch for tomorrow covered :) We hung out for a while after, listening to music and bullshitting. Doug gave me some cold weather gear that I checked out, we all lingered till about 11 and then made our separate ways.

I just gotta say, I have been so lucky to live so close to my best friends. Brandy lives two doors down from me on the same floor, I can spit on Mike's porch (though I rarely do ;) and Doug lives maybe 100 yards from me. Its been amazing to have this set up, nothing short of ideal, and will definitely be sought out again in the future!

Tomorrow is my going away party! I'm so excited! I usually don't like a lot of focus on me, but it seems like the circumstances call for it anyways. Besides I'm also really excited for some of my friends who have never met to finally meet, and perhaps even become friends in my absence? I hope to fit in a blog tomorrow, but since the party begins right after work, it may at be short at best ;)

Oxygen Break!

Today I woke up with a huge grin on my face, and I'm pretty sure I smiled all morning long. I think the progress I made in my apartment, coupled with knowing how close I am to moving just set me off on an awesome foot. I went to work, and was insanely productive, got every single thing I set out to do, done! Its really just about tying up loose ends at this point! Its going to feel weird cleaning out my desk, are you supposed to do that on 'company time'? or do you come on your own time to do that? Actually, I'm pretty sure this is my first time leaving a job where I actually had personal things there other than my purse!

After work, I went to get paint for the (now bare) ceiling of my car. People, (or at least I,) should move more. It makes me so motivated and productive! So, I painted the ceiling, one coat today, one more tomorrow. Brandy and Mike kept me company and made fun of my fume-induced giggling. She was right though, no reason not to take an 'oxygen break' ;) So, the ceiling looks pretty good, massive improvement from that droopy headliner!

I hung out with my Mom and Doug for a little while after that, then had dinner with my good friend Samantha. We ate at Hula Hut and my veggie fajitas were really yummy. I'm trying to get all the TexMex food I can before I leave, something tells me it just wont be the same in Alaska ;) I've also heard a nasty roomer that in Alaska they make margaritas with green kool aid and tequila - just the idea makes me a sad bear!

That sort of brings us up to now, I'm not planning to do anything more tonight than watch this Charlie Sheen business everyone has been buzzing about. I have to admit that there was a time in college when I used to follow all the celebrity gossip, total guilty pleasure! But I guess a small delve back into that world wont hurt too bad.

I hope to have a picture of my fresh painted headliner up tomorrow, and perhaps if they're pretty, I'll post a picture of the sushi we're making for dinner tomorrow night! Yummm

One step closer...

Today I woke up at about 5:30 am with my chest and lungs in horrible pain. I thought I might I have strep throat, it was really retched. I called into work - told my boss that there was just no way I could make it in. I slept till about ten, and having taken some medicine earlier decided from there to slowly advance on the day.

It was great that I was feeling better, because although I'm sure I was still germy, I got through a lot of work on my apartment. In fact, my bookshelf is 97% empty (accomplishment!!) My closets are about 50% closer than they were last night, maybe even 75%?

Can you spot the dingo?

News to me, but my apartment is showing to prospective renters tomorrow. My landlord decided to bestow this info on me at about noon today (when my apartment was at its peak of destruction.) This lit a fire under my ass, which turned out to be pretty beneficial in the end. The place is now fairly presentable at the very least.