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The sunrise, camping in Death Valley at this time last year.

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Day 32: Hurricane, UT and Page, AZ (Zion National Park, Horseshoe Bend, and Antelope Canyon)

Unfortunately, Zion had to be a very quick stop for us due to a little bit of time constraint with our tour for Antelope Canyon that we booked. However, we still got to drive around the park and go through the tunnel, and do a little bit of the canyon overlook trail. This was my third or fourth time at the park, and I’ve actually never done Angel’s Landing or The Narrows. But I have done the river walk trail, and I loved it every time. I really wanted Maga to see this trail, but this park is so busy and it’s so hard to find parking, and the shuttle ride to this trail was about 45 minutes. So we scratched that out and just decided to look around. Zion has some of the most defined crossbeds that I have ever seen. I think it’s my favorite national park that I have been to so far! 

Again, the order of events here is a little wonky, so I’ll just post what I’ve got from Zion. The canyon overlook trail (or at least what we did of it) was really cool, this one I haven’t actually done before. It was awesome, you had to hold on to a rail at some points and climb all over the rocks, so I loved it. And I’m proud of Maga for doing it!

From Zion, we eventually ended up on the 89/89A, one of my favorite highways. We had the perfect amount of time to make a stop at Horseshoe Bend in Page. We got to go over the Glen Canyon dam, too. I love Horseshoe Bend because it is such a classic, textbook version of a perfectly, extremely energetic river. I’ll never forget the video that one of my awesome community college professors showed me (Amanda and Jessica - shout outs to you amazing and beautiful women!!). It was a park ranger talking about how the grand canyon and these sort of features formed. I actually think there is a way for me to link it here, so I don’t need to waste my time explaining to you how awesome and informative and silly this video is. Ranger Felgenhauer is amazing. 

Horseshoe Bend was so busy and so hot! I was excited to re-enact this video to Maga to let her know how the meander got there, and what it will look like eventually (oxbow lake, pretty cool).

It’s time for our Antelope Canyon tour. Now, Antelope Canyon is hands down the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I was so eager for this tour because I had already done it once, and now having my geology degree, I knew I would understand it so much more than I did the first time, which was before I had even transferred to NAU. 

So, Antelope Canyon is on part of the Navajo Reservation, so you need to schedule a tour in order to see it. Your tour guide drives you out onto the sand for about a half hour in an open jeep in order to get there, and then you hike to the end of the canyon, turn around, and come back. We did the upper part of the canyon, which is also what I did last time. It was still as incredible as I had remembered it.

It’s so hard to just pick a few pictures, and the pictures that I will show you probably won’t even do it justice. I would recommend everybody to tour this canyon at some point, it’s so much fun and the geology behind it is of course awesome!

I think I look cute in my tourist hat. Below is the entrance to the canyon, and that is our tour guide in the bottom right corner with his creepy dust mask thing. All of the tour guides were all so welcoming and fun to be around. 

We thought for a second that we would be able to incorporate the Grand Canyon into our schedule again, but unfortunately we weren’t able to. We also didn’t want to make the trek all the way to Deb’s in Lake Havasu after all of the commotion we had gone through the past few days. So we stayed somewhere along the way! Now all we have left is seeing good friends and family before we head back to Boise. It’s so crazy to think about...

I’d elaborate but we are both pretty emotional and run down right about now. But what an incredible month it has been.

Ki 10/12

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Day 31: Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Great news this morning - our van was ready for us by 11:30 am. We got breakfast at a place right on Main Street called the Peace Tree Cafe, and I had been there before when it was my first time in Moab. We split some delicious coconut crusted french toast before hitting the road to Bryce. 

The route from Moab to Bryce was probably the most obscure that we’ve seen yet. I think we maybe passed four other cars, and came across a really cool looking old mill factory looking thing. We also went down a good long stretch of road that had herds of cows crossing back and forth the whole way down. Once we started to get pretty close to the park, little hoodoos started poking out, and I had to tell Mama to keep her eyes shut. I wanted the Inspiration Point overlook to be the first part of Bryce Canyon that she saw.

This picture is pretty dark, but if you look closely, you can see Kookoo sitting on the top of the right-most part of this welcome sign.

So unfortunately, I got a little lost trying to navigate the park, and completely passed by Inspiration Point. We ended up at the opposite end of the park, and then worked our way forwards. I don’t have any of these pictures marked, so I won’t be able to tell you which overlooks they are, unless they are ones that I remember. So I’ll just post the pictures in the best order that I can!

One of the first overlooks, there was a huge raven just hanging out on the fence, waiting for people to feed him. If you haven’t seen a raven before, they really are huge. We have them in Flagstaff, so I guess I am used to them. Everybody that was there was taking a bunch of videos and pictures of this stupid bird. And then we saw the natural bridge, which I don’t remember seeing my first time here. It was probably one of my favorite views from today.

Maga was still very impressed to see Inspiration Point, I guess it never really gets old seeing something so spectacular like this.

We didn’t do any hikes in Bryce because we didn’t have much time unfortunately, and I know that many of the hikes here are more on the difficult end because of the higher elevation and steep downgrade into the canyon. But it’s still so amazing to see. 

On our way out, we passed through Red Canyon, and we stopped for some pictures and walk up and around it a tiny bit. I always seem to love the more hidden and lesser known stuff. It’s the best kind of stuff, right?

Well, I hope these red rocks were as pretty to all of you as they were to us. Now we are making our way to Hurricane, UT so we can hit up Zion first thing in the morning and make it on time to our Antelope Canyon tour in Page, AZ. We can’t believe how close we are getting to the end of our exploring! 

Ki 10/11

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Day 30: Moab, UT (Arches National Park)

Firs thing in the morning when we woke up in Moab, we took our van (well, aunt Lori’s van) to an auto repair shop to get the brakes checked out. We found out that they provide rentals and that all of this “trip interruption” would be covered by our insurance, so we figured we would drop off the van, head to Arches National Park for the morning/early afternoon, come back to get the van and be on our way to Bryce Canyon NP. So off to Arches we went.

It was a beautiful, but kind of chilly day. This was our first national park, so we got Maga an annual pass since we have some more parks to go. This was my second time being in the park/Moab, so it was familiar but of course still absolutely beautiful. Maga was amazed and thought it was the best thing she’s ever seen. I don’t blame her - Utah rocks are some of the best rocks. And yes, because they are sedimentary. And red.

Our first stop was at balanced rock. There are probably at least a hundred “balanced rocks” everywhere in the world. This was the first one that I ever saw, and is still the best in my opinion. 

There was a second balanced rock next to this one that actually collapsed in 76. Sad, but it happens. The Earth will rebuild.

Quick little lesson - this exists due to the beauty of geology! Of course. There are two different rock types here. The layer of rock that separates these two is the lighter colored band that you can see here, that sort of looks like the tape holding the big “balanced rock” on top of everything. The lower half of this structure, the Dewey Bridge Member of the Carmel Formation (I studied the Carmel Formation during my research in Utah/Wyoming last summer) is much more easily eroded than the “balancing rock”, the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone. Sandstone is a silica rich rock with a lot of quartz, therefore it is much harder to erode than a mudstone; mud essentially. Geology 101! So over time, you get something like this. These rocks aren't actually balancing, they are attached. This was how they were deposited, one on top of the other. Stratigraphy! Apparently this block on sandstone on top weighs 3600 tons (this one I had to look up), and will eventually collapse once its “pedestal” erodes away to the point where it cannot support it’s overlying layers. Pretty amazing. If you look closely, you can see the difference between the two layers. 

I also geeked out on some ripple marks that I saw along the trail around balanced rock. The ripples had bifurcations and were symmetrical, meaning that they were formed by waves and their motion, rather than a one-direction current or wind flow. So yes, This part of Utah was once underwater. That’s a different and more complex conversation. :) But here is a picture for you.

Delicate Arch is the most famous arch of Arches. I have seen it before, but the hike is a little too difficult for Maga with her knee. So we did the overlook hikes, and if you look super closely at this picture, you can see the delicate arch in the distance (the leftmost little bump in the background). It’s HUGE compared to humans. Absolutely beautiful, and so incredible because it stands alone, rather than attached to formations like may of the other arches. 

Next we saw the double arch, Maga loved this one. I got to crawl through it the first time I saw it. Maga attempted to climb up it, which I give her so much credit for, but she couldn’t quite make it. Her attempt made for a couple of cute pictures, though.

The view from climbing up a little ways was also pretty spectacular. Looking up from underneath was also just amazing. One of these pictures below may or may not look inappropriate to you... you probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I didn’t say anything. But it’s funny. Rocks always look like inappropriate things, which is great for us geologists because yes, sometimes rocks do actually get boring. If you could ever believe it. 

If you are interested, you can look up how arches form. I have already exhausted myself on the balanced rock, so this one, you’ll have to do on your own. But it’s equally as awesome, I promise. 

Here’s some pictures of the windows; Kookoo’s favorite was the south window:

And my personal favorite, Turret Arch. I just love this one because not only does it have an arch, but also a window. 

We didn’t stop at every single attraction along the way, but we did a good majority of it. We wanted to make sure we made it back to the car so we could be on our way...

So we didn’t have any service at the park. When we got to the auto repair shop (Arches Repair Shop, thanks so much for being awesome, Maga kept calling you “Archie’s”), the guy said that he tried to leave us a message, and that the van needed brakes that they had to special order, which meant another night in Moab for us. WHAT! This could have been way, way worse though. We could have been in Lubbock, TX; or Teluride, OH; or Casper, WY; to name a few. Also our brakes could have actually went out on us on our way down the Rocky freaking mountains. Moab is a really awesome town, so we made the best of our stay. 

We stopped at the Moab Brewery for a happy hour beer and some appetizer snacks, like onion rings and jalapeño beer battered fries. If y’all don't know, Utah has weird laws on beer, so breweries can only brew beers at 4%. We got some ice cold, lighter beers since that’s just what you crave after some hiking, but they were still decent. Then we went back to the hotel, crashed HARD for a nap (like, two hours hard), and then got ready to go out for a spaghetti and wine dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I got rigatoni and I couldn’t tell you what Maga got, but comfort food was perfect for the occasion.

Now we can only hope that the van is ready for us before noon tomorrow. We decided to take out the Grand Canyon unfortunately, along with Flagstaff and San Diego and just so many other things. Like I said, if you did this “right”, it would take several months. 

Just a few more red rock parks, and then we get to see our good friend Deb and some family that I haven’t seen in a long, long time in California, which will both be so nice. I was a little sad about Flagstaff, but I get to be there for Halloweekend with Joey, which makes up for it times a billion. I can’t wait to finally show my guy my entire world.

I think we are both getting a little tired of traveling. You all know Maga, her life has become a vacation, and she’s always traveling all over the place. Growing up, I never thought we were one of those families with people spread all over the country. Now look at us. And I haven’t lived in the same place for more than a year since I graduated high school. Every single year I have bounced around since then, and I have been living out of my suitcase since graduation in May. So it will be very nice to get back to Boise, even though it may or may not be my definite “settle-down place” (probably not because who knows, there’s so many more places I need to see). Boise fam -  we miss you all so very much, and absolutely cannot wait to get back home to you!

I’m missing Rochester more and more everyday, my family and my friends, my hometown, my baby girl puppy Lily. That’s also a whole other conversation, and I don’t want to go to bed sad, but I can’t shout out Boise without a shout out home. It means the world to me that you all have supported and encouraged me to do this with my Maga while both of us had the chance, and to allow me to move yet again so far away in order to pursue my dreams. Some day I’ll drag you all out here. F*** the ocean, let’s live in the mountains.

Ki 10/10

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Days 28-30: Denver; Boulder; and Fort Collins, CO

Let me tell you - it feels SO good to be back in red rocks again! We left Texas pretty early, we wanted to get out of there because however long we spent there was plenty enough, and we had a long drive up to Colorado. Now, I’ve mentioned before how excited I was to visit Colorado. It was really nice to finally make it to one of the only western states that I’ve never been to. For some reason everyone was always surprised when I told them I hadn’t been. Not anymore!

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs was on our way to Denver, so of course I wanted to make a stop there and see some hogbacks. What I absolutely loved and did not know about the park was that it is free to the public. The plaque really made me want to shed a tear.

“Given to the city of Colorado Springs by the children of Charles Elliott Perkins in fulfillment of his wish that it be kept forever free to the public.”

Donations are accepted in the visitors/welcome center in the form of dollar slots for each state, for visitors to show where they’ve traveled from. 

So the geology of this place was absolutely incredible. Definitely my favorite part of Colorado. Tilted sediments are my favorite. Parks always do a really good job at providing a concise explanation of the geology at that location in a way that everybody can interpret. 

The weather was about perfect, the hikes that we did were really short and easy, and the views were incredible. Definitely a good stop for us, Maga really enjoyed it too. It was nice to be at a park that I had never seen before.

That night that we got into Denver, we ran by my friend Beau and Pat’s house to deliver some good Rochester Genessee beer that Joey and I had gotten for them. It was one of Genny’s pilot batch beers, and you can’t find anything of theirs out west. Since I was actually driving instead of flying and going through Denver, I figured I could hand deliver some of the good stuff. They were so excited about it and of course had a bunch of recommendations for Maga and I. It was very good to see the two of them, it’s been years!

After the quick drop off, we met up with my good friend Jenna from NAU at a sports bar place in a downtown area called Wash Park. It was so nice to see her and catch up with her, we were apart all summer and she has since moved back to Denver. I was so excited to hear that she will also be visiting Flagstaff for Halloween, so I will get to see her then, too! I totally forgot to get a picture of the two of us, the three of us were all so exhausted. Although she did take this snapchat picture of me and it’s kinda cute so I guess i’ll include it. I was sucking down the margaritas.

We slept in the next day a little bit, had coffee from the hotel we were staying in and just relaxed in the room for a bit. We ran to Target for a few things that we needed, and then headed to the outdoor mall in downtown Denver on 16th street. It was a little bit chilly that day, but not too bad if you were able to stand in the sun between the high rises. This street downtown was very pretty, especially with all of the trees that have turned. There were a couple of good musicians playing on the street, too. And some guy trying to sell us beads. I finally got a cool Colorado shirt!

We went to Boulder that night to check out the Lost Gulch overlook and Chautauqua Park to see the flat irons. The sun was just starting to set when we got to these places and it was getting pretty chilly. It was supposed to start snowing in the middle of the night that night, and you could definitely tell it was coming. The overlook was actually quite busy, lots of people trying to take pictures, kids smoking weed, and girls drinking wine and cheese that they brought. Lots of people dressed too nicely to be hiking around on rocks. It was hard to get a good view/picture, but nice to look at. We saw lots of deer, and this lookout was actually on Flagstaff road, and they couldn't have chosen a better name. This spot reminded me of Flagstaff so much - the weather, the insane amount of ponderosa pines, the smell, the elevation and sketchy switchbacks, it was perfect.

Chautauqua Park was less crowded, but it was pretty dark by this time. Again, I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but it was still nice to see. Really cool geology, yet again! I couldn’t even imagine how beautiful these would look with some snow on their peaks. 

After that, we pulled off to try and find somewhere for dinner and drinks. I remembered hearing about Pearl Street, so I chose some random place there with American food and beer so that I knew Maga would like it. We went to some West End bar or tavern or whatever it was. We ordered drinks first, and noticed the couple next to us get some awesome looking drinks, so we had to inquire. And this is where our best night yet started! They got hot toddies (sp?) and eventually we all just started chatting up a storm and joking and getting along so well that Maga and I totally forgot to eat. 

After probably an hour or maybe even an hour and a half, we mentioned how we needed to eat something. Chase and Tim (cutest and nicest, most in-love couple EVER) told us that we were crazy for wanting to eat there, and offered to take us to “the Med”, some mediterranean restaurant that Tim has been going to for like twenty years, one of their regular places. Apparently we just HAD to eat there. And I’m so glad we did! I ordered a bunch of delicious tapas and Maga got some pasta dish that was to die for. Our friends bought bottles of prosecco to share with us. Everyone in that damn restaurant knew these two, our glasses never ever went empty. We just had an all already great time with these two genuine and hilarious folks. We had a group picture that I would have loved to include, but it hasn’t been sent to me yet. We are thinking about coming back to watch Chase during fashion week. Boulder was so warm and welcoming to us. Besides the snow that we encountered late that night.

So we woke up to snow the following morning...

Nothing bad and no dangerous driving conditions, so it was fine. It was actually really gorgeous to see, but too cold for us since we've been in 90 degree weather the past like two weeks. It was really wet snow since we were right about freezing temperature.

We hit Fort Collins on our way out, because I absolutely HAD to stop at Odell Brewery, one of my favorite breweries that I’ve obviously never been to. And you can't find Odell anywhere out east, at least from my experience. So I was pretty excited to go here. I got the “Locals Tray” flight, and then tried four other beers from a different tray of flights. The flight trays had five different beers, so I guess I should have just gotten two.

I love a lot of their seasonal beers and staples. I was disappointed in their brown ale, though. But other than that, we had a good time, and we got some bratwursts from a food truck outside. I just wish it wasn’t so gloomy there, I would have loved to see the mountains around town, if there were any. 

We drove through probably all of the Rockies on our way over to Utah. What an incredibly beautiful drive. All of the pine trees were just covered in snow, and as we went on, it turned into a light dusting, and eventually disappeared. The aspens were so bright and abundant. Just breathtaking! But coming down that steep gradient... I knew our breaks were getting kind of bad lately, but I was pretty scared coming down this mountain that our breaks were about to go out on us. I could just tell... I had to put the hazards on and shift into a lower gear and go like 45 mph in a 75. But we made it to Moab late that night, and got to watch a beautiful sunset.

And now it’s back to my old stomping grounds. Hello, Utah!

Ki 10/7-10/9

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Days 24 - 27: New Orleans, LA; San Antonio, TX; and Austin, TX

In contrast to Nashville, New Orleans was actually a lot like I had expected it to be (a very good thing). The live music, the drinks, the nightlife, the people... there really wasn’t anything about it that wasn’t enjoyable. Besides Bourbon St being completely torn up by some major construction.

We got into New Orleans later in the day, and did the usual. Hotel, unload, freshen up, go out. I found a cool “live music and cocktail tour” of Frenchmen St that we booked for a couple of hours. It was a private tour, so there was just Maga and I, and another couple. Our tour guide was so awesome and full of knowledge about the history of the city. It was really cool to actually do an informative tour, since we haven’t done this yet anywhere. 

We went to four different bars. Well, Maga and I started at our pickup location. We got an uber there a little early just to be sure we wouldn’t miss the tour, and had a drink at the bar and were the only audience to the man playing acoustic guitar and the harmonica there. He had a lovely voice and I actually really enjoyed listening to him. We felt bad leaving since we were the only ones there... it was still early. I don’t think I can remember the names of all of the bars that we went to. The first one was called Maison’s I think? They had some band playing, they were good but not anything that blew us away. Maga got a variation of a moscow mule, her favorite, and I got an old fashioned. 

The next bar I don’t remember much. Maga struggled with an ATM machine. I snuck out and ran to the corner store with the tour guide for some cigarettes (I was drinking, yes I know you’re disappointed, and yes I know I should quit, thanks). Then I shared a smoke outside with a really nice girl named Sarah who was from Hawaii and lived in San Francisco, visiting New Orleans with her boyfriend for her birthday and their anniversary. Then it was time to go, so I didn’t get much experience or knowledge at this bar.

Our third bar was my absolute favorite. It was called Blue Nile, and it was the epitome of everything I ever thought New Orleans could be. We walked into this dimly lit bar that appeared as a really basement-looking dive bar. Then we saw the lights and the stage and heard the music... and wow.

This band was absolutely incredible. They had a really diverse group of at least eight people. The outfits were great, the passion, energy, dancing, and god the talent - everything that came out of these people were great. Walking into this bar and watching them perform was like a movie. And there was hardly anyone there! We were really enjoying ourselves there, but had to get to the last bar. But don't worry, Mama and I found our way back somehow late into the night and watched the band finish up their set. And they were right, they ended up filling up the place on a Tuesday night as if it were a Saturday. Someone bought a bunch of their CD’s and donated them to the crowd, and I got my hands on one. I feel like this kind of music is just so much better live, but I don’t doubt that they are amazing on record as well. I have yet to listen. But if any of you want to look into them, their name is Water Seed. 

It seemed as if we left Blue Nile and arrived at this last bar at the perfect time. We walked in and the band finished up their song some seconds later. Then all of a sudden the lead guy says to everyone, “Alright now everyone give it up for our good friend Quay as our special guest tonight!” Our freaking tour guide! He jumped on the stage and did vocals for the bands next song, I thought that we so cool. We had no idea, and like I said, he had just timed it so well.

Quay stuck around with us after the tour and helped us find a good place for food. He was a really great guy, it was cool to hear his story and get his recommendations. Oh! And can I just say that our Uber driver was just a doll? He went by the name Hope. He took us to our tour meet up location, and gave me his phone number to call him for a ride back when we were done downtown. It was so sweet of him to go out of his way to do that for us in the middle of a busy night. And he had so much information about New Orleans (like the huge pumping issue) and great recommendations as well. We love you Hope! 

The next morning, we found a place downtown kind of in the French Quarter to get some cajun/creole food. Maga and I both wanted jambalaya and gumbo. I also was told that I needed to try some crawfish or crawdads or whatever the hell. Love everything except the crawfish étouffée. What in the world are you people thinking? I thought it was disgusting, and the crawfish tails looked like tadpoles. I was pretty put off by it wish doesn't happen often, I typically love everything and anything. But, I tried it!

After lunch we went to Cafe de Monde, apparently a very popular french coffee shop in the French Quarter. They basically only had cafe au lait and beignets. Both were delicious, Maga and I had powdered sugar all over us. It as definitely worth the stop, I wish I had more pictures of this. We finished off the day by walking around the French Quarter a little more, peeking into shops, and then took a stroll by Bourbon St. It was completely torn up for construction, so I was glad we spent our one evening on Frenchman St instead. Bourbon just would have been way too hard to navigate, the whole middle of the street was just trashed and there was buldozers everywhere and big fences up with black cloth so you couldn’t see what they were working on. It took away from the experience a little bit, but I don’t think Bourbon St is my cup of tea anyways (get it, Frenchmen St, the French Quarter... tea...) Oh yeah, and I came across this somewhere near Bourbon St. If you don’t get it, don’t worry about it. 

However, the St Louis cathedral in Jackson Square was gorgeous. It was really sad to see our flag at half-mast, as always. It’s hard being in a big city after such a devestating event, you really look at people and the world a whole lot diffrently. Not always in a bad way, but you realize how often you take things for granted. I do my best not to. I try to be the best I can be to everybody I know. The world will know peace once we all treat one another the way that we would like to be taken care of. 

We then ended our day by stopping at the French open-air market before hitting the road to Texas. It was neat to see, but we didn’t find too much. I know I said before that I’m a souvenier junkie. Well, it all starts to get to be the same after a while. 

We had a hard time finding a hotel on our way through Texas towards Austin. We had to go through Houston, and didn’t even think about the fact that the hotels would be all booked up from all of the relocating. We had a stressful time trying to figure something out for about an hour, but we ended up being able to find something about a half hour back in the direction we came from. In my opinion, that was us getting lucky! We had a pleasant sunset coming in, though. 

Now for some reason, I have hardly any pictures from Texas at all. I don’t really remember getting into San Antonio because I had a really weird and concerning thing going on. I got car sick, not only from Maga’s driving, but I just can’t be a passenger in a vehicle anymore. I get sick if I’m not driving, usually. But we were about to come into busy, rush hour and big city traffic, so I wanted to drive, and I didn’t want to feel sick anymore. Well, when I started driving it got a lot worse. I think I needed to eat or something... I don’t remember anything and accidentally cut off a two part bus. Whoops. I’m okay thought and feel a lot better ever since.

We stopped in San Antonio for the river walk. I didn’t care to see the Alamo. Maga had seen it once before, and I’m sure the history is pretty amazing, but all it is really is a building that you can’t even go inside of. So for the sake of time and what not, I said let’s skip it. But the river walk was beautiful, and it was a nice hot sunshiny day, yet again. We’ve still been so lucky with the weather. I am concerned for New Orleans with this hurricane Nate though... the whole city is literally a bowl. A bowl with poor drainage and pumping systems. With a literal huge river that lies ABOVE everything. Where do you think the floodplain goes?! Alright. 

We then drove to Austin. I had to beg Maga to go to the Congress St bridge. Haven’t heard of it? It houses 1M-1.5M Mexican bats. I guess in the summer months they come out all at once at dusk and it’s supposed to be amazing. Google a picture! Maga is afraid of bats, but I wanted to go so bad and had to pull her arm. I feel horrible because the bats didn’t really come out and we had to pay for parking and navigating through downtown Austin is no fun. But there was so many people out waiting on the bridge! The bats did come out a little bit, but stayed below the bridge. It was so dark at this point and they were hard to see. But I did see some bats!

Then we thought it would be a good idea to spend the rest of the evening on 6th St, because we heard that that’s where things are happening. Well, this was on a Thursday, which was college night. And a lot of these bars are actually 18+ clubs. BUT we had a great time at the bars that we went to. The first bar had an awesome rock cover band and an amazing rooftop with two bars and games in the back. The next place we went to was a rock n’ roll dueling piano place, and we made some nice friends there who started out as just a stranger buying our drinks for us. He wasn’t creepy, wasn’t hitting on us. Crazy right? A genuine guy who teaches martial arts to little kids who have black belts, makes his own moonshine, whiskey, and vodka,  and is studying business. He says that he tries to always do acts of goodness to strangers, in order to “return the favor” of other people doing nice things for him. We thought that was pretty cool. There may have also been some drunk pizza eating involved in our night during the uber ride back...

The next day, we got some good local coffee at some Monkey something or other place, and then went to a really awesome and ritzy outdoor mall. Maga may or may not have dropped some cash. I like it when she spoils herself, she deserves it. We got lunch at this place called Yard Bar -  an actual dog park BAR. And small restaurant. It was so cool! You have to eat outside of the actual fenced in part of the park, but you can drink anywhere. It was another lovely day out, dogs everywhere having a blast and their owners hanging out in the sunshine drinking drinks. What a great idea. 

We then spent that night in Lubbock I think? Tried to cover as much ground as we could on our way to Colorado. It was late, Maga and I got Chipotle, and thats that. 

I apologize for the lack of pictures for these past few days for us. We must have been real busy? But this last week and a half of our travels consist of a lot of parks, so you’ll see way more pictures, I promise! I am SO excited to get to Colorado (we’ve been in Texas for like three days) and finally see some red rocks. Woo!

Ki 10/4-10/6

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Days 19 - 23: Spring Hill, FL and St. Pete, FL

Our weekend in Florida with family was a very nice break from the constant traveling. It was great to see my uncle Sean and Becky again after so long, and to see Bryn too! Everyone has grown so much. I find myself saying, “Wow, you’ve gotten so big!” more and more lately, and it has come to my realization that I am finally old. I hated hearing that all the time when I was younger, and now I’m the one saying it. 

We got in on a Friday right before Sean came home from work, and then we all went together to pick Bryn up from school. Maga snuck up on Bryn and sat right next to her and totally surprised her. It was really cute, I wish I had thought to take a video. That night we went to a local brewery called Marker 48, like the water land marker thingys (I didn’t know this right away). I had the brown ale which was delicious, but I pregamed with a little bit too much wine, so that was about all I was able to have. We all tried to help Becky with her accidental beer that she ordered, some raspberry habanero ale.

There was some live music (if you can even call it that, it was a guy with a drum set and another guy with a computer dj set up) and lots of people dancing, there was some sort of fundraiser going on. i wish I could tell you what it was. We sat outside and there was all sorts of picnic benches and people and their kids and pretty string lights. There was even an outdoor airstream bar which was very reminiscent of my favorite bar back at school in Flagstaff. I’m glad that they had food trucks there... I wasn’t feeling so hot the next day and I’m sure I would have felt a lot worse if it wasn’t for this fantastic philly cheese steak.

As I mentioned above, I wasn’t feeling too great on Saturday. I felt bad because pretty much everybody else was drinking all day, and I did not participate. Sean’s friend even got a funnel for me to try, because yes actually, I have never funneled a beer before. I promise you. And unfortunately I still haven't, but I don’t think I’m really missing out on anything.

I did have to take a nap in the middle of the day.

They had some company over that night for a taco bar. I made some guacamole, which is my favorite thing to do for these kinds of occasions. Now, for those of you who don’t know, I worked at Chipotle for three years. I never use a recipe when I make my quac because I slaved over making this stupid stuff for so long, I just know how it should look and taste. Guacamole should never have tomatoes, or garlic. Everyone loved it! We had chips with guacamole and bean dip and played drinking games while we waited for everyone to show up. It was nice chatting with and meeting new people that night. It took Sean quite a while to get the fire started, but it was pretty nice when he finally did. Maga was mad that he kept dousing it with dangerous chemicals. On Sunday, we took a trip to Hernando beach and rented a pontoon boat. So much fun! We got sandwiches from Publix and packed a cooler full of water-beers for the day, and brought a bunch of floaties. A good family friend Josh came with us, and it was nice to have a buddy my age there. We drove out, I got to see the markers, and we anchored near these little island things where there was a bunch of other people and just chilled.

We floated around and drank in the water for most of the day. Everyone got very sun burnt, but I was smart and used sunscreen, which prevents sun burns. Who would have thought! Maga “doesn’t believe in sunscreen”. It was interesting because the tide was going out while we were there. The water started up and my waist and ended up almost down to my knees. I was really nervous about sharks, but I was assured by all of the local family members that I was fine.

We came back and I ran to the store and got some peel and eat shrimp and ice cream sandwiches for everyone. I’ve never actually had peel and eat shrimp before. Sean baked it with some old bay and it was delicious. I passed out on the couch while they were all watching the Giants game, and when I woke up I joined everyone outside for a glass of wine. It was a really nice night, not so humid like it had been. 

Monday, Maga, Bryn, and I all went to St. Pete for the afternoon. We could see a lot of damage leftover from Irma. Mostly just trees and sticks and bushes everywhere, and a lot of houses were boarded up still (snowbirds). We started off at Caddy’s and had a couple drinks there while Bryn played in the sad. She was pretty excited about chasing all of the seagulls around. And... she LOVED Kookoo! We finally remembered to bring him back into the picture. Sorry that we forgot about him Lyndy, it won’t happen again!

Then we went to John’s passway (I think that’s what it was called?) and looked around at all of the shops and got ice cream. We went down to the other end of St. Pete for lunch somewhere where Maga and Papap had gone together before. We got peel and eat shrimp there too, but it wasn’t nearly as good as uncle Seans. But we did have a very pretty view and a really nice breeze!

We spent Monday night in and Maga made us all a ravioli dinner. I was so tired all weekend, I felt bad about it but we really have just been go go go these past few weeks. I know, life is so rough traveling the country. Really though, it takes a lot out of you. In my opinion, if you REALLY traveled the country the right way, it would take months. Well I guess there really isn’t a wrong way, every way is the right way, but it’s all just personal preference. I’m starting to ramble. We are finally going to start heading back in the west direction, and I am so excited. I feel closer and closer to home as we actually get farther and farther away.

Ki 9/29-10/3

[sheehantravel-blog]

Days 15-18: Asheville, NC and Nashville, TN

Staying in Asheville was yet another last minute decision for us... as a good halfway point between Wilmington and our next stop, Nashville (and by GOOD halfway point, we mean somewhere that we’ve actually heard of before). We sure had a blast in this town! We arrived later in the evening, took a break at our hotel, and then headed straight for a brewery that I read good things about: the Wicked Weed. Yes.

They stop doing flights after a certain time, which was right before we had arrived. But our bartender Shawn was so awesome and let me try every beer that I wanted to try, which was a lot. They had a lot of limited, seasonal beers, which is my jam. I’m all about trying stuff that’s limited, or on special, or whatever, because you’ll rarely see it again. Their chai pumpkin porter was delicious, but I found myself choosing their second breakfast brown ale as my two beers of choice, because it was perfect and brown ales have been my favorite recently. Sorry, I’m a beer snob. 

We got some food at the bar too (a bison burger that Maga picked to share, can you believe it?) and ended up talking with and making friends with a lovely and adorable couple next to us. Hi Lisa, hi Glen! They were such genuine and kind-hearted people, and we all had such a great time chatting and sharing stories. It’s meeting people like Lisa and Glen that make our stay in certain places so special. And having great bartenders always helps. We’ve been a few places where our bartenders/servers or neighbors weren’t so eager to help us find things or give us recommendations. So if y’all are reading, we thank you again for making our night so fantastic, sharing laughs, and offering to take this awesome picture of us! <3

We spent quite some time in the gift shop afterwards. Maga thought the brewery had a great and hilarious name, and wanted to get souvenirs for all of our friends who appreciate the “wicked weed”. Which was a number. 

The following morning we went to a really nice coffee shop that had... ROSEMARY BROWN SUGAR syrup, which of course I got in my latte. I loved it. And we both got avocado toast that looked and tasted delicious. I have more pictures of food these past few days than I do us, Kookoo, or buildings/landscapes, so here:

The weather has been pretty crazy. Seeing this photo again reminds me of how hot we were sitting outside that morning. The past few days that we’ve spent in Asheville and Nashville have been low 90′s. And DRY! Quite the different from the gloomy Boston weather we had. 

Nashville was our first city that we stayed more than one night in. Well, besides when we were home in Rochester. It was SO nice to not have to relocate for a day. We got in and got ready to go hit Broadway for some drinks and live music. Closer to the evening, the weather was so nice for walking around. We got an Uber there and walked up and down the streets a couple times, having no idea which bar seemed like the spot to be, so we tried as many as we could. 

The first bar we went into, the band finished playing their last song right after we ordered our first drinks. Whoops. Then we went to a barbecue place and shared a sampler plate, and watched the band there for a bit. And yet another place, and another place... made some friends along the way. I got a “big cup of honkey tonk”, god only knows what was in that. But I’ve got the cup as a souvenir so it doesn't matter! Seeing all of the live music was really great. I’ve always wished that I was an amazing singer. The country accent would be a plus too. 

Here’s a shot of Printer’s Alley. It wasn’t poppin’ at all, but it was cool to walk down. Maybe it wasn’t busy because it was a Tuesday night? I figured it would always be a busy nightlife in Nashville. Well, Broadway was pretty busy. I felt like it was a mini Vegas, lots of lights, people, bad smells, and booze. I’m not sure why, but I was expecting Nashville to be much more of a western/cowboy/country kind of city. But I guess I’m not west anymore... I keep forgetting. 

In the morning, we got brunch and mimosas at a local spot in a much quieter part of town that was described to us as “up and coming”. We checked out the shops in this area, which were all so cool and I loved them, but they were so incredibly pricey, so we left without anything. Then we went to Broadway again to check out those shops there since we spent the night before there just bar hopping. Kinda all the same stuff you see everywhere. I got a sticker. Then we went to Margartiaville and watched this one guy while we had a couple margaritas, he was really great and covered a lot of Johnny Cash and the Beatles. 

We took a break (nap) at the hotel afterwards and then went out to a nice Italian restaurant recommended to us. Guess what I tried? Blueberry lasagna. And no, it’s not what you’re probably imagining. It was a wild mushroom lasagna with a light amount of blueberry reduction sauce drizzled on top. Soooooo good! You have to be willing to try new things in life, I think. It’s fun. After dinner we were so stuffed and decided we would just go back and get some rest instead of another night out on the town. There was this place we were going to go try that was way less touristy than Broadway, but oh well, maybe next time. 

Then our last morning that we had, we went to a popular place called Biscuit Love for breakfast and mimosas (again). Maga got biscuits and gravy and I got spicy chicken and biscuits. It was a beautiful and delicious breakfast. We also got the famous “bonuts” to go - fried biscuit dough with lemon marscapone and blueberry jam. We have yet to try them but I’m sure they are fantastic! 

Now we are on the road to Spring Hill, Florida to hang out with some family again for the weekend. I am excited, I haven’t been to Florida in a really long time. Definitely not my favorite place, but I haven’t seen Uncle Sean, Becky, or any of my little cousins in forever. Heck, I haven't even met Brynn yet! We are planning on a taco/bonfire night, a brewery night, and renting a pontoon boat on Sunday. 

We stopped in Macon, Georgia for the night to break up the commute. There’s nothing for us here, so we stayed in and I got my final done, finally, and am able to update you all before days go by. We will be in Florida tomorrow hopefully by 3pm. Here’s a pretty picture of the Tennessee River from one of our rest stops! See you all next week.

Ki 9/25-9/28

[sheehantravel-blog]

Days 12 - 14: Boston, MA and Wilmington, NC

Hello again everyone, sorry to disappoint, but we did not have the greatest time in Boston. ALTHOUGH - it was so nice staying with Sarah and chatting with her last night. Sarah, if you are reading this, thank you SO much again for letting us stay with you!

We grabbed coffee in downtown Worcester at a place called Brew on the Grid... I think. Then we made our way to Boston to check out Quincey Market. It was sooooo busy, I kept saying that I wanted to be back with the cows in Idaho. There was just so many people... and Boston is more condensed than NYC, it was just something that I absolutely wasn’t used to, and would just... prefer not. Also the weather was pretty bad. Super high winds, pouring rain, probably just above sixty degrees. I wish the weather was better because it would have been slightly more enjoyable. But we did get a pretty good philly cheese steak inside the food part of Quincey Market or Faneuil Hall or whatever it was. 

Oh yeah! It was funny because Sarah told us about this cool thing where we can go online and reserve a parking spot wherever we want in Boston to have ready for us as soon as we get there. We were very excited about this - until we forgot about our car top carrier and it’s clearance. So as we come up to our parking garage, we realize there was no way we could fit. So we had to be really stressed out for a minute while trying to find an open lot, and had to walk quite a ways to get to where we wanted to be. But that’s okay, we needed our exercise apparently because we ended up finding our way to the famous Mike’s pastry for some cannolis.

Other than that, we didn’t do too much in Boston because we had to start heading down to Wilmington in North Carolina to meet up with the rest of the fam. We may have done some illegal activity... but we won’t go into detail with that one. Family knows. 

Wilmington was MUCH, MUCH better weather for us. The day we got there, we went to the beach and had margaritas and lunch at a little local Mexican restaurant. Right before we got in, my mom and little sister Katie had just finished doing a tour at UNCW. Katie loved it, and I guess the campus was very beautiful. I wish we could have made it to see it. From what I’ve heard, UNCW is a really welcoming school and it sounds a lot like NAU, so I’m with it. But no pressure Katester! You do you. However, I would always recommend going away to school after my experience. 

We got some color on the beach, and then relaxed at the Airbnb house for a little bit before meeting up with one of my mom’s best friends, Lynn, who lives there. She had a beautiful home and was very kind enough to let all of us crazy Lockner’s and Sheehan’s drink wine on her back porch. Then we went to her other property at Wrightsville beach, got some pizza slices and brought some wine, and sat up on the deck and people-watched the bar scene below. It was nice to see family again so soon, but I hate saying goodbye every time. It’s always easy for me, but I really hate to see my mother and Nana cry. 

Maga and I ended up staying one night there with them, and stayed another night at a hotel. Since we finally made it in time to meet them, we had a chance to relax. And we sure did. That second day, we slept in late into the afternoon, and then got into our hotel around 5 and probably slept on and off the rest of the day until we ended up going to bed. It felt great to finally do that and not be in a rush or have to be anywhere anytime soon. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures from Wilmington, we were just so busy with family and then relaxing. But you all have been flooded with pictures in previous posts, so maybe a little break was refreshing for you. It won’t last long. 

Ki 9/22-9/24

[sheehantravel-blog]

Days 9 - 11: Burlington, VT; Portland, ME; and Portsmouth, NH

I will start by apologizing for the delay on our updates here, but once you see how busy we’ve been, I promise you’ll find it in your heart to forgive us. 

From Rochester, we went straight to Burlington. For some reason, my GPS took us through Essex, NY and right into the ferry port to go across Lake Champlain to Vermont. We pulled in right as the ferry was backing up from the port, and the next ferry wasn’t for another hour. The lady also told us that the ride across is about a half hour, and that it would take us the same total time to just drive around. So we ended up doing that... but it set us back an hour. Not sure why it didn’t just bring us around in the first place, but it made for a funny story. We stopped at a gas station in Essex and got invited to a potluck by some strangers. Too bad we were already running behind.

We decided to start our night off with a moscow mule and a naked and famous  at a bar called Mule Bar in Burlington. I got Maga to split a burger with me that came with rosemary fries, which she was very reluctant to try. She loved them though! As I mentioned previously, I’m really trying to get her to step outside of her... what should I call it... food box? She’s been doing better. 

A friend at the bar recommended another bar called the Archives for us to go check out near Church street. Before going in, we walked up and down the street and scoped out which shops we wanted to go to in the morning. The people of Burlington gave me very strange vibes. Almost everywhere I turned to look, everybody was already looking at us. Like, staring. If you know me, I really hate that. Apparently it was clear that we weren’t from the area? The Archives was a very cool arcade bar, Maga had no interest at first, but this is exactly the kind of bar that I like. Also, they had one of my favorite beers on nitro - the Founders Sumatra Brown. It was cool because it was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays they give you four free tokens with the purchase of a draft beer. We went to play a pinball machine on our way out, I chose the South Park machine. Boy, I’ve never played a machine for so long before. Maga got very excited about it. 

We started off our morning in Burlington by going to a local coffee shop that one of our friends from the bar the night before worked at. He gave us our coffee on the house, which was very kind of him. He also gave us some awesome recommendations for places to go to in Maine. Then we walked around Church street for a while, and guess what! We didn't not buy anything! Except for pizza for lunch. Here is a picture Maga took of me checking in with Mom, and a picture I took of a very cute local shop.

After leaving Burlington, we stopped through Waterbury on our way to Maine for a Ben & Jerry’s factory tour. I am so glad we decided to stop and do this! The tour was short, but very cute. We watched a film of the history of Ben & Jerry’s, it was very informative and quirky. I love everything that they have stood behind and promoted. We also got to try the exclusive flavor of the day, which was triple caramel chunk. It was fantastic, of course. They were working on maple pecan for the following day. The flavor graveyard was also a lot of fun, they had a head stone for every retired flavor with a little story behind each one. Some of them sounded so good... I can only hope that they come back. 

We got into Portland, Maine at the end of the night, and went out after getting settled in at our hotel. We went to eat a late dinner at this place called Eventide Oyster Co., which we were told by multiple people that we just HAD to go there and try the lobster roll. Maga and I split a meal - a bowl of clam chowder, the brown butter lobster roll, and a “clam bake” (steamed clams, mussels, lobster tail, salt pork, and a hard boiled egg). Everything was so great and delicious. I tried mussels for the first time, not a fan. Thank god Maga was, so she ate those and I had the clams, and we split the rest. 

We walked the streets after dinner towards the area a few blocks away with some nightlife. As we were walking, there was a couple coming towards us that stepped on a dead fish on the sidewalk, and Maga almost stepped on it immediately after. So we got talking small talk with this couple, they mentioned a bar they just came from that we should check out. After they left, I turn around and Maga is making friends with strangers (go figure). The one guy was trying to get his friend to bite the head off one of the dead fish in the walk. He wouldn’t, so the guy just went ahead and did it himself. Oh, the things you see in Portland. 

The recommended bar was already closed, and we ended up running back into this cute couple. We must have been the only people out that night. We found a little hole in the wall, wanna-be classy place to go into for some whiskey smash’s. The drunk, dead fish eating people came in too and bought us champagne. T’was a strange, but good night. This cute couple was from Boston, and was so kind to offer us a place to stay for our visit (coming up soon). 

Our morning in Portland was very nice, we went to a highly spoken of coffee shop, and Maga and I loved it. I got a malted iced coffee (I love malt) and we split a loaded biscuit with some kind of creamed butter and I’m thinking it was a strawberry jam? My goodness I would die for another. They had free stickers (my favorite) and a cool free map of places to go and things to see in Portland. 

On our way out, we stopped in Kennebunkport and saw the “Bush complex”, I wasn’t very impressed actually, but I mean the coast was very pretty. We couldn’t find the blowhole thing either... it was a very crowded and condensed little area, that I’m sure used to be very pleasant in previous times.

We spent a lit of time driving around and trying to find things in Kennebunkport, and also Kittery. There was a lot of outlets for name brand places, we were expecting more local shops, so we didn’t stop anywhere there. We ended up in Portsmouth later in the day, and checked out some shops there and decided to get our lobster here. So okay, we weren’t actually in Maine, but we could almost touch it from across the bay. We sat outside on a cute little rooftop patio and had our lobster and wine, it was a good way to end the day before traveling to Massachusetts and staying with a good family friend, Sarah, in Worcester. I was so glad to have finally had some lobster on the northeastern coast. 

Ki 9/19-9/21

[sheehantravel-blog]

Days 5 - 8: Rochester, NY

It was so nice to spend the weekend home in Rochester with family and friends.  Thursday evening we got in around dinner time, went to see my dad and my sisters first for a little bit and then I spent the night at home catching up with mom and her boyfriend Mike, and loving on my puppy Lily. 

Friday and Saturday, Maga went to her class reunion meet and greet and dinner. She said that it went very well, she met up with some of her old friends and had a great time. One guy was a best friend of Papap (Mark), and another friend was a girl she worked with at the telephone company. She told me about how everyone told her how good she looked, I said, “I told you so.” We all know that.

Friday morning, I got breakfast with Joey at this place downtown called the Mad Hatter, it’s Alice in Wonderland themed I guess, and it was very delicious. It was also very nice to see him, of course. I also went to see my sister cheerlead at our high schools football game that night. It’s always an interesting feeling being back at my high school. I ran into a good friend of mine there too, and bought a Spencerport Rangers homecoming t-shirt. Cause I’m the t-shirt queen. But the Rangers lost... I also went out with some girlfriends that night at the Daily Refresher on East and Alexander, one of my favorite cocktail bars in downtown Rochester. It was pretty up on their upstairs deck, seeing downtown Rochester all lit up. I always forget how beautiful the skyline of our city looks, and how pretty it looks lit up at night going over the Frederick Douglas/Susan B. Anthony bridge.

Saturday night, my best friend Alex and I went out to dinner at a newer restaurant in downtown Rochester called Fiamma Centro. Her little brother (and basically mine too) Robert has been working there for a long time, and Joey just started working there, too. They are both cooks, and I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while because they make everything there themselves which I am all about. We sat at the bar, and had such a great time. Our bartender was new but awesome to talk to, she’s a teacher and I talked with her a little bit about how I have been looking into becoming a teacher also. Wine was on the house. :) Also the food was amazing, I loved the fried balls (they were obviously something fancier but I can’t remember, see picture below). I haven’t Yelp reviewed any of it yet. Look at this, I’m already lagging. I’m writing this post as we are in Portland, ME. Haven’t written Burlington, VT yet... we’ll get there.

Sunday we had a family cook-out because my little step-brother was back home from a wilderness camp. It was also a great opportunity to get everyone together for me to see before leaving. We smoked a bunch of ribs on the grill, had corn on the cob, all the good eats. Watched the Bills lose against the Panthers. I had some good autumnal beers. It was great seeing a bunch of family and friends, even though I wasn’t gone for long at all this time around. Normally it’s months!

Monday was our last day and also my mom’s birthday. I surprised her with some flowers for her to see at the bottom of the steps when she woke up that morning, and me and her went out to lunch with Maga and Nana which was also very nice. I loved seeing them all catch up. Then I had a fantastic last dinner with Joey and was treated like a princess. I may have cried a couple times. We then spent the evening chatting with Maga and my dad on my dad’s porch at his apartment.

Being home again so soon was very nice. I don’t mean to make this post more about me, but I’m the one writing this and Maga ran away from me this weekend to do her own thing, and god only knows what kind of trouble she got into! It’s a little sad knowing that I have no idea when I will be home next, but I try not to let it bother me. Everyone needs to come out and see us in Boise! If you are reading this (and don’t already live there, hi family), that means you! Time to hit the road again and explore New England. 

Ki 9/15-9/18

[sheehantravel-blog]

Days 3 & 4: Omaha, NE and Cleveland, OH

We slept in so late this morning in Omaha... until 10:30! All the driving, the time changes, and socializing had us exhausted. I looked up another local coffee shop for us to go too before hitting the road (trying to hit a local coffee shop in every town). I got a lavender latte with coconut milk, I was so excited to see they made their house made syrup by infusing real lavender buds! So cool. We then went to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha before leaving. It was so beautiful, and really cool to be in Nebraska, Iowa, and the Missouri River all at once. We were so happy that our friends told us to come here. 

We heard of many other cool places in downtown Omaha, but were unfortunately pressed for time. We both unexpectedly loved this city and would definitely make a point to come back someday! We hit the road quick to begin our long drive to where we stayed in Toledo, OH. We didn’t make any other stops for the day, got into our hotel late at night and hit the hay probably faster than you could say Toledo. 

I guess we actually stayed in a town called Perrysburg, a really cute little suburb town. We went to a cute coffee shop nearby that we also really liked, I know how to pick ‘em. This time I got an orange vanilla latte with coconut milk. Speaking of, I have been Yelp reviewing every place we have gone to so far, and I will continue to do so! We were only an hour away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, so we hit that on our short journey back to Rochester. 

Kookoo got to meet the Rolling Stones!

This was one of the many amazing guitars we saw, and a button up shirt that I fell in love with and could probably totally rock. 

We had fun at the hall of fame, probably spent an equal amount of time in the gift shop as we did in the actual museum. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet - but I am the biggest souvenir junkie that I know. I have a t-shirt or a sticker for probably every place that I’ve been to. I was just a little disappointed that I didn’t see any Pink Floyd or Zeppelin galleries/exhibits, but one of the nice employees there explained to me how they can only go off of what they are given, which makes sense. I guess I like the greedy old bands.

We went to lunch somewhere really cool but in a really questionable part of Ohio City in downtown Cleveland. It was called Herb n’ Twine, and Maga and I absolutely loved it. It was in a cute little tucked away shop in a building with exposed brick wall and cute lighting, which is my kinda thing. They use all local ingredients and they really load your sandwich up and it’s so well worth the price. I’m turning this into one of my Yelp reviews now, so I should stop. But I had to show this to everybody. 

After lunch we stopped at what I thought was a really famous, gourmet/small batch ice cream shop. It was only a couple of blocks down from where we ate lunch, and online it kind of seemed like the place where people would wait outside for hours before opening. However, there was nobody there and the ice cream was disappointing. Boo.

We made it to Rochester in only three hours, got home around 6:30pm to sunshine and perfectly warm weather. We are very excited for a weekend home with family and friends!

Ki 9/13-9/14 2017

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Day 2: Mount Rushmore, SD and Omaha, NE

This morning didn’t start off the greatest. Well, it did, but then we ran into some troubles. We stopped at a local coffee shop to grab our fix and then hit the road. I got a speeding ticket... and then I missed our exit which put us back thirty miles. In my defense, when you consider the five miles per hour that you are usually given leeway with while driving... I wasn’t speeding that much. 

Driving through the Black Hills National forest in South Dakota was very beautiful. We made it to Mount Rushmore around lunch time, and it was surprisingly busy. Maybe it’s always like that? Parking took us absolutely forever, I thought it would be a little bit slower on a Tuesday at this time of year. We went up and took a couple of pictures, and then left. It was really cool to see, and kind of crazy that they went through all of that to carve the rocks. I just prefer going somewhere to see something and actually spending time exploring it rather than just going to take a picture and leave. But here we are:

On our way out, we stopped quick in Grand Rapids to grab lunch and then go to a free dinosaur park. A big storm was coming through and we had to run up a bunch of steps to get to take pictures with these dinosaurs, just because. The wind almost blew us away and we almost got stormed out, so this was a quick stop for us. Dinosaurs are cool!

Then we made the long, boring and un-scenic trek to Omaha, Nebraska. This is some place I never thought I would be, and obviously we decided on staying here at the last minute. We knew that we weren’t in a hurry to hit the road the next morning, so we had planned to go out for a drink this evening. I did some research on places, Maga and I were both feeling like some whiskey. We ended up going to a place called Blackstone Social in the Blackstone District of downtown Omaha. I got some a “whiskey smash”, Bulliet bourbon with lemon juice and honey, and Maga got her scotch on the rocks. The bar was full when we got there, so we had to sit somewhere else in the restaurant where nobody else was, and we felt a little antisocial at first. Eventually we landed a spot at the bar and ended up having a great time.

We made some friends at the bar, and Maga bought us all a round of Jameson shots (they were on special). They were all very friendly and gave us many good recommendations for us to enjoy our time in Omaha. After the bar, we went to another bar/food place and got the Omaha famous “tot-chos”, tater tot nachos. Maga tried a corn dog for the first time and hated it. We shared many stories and laughs with our new friends, and ended up staying out until the bars closed. Whoops! 

Ki 9/12 2017

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Day 1: Casper, WY

And so it begins! The time has finally come to travel the country, and we are pretty much doing it aimlessly. We left early this morning from Boise (you can tell by how good we look). We are making our way home to Rochester first, because Maga (or Betty as the rest of you probably know her) has a class reunion she needs to make this weekend! We will then work our way down the east coast, westward across the south, and zigzag our way back up to Boise. At least that’s the idea for right now. I’ve got a general idea of our route and the places we want to hit, but is any of it planned and set in stone? Nope! We wanted to keep this blog suspenseful... 

We have stopped here in Casper, WY for our first night. It’s an interesting city... I have a theory that this used to be a ghost town, hence “Casper”, and that they tried saving it, but... that’s all it is. Tomorrow morning we will stop at Mount Rushmore, and possibly a dinosaur park in Rapid City, SD that I came across while doing research. I am currently trying to find somewhere to stay tomorrow night... again, planning as we go. 

One of our good friends Lyndy loaned us Kookoo the koala to bring along with us (you can see him with us above). We will bring him everywhere we go, and you will see many pictures of him enjoying life in various tourist traps. Here is Kookoo last night on “the bump” of our back patio in Boise. The fire smoke has finally thinned, and we can see our beautiful foothills again. 

I think what I am most excited for is Maine and Colorado, I’ve never been to either. I feel like everyone should eat lobster in Maine at least once in their life... because it’s a thing. So we’re doing it. In Colorado, my main concern is hitting up Odell Brewery in Ft. Collins. I’m wondering if the aspens will be golden yet? 

Maga is most excited for Nashville and New Orleans. She really wants to find a horse ranch to go riding, we are thinking Jacksonhole may be a good place. Yes, we will be in Wyoming twice. I’m really excited to show her San Diego and all of the national parks in Utah, she hasn’t been to any of these places yet. 

We are currently in our hotel room enjoying chardonnay and brie and crackers. Planning out our next three days on the way to Rochester, and getting more and more excited for what’s to come. Casper doesn’t seem to have anything interesting to offer us after a long days drive. 

Thank you to all family and friends who care about us, love us, and want to keep tabs on us during our journey! We will try to update every day, or at least at every desired destination. We are both so so so fortunate to be able to do this, and were lucky enough to be able to at this same time in both of our lives. Papap, this is all for you! We know you’re here following us along. 

Ki 9/11 2017