Choosing our one night in Bozeman to act like boozy delinquents was a mistake. The 6-pack nightcap from the gas station next to the motel was another mistake. We eventually pulled ourselves from bed and hit the road towards Missoula. What would have been a 2-hour breeze of a drive was about to be 6... Continue Reading →
Roaming Southwest—Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe
Amidst howling wind and the intermittent shutoff of our motel’s ancient heater, I managed to get a bit of sleep. I moved the winter coat pressed against the motel door to block the draft and it was caked in fresh snow. So basically, it snowed inside our room. My heart ached for the check-out counter.... Continue Reading →
Roaming Southwest – Two Guns Ghost Town & Roadside Meteors
Rain drizzled onto our SUV as we drove towards the Airport Mesa Vortex, hoping to feel “energized”. The sky was ready to unleash onto our backs as we climbed to the top, less than 5 minutes from the parking lot. The walk was brief and ended on a small plateau surrounded by views. A vortex... Continue Reading →
Roaming Southwest – Arizona Ghosts and Vortexes
I craved that bit of land full of desert plains, dusty roads, and mountain views. Despite my endless love of the Southwest, I don’t make it out there very often. My mom and brother set off for a month to tackle the region, a trend that has become more common each year. The need to... Continue Reading →
Road Trip Alaska—Leaving the City for the Seward Highway
We had one more night in Anchorage before heading south towards Seward. We were fortunate to have one “lazy day” in town before we went, which is rare for us when we travel. We had an awesome breakfast at Snow City Café--bangin’ stuffed French toast with mandarin cream cheese and tangy raspberry butter. Afterward, we... Continue Reading →
Road Trip Alaska—Scenic Route to Minneapolis
The first thing I noticed the next morning was the wind. When we had done our big road trip a few years back, I remembered the fierce nature of those high planes winds in South Dakota, especially by the Badlands. North Dakota bore a striking similarity, and our car teetered back and forth along the... Continue Reading →
Road Trip Southwest—Adobe Ruins & Santa Fe Turquoise
The next morning we started to see snow-covered mountains as soon as we hit the road. It gave the drive a completely new landscape that was nothing like my first trek through New Mexico years ago. We went north and then veered east on Route 60 just after La Joya, towards a ghost town/adobe ruin... Continue Reading →
Road Trip Southwest—New Mexico Ghost Towns & Open Road
The next morning, we woke up to our first morning frost. It was caked onto the hood of the car so deeply that my brother was able to carve his name in it. The family staying in the motel room next door haphazardly left their luggage piled uncovered in the back of their pickup truck... Continue Reading →
Road Trip Southwest – a Tucson, AZ New Year’s Eve
I have been on a blogging hiatus for longer than I am proud of (a good month and a half). This holiday season was exponentially more hectic than usual, as it was my first holiday season while attending graduate school. Juggling 30-page final papers while trying to frantically find broke-girl-approved Christmas deals in NYC a... Continue Reading →
Crossing the Nevada Desert
Our plan for the day was to go against GPS advice and take route 305 down toward highway 50, which is known as “America’s Loneliest Road”. We were skeptical as to whether this road would really be any lonelier than the half a dozen middle-of-nowhere roads we’d taken so far, but it was worth a... Continue Reading →