4 states in 12 hours...

Hey everybody! I arrived safely in Florida early, early Sunday morning after a long and horrendous drive that began on Saturday afternoon. After 12 hours of being on the road--the last two of which were extremely stressful with that stupid storm chasing me and all--Aaron's bed felt like a dream. It felt so good to be out of my car!
The last two days in New Orleans were great. Brianna and I explored a bit on Friday. Aside from taking 3 wrong street cars where I became the pillow of a very drunk and very stinky woman, we ventured to the French Market and had a scrumptrulescent dinner at a restaurant called Tommy's. After dinner we met Tony and one of his friend's out at a bar called Lucy's that was a bit off Bourbon Street (thankfully). We chit chatted and had a few Fireflies (this delicious sweet tea flavored vodka drink) before I spotted a hula hoop hanging from a hook high up on the wall. Boy did that open up a can of worms! Who knew I could still hula hoop my neck? It really was hilarious then watching other bar patrons trying to hula hoop :) After that little escapade we slipped out and headed down the street to the RedEye, this crazy, dark club where we danced for a bit before Briana and I once again tried to make our way towards Pat O'Brians--one of the famous bars in New Orleans. On our way there though we learned though that a transformer had blown on Bourbon so we opted not to walk the dark streets to Pat O"s--too dangerous. So we called it a night around 4:30. Where did the night go? Wow.
The next morning we got up early, loaded my car up and headed back down the French Market so I could experience a Beignet at the famed Cafe Du Monde. A Beignet is New Orleans famous version of a doughnut. They are these delicious little triangle-shaped, deepfried puffs that are covered in powdered sugar. Mmmm mmm good. After a couple Beignets and a cafe au lait Briana and I got back in the Coop and headed towards the Lower Ninth Ward to take a tour of the quarters most effected by Hurricane Katrina. Whata a sobering experience. It was unbelievable how much of the quarters were still in ruins. Street after street was filled with dillapidated houses, schools and businesses. It really was tragic to see that after almost 4 years from this storm a lot of the city still hadn't recovered. Many houses still had the quadrants that were tagged on the houses with spray paint during the storm. The quadrant provided necessary information to officials and rescue workers conveying the date the house had been searched, whether it had been cleared and how many bodies were found--the dead count and the alive count. It really put into perspective what these people had to go through. In some places the water line on the buildings reached to almost 20 feet. Although it was hard to see, I am so thankful we got to see that side of the city--a New Orleans that is forever changed. Mardis Gras is no longer the one key phrase that comes to mind when I think of the colorful city, it's Katrina.
Departing from the Ninth Ward we were both a little somber in spirit--I'm glad we saved that until the end. After a bittersweet goodbye to Briana at the airport I headed back towards New Orleans and on out of Louisianna and into Mississippi.



After about an hour of driving I had to pull over and take a nap--I didn;t think there was anyway I was going to make it to Aaron's on my previous nights sleep. But the small nap revived me and I somehow miraculously drove the next 10m hours straight to Tampa. The end of the drive was horrible though, the storm had cought up with me again and at one point there were frogs hopping across the highway that was covered in inches of water! But I made it through...barely. I immediately passed out once I got to Aaron's and slept til about noon the next day. Once up, Aaron and I went down into Tampa and explored Ybor City--so cute! We spent some time at the pool and then went out for a drink later on. We were both pretty wiped though so didn't stay out too late.
After another good night's sleep we packed up on Monday and headed to the beach! When we got there the first thing we saw was this group of about 10 boys running down the beach in speedos and thong bathing suits chanting "USA! USA!" Although we never figured out what exactly they were doing, it was a hilarious way to start off my first beach day of the trip. It was a lot of fun--we just laid around and swam in the ocean all day long.
Now Aaron is back at work so I got up and ran and now I thinbk I shall go hop the fence to his community swimming pool and work on my tan a little more :)

Spring Break Florida has finally arrived! Yahoooooo!



♥ Yours Truly

Talkin bout hey now! Hey now! Iko Iko ah-nay. Joc-a-mo-fee-no-ah-nah-nay. Joc-a-mo-fee-nah-nay!

I'm a little perplexed...is the South a congenial place or should I be watching my back? I had envisioned a sunny place with smiles and drawls dripping all around me but so far it's been pouring and storming, I've gotten tailgated twice, and shot at an intersection by a pretend gun. But then of course there was the sweet waitress at the Waffle house with her warnings of a speed trap, and Duane at the Lafayette KOA who I owe my life to! Seriously. I checked into the campground around 5 o'clock on Wednesday evening and as I was about to set up my tent an angel named Duane handed me the keys to one of the cabins warning me that "the weather" was rolling in. Boy am I thankful. "The weather" did roll in. Lightning and rain like I have never seen before! I was positive that the lightning was striking right outside my cabin. It was lighting up the entire room with strikes that would last for something like 5 seconds at a time! It really was crazy, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be in a tent. I probably would have peed my sleeping bag.So anyhow, after a belly full of sushi and a good nights sleep, I arose early and packed up my stuff and hit the road for New Orleans! Yay! I was due to meet Briana there early afternoon. When I arrived I drove around a bit to check out the city before eventually meeting Briana and her friend Tony at his place. We had plans to drive out to the 9th ward to see the parts of New Orleans that were ravaged by Katrina but instead I locked Tony's keys in his apartment so we were stranded until the lock popper came. Oops. It really wasn't my fault though, he told me to shut it! Once he got his keys he took Bri and I to our hotel on Canal street where we settled in and got ready to hit the town.
We left the room and began out trek to the famed Bourbon street. That's when the craziness began. It started out with a beer and some conversation at a quaint little bar and not long after that we were stumbling down Bourbon street, taking silly pictures, wandering into blues bars, doing the electric slide and yes, even collecting beads. Ha! Bri and I were good but we saw plenty of ta tas last night. Somehow towards the end of our night we ended up on the 3rd floor balcony of a gentleman's club throwing beads to people on the wet streets. Ha ha, It's so funny what people will do for those cheesy beads!
After sneaking out of the club we opted to find food and call it a night. As we were making our way back to our hotel the rain started...and the wind. It wasn't long before Bri and I were soaking wet. We tried to avoid it for a second but then we had no choice but to surrender to the weather and so we started up with yet another photo shoot. Needless to say, we now have a bunch of pictures of two drowned rats making funny faces on the streets of New Orleans. We probably looked really crazy walking through the hotel lobby dripping wet with mascara running down our faces. I looked in the mirror in the elevator only to find that I had taken on a strange resemblance to Ozzy Osbourn. Scary.
Once in the room we ordered a pizza and I passed out before it arrived--probably a good thing. All except for that Bri went downstairs to get it and I wouldn't wake up to let her back in the room. Oops! I was in la la land--drooling and dreaming of all guys named Ryan on until the morning. And let me tell you, I am already looking forward to sleeping in this heavenly bed tonight. Undoubtedly the most comfortable place I've slept this entire trip :) Thanks Briana!

Look out Bourbon street--we're coming back for more!

♥ Yours Truly

Please excuse all of my spelling and punctuation errors, I am so embarassed.

Sneaking under fences and swapping pots and pans.

Wow, where to start? Thursday feels like a lifetime ago! Rose and I set out for Austin from Phoenix early Thursday morning and after a night in Creepysville, TX--aka Fort Stockton--we made it to Austin around noon on Friday. Yahooooo! Pulling into Austin reminded me how much I loved that city last time I visited which was just about a year ago. We quickly located the venue the Lonely H was playing and immediately ordered a Lone Star to get ourselves out of driving mode. Ahhhhh...nice, cold, cheap beer! Of course one beer led to two, two beers led to six and the music didn't stop.

We watched a few more bands before departing to Guero's for some mmm mmm good Texas queso and fajitas to refuel, and then of course more beer. After a couple more bands and a drunk, cowboy boot purchase (by moi) we decided to head to a friend's place to regroup. It seemed as soon as we got there though, the next show we'd planned to see was about to start. Sooo...back downtown where we waited in line forever only to find out that they weren't gonna let us in. Apparently we weren't the only ones that wanted to see the Felice Brothers. We didn't take no for an answer though, instead we went around back, I located a hole under the fence and SNAP! We were in. Snuck in under a fence and of course tweaked my neck--which I am still paying for, but it was totally worth it. After that we returned to Hanna's and pretty much called it a night since Rose had to be at the airport in like 4 hours. What a day! A long, awesome, drunken and long day.

After taking Rose to the Airport I said goodbye to the Lonely H and headed over to Allie's house to sleep off the rest of the morning and prepare for yet another day of drinking and music at South by Southwest (the local music festival). Me, Allie, and Natalie met up with Adriel and Barrett and headed downtown to the Levi's/Fader party. Once we had all made it in to the party--some of us wearing jimmy-rigged bracelets that the man in the striped shirt and baseball cap on the corner of 6th Street gave to us--we took advantage of the open bar, hot sun and sick beats (that one's for you Whitney, I know how much you like the "sick beats") and danced and wandered for the evening.

After a couple hours at the party, my loner ways kicked in and I split off from the group to venture up to another venue to see another band who's lead singer I fell in love with on Friday. Ange chasing a lead singer, go figure :) But it was fun. Stayed for three shows, met some nice folks and even got to hang with that saucy lead singer in between sets. Did I mention the shot of Jameson he bought me? Definitely a shot I didn't need but also one that I gladly accepted. Haha, but then he left--off to some other bar, some other show, some other gawking girl I suppose :) I'm sure that won't be the first dark, handsome heart-breaker I meet on the road...

On Sunday we had every intention of rising early and heading to Fredericksburg for the day but we got a little bit of a late start--not surprising for three girls on a Sunday :) We had all driven through the quaint, little Bavarian town and thought it looked like a cute, little place to spend the day shopping around and having lunch. We had a very delicious German-style lunch (my first Reuben) and then quickly discovered that Fredericksburg was a rediculously overpriced tourist-trap so we headed back to Austin early and did some Goodwill shopping instead. After that we headed to the market where we shopped for supper.

We made it back to Allie's and all of us girls enjoyed some chilled, white wine and cooked together for the next couple of hours. It was really fun and quite funny because Allie and her roommate moved to Austin not too long ago and don't quite have there kitchen set up yet. We were hilarious! Listening to 50 Cent and moving noodles from one pot to the next so we could also steam the vegetables and cook the chicken in the sames pots and pans. Dinner was amazing though--when we finally ate it at 11 o'clock :) Our bellies full, we spent the rest of the night (well about an hour really) watching Religulous wearing Bindhis and taking silly pictures until one by one we started to pass out. Such a fun day/night. I freaking love Austin! Maybe I'll just stay here...

♥ Yours Truly

Goal for today: don't get a speeding ticket on the way to Austin. And Go!

Sigh.

I've opted to celebrate Jenae's grandma Jean's 89th Birthday instead of St Patty's. I'm actually kind of relieved not to have to HAVE to drink green beer this year :)

The search for the Vortex.

Yesterday was a good day...maybe the best yet. Jenae, Rose and I woke early and left Debbie and Dan's house and set out for Redrock country. Situated under the towering southwestern rim of the vast Colorado Plateau and at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona is a gem-of-a-town. Aside from all of the art galleries and jewelry shops, Sedona has a world-wide reputation as a spiritual mecca and attracts many people who are embarking on spiritual journeys. It is known to have many vortex sites which, in basic terms are simply locations on the earth where enhanced energy flows out and which are believed to facilitate prayer, meditation and mind/body healing.
After a nice Southwestern style lunch and quick stop into the Chamber of Commerce, we were on our way out to Boynton Canyon for a quick walk up the Vista Trail to the Vortex we had been directed towards. It was surprisingly easy to find thanks to the guidance of Anne at the Chamber. Once we reached our spot we snapped some pictures, did some rock climbing and Yoga poses before we got serious--seriously spiritual that is.
Sage burning and sun setting, we all got comfortable on the red rocks and Rose got out the tarot cards. She did a nice little reading for Jenae and I and I did my best to do a reading for Rose. Now that we were all feeling a little more grounded, Jenae and I (I with much encouragement) decided to leave solid ground and climb to the top of the Vortex which we did quite effortlessly actually. Mission complete: we had found and summitted the Vortex!
We took in the breathtaking views for a few more minutes before hiking back down to the Coop and loading up to return back to Phoenix in search of a cowboy bar called Roman's Oasis.
After a speedy trip back, we tiredly turned onto Yuma St and pulled into the parking lot of the bar and changed into some suitable clothes. We made it through one beer a piece and approximately 2 Patsy Cline songs before we decided to call it a night. It seemed the Vortex had completely taken it out of us. So after a late meal of Debbie's home-cooked spaghetti, we all gladly turned in and surrendered to sleep. Aaaaahhhhh...what a beautiful day with friends and fresh air. How could I ask for anything more?


Until next time,
♥ Yours Truly

Sedona bound...

First stop, Phoenix.

Leaving for a roadtrip is about as frusteraing as saran wrap. After many hold-ups and wait-a- minutes I was finally Arizona bound early Friday morning. Lets just say the 5 hour drive was the easiest part of my day.

Once I arrived a Kedrin's house in Peoria, the hard (and fun!) part began. When I pulled up the drive, Kedrin, Amber, Jenae, Rose, Sarah J and Erika were spread throughout Ked's amazing house (seriously, Cribs style) getting ready for the day. Drinks were poured, sunscreen was slathered on, and off we went to the White Sox/Padres Spring Training game. We thought we were attending a Mariners game which would have been much more appropriate considering the 7 of us gals were gathered here by way of Washington, but it turned out it didnt make any difference which game we were seeing because we actually didn't even see any of the game. We sat in a circle, talked, laughed and just kicked it PA style.

After a brief makeover consultation with the style-starved corndog vendor, we were out into the parking lot in search of the Huss Bus. Our driver Nick pumped up the volume--and the Ga Ga--and we were en route to Salty Senoritas where we remained for (and I'm not joking) the next 9 hours.

At 5 o'clock I was sure I would parish, by 6 we were the ones doing the slaying; slaying the dance floor. Rose in her boots and random children on Erika's hip, we danced, and danced, and danced, and danced until (finally!) it was time to head home. After 12 hours of drinking we were more than ready to call it a night. But wait! It can't be that easy right? Let me just sum it up for you: alarm system. Kedrin's husband had out of habit set the alarm earlier in the day when he stopped by and we stumbled into the house and tripped it. So for 10 minutes Jenae, Rose, Briana and I scrambled to disarm it--which is tough to do when you dont know the code. So after many phone calls and an explanation to the security company, we punched in the code and were in much appreciated silence--well aside from the ringing in our ears for the next hour. Whoa, what a night!

(Now go back and read this again to learn about our Saturday except for minus the Baseball game and tack on that it was Erika's birthday and 4 hours of Karaoke when we arrived back to Kedrin's)

Again, whoa! Longest, funnest, most drunken weekend ever. And now, recovery at Jenae's folk's house until tomorrow morning when Jenae, Rose and I re-pack the Cooper and set off for wine tasting in Sedona. But for tonight it's home-cooked food, gin rummy and Sequence, and a good night's sleep. Aaaaaahhhhh.

Oh liver be strong for me for just a couple more weeks...

♥Yours Truly

I gave in.

They got me drunk and pressured me to start a Myspace account. I gave in.  Then Facebook became the mature thing to do. I gave in. Today marks the day that I can no longer use "why don't you go blog about it" as a come back. Because now, I'm a blogger. I gave in. But for a good reason, just hear me out...

As many of you know, I am at a crossroads in my life. After being laid off in December and making the heartbreaking decision to end my time working for the Frost Family I have since made about a billion plans of what to do with my time off. First it was Thailand or Australia. Then it was Poland. Now it's Florida; Spring Break 09 Daytona Beach baby! Yeah right. Actually it's Florida because a couple of my best friends live there and what better excuse to explore my own country then to drive across it to see besties right? That's what I thought. So...I will be embarking on my 5200 mile journey beginning Thursday, March 12.

When I made this solo plan I had no idea that my timing would be so perfect. It just so happens that many of my friends will be in the same cities at the same time as me. So I am excited. Excited to get away, excited to reunite, excited to drive, to camp, to hunt for swimming holes and to dig for treasure. 

I am starting this blog for you. Please join me in all of my adventures...and misadventures.

I dare you.

♥Yours Truly