Good news!

After such a wonderful day in Colorado yesterday, I completely forgot to announce my big news; I've got a job! I'll be at Loma Linda University Medical Center, an hour east of LA and about 2 hours northeast of San Diego... The contract is only 10 weeks, but I'll start on January 14th. Yay!

Today's drive was pretty uneventful... 500 miles on I-25 brought us into Albuquerque, where we're enjoying our stay at the Doubletree downtown, complete with their famous hot chocolate chip cookies! New Mexican roads might be boring, but the food is not - the sopaipillas we had for dinner more than made up for the drive! 

:-)  The picture is of Old Town Albuquerque, where everything closes ridiculously early! (Even the restaurants close at 5 or 6!)

Tomorrow we'll head to Tucson to celebrate a southwestern NYE, then finish our drive in San Diego on Tuesday! 

Happy 2013, everyone! 

Has anyone ever told you that you look like Jake Gyllenhaal?

Friday's trek took us through miles of flat, not-a-thing-in-sight Kansas.. and eastern Colorado, which doesn't look any different from Kansas... BUT the hours of boredom were totally worth it when we got to Tracy's house in Fort Collins! A BIG thanks to Tracy and Barry for allowing me and Alicia to spend the weekend with them!

Saturday was a busy, fun-filled day in the beautiful state of Colorado! Tracy was a fabulous hostess, showing us all the sights of Fort Collins and making sure we wouldn't ever want to leave the state! We started out the day with a short hike up to Horsetooth Falls; 19 degrees (when we finished hiking!) can't stop us! One nap later, we ended up at the New Belgium brewery... lots of delicious beers and a big emphasis on BIKING and being a GREEN company! We wrapped up the end of the day with a trip to Old Town, where a Jake Gyllenhaal look-a-like served us some yummy eats. I'm holding out on meeting the real JG in a few days when we end up in LA ;-)

Welcome to the midwest!

Well, the roadtrip began with a bang... or, at least a blizzard. Our plans to visit with Nick and Maggie in Indiana unfortunately fell through due to snow, so after (very slowly) making it out of Maryland, we headed south through West Virginia. We enjoyed a short lunch in West Virginia's capitol city, then ended up in Louisville for the night. Despite the initial white-knuckled, 35mph trek through western Maryland, the rest of the drive was very pretty, and we had a good first day on the road!

Day two also started out with a bang, this time at the gas pump, where four extra gallons poured out everywhere before we realized what was happening! The good news is, the car didn't explode when we drove away. AND the gasoline smell is already significantly less on my boots! :-) 

Alicia and I spent the day in St. Louis, which is a pretty quirky city, but it was clean downtown and full of nice people! We re-learned our American history in the Arch museum then headed over to the City Museum to check out some indoor abstract art and play on the giant indoor "art" playground. And what trip to St. Louis would be complete without a stop at Ted Drewes for a taste of their famous custard? There were 30 others in line with us outside, waiting for this delicious ice cream... definitely worth it! 


Back on the road again, we Pricelined a room in Kansas City for the night. We ended up booking a stay at the Coco Key resort (aka a Holiday Inn with an indoor water park attached). Nothing like having a lazy river in your hotel in late December when it's below freezing outside... but don't worry - there are only 175 days left until summer!

Preface

Welcome to my blog, friends and family! I'll do my best to keep it interesting and full of pictures, so you can all live vicariously through my adventures! :-)

It's been a great past few weeks, spending lots of time with friends and family. It was wonderful to see many friends I haven't seen in months (or even years!), including a special visit all the way from Tennessee! 

Alicia and I will be leaving Baltimore on Wednesday for San Diego, with plans to stop and visit with great friends along the way. Here's hoping for good weather and safe travels. 

A special thanks go to:

- Beth and Mike for giving us a destination and my temporary home in California until my contract gets finalized

- Ali and Brian for helping a homeless girl out and feeding me some delicious meals!

- Everyone else for your love and support... 

See y'all soon! <3