Largest Living Organism!

Sequoia National Park yesterday.
what an experience!!

Can't wait to put some photos up. Theviews and trees themselves were
unreal.

Headed to LA now, though,
and cant post well from my iPod.

A quick quote from StoryPeople.com,
which sums up my trip so far:

"She said she usually cries at least once a day,

Not because she was sad,

But because the world was so beautiful

And life was so short."

3 planes in less than 12 hours

Starting to think I could have walked to California faster!

Been on the road since 3:30 this morning, and am
starting to feel weary.

Stopover in Minneapolis exposed us to some authentic MN
accents. It was just like listening to Michele Bachman...

Waiting to board a teeny plane from Utah to LA now.
Salt Lake City airport has a smoking room in it?
Stinky. Cancerous. Strange!

Diet typical of travel: peanuts, raisins, Wisconsin
Coconut bar (questionable, in retrospect).

Could really use an espresso, but the terminal is too
spread out, and we're boarding soon!!

going to see Sequoia National Park tomorrow!
My mother cannot contain her excitement about "those HUGE trees"

Pictures to come,
Ciao,
TB

Home sweet home

It's 1.30 am, and my mom and I just pulled in from our 12 hour drive up from North Carolina.
I am beyond excited to sleep in my own, familiar bed, since we've slept in 4 different hotels on the last
four nights!

But, I thought I'd sneak in a quick post just to remark that road trips truly are wonderful. We definitely rushed through the South, but I liked what I was able to catch sight of on our little stint. (people drive somewhat betterdown there. Unlike in NY, where I was enclosed by 3 maniacal trucks tonight on the parkway. I felt like I was in a video game!)

Saw three amazing meteors/comets/glowing space debris as I was
Driving home tonight, which was pretty cool. I have always, and
will always, believe that wishes on stars come true.

More on my thoughts about karmic action tomorrow. Time for bed!!

Meet the south (pt 1)

So, we made it down south. Took us two 8-hour days to make it down to Atlanta, and now we're working our way back up the East. 

 Where to begin?

First off, pizza down here is nothing like up in NY. Really fluffy, and 

way more focus on the cheese than I'm used to. Cholesterol. Yum. 

Secondly, I've seen every kind of building you can imagine converted into a church. 

Houses, industrial-style garages off of the high way, 

you name a location, people are praying there down here.

And, as expected, we got lost. However, it was not our typical experience. More of an adventure than a stomach-dropping, fear your life, detour. My mom and I took the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia, which was gorgeous. But, we got off too soon, and ended up navigating our way through some very rural regions of the state...without a map.

Met up with some friends along the way--A nice way to break up all the driving! 

So happy that they were willing to meet up, on short notice in some cases. 

Seeing them made up for all of our strange gas-station-clerk interactions,

helicopter parents on college tours, and the bizarre wine-bar dinner

we just had in suburban North Carolina.

Stranger experiences await, including the aforementioned NC dinner, a giant peach off the high way in South Carolina. But for now, I need to catch up on some sleep, been a little deprived lately.

Thumbin' My Way to North Caroline ♫

         And she embarks on yet another road trip! (Though I won't be hitch-hiking, as the title suggests.)

         Waking up with the sun tomorrow and headed down the East Coast to see some states I've never seen before.

         Looking forward to the stack of CDs I just burned, with classics...The Marvelettes, Beatles, Talking Heads, Jackson 5, Franki Valli, Tina Turner, The Supremes. And then some slightly more modern hits, Tom Petty, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Kooks, Michael Franti, The 88...and so much more.     

         My mother informed me that our diet will consist of diet coke and pretzels (I need to get my gluten levels up before my test next week. Ugh...) But I stocked up on some veggies, since I'm practically addicted to baby carrots these days.

         I'll be sure to update whenever I get wifi. If you don't hear from me for a while, maybe it's because I got stuck staring at the world's largest ball of yarn, or some other crazy pit stop down I-95.

         While you anxiously await my next post, listen to these... a few of my classic driving songs.

Because it's just so good. 

Becoming a bit too obsessed with this song this summer. 

 A bit of a downer, but I love it nonetheless

Got this one from the movie You Me and Dupree.
Pretty good, and definitely more upbeat than that last one.

OK, now I need some beauty rest. 

Ciao, 

TB