Day Twenty Something: Albuquirky

(Doug came up with Albuquirky)

(Also, apologies for slacking to the future this week... it seems that time got away from us, and now we are both back in Harrisburg, but we did want to conclude this blog for those of you who expressed interest in it and disappointment that we still had a few things to document...)

So, post-Flagstaff, we rolled into Albuquerque for our fourth and final couchsurfing experience. We had heard, throughout the country, that Albuquerque has great food and a great downtown area, so this was the primary reason for making this stop, although it would be for less than twenty-four hours. When our train arrived early, Doug and I found a burrito place so that we could sample the world famous green chilies that they use in all their food, and it was pretty spectacular. We walked around a bit around the station before we made it back in time for April, and her kids, Asher (4) and Aislin (2), to pick us up. We went straight to ECM, a community center where April volunteers much of her time in a rougher neighborhood in Albuquerque, after we learned how much we had in common in the car ride home. They have a CSA, recently got permission to start making flavored honey from their bees, keep chickens, offer classes to make pottery, have a food pantry, and provide a place for people to come and be loved. It is a beautiful place, to say the least, and we enjoyed talking with April about her work and interests.

We went home with her, fed chickens in her backyard, and chatted for several hours. She taught me how to make butter and toothpaste, and then her small group/house church came over for a potluck and church, which Doug and I participated in. We enjoyed one of the best meals on the whole trip--everything homemade from everyone's homegrown vegetables and eggs, and sampled our new friend Karl's Applejack, which we had both never tried before (status - excellent). We sang some songs, asked some good and hard questions about some scripture, shared stories about traveling, prayed together, played with the kids, and ended a very full day. The next day, Aislin and Asher and April took us to the nearby Sandia Mountains, where we did a short hike before we headed to Old City to look at some shops and the beautiful turquoise. We made a quick stop for lunch to get the longest hot dog in the world before we hugged April goodbye and hopped on the train to come home.

Day 23-25: Flagstaff: Sedona, Hopi Reservation, Grand Canyon

I realize that everytime I write one of these, I am far more wordy than I intend to be; I just always have a lot to say. Let me try to be brief about our time in Flagstaff. We got into Flagstaff at 5:30 Tuesday morning, and walked to a little cafe called Macy's, suggested by our host, to get THE best cup of coffee I have had on this trip. For whatever reason, Flagstaff, a small hippie mountain town at 7000 feet, knows its coffee. We enjoyed a cup after a long night on the train, before Brent, our host, showed up to give us a ride to his house. We spent the morning with Brent, a young engineering professor at the local university, and who is helping to start up a new church in the area, and he made us a wonderful breakfast of Swedish pancakes. Following breakfast, we took Brent to work and used his car to go to Sedona where we looked at all the beautiful red cliffs and different bead stores. We hung out with Brent a bit more that evening, and he whipped up the best butternut squash pie we have ever had. (So many best things already!)

The next morning, Doug and I set out to the Hopi Reservation a few hours away to visit our cousin Devon! Devon teaches at the mission school there, and she showed us all around the reservation, took us to all her favorite shops, and brought us to places where we had the best views of the three mesas. I know very little about the Hopi, but spending only a few hours there has inspired me to learn so much more about this resilient people once I am in a library again. Their reservation is cushioned by Navajo territory, and they are most known for their pottery, intricate silver jewelry, and Kachina dolls. Beautiful area and interesting villages, but you won't get to see any pictures of the actual reservation because picture-taking is forbidden on the reservation. After traveling around a bit, Devon took us to the cultural center where Doug and I were able to eat traditional Hopi flatbread, which was delicious!

We drove back to Flagstaff that night and met Lane the next morning, another fast friend who happens to share an interest in and love for Thailand. We met at Macy's (where I got to have another cup of the best coffee!) and received directions to his house (which is conveniently located right next to the train station) before we headed out to see Grand Canyon. And grand it is. And overwhelming. And so beautiful. Brent told us about a secret picnic place, so Doug and I had some lunch overlooking a lesser known spot of the Canyon, and it was breathtaking. Afterwards, we took a short (but steep!) hike about a mile down the Kaibab Trail to the Ooh Ahh Point. The Canyon wasn't filled with as many tourists like it allegedly is in the summertime, and we enjoyed the moderate temperatures for exploring, before it got cold post-sunset. The shadows and colors on the canyon at dusk are certainly a thing to behold, but crappy cameras (or even wonderful ones) cannot accurately capture anything there. The Canyon cannot be tamed or contained, even in the shiny postcards they were selling. Nevertheless, a few pictures are posted so you can feel like you were there, too.

We got back to Flagstaff around 8 PM and then helped Lane make an awesome Thai dinner (Gai Kapow!) and shared pictures and stories about Southeast Asia. He is intending to be back in Thailand in the next year or so, so we might see each other again on the other side. We said our goodbyes to Lane and Brent at a little restaurant across the street from Lane's apartment and hit the sack in order to sleep for four hours before jumping on the next train to Albuquerque. I can't speak for Doug, but for me, Flagstaff was really cool, and is a place to which I hope to return someday. I have some more canyons to explore and trails to hike.

Los Angeles: 19-22

Hey all! I apologize for being terrible about updating this blog. Here's the update from my time (Doug) in LA.

Des and I parted ways on Saturday afternoon and I got to spend time with my friend Steph O'Neil! We hit up a great cafe that night. The next morning we hit up a church in North Hollywood called Ecclessia. Definitely different to what I was used to, but it was a good experience. After church we hit up a very cool cafe for lunch and headed to Hollywood Blvd. This was my first experience in Los Angeles, and I wanted to make sure to hit up Hollywood at least ONCE in my life (being the film buff and all, I felt like I had to). Unfortunately, it was underwhelming, but still a fun day. We did the walk of fame and then headed out to Beverly Hills to check out homes I would never live. Anyway, it was a full day. The next day, as Des said earlier, we were able to hang with Desiree's friend from Thailand, Aaron. We hit up the Amoeba Music store and it was wonderful. I could definitely spend hours and hours in that place. Anyway, I enjoyed my time in LA, but probably wouldn't check out Hollywood again.

Pics AND our blog for Flagstaff will be forthcoming....Stay tuned.

So-Cal, Desiree style

Southern California, while beautiful, is not my kind of place. I came, definitely, for the people here--namely Lauren Hartley and Aaron Morgan and Jess Mosher, three good friends from Thailand. Our train was delayed again, unsurprisingly, by three hours. But Lauren, the gem that she is, came and retrieved us from the station and we had the perfect Saturday together -- slow morning, delicious brunch, walk in the park with dog Chloe. She taught me how to make paper flowers, we baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and eventually made pizza for dinner before meeting up with her friend for drinking chocolate. The next morning, a baptism service on a beautiful beach in Malibu, a picnic and walk, and then a drive to Newport where Lauren had a birthday party for a friend turning 102. That evening, I slept at Aaron's house (Jess was not there, sadly!) and Aaron and Graham and Doug talked movies and music for hours. We stopped at Amoeba Records before catching our next train to Flagstaff the next morning, and here we are for the next few days with our wonderful host, Brent! Crazy to think that this trip is ending soon...

Day 16-18: San Francisco

Hi from somewhere between San Francisco and LA!

Doug and I had a blast in San Francisco, which was to be expected. Our train rolled in on Tuesday morning, and we met one of my friends, Cheri, who I met a few weeks ago when I was in Vancouver for orientation. It was SO GOOD to connect with her again and spend the day bouncing around Berkeley and San Francisco together. We went to the Museum of Modern Art because it is free on the first Tuesday of every month (score) and then enjoyed some pizza at California Pizza Kitchen before Cheri and I went for a walk all over the city. Afterwards, we headed back to Berkeley where we left our packs and Cheri's car and we went to the nearby marina where we watched the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge. What we didn't know was that this was the one night a year that the sun set exactly in the middle of the bridge (score), so there were some photographers there who were capturing this annual beauty. It was indeed a lovely sunset, and it was a great culmination to the perfect day with Cheri. We took some trains and buses to get into San Francisco again to stay with Kaitlyn, a friend of mine from college, who is a teacher with Teach for America.

The next morning, Doug and I were feeling pretty ambitious and decided to cram in, I don't know, maybe a week's worth of fun... in one day... on foot. We started off by heading to the Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Bridge, which was beautiful and green and peaceful. I have a growing fascination with Asian gardens; I like the precision and detail with which the gardeners care for all the plants and are intentional in placing all the stones, trees, and pathways. This one did not disappoint. After the garden, we headed to Amoeba Records (Doug's kind of heaven) and I planted myself in a corner coffeeshop for some writing time called Happy Donuts. The donuts were in fact happy, and I was happy to have one. After donuts, Doug and I started to make the trek to Lombard Street -- the most crooked street in the world. We walked on cool streets that had cute coffeeshops and bookstores, and I bought a tomato and some cheese in one of the markets. We walked down Lombard Street (which took like two minutes) and I couldn't help but wonder what the people that lived on that street were like and how they felt about having hundreds of tourists walking by their homes every single day. I didn't meet any of them, so the mystery remains.

The infamous Fisherman's Wharf, with the hilarious sea lions, was next on the agenda, and fortunately only a ten minute walk from Lombard Street. We stopped in a park to eat some lunch, and Doug tried his first In-and-Out Burger, which is a unique-to-CA treat. I think he liked it.

The Fisherman's Wharf led us to Ghiradelli Square, where they had interesting stores and a Chocolate Shop known for its sundaes. Doug enjoyed his mint chocolate sundae, and I indulged in a chocolate shake, and we had them by the water, looking into all kinds of blue skies and water. We walked around some piers and got some good photos before heading back to look in more shops along the Wharf and see the Sea Lions at Pier 39 -- funniest creatures we have seen on this trip, (maybe in my life). There is something about their size and flab and ridiculous calls that make them endearing spectacles. We watched them for a few minutes before catching a trolley (woot) to downtown -- a dream of both Doug's and mine. Trolley rides are very spectacular and dramatic. We were both privileged to score the standing room only spots, hanging off the sides. Straight out of a movie.

Day three in San Francisco meant it was time to see the redwoods. Kaitlyn graciously let us use her car and we chose to see them at the Muir Woods. Natural wonders, these towering redwoods. It blows my mind that something that tall is living, and has been living for hundreds of years. We went back to Kaitlyn's house and she and I made a pumpkin pie together before we headed to her old neighborhood (the Mission District) to have the best burritos I have ever had in my life (no small statement). After burritos, we came back to her house, made some whipping cream to go with the pie, and said goodbye. Doug and I were up and out by 6 AM this morning. After taking two commuter trains and a shuttle, we are sitting on our train, bound for LA. We have been stopped on the tracks for the last two hours because the US military was launching a rocket and wasn't letting any trains pass. We sat, watched the cows feed on the pasture, watched the sun sink behind the mountains and, just minutes ago, watched the rocket launch. Not a bad way to spend a Friday evening.

Cheers!