Homes sweet homes

After a quick drive, with hours of sleep numbered small enough to count on one hand :/, we made it to Bloomington, IN. We spent the evening moving Taylor in to her new appartment and I got to get acquainted with her roomie, Amy. The next morning we had breakfast at the Village Deli, known for their ginormous flapjacks and visited Taylor's friend, Anna's appartment. More moving was accomplished as well as a few shopping trips and a fresh coat of blue nail polish ;) That night we enjoyed a living room picnic, dining on grilled cheese, tomato soup and sweeteas, my new drink :) Come by my place and I'll make you one!! On that balmy night, we enjoyed a walk around the IU campus where Taylor showed me the commemorative rock and tree that was planted in her dad's honor. How cool to be so connected with him! I didn't understand until I saw that tree, why Taylor chose to move so far away. It is a special place, where in a way she can share her college experience with her father. Her memories, his achievements, together. I will always be sad when we have to part, but I'm glad she is in a place where she can feel closer to her dad.

On my final day in Bloomington, we visited the Pour House, a coffee shop remeniscent of TaborSpace and took a walk around IU in the daylight. The tall limestone buildings and the bits of green forest make for a beautiful campus. And the 40,000 students make it a busy one too! We had lunch at WhichWich, a build your own sandwich shop and then it wasn't long before Taylor was driving me to Indi to drop me off at the airport. Our trip had come to a close. We had another amazing trip and just because it's our last year in school doesn't mean our travel-fun is over. We have our whole lives ahead of us to travel all over the world together and focusing on that as I miss my cousin dearly. Can't wait till our next trip cuz! I love you sooo much!!

I made it home safely and am enjoying the weather and the water and Alex ;) There are some things you just can't find anywhere else.

Until next time, Peace

Yee Haw!!!

We arrived in Nashville in the early evening and immediately after checking into the Music City Hostel, we got gussied up and hit the town. It was about a 25 min walk to "the strip". After seeing Broadway st lit up with glowing signs for bar after bar after bar with live music in every one, it was clear why this place is nicknamed both "NashVegas" and "Music City". After a quick walk around Lea took initiative and decided to go to a brewhouse with 70 beers on tap! Taylor and I enjoyed a couple of refreshing Blue Moons (with an orange slice-of course) and decided this was going to be a night of no expectations. We wanted the night to take us wherever it was gonna. Our next stop was to The Stage, recommended to us by a special friend of Lea's ;) An amazing live band was playing that had toured with Kenny Rogers in the UK! They had a dance contest going, with a little dancing leprechaun ;) and between country rock singalongs like "I've Got Friends in Low Places" stories were told, crackin' us up.
*One tequilla shot later* Guess whose idea that was? Just guess...lol
We needed a change of scenery so we headed down to a place where no one was dancing, but a cover of "Blister In the Sun" enticed us to stop in. Then a cover of "Chicken Fried" kept us around for the song, but not much longer. No one could match our energy, well maybe the old lady who did a strip tease on stage-yikes....
"Callin' Baton Rouge" rolled into the streets from Tootsies and I hollered at the bouncer to hurry on up! and check our IDs so I could jam out. The song ended soon, but the band was rockin' so we ordered a couple of Buds (our first ever believe it or not!) and rocked out to more covers of Mama Rockin and Chicken Fried.
Our hunger took over so we set out to find some food. On our way back down the strip we stopped at this corner with people dancing to a guy called the Broadway Rappa who freestyled nonstop while jammin on his mini set. What fun!! Kelly Kelly she shakes her jelly...pretty ladies all around, show me how you get down! lol
The smell of onion rings floated out of a bar/restaurant called the Cadillac Ranch. It was good enough for us! We walked in past the crowd of rowdy twenty somethings and soon realized that this was a dance club! We grooved over to the dance floor when a couple of young gents looked at us and said "woah, take us where YOU'RE going". So we grabbed them by the hands and took them to the dance floor where we danced all night long. What a fun time!!
We reached our goals of the evening which were to get a free drink, get home by 3am and have a freaking blast!! SUCCESS!!

Headin' South

After our wonderful trip in Vail, CO, we headed down-for 11 hours!!!-to Kansas City, MO. We were exhausted by the time we got there and very much in need of food and drink. We sat down at this sports bar called Nick and Jake's where we enjoyed a cocktail as we waited for our salmon BLTs (yum!) and watched a Timber's game. Isn't that funny? We lost :/ The sandwiches were good and with full bellies we drove around till we found the hotel Chase. Recommended to us by AAA, we were waiting to be impressed. It looked very cute from the outside, covered with Christmasy lights and the front desk employee was very nice. However, we were a little disappointed when she recommended going to the mall for our morning entertainment :/ We headed into our room, which ended up being a two story condo with a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a king sized bed that Taylor graciously let Lea sleep in. Thanks cuz!! (It was hard to peel myself out of that in the morning, let me tell ya, especially after having an awful night of sleep filled with driving dreams. Ugh I am so tired of those!) Anyways, after a disappointing breakfast that was supposed to be really good, we headed to this cute town outside of KS called Park City. It's very small with a college town feel. Little shops and cafe's decorate Main Street and the University tops a hill like an angel on top of a Christmas tree. We enjoyed a latte at the local cafe and had a nice walk around the campus where students were already bussling to and from classes and into the little shops where we were tempted to buy signs that said "No skinny dipping!...Alone" ;) We decided we would save a few bucks and make our own :)

At around noon we headed to Ft. Smith to visit Taylor's aunt and uncle, Harry and Nancy. On the way, we stopped at a place called MacDoodles to use les toilettes and it turned out to be a liquor superstore that I can only describe as Candyland for adults (and I guess for minors with fake IDs too). We felt compelled to get a bottle of Sweat Tea vodka. I am excited to experiment with it and make up a yummy drink- Sweet Tea for my sweetie (Alex!) When we arrived in Arkansas, Harry and Nancy treated us to dinner at the country club, Hardscrabble, where we had drinks that tasted like liquified jolly ranchers :) and freaking amazing food: Blue cheese salad, french onion soup, sea bass with corn soubise, panzanella salad, and bourbon peCAN pie. WOW Thank you Harry!!! Delicious!
When we returned home, I gave Taylor a little music ed, introducing her to Alice In Chains, as we sipped our Sweet Tea yummyness-hehe
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we set out for Nashville. WE WERE STOKED!!!

Staircase to Nature's Surprise (... intriguing? :))

Lea giving Annika a little squeeze. I love this baby!!!Woke up this morning thinking it was going to be cloudy and a bit on the chilly side, but to our surprise the sun was shining and it was hot! So we enjoyed des tasse de cafe out on our balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains and Swiss-like architecture. A great way to start the morning!

(Please read in reverse order - blogspot is a wee bit complicated for two weary travelers)

However, just a couple hundred feet away was the real gem we had treked uphill for - Hanging Lake, nestled beneath two graceful waterfalls. The water was a color of blue similar to terquoise and had us thinking about how to incorporate nature's palate into our future wedding plans :)

Even though we knew there would be a waterfall at the top of our hike, we had no clue that it would be a raging, gushing pillar of awesomeness! ;) The cool spray coated our warm bodies as we rejoyced in our successful climb.

The trail, completely uphill, seemed like a never-ending staircase to ... heaven? With the sunshine streaming on our faces, we "mountain crawled" (Lea's new term) like mountain goats pracing along the staggering cliffsides. Captivated by our beautiful surroundings, we stopped for a quick photo opp before mounting the summit of our climb.

Last year, our drive from West Jordan, UT to Vail, CO was filled with ohhing and awing that probably made us seem like we were two valley girls who couldn't get over their new brilliant shade of nail polish. :) This year proved exactly the same - but with an exciting new addition! We drove down I-70 to the base of the Hanging Lake trail, which like the rest of the incredible scenery, had us totally stoked for more of nature's phenomenal landscape. Here is Taylor, showing her excitement to start the hike!

Delightfully Delirious

8am Friday we hit the road, again. Willie Nelson accompanied us as we departed our hometown of Portland, OR. Coffee in hand, livin the life we love, we were a couple of gypsies going down the highway (well, technically I-84).

13.5 hours later....

We arrive in West Jordan, UT, finally!

How did we pass all that time you say? Well let me say I'm surprised we still have ears. Under normal circumstances, we should have talked each others' ears off or blown up our eardrums from the rockin tunes. But, I suppose genetics would have us built for this type of thing and we did work up a tolerance for good music and conversation on our last trip :)

>

We stopped for dinner at a funky place called Mollie's Diner in Snowville, right on the Idaho/Utah border. It was the essence of small town living. It was silent and stuffy; calendars and coke bottles from years past decorated the walls and the original red stools still graced the counter. We ordered the only vegetarian option on the menu and read an article about a man's trip to this dinky diner. Filled with grilled cheese and homemade potato salad, we were ready to make it through the home stretch.

This last bit of scenery was more than refreshing after the seemingly endless blehhhh of eastern Oregon and Idaho. We climbed a slight hill and behind a distant peak we saw this strange and big ball of light. Is that a dome?? No! It's the moon! Jaws dropped, I grappled for my camera and took as many pictures as I could. None of which do the memory justice, however. Behind us the sky turned a brilliant red, orange and pink canvas. The sky was one fire. The setting sun cast shadows on the clouds being ripped apart from releasing their rain. Incredible. One of the most beautiful and awe-inpiring skies we've ever seen.

Slightly delirious (who wouldn't after a drive like that?) and giddy from the greeting from the cute boy in a mustang, we made it to Kathryn, Justin and Annika's house. After a quiet greeting from the happy and beautiful family (Annika was sleeping) we were ready to call it a night.

Zzzzzzzz

Southern Belles

Our drive from Kansas to Ft. Smith began with a lovely conversation at breakfast with a man from Oklahoma. Of course, the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he hears we're from Oregon is "Are you liberals?" I will say no more. The drive was short and sweet and we arrived in Arkansas in the hot and humid afternoon. Although it was 10 degrees cooler than the previous week, it still felt like the tropical forest exhibit at the Oregon Zoo. Yeah, the one with the crocodiles. We cooled off by lounging around the pool, then when Nancy, Taylor's aunt, came home we got dressed and went on a walk around the neighborhood to pass the time before Harry, Taylor's uncle came home from his car dealership. The area is beautiful, known as Ft. Smith's own "pill hill" because of all the doctors that live there. When we all met back at the house, Nancy treated us to some homemade summertime tea, a mix of orange juice, lemonade, black tea and fresh mint. *And vodka for a kick :) It is delicious! We left, drinking our pink lillies to have dinner at Rolando's, a delicious Ecuadorian restaurant. Who knew they had so many ethnic restaurants in Ft. Smith?! We went to bed with our tummies full and ready for a good night sleep.
The next day was jam packed with fun activities. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast made by Nancy before we set off to do all the fun stuff she had planned. We started at the Ft. Smith historical museum where we learned about Judge Parker aka the hangin judge, who hung over 80 people in his 21 year long carreer, the most of any judge in history. We also learned about the part Ft. Smith played in the Civil war, it's relationship with the Native Americans and the wild west. We then went to a sportsbar to have lunch and drink sweet tea by the gallon and had a tuna melt and shimp scampi alfredo. The day before, Taylor and I had spotted the ferris wheel and wanted to go on it, but we had over an hour to kill before it opened. So, we hopped into the air conditioned seats and went over to Baby Chic Boutique which has homemade baby clothes that are ADORABLE! Nancy picked up a Razorbacks gown for one of her granddaughters. We refreshed ourselves with a cold drink and a dash of history when we sat at a real soda fountain and drank a cherry vanilla ice cream soda. We then went back to the ferris wheel where we got cooked in the sun, but enjoyed a nice view of a real brothel, the only one left in the city. A trip to the dealership filled the rest of our afternoon, where we played putt putt "gof" in Harry's big office. The evening was finished with another summertime tea on the road and dinner at the country club, Hardscrabble where we ate delicious crab cakes, drank a lovely bottle of wine and bourbon pecan pie. Yum! It was a great finish to our time in Ft. Smith.
This morning Nancy made us breakfast again to start the day right before we hit the road and drove for over 11 hours plus a 1 hour time change. We are happy to have made it safe and sound in Bloomington and are excited to bop around the town tomorrow.

"That's weird...well we are in Kansas"

This morning did not go as planned. We decided after all to not revisit the spa, but instead we were excited to go to Remini, a breakfast cafe/ gelatto bar that we popped into the previous night. The employee assured us that they opened at 7am the next morning and tantalized us with the array of breakfast choices. We were sold. We had to go. We woke up extra early to make their soon enough that we could enjoy our morning before the long drive ahead, but to our dismay and disappointment, at 7:15, Remini was still closed. We wandered into the nearby hotel and asked the concierge. She informed us that the cafe has relaxed hours and never opens at the same time each day and that she thought it would be open in the next hour or two. :( ! Grr...so we wandered back to our own hoten and asked that concierge what he would recommend. He suggested the Little Diner and ASSURED us that it would be open. Can you guess where this is going? We arrived there and yes, it was closed, but after standing outside looking hungry and snacking on our complimentary granola bars, they opened up just for us (at "7ish). It wasn't the best breakfast ever, nor did we get our bang for our buck, but it did the trick and we left Vail with full stomachs and a longing to return again soon.

After a few minutes of being on the road and several comments from Taylor on the beautiful scenery, she began to scream. A lot! I couldn't explain it, but I reasoned in my head that she must be overjoyed with the breathtaking mountains. But then, she managed to shout, "big bug!" as she pointed to the radio. Then it all became clear. A mysterious bug, 3 inches long had, after flying in Taylor's face, landed on the power button of the stereo. After much flailing, she swatted at it and the bug, as well as the music was gone.

That excitement kept us fueled until our driving switcheroo and gas fill-up in Denver. Lea drove from there on to Goodland, KS where we ate lunch at the base of the largest Van Gogh replication in the US. On it's easel it's stands 80 feet tall. The large sunflower painting is quite striking and offered a nice view in the flat lands of Kansas. After one more stop of gas, we filled our afternoon with madlibs and the Noisettes, one of our latest favorite bands, accompanied us all the way to Park City, a suburb of Wichita, where we ate dinner at Applebees and checked into our grasshopper guarded hotel (one tried to attack Lea!-What's the deal with our bugs? Maybe they're getting revenge after their buddies got splattered on our windshield...)

It has been a long day and we look forward to some sleep, a good breakfast (yay!) and our arrival to Fort Smith, AR.