Miss Mandie

It’s part of the traveller’s life…having to say goodbye to those that you connect with, not sure exactly when you will see them next. Today I had to say goodbye to Charish, my travel companion of the past couple of months, partner in crime in so many episodes this year that span from Thailand to Alaska and soul sister in life.

However, at the end of this full day of travel I have to mark how many wonderful things filled my day, to help me remember just how beautiful life really is:

- A morning coffee stop in Phoenix, Arizona to see Kayla, a volunteer I met at the Romanian orphanage last year and catching up on all the antics of that crazy Romanian village we both love so much. Kayla was also sweet enough to bring along a whole heap of photos from her last trip there over the summer, so I could see how much the kids had all grown up in the past year.

- Being pulled over by THE nicest police man…apparently a rule I was unaware of was the “move over” rule when a police car has its lights on next to the highway (you are supposed to move out of the lane closest to the car), so he pulled us over, was very polite, kindly informed me of the rule, gave me a brochure on it, did not give me a ticket and did not write any tickets for Jackie not having updated insurance or her registration papers in the car.

- Honest and heartfelt conversations with Jackie, my current travelling companion, on the journey about life, the universe, and so much more.

- Making it to the Grand Canyon for a second visit in as many weeks, in time to watch the sunset and enjoying laying on the pavement after dark looking at the sky filled with stars.

- Being able to access wireless internet easily from a hotel in Flagstaff…we were wondering how we were going to check for responses from the CouchSurfing requests that Jackie sent out and to our surprise and delight, the second hotel we parked next to had free internet – too easy!

- A phone call from the Arizona CouchSurfing Ambassador who saw our post in the Flagstaff group (as we had originally thought we would try and stay there the night) and wanted to know if there was anything he could help with, which included hostel/hotel recommendations and the best place to get pie in Williams!

- Getting the last available room in a hotel just after we crossed over to the California border, which means we can get a great night’s sleep before the remaining 9 hours drive tomorrow.

So despite the current ache in my heart of missing one of my dearest friends, I am so grateful for all of the things that appeared in my day to make me smile!

After unsuccessfully trying to log a comment on Sparkle’s blog entry on the iphone, I am just going to voice my opinion here for all and sundry about the new iphone. In the early hours of my birthday, I had the fun of discovering the wonderful world that is “iphone applications” (courtesy of Jim on Casey’s iphone).

Seriously, if there was one thing that would convince me to get on the iphone bandwagon, its Tap Tap Revenge. This game is like guitar hero for the phone and had me entertained for hours! As I am currently without such luxuries as the newest iphone, I have been reduced to watching other people play Tap Tap Revenge on You Tube to get my fix!

Photo Album – Venturing to Vegas!

I know I am getting slack on keeping this site updated. I know this because I have been back from my trip to Las Vegas for over a week now. But I am feeling energised and enthused about being a better communicator/friend/blogger. Anyway, to the point of this entry – a week filled to the brim of fun, laughter, friendship, excitement, desert, casinos, fulfilling life-long dreams and free drinks at penny slots. So where to begin on trying to encapsulate this week without writing a novel…hmmm, let’s give it a shot (click on the following link)….

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Californian Dreamin’

It was love at first sight for me. The sun was shining brightly, a cool breeze coming in from the sea, and I had a whole week to spend in one place – a luxury after moving around constantly for a month. San Diego sits at the southern part of California, just a 20 minute drive to the border of Mexico. As a consequence of this, Mexican food can be found in abundance, and there is a relaxed feeling in the air as you wander around amidst the palm trees. Sounds idyllic? Well it is! I could have easily spent a month (although not sure Andy’s wife would have been so happy with the extra guests for all that time!).

The trip was made complete with Andy taking a day off on our last day, which meant a road trip was in order! Unfortunately our original thoughts of heading to Mexico were foiled by threats of drug cartel fighting just over the border, so we headed up to the old wild west town of Julian in the mountains instead. A “walk around” soon turned into a fully fledged mountain hike, with us ascending about 1000 feet up! We weren’t exactly dressed for the occasion, particularly Charish who was thinking more of the plan for wine tasting when getting dressed in the morning and as such, it marks the first time Charish and I have received compliments on our jewellery by someone else on the trail! But we lived to tell the tale and wine tasting, pizza and pie afterwards made it worth the while!

Huge thanks to Andy and his friend Dave who made sure we were entertained during our stay. Cant wait to come back!!