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Happy Birthday Acacia! Finally posting our Slovenia road trip!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend Acacia! I decided I will finally finish this blog post about her visit to Germany LAST SPRING and what better time to do it than the day after her birthday.

When Acacia first told me she was coming to visit and we picked some dates I started scheming right away. After a bit of back and forth with a few different ideas we decided to spend some time in Munich and then take a road trip through Slovenia. Acacia had heard so much about my trip there that she wanted to see it. I realized that there was still a lot there left for me to see too so it would be a new adventure.

On arrival Acacia was of course a bit jet lagged so I decided after some relaxation at the apartment we could do an easy city tour on the big red double decker tour bus. I’d never done one of these tours before…and I’d never do it again. It was probably the most boring “tour” I’ve ever done. It was about the same as just taking a public bus around the city. The only good part is that it’s a hop-on/hop-off tour so we were able to get out and see a few things. I think Acacia fell asleep a couple times on the bus. The positive was that it definitely didn’t require much energy from us so it was good for someone with jet lag…but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

The second day we did some wedding dress shopping. I knew this was something I wanted to do with her because we probably wouldn’t have any other chance. I booked an appointment at one shop and another friend from Munich also met us there. The shop was lovely and served us some Champagne. The dresses were beautiful but way more than I wanted to spend but it was nice hearing some opinions and I was grateful to have that experience with Acacia.

The big highlight was our planned road trip to Slovenia. We bought tickets for the long haul bus for something like $60 round trip from Munich to Ljubljana. The ride was supposed to be about 5.5 hours but on the way there we were stopped for awhile due to a tunnel having construction. It added about 2 hours to the trip. Overall though you just can’t beat that price.

Once in Ljubljana we walked from the bus station through town to our hostel for the night. This was actually my first time staying in a hostel. We decided to get a private room so that we’d get a good night sleep. The problem ended up being the pigeons outside our window keeping us up rather than fellow travelers. Next time I’ll remember ear plugs. But again it was a good, budget friendly place to stay for the night. After dropping our bags off we headed out to explore town. Ljubljana is one of my favorite cities so it was really fun to be able to share it with Acacia. We wandered around the cute streets in the old part of the city. Ate some gelato, had dinner at my favorite restaurant (Marley & Me) and took a walk up to the castle. I forgot to take photos in Ljubljana for some reason.

The next morning we rented a car and started our road trip. I felt bad because I don’t have a driver’s license anymore so Acacia had to do all the driving. The good thing about Slovenia is that it’s so small it doesn’t take long to get to the next place. I tried to plan our trip so there was just about an hour of driving between each destination. Truth be told I ended up doing some of the driving so that Acacia could enjoy looking at the scenery. Oops!

Our first destination was the Skocjan Caves which are a UNESCO National Heritage site. We decided to stop on the way there to see Predjama Castle. The castle is about 700 years old and is built into the side of a 123 meter cliff. It’s a pretty amazing sight. We decided to just view it from outside the entrance to save from paying the fee. The view was pretty good from there anyway and we didn’t have the time to take a tour of the inside since we’d booked a tour of Skocjan.

The Skocjan Caves were really beautiful and the tour was informative and in English. The caves are formed by the Reka River which disappears underground and then reappers 34km away. The river flows through some caves which total about 6km. There were some points when the water was flowing really powerfully through the caverns which was impressive. There were other areas where you could see the old caving equipment and boardwalks that had been built (no longer in use) and you could really imagine what it might have been like to be an early explorer of the caves. You especially felt this when they turned out all the lights and you experienced total darkness. If you’d been in there with only a lamp and in a few places 100 meters drops into raging water…that would’ve been a bit scary.

We weren’t allowed to take photographs in the caves but we took a few when we exited. There were a few ways back to the car and we decided to take the longer, scenic route which involved a few hundred steps. We got our exercise in for the day!

After the caves we were heading toward Dobrovo, which is in the wine region. We decided to take a short detour though when Acacia asked if we were near Italy and if we could pop over to check it out. So we headed there for lunch. I knew nothing about the area so we picked a coastal town on the map. It turned out to be a pretty dirty looking port town. We got some lunch and decided to try a nearby village on the way out that might be more appealing. We weren’t so lucky with that town either but we stopped anyway for some gelato. Acacia tried ordering a coffee and instead got the strongest espresso ever and had to add water to it. So Italy was kind of a bust but at least she can check it off the list. 🙂

In Dobrovo, I’d booked us a room in a house that overlooked the valley with a nice view of the vineyards. After checking in we headed into town and enjoyed some wine and a nice dinner. Our stay was a little bit too short in this area. It would’ve been nice to have an extra day and get out and do some wine tasting. Even so, the scenery is well worth the quick visit. As we headed out the next day there was some sort of festival in town that people were getting setup for. As we drove slowly through we saw something that I’m not sure I’ll ever forget. They had begun roasting an entire cow on a spit. The thing that made this so crazy looking is that all of the skin of the cow had been removed and the eyes were open and just staring. It was really unexpected first thing in the morning!

Our next stop was Tolmin to see the Tolmin Gorges. This area is heading into the mountains but we didn’t have time to get too far into the mountains as that really increases the driving time. I’d never been to this area before either so I was pretty excited. The GPS directed us to start going up the mountain. I had decided to drive this part so Acacia could get a good view. The road quickly turned into a very narrow one way mountain ridge. We kept driving for 20 or 30 minutes and still didn’t see a sign of the gorge. Finally we reached a spot where some people had parked and were starting to hike up to a site. But it definitely wasn’t the gorges so we asked them about it. Luckily they spoke English and they told us where we wanted to go was all the way down the mountain back in town. We’d somehow taken a wrong turn. So back down the mountain we went, hoping that no cars would be trying to come up the mountain as there was no place to really pull over. We decided to have some lunch when we got back down and get some more instructions about where to go. It turned out that getting there was quite easy as long and we’d just made one wrong turn. We’d come to the gorge with our swimsuits hoping for a swim in the turquoise waters and maybe a dip in the hot spring. Sadly there was no swimming allowed. So we hiked along the boardwalks and just looked longingly at the beautiful water. It probably would have been much too cold to enjoy anyway.

After the gorge we hopped back in the car and headed toward Lake Bohinj where we would stay for the night in a farmstay. Alex had been doing a solo motorcycle trip through Slovenia and decided he would meet us there for the night. The hosts were so generous and when I asked if Alex could tent camp on their property they said they would just put us in the bigger apartment for the same price and he could stay with us for free. So nice! The farm was in a tiny village outside of town and had it’s own chickens and cows. The people were really friendly and the apartment was clean and comfortable. We went into town for some dinner and to walk around and check out the lake.

The next morning Alex left us to continue his trip and Acacia and I headed to Lake Bled. This is the “fairytale lake” of Slovenia and I figured we should make a stop for some photos before heading back to Ljubljana to return the car and catch our bus to Munich.

Once back in Munich we just did a little relaxing before Acacia’s flight back. Our neighbor’s had a birthday breakfast so she got to hang out a bit with some Germans and see what a German breakfast is all about.

All in all the trip was a success! I’m so grateful that she made the trip over here and that I was able to share so many amazing things with her. I know life will just be getting busier and busier but I hope this isn’t the last time she’ll make it over to Europe! 🙂

December 28, 2014
Engaged in Italy!

May 1st or May Day is a big Spring holiday in Europe. Although Munich puts on quite a celebration, Alex and I decided to use the two free days from work to have our first long distance motorcycle trip together through Austria and into Northern Italy. Of course we were hoping for perfect weather and instead got a mix of good and bad. We drove through clear sunny skies to cold rain and even freezing snow. But I wouldn’t have changed a single moment. It was a perfect weekend that will forever be in my mind.

Our destination was Lago di Ledro near Garda See in Northern Italy. Traveling directly it’s about a 4 hour drive but of course we wanted to take the scenic route. We decided to split the trip up over several days since this was my first long ride and we weren’t sure how I would do. Thursday we left after breakfast and were greeted in Upper Bavaria with perfect conditions, warm sunny skies! We drove through lots of cute little towns where people were out in their dirndls and lederhosen preparing for the day’s festivities. We saw a Maypole going up in one village and about 2 dozen people eating sausages, pretzels and beers beneath another village Maypole. We stopped for lunch in Grossweil at a nice little restaurant on a lake. We shared a plate of Cevapcici and washed it down with a cold drink. The waiter brought me a honey schnapps in a cute little bottle at the end. I felt like I was in Slovenia!

Next we crossed into Austria still enjoying good weather until it began to rain in the last hour of our riding. My new gear held up pretty well and I stayed dry and well…not too cold. We were happy for some warmth when we finally arrived at our accommodation in Romallo, Italy. A cute little bed and breakfast in a tiny but beautiful village. The landscape in this town was rolling hills covered in fruit trees. After a hot shower and a little nap we took a walk to the neighborhood pizzeria where we both enjoyed some good Italian food. Alex had suggested that we do some night photography after dinner so we had brought the camera, tripod, and a bottle of wine and started walking through the town in search of a good view. Eventually we came to a clearing among the fruit trees on top of a hill overlooking town, Lago di Santa Guistina, and the snow-capped Alps in the distance.

Since the cloud covered sky wasn’t cooperating with our plans to take some pictures of the stars I suggested we do some fun experiments with a long shutter speed and a flashlight. The 1/2 liter of wine they served me at dinner was contributing to the amount of fun I was having with this suggestion I think. Eventually I tired myself out and it was getting cold so I suggested we pack up to go back to our room. Alex pointed out that the sky was clearing up and sure enough a bunch of stars had started to peek out. We took a few unsuccessful photos and decided to just enjoy the moment looking at the stars. Alex began reminiscing about our time in Switzerland together when we first met and star-gazed in the mountains there. I was enjoying the nice memories when he pointed out a really bright star behind me. I turned to look and I started to get a suspicious feeling. It started to occur to me what might be happening but I wasn’t quite sure. Then from behind me he said “and look at this sparkly one…” I was nervous to turn around and pretended I was looking for a sparkly star. Finally,when I did turn around he was shining a flashlight into a box with a ring. Then with my mind racing he was down on one knee and asking me to marry him. I can of course remember in detail exactly what he did but when it comes to my reaction it was all a big blur. I think I said something like “Really?” or “Oh my gosh!” Then I was laughing and crying at the same time. At some point I also kneeled down, I’m not quite sure why but it seemed normal. So in a squatted position between hugging and kissing Alex I said YES! and then I asked him which finger the ring goes on. 🙂

Of course after that moment nothing could go wrong on our trip! We set out again the next day to head to Lago di Ledro in Italy. The majority of that ride was cold rain coming down but it just added to our adventure. When traveling like that it makes the pit stops so much more enjoyable as you warm up over some good food. I was really happy when we stopped for lunch and the restaurant had a gluten-free menu. I enjoyed a beer and the best gluten-free pizza I’ve ever had. Apparently Italy has a large Celiac population so I guess it’s more common to find options at restaurants. So over my pizza and Alex’s giant calzone we just kept looking at my ring and grinning like two idiots.

We made a few more stops along the way to enjoy some nice scenery and finally arrived in Lago di Ledro. Tired and cold we relaxed a but in our room before heading out to Riva del Garda to meet our friends Stefan and Anne for Anne’s birthday dinner. Ate more amazing Italian food and drinks followed by some gelato and then a couple hours at an outdoor bar with a Johnny Cash cover band. One of the things I liked best about this town was the castle and chapel on top of the mountain that were lit up at night. I tried to take a photo but it didn’t do it justice. Because the sky was so cloudy and there isn’t much light pollution the mountain was so dark you couldn’t see it. So there lit up in the middle of it was a bright white castle and high above that a chapel. They both looked like they were just floating in the sky and since I wasn’t expecting it at all it was really a stunning view.

The next day we finally got some sunshine. We had a long ride planned for the day so we set out after breakfast first driving around Lago di Ledro. Our plan was to drive along Garda See for a bit but the traffic was terrible and it’s just a long series of tunnels through the mountains. So we turned around and headed toward our next destination which was a little farm-stay in Ratschings, South Tyrol, Italy. We stopped at a couple small lakes on the way and picnicked on one and then headed up a windy mountain road.

The temperature started dropping and before we knew it there was snow! There was a great view from the top and we stopped to take some photos. Then before we froze we hopped back on the bike and headed through the pass into the valley below thinking that the temperature would go back up as we moved away from the snow. We were sadly mistaken and I was shocked at how different the weather can be from one valley to another.

Luckily, a warm room was waiting for us at a small farm with a breathtaking view. At this point it seems that a hot shower and/or a nap are customary for us after a day of riding, it really takes a lot out of you! When we woke up we walked 20 minutes to the restaurant in the next village only to find that they were completely booked! Never underestimate the busyness of a little village. So we walked back and across the river to a rather large hotel only to find that their kitchen was closed. For the first time on our trip we were not prepared. We decided to buy a half liter of wine and go back to our room to make a dinner out of wine, granola, and what was left of some cheese and chocolate we brought. It turned out to be a satisfying meal and we found Jimmy Kimmel Live in English on the TV and just vegged out.

The next morning we woke up to blue skies again but unfortunately that didn’t do anything for the temperature which was hovering between 1°C and 3°C. Before long we were riding through snow and had to stop to thaw out my fingers since my gloves aren’t really for winter temps. After warming them up with a mug of hot chocolate we got back on the road headed to Innsbruck, Austria for breakfast. While enjoying some nice eggs the sun decided to come out but the temperature still didn’t get above 10°C. However this was much better than before and we rode through to Tegernsee, Germany where we stopped for lunch at a traditional Bavarian mountain restaurant. I warmed up with some local schnapps and we finished the ride to Munich. We didn’t make any site seeing stops this day because of the weather and I think we were both ready to be home. But we passed many things we’ve noted to check out on future rides…which I’m really looking forward to now that I know what I can endure on a ride. We were also treated to our own personal parade in one town we went through. We actually had to pull onto the sidewalk as they went by and I think we were their only audience.

The best part of the weekend was knowing that I get to enjoy these types of adventures with Alex for the rest of my life. What an amazing experience to add to the list of the many we’ve already had together.

May 5, 2014
Moving to Munich, Germany

Let’s see. We’re going back quite a ways here to remember my first months in Munich. I guess I’ll just summarize a bit of my experience from when I arrived until present. Of course the first thing to mention was how exciting it was to arrive in Munich with Alex waiting for me and knowing that this would be (hopefully) a more permanent stay than when I arrived in Basel. This time I was arriving to a city that was new for the both of us and a much larger apartment that we would be settling into together.

As anyone would be, I was very excited to explore Munich when I first arrived. Unfortunately I was greeted with four weeks of cold rain and it quickly drowned out any hopes I had of getting to know the city. By the time the weather turned nice my initial high had faded a bit and it was more of an effort to get out and see everything. I think ultimately this hindered my settling into life in Munich. I would advise that anyone moving to a new city should move during nice weather so they can take advantage of their excitement and use the energy to explore everything. I don’t really have any photos from the rainy time for obvious reasons so here’s a few from the first few sunny days at our apartment and exploring the city.

clockwise from top left: [1] We officially live together! [2] Sunrise from our back window [3] Our terrace with the new sunshade [4] BBQing at our new place

Images from our first mini exploration of the city center

The positive part of the bad weather was that it allowed us plenty of time to get the apartment setup, shop at IKEA, and do some home projects without feeling like we were missing out on sunshine and the outdoors. This has been the first time I’ve really put effort into settling into an apartment and it was quite fun working on some projects for the house. Fun and a total frustration at the same time! But lessons were learned and next time hopefully I can work more efficiently. Ultimately I think I ended up with some pieces that I’m proud of and were worth the effort and the sawdust. The three main projects were refinishing the used dining table, building a wine crate coffee table inspired by something seen on Pinterest, and making a couple photo walls to display some of our travel photos. We also pieced together a little kitchen island/storage from some different IKEA products. It fits the beer crates perfectly!

left and right columns: the progress
center: the finished table!

left top to bottom right: [1] The raw crates we purchased from ebay [2] Alex sanding and adding some extra support [3] Painting and staining [4] Transferring the graphics. Each one represents a place we’ve been together [5] Putting it all together [6] The finished coffee table!

Our photo walls. The big one was done with second-hand painted frames. The smaller with IKEA frames and shelves. Time consuming but saved a ton of money!

left: The DYI IKEA-hacked kitchen island.
right: Some new furnishings in my office with a pull-out couch. We’re ready for visitors!

Once the weather warmed up I bought a bicycle to get myself around and explore a bit more. The public transit system is great but a bike is just a much better way to explore in the nice weather. Alex and I spent a day riding all over Munich through the English Garden and along the Isar River. This is my favorite part of Munich!

Cruising around Munich by bicycle

Our apartment has a fairly big terrace and so we set up a nice BBQ and eating area, a hammock, and a garden area and evenings and weekends were spent enjoying nice meals out there. Alex has quite the green thumb and we enjoyed fresh lettuces, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, etc. all summer long.

Enjoying the hammock all summer long!

Our terrace garden

As beautiful as Munich is it hasn’t all been easy. Moving to a new place is always hard and when it’s a new country with a language you don’t speak it’s even more difficult. Working from home doesn’t give much opportunity to meet people either so it was easy to get homesick. I joined CrossFit Munich in hopes of meeting some people and on the first day met another American, Rachael. Her and her husband have become good friends here and it was nice to meet someone who has gone through a similar experience and could give me some tips. CrossFit itself has been great because it’s something that feels familiar and gives me a place to belong to. My summer was amazing in terms of travel, exploring, and staying active. There’s so much to do in this city from the historical buildings, beautiful gardens, swimming pools, great restaurants and beer gardens, summer festivals… and in just an hour or so you can be in the Alps or at one of the many lakes surrounding Munich.

Some graffiti around CrossFit Munich

clockwise from top left: [1] A picnic on the train with Alex, Daan, and Marlene on the way to the lake. [2] A day at beautiful Tegernsee [3] Munich’s Summer Fest [4] A typical summer evening at home BBQing [5] Watching a summer thunderstorm from the terrace

clockwise from top left: [1 & 2] After work rooftop party [3] A day at the pool [4] Outdoor Film Festival

clockwise from top left: [1] Trying out a Mexican restaurant [2] The Summer festival Ferris Wheel at sunset [3] Meeting up with a high school friend and his fiance [4] The fountain at Karlsplatz

Exploring the Nymphenburg Palace and botanical gardens in Munich
A beautiful motorbike ride outside of the city

Ok, so I’m not painting a very good picture of all the hardships I suffered by posting those photos! :p Seriously though this has been one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. Looking back I think if I had started taking a German course right away it would have made a big difference. The hardest part of settling in has been not knowing the language. People have often remarked that I should be fine because most people speak English. But what most don’t realize, and what I didn’t realize at first either, is how much of an outsider you feel when you don’t share the language of the place you’re living. The smallest things become a challenge and take mental effort. Going grocery shopping, to the post office, to the bank, etc. Asking someone for directions even. Just asking the question “do you speak English?” takes a bit of courage for me because I honestly feel like an asshole that I don’t speak German and am making someone switch languages to accommodate me. Now maybe most people don’t mind at all and I’m making a big deal of it in my head but I just can’t help feeling like I’m an inconvenience to others. It just wears on you after awhile because it’s constantly on your mind. All of this “culture shock” (which I recently found out is a real mental condition that people can suffer from), really wore down my spirit and left me feeling like a person I didn’t recognize. I went from feeling like an independent, confident and self-sufficient person to someone who is constantly second-guessing herself and needing help. When it comes to socializing with other German-speaking people I get very quiet and can’t participate in the conversation as I usually would. This is especially frustrating when it comes to Alex’s family because I really want to know them and for them to know me. I’m realizing how much we communicate who we are through language. I worry about how other people view me then and I think about times when I’ve seen American men with quiet, foreign wives. While I’m ashamed to admit it I viewed them as submissive women that don’t have their own identity. Now that I’ve been in that situation I realize how wrong it is to assume that. When I first meet someone and they ask why I’m in Germany I struggle with telling them it’s because of my boyfriend. I feel like I can almost see the judgment in some people’s faces and I imagine that they’re assuming I’m the type of girl that has no life of her own and just followed some guy she met to his country where I sit at home and do nothing. I always feel the need to follow up my answer with an explanation that I work as a freelancer and have a business. Needless to say I’m learning a lot about my personal insecurities and realizing that I care a lot more about what others think of me than I ever thought I did.

Part of the reason I held off on learning German was because my first goal was to get a visa so that I could stay long term. It was hard to allow myself to truly settle in until that happened because it would have been such a letdown if I didn’t get the visa. I did a lot of research on the self-employment visa in Germany and over-prepared myself for the meeting at the Auslanderbehörde. I had read mixed stories online about how difficult it is to obtain the self-employment visa. I brought Alex with me in case I needed a translator. The process couldn’t have been easier for me. I went in with all of my paperwork; work contracts, references, bank statements, proof of health insurance, and my portfolio. The woman spoke English and she just went through all my forms, made a comment that I was very organized, and then told me to go pay the cashier and come back with the receipt to get my 2-year visa. I’m serious when I say that the instant I got that visa I feel like I could breathe and finally start to view Munich as my home.

A lot has happened since those first few months. The roller coaster of emotions has started to have less dips and as I’ve adjusted to working from home and getting my schedule in order I’ve been able to make more time for networking events in Munich both for social and business connections. We’ve met some awesome people and now have a nice group of friends which really helps to make Munich feel more like home. I finally started taking German classes and as frustrating as it is I think it’s really helping. More on all of that in a later post though.

While this has most definitely been one of the biggest challenges of my life I wouldn’t trade a single second of it. I’ve learned so much about myself in such a short time. More importantly I’ve been able to have this adventure with Alex and every second I’ve spent with him proves to me that I made the right decision in coming here.

Beautiful Munich sunsets!

March 15, 2014
Lauren G. Visits! and Canyoning!

Summer began to turn to Fall and then I had my first guest come out to visit me. My friend Lauren from CA had been visiting her sister in Turkey and flew into Munich for a few days before going back to the States. It was so nice to see a familiar face and have a girlfriend around for a few days (especially a native English speaker!). Showing her around Munich was also fun. I think when you give people a tour of the place you live and see them enjoying it your pride for your city grows a little bit. This was really good for me and just what I needed at the time. We went to a few of the typical tourist spots like the Hofbrauhaus, tried on some dirndls together, and then did a day-drinking tour of the city on our own. This basically means we walked around the city with beers in hand stopping wherever we felt like. At one point we bought beers but forgot to ask the clerk to open them. I figured I’ve seen Alex open a beer using basically any object at his disposal…how hard can it be? I walked over to a metal gate by the park and tried to use it as a lever to pop the cap off. I managed to make myself bleed and draw the attention of an older couple who was obviously German because he produced a bottle opener on the spot for us. I’m going to really have to practice being a better German. By the time we were ready to get some food I was a bit too buzzed to navigate google maps and find the Mexican restaurant I had intended on going to. Instead we ended up as Weisses Bräuhaus and ate until we were ready to burst. This is probably one of the best German meals I’ve had since getting here actually. What follows are the best selection of photos from a huge batch of drunken selfies we took throughout the day.

One of the last days of Lauren’s visit we decided to rent a car and drive into the mountains of Austria to go canyoning. The weather was absolute shit that day but we’d already made the plans so we just figured if we didn’t go canyoning we could check out a little mountain town. It was raining and freezing cold when we arrived to the town of Haiming in Ötztal and found Fankhauser Rafting. We were still undecided so we went in to get some information. We saw one other group that was there to go rafting but other than that we were the ONLY ones there. After some flip-flopping we decided to just do it. The water is freezing anyway so maybe it wouldn’t matter if the air was cold. We definitely made the right decision. This canyoning tour was even better than the one I did in Slovenia. Our guide Johannes was very experienced and did a great job keeping us alive! 😉 We got to do some rappelling down huge waterfalls which was really fun. Lauren had done some similar things when she was in Australia but nothing like this and she was the perfect person to bring on this tour, she did great, wasn’t afraid, and was having fun. A day like this definitely would be pure torture for some people so I was really happy when she said it’s one of the best things she’s ever done. The big moment for me was toward the end when we approached a spot where we had the option of doing a high jump, lower jump, or slide down the waterfall. We had just come off a pretty high jump so I was feeling some adrenaline. I didn’t necessarily feel the need to do the high jump but wanted to take a look before deciding. I walked up and looked over…it was really high. 15 meters which is about 50 feet. I think the highest I’ve jumped is maybe 40 ft but it wasn’t measured so who knows. Lauren took a look and said she wasn’t going to and that kind of gave me an out so I said I’d skip it as well. The tour guide responded “that’s totally fine, you’d be the first girl I’ve seen do it anyway.” What?! Why would he say that?! Obviously now I have to be the first girl to do it! So I changed my mind and stepped up to the edge. Lauren did her lower jump first while I stood above still trying to decide if I could do it. It took a lot of mental coaching, my body just naturally doesn’t want to follow what my mind is telling it to do. It’s such a weird sensation. Every time I thought I was going to jump I took a tiny step to the edge and then stepped back. It felt like I did this for 5 minutes but Lauren said it was more like 10. Finally I just stepped to the edge where I was supposed to jump from and leaped off. I was supposed to keep my body really straight and rigid but that all went out the window when I jumped. I definitely smacked my ass pretty hard on the water and at the same time that I was experiencing this amazing rush I was also thinking that I probably wouldn’t do a higher jump than that. When I asked the tour guide if I was really the first girl to do it he said I was the first one HE had seen do it. Tricky tricky! After the tour we had a nice tall beer and hot meal in the hut before driving back to Munich. This was such an awesome day and I can’t wait to go back there in the spring or summer when the weather is nicer.

This is someone else’ video but it’s the same canyon we did our tour of. If you skip ahead to 5:15 you can see the big jump. It gives a rush again just watching it!

September 30, 2013
Top 10 Lessons From My First Oktoberfest

Lesson #1: In preparation for Oktoberfest I spent a lot of time shopping for a dirndl (the traditional dress the women wear) and making sure I had all the correct pieces to the outfit. This felt a lot like shopping for the prom. I was finally satisfied with what I got and tested out some different hair braiding techniques. Once I had everything on I felt like a princess from a Disney movie. And not in a bad way, this was really fun like when you played dressup as a kid. I left the house feeling a bit awkward like I was going to stick out somehow. I quickly realized that while I may stick out wearing this in America here in Bavaria I couldn’t have blended in more! All that stress of picking the perfect thing only to realize that once you’re at Oktoberfest it really doesn’t matter that much. Yep, same as prom. That being said…dirndls are awesome and I wish I had a dozen to wear all the time.

My hair for the first day of Oktoberfest.

Alex in his lederhosen and I in my Dirndl at Oktoberfest.

Lesson #2: Speaking of dirndls. My second lesson was immediately after we entered Oktoberfest. A small blonde girl in dirndl and braids in her hair was sitting on the steps with her head in her hands. Women really appear innocent like little girls in these outfits so my first thought was that she was crying. I was concerned as she was all alone. I stopped Alex and asked him if we should see if she’s alright. Just as I was feeling a bit of shock at him unsympathetically saying no I also saw the pile of vomit in the shrubbery next to her. Nope, not an innocent little girl, just severely intoxicated.

Lesson #3: The passed out drunks are removed by stretchers. For privacy purposes these stretchers are covered by a plastic yellow tarp. Similar to what a body bag might look like only yellow and with space for air to circulate. So no, there aren’t dead people in there.

Alex and I smushed between gingham and lederhosen. This was only about 15 minutes in so we were still smiling.

Lesson #4: This is an IMPORTANT one. If there’s a line at the front of the beer tent you should check the side entrances before standing in that line for an hour with your body pressed against people on all sides of you crushing you to the point of not being able to breathe. Because when you check that side entrance you will find you can walk right in without any wait at all. Seriously, a full hour standing amidst loud, obnoxious drunk people who are so close to you that you feel like you should at least know their names. And I use the term “line” loosely as it isn’t really the right word. More like a horde of people trying to make it to the ropes in the front with no regard for order. And if you think getting closer to the front means you’re closer to getting in, think again. When they do let people in they pick seemingly at random and often from the back of the line. When that happens everyone has to somehow move aside to let the chosen ones through and in those moments I think I could have lifted my feet off the ground and just been suspended in the air by all of the forces pressing against me. And doing all this while still sober? Well, it was like being in a moshpit where everyone is wearing gingham, lederhosen, and dirndls and there is no music.

Once inside I took a photo of the line at the main entrance. Like a herd of cattle. Stupid cattle. I can say that because I was one of them.

Not the best photo but an idea of the crowd once we entered the biergarten.

Lesson #5: When we entered through that side entrance with no line I kept feeling like we’d gotten away with something and were about to be caught. But no, we had just been dumb tourists waiting at the front. We were finally in and holy crap what a shit show (in the best way possible)! Having a table would be amazing just so you could sit and people watch all day. Within the first minute I watched a security guard lead a Chinese guy with a Bruce Lee haircut out by his leather jacket. I turned to watch and just as I did Bruce Lee turned to the security guard, leaned in close to his ear and in English but with a thick accent said “YOU…SUNOVAHBITCH!” I still am laughing today when I think of it. Two seconds after that a fight almost broke out next to us for unknown reasons so we decided to make our way through the crowd and attempt to find a beer and our friends. And later still when we made our way to the opposite side of the beer tent we saw Bruce Lee coming right back in like nothing even happened. Sneaky guy. What’s the lesson here? I’m not sure exactly.

Lesson #6: If you come late in the day on opening day don’t expect to actually get inside the beer tent. Yes, those lines we waited in were just to get into the biergarten outside of the tent. Also, if you don’t have a table (by reservation or pure luck) then you have to follow around a waitress/waiter carrying beers to a table and hope that everyone at that table doesn’t need beer and you can buy one off her there. This could take a good hour which now makes me completely understand why the need for liter size glasses.

Lesson #7: Alcohol levels the playing field. No matter what country you’re from, how you’re brought up, what you look like, etc. If you drink enough alcohol you will act like a drunken moron. With all the tourists from all over the world at Oktoberfest, this concept is hammered home. And it is oh-so-fun to watch.

After finding our one friend who remained at the end of the day we gave up on getting another beer at Oktoberfest and bought some on the street for the trip home.

Lesson #8: If you try and meet your friends in Oktoberfest and they are already drunk when they text you where they are…you will spend the next three hours trying to find them in the WRONG tent!!! And then come out to find only 2 people left of the group who haven’t gone home drunk and one is leaving to go to the hospital to check on her friend who left Oktoberfest on the drunkbus. Always meet your friends before entering the festival.

Lesson #9: The festival outside of the beer tents seems just as fun, maybe more so because its less crowded and there’s plenty of food vendors and a ton of rides. Then you realize the only place you can buy beer is inside the beer tents. Definitely not as fun.

Alex and I at Oktoberfest. Much happier after getting our first liter of the good stuff.

Lesson #10: A liter of beer and a giant pretzel can totally change your attitude.

The first day of Oktoberfest didn’t include many photos since it was just constant chaos and an attempt at getting our bearings on the whole thing. Hopefully the next few weeks I will get some more photos. But here are some photos from the impressive Oktoberfest parade we went to this morning. Apparently there were over 8000 participants in the parade the route was 7km. I can’t imagine walking that far in some of the shoes they were wearing and carrying the heavy instruments and flags!

September 22, 2013
Neuschwanstein Castle for my 31st!

A few weeks after Slovenia it was my 31st birthday. Alex made me a nice breakfast and said he had to go outside and would be back in a minute. I assumed he had to go down to our basement storage for something. He’d actually taken the train to go rent a car and returned home with a shiny black Mercedes convertible. It was really unexpected and I was all smiles even though I had no idea where we were headed.

We drove out of the city and drove along the most scenic road into the Alps. At this point I just assumed we would be going to a lake or something but suddenly I saw that postcard castle up on the mountains. We were on our way to Neuschwanstein castle which I had been wanting to see since I arrived in Munich.

We arrived a bit early before our scheduled tour and Alex had brought some picnic food so we walked down to this beautiful lake and had some fresh berries, cheese, and champagne.

Then we did the tour of the castle which was really interesting and worth it even with all of the tourists there. Reservations for this tour are a must! The line of people who didn’t have a reservation was unending and I can’t imagine how many hours they must’ve stood there. You can also tour another castle of King Ludwig called Hohenschwangau. We decided to just take photos from the outside but maybe it’s worth another trip back sometime.

It’s definitely a touristy place and a bit overrated but I think it’s definitely something to be done at least once if you’re in the Munich area. Just look at these views! I highly recommend it.

We returned to the city and Alex asked if I would mind meeting his coworkers out for dinner. His boss had planned a birthday dinner for himself and had scheduled it for this evening. Honestly I wasn’t 100% happy to be having my birthday dinner at someone else’ birthday dinner but I had just had such a wonderful day and what he had already planned was more than enough. Well I am certainly glad that was the attitude I took because we ended up having one of the best meals of my life and after everyone toasted his boss and presented their present to him they also toasted me and gave me a bottle of champagne. I was really surprised because I didn’t even know anyone knew it was my birthday. Plus I really enjoy Alex’s coworkers and it was nice to spend my birthday with a group of people out in Munich.

A very memorable birthday for sure!

July 20, 2013
Back to Slovenia

One of the perks of freelancing full-time now is that I can be flexible with my schedule and join Alex on some of his work trips and turn them into a little weekend trip. At the end of June last year he had to go to Ljubljana, Slovenia for a work conference and of course I wanted to join him for that. It turned out that it was exactly one year to the day that we first met in Ljubljana that we would be back there. We decided to extend the trip into the weekend and stay in the mountains.

The first few days in Slovenia Alex attended his conference during the day while I went into town and worked from one of my favorite cafés in LJ called Paninoteka. One nice perk is I got to stay in a nice hotel in the city center with a great view. I enjoyed quite a few nice lunches while I worked at the café with free wi-fi. I just found a quiet little corner on the couch, had lunch and worked for hours and the waitstaff were totally fine with it. This is one thing I really enjoy about this city. Almost every restaurant seems to have free wi-fi and not a care if you linger there working. A freelancer’s dream! The only thing better is if my laptop screen didn’t have so much glare so that I could work outside.

Lunches at Paninoteka and the view from our Hotel

I also was really happy that I got to meet up with a lot of friends. I had coffee with my coworkers one after noon, introduced Alex to my friend Anne over dinner, and even made it to a couchsurfing meeting to see some of my old friends I met through there. On another evening when Alex and I were done working we had a nice dinner and then took a bottle of wine up to the castle. We had a beautiful sunset and toasted to our one-year anniversary since meeting each other. We finished off the evening with some dessert at another favorite spot Cacao. The last evening of Alex’s conference I was invited to join the closing event which was a traditional Slovenian meal at Restavracija Skriti Kot. The waitstaff were dressed in traditional clothes and even did a dance performance involving our party. It made for a very entertaining evening.

Once the weekend arrived and the conference was over we rented a car and headed to Kobarid, a small town in the mountains of Slovenia. We had booked a room at a turistična kmetija (tourist farm) I found online. We followed the GPS which seemed to take us to somebodies house. A woman walking on the street luckily spoke some German and explained to Alex that this was the owner’s residence but our rental was at another address. So we entered that into our GPS and shortly arrived at a VERY remote village. We drove down extremely narrow roads through the town until arriving at our location. The place looked really neat and peaceful but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. We had no instructions for a key and the owner wasn’t answering his phone. We tried all the doors and nothing opened. At this point we were starving and it was starting to get late. I was getting hangry and suggested we should find another place to stay. If we waited around too long other places might close and we’d be sleeping in the car. We booked another place about 30 minutes away. At that point the owner finally had emailed me back and told us the door was open. We went and gave it another try and after a more forceful turn we got the door open and entered into a very drafty, damp room with a pullout couch. The bathroom floor was soaking wet, the bedsheets felt damp, and there wasn’t even toilet paper. The owner called back and we told him we wouldn’t be staying. He apologized that the room wasn’t in order and offered to meet us and buy us a drink to make up for it. Slovenians are so nice! It was late so we declined and set out for our new location. We stopped on the way at a local restaurant and were treated to some great food, good hospitality, and some live music. It seemed like it was the hot spot that night in the village.

Our unexpected adventure…this is the place we ended up not staying and Alex looking very tired and ready to eat and finally find a place to sleep.

Finally we made it to our new place which was MUCH more welcoming. The owners of Turisticna Kmetija Kranjc stayed up past their bedtime waiting for us to arrive and quickly got us settled in. The room was clean, warm and DRY and we fell asleep quickly after a long day.

Our new and much improved accommodations.

The next morning we enjoyed a simple homemade breakfast made with fresh ingredients and then asked the owner for some advice about mountain biking in the area. They rented us out two bikes and helmets for next two nothing and even had water bottles for us. We weren’t sure if we should drive the bikes down the mountain a bit to start because from our drive up the night before we knew it was a really steep climb back up. The owner assured Alex that it would be challenging but it’s doable. I tried to explain to Alex that when a Slovene says something is easy then it’s actually hard. So if they say it’s challenging it’s probably next to impossible. He shrugged me off and we set out for our first mountain bike ride together.

Going down I had to get comfortable again. Last time I rode was in CA and I had a few bad falls that turned me into a nervous rider. Alex is at home on a bike and this seemed to be a piece of cake for him. Either he was being very patient with me or I was doing an OK time keeping up with him. I had to dismount a few times where there were big areas of rock slides to cross. I was a little frustrated and intimidated but we eventually made it down the mountain and into town. We stopped for lunch in town and refueled and then continued our ride through the valley. This are was flat but we rode for quite a few hours. There was a destination in mind along the river where we would be able to jump in but we eventually decided not to ride all the way there. It was hot and we still had a long ride back ahead of us. For me, the only way to enter cold water is by plunging in. I really can’t wade into cold water because it feels like torture. But we decided to stop anyway and see if we could go for a little swim. As expected it was just way too freezing. Alex managed to capture my reaction to the cold on camera. Needless to say I did not go in longer than half a second.

Freezing water!

Hiked out to a waterfall

Photoshoot on the bridge before heading back up the mountain. All smiles still at this point.

So the next part is where we made a huge mistake. We had a few snacks with us but we hadn’t eaten a meal since lunch in town. After riding for all that time we really should have eaten before starting the climb back up the mountain. I definitely get cranky when I’ve not been fed. Normally I’m a bigger fan of the climb than the downhill when biking but on this day it was not the case. After quite a few switchbacks I was already out of energy and my mood turned very pessimistic. I got caught in a downward spiral of negative thoughts and watching Alex pump along without a complaint was making it worse I think. I hate feeling defeated and I was not handling it well at all. It wasn’t long before I started to cry to myself and then started to complain out loud. I even at one point told Alex I hated him. And while of course I was just being a brat I really was a little mad that he thought I was going to be able to do this. I even got off my bike at one point but it was so steep that my legs were burning even more and it felt like it would take days for me to make it up that mountain. Getting off the bike was a mistake because it was hard to get back on at such an incline. I’m definitely no pro biker! I started contemplating if Alex should ride back and come get me with the car but I had no idea how far off we were from finishing and I didn’t want to be out there for hours waiting by myself. He even suggested it at one point which made me more angry. I was really just mad at myself for letting my attitude become so defeatist. Once you tell yourself you can’t do it, you’re lost. But somehow I managed to pull it off and once we got up the most nasty part of the mountain we had a nice view and a more flat road and I could start to see an end in sight. I got a new burst of energy and I somehow survived that ride. I swore I would never ride with Alex again…and actually I haven’t since. However, I think that if we picked something a bit more tame, or I’d eaten something, or I get more practice on a bike then we can try again at some point. I don’t know how Alex put up with me that day but I love him for the amount of patience he has! This is a map of a route very similar to ours in terms of difficulty. The beginning of our ride was a different route as I think we came down the mountain more quickly and then rode along the river. But either way it shows the way back up so you can see what I’m talking about. http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=714356

You can see in my facial expression here that I’m still in good humor but I’m also starting to pout about the ride. Aside from my poor attitude the ride up was gorgeous!

One last photo of beautiful Slovenia on our way home.

June 25, 2013
3 Months in Raleigh, North Carolina

After my cross-country road trip with Acacia I spent some time with my parents and sister in Nashville. Then I drove from there to DC to visit my friend Sarah and for the first time meet her fiance Malcolm in person. Little did she know I was just a coverup for a surprise bachelorette party orchestrated by her close girlfriends. We took a cooking class, rented a hotel room and spent a nice evening out at some local Alexandria bars. The weekend was topped off with a delicious brunch.

After that I was headed to Raleigh for a much longer stay. My sister and her husband were generous enough to offer that I stay in their guest room for the remainder of the 3 months I was required to be in the U.S. With 3 adults, 2 kids, and a dog it was quite a full house. Luckily, I had a lot of work to keep me busy during this time so I passed the days working from my laptop, going to the local CrossFit, and helping out where I could with the kids, cooking, and cleaning. In the evenings and weekends I spent time with my sister and her family. Having this amount of time with them is precious to me since I have chosen a lifestyle that doesn’t allow me to visit often. This was also the first time that I was meeting my new niece Harper. The really amazing thing is that I also spent a bit of time living with my sister when my nephew Brayden was born. Now I’ve gotten to do the same with Harper.

I love these kids more than anything and bonding with them as babies makes me feel like I won’t ever be a stranger to them even when I’m living half a world away. I am so grateful that Lauren and Jeff were willing to put up with me for so long and that I have been able to count on my family to make my move to Europe easier.

Spring in Raleigh is lovely and we spent a lot of time enjoying the weather together. During this time we found out that Alex had gotten the job transfer he applied for. That meant that when I returned to Europe it would be to live in Munich, Germany this time instead of Switzerland. This was great for me logistically because I had a much better chance of getting a visa in Germany. But let’s not jump ahead because there were some other big events that happened while I was in Raleigh. Alex flew in for about 10 days and met my family for the first time. My parents and my sister Kristin drove in from Nashville as well.

While everyone had already met Alex via Skype this was the first in-person meeting. It was also Alex’s birthday during his stay and we celebrated with a day at Sarah P. Duke Botanical Gardens at Duke University. My mom made an awesome dinner and we all had a nice picnic in the backyard with Brayden delivering us cold beers on request. As a surprise I baked a special cake for Alex that my Dad delivered to Angus Barn where we would go for birthday drinks that night. There was some slight confusion when we got there and I was starting to think they had lost the cake but they finally brought it out and the smile on Alex’s face was well worth the effort.

We all took a little overnight trip to Wilmington for one night and while it was a bit windy and cold spending some time on the beach was wonderful. It was nice to show Alex yet another nice place to visit in the States and a great way to end the time spent with my entire family. I’m pretty sure everyone loved Alex as much as I do. Brayden especially bonded with him which to me is the ultimate seal of approval. 🙂

Next up Alex joined me on my little road trip to DC to be my date at Sarah and Malcolm’s wedding. We made a weekend getaway (a getaway from our getaway?) out of it and did some DC site-seeing. And if the timing of the events in my life weren’t already outstanding this year it just so happened that some cousins of mine were also in DC this same weekend. My cousin Nicole and her family were temporarily living in DC between job assignments and her sister Julia was visiting with her daughter. We probably hadn’t seen each other in somewhere around 18 years! When some of our family members realized through Facebook that we were in the same city some quick networking took place and we were able to have a rendezvous while we were all out touring the National Mall. It’s so funny that because of Facebook I know what people look like even if I haven’t seen them in forever. It kind of made it feel like it hadn’t been so long since we last saw eachother. Technology can be so wonderful!

Sarah and Malcolm’s wedding was lovely! The food, drink and people were all great. They did such an amazing job putting everything together. But that really was expected since they’re both designers for a living. Sarah looked gorgeous, Malcolm looked dapper and the best part for me was seeing one of my best friend’s tie the knot with someone who makes her so happy. I’ve known her for such a long time and we’ve seen each other through a lot. It seems that somewhere along the way we became adults!

The entire time Alex was visiting he also was wrapping up finding an apartment in Munich. Talk about multi-tasking! When he left the U.S. he went straight back to Basel to pack up and move to our new place in Munich. I don’t know how he did it all with such a calm demeanor but he pulled it off beautifully. And while I felt guilty that I wasn’t in a position to help I still had some packing and moving to prepare for on my own.

When the time came to leave Raleigh it was bittersweet. Towards the end I had really started counting down the days until my move. I was missing Alex, ready for my own place, and anxious to see Munich and start my life there. At the same time it meant saying goodbye to my family and there is definitely nothing that breaks my heart more than hearing my 4 year old nephew tell me how much he will miss me and that he doesn’t want me to go. Even though it’s been my choice to live so far away it doesn’t ever mean that I don’t miss my family. Saying goodbye seems to get harder each time.

Photo credits: Jeff Massey Photography, Myself, Alexander Küster and Alexandra Langley

June 10, 2013
Life in Basel, Switzerland

From Sunny San Diego
to a Winter Wonderland

I haven’t lived through a cold, snowy winter in quite awhile. No matter how much I remind myself that my roots are in NY and I’ve grown up through some of the coldest, snowiest winters its pretty easy to forget what its like after living in sunny San Diego for a few years. Point being that for me to leave such a beautiful place, with amazing friends and gorgeous weather…there must’ve been a pretty good reason. (wink wink) Of course, the fact that the place I was leaving it all for was Switzerland didn’t hurt either. 🙂

I wasn’t very nervous about moving to Basel because I had such a great experience living in Ljubljana. I was well-versed in moving to a new country this time around. Plus, I would be with Alex and I was very excited to have someone to share all my experiences with. I thought I knew what to expect because I’d been through the transition when I moved to Ljubljana for three months. Basel ended up being an extremely different experience from Ljubljana.

To start with I was unemployed during my time there and was working on building up some freelance work. This means my salary was unreliable and only a percentage of what I had been making. Switzerland is not the best place to live under these circumstance as the cost of living is extremely high. I found it much more difficult to explore the city and make friends because of A) the weather and B) the expense. Plus, I didn’t have an office full of lovely co-workers to socialize with every day.

Not being used to the cold I was often unmotivated to wander around the city aimlessly to explore as I had in Ljubljana during the summer. Since I was working from home there were some days where I just felt completely cooped up in the house. I guess this is why people get cabin fever in the winter time. But eventually I got quite used to the public transportation system and got out of the house more and more. I think I would absolutely LOVE Basel in Spring, Summer and Fall. Winter of course is beautiful when it snows and is especially cozy during Nachtmarkt (the Christmas Market). It never got too cold to bear and the trains and buses were really great for getting around easily. Alex and I went on quite a few hikes on the weekends which was a really nice and inexpensive way to get to know the area.

As I mentioned, the other challenge of getting out in Basel was cost. To meet friends out for a few drinks you could easily spend 12-15 CHF ($0.94 to the dollar) per drink, possibly more. Eating out was a lot less frequent than what I’m used to…which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for my health. Even a Burger King value meal was somewhere around 12 CHF! If you work in Switzerland then this isn’t usually a problem since Swiss salaries are generally much higher. But for me it definitely was an obstacle to getting to know Basel.

All that being said, aside from the usual homesickness of missing my friends and family from time to time these were the only real challenges of my transition to Swiss life. And the pros far out-weighed the cons.

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May 7, 2013
Road Trip: From San Diego to Nashville

The hardest part about moving away from San Diego was leaving my friends. Ok, maybe leaving the perfect weather and the beach made it difficult as well. Over the 4 years I spent in San Diego I met some really great people. One of those people became like a sister to me and I am determined that wherever we are in the world we will always be connected. When we first met we laughed over all the similarities we shared…it was almost scary. And as our friendship grew we found we had more and more in common. Acacia is one of a few people that I know that I can tell absolutely anything to and not be judged. At least once a week we would get together and make a Paleo dinner together, split a bottle of wine, and most likely gorge on some dark chocolate/sea salt covered almonds from Trader Joe’s and then sometimes finish the night sneaking another bottle of wine down to the hot tub while we talked about life. If I was having a bad day she would go out of her way to lift me up, and I tried to do the same for her. Friends like this are rare and I think you only get a few throughout your lifetime. There are so many memories I have with her and so I couldn’t think of a better way to say goodbye before I move than to go on a week-long cross-country road trip to move my car and my belongings back east.

When I first asked Acacia if she would like to drive with me I didn’t really think she’d be able to come along. A week off from work is a lot to ask. But she didn’t hesitate to say yes and so the planning began. We chose to take the Southern route since it was February and there was a chance of hitting bad weather in the mountains. This meant skipping the Grand Canyon but we had plenty of other stops lined up. The final big one would be New Orleans before we headed North up to Franklin, TN.

Before the trip I had a huge garage sale with my roommate Lauren. People showed up at 5am and were literally fighting each other over things. I’d never seen anything like it before. I had to yell numerous times at people and I’m pretty sure a few people made off with some items without paying. At one point I brought out a bag of shoes and before I even set it on the ground 5 old ladies had there hands deep in the bag and were playing tug of war over shoes before they could even see what they were holding! The sale was a success because I sold off almost all of the things that I wouldn’t be able to fit in my car and the rest was sold on Craigslist. It was hard to see my things go for a very small percent of what they were worth but I just kept reminding myself that they’re just things. A week later I squeezed my remaining belongings and a cooler of food into my Honda Civic coupe. I grabbed Acacia and we were on our way!

Acacia and I hit the road with the car fully packed.

Day 1 – Joshua Tree National Park

Our first pit-stop was just a few hours into the trip. Acacia and I had never seen Joshua Tree National Park so we decided this would be a good place to stop for lunch. Joshua Tree is pretty interesting scenery to say the least. Having been to the a few places in the desert during my time in California I was expecting it to be about the same. But the landscape is completely different from other places with the Joshua trees growing every which way and the Silver Cholla looking all fuzzy as the sun shines through their hair-like prickers. It’s pretty amazing that all these plants can survive and actually thrive out in the desert. I don’t think they would be considered beautiful in any other setting but here they’re so interesting and surprising that it really is breathtaking.

Giant rock formations carved smooth by the wind were everywhere. A rock climber’s paradise. We drove through a loop with a lot of rock climbers, hikers, and campers and then pulled into a quieter area to take some pictures and have some lunch. After climbing into the rocks for some photos and after Acacia attempted to hug a cactus, we found a picnic table to spread out our first road trip meal. We had a cooler full of homemade carnitas, ripe avocados, hard-boiled eggs and fruit. Our goal was to stay away from crappy road trip meals and eat fresh food as long as possible. It was kind of perfect sitting there in the desert with delicious food thinking about the long road that stretched in front of us. After lunch we headed out of the park slowly taking in the ever-changing landscape and stopped a few times to take some photos. Then we were back on the highway cutting through Arizona just past Tucson to our first overnight stay in a Motel 6 in Wilcox, AZ.

Acacia testing the cactus’ sharpness.

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March 10, 2013