Home. USA!

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." ~Terry Pratchett

home. home truly is where the heart is. my heart is so full. i am sad to be away from the adventures of Europe, but i am so happy to be home. so happy to be with my family. so happy to hear the voices of my friends. so blessed to have all these people to come home to. home is here and so am i.

It's hard to believe that I just spent 9 weeks in Europe. When people ask me about the trip I admit that it feels like I never went. But then I look back at my pictures and it all starts coming back to me. I am so blessed. The sights I saw, the people I met, and the experiences I had were once in a lifetime and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of them. I learned so much about Chris, myself, and the world around me. I learned that I am such a small part of this world. Such a small part of this world, but such a big part of my own life. I can make a difference. I can make a difference in the lives of my friends, family, and patients. I matter. Everyone matters. We are all such a small part of this huge, amazing, wonderful world of God, but we all matter. Whether it's to one person, a family, or God we matter. It's amazing. It's amazing the lives that we can affect just in our everyday life. It's amazing the effect that others can have on you. What you can learn from others and their experiences. Don't take that for granted. Be grateful. Say thank you. Show appreciation. It doesn't go unnoticed.   

Travel. Meet new people. Have conversation with strangers. You will be affected. You will affect them. You will learn and love and be loved.

Travel. Allow yourself to see your world with new eyes, open eyes. See your life with a new heart, an open heart. Find the good in others and situations. Live life without expectation and accept the unexpected. Be free!!

Love Life, Live Life

Barcelona, Valencia y Madrid, Spain

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." ~Ernest Hemingway


I can say this as I have journeyed 10 countries in 9 weeks...Spain is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From small villages to big cities the beauty of the architecture, people, and lifestyle is something to love.


Our last week in Spain & Europe was a great one! We spent it as a team of three again which made for a fun adventure! Our dear friend Madeline flew over and meet us in Barcelona, spent the week with us, and flew home from Madrid. She was a welcomed relief for sure! After 8 weeks of sight seeing Chris and I were ready to relax, siesta (all day), and lay low. But with Maddie there we had some pep in our step and felt ready to take on Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid before heading home. 


As I said, Madeline met us in Barcelona on Tuesday the 17th. Chris and I arrived in Barcelona that morning after a long overnight train from Granada. After some nerve racking hours (me wondering if I told her the wrong train station, did her flight get delayed, is she lost in Barcelona ALONE!) Maddie finally arrived and we were on our way!


Barcelona, in my opinion, is the most beautiful big city. Amazing architecture with Gaudi influence, green spaces everywhere, and space...tons of space! I do wish we would have seen more of Barcelona but alas...the Spainish night life got a hold of us and swallowed us up...all of us! We spent one whole day of our visit on and off a tour bus. I think it was a great way to see the city. Barcelona is huge! It would have been too difficult for us to try and find our way to all the sights on our own. The bus took us all over town- up the mountains, to the beach, and through business, shopping, and residential areas of the city. Its hard not to fall in love with Barcelona after a day like that. We did hop off a few times to see the beach, tour the stunning La Sagrada Familia, and grab some lunch on La Rambla. If you've never heard of La Sagrada Familia please google image it. It is absolutely incredible. One of the most amazing churches I have and will ever enter. Construction began in 1882 and is said to be completed in another 8 years. After visiting and seeing what they have accomplished since 1882 I expect that it will take more than 8 years to complete, but what do I know. Although it is under construction you can still visit, take tours, and participate in masses. We spent hours inside and out simply admiring the detail, the beauty, and the genius that is Gaudi's dream. When Gaudi was questioned about the lengthy construction time he said "My client is not in a hurry." I love that. And I love that even with the construction and obvious signs of incompletion it is still one of the most beautiful structures I have ever witnessed. It's awe inspiring and truly a masterpiece. Gaudi was a genius. The structure is such a modern piece of work although it was envisioned over 100 years ago. Genius! I would advice everyone to make plans to see La Sagrada Familia now or after completion...but what if the world ends this year. oh mess...just go now. It's worth it!!! 100%!  


Maybe it's a good thing that we didn't do much more in Barcelona besides eat, visit with our new Aussie friends, and party because nothing could have lived up to our La Sagrada Familia visit!


Our fifth city to visit in Spain was Valencia. Wow! Beautiful! Spain is so beautiful! (have I said that before?) For Chris and I Valencia was bittersweet. It was our last city to really spend time in, meet new people, and relax. It was our last hooray before a day in Madrid then home. For Maddie it was another city to shop, party, and sight see. Needless to say we all loved it! 


I spent some time on my own walking the city. I visited the Cathedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral or Valencia Cathedral- what a mouthful!), spent some time admiring the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts & Sciences), and walked the quiet cobblestone streets. If you don't already know about the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia then you are missing out. Google this too because it is so worth it! All the structures, 6 of them in total I think, were designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. It's breathtaking. In ways it looks like a Star Wars set, but it has so much beauty in the simple but grand detail. There's a shallow pool that weaves in and out of the buildings too which adds an element of nature and beauty to the modern structures. 


Maddie and I had a wonderful girls day in Valencia as well. We woke up early and headed to the beach for a couple of hours before wasting away the afternoon shopping, eating, and catching up! It was so fun to spend time together! The beach wasn't too bad either. It reminded me so much of Venice beach in LA. There was a big path for walkers, bikers, and street vendors and the beach was a mile long before actually reaching the freezing cold blue waters of the Mediterranean. We enjoyed some amazing people watching too! (if you know me you know how much I LOVE "people watching")


Sight seeing, shopping, and lounging on the beach didn't take all of our time in Valencia though! The three of us enjoyed a wonderful dinner on Mom and Dad as a celebration of our trip! We also enjoyed meeting locals and visitors alike on an all night pub crawl through the streets of Valencia! Spaniards can party. Let me tell you!! They start at about 10 pm and don't stop until sunrise or later...just to wake up, "work a day," and do it all over again!! I say I'm too old for that, but they all do it no matter their age. It's crazy!


Our final destination was Madrid! We arrived in Madrid just before noon on Monday the 23rd before flying out Tuesday morning. I hadn't heard much about Madrid from other travelers so didn't have any expectations for the day. Our hostel was in a prime location for shopping though so thats exactly what we did! Chris did a little shopping before freeing  himself to his computer and the AC of our room. Maddie and I wasted away the afternoon and our euros in and out of shops in the Sol area of Madrid. Great day! I'd say it was a great way to end the trip. Relaxed, away from the hectic tourist scene, and spending $ (or euros)! Nothing better!


LOVE LIFE  

Sevilla & Granada, Spain

“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” ~Isabelle Eberhardt

I have fallen in love with Spain. I might have mentioned this in my last post, but it's confirmed. I wish I could stay here forever. The culture is absolutely spectacular, the food is amazing, the people are fun and free, and it's appropriate to siesta every single day!

I love it!

I wish we had saved more time for Spain, but I guess that just means I'll have to come back. Shucks!

We arrived in beautiful Sevilla in the evening of Thursday, July 12th. It didn't take us long to fall into the Spanish swing of things. After a short siesta we were roaming the streets of Sevilla, sipping sangria, and eating tapas. Delish! 

Sevilla is such a beautiful city! 

The city thrives in its Arabic history and greatly benefits from the architectural influences. Even the largest cathedral in the world, Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, that's right in the middle of the city has Arabic influences. We learned that when the Christians took over they simply built on top of the standing structures instead of destroying them. It's such a sight to see! Archways, painted tiles, pillars, and amazing detailing everywhere brings the city to life in a way nowhere else has. It was fun to just get lost in the streets or the Jewish district and admire the views. Orange trees are scattered throughout the entire city which helps to cover the smell of horse poo and adds another element of beauty. The oranges are also used to make the city's gin, Beafeater.

We were able to tour the Reales Alcazares (the royal castle), take a city walking tour, visit and learn about the Jewish district (Santa Cruz) with its powerful history, spend some quiet time in Plaza de Espana, and shop a bit! We also met some fun party goers from the hostel. We found a pub crawl with them and joined the locals at the clubs until sunrise! We took it slow the other nights...enjoying fresh sangria, eating tapas, and seeing a Flamenco show!

When in Spain right?

The craziness didn't stop in Granada either, but to be honest it probably won't until we board our flight back on Tuesday. 

The entire Andalucia region doesn't seem to disappoint! Granada was our second stop in the area and was just as beautiful as Sevilla. Granada is smaller and has much more of a Spanish feeling to it. As with Sevilla though it also has boat loads of Arabic influences still. I just wish we could have seen more of it! We started our stay here with a walking tour that began just 40 minutes after our train rolled in. And that 3 hour tour was the extent of our sight seeing. Horrible to admit, but with an even worse reason. I guess the night life caught our attention in Spain and carried us through Granada...all day and night long! We/I had to have an entire day to recuperate. I'm too old for this young party seen I guess!

Nevertheless, Granada was absolutely spectacular! We'll just will have to make another trip to visit the Alhambra and other "unmissable" sights. Oops!

I'm starting to get sad when I think that we fly back in just 5 days. 5 days! I know it will be nice to be home, but I'm loving this lifestyle and only now starting to feel like I've got the hang of it. Ahh. 

No more sad talk though! We have had three great days in Barcelona with Madeline and will travel as a team of three to Valencia and Madrid before saying adios to Spain and hello to America on Tuesday. 

Love Life and travel. 

Travel please! There is so much to see, explore, and experience! Do it!

Pamplona, Spain

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”  ~James A. Michener

I can not even begin to describe how exciting the past 36 hours have been! 

Wow!

I wish we could do it all over again. 

After a LONG 29 hours of train travel we arrived safely to our destination, Pamplona, on Tuesday evening. We hit the ground running and didn't stop until we sat on our train to southern Spain today.

I have fallen in love with Spain already. The people are beyond welcoming and so friendly. It's great to be able to understand the language too (kind of). And we've just experience something that I will never ever forget!

Chris said it well last night. "We've just experienced something in a matter of hours that we will remember for the rest of our lives." So true and so wonderful!

In the last 36 hours we have run with the bulls, seen countless parades, enjoyed 6 bullfights, witnessed the honor of receiving 3 ears (yes...ears), and joined one of the countries biggest and best parties. We have been to and lived through San Fermin!!!

It only took us a couple of hours on Tuesday to realize what we had gotten ourselves into. Shortly after arriving into the city and settling into our apartment we were wandering the streets...both shocked and silenced by the craziness. We made our way through a market that had us feeling as if we were at the fair. (we still had no clue of what we were in for). Lots of vendors selling handmade gifts, souvenirs, and traditional San Fermin clothing. Food stations with churros and chocolate sauce, paella, sangria, and all the meat you could ever want. 

Eventually we made our way to the old town streets where the party was in full force. Everyone was wearing sangria stained white clothing from head to toe with drinks in hand. Music blared from every single bar. Bands crowded the alleys screaming out their own song of choice. People were singing, dancing, and showing signs of pure happiness everywhere we looked. People of all ages. We soon learned that this lasted all day and night for seven straight days. It was absolutely insane! The energy was so contagious. It didn't take long for us to join the party and try to act as locals. We stood out like sore thumbs though in our jeans and colorful shirts (we eventually bought all the gear and blended in quite well!).

We spent the night sipping sangria, people watching, soaking in the atmosphere, and enjoying a beautiful firework show. 

Wednesday proved to be an even better day with more surprises in store.

The day started early and ended late. We witnessed the running of the bulls at 8 am, watched as young and old horsed around with the bulls in the arena, and did some necessary shopping. The bull run was absolute chaos that lasted all of 3 minutes. People lined the streets to witness the brave outrun the bulls or their attempt to. We didn't see anyone get gored or injured in the run, but it was amusing to see the frightened faces of the runners as they dodged the bulls (or fallen runners), jumped the fences, or simply froze in the wake of the madness. 

After the run everyone made their way to the arena to watch the same fools chase around and be chased by the bulls. It was so fun to watch! The bulls have corks on their horns so they don't injure anyone. Each bull comes out for about 10 minutes while the people tease and rough house with them. The bulls do get some of the people and send them flying, but no one seems to get hurt. It's really just comical entertainment until the steer takes the bull out and another one starts the fun all over. After the show we shopped through the markets and made our way back to the apartment for our siesta. 

The evening started with some beer in the plaza before the bull fight. I think this was my favorite part! We didn't know what to expect, but what we saw was absolutely spectacular. The fight was 2 hours long and ended with 6 dead bulls and a definite winner! Three matadors took their turns teasing, attacking, and eventually stabbing the bull to death. It sounds horrible, but was extremely entertaining. After watching for a bit we were able to recognize the skill of the matador and cheer along with others after good moves or close calls! If the matador excelled in the race then the mayor or president of the games that day would decide if he deserved one or two of the bulls ears as a prize. We were lucky enough to witness the receiving of three ears!! And two of them went to one matador...so exciting! He was all over the papers today.

When the show was over we found ourselves in the streets again with everyone. We partied, had dinner, and ended the night with another amazing firework show.

Chris actually ran with the bulls this morning before we headed out of town. He is still alive to tell the story, but I have to admit that I was a little worried he wouldn't survive!

The experience was something I will always remember and I wish we could have stayed longer! 

Live Life on the edge!

Italy

"People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home." ~Dogobert D. Runes

I probably should have written this ages ago (a week), but alas...I didn't. I have been busy gallivanting through Italy. Eating pizza and pasta. Devouring gelato several times daily. And seeing some of the worlds oldest sights. 

I have so much to share that no doubt this will be a long post, but I will try to reduce it to just a few paragraphs. We have been in Italy for two weeks and are now on our night train across the border to Spain for our final two weeks. We had a wonderful time in Italy, but are both ready to move on and are eager for Spain! We should arrive in Pamplona, Spain (for running of the bulls!!) after about 29 hours of train travel...fingers crossed.

Where to begin. 

After changing around our schedule, we finally arrived to Florence on Tuesday the 26th of June. We were still a team of three then as Lauren was still traveling with us for another week. I am so grateful for her visit...it helped us break up the trip and gave Chris and I a break from each other for a bit. 

We arrived into Florence and checked into our apartment on Tuesday evening. That's right, we stayed in an apartment. And since then we have been splurging on apartments. Apartments with no AC and that require us to climb mountains, but they are better than 20 person dorm rooms for sure. 

Ok, back to the travels. 

Florence. 

I remembered so little of Italy from when I was there 12 years ago so it was fun to explore it all over again. We spent most of our time walking around and shopping instead of visiting all the museums. We admired the Duomo (the most beautiful building in the world in my opinion), we listened to street performers in Piazza Della Signoria, we ate our fair share of creamy gelato, and we shopped through the leather markets. Our apartment was in such a great location. We were right behind the Mercato Centrale and 5 minutes from Piazza Santa Maria Novella. We took advantage of the market and picked up some picnic food before making our way across Ponte Vecchio. We escaped the scorching heat with a picnic in the shade then toured through the Pitti Palace. After seeing other palaces and castles through Europe the Pitti Palace didn't seem too wonderful; the view of Florence from the gardens was pretty nice though! The highlight of Florence was Michelangelo's David (the Duomo is a close second).  He is so stunning and a truly remarkable work of art. The detailing is what I found most surprising. And the fact that it was all one single piece of marble. And that Michelangelo finished the piece at just 30 years old. Amazing! It's a must see for sure. We spent our nights watching futbol (surprise surprise). It was getting really exciting though because the finals were approaching and Italy was still in the race!

Rome. 

Wow...so much to see and so much to tell. We hit Rome running and wore ourselves out. I blame the heat for our exhaustion (not the fact that we have walked miles and miles everyday for 2 months). There was no place to escape the heat though and our apartment didn't provide any reprieve. As with every other city we spent our time exploring, walking through the streets, and soaking in all the beauty and history. Chris had to take care of some business one morning so Lauren and I took the opportunity to walk around. We visited the Colosseum and the tomb of the unknown soldier at Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. We wished at Fontana di Trevi and breezed through the Pantheon. The day didn't stop there! We walked around Piazza Novona and enjoyed lunch on the square then finally met Chris across the river. We all toured the Vactican museum and the Sistine Chapel that afternoon. Stunning! It was amazing to witness such beautiful works of art in such a historical place. The pope wasn't around, but we hear that we missed his speech in St Peter's Square just the next day. Bummer! We visited the Basilica of St. Peter too! What a long day. Sunday was the Euro championship game so we laid low during the day just to watch Italy lose to Spain 4-0. It was a sad night in Italy for sure. Good things did happen for us though! We met up with a friend of mine from SF (Alex) and spent the night catching up, watching the game, and taking a night walk through the city. All of Italy is so much more beautiful at night! All the old, dirty buildings look so raw during the day, but at night they glow in the street lights and look so much more glamorous!

Cinque Terre. 

Lauren made her way back to the US of A on Monday morning while Chris and I headed to the coast. We spent the next four days with some new friends in one of the most breathtaking, beautiful, picturesque places in the world. Seriously! If you've been to or seen pictures of Cinque Terre I don't see how you could disagree with me. 

Cinque Terre literally means 5 lands. There are 5 villages built up into the mountains right on the water. One could hike the trails between the villages or take the train. We took the train for free with our Eurail and abused our right. We spent four full days village hoping, soaking up the sun on the beaches,and meeting new American friends (all Texans)!! I considered this week our vacation from the holiday. Ha. It's exhausting walking all day, finding your way around a new city/country/language every few days, and trying to see all the "must see" sights.  I miss Cinque Terre already! 

Venice.

Our final stop in Italy. Thank goodness. Don't get me wrong, we both loved Italy, but italian food can get pretty monotonous and Italians can be extremely loud, overbearing, and rude. We are looking forward to the laid back environment in Spain for sure!

Venice was lovely though. It's just like the videos you see of it. Instead of streets there are canals and instead of cars there are boats. Kind of crazy, but really beautiful. There weren't any big landmarks or destinations that we wanted to see so we spent two days slowly wandering around. Alot of time was spent getting lost in the alleys, shopping along the Rialto Bridge, having wine while watching the sunset over the city, and lounging by the pool at our campsite. Venice is a really small place and easy to walk everywhere, but it's such a maze. Everywhere you turn there is another alley, bridge, or canal. Maps really don't help either. We found it was best to wander around and attempt to find the Grand Canal in order to find our way. From there we would start wandering again and just get lost again, but getting lost in Venice isn't so bad! 

It's hard to believe that we've only got two weeks left in Europe. Looking back to England and Belgium seems so long ago but only because of everything we've seen and everywhere we've been since. I am going to miss the freedom of traveling but am looking forward to driving my car, eating Chick-fil-a, and seeing my English speaking friends and family! 

Ciao Bella! 

Love Life

please forgive the errors and grammatical mistakes as i wrote this at the end of our 29 hour travel day

France

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” ~Rudyard Kipling

Well...our plans changed a bit, but all for the best! I can say that now because I loved the places we ended up, but last week I wasn't so sure. 

After our whirlwind trip through Switzerland last weekend, Chris and I arrived safely to Paris, France late Sunday night. Lauren arrived early Monday morning and we conquered France as a team of three!

Monday and Tuesday were slower days, but still great. We took advantage of the time we had allotted for Paris and strolled through the city instead of rushing and wearing ourselves out. We went on two walking tours, we explored the pyramid at the Louvre after dark (amazing), we enjoyed the view of the city from the Sacre Coeur, and we walked through the artist square in Montmartre. 

I could spend a week just walking through Paris and admiring all the beautiful old buildings. I loved the tiny balconies and the style of Paris. I felt like I was in the set of a beautiful, romantic movie the whole time we were there. I did have to breathe through my mouth the entire time we were there however because of the horrible pee smell that covers the city. yuck!

As we had yet to step foot into the famous museums of Paris, we devoted all day Wednesday to them. I am getting quite tired of museums after 5 weeks of them, but these were different. We visited the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay and I actually enjoyed them. Well...the buildings mostly. The Louvre is such a beautiful building both inside and out. It was once a palace which might explain its beauty, but the interior is filled with beautiful white marble and the details are so intricate that one could enjoy the building itself and ignore all the famous art inside ( I think that's what I did...shhh). I did see the Mona Lisa though! It's much smaller than I'd expected, but still something to see for sure. I also loved the Musee d'Orsay. They renovated an old train station for this museum and it's not one to be missed. I actually preferred it over the Louvre. The art is much more my taste (newer) and I loved the style of the old station. After the museums we visited the chapel Ste-Chapelle. The entire upper floor of the church is circled in beautiful stained glass that tells the story of the bible. The afternoon sunlight peaking through the colorful glass was breathtaking! We had a quick visit here because we were all exhausted from our museum trips, but I think we all felt it was worth the visit! Lauren and I spent the night cruising  the Seine River and admiring the city by night while Chris stayed at the hostel. Paris is more beautiful at night in my opinion. The buildings, bridges, and of course the Eiffel Tower bring the city to life in the dark and it truly is stunning. We were also able to see the Eiffel Tower do its "show" of twinkle lights. After dark for the first 5 minutes of the hour the tower twinkles with white lights. Such a sight to see if you are ever in Paris! So amazing! I will never forget sitting on the river admiring the Eiffel Tower by night. 

Thursday was full of sightseeing as well. We had to visit Versailles of course! Beautiful and amazing, but again...another museum! The gardens were amazing though. Versailles is such a huge, beautiful structure that I think you could visit one hundred times and still have missed something. We decided to separate after Versailles and I took the time to see more of Paris, I filled my afternoon full! I admired Notre Dame; enjoyed some wine, beef bourguignon, and crepes at a french cafe while watching the rain over Notre Dame; I walked down the river to av des Champs Élysées and visited the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe; and I walked around the Eiffel Tower. Needless to say I was beat! I finally made my way home, but not before stopping at Pigalle for a view of Moulin Rouge. Fun to see, but much smaller and less glamorous than I'd hoped. I was pleased with my day though and slept hard that night!

We had originally planned to stay in Paris for 4 days and take an overnight train to Venice on Thursday night in order to travel through Italy with Lauren. ha. Only after waiting in line for 2.5 hours in Gare du Nord did we realize that we needed to change these plans. We were told that we couldn't get to Venice until Sunday night after two days of travel. We were not willing to commit to that. Instead we decided to tour parts of southern France. Such a wonderful detour!

Early Friday morning we caught a train from Paris to Avignon in the Provence region of southern France. Holy moly...so so so beautiful. I hate to think that we weren't planning to visit here. We only had a day to spend in the area so we decided to take a driving tour of the surrounding villages. So worth it! Our guide, Benoit, drove us from village to village, through lavender fields, and to an old abbey set in the valley. We did some wine tasting, enjoyed the breathtaking views of the valley, and pranced through the lavender fields (the overpowering smell of lavender was welcomed after the odor of Paris too!). I loved the tour! Please visit here when you come to France and bring me along! 

We stayed in the quaint town of Avignon for the night. Avignon was lovely and a great get away from the big city. It's actually the only town that is still completely within walls in all of France...really cool. I don't think you could go wrong staying in any of the lovely villages in the area, they all offer something very unique and different. 

Our tour of southern France wasn't over yet! We left Avignon Saturday morning and were on the "beach" in Nice by 5 that evening. We've just spent the last few days soaking up the Mediterranean sun and exploring the French Riviera. Another wow! We stayed in Nice, but took the bus to Cap d'Ail,  Villefranche, and Monaco when we weren't eating yummy food, watching futbol, or lounging on the pebble beach of Nice. I am so grateful for our change of plans because it allowed us a couple of days to relax and enjoy the beautiful crystal blue water of the Mediterranean. 

Chris and I celebrated 5 weeks on the road yesterday with a bottle of French wine as well. Here's to another wonderful month in Italy and Spain! Cheers!

LOVE LIFE 

Salzburg, Austria; Munich, Germany; & Grindelwald, Switzerland

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~Jawaharial Nehru  

I do apologize, this post is a bit delayed. It's hard to sit and write about what has already happened when I could be out exploring the beautiful city of Paris, France. Yep, we have made it to Paris and I love it! It smells horrible, but I'll tell you all about that later.

You know you have been traveling a long time when your toiletries are dry! 

We've been on the road for a month now and we've seen 8 of the 10 countries we planned to visit. We still have money and just barely enough energy to be tourist for another month or so. We've done laundry twice and shipped one box of goodies back to the states! I think my pack is getting lighter even though I don't think I've left anything behind...maybe I'm just getting stronger!

If you read my last travel post you know that we were headed to Salzburg after Vienna, Austria. The rain stuck with us, but Salzburg was such a welcomed change from Vienna. I loved Salzburg and hope to visit again! 

We arrived in the beautiful mountain town in the afternoon on Monday the 11th. We found our way and dropped our bags at the hostel before exploring the old town. Salzburg truly is beautiful with snow capped mountains in the distance, green rolling hills, and a pocket of city right in the middle. There are castles built on top of the rocky mountains and  the beautiful _ river running through. The highlight of our two days in Salzburg would probably be the Sound of Music tour, but we did so many other fun things too. We toured Old Town, visited the Dom Cathedral, meandered through the cemetery (where they pay rent for their graves...or their families I guess), hiked our way to the castle for a beautiful view of the city, we ate pretzel sandwiches, we shopped through the markets, and enjoyed some beer and futbol in the evenings. We meet several friends and spent some time at the Augustiner beer garden too. Like I said...I think my favorite part of our time in Salzburg was the Sound of Music bus tour. We boarded a bus that drove us through and around Salzburg to see and explore some of the sights from the movie. I can't wait to watch the movie again and see all the sights we visited. The tour also drove us about 1.5 hours outside of Salzburg and gave us the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful lakes ever. The clearest blue water pooled under huge mountains with adorable Austrian style homes built throughout. 

I absolutely loved our time in Salzburg and wish we could have stayed longer. I hope to visit sooner rather than later and enjoy it all over again!

We left Salzburg on a rainy morning and took a train to Munich, Germany. Munich was quite an experience. Chris says its his favorite city so far. I liked the city, but enjoyed our time there more because of the people I met and the place we stayed. I kept running into problems when I was booking our hostel for Munich. There were either no rooms available or the prices were crazy high. I found out later that it was because of a big festival that was going on in Munich that week. Anywho...the most reasonable place I could find was to book us at "the tent" for a couple nights. "The Tent" was literally a big tent. Like one you would see at a circus or fair. It slept 100 people in bunk beds in one tent without heating or AC. I was so hesitant about booking it, but it ended up being my favorite place we've stayed so far.There was "family" dinner every night, a bonfire, ping pong tables, a piano cabin, and hammocks scattered everywhere. I loved it!  The environment and people made our stay here great! Follow the link and check out the site to see what I am talking about.

Back to Munich itself. I was pretty sick of museums at this point so we didn't step foot in a single one while there. Instead we walked around town, had a beer in the central square while watching the Glockenspiel (clock with figurines and bells from the 30's) in the Marienplatz, we shopped and ate our way through the Viktualen market, and spent plenty of time with friends at the Hoffbrau and Augustiner beer gardens. We walked through the English gardens and watched the river surfers. We wondered around the beautiful Nyphenburg Palace and gardens. And we spent some time at the concentration camp Dachau. I am so grateful for this visit, but can't seem to put into words what I experienced. It's so much to wrap your head around and then to see it as it was just 60 years ago is something I won't ever forget. 

Munich treated us well! We ended up staying 3 nights instead of 2 because we loved "the tent" and it's $10.50/ night bed! 

I was sad to leave, but seeing the bug on my pillow early Saturday morning made it much easier to pack up and board the train to Switzerland!

The journey from Munich, Germany to Grindelwald, Switzerland was a mess. We left Munich around  7 am on Saturday. 4 trains and about 8 hours later we finally checked into our place in the beautiful Swiss Alps. While the ride was long, the view was absolutely worth it. Running through the mountains was a huge lake of clear, clean, blue/green glacial water. It was stunning! I could have spent a week up in the mountains and on the lake! 

We didn't have much time in Switzerland, but we definitely made the most of it. We hiked through the mountains and enjoyed a nice dinner in the village of Grindelwald where we slept. Grindelwald is a small farming village further up in the mountains from Interlaken. The town was so nice and peaceful and the view was one for the books!

We spent Sunday canyoning through the Alps. I have to say that this was the best part of our trip so far!! I absolutely can not wait to get our pictures in from this adventure so I can share with you, but until then I'll try to tell you how amazing it was. We started by getting sized for our wet suits in Interlaken and having a short intro session to the sport. From there we boarded a bus with about 10 other people and two guides for the hour drive up the mountain. We found our canyon and suited up! Our first obstacle was the repel down to the canyon from the street. The driver dropped us in the middle of the road and next thing I knew I was standing the clear, freezing canyon water surrounded by ice and snow. We spent the next 4 hours sliding, swimming,jumping, zip lining, and floating down the canyon. The experience was once in a lifetime!! I seriously can not wait to show pictures so you all understand what I'm talking about. The views from the canyon were pretty spectacular as well!

We went straight from the canyon to the train station where we boarded a train for Paris, France! 

I've had a wonderful trip so far! It's been crazy, and fast, and full of adventure! I am looking forward to spending more than a couple days in our next countries and will write a about Paris ASAP!

Love Life and be adventurous 

healing the soul

"It is only to the individual that a soul is given." ~Albert Einstein


Do you believe that music can heal a soul? 
I do. 
At times over the past couple of years music has been such an escape for me. Listening to Needtobreathe is my escape. No matter my location or how I am feeling, when I listen to Needtobreathe my attitude changes for the better. For me, their songs are a reminder to be ever grateful and reminded that I am blessed, loved, and cherished. 
This is my favorite "soul healing" song from these guys... 
'Washed by the Water"  (youtube video)
I am not too sure how I feel about the video, but these guys are amazing live!
I hope you enjoy and appreciate it as much as I do. 
Live Life

Czech Republic & Vienna, Austria

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~Jawaharial Nehru 

Well, we are riding and rolling our way through the hills of Austria and it is absolutely breathtaking. Rolling hills of the greenest grass for as long as the eye can see dotted with beautiful Austrian style homes tucked in the valleys. 

In order to tell you how we got here, I must first tell you where we've been.

We left Germany on Wednesday of last week and traveled south to beautiful Praha (Prague), Czech Republic. It's easy to see when you cross the border from Germany to Czech Republic. It's absolutely beautiful! We spent the last two hours of our trip alongside a flowing river with the sun shining on the rolling hills and huge rocky mountains. It is truly amazing. We arrived into Prague late that night and spent the evening settling in, grabbing a bite to eat, and chatting with Mom and Dad. 

We spent a couple days exploring Prague and I feel in love! I loved Prague! I think it's my favorite place we have been yet, next to Brugge. Prague was like a beautiful painting come to life. You know those paintings you see of beautiful old towns with clouds that look fake? That is Prague. We were beyond lucky to have beautiful weather during our stay too. I can't wait to show pictures! 

Anywho...we explored the Prague castle estate, toured St. Vitus's Cathedral, and climbed our way up the Cathedrals south tower to enjoy a 360 degree view of the city. We spent some time in the Old Royal Palace and walked across the Vltava River via the beautiful St. Charles Bridge and rubbed the feet of St. John of Nepomuk to grant our one wish! We saw the famous astronomical clock in the Old Town Square (did you know they blinded the man who built the clock so he could never build another one as magnificent...crazy) and sat through a classical concert in the church of St. Nicholas. We explored the wonderful John Lenon graffiti wall and strolled along the lovers bridge. Story goes that a long time ago and boy and girl stood on the bridge and threw a locked lock into the water to signify that their love would last forever. Since then people visit the bridge and lock their own locks on the gates with their names or writings on them. We had traditional Czech food out in the square before renting a row boat and spending an hour rowing down the river and visiting the old Jewish cemetery and museum in the city. We spent the night watching the Czech Republic vs Russia futbol match in the Old Town Square where they had set up a huge screen and were having concerts and activities for the city to celebrate Euro 2012. This was great fun except that Czech lost! 

I was sad to go, but we left Prague (barely catching our train) early Saturday morning for Vienna, Austria. 

We spent about 36 hours in Vienna and I have to admit that I think we could have skipped it all together.  I can't decide whether it's Vienna or the rain or the fact that I am finally tiring after 3 weeks of constant traveling, but I wasn't taken by Vienna and am pleased that we are headed out this morning. Don't get me wrong, parts of Vienna were beautiful and nice. It's a lot of what we have seen over the last few weeks and it is all starting to look and sound the same though! 

Since we knew we wouldn't be in Vienna long we decided to spend our time on a tour bus to give us a brief look at the city and all the main attractions. After the bus tour we walked through the main streets of town, but everything...absolutely everything is closed on Sundays. We had some lunch then decided to head back to the hostel and call it an early night of resting, reading, and watching futbol. First we stopped at the Schloss Schonbrunn castle to walk around and explore for a bit. I am so glad we did because if not I would have felt that Vienna was a absolute waste. The ground and gardens of the castle were so refreshing and after a quick walk up the lawn we were able to get a nice view of the city past the castle. This was all before the sky opened and it started to rain cats and dogs on us! We rushed our way out the castle gates and made it back to our hostel, but not before we were drenched from head to toe. We called it an early night and I was able to catch up on some sleep before packing up and moving out this morning. 

Like I said before, Austria is absolutely beautiful and I am able to see it now that we are traveling through the countryside. I hope that the beauty and charm sticks with us all the way to Salzburg!

LOVE LIFE

and know that you are blessed!

Netherlands and Germany

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” ~Clifton Fadiman 

Greetings all! 

Hello, halo! 

I am writing to you on a train somewhere in Germany. We have just spent two days in Berlin, Germany and are on our way to Praha (Prague), Czech Republic.

I last wrote from our hostel in Amsterdam soon after we had arrived. Oh, little did I know all I would have to write for you. Let me just start by saying that I have seen enough of Amsterdam and all it has to offer and we were only there for a couple nights. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 4 and I swear to you that my jaw was on the ground until about 9 when we shut the door to our hostel. When you train into the city you are forced to enter the city and walk through the Red Light District. Once we walked through I thought "oh mess, I've seen it, now I can move on!" Little did we know that our hostel was right smack dab in the middle of the red light district, ha! Oh yea, and literally right next door to the hemp museum...we were in the heart of it all!! When I could finally walk the streets without embarrassing myself and Chris by the looks I couldn't hide we made our way down Damrack Straat for a bite to eat. After dinner we spent some time in Rembrandtplein or Rembrandt square. I enjoyed some coffee while listening to a Dutchman attempt to entertain us with some american tunes. I also LOVED the people watching ( all over the city really), no surprise! If you've been to Amsterdam, you know...everyone smokes and EVERYONE rides bikes. It's absolutely insane how many bikes are in the city and chained to anything and everything. It gives the city such a nice feeling though and is a great get away from being surrounded by cars and buses. 

We spent Saturday and Sunday biking through Amsterdam and exploring the city. I avoided our neighborhood as often as possible and never stepped foot in a "coffeeshop." I preferred to hide from the nearly naked women in their windows and see the beautiful city rather than the inside of a smelly shop.  We visited some old paintings at the Rijksmuseum, spent time learning about the amazing Van Gogh at his museum, and walked in Anne Frank's footsteps at the Anne Frank Huis. I have always loved learning about Anne frank and the Holocaust and really enjoyed our tour here. It also made me very eager to see more of these historical sites as we travel through Europe. Chris tried to get us tickets to the Northern Ireland vs. Holland futbol match, but it was sold out so we cheered along with the fans at a local pub. I also took a canal cruise through the city for another great view of the city.  Amsterdam is such a beautiful city both architecturally and naturally so it was nice to simply sit and see the city pass by. 

The environment of Amsterdam is so different from anywhere I have ever been and hope I will ever go. I was uncomfortable most of the time and was ready to make our next move to Berlin. 

We took an early morning train on Monday for Berlin and were in the city by about 2. The ride was long, but we were able to rest, read, and catch up on some things while enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way. 

Berlin was such a new experience for me. It was so strange to be in a city that has grown and developed SO much in just my lifetime. I learned so much about the city and feel lucky that I got to see first hand some of the historical sites, but mostly all that has been developed just since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. I would absolutely recommend visiting Berlin if not for the fun, then to simply experience a city that changes daily and is growing and developing daily.

Chris and I were only in Berlin for about 48 hours, but we filled those days full! We went on a 4 hour walking tour throughout the entire city. I loved this and learned so much. We visited the TV tower that gave us a complete 360 degree view of the city, we toured the Berliner Dom and cathedral and overwhelmed ourselves with German history in the Deutsches Historisches museum (German history museum). We also spent some of our time enjoying yummy German beers in the brauhaus. 

Our hostel was wonderful here and allowed us to meet so many new people as well. We roomed with two Canadian sisters, found another brother sister group of French Canadians, and spent some time with a new friend from North Carolina. We are slowly learning that everyone we meet is doing the exact same thing we are. It's so funny to be a traveler and meet other travelers though. We will spend days and nights with these people and never actually know their names until we are exchanging information as we head out of town. Such a different experience, but so fun! So fun because we make these friends and have the opportunity to enjoy a night of pub crawling our way through Berlin...once in a lifetime! 

I think we will both miss Berlin and our friends we made, but we hope to meet up with them later and have high hopes that Prague will treat us well. 

Cheers to you!

LIVE LIFE and be grateful for your freedom!

Belgium

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." ~Martin Buber


I am sad to say that we are leaving Belgium and making our way to the Netherlands. It's not that I am not looking forward to what's to come and all that we still have to explore, but I really enjoyed Belgium. The people were very friendly even though we didn't speak either of their primary languages, French and Dutch. The scenery is amazing! Beautiful old homes, buildings, and churches everywhere. If I remember correctly, there are 16 catholic churches in the walls of Brugges that only has a population of 20,000. Actually, one man told us that most days there are more tourist in the walls than locals. The food was tasty too! How can you say no to sweet, chewy Belgian waffles, mouth watering chocolates, tasty beer, and fresh mussels! I had no problem staying full throughout our three days in Belgium that's for sure! 


Our Belgium adventure started Tuesday in Brussels. We took a train from London to Brussels early Tuesday morning and after talking with people and looking at prices, we had planned to just spend the afternoon there. Once we arrived we had to exchange our pounds for euro, store our bags, and find out how to travel around Brussels...oh and try to learn either French or Dutch! I will  admit that most of the people we ran into spoke English fairly well though. We found our way to the Grand Place and started our day. After walking around a bit and taking in the beauty that is the Grand Place, we sat down to enjoy a beer and sandwich on the square. I will post pictures later this summer, but google "Grand Place Brussels" and take a peek...it's beautiful! After lunch we decided to do the hop on hop off bus which I think was a great decision. The bus was a perfect way for us to see Brussels in such a short time. We rode around for about 3 hours and after found the statue Manneken Pis and the sister statue Jeaneke Pis. Strange, but kind of cute. Look those up too! It had been about 5 hours and we felt that we had seen what we needed of Brussels so I picked up a waffle with strawberries and chocolate (YUM) and we made our way back to the train station. The next train only took about an hour and we were in Brugges by dinner time.
Brussels was nice, some pretty things to look at, but in the end was just another big city much dirtier than I prefer. The buildings were old, but not the beautiful kind of old we have seen and will see in other places, but old and dirty looking.


Brugges on the other hand was fantastic! I haven't seen the movie In Brugge, but if you have you know the atmosphere of the town. Brugge is a small town surrounded by walls and canals where everything is within walking distance. Everyone (and I mean everyone) rides their bikes around town while the tourist are walking, riding horse drawn carriages, or floating through the canals in tour boats. Chris and I spent our time here visiting several museums, eating chocolates and tasty food while sipping on Belgian beer, and making new friends! In one of the city's old Catholic churches which is now a museum, The Church of our Lady, we saw the beautiful Madonna with Child by Michealangelo. I loved this museum/tour the most! The church was absolutely breathtaking and some if the old artwork and structures they house are amazing. we also hiked our way up the Belfort Tower and enjoyed the magnificent view of Brugge and the surrounding areas. I loved this part, but man was it tough to climb the very, very steep 366 stairs up and 366 back down. 


Brugges was a nice break for us. We were able to sleep in because we stayed in just a four person room as opposed to the 16 person rooms we had been sleeping in. We were also able to walk around the city without feeling rushed or pressured to fill our days from start to finish because we did have 3 days. I appreciated this because it allowed us to slightly emerge ourselves in the culture and appreciate the city rather than just passing through. I would absolutely make a trip back to Brugges if I had the opportunity, you should plan to visit if you ever make it to Belgium! 


We are spending our last full day in the mess that is Amsterdam today and head to Germany tomorrow. I'll post all about Amsterdam soon I hope! 


I miss you all and hope that everyone is staying safe and enjoying summer! 


LIVE LIFE and enjoy fine chocolates!

England

"Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better." ~Simon Raven


We are alive and well! I have been avoiding the blog because it usually takes me forever to publish a post and well, we simply haven't had much down time. I have also decided that I will not post pictures until I get back in the States. Why? It has been taking forever to upload just the 8 or so I have posted to Facebook and I would rather be lounging in a park or wondering the town. I will probably keep posting Instagram photos when I am near WiFi though, so keep your eyes out for those (only is your interested I guess). And last...if you don't have the app Viber on your phone you need to get it. If you do we can text and call you for free when we have internet...do it! 


Enough of the boring stuff...onto the fun!


We had a very long, but good travel day to start our trip. I was a little scared that we were going to get our bags lost somewhere between Montreal and London, but we landed in London on Tuesday morning and our bags arrived with us! Yippee! First thing we did in London was purchase our travel card for the tube, the Oyster card. This allowed us to pay one fee and travel at anytime on any tube or bus throughout most parts of the city. Although I feel like we spent most of our time in London underground, the card was well worth the cost and no doubt saved us lots of time and pounds (dolla bills for all you Americans). We spent most of Tuesday finding our way, researching, and napping. I think it took my body a couple days to adjust to the time difference, but that didn't stop us from seeing the sights in England. 
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent around the city, switching hostels, and meeting new friends. We started with a hop on hop off bus tour to get our bearings with the city. Smart but hot, hot, hot and kind of boring. I think London is best seen on foot, but that's hard to do in a city sooooo big. I never realized how large London was and it's so spread out! Anywho...after the bus we spent some time in Green Park. I read some travel books and relaxed while Chris played futbol with some Brits and Italians. After awhile in the park we walked around Buckingham Palace and called it a day. 
We filled the next day full of a yeoman tour at the Tower of London, fish and chips with a seat along the Thames River, a walk across the London Bridge, a walk around the Parliament building and Big Ben, and relaxed in the lawn under Westminster Abbey. All this before 5 when we sat in on evensong at St. Margaret's chapel next to the Abbey. We headed to a great part of town called Covent Gardens for dinner. This area is filled with street performers, pubs, shops, and restaurants. I really loved our time here! We ate at a sweet French place and after grabbed some fro-yo to enjoy one of the street performers American tunes. Great day! 
Friday was spent as tourist at the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and checking out two of London's futbol arenas. We were lucky enough to be at St. Paul's cathedral for the installation of their new dean that was lead by the Bishop of London. I loved it, Chris slept! We spent the evening in Kensington park with some snacks and beer just watching the swans in the lake and the kids playing.
Since this trip is a spur of the moment, plan as we go trip we decided we had seen enough of London and headed west to Bath for a couple nights. We arrived by train Saturday around 6 after a nice morning in Hyde Park and an awesome market called Portobello Green market with a friend of Chris' that was in London for the day.
Bath was good to us! The town was beautiful, people were friendly, and we were able to walk everywhere. We sipped on Pimm's cups, toured the old Roman Baths and the fashion museum, drank with young locals, danced at a Motown party, and walked along the canals. I would absolutely visit bath again and recommend it to anyone visiting England. It was just an hour train ride away and a great way to escape the busy city life! Before we trained over to Belgium on Tuesday morning early, we headed back into London for the night and spent some time in Trafalgar Square for dinner and ice cream!
I really enjoyed England and was sad to leave, but we have lots to see and only 8 weeks left to do it!
What I learned about England and Brits: everyone smokes, they all stand just right outside the pubs enjoying their drinks, and it's not always gloomy and raining. We haven't had rain  yet and actually had record breaking heat in London! 

We are currently in Brugges, Belgium and loving it! It's a little harder to understand others, but a beautiful place! I'll write all about it when we leave for Amsterdam Friday. Cheers!

LOVE LIFE and travel.

our Amazing European Adventure

"Tourist don't know where they've been, 

travelers don't know where they're going." 

~Paul Theroux

I am so excited for this post! I honestly can't contain myself. Partly because I feel like I have been waiting a while to write about it and partly because I am thrilled for the trip itself. 

As most of you already know, my little brother (Chris) and I are leaving soon for a 9 week Amazing European Adventure! 9.5 weeks, 65 days, 10 countries, and tons of fun! Oh my gosh! I still can't believe it. I have been hearing of so many people about to go on fun vacations and my immediate reaction is oh man, i'm jealous, how lucky. Then I have to remind myself that I too am beyond lucky! 

S00oo...you might be wondering how this is happening. 

"Doesn't she have to work?" 

"How is she going to pay for that?"

Please...I have asked myself these questions as well, but if you know me at all you know that I absolutely can not pass up a travel oppurtunity. Especially not one this grand and exciting! 

Here is what I will tell you. I am a travel nurse which means that I can choose when I want to work and when I want to holiday. Now is when I have chosen to holiday. I have been saving money for some time now with long term plans to hopefully move abroad and will be using these funds for this trip abroad (smart?). I will be traveling with Chris who has just graduated from the University of Arkansas and will be starting medical school in the fall at University of Arkansas Medical Sciences (I've tried to avoid the awkward conversation that this will be his last true extended vacation for a long, long, long time...sorry brother). I am also the person who will tell anyone that if you truly want something to happen then you yourself have to make it happen. This is exactly what I am doing. In order to do something big you will always take risks, but without risks where's the fun in living. 

Plans...

Like I said. We are going to try to do 10 countries in 9 weeks. We both realize that this might not happen and are comfortable with that reality. We have purchased an open Eurail ticket and are pretty much free to ride when and where we want to all around Europe for 2 months. 

That is about all we have planned. Honestly. 

I have slowly started to freak out over the fact that I have not done more planning. As of today (less than 48 hours from departure) we have our flights (to and from the US), travel from England to the mainland, Eurail, and first two nights booked. AHH. But as I keep reminding myself, our plan is to talk with other hostel goers, listen to their advice, and go. We will be booking hostels as we travel to the city and reading our travel books, blogs, and advice like mad. 

Here are the google maps I created with a rough outline of the countries/cities we would like to visit and in what order (as said before...this will probably/most likely change as we travel). 

from Arkansas to Texas to Montreal to London

We leave Monday May 21st around noon and return July 24th around 6 pm. Please feel free to comment or email with tips or advice and PLEASE say prayers that all goes well! 

We are so excited and both realize how truly lucky we are to have this opportunity!

Now if I can just pack...

Oh and I will be blogging as much as possible while traveling so stay tuned for some exciting stories (hopefully!). 

LIVE LIFE and travel. and pray for us!!

A roadtrip to remember

"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." ~Tim Cahill

2,348 miles to be exact. And some pretty amazing friends!

This is what I did last week. I drove 2,348 miles and visited friends along the way. 

After packing my car in San Francisco and saying a quick goodbye to my Cali friends I headed towards home. Since I knew I would be traveling alone I decided to make it a worthwhile trip and visit some friends. 

Here is how my trip went down...

Day 1 plan. Leave SF around 0600 with plans to stop somewhere north of the Salt Lake City area. 

beautiful Jackson, Wyoming

Day 1 reality. I left SF at 0615. At about 3 that afternoon I re-evalutated and decided it might be possible to make it all the way to my destination, Jackson, Wyoming. I was making good time and decided to keep jugging...and that I did. After several conversations with Mom and Dad who tried to convince me against it, I drove 14 hours and 920 miles to Jackson Hole. I'd planned to stay in Jackson for a couple days and visit with an old roommate and dear friend, Kendra and her boyfriend (my friend), Alex. 

Day 2 plan. Finish drive to Jackson Hole and arrive shortly after lunch time.

Day 2 reality. I woke up in Jackson Hole, felt great, and had a fabulous day.  As many before me, I feel in love with Jackson Hole! 

Day 3 plan. Spend the day (Cinco de Mayo) in Jackson.

Day 3 reality. Spent the day in Jackson!

Day 4 plan. Leave Jackson and drive to Denver, Colorado.

Day 4 reality. I stayed in Jackson and enjoyed yet another day! This completed 3 full days in Jackson and I will absolutely venture back asap! LOVED it!

Cinco de Mayo

Enjoy these photos of Jackson Hole, friends, and fun times!

 drinks & two stepping at the old Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole

Kendra & Alex

Alex's Brisket (YUM)

touching the Grand Teton

Ken & I at the Tetons

back to the trip...


Day 5 plan. Drive from Denver, Colorado to Kansas City, Kansas.
Day 5 reality. I left Jackson about 9 am and drove 515 miles to Layfayette, Colorado. Here I stayed with a friend that I made while living in San Francisco. She is also a travel nurse and is currently on assignment in Colorado. We spent the evening in Boulder and I really, really enjoyed Boulder. This was another city that I had never before visited and (surprise, surprise) I feel in love. I could see myself living in this quaint college town right at the base of the mountains...beautiful! 
Day 6 plan. Drive from Kansas City, Kansas to Hot Springs, Arkansas (HOME!).
Day 6 reality. I woke up early (8) in Boulder and decided to start the long, boring, flat drive to Kansas City, Kansas. This drive was nice, but like I said...long, boring, and flat. All 620 miles of it. The drive was so worth it though, because I ended the day at my dear friend Amanda's house. She is an old friend and short time roommate from TCU who is now married to wonderful Rob. They are both from the area and moved back after dating long distance through college. They are happily married and just got a sweet new pup. It was great visiting with them and meeting baby Gus!
Day 7 plan. Be in Arkansas. Free of driving, unpacked, and enjoying home cooked meals!
Day 7 reality. Both Amanda and Rob have "real people" jobs so we woke up early and I got on the road right away. Just a short 420 miles and one stop later I was safe at home...alone. That's right. Shortly after I arrived my parents left town and I was all alone. (excuse me while I briefly relive my pitty party that took place, thanks) 


2,348 miles and some pretty amazing friends! Amen!
I hope you are all lucky enough to have a road trip like this one at some point in your life. I felt so blessed and lucky to be welcomed by loving friends along the way and was incredibly grateful to make it home without a single problem. Again...I am blessed! 
Do this, do it alone, and enjoy yourself along the way. I know I did!


I must say another HUGE thank you to these friends! I hope you had as much fun as I did. Because of you I will never forget this trip and forever be grateful to you and your friendship! Love. 

LIVE LIFE and enjoy this beautiful country we call home!