Asheville; Beer City USA

Wow. It's been a whole year since Karli and I wrote anything about our epic adventure. After much deliberation this summer I decided to move down to Asheville, NC with my dear friend and former college roommate, Erin Paradis. Erin got a ceramics residency at a place in town called odyssey and I needed a change from the small New England town of Mystic, CT. Everyone else was leaving anyway and I had a suspicion there was something else out there for me. So I took a chance, and here I am. I've been here since September trying to figure the town out, see as many live shows as I can and find my place in the huge art community that exists here. I have two kitchen/cook positions at completely opposite places. The first is in the famous Biltmore Village where all the rich old couples come to spend way too much money on food and fashion while visiting "America's Largest Home." I wear a chef coat and make sandwiches and salads for people. The other job is at a little market on the west side of town (where I live) which has your local organic produce and basic groceries where all the young families come for their eggs and milk and wine. I wear whatever I want and make sandwiches and salads for people. I will try to share experiences regularly accompanied by my photographs of this gorgeous place. Enjoy y'all!

day 34-39 "the end of an era"

Inside the Bean

The Bean!

Mia loves Lighthouses

So we never quite finished the blog about the trip, so I am going to post a couple pictures to summarize the return home. From Colorado we drove to Lincoln, NE and stayed with my friend Lisa. From here we trekked north to Chicago to spend quality time with Mia's cousin Dana. Here we ate good food and saw lots of art. Finally we made it to the condo in upstate NY. This was my first time here, and it was so nice and relaxing to spend some time catching up on sleep and cooking and exploring the farm where Amelia began writing this blog. We had fun.

day 32/33 "Like a Rock"

Erin and Karli in Boulder

dress made of tea!?!

Erin and I in her ceramics space

Ellie, banjo, beer

Halloween was awesome. I forgot what it was like to party all night long. The next morning we awoke and made delicious egg sandwiches and yogurt parfaits which we greedily chased down with excellent coffee. The snow was melting and the sun was shining brightly outside as we squished in the car and headed toward Boulder for the day. We finally got to see the majestic mountains in the distance that we missed on the way in. Amazing. We stopped at the Celestial Seasonings factory where they mix and process all their famous teas. We got to sample lots of teas and took a fun tour where we got yelled at for stepping over the yellow lines. The tour guide opened the door to the "Peppermint Room" and the minty fumes quickly overwhelmed our senses. Intense. We didn't get to see any of the "tea production" because it was a Sunday but I did get to buy my favorite tea that I can never find in the grocery stores. That was fun. After the tea factory we stopped in the tourist shopping district of boulder to poke around the stores. Karli found an amazing Charlie Harper book and I got one about road trips. Perfect. On the way home we stopped at an Indian restaurant and ate a delicious dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day. We got back to Erin's house and had some of our new teas before heading off to bed. Today Karli and I had to entertain ourselves while Erin worked all day. We had big plans to go to the New Belgium brewing company for a tour and tastes but that failed because it was closed on Mondays! Instead we hit up some local thrift stores then drove to Denver to look at a banjo that I found on craigslist the night before. The banjo turned out to be in perfect condition and came with a case and an instruction book for so cheap! It was meant to be. I cooked up some early Thanksgiving dinner for the three of us and we all sat around giving thanks for one another and our good fortunes well into the night! Cheers!
-Amelia

Erin tuning the banjo

day 29/30/31 "new mexico to colorful colorado"

View in Sedona

Karli with the Red Rocks

Mia and a Dino at the Rock Shop by the Petrified Forest

Petrified Log at the Petrified Forrest

After departing Sedona we drove to Albuquerque, NM for the night. The drive was extended by a stop at a cool little Indian Art outdoor market, where Mia and I bought some souvenirs, and a quick stop at the New Frontier Natural Foods Market in Flagstaff. We had lots of free samples and bought some snacks. On the way to the hotel we drove through the Petrified Forest and saw lots of red stone logs strewn about the vast landscape. The forest was super cool in the beginning, then a little underwhelming towards the end. We stayed in a Days Inn and had beautiful salads with veggies from the market in our room as we relaxed and watched Project Runway and Star Trek. The next morning we poked around the dark rooms at the University of New Mexico and got some Satellite coffee, yum! Next we drove to Santa Fe. Our first stop was the wonderful Georgia O'Keefe Museum. Very impressive. Then we went to the Shed, Sally's recommendation, for a quick lunch. We got back on the road and started driving to Colorful Colorado. We took the scenic route past the Rio Grande and through Taos. It was a very pretty drive. Unfortunately once it got dark during the last 15 miles of the drive through the mountains, we encountered some bad driving conditions. A combination of black ice, unfamiliar unlit roads, gusty winds, and snow drifts made quite a stressful drive for Mia and me. As soon as we got to a town, Walsenburg to be exact, we checked into a slightly nicer hotel with a well deserved hot tub! After a good night sleep and complimentary breakfast burrito we started driving to Fort Collins to see Erin. On our way we stopped at a Michaels craft store to pick up some colorful tissue paper and pipe cleaners to make tissue paper flowers in the car for our Garden Bouquet halloween costume. We also stopped at the Mile High Flea Market just outside of Denver and picked up some goodies. A little before dinner time we made it to Erin's workplace, Jax, to surprise her. We had a wonderful reunion full of hugs and jack daniels ice-cream. Then Mia and I went thrift shopping for more halloween goodies while Erin finished work. We all met up at Erin's for mommy-made stuffed peppers (delish) and more flower making. Erin's buddy Mary joined us and we all dressed in floral prints and covered ourselves in the home-made flowers. We took bicycles to town and saw some amazing costumes while we bar hopped. Tomorrow we are exploring in Boulder and maybe visiting Celestial Seasons Tea Factory. Free Tea!?!

- Karli
rio grande!!

halloween preparations

day 28 "Red Rocks and Snowy Canyons"

When we arrived in Sedona, AZ we were greeted by our friend Rae who lives in a beautiful southwestern style home with her lovely roomates with an astounding view of the red rock formations in the distance. Rae took us to the vegetarian cafe she works at for a dinner of raw and cooked dishes and desserts. The best meal we've had on the trip so far! After our bellies were full of fresh and organic delights, we headed home to change for the cafe's Halloween dance party. Since Karli and I didn't come prepared for costumes we had to gather items we've collected from the trip to fashion outfits with. We threw on our Montana trucker hats and flannel shirts and cowboy boots and said we were farmers. Perfect. The dance party was great, we met lots of nice enlightened people and had a good time. The next morning we woke up early and headed off to the Grand Canyon in the frigid temperatures. As we approached the park, we encountered flurries, and as soon as we got to the rim of the canyon, we found ourselves surrounded by white clouds of precipitation and couldn't see more than half way across the canyon. We took a few different shuttles around the rim of the canyon and as we drove west the snow and clouds disappeared and the sun came out revealing the whole canyon! One of our bus drivers said it was better this way with the shadows of the clouds because it gets boring and washed out to see the canyon with the intense sun on it all the time. So I guess we lucked out! On the way back to Sedona we stopped at a trading post to make a few special jewelery purchases and a pizza place for some delicious pesto pizza!
-Amelia

day 26/27 "Quails in Pheonix"

us in the cactus garden

One of our favorite kachina dolls

Inuit art

Our seasonal neighbors in Mystic, Sally and Don, hosted us during our stay in Phoenix, Arizona. Even though we were only planning on staying a night and moving on to Sedona, Sally encouraged us to stay a whole day in Phoenix and spend a second night before moving on. The first morning we woke up to a sunny hot day. We had breakfast on the patio looking out at Don's cactus garden. Sally pointed out the wild life in their garden including quails, a little lizard, a hummingbird, and a chipmunk. That afternoon we escaped the heat and went to the Heard Museum of Native American Art. We saw some amazing arts and crafts there. After spending a good part of the afternoon exploring the museum and gift shop, we went to the Cactus Botanical Garden. We saw so many different kinds of killer cacti. We recognized the jumping cholla from the Joshua Tree Park. We also saw tons of Saguaro cacti that I couldn't get enough of. According to Don, each arm accounts for the cacti being alive 50 years, so there were some ancient cacti there. We were lucky enough to be at the garden during sunset, so Mia and I took some cheesy-postcard-worthy-western-cacti-silhouette-against-amazing-sunset pictures. That night Sally and Don took us out to Los Olivos, their favorite Mexican restaurant, for a fantastic dinner and margaritas. Got a good night sleep and did a little laundry and then we were Sedona bound by morning.
-Karli

day 25 "Joshua Trees and Jumping Teddy Bear Cholla"

We rolled into Joshua Tree National Park as the sun was setting over the valley and casting amazing red and pink hues over everything. Karli and I were sun burned, tired and desheveled, but were determined to find a camping site and start a fire before dark. When we finally arrived at the park entrance we were told that all the campsites had been filled since the day before and there were none available. We turned around and drove through the valley in search of a cheap place to stay. The High Desert Motel caught my eye and we were promised "the best room in the whole place." It turned out to be a good choice so we checked in and dined on the avocados, tomatoes, and fresh fruit we bought from the farmer's market in Santa Barbara. After dinner karli and I wanted to have a little fun, so we drove to a pioneer town a few miles away to a western watering hole called Pappy and Harriet's. It was full of cowboys and cowgirls of all ages dancing and having a good time. Naturally we joined in on the party and even played a game of pool with some locals. Good times. The next day we got up bright and early to explore the park. It was sunny and hot, and quite windy in some areas. We drove to an outlook where we could see all the way to Mexico! The park is beautiful. The fields of Joshua trees and cacti with bulbous rock formations in the background was truly unique. We explored one garden full of Cholla Cacti which are very dangerous to humans because they can easily attach themselves you and the needles are very painful to remove. We tried to stay away. We left the park for a quick detour to an "oasis" which turned out to have been dry since the 1940s and was having water pumped to it to keep it alive. As we left California and made our way toward the bright lights of Pheonix, Arizona we started noticing many Saguaro cacti on the side of the road. Karli and I were so happy to be driving among the greatest icons of the southwest.
-Amelia

day 24 "California Coast to Killer Cacti"

Palms in Santa Barbara

Pelican friends

windmills in the desert

When we woke up in Santa Barbara it was beautiful and sunny as California should be. Had a quick breakfast at the hostel and then walked down to the beach to stroll, collect rocks, and see pelicans and palm trees. We stopped at the farmers market on the way out and picked out some amazing strawberries, peaches, avocados, and veggies. Started driving eastward and stopped at the California Institute of the Arts to check out the graduate studios. We were hungry so we went to the Burrito Factory for some veggie burrito goodness. The drive from there to Joshua Tree National Park took a little longer then we had expected so we made it just around nightfall. Unfortunately all the camping in the park was filled so we had to settle for a hotel room instead of a tent. Luckily, that meant we could go for a drink and some tunes at Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneertown. This extremely western joint had mixed drinks in mason jars, a rockin' live band called 'The Farmers" and pool tables too. We danced and almost won a game of pool against some local pool sharks and then called it a night.
-Karli

day 22/23 "goblets and pink champagne cake"

Muir Woods

Twin Peaks

A beach in Monteray

Big Sur

Elephant Seals

Were woke early to hike in the Muir Woods, just outside of the city. We saw more red woods and attempted a 2.6 mile up-hill hike. After the hike we returned to sunny San Fran to take a bus into the Mission with Sara. We went to Bi-rite Ice-cream and Mia had honey-lavendar and coconut ice-cream and I tried balsamic strawberry and vanilla-malt toffee. YUM. We did a quick shop stop at Therapy where Mia found a great dress for me. Then we met up with Morgan for a quick drink at an outdoor biker bar followed by thai for dinner. For some there was a second ice-cream, whoops. Later Morgan took us for a night drive down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. Amelia almost tossed her cookies. The next morning we said goodbye to the girls as they left for work and went to the twin peaks. This is one of the higher points in the city which was a good vista to say bye to San Fran. It was super sunny and hot! Highlights of the drive to our hostel in Santa Barbara included driving along the coast on Route 1 through the cliff and sea landscape of Big Sur, seeing elephant seals sunning on the beach, and stopping at the Madonna Inn for coffee and cake. The Madonna Inn is famous for it's gaudy style, very pink cakes, drinking goblets, and themed hotel rooms. Amazing! Before we reached Santa Barbara we had a glass of wine at the Hitching Post Winery (featured in the movie Sideways). The bar tender was from Connecticut and recognized that we were fellow CT folk from the obscurely CT bank debit card we were using. Finally we reached our destination at the hostel and passed out. Long day. Camping at Joshua Tree tomorrow!
-Karli

Karli's new bearded friend

Our treats at the Madonna Inn

day 20/21 "Wild Things in San Francisco"

Castro Street in San Francsico

Mia and another dino friend

The Girls in the Conservancy of Flowers in the Golden Gate Park

Dalia Garden

Baker Beach

Baker Beach at Sunset

Our first day in San Francisco was lovely. We started our day getting breakfast at this adorable coffee shop Nani's, run by two little old men. Then we made our way over a giant hill to Haight Street. This is a definite hippie shopping tourist attraction area, full of vintage shops, tie dye, and little eateries. We did a little window shopping and had crepes. Then we walked to the Golden Gate Park and went to the Conservancy of Flowers. In this beautiful opaque white green house, there were amazing flowers and trees and little ponds for all different climates. Once we were done in the Conservancy we looked at the Dalia garden outside. It started mist/raining so we returned to the apartment to rest. We did A LOT of walking. We made yummy quinoa veggie chili with Morgan and took a bus to meet Sara and see 'Where the Wild Things Are'. It was fabulous. Then a quick drink at the local favorite Pig and Whistle Bar before we called it a night. Yesterday we got the oil in the Honda changed, yay! Then we did a quick trip to visit the Academy of the Arts for Mia and popped into Noe Valley to Sara's cooking shop. Morgan brought us to Baker Beach, where we could see the Golden Gate bridge and the sunset while we strolled on the sand and climbed rocks. We made pizza and had a little dinner party at the apartment last night. Tomorrow we see the Muir Forrest and the Mission.
-Karli

day 18/19 "Trees of Mystery"

We made it to the Redwood Forest!!!! Upon entering California we got stopped to have our fruit and plants inspected. The woman questioned letting us bring our fresh figs in but decided it was ok since we weren't sick from eating them. California was sunny and warm! We began driving on the Redwood Forest Highway and saw our first Redwood trees! So big, we pulled over right away and took pictures with the gentle giants. Also, we saw the Pacific ocean through the fog! We had to pull over on a beach and walk out until we were surrounded by heavy fog to see the water. This was the sign we were looking for to know that we finally made it to the west coast! We stayed in a cute hostel in the middle of the Redwoods which had a beautiful view of the ocean from the bedroom window. There were a few sketchy characters staying in our co-ed dorm and our yogurts were missing in the morning, but other than that we had a pleasant stay. In the morning we continued south on rt 101 through the redwoods, and stopped at a tourist trap called "The Trees of Mystery" where we saw some crazy trees that had funny names like the elephant tree and the lightning bolt tree. After that adventure we continued down the coast and began seeing palm trees and vineyards the further south we got. As we drove into San Francisco we were greeted by 3 different rainbows, how appropriate! The drive over the Golden Gate bridge was wonderful even though we had to pay a hefty toll at the end of it. We finished off our first night in San Fran with some good Mexican food and a night of Bluegrass at a local bar!
-Amelia