Settling In

Two weeks until school starts!! I have been spending a lot of quality time with my Aunt Melissa and Cousin Kyla.. and it has been wonderful. However this strange time hovering between my old life in Philadelphia and this new one in Berkeley (with plenty of time to relax and explore) will soon end once school kicks in. For now Im enjoying myself as much as I can (although that is really hard with out Curtis here too). Melissa and Kyla helped me paint my room. I did half turquoise and half sandstone to remind me of the day we found Lake Powell on the road trip. Mr. Big (the kitty) has been a welcome addition to mine and Hiedi's apartment. He has seen several tenants come and go- its really his house, we're just visiting. After checking in with school one day last week we decided to see the Chihuly exhibit at de Young. It was incredible. In the last section there was a crazy glass forest that you could walk around.. I had the sudden urge to run and tackle one of the big glass towers and smash it all to pieces. ha, i controlled myself. Last weekend was Kyla's 16th birthday! Melissa and I spent all day cooking to create a yummy tapas dinner for us, Eric, and Kyla's friend Josie. Now that was luxurious! I loved shopping at Monterey Market and picking the tasty ingredients the day before and then spending all day in the kitchen talking and cooking. I also made the birthday cake- light and slightly crumbly chocolate cake, with white chocolate mouse filling, and whipped cream with raspberries and strawberries on top! Yummy Yummy! Next weekend is the friends party and we are all going camping!

The Pacific

Ahhhh, we have landed. After Las Vegas we drove straight for the coast and jumped in the Pacific! A perfect ending to an incredible trip! We found a small beach town south of LA, Redondo Beach, and relaxed before our last drive up the coast to Berkeley. Saturday morning we bee-lined it for Berkeley and was welcomed by Melissa and her bunnies. Now it is time for real life again.. We are off to pick out paint colors for my new apartment! Coming soon.. post-trip interview by Johnny Mathis!

City of Sin

It was a bit abrupt going from Zion NP to Las Vegas, talk about extremes... but we found the cheapest hotel on the "strip" and it turned out to be a great room! By far the most expensive place we visited.. we needed see it and run before all our money was gone. We had sushi and then went to a Pussycat Dolls show, very entertaining, and then danced the night away. The next day we went to the Palms Hotel and saw The Dark Knight... best Batman movie ever!! It kept us from spending money for 3 whole hours!! The next day we ate crappy $11 pancakes and got the hell out of that town!

Crusing Arizona, Glen Canyon, and Zion NP

The original plan did not include Arizona, instead we were planning on camping in Mesa Verde. Once we got comfortable reading the map and judging distance we realized mesa verde would be way too far for the rest of our plans. So instead we ended up in Flagstaff Arizona! Cool train town on the way to the Grand Canyon. The sky and sunset on our way through AZ was the most beautiful thing we've seen so far! 360 degree view of miles around us; We could see many storm systems passing though, rainbows, and beautiful cloud formations. The sky never looked so big! Flagstaff was a cute little college town with friendly people, good local beers, and a yummy dinner. After Flagstaff we made our way to Zion National Park. On our way we found Glen Canyon, and in it Lake Powell. Hoping to catch a good photo opp we turned off on to a rocky road near the edge of the canyon. We decided to continue through the road to see where it would lead us. We found the highlight of our trip. A gorgeous sandstone landscape with multiple shades of reds, creams, and sea greens, accompanied by a glacier fed turquoise lake! So we got on our suits, climbed down, and jumped in! We found a perfect nook, enough for two, right on the edge of the sandstone. It was a relaxing break in our driving for the day! Next stop, Zion! Zion was more unbelieveable sights! Every turn was another jaw dropping rock formation with a beautiful sky to match. We were the most lucky campers and got the very last site in the park! Another beautiful night under the stars, and this time jiffy pop!!

Guadalupe Mountian National Park

July, 21

After spanning the entire state of Texas, which is alot harder then it sounds, we reached the Guadalupe Mountians! This has to be the most beautiful camping area we've reached so far on this epic journey. The campsites were pretty packed with hikers and rock climbers hoping to ascend one of the most beautiful mountians in N. America, El Capitian. The night was nothing but relaxing, apart from the bugs that were insitant on creating a home in Lauren and my ears. But we got some great pictures and enjoyed our surroundings. Next we move on to Zion NP. Untill then ciao..

Katy, TX

July 19, 2008

A nice stop to relax with family. We stayed 2 nights in Katy visiting my Dad, Cris and the boys, Peter and James. We had a good time catching up and recharging our batteries for the rest of the trip ahead. Dad took us to the Mega outdoors store Bass. Curtis could have stayed for days! We all went for mini golf after dinner and the ladies crushed the boys!! What else did you expect? The next morning we got up early and said our goodbye’s. Bye Cris! Sorry we missed you! It was so great to see you again!

New Orleans

July17 2008

Nuvi was right… 14 hours! Those last 4 hours were really tough. I just had to keep positive in order to stay awake. Brittany and Chuck, thank you for the playlists! We wouldn’t have made it with out good music to sing to. So at 4:30 AM we dragged ourselves into New Orleans. Curtis swears he heard footsteps above us, but there wasn’t a floor above us. The ghosts of New Orleans! The next morning the neighborhood looked much different! Colorful and bright, balconies filled with plants and flowers, and everyone you passed said ‘mornin’. We went exploring the French Quarter all day. We learned that woodoo and witch craft was a major tradition here and a police officer warned us about seeing a few ghosts. We found a cigar shop that hand rolled the cigars right in front of you! We found Tujague's and made friends with a couple of locals. Curtis ordered a sazerak, a classic New Orleans drink, and Lea the bartender suggested I have a Pimm’s Cup. They were both very tasty! Jim, a man who lives near by told us a few stories about the neighborhood. When William arrived, another local, Lea had his beer poured in his own special mug, waiting for him for when he walked in. He had a big white scraggly beard, hunter green wool socks pulled up to his calves with pink converse sneakers. He is a master wood worker who has lived in New Orleans for a very long time. We continued on and found an oyster spot. There was a nice man who shucked all the oysters up front so you could watch. We ordered a dozen with some french fries and it hit the spot. Later that night we went to Couchon , recommended by Jude. It was outside the French Quarter so we were able to see a little more of the city. We ordered a few small plates and shared. The alligator was pretty tough and tasteless, but everything else was delicious! Thanks for dinner! The next morning we got up for the New Orleans classic, beignets and coffee and then hit the road... Next stop Texas!