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...