Jan 13th & 14th – Dallas, TX – “Made For TV”

Another 18 hour marathon/relay stint of driving brought us to our halfway point. Pretty hard to believe the amount of ground covered and that our journey was already 3/4 of the way accomplished. From piney mountains covered with snow to wide open, grain velvety plains it was fortunate that we could complete the majority of driving during the day and witness the vast transition between landscapes.

I felt like my seven hours of sleep lasted twenty minutes before we were up and running to our first Dallas stop. I am a shameless follower of the HGTV special “Fixer Upper”  featuring the almost too cutsie Joanna Gaines and Chip Gaines (or as I call him… the poor man’s Dennis Quaid.) Unless you live under a rock you know the show follows the remodel power couple as they design and construct custom homes from neglected or out – dated homes in the best neighborhoods of Waco Texas. Apparently they have a country store, garden and bakery as well so we made this our first stop of the day. I am impressed by the amount of people that were packed inside the store on a Thursday morning and the bakery was not yet open for business but it was still fun to see the live version of the very American dream of the Gaines family.

Our next destination was another TV favorite “Fast and Loud.” Here classic car restoration is the speacialty all taking place at the infamous Gas Monkey Garage. I have to confess this was a slight dissapointment as all we could do is view the garage from a distance. No outsiders allowed 😦 I guess that should’ve been expected.

After that our eastward journey continued. When we hit Arkansas I did my best to dredge up memories of living there in Little Rock when I was a child. I remember a German woman, two neighborhood children who accidently backed their mother’s van down their driveway into oncoming traffic, pomeranians, a grassy knoll I learned to ride a bike on and a kid that ate chalk.

It’s amazing what you retain at age 6…

And don’t worry Mom! We stopped and took a picture of the Jacksonville highway sign for you! (We know how much you love Arkansas… hahaha.)

Jan 11th & 12th – Sedona, AZ – “Paper Cows”

We were lucky to be able to stay at Uncle Jacks as our first stop on our homeward journey. Some would find it a major coincidence that we happened to have family living on our route from the west coast. However if you know anything about our family it’s actually more of a likely hood given the number of people. Uncle Jack’s house sat north of Phoenix at the edge of what he called “the purple mountains majesty”; the house, surrounding property and view were truly stunning. His recommendation was a visit to Sedona. So the next day? That’s exactly what we did.

The short ride to Sedona brought us to new elevations which became most apparent when we stopped at a rest area that was perched on the side of the mountain. I walked to the edge and looked down to the valley. In the distance grazed a herd of cattle. Because of the steep drop and my being un-used to a mountain that big it was strange to find the cows being so small. It was like a little model valley made out of paper and glue and paint. I pointed and shouted to my sister, “look! Tiny cows!” (Okay it doesn’t take much to blow my mind.)

My dad was a good sport. We drug him on a hike to see the formations that surrounded the town. In spite of the visitor center staff assuring the trail was easy to find we ended up blazing our own trail as it quickly became our only option. The small heart attack it cost me was by far worth it when we reached the top and found a view that surpassed one you might see in a current day Miramax level movie.

Since Houston I had been talking about going horseback riding. I’m sure it was a relief to both Dad and Sister that I finally found a place to ride. Sister and I happened to be the only two that booked the tour so we were able to cover some extra ground and ride a longer trail to the top of the mountain. The landscape was a balanced combination of beauty and cruelty. Sparkling red earth, thicket bush, round spikey cacti and rocks of all shape and size were thickly spread over the ground as far as the eye could see. Our tour guide said “if it doesn’t bite you, stab you or sting you, you won’t find it in Arizona!” Well that may be true but it sure looks good while it’s biting, stabbing and stinging.

We rounded out the day with unexpectadley authentic Brooklyn style pizza, good spirits and wonderful conversation with Uncle Jack. He shared stories about his career and of his upbringing with my grandfather  (his brother) and asked Rachel and I all kinds of questions about other places we had traveled to, what it was like being homeschooled etc.

I asked him how he defined success and he told me “success is not measured in money or things, it is measured in how greatly and how positively we’ve affected the people around us.”

Those words will stick to me like tattoo ink.

Jan 9th & 10th – San Diego, CA – “One in $292,000,000”

Entering Camp Pendleton was like entering the Narnia of bases. We passed a blend of military and recreational lots all whom were set between 200 square miles of rolling green hills. “This is like a spa base!” I joked with my dad. Later Max would describe this place as “having three seasons… green, brown and on fire!” Brother was waiting for us outside the barracks with his questionable hair cut, NJ Devils T-shirt and a pillowcase full of clothes.

Our first stop as a complete unit was the coast of course! However this beach had red sand cliffs you had to climb down to get to the water… good thing I wore my white jeans. Despite the number of strangers sitting along the cliff with us in silence, watching the sun go down over the ocean was both peaceful and reflective.

After that? Beer time.

The waitress’s puzzled reaction to my dad ordering a Red Death was next to priceless. I introduced sister to the magic of the Mojito  (like a good big sister) and my brother and I split a local beer flight… with a beer chaser.

True to form Dad sniffed out a car show in the area on Saturday morning. I’m not sure what my expectations were but whatever their nature they were far surpassed. We found a substantial collection of classic cars ranging from the 30’s to the 70’s. It was a glittering display of chopped/muscle/roadster madness and made me feel right at home. I even found my baby in the mix… a ’72 cherry red Chevelle 😉

The afternoon brought us to Balboa park near San Diego’s city center. We spent the majority of the time in the park center touring the museums and Japanese Friendship garden; all while planning what we would do with the $500,000,000 we were sure to win with one of the six Powerball tickets we had purchased. HAHAHAHAHA (Sorry I had to laugh at that.)

Max had to leave at 3:30am Monday morning for training at the range. I hear you’re better with a gun if you sleep the night before so we made sure to get him back in plenty of time. 48 hours never went so fast. But now it’s time for our journey back to the mother coast as it seems we have run out of road… just let me make this quick U-turn….

Jan 8th – Palm Springs, CA – “It’s a Mod Mod World”

When we left Arizona we made a hotel reservation for what we thought was a small town in southern California called Palm Desert. WRONG. As we began our after dark decent from the mountains we were greeted with a vast display of glittering lights.

“This can’t be right.” I said to my sister. “Google says Palm Desert has a population of 50,000.” I referenced the map and found that Palm Desert was one of five cities that occupied the valley. Turns out our luck had brought us to the the bustling resort town combination of Palm Desert, Indio, Coachella, Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs.

Okay I’m not going to lie… I saw a TV special once that displayed the iconic mid-century modern homes of Palm Springs. I instantly fell in love. The next morning after a slow wake up and two cups of coffee I began searching for architectural tours of the area and found one entitled “mod squad tours.” Sounds promising!

It was an exciting “form before function” afternoon full of clean lines, sharp edges, whitewash, organic and industrial elements all set against the dramatic snow capped mountain backdrop. It was amazing to see the houses that were homes to artists, movies stars, mobsters and celebrities; all who were connected by their inclusion in the largest collection of mid-century modern architecture in the world.

As soon as I have an extra five million dollars lying around I will be making the trip back to Palm Springs to find a home with a view and a stay for the long term!

Although I am excited to finally be in the pacific time zone I am feeling a twinge of homesickness today. Good thing Jaws was on TV… Hooper and Chief Brody always seem make me feel at home.

Sorry about the late post by the way…. I fell asleep with the phone in my hand!

Jan 7th – Tucson, AZ – “Quips Over Bones”

My dad was a navigator in the United States Air Force for seven years. To this day he describes it as the best job he ever had. Some of my favorite stories of my Dad’s are the ones from his flight days.

He once described being “stuck” in Tucson Arizona for a considerable length of time while waiting for a part for their plane to be ordered. The hilarity being that there was a massive stock of almost every military grade aircraft (i.e. plenty of replacement parts) stored on the very base they were grounded. He called this collection of old/used planes “the boneyard.” Well guess what we got to see in Tucson!?

Have you ever seen three hundred C-5s lined up in a row? Well I have! To say that the boneyard was the coolest thing I’ve seen to date would be putting it mildley. The base stores over 4000 aircraft from helicopters to fighters, bombers to carriers.

I spent 90 minutes on a tour bus with my face smashed up against the glass and already dissapointed we were unable to get out and walk around on our own accord. Our tour guide had a PHD in military plane factoids and a poorly masked political undertone to most of his statements. I now feel that I have a thorough knowledge of military planes… and also who he will be voting for in the upcoming 2016 election.

It’s shitty quality but the picture attached is just part of just one section of C-130s stored on the base. The C-130 was my Dad’s plane. Who knows how many of those he has flown 🙂

Jan 6th – El Paso, TX – “Mile Marker 9”

I’ve got three words for today… Wide. Open. Spaces.

For someone who is used to big cities, abundant traffic and a steady stream of people who can’t use there, they’re or their correctly; west Texas was nothing short of heaven. Open endless valleys, massive mesa tops and monstrous mountains make up the otherwise empty space between San Antonio and El Paso. I have a new life goal of returning to that place, climbing to the top of a plateau and lying there until the sun sets.

Today’s top achievement has been ground covered. We’ve been on I-10 since Louisianna and it feels like we just entered Texas at mile marker 880. It didn’t really hit me how far we had gone until we hit mile marker 9.

1000 miles go by fast.

We stopped by Ysleta mission (the oldest catholic church in Texas) which now lives in a questionable part of town. Most of the church was covered by decrepit fake plants and cheap our Lady of Guadeloupe candles; but I thought it was both interesting and comical that a small section of the original interior wall had been exposed and encased in plexiglass. This church has seen the sins and the good deeds of 300 years of generations.

I got some doubting remarks from my travel partners about my restaurant choice for dinner; as it was also surrounded by a dicey neighborhood. Approaching the building I wasn’t sure if we were going to be eating dinner or posting bail. Yet another example of “don’t judge a restaurant by its neighborhood.” L & J Cafe housed some of the best Mexican food I’ve tasted and a gentleman server by the name of Cordero who could have coached an Olympic waiting team.

On our way out I looked up and spotted a sign above the door that stated “L & J Cafe, since 1927, The old place by the graveyard.” I checked as we left… sure enough across the street a graveyard sprawled out over the hill. It’s hard to see the headstones in the photo (above) but combined with the palm trees and sunset they made the perfect view.

We haven’t had our fill of I-10 so it’s out on the open road once again with a steady view of pitch darkness and twinkling stars. Its a new-found fact… minutes are shorter in the desert.

Jan 5th – San Antonio, TX – “Transplanted Trees and Tequila”

My first words out upon entering San Antonio were “pretty city!” Even though we arrived in darkness downtown was beautiful and interesting. So far the city wins the “clean” category. It also wins the “quiet” category as I’m assuming there is a San Antonio season; and I’m thinking January is not during that season.

All three of us were suprised to find the Alamo a few blocks from the hotel and smack dab in the middle of the city. Its like it knows its to remind the city where it came from. The building and grounds are snuggled between impressive landscaping including a massive tree that was the first to be transplanted… (random fact alert.)

When I say we conquered San Antonio we CONQUERED SAN ANTONIO.

Coffee by the riverwalk? Check. Tour of the Alamo? Check. Stop by the cathedral? Check. Mexican food? Check. Browse the local artists gallery? Check. Western history museum? Check. Margaritas? Check…. a few times.

It is apparent that San Antonio Texans pray to both Jesus and the gods of hot sauce. So much so that I half expected the hotel concierge to offer me hot sauce with my coffee this morning.

Despite their hot sauce obsession the city natives might be the nicest people I’ve ever encountered. Every person we’ve met has has acted like our best friend.

I guess that’s the way they do it in Texas… always carry a smile with your gun!

Jan 4th – Houston, TX – “Can I Get a Wet Nap”

Yes we have entered the great state of Texas ladies and gentlemen… home of the Ford “Super Duty, King Cab, Lift Kit, XTL, Glass Pack, Extended Bed, My Balls Are Bigger Than Yours” truck.

A quick stop at the “welcome to Texas sign” for a photo op. I must say the sign has never looked better with us standing next to it!

The view in the picture is from the tallest monument in the world. I can’t spell a lot of the words needed to accurately describe what this monument commemorates but here is the blonde version… a battle was fought and won in this place that granted Texas freedom from Mexico. Because of this the U.S. would later encompass the land that now makes up Arizona, New Mexico, California (and a few other states I can’t remember but are most likely connected to Arizona, New Mexico and California.)

How’s that for museum information retaining skill.

The monument is a tall narrow structure that is pointed at the top with a large retangular reflection pool in front of it (sound familiar my fellow D.C. natives?)

Anyone that knows anything about me knows I did NOT take this picture… my sister and father took one for the team and a long elevator ride to the top to see the view and snap me a photo.

After we had our history fill and some intense barbeque research we found a little strip mall joint called Gatlin’s BBQ on Ella St. To say I wanted to lay face down in a tub of Gatlin’s ribs and eat my way out would be an understatement. Any meal that you have to take your ring and watch off to eat is ace in my book.

A few fun facts about Houston: 1) the trees are beautiful 2) their pawn shops are extremely overpriced 3) if I had a shot for every accident on the Google maps traffic filter during rush hour I would be dead three times over.

It’s back in the car and on to the next… but first – let me go wash the barbeque sauce off my neck.

Jan 3rd – New Orleans, LA – “Three Parts”

After 16 hours of marathon driving we arrived in a sleepy New Orleans. First order of business? Coffee and beignets at the highly regarded Cafe De Monde… served in a dining hall by an Asian woman. (Okay so atmosphere wasn’t it’s strong suit.)

When we finished breakfast the Hilton gods smiled upon us and allowed us an early check in. I slept on my face for a few hours and we were off to check out the New Orleans landscape.

Royal street was by far my favorite with lots of art galleries and cafes. There are iron gates that surround the gardens in front of the cathedral… artists line the outside with their paintings and sculptures. Next to the church is a New Orleans history museum that has a small boat tied to its gates; the boat being a rescue vessel commandeered and used during rescue efforts during hurricane Katrina. Scratched on the side are the words “400 people were rescued by this boat. Thank you.”

We were lucky to run across a New Orleans native by the name of Orson who had a voice that sounded like a cross between Buddy Guy and James Earl Jones. He told us he has been here for 63 years. Dad said to him “you’ve seen a lot then!” Mr. Orson chuckled and answered “I’ve seen too much.”

I asked what he loved most about living in New Orleans for all those years. He told me “three parts: the people, the food and the music.”

Well after a full day of tasty Beignets, sweet smiling local people and now a cold beer in my hand while listening to some live blues? I have to say I believe him.

Jan 2nd – Ashburn, VA – “The Definition of Insanity”

A few people have asked me why I’ve chosen to begin 2016 with a 6000 mile drive from one coast to the other and back. I can’t remember what I’ve answered with however the honest reason can be found within my definition for insanity. While some say it is defined by doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, I disagree. I would define insanity as doing the same thing over and over… period.

It’s true that there is comfort and beauty in routine but I’ve always had more of a taste for change. A little change never hurt nobody… so why not two weeks of constant change… new people, new places and new… traffic?

My father and sister have courageously agreed to accompany me on this epic cross country journey. I’m guessing they will both decide it was a bad idea as soon as its my turn to control the radio. I’m also fairly certain a small part of my dad’s reason for joining me is to make sure I don’t end up on the side of a milk carton in one of the square states. All jokes aside I am ecstatic to have both of them with me to share the experience… (and the driving of course. Hahahaha.)

There’s a lot of opinions out there that say what a 27 year old woman should be doing with her life. A lot of them say she should have a husband, a mortgage, two children, a master’s degree and a golden retriever (all while looking like a Kardashian.) Well I say “more power to her.” That and the upside to living in this day and age is society’s opinion isn’t very credible.

At this point my experience is getting me through 30% of life and I’m bullshitting my way through the other 70%… but regardless if those percentages change my top goals are to never stop learning; to never stop experiencing new things and to never stop gaining new perspectives.

So I’m hitting I-95 running and equipped with my Jackie O sunglasses, sixteen pairs of underwear and my first tank of gas at $1.79 a gallon.

…and I don’t care what Mr. Cocker has to say… I’m feelin’ alright.