Katie sings for my birthday

My little sister, Kaitlyn, has an amazing voice...how I'm related to her I have no idea. Anyhow, she asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year and all I could think of was for her to sing my favorite Christmas song, Oh Holy Night. Here it is for all the world to enjoy. :)

Oh, and the creepy Santa thing is there because she had to be far from the microphone...sista's got some pipes!



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Red Light, Green Light!

Today my mom talked to the producer of Hoarders and had agreed to let her pitch our story to the network. There is no guarantee they will give our story the "green light" but just having the chance feels like a little light at the end of a long, dark, cluttered tunnel. I'm crossing my fingers and leaving it to the TV Gods to decide.

How to confront a Hoarder

Today I told my mom that she is a hoarder. About a week ago, I wrote to the A&E show "Hoarders" and they are now interested in telling our story. The trick is, however, that I have to get her on board. They don't confront or ambush anyone, so she has to agree to participate before they will come to our house. If you know my mom at all, you know that the chance of her first admitting she has a problem, then agreeing to address it on national TV seems less likely than a quick overhaul to the US Healthcare system. At this point, however, I'm willing to try anything.

I spent my day thinking about what I was going to say, how I was going to say it and researching intervention tactics. No sense in recreating the wheel, right?

The hour finally came and I met my mom at a local restaurant (neutral territory...excellent). We started with the usual chit-chat, ordered an appetizer and then BAM...I drop the bomb. "Mom", I begin "I have something to tell you and I need you to hear me with an open mind and try not to react until I've said what I need to say." She would later tell me that she thought she was about to hear an engagement or pregnancy announcement...not quite!

I continued to explain the situation, all the while remaining calm and trying not to put her on the defense. Based on past attempts at intervening, I fully expected my mom to shut down and refuse to talk about the house. To my complete shock, I couldn't have been more wrong. My mom listened while I relayed my experience of living in a house I did not feel comfortable inviting friends to along with my ever-increasing concern for my younger sisters that still live there. I could tell it wasn't easy for her to hear, her body language had slowly changed from sitting up straight to a subtle slouch of the shoulders and hunched back - nearing fetal position.

I knew it was very difficult for her to hear, but this was my only chance. I was on a mission - if I succeeded then my mom (and family) would have a chance to turn things around. If I failed, the house would be a lost cause in my eyes and the chance of my youngest sister being taken away would become a terrifying but likely possibility.

I can't describe the joy I felt when, at the end of my plea, my mom agreed to talk to a producer the next day. I had just achieved the impossible! My mom was going to talk to someone about getting help! I was completely aware of the fact that my mom had simply agreed to talk to a producer, not actually do the show, but you could have told me Johnny Depp was waiting to whisk me away to his private island where we'd live happily ever after - I was equally as excited.

We concluded our dinner, my mom feeling uneasy (she wanted to do some research about the show) but curious, and me feeling surprised and victorious!

Autumn colors in Salmon, Idaho

The two days I spent in Salmon, Idaho were well worth the trip. Flying and driving was exhausting, but the scenery was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I think between the two of us, Trevor and I took about 300 pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras!




After picking Trevor up from Salt Lake, we made our way north to Salmon, Idaho. The drive was absolutely beautiful and I decided that Fall is my favorite time of year to visit. I also decided that karma can be a cruel, cruel thing when it wants to be. Remember the ticket that Maria and I avoided earlier in the trip? Well, no such luck for me the second time. I was nabbed for speeding in Challis, about 50 miles from our destination. Drat!

Salt Lake and Salmon

My last adventure during funemployment started with my first ever stand-by flight. Fortunately things went smoothly with no delays and I was on my way to Salt Lake City before I knew it. I was met by my cousin Maria and her 4 year old son, Hayden, who had been anticipating my arrival all day and managed to pass out from exhaustion minutes before my arrival. :) Maria and I were able to catch up on the drive out to her house in Lehi and I got my first taste of Autumn colors...so beautiful!

Nearly Stranded at Santa Ana Amtrak

The journey began at approximately 1:30pm when I arrived at the Santa Ana Amtrak Station, LA-bound. From there I was to take the Metrorail Gold Line to Pasadena and then head to Morro Bay for a weekend of camping adventures.

As I'm waiting on what I believed to be Track 1, I couldn't help but wonder why I was the only passenger venturing north while so many others were on Track 2. Quite peculiar since I didn't remember a southbound train coming soon. That should have been my first clue.

Booking Belize 24 hours in advance - Belize 2009

Today I arrived in San Pedro, Belize after what ended up being about a 7-hour series of flights from LAX. It's quite surreal being here considering I booked my ticket extremely last minute...just yesterday morning! My friend Angela and I had been talking about going for a few weeks now and she wisely booked her ticket right away. I, however, hesitated and missed the boat on good flight prices. Week after week, prices kept creeping upwards and I was beginning to lose hope. Fortunately though I checked tickets one last time yesterday and found an American Airlines flight that was pretty reasonable. I booked, went home and packed (my grandma's vintage luggage) and VOILA! A little over 24 hours later I am unpacking at Pedro's Inn in San Pedro, Belize.

My dream job!

I've been meaning to post this video for a while and just now got around to it. This is pretty much what I dream of doing in life...traveling the world and capturing moments for all to enjoy. This particular video resonated with me because it very subtly infers that no matter where we live or what language we speak, we all are fundamentally the same. People want to live the best life they can and enjoy as much of it as possible.

Something as simple as dancing in front of a camera turned into something silly but touching. I double dog dare you not to smile when you watch!

Watch Video

Mud Run 2009 - Team Dirty Deeds

Mud Run 2009

Today I completed the Camp Pendleton Mud Run for the second time. In a nutshell, it's a 10km obstacle course set up on the marine base complete with walls to climb over, tubes to crawl through, a lake to traverse and hills to conquer...all while being soaked with furious fire hoses. As daunting as it sounds, it's actually quite fun. This morning when I woke up at 5:30am (on a saturday!), I was questioning my decision to do it again, but once I started running I remembered why I wanted to.

My team did very well, we finished in 1 hour and 21 minutes, beating our time from last year which was our goal. I was also very happy to discover a huge difference in my performance from last year versus this year. This year I got to mile three and felt like I had just started, whereas last year I was struggling almost the entire time. Working out with a trainer really makes a difference!

Yosemite 2009 - I love the wildlife!

Every summer my family spends some time camping in Yosemite. It's a tradition that started about 6 or 7 years ago and this year was my 4th or 5th time going. It's quite a drive from Southern California, but SO worth it!

I spent 3 days up at Housekeeping Camp and shared a tent with my mom, my sister Savannah and three of her friends. Yep, there were two adults and four ten year olds...a detail my mom conveniently forgot to leave out of the conversation before I left. :) It worked out fine though, they were all very well behaved and didn't get into too much trouble.

I spent my time there going for runs, reading and relaxing. I love to just sit down and listen to the sound of the wind in the trees. I didn't see any bears this year but we did hear a wolf howling not too far from camp one night! Half Dome wasn't on my agenda this year since we weren't there with any family friends. Normally we have a group make the trek but I don't think it would have been wise to attempt it on my own. Instead I visited Vernal Falls and Mirror Lake. Pictures can be viewed here.

A successful day at the Relay

I would like to send another huge THANK YOU to everyone that either donated or participated in this year's Relay for Life. We enjoyed a successful event this year, in total we raised over $127,000 that will go towards cancer research, and had a great time doing it! Each and every one of your donations (time or money) make a difference and I can't tell you how much your support means to me.

Together Team Fish Poop Soup raised over $5600, surpassing our goal of $5000. We walked, we played, we slept, we talked and most importantly, we remembered. Some of us have loved ones who lost their battle and some us have loved ones who continue to fight, but whatever the motivation, we all came together for 24 hours to honor them. Thanks again to my team and to my supporters, I look forward to next year!

View pictures here.

Bonjour Paris, c'est moi encore! - Europe Tour 5.1

Ahhh Paris, I don't know what it is but I absolutely love this city. So many people, so many places to see, so much history, so much life everywhere. I love it. This is now my third time here and I feel like everything is brand new, I want to absorb as much as I possibly can while I'm here. And so far, James seems equally as infatuated as I am.

Relatively Smooth Sailing into Paris - Europe Tour 5.0

The train ride from Montpellier to Paris was quick and comfortable. It was a TGV so in about 3 hours we were on the other side of the country. I had found an apartment for rent that was listed on craigslist that sounded too good to be true. View of the Eiffel Tower in one of the better areas of Paris for only 49 euros per night. The owner, Antoine also offered to pick us up from the train station at 1:30am since the metro wouldn't be working. A little hesitant of what we would encounter, I decided to book it since there really wouldn't be anything close to that price.

It never rains in Montpellier! - Europe Tour 4.3

Apparently we have some very unfortunate timing. As Malcolm Scott Thomas (a Scottish bartender we befriended) summed up, "It's sunny in Montpellier 300 days of the year, the streets aren't even made for rain!". Well in a place that sees rain approximately 15% of the year, we saw it for over 50% of our stay. Not just drizzle either, we're talking flash flood, wake-you-up-from-sleep thunder storms. We didn't let it ruin our trip though, luckily we had gotten the majority of our walking done during our first day.

So That's What Tartare Means! - Europe Tour 4.2

Even though the sky was not on our side, I still really wanted to say we'd gotten to the Mediterranean on this trip. We had hoped to go to Sete, recommended to us by the nice ticket agent at the train station, but it didn't seem worth the effort now. Instead, I discovered that there was a beach only 20 minutes away by bus. With no better options, we decided to give it a shot. The ride took a little longer than normal - the door on the back of the bus malfunctioned and the poor bus driver was finally able to close it after struggling for almost 15 minutes. We arrived at our destination, Perols, which turned out to be a nice harbor with an area full of restaurants, creperies, ice cream shops and souvenir stores. Of course the majority of them were closed until high season, but James and I were hungry and decided to give one a go.

Like I've been saying, my French is very rusty, and there were so many words on this particular menu that were not ringing a bell. The waiter came over a few times while we tried to figure it out but we weren't having much luck. I decided to play it safe with a Nutella waffle and James went with the "tartare du beouf". I knew it was beef, but didn't quite know what the tartare was all about. We were about to find out.

Framerica...the perfect place! - Europe Tour 4.1

Day two in Montpellier was another day of exploration and discovery. We found a different hotel (the first one was great but way out of our budget), got some laundry done (a challenge in itself) and still managed to get outside for more walking. The hotel we're at now, Citea Coupole, is a little bit away from the city center so we're getting a feel for the train system. It also has small kitchens in the room so we will be able to save some dough and cook a few meals.

Figuring it out one step at a time - Europe Tour 4.0

As the old saying goes..."No Pain, No Gain". Waking up this morning was quite painful since we only got about 5 hours of sleep, but the train ride was quite memorable. For most of the journey, we followed the coastline with amazing views of the water. We also went through gorgeous countryside with fields and cottages just like those you see in movies. Despite my battle with extreme fatigue, I stayed awake for most of the 4 hour ride, except the last hour when my eyelids simply got too heavy to hold up. My slumber didn't last long though, James quickly woke me up to point out a castle we were passing by.

Bye Bye Barcelona - Europe Tour 3.2

Our final day in Barcelona was just what the doctor ordered. We'd been running around like mad dogs trying to see everything over the last three days so today we decided to take it easy. We still did some more sightseeing, but mainly wandered wherever our eyes took us. Sometimes when you're traveling you get so focused on seeing all the things, you don't really take time to observe the lifestyle or absorb the energy of where you are. I've decided that Barcelona is a city I could get used to, definitely one I'd like to see again. Maybe next time I can learn a little Spanish before I come.

Relay for Life

For those of you who don't know, every year I participate in the Relay for Life which raises money for cancer research. I'm happy to say that, as of today, I am in the top 5 for fundraising so far. I hope to keep that up. If you would like to donate or join my team, view my personal page.

This year I am proud to be a co-captain of my team, Fish Poop Soup, along with my friend Jen. I was recently interviewed and my "Reason for Relaying" was included in the latest Relay newsletter. Read the story

Rain, Rain, Go Away! - Europe Tour 3.1

Today was a poopy day as far as weather went. It was pouring pretty much the entire 24 hours. Sightseeing was another story - we perused the Park Guell created by Gaudi. I'm surprised by how much I am enjoying his work because I normally like very simple, clean art and architecture. Gaudi is nowhere near simple - his temple is said to be one of the most enigmatic structures in the world. Maybe it's because his work is so unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before that I like it so much.

This is more like it - Europe Tour 3.0

We started our first day in Barcelona with a "quick stop" at the bank to change money. The "quick stop" ended up taking about 45 minutes because only one person was actually working the line while the other 2 people were busy with something else. Patience is truly a virtue when traveling abroad! With replenished wallets, we hopped on the metro to see what our next hotel had in store for us. Thankfully we were pleasantly surprised by the Hotel Catalunya Park Putxet. While not in the center of the city, it was only 4 stops away from the action and was in beautiful condition. Thank you Priceline!

Complications Arise - Europe Tour 2.2

Our last day in Valencia started at about 1pm - we just cant seem to shake this jetlag - with some incredible crepes at a little creperie near our hotel. It was a Sunday so almost everything was closed, but we were quite happy to have discovered such a gem. We had done our research the day before and found out that trains to Barcelona left pretty much every hour, so the plan was to find an internet cafe, book a hotel and hop on the train so that we would arrive in Barcelona before dark.

Well, things didnt work out quite as easily as we would have liked. We were unsuccessful in finding the internet cafe that our concierge said was "only a 10 minute walk from the hotel". All we managed to do was get ourselves completely frustrated and doubting our map reading capabilities. At that point I really wanted to get on a train and at least get to Barcelona so we could find a hotel before dark, but James felt more comfortable having something booked. Back at the hotel, James decided to pay the outrageous 6€ per hour fee for internet and tried to book a room. Not finding anything that fit our budget and/or expectations, we headed to the train station and decided to take our chances in Barcelona.

The train ride was very pleasant, we both caught some z's, and we arrived in Barcelona before we knew it. With only about an hour left of daylight, we decided to hop in a cab and head to the nearest hostel. It was full and since we had just used our last euros for the cab, we started walking (with luggage!) towards the city. We spotted another "hostal" (which I put in quotes because it was really more of a motel that tries to attract tourists by calling itself a hostal) and deemed it good enough for one night. It was clean and had internet, but there's not much more to say about it except that we were more than happy to check out and move on to the next hotel.

Quite a day! Well, half a day - Europe Tour 2.1

We got off to a late start on our first day after waking up at 3:30pm. Yes, that's right, PM. Luckily Valencia is a fairly small city and we were able to hit most of the tourist spots before the sunset. Our walk started in the park near the Music Hall fountain where teens practice their skateboarding and tired feet get much needed rest. There were so many people everywhere doing their own thing seemingly oblivious to what other people thought. That's one of my favorite things about Europe' there's so much room for individuality.













Our walk continued and we were human sponges soaking up as much culture as we could. Both of us really enjoy looking at architecture so we were having a field day. There were beautiful bridges, a tower that used to be the entrance to the city (it still has damage from wars fought before the US existed) and many gorgeous churches. We even wandered into one that had a wedding going on. Dont worry, we didnt cause a scene, the public was allowed to roam about (pretty cool!) and enjoy the ceremony for as long as they pleased.

A little while into our tour, James had a craving for french fries, so we stopped at a McDonalds. The woman was trying to tell James something about his order (maybe there was a minimum?), but neither of us speak Spanish and we couldnt figure it out from body language. She eventually gave up and James got his fries. We marched on victoriously to a few more churches and, much to our satisfaction, realized that the sun doesnt set until about 8pm. Good thing since we had just barely woken up!

Night finally came around and we found a nice plaza area to have some dinner. James had pizza, I had vegetable paella and we split a cinnamon/sugar crepe for dessert. Our server was very friendly and spoke some English- so far I havent felt like a total fish out of water for not speaking Spanish. We also scored some live entertainment when a martial arts group decided to perform in the plaza. Then we headed back to the hotel after what turned out to be an action packed 8 hours.

Ode to jetlag - Europe Tour 2.0

Hola Spain, we have arrived! James added it up and figured in total it took about 20 hours to get from John Wayne to our temporary home at the Holiday Inn in Valencia. Plan A was to hop on a train from the airport but we would have had to wait almost 12 hours. We nixed that idea and opted for the bus. A nice lady directed us to a shuttle that took us to the bus station - which turned out to be the wrong one - so we hopped on the subway to the right one. About 2 hours later we were en route to Valencia on what turned out to be a surprisingly nice bus ride. I caught a few hours of sleep and before I knew it, we had arrived.

Needless to say, we didn't have much wind in our sails upon arrival but it was only 5:30pm and we needed to start adjusting to the time change. We got our second wind after some nice, hot showers and decided to grab dinner and explore. Except for Google Maps on James´s Blackberry (which oddly didn´t jive with the street signs we were seeing), we were mapless. Fatigue was beginning to rear it´s ugly head and manifested itself in a few snappy exchanges, but we ended up having a nice dinner at a Chinese place after strolling around the port area. That´s right, our first dinner in Spain was Chinese food!

It´s now 6am and I´ve been up for about 4 hours wishing I could get back to sleep like my partner in crime is doing. I´m cursing myself for sleeping on the bus but I do remember this same thing happening to me the last time I was in Europe. Oh well, at least I´m finding the time to write these blog posts. :)

Ahhh, the joys of international flights - Europe Tour 1.0

After only 2 weeks of being back at home, James and I now find ourselves on a journey across the Atlantic to see what Spain and France have to offer. It is James´first time crossing an ocean (woohoo!) and will be my first time setting foot in Spain. I studied abroad in Paris back in 2004 (wow, has it been 5 years already?) and am very excited to see it again. Except for our general itinerary and hotel at our first stop in Valencia, we don´t have very much planned at this point. Between unpacking from the road trip, catching up with everyone and handling what life threw at us each day, we just never found the time to nail things down. I guess it will add to the adventure and make for a more interesting blog!

Our first flight was from John Wayne to Atlanta and, due to extreme weather, we had to alter our course a bit. There was also quite a bit of turbulence which got me searching for the infamous barf bag. It wasn't there. Luckily just when the visions of me having to high-tail it down the aisle with hand over mouth and a green complexion started to become a real possibility, the pilot announced that we were descending. Crisis averted!

Now we are enjoying our second leg from Atlanta to Madrid - I forgot how great it is to fly internationally! Headsets, pillows, blankets and eyeshades were waiting for each of us and flight attendants even handed out ear plugs. Recent movies, current TV shows, music and games were all available on the touchscreen installed in every seat. (On a side note - I watched Slumdog Millionaire and highly recommend it!) I guess now that a bag of peanuts has become the highlight of a domestic flight, I feel spoiled to have so many creature comforts readily available. We even got to eat food!

Back to the "Real" World

Wow, has it only been a week and a half? Amazing how quickly I've assimilated right back into the day to day! Isn't it strange how experiences can sometimes make you question your perception of time? The trip is already starting to seem like a distant memory and I've just barely finished getting all of the laundry done.

It has been 10 days since our return to the OC and I've had a little bit of time to sit back and think about the adventure we just had. My conclusion? We are the luckiest people in the world! A U.S. road trip should be a required course in all college curriculum. There's no better way to really connect with this country other than seeing it and experiencing it. Plus you learn a lot about yourself along the way. I'm so glad we decided to take the trip despite all of the excuses we came up with beforehand. I guess sometimes you've just got to say screw it and just do it.

Over the last 10 days it's been really interesting talking with friends and family...I had no idea so many of you were actually reading my blog! I must say, it's nice to think I've got a fan base out there (and I didn't even have to bribe anyone!). And for those of you living vicariously through my travels, I'm not stopping anytime soon. Europe is next on the list, so be sure to keep checking in.

PS- Many of you have asked about the status of the Magic Van (or "Maggie" as James and I like to call her). She's parked safely in James' driveway and is available for rent (or for sale) if any of you are thinking about taking an impromptu adventure. In fact, at the end of April Maggie will be escorting our friends, Jake and Lovely, on a long-weekend voyage up the California coast to Big Sur. Vive le Voyage!

Rest in Peace Grandma Graham

Sadly, my grandma passed away this morning. I am fortunate to have many great memories of her that I will cherish always. Before leaving on my recent road trip, I got to talk to her about Martha's Vineyard (where she grew up) and she was so excited for me to see her hometown that she wrote me a 14-page letter filled with recommendations! She will be missed by all of us and I hope she is now resting in peace with Grandpa.

California Here We Come - Cross-Country Road Trip 12.0

It was a little bittersweet crossing the California border last night. It's been a good run and I'm sad that it's ending but I'm also excited to see my two cats, Cooper and Tank. I suppose it will be nice to have my huge closets and my bathtub back, but there's something to be said about waking up in a new place almost everyday. Maybe that gets old after a while but it's been a month and I could keep going!

Before starting our final leg home, I made a final breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt mixed with fresh mango. Delicious! On our way out of Indio we stopped to say a quick hello to my family friend, Cathy Bentley and then we were on the road again. I got my stuff packed (and joked to James that I was moving out) while we drove to make room for the kitten and 2 dogs that we would be picking up on the way. It was sad to having everything in bags again, seeing it so bare reminded me of the first night in Rhode Island when we had to sleep with no pillows and the awning as our blanket. Awww, memories.

We stopped at the parents' houses to pick up the pets, say hellos and give tours of the Magic Van. I was quite elated to hear how many people have been enjoying the blog...good old "Maggie" (what we nicknamed the van) has become somewhat of a celebrity it seems. James' neighbor even came over to take a peek! The drive home was not as disastrous as I had imagined. All three pets stayed relatively calm and we managed to avoid the Friday traffic. Walking into my house felt a bit surreal, I had forgotten what having so much space feels like!

Last Stop at Last Chance - Cross-Country Road Trip 11.2

Our last day of the Magic Van Winter '09 Tour was a nice, relaxing stop in Phoenix, AZ. I did some credit card damage at Last Chance and My Sister's Closet, two of my favorite store to find great deals. If you've never heard of it, Last Chance is basically where Nordstrom sends everything that hasn't sold or can't be resold and offers it at dirt cheap prices. My Sister's Closet is a consignment chain in the area that has tons of designer stuff well below retail. It is exactly the kind of store I dream of opening one day. I woke up early from sheer excitement and got goosebumps when we pulled into the parking lot.

Once the receipts were printed and my shopping adrenaline subsided, we strolled around the Scottsdale area soaking up the sun on a perfect, almost 80 degree day. We had some sushi at happy hour and laughed at hour similar Scottsdale is to Orange County. It was nice though to sit around and people watch in warm weather - hello Spring!

I had made reservations for much needed massages at a school in Phoenix, however, they neglected to tell me that they only accept cash, so my "perfect relaxation day" plan didn't come to fruition. Oh well, got to roll with the punches. We hit the road around 7pm and James got us all the way to Indio where we found a parking lot with our names on it for our last night in the Magic Van.

Good Morning Arizona! - Cross-Country Road Trip 11.1

Wow, I can't believe the trip is coming to a close. What initially started as a 2.5 week trip has evolved into almost 4 including our first few days in Colorado. We've seen so much in the last 4 weeks it is almost sensation overload. But we've got tons of pictures and over 50 blog posts (yikes!) to remind us when the memories get fuzzy.



Last night we were talking about our favorites of the trip...favorite city, favorite experience, favorite tourist attraction, etc. and we both came to the conclusion that what has made this trip so spectacular is not necessarily where we've been, it's the people we've connected with. Whether it be a stay at their house, a ride from one location to another or just a passing conversation, each person we've encountered has been as much of a participant as either James or myself has been.

This morning we woke up in the Super 8 parking lot in Benson, AZ (we tried to make it to Tucson but got too sleepy) and snagged a little free continental breakfast (I promise to stay at a Super 8 sometime to make up for it). The tables were full but a nice man waived me over and let me sit with him. We got to talking and it turns out he lives in Kansas but travels the country buying and selling truck parts. He and his wife want to go to Boston so I got to tell him a little bit about our adventures there.

It wasn't a life changing conversation or anything, but it made my morning a little more interesting and churned up some business ideas to think about on the drive to our last stop...Phoenix, AZ.

Exploring Carlsbad Caverns, NM - Cross-Country Road Trip 10.1

Up until a week or two before we left SoCal, I had never heard of the Carlsbad Caverns nor even knew they existed. James' roommate, Troy, heard us planning our route and suggested we check it out. Thank goodness we took his advice because it was a spectacular site to see.

The caverns are located in Carlsbad on the southeast corner of New Mexico. They are one of the world's largest known cave systems, new sections and rooms are still being discovered today. Bats have called the caverns home for thousands of years and are the reason European settlers made this incredible discovery in the first place. Someone saw a huge bat colony emerging from a cave and went inside to harvest the guano (it is used as fertilizer) only to discover this geological anomaly filled with stalactites, stalagmites and various other formations so massive they almost don't seem real.

At different points on the hike, both James and I had flashbacks of Thunder Mountain - sadly the closest thing I can compare this to. Of course Carlsbad Caverns trumps Disneyland hands down, I just found it comical that a couple of SoCal natives thought of that. The sheer size of the caves is completely humbling and made me stop to think about how awesome our planet is. I also got to thinking about what crazy person volunteered to be the first to go in. Without the current lighting system it would be so dark that you wouldn't be able to see your hand held inches from your face. I wondered what these walls would say if they could talk - imagine all that they have seen over the centuries!

New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment...OK, maybe - Cross-Country Road Trip 10.0

It was a long and arduous journey to Carlsbad, NM but we arrived without incident at around 3pm today. The terrain is very much desert now, which is beautiful in its own way, but not quite as captivating as what we've been driving through. We passed through quite a few old towns, some of which were just abandoned structural skeletons left to wither away with the elements. Seeing ghost towns like that always makes we wonder why the people decided to ditch it.

Close to Carlsbad, we passed through a currently inhabited city called "Loving" to which James replied "cute". That made me chuckle.

We arrived too late to get into the caverns today so we grabbed a campsite at the Carlsbad RV Park. This is our 2nd RV Park experience and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. This one has a heated indoor pool, horseshoes, hair dryers in the bathroom and a huge selection of dvds you can rent for $1 (they also give you one free rental per campsite).

We took advantage of the pool, went for a walk, enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, I caught up on some blogs and then we watched The Dark Knight before calling it a night.

One More Stop in Austin - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.4

We left downtown Austin last night after seeing the bats and headed west for Carlsbad, NM. It was getting late and we were hungry so we crossed our fingers that we would find a good spot to stop and eat. I started to get discouraged when we kept seeing "closed" signs, thinking that maybe people out here go to bed when the sun goes down, but that wasn't the case. We spotted a neon spinning cowboy and an "open" sign that beckoned us into the Nutty Brown Cafe.

From the front you'd never know, but there was a huge patio out back that holds I would guess around 600 people. They have concerts there and everything. In the center of the patio is a huge cage that Cheeto the Parrot lives in. He's a gorgeous tropical parrot that talks...in fact, he even tells kids to f-off when they are bothering him. Something tells me he doesn't get invited to very many town birthday parties!

Nutty Brown Cafe turned out to be a great discovery...service was top notch, Cheeto was an unexpected surprise and the food was delicious. Mine wasn't the healthiest (enchiladas drowning in queso) but everything tasted so fresh it was obvious that it was all homemade. Our server convinced us to try a piece of their strawberry/peach pie and while my thighs weren't very happy with me, my tastebuds were jumping for joy. It was devoured faster than you can say "strawberry/peach pie" (ok, maybe not that fast!).