#41 - Road Trip!

"Are we there yet?"

Went on a random road trip earlier this month. It was random because it wasn't really planned. Which is so unlike me in these situations. I had to pat myself on the back for letting it just go how it would go. I had thought about the trip a couple months ago when my friend Amanda said she'd be back from China (where she's teaching English for 3 years). She'd be in home for a couple weeks in Albuquerque. I honestly hadn't put much thought into it since then thanks to my damn busy life. Well the week before the supposed trip I said "screw it!" and decided to go. So I packed up my car and drove to Albuquerque by myself for the first time in 7 years.

NOTE: this wasn't a tourist road trip so I have random photos of the trip - not your usual touristy stuff. Sorry.

Some people think I'm crazy for driving 11 1/2 hours by myself but that's how I roll....my family has done that drive for 20 years now and so I know it like the back of my hand (not that there's much to really know in the middle of BFE west Texas...but still!).

On the way out there I stopped in El Paso to hang out with Celia. We ate, talked, ate some more (the quiche was just that good), watched SATC and ate some cookies. Thank goodness she had Wii Fit for me to pretend like I exercised for a good 30 minutes to get rid of all those cookie calories. And thank goodness again that she let me use her Wii Mii so I didn't have to weigh myself to play the games. I think if I'd had to weigh myself I would have just turned the game off and ate another cookie...or quiche...or both...

A couple of days later I headed to Albuquerque where I got to hang out with my best friend since childhood, Joni. I would have to say it's the best quality time we've spent together since I moved away 9 years ago. I can't describe why or give examples of how - it just was a feeling I had. We spent most of our time shopping, driving around town, doing a drive by (viewing not shooting...sometimes you have to clarify these things in ABQ) of our old cul-de-sac where Joni and I had many great memories, remembering how stupid we were in high school, playing trivia at the bar, babysitting her adorable nephew (who - by the way - is exactly one month older than my nephew), buying green chile to take home, sitting around talking about life and of course drinking beer (and martinis and bloody marry shots)! It was so nice and relaxing.

Joni's adorable nephew at ~6 months old

During the week I got to eat at some of my favorite restaurants. Like:

and

and of course

A bonus to eating at Dion's was that I got to do it with Coeli and Kristen (two fabulous friends from high school). We had so much fun just sitting there talking and scarfing down the best greek salad and pineapple pizza that you can buy. Sorry I didn't get a photo of them. And even more sorry that I only bought one slice of pineapple pizza instead of the whole damn pie.

My favorite day of the trip though was when I got together with my girl scout girls (I call them that because the four of us were a girl scout troop for many years back in the day) and headed to the mountains. Oh how I miss the mountains.

Clockwise from the top left: me, Ruth, Kathy and Amanda (aka - the girl scout girls)

Confession time: There is this row of pine trees on the Christmas tree farm. Sometimes I stand in the middle of the trees and close my mind and imagine that I'm back in the mountains. The smell of the pines, the sound of the wind blowing through them - it's heaven.

Anyway, back to the day trip to the mountains...on our way out of town we heard on the radio that they were giving away from ice cream - so of course we stopped!

Girl Scout girls (plus Emily - second from right) eating free ice cream at 10 a.m. Please don't judge me for having an empty ice cream dish sitting there while everyone else is still chowing down...the ice cream was good, okay?

First we drove to camp - Rancho del Chaparral - where I spent years and years of my childhood, teens and young adult life. I love that place. It was amazing how little had changed in the 7 years since I'd been there - but it was so comforting. I did several happy dances/jigs. I was just that happy (and dorky). The best part about the mountains (to me) in the summer is the awesome storms that the monsoon season brings. And how sad is it that I had to drive to the effin desert to see rain??? It was greener in the desert than it is in Central Texas!

In the mountains we drove through a hail storm for a good 15 minutes, had awesome lightning/thunder and then later in the day saw a great view of mammatus clouds (some of my favorite clouds ever that I rarely get to see in Texas). It's moments like this that it's hard being a weather geek because you can't really explain the way your stomach turns when you see such fun weather happening.

I love random mountain hail storms (but only when we aren't driving in my car...however, no cars were damaged in the making of this exciting moment).

When asked why I loved mammatus clouds so much I replied "DUH...because they mean 'DANGER! Watch yourself!'" (said to the tune of the Mystikal song)

While we were at camp we pulled a classic camp prank, saw the new (to me) art building, walked around the camp sites, visited the new burros (or as Amanda calls them "burritos") and did more happy dances. The only sad part was that it was pretty empty since it was the day before the 4th of July. Oh well....hopefully I'll get to go back again next summer and not wait another 7 years.

Three of the new "burritos" and a random horse.

Isn't the heart on that ass' ass adorable??? To clarify...I meant the burro...not Ruth!

Once we left camp we drove the long way home, through the Jemez mountains, past Bandelier, into Los Alamos and through Santa Fe (where we had dinner) down to Albuquerque. As we were driving we came upon a national preserve. I screamed "STOP THE CAR! I have to visit this preserve so I can add it to my 101 blog" to which they all said "Katy are you on crack again? What are you talking about?" to which I had to explain this silly lil blog to which they gave me funny looks, laughed but at least stopped the car.

#50 - visit 5 state/national parks
There wasn't much there - but I did read the sign and took a picture of me there to prove I went. National preserve is close enough to a park for me! So I was happy for the random 101 goal.

Yippee for random 101 goal marked off!

Proof that I was at the national preserve (and proof that I'm a TOTAL dork - like we needed any more proof on that...).

The next day was the 4th of July. I headed over to Kathy's house for a BBQ and some fireworks. It was like a blast from the past getting to see so many people I hadn't seen in at least 5 years. Made me happy.

I drove home on Saturday - all the way - 11 1/2 hours straight - by myself. It's amazing how fast the time really does go. The first hour is always the worst and then before you know it you're home!

#97 - Update my MP3 Player
All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS FOR MY MP3 PLAYER! yup - cross #97 off the list. Thanks to my wonderful husband, my mp3 player was organized and updated with new songs before the trip so I was able to listen to it during my long drive in the middle of nowhere.

In closing - it was a great trip. I really really missed my husband and animals while I was gone though (my husband just a lil more than the animals...). The week brought back a lot of great memories and I hope that one day I can take Chris there during the Balloon Fiesta.