I Am Home

Over the last 174 days I have traveled through 6 continents, 19 countries, 31 US states, and 5 Australian states. During that time I have flown on 28 different airplanes, have personally driven 20612 miles (33165 kms) by car, spent countless nights traveling by bus and trains and I suppose countless days as well. I have also traveled by hiking, swimming, boats of multiple sizes, motorbike, bicycle, helicopter, camel, and even an ostrich. All of this has been in an attempt to reach one final destination. Four and half days ago I arrived at this final destination..... I AM HOME!!!! I have finally made it home!

(Lake Coure d'Alane, Idaho near Spokane, WA)

My plan was to drive the 16 hours straight home from Grand Junction, Colorado. However I ended up in the middle of another snow storm in Montana. As it was getting late and really slick fast I stopped in a small town outside of Missoula. The drive to Spokane took me through my familiar home area of Eastern Idaho, Eastern Montana, & Idaho's Panhandle. I went through the snow topped mountains, green foothills, and crystal blue lakes all lined with sparkling white snow. To me this area is the prettiest place on earth I have ever seen. As I drove through the rocky mountains I knew I was home. I am back in the mountains where I belong. I think a part of me has always known that I am forever and always a mountain girl. I am happiest when I am surrounded by these huge beasts I can admire and explore as they change through each season. I can't wait to get out on the white stuff and ski & then get lost in them hiking and backpacking for days during the summer.

Since I have been back I have been enjoying spending time with my parents, siblings, cousins, niece & nephew. I have spent my time unpacking and trying to set up my life here. The rest of the time I have been helping my parents around their house with things they have wanted to have done for a while. One of the favorite things I have had since being back is a good old root beer float. I have not had those in years. Having them reminds me of the good old days at my Grandmas house with all of my cousins having root beer floats as our childhood treat we got at Grandma's house.

(Rocky Mountain range, Idaho, USA)

I have to say the best thing of this last week besides seeing family and friends has been pulling out all of my old clothes and unpacking. While usually unpacking is a chore I do not like doing, this week it was so much fun! For the last 6 months I have had only about 3-4 outfits because I really did not want to carry any more than I had to. If you look at all of my photos you will see I am pretty much wearing all of the same clothes. These clothes are getting wore out and most have holes in them. I have been thinking I was going to have to shopping and get some new clothes. When I opened up my boxes I sent home I was so happy to see I had forgot about of a bunch of the clothes I own. It was like going shopping and getting a whole new wardrobe of clothes without the pains of trying on clothes & paying lots of money. I also rediscovered a bunch of jewelry I had forgot I had. It has been so exciting just opening up and rediscovering my old stuff.

Many people have been asking what I thought was my favorite area on this trip. I have thought about it often and cannot decide. Every place I have gone has been amazing for different reasons than the next. I think I like each one in its right place. How do you compare the small hut I stayed in Swaziland where we had to walk for water to the high rises and ritzy life in Shanghai? They are two different worlds. I like them both but for different reasons. The one thing I have decided is that I believe the USA is the most beautiful country I have been too. So much of the world has beautiful places and scenery, but the USA has it all. It has flat plains, rolling hills, snow topped mountains, crazy rock formations and all types of endless forests. Yes, there is a strong chance I am biased to the USA and the Northwest here where I am from, I will admit that. However I really do think we have it all for everyone here. Perhaps I am just trying to get you all to move here.

(Road driving through Rocky Mountain range, Idaho, USA)

I plan to put a map showing the places I have been and a complete album of my jumping photos up. When I get those done I will post them in my final blog on this trip. Until than hope you are well & if you are from Spokane, can't wait to see you, because I AM HOME! :)

~Laugh & Love Life~

USA Road Trip - Blog #4

(Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah)

I have to say I am so impressed with northern Arizona & southern Utah. I have never really thought of the area as a scenic location. All I have to say now is WOW! That is some gorgeous piece of land, especially in winter. I was able to go through the area graced with blue skies, sunshine, & clear, dry roads. As you travel through the area you go from one amazing canyon to a stunning rock formation and you just continue on through to more rock formations & canyons. Most have heard of the Grand Canyon & Arches national park, but these two are only a portion of the sights to behold. I went through the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, Natural Bridges, & Arches National Parks. I just kept humming to myself the song America the Beautiful & being amazed at what I was seeing. Since it is winter in these parts there was snow all about. The snow gave it an added level of beauty seeing the reds and browns of the rocks mixing with the white snow.

When I finished my explorations of southern Utah I headed to Grand Junction, Colorado to visit 2 of my good friends & their 2 boys. Bekah & I were room mates before she got married when we lived in Seattle. David & I have been friends since before I can remember and of course he practically lived at our old house Bekah & I lived in Seattle. It has been too long since I have seen them. I had planned to stay for just a day as they have a two week old baby, but ended up stating 3.5 days. We spent those three days reminiscing of the good (Zion National Park, Utah) old days, talking about current events, & I spent hours playing with their boys. Bekah & I spent a day hiking. In Arches National Park. We had a great day slowly walking through the park as her oldest son climbed every rock he could. Let me tell you that is park full of rocks!

(Capitol National Park, Utah)

On Sunday David took me into his work & showed me what he did. He is a chemical engineer that works for an crude oil services company. In short David takes a team of guys put to the wells & where they pump the oil out. Once there they use a series of different tools to get data & information on the wells, oil thousands of feet below ground. I learned so much about the oil industry & how the whole extraction process & maintenance to improve the productivity of oil wells & pumps work. I found the whole thing to be incredibly interesting. Perhaps it is just my geeky engineering side coming out but what they can do to get testing equipment down to the oil & the data they can get from it is fascinating!!

I have to say I love David & Bekah and it was not easy to leave them. I am getting very anxious to get home, see my parents & family, get my life sorted, get a job & stay in one place for a while.

~Laugh & Love Life~

(Capitol Reef National Park, Utah)

USA Road Trip - Blog #3

(Route 66 Museum, Oklahoma, USA)

I am sitting here at the top of grand canyon and thought it was probably about time to update my blog. Once again I have had an adventure packed week, some planed adventures and a few unexpected adventures. Last I left you I was in Tennessee. I had heard that a snow storm coming in the afternoon. So I got an early start to try to avoid any more encounters with snow until I headed north. Part of my logic behind this road trips destinations were to stay more south in some of the southern states. The thought behind this was I would hopefully be able to avoid some winter driving up north and see the south when it is not sweltering hot. That was at least the goal. Unfortunately that goal has not been met. Although it will make this blog entry a bit more interesting :)

(Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, USA)

So leaving Tennessee early I did not realize the winter storm was going to be coming from the west originating in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Which happened to be the exact direction I was heading. I ended up in the middle of a crazy snow and ice storm that the area was not used to having. When the storm hit I was near Little Rock Arkansas and it got crazy fast. There were at least 5 accidents or cars off the road every mile on the highway. It got to the point where the radio said the police would not be responding to any fender-benders or people being stuck in ditches, you had to have a some big trouble to get their attention. There were just to many accidents going on at once. The reports were that most schools and businesses were to be shut down for a couple of days and new storms would be rolling in for the next couple days as well. All I knew is that I did not want to get stuck in a cold place with nothing to do but sit and wait. Even then I would have to find a place that was warm and open. I figured if I could get to Oklahoma where it started they would have the roads cleared by the time I got there. Also I am from where we get crazy storms like this, so I know how to drive in the stuff. So I should be fine, right? So I continued along watching cars spin out all around me. I was traveling at a speed of 10-20 mph for most of the trip. What should have took me 2 hours was taking 5, but that what was fine, I was getting out of the mess. However as I was getting closer to the Oklahoma border the roads were looking better and the little bit of traffic on the road was speeding up, I did as well. For a little while I was traveling around 45 mph. As I was driving along thinking it was great I was able to get this far without any trouble my car jack-knifed on me. For those that are not from where it snows, a car jack-knifes when the back end swings around and turns the car into a spin. I tried to correct it, and was almost able to, turning the jack-knife into a couple fish-tails. I think my last correction was a bit too much and I spun around 180 degrees and slid down into the ditch, at just about the time the cars behind me got up to me. After a bit of maneuvering I was able drive along the bottom of the ditch and get up and out. Back on the highway with no damage to the car or me. I was trying to figure out how the car started spinning out as I never hit the brakes and that is when my brother informed me the car I am driving home for him is rear-wheel drive! Knowing this I was even more happy I had been able to drive for 4 hours before I got into trouble. So after the spinning and trip into the ditch I decided it was time to call it a night.

(White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA)

The following morning was slow going again, but got better soon after I got into Oklahoma as I suspected it would. Continuing on the trip I stopped at a few places along the famous historic route 66. When I got into New Mexico I thought my snow and below freezing temperatures were finished for at least a little bit. Oh was I wrong! The plan was to drive to a town near the foothills of the rocky mountains, stay there for the night and than in the morning explore the rockies in northern New Mexico. For a good portion of this trip I have been sleeping in the car. Now before most of you start shaking your head and getting worried about me, let me explain a few things. First the vehicle I am driving is an SUV. So in the back I have the seats laid down and a nice comfy bed set up with a couple sleeping bags, a bunch of my mountaineering gear and other stuff to stay plenty warm. So probably a bit nicer than camping. Second I am very careful of where I stop for the night. I do not stop on the side of the road or rest areas, so the boogie man is not going to get me. My favorite place to stop is a truck stop, lots of people are coming and going all night and that is where most of the truck drivers pull up for the night too, I jet join them in my SUV. Third, if I had to stay in a hotel every night I would no money at the end of trip! Remember I've been traveling for 6 months, that gets expensive. So back to the story. While talking to my mother on the phone she looked up the weather for a town near where I was hoping to get to and it said it should get down to 10F (-12C) that night. That seemed a bit extreme to be sleeping in the car, but there were not much for hotels around and I was tired. So I decided to give it a whirl and if I got cold I would get up and drive however far I needed to get a hotel for the night. Well I slept like a baby that night with all of my warm gear. In the morning when I was crawling out of bed I thought it felt cold. I thought is must of hit the 10F that had been forecast. So I turned on the car and gawked when the temperature gauge said it was -20F (-29C)!!!!!!!! I got my iPhone out to verify & sure enough it was. I can not believe I slept out side in -20F weather!!! That is just crazy!!!!!! I was not even in the mountains or foothills, I was in the plains.

(Jumping next to a cactus in Arizona, USA)

I drove 40 minutes up the road to find an open gas station where I could get some hot coco and be warm. When I got there I realized this area was not used to these temps at all. All of the coffee and coco machines were not working as all the pipes had froze. So I stayed there a bit and helped the lady that worked there get some things under control and cleaned up. I also gave her some tips on how to prevent it from happening again, ie running water through the night. I never got my hot coco but I was able to warm up. As I drove on that morning it got as low as -22F (-30C). After a cold morning I had a great day driving through the Rocky Mountains, Santa Fe, and central New Mexico. It was some pretty country. Central New Mexico really reminded me of outback Australia surprisingly enough.

(Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona, USA)

In southern New Mexico I stopped in at the White Sands National Park. In the middle of new Mexico you roll up to the huge white sand dunes. They are so white they look like snow. They do not cover a large area and there is no water near by, but there they are. On southern Arizona I stopped at a couple more national parks. Each with their own stunning features. On my way through Phoenix, Arizona I stopped in downtown and ran into a festival It was fun to walk through with the music playing and the different stalls, which added to the fun of the city. I also caught up with my friend Aaron again. Yes same guy I drove down from Louisville to Dallas with. I also got to see one of his old roommates I had known from way back. After spending a short amount of time with them I headed north to the Grand Canyon. I walked a short way down the wall and back up. The Grand Canyon is gorgeous and all I dreamed it to be. So here I sit waiting for a shuttle bus to come pick me up enjoying the wonderful view.

I hope you are all doing well!

~Laugh & Love Life~

(Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA)

USA Road Trip - Blog #2

Yes, I am still traveling and have not made it home yet. I have been spending a bit of time traveling around my home country and trying to see a bit of it. From Louisville, Kentucky I joined my friend Aaron on his back down to Texas. We stopped in Nashville and had a grand time catching up with one of his old friends from university. We stopped into a venue in an effort to catch some live country music in the city of country music. We were not disappointed in the slightest. We were expecting an hour or so and got over 3 hours of some good solid country! Both Aaron and I fell in love with Nashville. When you walk down the main street everyone stops to tell you hello & there is live music pouring out of all sorts of places all day long. I could see myself living there and enjoying it. From Nashville we said goodbye to Aaron's friend and headed south, stopping in at Memphis quickly to pick up my brothers car. From Memphis we caravaned down to Dallas.

Why did I have to pick up my brother's car? It is a complicated, long story, but in short my brother and his wife had to drive out to Memphis from Spokane where they had to pick up a car her mom gave her. Memphis is something like a 26 hour drive from Spokane. So, they had two cars they had to get back to Spokane. So what does the sister do? I help them out of course! I took a car off their hands and am now driving it around the country for them. :)

(Jumping on the main street in Nashville)

We spent a couple days in Dallas catching up with a number of friends. From there Aaron & I split up, he headed west & I headed east. I stopped in Houston for a night & caught up with an old friend and visited the NASA space center. Initially I was disappointed with the space center as the main area looked like it was a large McDonalds park for kids, with balls and climbing things. However once I got out to see the large space shuttle and the rockets I was happy I came. It was great to see the actual ship that has taken American guys up to the moon.

(Rockets at the NASA Space Center)

From Houston I headed to New Orleans. I was not impressed with New Orleans, especially the French Quarter. After walking down parts of the famous Bourbon street I really just wanted a shower. It was tacky, not that exciting, gross, and really smelled bad. The architecture was interesting on a few of the side streets off the main track. This fact gave me at least consultation for driving all the way down there.

After New Orleans, I drove across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. Just a few states. :) The highlights were Charleston, Savannah and the Appalachian Mountains. Near Charleston I stopped into an old plantation to see what life used to be like in the eastern states for the rich and the slaves.

(On one of the nice streets in the New Orleans, French Quarter)

I had an adventure driving through the Appalachian Mountains. Apparently I decided to drive through at the same time a large winter storm was rolling through. I was driving on some windy small roads up and down the hills where I could only see about 10 feet in front of me. There was about 3 inches of snow on the ground and more was coming down fast. It was nerve racking and exciting all at the same time. While all of this was happening it was also oddly comforting to be back in a crazy winter storm in the mountains. I suppose it made me feel like I am back to the land of the familiar.

(Driving down the road)

On a side note, as I have traveled every where I go people want me to try their local food and specialty. This has lead some to ask and for me to contemplate what America's food specialty is. What food comes from the states? At first this seemed like a daunting task and I was thinking, maybe no food. Than I remembered Peanut Butter and all the goodness that comes from peanut butter. I have started to create a list and thanks to Aaron it grew fast as we drove together. So, for anyone that is interested below is the list of food I believe came from the states. I have researched some to verify, but if you disagree with any or want to add more, please let me know. :)

I am currently in a town Chattanooga, Tennessee and from here I plan to head west towards New Mexico. So until next time...

~Laugh & Love Life~

Breakfast: French toast, biscuits & gravy, chicken fired steak & eggs, and Home fries

Deserts: Butterfingers, M&Ms, Root beer float, and Pumpkin pie

Dinner:Hamburgers, American pizza (New York, Chicago style, etc), Philly cheese steaks, enchiladas, chimmy changas, fajitas, kung-pow chicken, fish tacos, BBQ with BBQ sauce slathered on everything, Texan Chilli with cornbread, Mac & Cheese, Fried chicken, types of sandwiches (like subway, club, & Reuben), sriracha sauce, and the concept to add cheese to everything

Snacks: American cheese, cheese-its, buffalo wings, Ants on a log!, Jello, Ranch dressing (dipping anything into it), katchup, tatter-tots, pepper-jack cheese, chicken nuggets, hush puppies, and crispy creams

Drinks: Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Coca-cola, root beer, Soft drinks in general, steam beers, Bourbon, Four loco, Frapachinos