The Messed Up Decision that Changed My Life Forever... In a Good Way

Ok - lets go back to the beginning. I've discussed my childhood spent driving the highways of the US, my parents instilling in me the deep desire for frequent road trips. I've also discussed many of my more recent adventures. But how did I get from there to here? Good question...

Like most messed up decisions, this one started the spring before I graduated college. I was graduating soon, didn't really know what career path I wanted, wasn't really getting anywhere with interviews, and didn't want to be one of those people who stayed around my college town long after graduation. So I did what any recent graduate would do - no, not move back home with mom and dad. I ran away to the east coast - to live and work at a resort in a national park. (Listen up, recent graduates! Super-cheap rent, interesting coworkers, good money.) This decision wouldn't have been possible without the support and accompaniment of my roommate and bestie, R. She was in the same predicament as me and therefore, ready to hit the road!

The plan was to go as far north along the east coast as possible - to Acadia National Park!

Gorgeous, right? Yes it is. I STILL haven't been there.

Acadia was quickly pulled as a possibility due to the lack of housing in the park for workers at the concessions. (Quick note - most national park sites have different kinds of workers - National Park Rangers mostly wear badges, get paid by your tax dollars, and must be US citizens - Concession workers are the people who work at the resorts, the campgrounds, the camp stores, the restaurants, etc, - no badges, get paid by a private company, and are mostly NOT US citizens.) So R and I quickly pulled out the US map and searched for the next northernmost national park that may have housing... This is how we ended up with Shenandoah National Park.

Just as gorgeous as Acadia, but in a very different way.

No R and I were not hikers or outdoorsy. That bears repeating. R AND I WERE NOT OUTDOORSY! Ok, keep that in mind over the next few posts as I describe our new-found lifestyle.

But first, we had to road trip our way up to Virginia.

to be continued.....

McKittrick Canyon in Fall Color; a Texas Tradition

I spent my Veteran's Day hiking in Guadalupe Mountains NP with M and his two boys. The weather was absolutely perfect! 70 degrees, sunny, slight breeze.... Amazing day. The fall colors were too beautiful for words, so here's a photo essay.

View of McKittrick from the visitor center

The big rock on top-right is the ancient reef, the cliffs to the left are part of the back reef

1st sight of COLOR!

And then it got amazing!!!!

E poses on a rock... This happened alot.

The ever-necessary selfie

The canyon flooded in September. The trail crew spent a month busting ass to get it into great shape!

Tarantula! So cute!

Pratt Cabin is a perfect summer home

The Texas Madrones are huge in here!

I love the madrone bark. It looks like dripping paint

I tested out my new waterproof trail-rated camera. Look at the tiny fish!

Video of the camera's first dunking - sorry its sideways... cold water!

Look at the flood debris! This was at least 2.5 miles up the canyon

The most fantastic lighting is fall color lighting

More rocks to climb....

A doesn't climb rocks; he sleeps on them

End of the line - Hunters Cabin just past the Grotto!
Fantastic, highly recommended hike!

For more info on Guadalupe Mtns NP, check out their website!

How I Spent My Unplanned Furlough (or What I Did While the Government Sucked) - Week 2

So there was a week 2.... That pretty much sucks (almost as much as Capitol Hill right now)

Day 7 - After the boys went to school, M and I decided to tidy up the house some. I installed a new rack for pans in the cabinet. We needed something to hold pans upright, as M has tall narrow cabinets in the kitchen. It was a birthday gift from my parents.
We also took several walks in the nice autumn weather - one with the dogs, and one with the boys and the dogs.

Day 8 - Today was the day we tidied up the house. Lots of recycling was done, some sorting, and then on to American Horror Story! It had just come in that morning, so we gorged on all 3 episodes on the first disc.
Also, after trying for over a week, and waiting on hold for many minutes, I was able to file for unemployment... yuck.

Day 9 - We drove BACK to El Paso because I have a cat to feed. We spent most of Wednesday evening watching Parks and Recreation or playing Champions of Norrath while I baked multiple loaves of banana bread. I had 11 or so bananas in the freezer and we are trying to eat what we have and not hit the grocery store.

Day 10 - So yeah - today was mostly Champions of Norrath day. We ran a few errands and in the evening we went to A's house to hang with her and the kids for dinner and a movie.

Day 11 - While my car was in the shop with routine maintenance, we went to see Gravity on the big screen. Go See This Movie! It was awesome and if there is one movie to waste money on while not receiving a paycheck, this is it!

Day 12 - Drove BACK to Carlsbad because M has kids to feed :-)    Continued our spooky movie nights with 3 episodes of Ghost Hunters International.  Did you know they have that one on Netflix Instant?! It definitely freaked me and the boys out. M was unimpressed.

Day 13 - It rained most of the day so we all stayed indoors... Magic was played, Ghostbusters was watched, dance music was played over and over again... and M and I are starting to get sick. Fun...

This furlough-with-unscheduled-return-time thing sucks for one big reason.... we can't go anywhere! We have this time off and I'd love to do some traveling with it, but each day we have to check the news, Facebook, and the DOI website to see if the government has decided to reopen us. If they do, we report back to work the very next day. That blows!

Oh and now we are heading into Week 3!

Our Fall Garden

I've learned a few lessons from gardening this summer... Apparently, summers in southern New Mexico are just too damned hot and sunny for most of the plants.

1. Potatoes won't grow if its above 85 degrees.... shocking for a crop that notoriously grows in Ireland (and of course, down here it doesn't go below 85 until mid-September) 
2. Tomatoes also don't like the heat and won't flower - now that the temps have dropped, they're flowering like crazy and hopefully we'll get some tomatoes before the first frost
3. My shade structure is NO MATCH for the monsoon winds that whip across the Guadalupes
4. All of our herbs prefer the shady area beneath the overhanging vines on the fence... Less sun means cooler, happier herbs
5. Apparently, starting seeds in the spring around here means January/February...
6. People who plant their gardens in the front yard are just showing off
7. Mint spreads and can eventually take over the earth....
8. Cilantro loves to be neglected and left alone... possibly an introvert plant?
9. If you plant a container garden, you MUST make sure there are holes for drainage. Things die and get stinky quick!

So far this fall I've planted scallions, which are coming up quickly, and broccoli, which will need some sort of cover to protect it from the evil white cutworm moth.

I've also been testing a few different gardening apps -

web-based Sprout It wins... It keeps track of my garden, when I plant things, when they pass a growing phase, when to harvest, and the daily weather. It only gives you garden options that "should" grow in your climate so if you're growing something else, it won't show up.

iphone-based Garden Tracker is ok - you make your own plots, plant whatever you want, and keep track of when you water, feed, etc. Its cool for help when something is sick or dying, but that's about it. If it would send you reminders of what to do and when, like Sprout It, it would rule!

How I Spent My Unplanned Furlough (or What I Did While the Government Sucked) - Week 1

Week 1 (let's hope there's no Week 2...)

Day 1 - spent most of the morning kinda freaking out with M, thought a lot about money and missing paychecks, etc. I then made mental lists of all the places we should go since we now 'have the time'. Thank you Congress :-(
Oh, then crossed off half the places in my mental list because they've got the word "National" in their name and that means they're CLOSED! Then made mental list of all the things that needed to be done at home (cheap and/or free).

Day 2 - Marathoned Parks and Recreation, Season 5 - Thank you Netflix for releasing this on October 1st. I totally feel that it was done to help all of us in the NPS... I might be overthinking that but whatever. Oh! I also spent some time cleaning the house... Maybe if I had a furlough once a year, the house would be cleaned once a year? M came in late in the evening and was wrecked from a long day. To end our first official "furlough day" (yesterday was technically our day off), we watched some stand-up comedy and fell into blissful, allergy-pill enhanced sleep.

Day 3 - M worked on his book, so I Facebooked. Reading all the NPS friends and family posts about whats happening to them kinda got me down, and pissed. So M and I went for a nice long walk by the Rio Grande with Lennox. The sounds of the riparian area, mixed with the crisp fall breeze really helped. Later, after a lot of Champions of Norrath, we cooked a nice fall dinner of lemon risotto and champagne, and settled into a romantic evening with 28 Days Later. (Fall is the perfect time for scary movies!)

Day 4 - Went hiking in a STATE PARK! Franklin Mountains State Park encompasses the whole mountain that splits El Paso into East and West sides.

Thank you state parks for not shutting down at the same time as our federal parks did... that would incite a riot among hikers. Afterwards, we decided to hit a cheap date spot and went mini-golfing :-)

Day 5 - Woke up early (8am, but for the first time in 7 days) to hit the Saturday Arts & Farmers Market in downtown El Paso. I ALWAYS miss this market. Every Saturday there are posts all over Facebook taunting me about the fun being had at the market while I'm at work. Later that afternoon, M and I caravaned out to Carlsbad to spend the weekend. Driving through Guadalupe Mountains NP during the shut-down is bittersweet. I know the natural forces aren't shut-down, the indigenous animals don't listen well to our federal government. I'm sure they're enjoying the quiet, peaceful void of humans. I want to be out there with them.

We went to a going away party for a co-worker... of course, she can't move to her new job until the govt reopens...
We closed the day with The Omen. (we're doing all scary movies for October)

Day 6 - Woke up realizing that the boys don't have winter jeans that fit them... Hit Walmart before the church crowd showed up. (i seriously had to remember what day it was. this no-work thing messes up your internal calendar) Played Words with Friends for the first time in several days. I now realize that I mostly play this at work... sorry WWF friends. We went for a family+dogs walk to enjoy the early fall afternoon and play at the playground.
The scary October movie of the evening was Insidious, which scared the crap outta me. I may have hidden my face in a pillow for over half the movie, but that just tells you how scary it was. Fantastic evening flick! (Can't wait for the second one!) We also watched a family-friendly Percy Jackson and the Olympians with the boys. It was pretty good too. :-)

Best Travel Movies to Inspire Wanderlust

No travel blog is complete without a travel movie list!

A good travel movie is hard to find, but when you find one, it inspires the traveler's soul deep inside of you. This list is compiled from my hundreds of travel movie experiences to bring you the very best. These are in no distinct order, simply the randomness that is my mind....

1. The Way
   
   Filmed entirely in Spain and France along the Camino de Santiago, this amazing quiet jewel of a film makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to fly off to Europe and start walking the Camino immediately.
   
   
   
   
   http://www.theway-themovie.com/film.php
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Into the Wild
   Say what you want to about a spoiled city kid who recklessly travels into the wild only to (spoiler alert; but who hasn't heard this story!?) die in the wild; this movie speaks to the very soul of wanderlust. Just try not to eat the wrong shit and die alone. 
   
   
   Oh! And the soundtrack heavily features Eddie Vedder and his hauntingly poignant call-of-the-wild vocals. If you don't have it, go get it now!
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. The Art of Travel
   Finally a travel movie that my brother and I can agree on. Seduced by the title, this movie was a lucky find on Netflix one night. This movie is set in the Darien Gap (a place I'd never heard of), an undeveloped swamp and forest region of Panama and Colombia. The story is wild and adventurous; the landscape is harsh and beautiful. Plus, the last scene of this movie is the best thing ever!
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448993/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
   
   Proving that adventures don't have to stop once you hit your senior years, this movie is set in the most photogenic place of all, India. I had to watch this one - it had all the elements of a good movie - India, Dame Judy Dench, romance, India...
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412386/ 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. The Long Way Round
   
   Two famous actors take their love of motorcycles and traveling on the road as they attempt to drive from London, heading east to New York city. Impossible you say? Watch the movie; learn of new cultures; see beautiful sights.
   
   http://www.longwayround.com/
   
   
   
   
6. The Long Way Down
   
   They loved it so much, they did it again! Ewan and Charley head from the northern tip of Ireland down to Capetown, South Africa. Never has Ethiopia looked so incredibly beautiful!
   http://www.longwayround.com/journeys_long-way-down.htm 
   
   
   
7. 180 Degrees South
   
   I first ignored this one thinking it was a surf movie. Then at the suggestion of a coworker, I looked again. This movie is so visually appealing, it brought me to tears. Watch it and learn some fascinating facts about the men who pioneered the art of rock climbing (I bet you own their gear....), and then sold it all to help a nation and the whole planet. Easily one of the most underrated travel movies, watch this one ASAP.
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Before SunriseThis is easily one of my all-time favorite movies, and its set in the oh-so-photogenic town of Vienna, Austria. (Completely random sidenote.... My mother claims that if you want to see European castles, you MUST hit Austria and Germany.) This movie was literally filmed while walking the city streets at night. It has taught me many things, but the most important one is that sometimes you need to simply walk around and soak in a city when traveling. Its not all about tourist traps. Pick up a camera, grab your favorite person, and start walking around your town. See what you see.
   
   

   

   Ugh, who doesn't love this?!

   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/
   
   PS - open 2 bottles of wine with your best girlfriend, and watch Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and soon Before Midnight (coming any day now to DVD!)
   
   
9. Out of the Wild: Venezuela
   
   Ok, so not a movie.... this one is a reality show. But it seriously rocks! Watch it and be amazed! Because of this show I now want to trek across this region of Venezuela.
   The first 2 seasons of Out of the Wild are in Alaska, and they are just awful. Don't waste your time...
   
   This is a Discovery Channel show and for some reason it has no website. Whatever... Here's a kick ass photo that offers the feel of the show.  
   
   

   

   and I don't know who took this pic... I got it here - http://imgur.com/gallery/z2wcy

   
   
   
10. Out of Africa
    
    
    
    A classic, this movie very slowly builds Africa as a character to fall in love with. For a film starring Robert Redford (love), to fall in love with the continent before the leading man is almost unimaginable.
    
    Now if only I could visit colonial Kenya in the mid-1900s with a guy who flies his own plane, I'd be set for an adventure!
    
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Away We Go
    
    Guaranteed to make you cry, want to marry Jim from The Office, and go in search of your soul's home. OH! and it has a fantastic soundtrack. Buy it now, thank me later.
    
    
    
    
    http://www.focusfeatures.com/away_we_go
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. One Week
    
    In all honesty I don't remember this film, BUT I gave it 4 stars on Netflix so it's gotta be good. Check it out and get back to me.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104806/?ref_=sr_1
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Kon Tiki

          M and I stumbled upon this on Netflix one evening. We had no idea what we were in for, having       never heard of either the explorer, the book, or the original movie that won an Academy Award 50+ years ago. It was amazing! Basically a story about an explorer who floats a raft from Peru to Polynesia to challenge conventional 1940s wisdom that Polynesia was discovered by Asians. I haven't seen the original movie, but this 2012 remake is great. Its full of gorgeous ocean scenery, very tanned blond Nordic men with increasingly bushy beards, and great animal encounters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613750/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm

I'm sure I'll think of more later, and I can't wait to add new movies to the list as they're released. Come on, Focus Features! Get creative!

Anyway, when wanderlust strikes but your budget is small.... stay home and watch a good travel movie. :-)

Will They Survive the Heat? no! the Cold!

My newest package of seeds came in the mail yesterday!

I want to get a jump start on my spring planting so I went ahead and ordered now. Basil, roma-esque tomatoes, mark twain heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos for M, and we will again attempt green beans.  This year I'll start the seeds in January/February. Stay tuned for more adventurous gardening attempts.

But have no fear, I am also attempting winter gardening. Carlsbad is in the southern half of the US, but gets some good snow and cold, so I'll try some quick growing stuff, and some plants that like to overwinter. Scallions, spinach, and broccoli. Yes, I'm attempting broccoli again but this time I'll cover the plants with pantyhose in an attempt to thwart the evil white moth that lays worm eggs all over my crops.

Keep you posted!

Labor Day Weekend - Fort Davis, Davis Mountains, Alpine, and live music!

M and I headed down to Fort Davis and Alpine for a quick overnighter on our 3-day weekend. We had planned to camp out in the aspens near Ruidoso but then we found out that Labor Day weekend was a favorite of the 3-wheeling ATV crowd. yuck! Soooo we headed south instead.

We drove through some fantastic mountains (yes, Texas has multiple mountains....).

highway running through Davis Mountains State Park

Looking down onto Fort Davis National Historic Site

First we hit Fort Davis National Historic Site, which was crowded and boiling hot. I was hoping it'd be a bit cooler but what can you expect in west Texas in August!

M and I poured over all of Fort Davis's newly upgraded exhibits. You can take the park ranger out of the park, but you can't take the park out of the ranger! My favorite part of the visit was the porch swing. Its been a very long time since I've relaxed on a porch swing. I spent my childhood on the porch swing of our beach house. The sound of the chains creaking, along with the seagulls and the drone of I-10, always lulled me into bliss. M could make me ultimately blissful if he could manage a porch swing at the house.

Fort Davis's most awesome porch swing

blissfully enjoying the swing

weird repetitive view of the officers quarters

My OTHER favorite part of Fort Davis was the hospital. Getting to view all the horrid torturous medical equipment that was "state of the art" in the mid-1800s is fascinating to me, and nauseating to most other people.

After Fort Davis and a quick scenic drive up to Davis Mountains State Park, we drove down to Alpine to check into the cheapest motel Alpine has to offer. I've stayed in some amazingly cheap places, so my standards are pretty low. (There was the place that advertised "Meat Burgers", with "meat" meaning whatever they found along the road; the place where we barricaded the door at night to sleep because the locks didn't work well; and then there was the I-10 truck stop that dad insisted we could get a good nights' sleep in the van) This motel wasn't too bad. It had the basics... the 'ice machine' was an igloo in the check in area that the owner filled each morning with ice from the gas station across the street, the pool had been filled in with concrete and fenced off years before, etc...

M and I went looking for a place to have dinner before hitting the bar for some live music. We tried 3 places that said they were open only to find them closed... I Yelped them properly. The 4th place didn't have any vegan options and was too expensive to have a sub-par meal. We even tried a diner that Yelp warned was constantly out of regular menu items. And yes, they were out of the only thing I could eat... salad. So we finally found ourselves, hungry and grumpy, at McDonald's ordering salads behind some fairly vicious people who were lamenting the broken soda machine.

After a fantastic dinner of McD's salad, we headed to the Railroad Blues for some live music. Talk about a small town - the first person we saw when we walked in recognized M as "Copperhead Guy". M studied snakes in grad school, and worked closely with locals. The band, the Lonesome Heros, was fantastic and very friendly. We're now Facebook friends. :-)
We had a great time and I had too many apricot beers (Shout-out to Corree!).

The next morning we tried our hand with eating in Alpine one last time and hit the no-salad diner. Their waffles completely make up for the lack of any type of vegetable.

We took a different scenic route back up to Carlsbad....

Border Patrol Blimp... who knew?! M says they keep it tethered to the ground. It floats a few hundred feet up in the
air, light up at night for all the illegals and smugs to see.... yay for tax dollars!

Of course we had to hit the Marfa Prada! It was actually crowded with
motorcyclists and other on-lookers

All in all, it was a fun quick getaway.... we'll hit the aspen slopes of Ruidoso next time.



ps - Fort Davis's gardener must be amazing...

I have Rosemary envy... look at the size of this monster!!!