Angela and I ended up getting back to her place around
5:30AM! I had to drive for 8 hours the next day-my longest yet…but it was so
worth it, and I was hopeful that God would keep me awake and lively! Sure
enough, that was the case! After only 3 hours of sleep I hit the road, and
those 8 hours just flew by! I was so pumped up from what had just happened, and
filled with such joy that I had all sorts of energy! I talked to a few friends on the phone and jammed out to a
whole lot of music. I reached a town near New Orleans where I was staying, by
5:30PM. I stayed with a Semester at Sea friend’s family. She is currently in
London, so I unfortunately didn’t get to see her, but I met and got to know her
parents briefly. They were so kind. It was such a blessing to meet them and to
be invited so graciously into their home! They had a brand new puppy and 5 week
old kitten to top it off! I didn’t know anyone in New Orleans, but that did not
stop me from checking out this hyped up city! I drove to New Orleans via a 25
mile bridge over a river-the longest bridge running over water in the entire
world! I wish I could’ve seen the water-it was dark at this time. I went to Pat
O’Briens where it is a New Orleans tradition to have one of their huge
Hurricanes. A worker saw me by myself and struck up a conversation, and ended
up handing me the huge Hurricane..for free! I had some delicious traditional New
Orleans food and met a bunch of guys on a Bachelor’s party in the process. I
then headed into the dueling piano room and sat at the bar, where the bartender
surprised me by saying “Hey New Yorker!” Turns out one of the workers who briefly
introduced himself to me told the bartender I was from NY going solo…and this
bartender went out of his way to show that amazing southern hospitality I love
so much! We had a great chat, and the music coming from the pianos and
performers was phenomenal! After another free Hurricane, I decided I better
explore the rest of New Orleans, as much fun as I was having at my first stop.
I explored Bourbon Street, and ran into the Bachelor Party group, which ended
up being nice-having people to hang with for a bit. I had the New Orleans
famous beignets and some coffee, which were all amazing. I enjoyed some more
live music-found in most bars…I love it! I was also enjoying warm weather for
the first time. There were even palm trees! I left by 1:30 and made the long 25
mile bridge trek back..which was kind of eerie-no lights on the bridge and no
cars ahead or behind me…I could really just see 15 or so feet ahead of me and a
whole bunch of fog. But that didn’t scare me haha! I can hear my Grandma
gasping as she reads this. ;) I LOVED New Orleans! It really does deserve the
hype, and I cannot wait to return with friends someday!
Dueling pianos at Pat Obriens:
Bourban Street:
The next day I headed for College Station where my Semester
at Sea friend Eleni goes to school, at Texas A and M. I was so excited to
experience Texas for the first time. As soon as I crossed the Texas border
there were pickup trucks EVERYWHERE. And the speed limit is 75 almost
everywhere…and the road is insanely straight and boring. Southern accents
everywhere of course-ever since North Carolina, and very prevalent in Alabama!
I had about a 6 hour drive that day. I made it to College Station by dark and
was happy as a clam when I was finally in the presence of Eleni! What a joyful,
incredible, Godly gal she is! So blessed to have her as a friend. So many of the
friends I wish I could have me in person all the time..they would make me a
better person! Anyways Eleni, her roomie and I went to a well known cute
country bar/restaurant in College Station..I forget the name now. It was so
cute and country…I loved it. We had some burgers and I caught them up on all my
stories! After they showed me around their college town we went back to their
apartment and we watched the Semester at Sea movie I made! Eleni and I then
went 2-stepping. Oh my gosh I had the time of my life!!!!! 2-stepping is
similar to salsa, in terms of letting the guy lead, the spins, dips and moves.
The stepping was the only difference. I salsa pretty frequently and love it, so
naturally I LOVED 2-stepping. Like REALLY loved it. I love country music, and I
love when guys are gentlemanly. A cute lil cowboy with boots and a cowboy hat
would come up to you and ask you to dance, and it would be for just one song.
Oh how I wish they had 2-stepping places everywhere!!
Eleni and I at the 2-stepping place!
MONSTER truck: typical Texas :)
The next morning I headed to Austin-the stop on my trip I
was most excited for! If you know me well you’ve heard of my week this past
winter where I had the strangest signs pointing me towards Austin. I really do
want to live there someday and I believe it will happen…maybe in a few years.
But I have never visited, so I was dying to see how awesome it was made out to
be. The day started by meeting up with Dia. Dia is from my hometown, but we
never knew each other too well. After bonding with her all day I have a feeling
we would be inseparable if we were in the same city! Dia reached out to me on
Facebook when she saw that I was passing through Austin. What a blessing,
because I didn’t know she was living there and didn’t know anyone living in
Austin. I happened to be coming on a Sunday and she was planning on going to
church. I was pumped when I found that out because going to church in Austin
would mean a lot to be and would be an incredible way to start out the day. I
arrived in Austin just in time for church. It was a beautiful sunshiney day, around
85 degrees. I loved the church service..the message went right along with what
was going on in my life of course J
The church reminded me a lot of the church I loved last summer in LA-Reality
LA. After church Dia and I went to a popular street in Austin and had some
delicious Mexican food. She brought her brand new puppy along. I couldn’t
believe how many people stopped and pet her dog, Paisley, and asked all about
her. I witnessed so many smiles, brought on only by the adorable puppy. We
walked for 5 hours and it was amazing to see how much joy this lil pup brought
to just about everyone. We walked through downtown, across the river, and made
it to the bridge at sunset in time to see the bats fly away. There is this
thing in Austin, where for some reasons, probably thousands or more bats live
under a bridge that goes over the river right by the city. At sunset every
night they all fly off, and it is incredible to watch. It’s not scary or
eerie..just fascinating. We really just walked around the city all day and
chatted a whole bunch. It was such a great day. We then went back to Dia’s
apartment and I got a great nights sleep, including a cuddle sesh with the
puppy in the morning. She wiggled her way into my arms so that my arms were
around her. Ahhh so precious!
The next day I headed to Dallas and visited Delaney. We had
a great dinner and a fabulous time catching up. It was a short visit, but I
enjoyed every second of it, and hearing about her new life, her new job, and
seeing her new place. The following day I headed up only few hours north to
Oklahoma City. My Dad flew in that evening to accompany me for the rest of the
trip to Los Angeles. I got to Oklahoma City a few hours before my Dad’s flight
arrived so I checked out this adorable part of town called Bricktown. Every
building and street were covered in bricks. I went to a brewery/Restaurant and
sampled some beer and had a snack. I met a couple Oklahoma natives there and
had a great time chatting with them. I then went to the Oklahoma Memorial-a Memorial
and museum dedicated to the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995. Though somber, it
was a great, educational experience. After going around in circles for 20
minutes because the GPS hadn’t updated 40 West for Oklahoma City, I eventually
made it to the airport and picked up my Dad. We settled in our hotel and had a
great time eating burgers and trying local beer at Tapwerks, which had 106
beers on tap!
Dallas:
Bricktown:
The next day, we headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Finally
I got to take some time in the passenger seat and relax. It was a 7 hour drive
and we split the driving. We had probably the most exciting dinner experience
we’ve ever had at a famous New Mexican restaurant called El Pinto. The owners
are twins and we had a great time chatting with them, while the best New
Mexican food around was brought to us..as well as the best Margaritas I have
ever tasted. The restaurant was gorgeous. There was a waterfall in the
entrance, and our table was right in front of a fireplace. The next morning we
rode the world’s longest tram up Sandia Mountain and saw all of Albuquerque
from 10,000 feet up…well more like 9,000. At 10,000 it was very snowy and all
we could see were clouds and snow all around us. It was such a beautiful,
worthwhile trip!
Albuquerque from tram:
A very special dinner at El Pinto with Dad:
Elevation: 10,700 feet up Sandia Mountain in Albuquerque!
At the bottom of Sandia Mountain
On the road..Oklahoma/Texas/New Mexico
Yesterday we had another 7 hour drive to Scottsdale, Arizona
(near Phoenix). The scenery today was the best I’ve seen yet! How beautiful and
unique the drive through New Mexico and Arizona is! It will be extremely flat
for a long time and then there will be gigantic mountains, plateaus or rock formations.
You won’t see any wildlife and then all of a sudden you’ll see a herd of black
cattle, or a couple wild horses even. We went so many miles one time without
seeing civilization. It was such a cool experience. It’s all about the journey,
I’m realizing even more and more! We had yet another delicious Mexican meal
today. Dad and I decided to be better and eat salads today. We even ate fruit
earlier AND we both worked out together this morning at 7AM. We had to start
disciplining ourselves sooner or later..:) After dinner tonight I went to Tempe
(20 min away) and met up with 5 Semester at Sea friends! Most of them go to
Arizona State University, and one happened to be visiting from NY. It worked
out so nicely, and it was so amazing to see more SAS friends whom I haven’t
seen in a year and a half!
On the road..so flat!
Arizona
Today I made the final trek! I reached Los Angeles 1 hour
ago! The drive was only 5 hours today, and we drove through rain the entire
day..up until when we reached LA of course! J
The sun is finally shining..the southwest has been gloomy and rainy the past
few days. Its surreal to be here right now. I’m relaxing in the hotel room
right now..it feels pretty great! I didn’t do much slowing down in the past 2
weeks. But of course that’s how I like it! It feels very bittersweet-Sweet
because I have finally arrived and it’s so exciting to be here. Bitter because
the roadtrip was so incredible, and part of me wishes it didn’t have to end! I
feel so blessed by the fun times I had, the new beautiful sights I saw, sunsets
on the road, friendly chats with new friends and special times with old
friends, great company having my Dad here, and generosity, hospitality, kindess
and love shown by countless people all along the way. Most of all I feel
blessed by God’s presence with me always, his message to me that will stay with
me forever, the Godwinks, and graciously keeping me safe amidst all the risks I
took. My car kept track of the miles I drove and the amount of time I spent in
the car. It came out to 80 hours on the dot and 4,664 miles in a total of 15
days!
200 miles to Los Angeles!
A beautiful sunset from our hotel room..concluding this amazing journey!
Shortly I’m about to be reunited with Manda for the first
time in one year! I’m so excited! I’m going to see my friend Bryana for the
first time in a year and a half tomorrow, meet my roommate and see more friends
in the coming days! I’m starting to feel a little bit anxious about searching
for apartments, finding jobs, and starting acting classes. I have faith that
amidst some waves it will all work out, for this move feels as right as it
could be!
Thanks for reading! I will keep updating my blog and let you
know how settling in LA treats me!
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