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Birds, dogs, cats and … Shrek??? Animals abound in Austin on Day 60

Posted in Country, Dating, London, Road trip on November 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

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My first thought when I woke up on Day 60 was how in the world did I end up in the aviary at the zoo??? The various bird sounds were rampant. Then I heard a meow, followed by little barks – a dog? Wait, no, that was the parrot imitating a dog. Ah, wait, THERE’s a real dog! Not just one… Katy, Michelle and Ian live in an animal menagerie. They have:

12 cockatiels
6 dogs (including 4 six-week-old puppies)
2 cats
1 African gray parrot

They rescue, adopt and sometimes breed. Often, like the parrot and one of the dogs, they’ve come from really bad homes and need to learn love. They all mix together well, with one dog thinking she’s a cat, one cat thinking she’s a dog and a dog making friends with a bird. A very active, fun household!

In addition to the sounds, I also experienced wonderful smells that morning, as Ian and Katy made their fabulous breakfast tacos. Yum! They were delicious! I was told one of the most important things is to use fresh flour tortillas. I can now vouch for that! I actually had TWO home cooked meals on Day 60. To my surprise, Ian also made us an incredible meatloaf dinner, complete with long grain wild rice and corn. It’s the best meatloaf I’ve ever had (sorry mom). Ian’s going to make some woman very happy someday!

While Ian was home cooking (and playing XBox 360), Katy and I went to the park. Zilker Park is this unbelievable 351-acre park in Austin. We started our walk at Barton Springs pool. Barton Springs is the fourth largest natural springs in the state, and Robert Redford learned to swim there. We wandered all around, including taking in a beautiful view of the city. It reminded me of Hyde Park in London – it just seems to go on forever, and you forget you’re in a city. Our exploring ended with me needing a drink – I was craving Sonic’s Cranberry Limeade – I’m really going to miss them when I’m back up north.

After Ian fed us, we went to fulfill a promise to my friend Jay (who I saw in LA). His friend and fellow comedy troop member Brent co-wrote Megamind, so Jay is coercing everyone to go see it to support him. Somewhat reluctantly I agreed, although it’s not the type of movie I typically rush out to. I am SO glad I did! It’s excellent. Fast moving, really funny (even more so when you realize who the voices are) and not at all predictable. Go see it – you will not be sorry!

Remember the really cool jobs I mentioned Katy and Michelle having? Well, Katy had the night off, but Michelle was working Shrek The Musical on its final night in Austin. After the show Katy, Ian and I met Michelle and the wardrobe folks at Trudy’s, a Mexican restaurant for celebratory drinks. David, who played Shrek that night, also joined us. He said they are heading to Oklahoma City, Denver and then San Francisco. I’m disappointed because those are all places I’ve already been, but if you’re in one of those areas, go see it. I’ve heard it’s one not to miss! Hopefully I’ll be able to catch it later in the year…

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Day 56: A day of natural distractions

Posted in Country, Planning, Road trip on November 4, 2010| 4 Comments »

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(Apologies – slide show uploaded backwards, so pretend I went to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest first, and ended in Sedona!)

I purposely stayed in Sedona so I could wake up and see the red rocks. However, I did not remember that when I first awoke. In fact, I didn’t remember anything. For the first time on the trip, I woke up completely confused. I had no idea where I was, when it was, nothing. Thankfully, I remembered WHO I was. It took longer than it should, but I finally pieced it all together and got myself up, out of the motel and on with the day.

Daylight Sedona did not disappoint. My only regret is that I didn’t have time to go hiking or horseback riding on some of the many trails in the area. More things for the next time list (which is rapidly growing). I wanted to try to stick to my schedule and arrive at Tina’s Aunt Marion’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico by 5ish – keeping in mind that I lose an hour since I go back to Mountain Time.

As you may have guessed, I wasn’t on time. I’m going to blame Mother Nature. The world surrounding the roads between Sedona and Albuquerque are much too beautiful not to stop and take pictures every few minutes along the way. And there were some pretty big distractions:

Coconino National Forest and Oak Creek Canyon
Meteor Crater – “the best preserved and first proven meteorite impact site on Planet Earth”
Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert – “In the mid-1800s U.S. government mappers and surveyors exploring this area carried stories back east of the remarkable ‘Painted Desert and its trees turned to stone.”’

I was also tempted to get back on good ole Route 66 again, but held off, except when Aidan told me to. So you’ll see a few of those pictures mixed among the landscape photos, but not many. I do think I’ll devote one future vacation to the route, though. It deserves it!

I finally arrived at Marion’s about 8:30, and was welcomed with homemade beef stew – thank you, Marion! We figured out our plan of attack for the next couple of days including Santa Fe, Pecos, an acapella concert and, of course, Albuquerque. I think I’d better charge the camera battery…

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Days 51-54: A taste of living in the heart of Hollywood

Posted in Country, Dreams, Planning, Road trip on November 1, 2010| 2 Comments »

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Excitement is in the air. Hopefulness. Possibility. Dreams can come true. You feel it all here, throughout Los Angeles, throughout Hollywood. Anyone can be anything, you just have to make it happen. I love it here. I totally didn’t expect to, and am sure it has a ton to do with the fact that two of my best friends from high school, Mike and Jay, live here, but it is so incredibly different from I expected.

Yes, it’s a city, but it’s not a crazy city like New York. Nor is it a walking city like Boston, London or San Fran. But it’s not a boring city like, well, I don’t want to insult anyone, but those cities know who they are. It’s definitely a livable city. And I could see me living here. My biggest fear, though, is that as soon as I moved here, Mike and Jay and their families would move back east, like Dan and Mike, two of our other high school friends, already did. They are all working on building their individual careers enough so it won’t matter what coast they call home. That, ideally, is what I’d love to do, too. Make enough to live comfortably and be able to fly where I want, when I want (if it’s not in driving distance of course – I’ve gotten pretty comfortable in the car, if you haven’t noticed).

I believe much of the reason I feel I could settle here has to do with how I spent the last few days. As you can see from the previous two posts, I did a bit of the tourist stuff (how could I not?), but mainly I hung out with my friends. We went out, ate (including at Joan’s on Third where we had a star sighting: Jeff Goldblum), walked, shopped, got a manicure and pedicure (where else would you find organic nail polish?) and mostly talked. We hashed around some movie ideas (including one based on this blog: stay tuned). I applied for some jobs. I did laundry. And – hold your breath – I baked! I guess being on the road for 50 days brought out a bit of the homemaker in me, so I made my friends my grandmother’s whoopie pies and apple crisp. I have to admit, they both tasted pretty darn good.

Now it’s time to get back on the road. It is so hard to leave, but I know this time it won’t take me 15 years to get back. I promise!

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