Best of 2009

This is in response to a blog challenge 2009. I am a few days behind (it started on Dec 1st) but I also will skip days because there are certain things I just didn't do.

Best Trip of 2009:
This is my favorite question but I am also not sure how to choose the best one. I have done logged so many miles this year that no other year could possibly keep up (unless I somehow miraculously win the lottery and spend the rest of my days wandering). Travel, this year, meant more than seeing new places, it also meant taking a huge leap of faith & the opportunity to start over.

March: Montreal, Quebec. Flight into Vermont (Burlington, a town that must be explored more), a few days in Montreal with the opportunity to speak French and failing miserably in the confidence department and then a great breakfast in New Hampshire. Also my first ever glimpse of NYC and being totally in awe of that massive city.

April: San Francisco, California. The trip that opened my eyes to my favorite American city. The people were so friendly. Everyone I met was friendly and open and unique. I loved the bridge. And I loved each of the neighborhoods, their unique personality showcased in every shop and restaurant. Fell in love with North Beach Italian waiters. Loved the history steeped in City Light Books. Some of my favorite Beat writers graced that shop with their amazing adventures (in print and in person). Even loved Chinatown with the shop windows of fowl and bins of fish and vegetables. And loved the old Chinese man in one of the last real fortune cookies shops (where it is done by hand). Loved the trolley ride and my stroll through Presidio Park and my first real glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. (I love bridges!) And also my first taste of that ambrosia called gelato. Think I ate it every day. And am still searching for a place that makes it as well.

In July, I took my biggest leap of faith to date and left my perfectly good job to move to the west coast, leaving my southern home and friends behind. Driving 3000 miles through Nashville, Oklahoma City, Denver, Idaho Falls and finally Seattle. Saw places I want to explore more - Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma City (who would have thought?), crossed the 42.5 latitude (halfway between the North Pole and the Equator).

In September, traveled to the southern most country and spent two weeks on the North & South Island of New Zealand. fell in love w/ how friendly Kiwis are and how creative and inventive. And proud. their country is one of absolute beauty. Great weather welcoming us to spring. The landscape was breathtaking and have declared a full month to discover every part of the country and do everything I want to do. Also passed 42.5 latitude - halfway between the Equator and the South Pole. This trip also kick started a wanderlust that I have kept locked up for years.

November, I found myself exploring Portland, Oregon with my best friend. We ate a lot, we walked a lot, and it made me realize a few things about how I want to incorporate travel into a career. And the rest of my life.

To choose one is really hard because each trip brought something new to my table. But under duress (and probably not), San Francisco was the trip that left somehting in my belly that could not be ignored. Spending time with my best friend and exploring a city I want to call home one day. It is one of the main reasons behind the long drive cross country. I never thought I could relate to a city so intensely. And yet it still shines like a beacon...San Francisco, is always on my mind...

a lil blu break...

Lake Rotorua, New Zealand

this is what happens when you feed Kels dark beer...oh the joy

the Challenge: seven (yes, seven) New Zealand beers

After 'sipping' a dark beer...

"really, I can't believe I tried that."

"i think i ruined my appetite."

the winner: dark beer x two

two days in auckland

A random placement of photos...

wedges: an almost daily food staple in NZ

from the very English Shakespear Tavern & Brewery

a beer and a book for lunch...life is good

a lover of sailboats plus being in the City of Sails


my 1st NZ photo...totally groovy music store

auckland

Notes from the past 48 hours:

• loved air new zealand. Incredibly friendly. complimentary wine w/ meals. my own tv screen with over 75 movies, 258 musical artists, and numerous tv shows to view at my leisure. (My Life in Ruins, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, State of Play, The Proposal and I think one more...??.) Also loved that I could view the planes progress and all landmasses we may pass. (okay, so not that interesting...)
• feel like maybe i was being snotty to the hotel front desk yesterday morning. I was mostly just tired and also incredibly thankful they put a rush on our room. also thankful, they stored our backpacks while we trapsed down Queen Street for breakfast. Also amazed I was able to sleep for 18 hours plus. When does that ever happen?
• McD's...not so good for breakfast.
• am intrigued that all my drinks have had ice in them. Maybe its the american accent???
• am a lil sad that blu has taken to looking out the window for me and slept in my room last night when she could have slept in my parents room. she really does love me. (yes, sometimes, I wonder...she howls for everyone else BUT me, unless she is unhappy about something.)
• have eaten a ton today already: bacon & egg pie (not so good), gelato - licorce & separately dark chocolate (total yum) and a burger w/brie (ok...think the aioli was the problem). Tonight, maybe Mexican.
• really wish I could upload photos. Have some killer photos of Kelsey and yucky faces over the dark beers in her flight. Priceless!!
• Also, stole a photo of some old dude in the bar who was reading a book... minus the reading, it looks almost identical to one I took in Chinatown (SFO) at the bubble drink place.

Tomorrow, we are off early to take the bus to Rotorua where we will experience a hangi and haka for dinner. Then hopefully some black water rafting the following day. Only 3 more days on the North Island.

end of summer treat

Add dry white wine to sliced firm, meaty peaches.

Marinate in the refridgerator for at least 1/2 day.

Recommended to marinate for one day for the best results.

a dish of total yum.

lazy dog days

blu seems to enjoy sleeping

under the bed like a cat

lots of sleep keep blu a cute girl

hanging out in the yard

the last of wyoming

wyoming: home on the range

photos 1-3 were taken closer to the utah border

is there any wonder why

i love wyoming so much?

drive-by (photo) shooting - outside Cheyenne, WY

a thing for clouds

Oklahoma

Wyoming (had great clouds)

Oregon

GPS needs a name

This is what happens when you change your destination and your GPS takes you on the shortest route: you end up on CR Hh in the southeast corner of Colorado.

Or this could be for all the times I made the GPS re-calculate...

I also really wish my GPS was cuss word capable.

Because I have a feeling this is the conversation that would ensue:

GPS: re-calculating, take a right in 1.4 miles

Me: Just relax, I'm just getting gas. (also not turning in 1.4 m)

GPS: re-calculating, take the next left. Turn left NOW.

Me: chill out ...i know how to get back to the exit

GPS: W(hy)TF did you ask me to get you to your #)($*$ing destination if you weren't going to 2(#*$&ing listen to me?

Me: chill the #$@% out. i just wanted to #$)*ing diet coke.

blu after a long day riding

she would not do this in the car but the moment we were inside...down for the count.

hatch show print

i really wish they were open when i was there because i have wanted to buy a print (any print) for a few years...just means i have to return to nashville, right?

for some unknown reason, am totally diggin' this photo.

http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/experience-hatch.aspx

nashville

love this old bank is now a tattoo parlour...

NODA: engine #7

am a lil behind on posting some pix

Signposts

Right now, I SHOULD be packing (the leftover stuff I haven't gotten to yet & have been using) but instead I am procrastinating. I mean, who needs sleep? Especially when there is a 6.5 hour drive looming in the oh so near future. (and then the other 40 hours of drive time after that...)

It has been an interesting day ...lunch w/ friends, lots of packing, moving, hauling, cleaning, trivia / dinner w/ friends ...a massive thunderstorm downtown, a sidestep to another bar for a drink... hoping the rain would subside. Even though I am really excited about the journey ahead, I am tearful for all the nouns (people, places & things) I am leaving behind. The new friendships I have formed on late night train rides after trivia, the old friendships that have seen me through many moments (happy & sad), the friendships that have grown slowly & the ones that sprouted immediately as if they had a life of their own.

I feel like I have grown up in Charlotte ...well, become an adult in Charlotte (well, that definable moment took place in Montana ...BUT...). I have grown so much since I arrived! And each of the people I met along the way have somehow shaped that. I cannot express how much every single person means to me, even those small or short lived encounters... the pieces of everyone I have stolen to make me a better person.

I can remember the first time I visited Charlotte. It was over Christmas break in college and I remember riding past downtown, down Independence. So many things have changed since then. The open fields that now house businesses or homes, the roads that have widened and the uptown skyline with all those gorgeous new buildings! Part of me feel that life stops when you leave a place but it continues to grow in our absence. Which is probably why they say you can never go home again...because its not the home you remember.

am going to miss y'all terribly. But its time to follow this path.

I'm off to Nashville in the morning with my trusty sidekick blu. (That is, if I can get to sleep so I can wake up in 4 hours to get new tires, drop stuff off at Goodwill one last time, a final stop to storage & to pack up my car....)

NODA gallery crawl :: music on the street