Before & After....MUUUUCH Better!

So..I am still figuring out how to work the whole blog thing...so bare with me...

I think I left you all off in South Carolina some place?

Lots has happened since. First, an amazing weekend in New Orleans! Toured the city, walked the streets and met some locals. All while the temperatures soared into the 100s with a humidity of 98%. It was hot and we did a lot of sweating. But it was all worth it.

From New Orleans we drove North and started heading west in Kansas...beautiful countryside for the first FIVE hours, but after 12 hours of seeing the SAME flat land and cows, it gets a bit tiring. As Kari said, the site of the mountains in Colorado was a soothing one!

SAND DUNES...WOW, I felt like I was in Egypt. I recently read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho which is a great story about a young man who is in search of treasure in Egypt and finds a lot more than he could ever imagine on the trip. I kinda felt like the young man in the book, hahaha...in the desert, looking for the beauty of it all and finding so much more...I think you get the picture.

From the Sand Dunes we headed to Pagosa Springs! Sitting in the natural hot springs along the San Juan was a once in a life time experience. It smelled like sulfur (something awful) but the smell is soon forgotten once you step into the pools! I even got to wear a white robe! I felt so special :) Even Oprah took a visit to the springs!!!

I have never been this far west before, so seeing the landscape has been a great experience. It's breathtaking and pictures can not even come close to capturing the magnitude of beauty the land holds. Canyon Lands and Arhces....works of nature that leave me speechless. Had my first real experience mountain biking on Slick rock (not the infamous Slickrock trail) and loved every minute of it! Although I am left with a nasty bruise on my thigh (don't know how it got there) I'd do it all over again in a heart beat. Well....the downhill part I would do all over again in a heartbeat, the uphill part...not so much. Oh, and I won't tell you that Kari got lost..oops, I already did, ask her for the details!!!!

Stay TUNED!!!

Still trucking'

Wow, has it really been so long since our last opportunity to post? It seems that it has been a minute and an eon all at the very same time. We have had the pleasure of seeing vast tracts of land, falling in with some and counting the miles to get out of others.

One that that has been painfully clear is that each and every place we have stopped is worthy not of the few hours or couple of days that we are able to give them, but a month in and of e.

This whirlwind smattering of sights that we are experiencing is something like an appetizer sampler plate. What it has been doing is giving us a taste for travelling and what we might like to have as an entree our next time around! Much of the conversations that we are havin consist of returning here or there or where we will travel next. And we're not even done with this trip yet.

Becasue it has mostly planned itself out at this point, in some ways it geels like it's coming to and end already despite all that we still have before us.

Are you dying to hear what we're up to or what all the silly pictures are about? OK, I'll share a bit.

The first few recount an really fun couple of hours that we had whetting our whistles and chatting up a couple of locals that we met at the bar. though those of you who know how shy we are will be very surprised to hear it, we actually made fast friends and were able to loosen up enough to let out a few laughs (and be the brunt of a couple, too I think). Actually, I think I missed the mask one....what would a trip to New Orleans be without a touristy shot in a sampling of the local attire....;)

How cute are we, smilng our pretty little blonde heads off just outside of Dodge city Kansas as we admired teh setting sun?!?! I think we were smiling because caught a whiff of Colorado on the horizon and with it the promise of seeing and being in the mountains once again.

Once in Colorado, our first major destination had to be the Great Sand Dunes. Too many times, I was forced to drive right by the entrance and this time I was determined to set foot on them. Turns out, when we got there, I think that Allison was actually the one that was most enamored with the whole sight and sounds and feel and, well the sand....beach diva that she is....

I for one was very happy to spend that very evening soaking in natural mineral water in and around the San Juan river and to show her one of my most favorite stops on the trail...Pagosa Springs.

On our way to Utah, we simply had to stick our tongues out at someone, but since no one seemed to be in the vicinity, we figured you and the camera would do...jk.

Yesterday brought us inconceivable vistas and a bit of excess sun. Today, it was a great ride with an even better guide who was actually from none other than Rochester NY....crazy, right!?

Now it's getting to be the time to skip town and head on to our next amazing destination and adventure...wanna know what that might be? stay tuned....

=)K

We're still out here....

.....just been a little tough to come by the time and internet access at the same time to make posts. Hopefully tonight, we will be able to further entertain you.

Debi, thanks for the idea about the map. Hopefully we can look into it this evening!

And thanks to all you commenters...we love to know that we aren't talking to and making only ourselves laugh! =)

I will try my hardest not to duplicate anything that Kari has already said....if I do, I apologize!

We made it to Kentucky and realized, WOW, what a beautiful state. I never imagined it to be the luscious green rolling hills that it was. We met possibly the one of the sweetest women ever at our campground...Theresa!

Meandering our way down to North Carolina through eastern Tennessee was breathtaking. And as Kari already mentioned, we met our knights and shining armors on the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. We were pumping gas and one of the gentlemen started talking to me. He seemed upright and respectable so I was not alarmed! Into our conversation he has asked us (more to Kari) if we were "carrying"? HMMMM?? I was a bit confused. I thought he was asking Kari if she was pregnant and thought that to be a bit of a personal question and was about to wrap my hands around his neck for being so RUDE! Well....he helped to clarify the situation and opened his car door to show us the handgun he had sitting in the door...he told us we must be carrying a gun in this part of the woods...especially where we were headed to...hence, our knoght and shining armor. He redirected our route to a much more safer route and we were much appreciative!

Haning out with Sam and his family was great! Homemade food to die for and I think my Spanish improved by points! Stay tuned!

Sam's choice awarded to this se3lf portrait of three stooges overlooking the blueridge mountains of North Carolina...

...and...

My apologies for not proof-reading the last post, which I realized upon further inspection, is riddled with errors...my bad.

=)

It is hard to believe that already we have been on the road for four days and this is the first opportunity that I have had to take a moment to sit down and reach out to all y'all. So for days of relaxinf summer days and lazy campground nights with time to read and write...who did I think I was fooling?

Anyway, we are oof to a grand start and have already been having an amazing time with great sights, cool peeps and neat experiences.

It started as a comedy of errors as we were readying ourselves for take-off on Monday morning. Sure, more could have gone wrong, but still we sere two hours late in taking off due, in part, to technical difficulties. Turns out it was the blonde us all along....

Typically known for my navigation skills, it wasn't half an hour into our trip when I made the first wrong turn. Technically, we were never lost. I always knew where we were...just wound up adding about an hour to our first days driving by making a bone head error...209 to 17 instead of 84. Allison, who said she wouldn't even have known if I hadn't told her (perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut) and I decided that perhaps I had started to take my skills for granted and thereby was slacking...something to work on.

We did get to Kentucky without another hitch, however and set up cam like champs whose heads likely hadn't even hit camp pillows before dreams of cherry plums and kentucky hills were in our heads.

The morning brought even more excitement that didn't allow me to sleep past 5:30. The dew was in the air and the sun was on the rise. I was eager to make coffee and enjoy the sunrise as I read about American history and thought about what the next few days might hold for us. In my head, our trip was taking shape and I was hoping that Allison would be keen on my travel and lodging ideas.

When Allison rolled out of the tent much earlier than she tend to arise, we headed off to the office to seek local counsel. Caves and Country music points of interest were on the menu. Unfortunately for us and fortunately for our livers, the bourbon trail was out of the question logistically speaking.

The highlight of the day turned out to be the visiting the birthplace of Loretta Lyn, Crystal Gayle and chatting with their brother Herman Webb about the old mining days in Butcher Holler way off the beaten track in the gorgeous hills of Kentucky where us Catskill girls felt right at home...well, mostly.

Turns out, we were in need of a couple of chivalrous Virginia boyz to turn us onto a safe and timely path to our destination in NorthCarolina where we would be staying with my adopted Mexican family and enjoying Sam's mom's incomparable Mexican home cooking. The next day would bring travels through the beatiful blue ridge mountains visiting quaint little towns, reminiscent of New York's won Adirondacks and particularly Lake Placid, a favorite town of mine. In the evening we were treated to pozole, a Mexican traditional favorite of mine, followed by flour tortilla making lessons from "mi ama' mexicana." Even Allison tried her hand at rolling the masa. It seemed mine were gettting further and further from round and so I passed her the roller.

And then, it was....on the road again...more to follow. Thanks for reading!

ATTENTION!

Found: Stowaway.... Any one with information regarding the identity of this little rascal is requested to respond to this post at their earliest convience! ;)

So, they say that a picture is worth a tousand words...might this photo be where it all began? Jul 1982

goin' on a road trip!

Hey y'all!

I have to say I have always dreamed of going cross country...except for in my dreams I always imagined doing it in a Hippie Van (don't know why). Well, now my dream has come true and Kari and I will be hittin' the road soon and heading across the good 'ol US of A!! I eagerly await the road and all my country has to offer. Not to mention, the time to think, self-reflect and be free for a bit.

Kari has done a great job of summing it all up, but there is one quick story that I would like to add. It's true, many people have questioned our ability to be together for four weeks, and although I am confident that we will have a great time, I also agree with Kari that there will be a great deal of comprising. However, we are on the same page with many of our trip's details, I know this will be memorable! Now on to the story....We were talking on the phone today and discussing some of the trip deatils, and somehow we got off topic. Kari was questioning me about something, but everyone knows Kari, it wasn't just one questions....it was several. I was in a slight rush and my response included: "We are going to be on the road together for the next 27 days, can we discuss this then! :) Her response "HAHAHAHAH!!! True, love you bye!"

PS...I am sure we will be fine!!!

Stayed tuned for the fun ahead and please please please give us your input as Kari has already asked!!!

Getting Going...

Wow, so I can hardly believe that we are just a little over a week away from our departure. This trip has been long time under discussion, only really becoming more than a dream withing the last month or so and a reality in the last couple of weeks.... Now that it's really for real a reality, I find that I am both nervous and incredibly excited at what the next month or so will hold for Al and me.

Many have commented that it's brave of us to spend so much time together saying things like "are you sure you love each other enough," and "you're gonna hate each other in short order." While I am sure that there will be a fair amount of compromising, I am confident that we are both fair and reasonable and I can say without reservation there is no one else that I could imagine having so little reservation about choosing to be a partner in crime on a trip-of-a-lifetime such as the one that lies before us.

Already, the fun has begun as we plan our packing list discussing things that we will need and ordering things that we don't already have. Stay tuned for commentary on our p-styles that are scheduled to arrive any day...don't know what it is? I'm not telling...you just have to keep your eyes on this blog if you want to know more.

Our agenda is simple. Cali and back. Four weeks to do it, which means that we will have some time to meander, see the country, check states off our lists and experiences off our bucket lists, which maybe we'll work on on the road...so much to think about, discuss, and experience.

And the driving hours will be long, so it's a good thing that Karmen (my beloved Jetta wagon) will be equipped not only with a new set of wheels and tires (and also checked by my trusted mechanic, Tom) but also with a new stereo. So, for those of you that enjoy creating playlists and cds, we would love to take a mix of your creation, and thereby you in a sense, along for the ride. The only catch is that you have to get it to us before we leave...let us know if you're interested.

OK, So my only intention when I started this post really was to post something, anything before I sent the link out. Yet, already it has barreled out of my control...must make one wonder what will become of this blog in the next month, I imagine. Hopefully none will be disappointed.

Oh, and one other thing: It is our sincere hope that you all participate in the blog by commenting and making suggestions as we go. We'd hate to return to hear you say "oh, you shouldn't have missed this or that," or "wow!, this amazing show was happening when you were in LA...why didn't you go?" Let's not have the answer to that be that no one chose to inform us....

I'll sign this from the both of us, though Allison has no idea what I have written....=)K