New Mexico

LLAMAS, GERMAN APPLIANCES AND A MOVIE QUOTE (Santa Fe, part 2)

UPDATE: My blogs on Santa Fe has now turned into a 3-Parter. Spoiler alert: still had pretty rough going in Part 2 but I can promise you that Part 3 is happy and fun. Stay tuned! When last we left things in Part 1, I was curled up on the floor in a foam donut, inside a freezing yurt, bruised and sniveling.I got up the next morning (actually I just gave up trying…

New Mexico

ALIENS, YURTS AND MT. COMPOST (Santa Fe, part 1)

It’s been a while since my last blog and I am almost embarrassed to share the reason: I had a bad couple of days and wasn’t sure how or if to blog about them. At some point, I knew I would have days when I missed home, got really sad, or just wanted to stay in bed. Let’s be honest, “normal” life is not immune to bad days, so why would life…

Arizona

MY HOGAN HEROES

When I planned my itinerary, I was most concerned with drive times and whether or not I would be able to do everything I wanted to do in the 5 months I gave myself. I thought briefly about weather, but since I was starting out in mid-March, I figured I was in for a long hot spring and summer since I would get to Texas and the Gulf Coast by Easter. So weather never…

Arizona

IN THE LAND OF CATHEDRALS

I wanted to spend as much time with my friends in Phoenix as I could, which meant I ended up driving from Phoenix to Sedona at night. It was a two-hour drive through some mountains, but any notable scenery was lost in the darkness. As I got closer to the city, my AirBnB hosts told me to follow their directions because apparently GPS doesn’t register their address. Moreover, Sedona is an official Dark…

Arizona

BLAME THE CHICAGO CUBS

What can I say about Phoenix, Arizona? Not a thing. Because I didn’t actually see Phoenix. And the reasons for that I elaborate here:Reason #1: I’m a Terrible FriendI was staying in the Phoenix area (Mesa to be exact) with yet another friend I hadn’t seen in several years and had barely kept up with. In the years since I saw her last, my friend’s work had moved her…

Arizona

LEAVING THE HOMELAND

When I left San Diego, I felt my adventure was truly beginning: True, I was leaving a land of over-priced everything and wacky weird politics but you must understand that, with the only exception being my college years, I had lived in California for my entire life. Now I was headed to territories unknown, not to return to the Golden State for several months. The road would be a bit different from here on…