the places i went

heres the route i took*

blue is the drive (approximately)

purple is the flying part--shows re-route to indianapolis due to tornadoes shutting down chicago airport

green is the drive back from dallas to new york through smokey mtns with julian

yellow are cities i stopped in (approximately)

*i did this on paint so sorry its so sloppy and tricky to read

list of stops:
-LA to SF along route 1 stopping in big sur and going through Santa Cruz
-continued up route 1 stayed in Eureka for the night
-Eureka into crescent city along the 1 through the redwoods to Grants Pass (199) to the 5 into Oregon; 5 up to Portland
-Portland to Seattle
-Fly from Seattle to Chicago (by way of Indiapolis)
-Chicago to New York
-Katonah with Carrie (about and hour and a half outside NYC)
-Katonah to Boston
-Boston to Portland, ME; back to Boston
-Boston to Brooklyn stopping in Providence and Newport RI
-Brooklyn to Philadelphia
-Philadelphia to DC
-DC to Edenton, NC by way of 17 South across Chesapeake Bay Bridge. wow.
-Edenton to Charleston on 17 S (coastal route)
-Charleston (Mt Peasant) to Savannah
-Savannah to Nashville
-Nashville to Dallas
-Dallas to Austin
-Back to Dallas; pick up Julian
-Dallas to Nashville stopping in Memphis
-Nashville to Knoxville
-Knoxville to Asheville, NC through the Smokey Mtns
-Asheville to Roanoke, VA through Blue Ridge Parkway
-Roanoke to DC (Ellicot City for the night)
-DC to Katonah
-Fly to Portland
-Train from Portland to LA

well...

well i did an absolutely terrible job updating this blog didnt i?

i am back in LA now, the trip is over, and it was incredible.

i had to stop updating for a variety or reasons...i was having a difficult time for a brief moment while in New England and didnt want my negativity to be reflected within my writing. also, i found myself often thinking "how can i write about this later?" rather than being in the moment and fully enjoying. mostly though, i dont think i could have articulated what i was experiencing and seeing, sometimes there are no words.

that being said ive decided to do a wrap up of the trip and the highlights of it for you.

within the next few days ill post pictures and make some lists of who what where and hopefully itll be a guide for all of you in the future.

honestly, not enough people take advantage of what we have here in our own country. and i know the stereotypes and assumptions people have about certain places and people, and yes some are true, but overall it is beautiful and people are so kind. im glad i had an open mind and heart and eyes. truly remarkable.

here we go again...

well after 5 glorious days in katonah with carrie full of rest and sunshine and cute doggies im off again!

got my boots on, a new car, all packed up, heading to boston

my schedule has altered a little (im a couple days behind) but im gonna explore new england and then head south towards the carolinas then across to dallas. from there ill be driving back to new york and fly home to LA beginning of August

chicago was wonderful! martha nad her boyfriend ian were wonderful hosts to such an awesome city. i did WAY too much shopping of course but eh o well.

keep following! ill try to be more on top of this

burn burn burn

whoops!

sorry guys!

i got called out on not updating my blog * but who has time when there is so much to see and do!

so today i drove into seattle after 4 AMAZING days in portland. my god i love that city!

heres so highlights of the past few days:

after leaving san fran (thank you katie moore and charlotte for hosting me) i headed up the 1 towards eureka. and if you have not driven the 1 through marin and sonoma you really should because it is heartbreakingly beautiful. i think it is in the running for farms areas to work on.

i spent the night in eureka and hmm theres not much to say about that--

i then continued on the 1 towards portland passing through the redwoods. i cried of course because who wouldnt? they remind me of a trip i took when i was little with my family and im still as much in awe today as i was then. how could one not believe there is something bigger than themselves when they see something as beautiful and majestic?

once i hit crescent city i got onto the 199 towards grants pass (or maybe the 199 is called grants pass?) again super gorgeous. once i got into oregon i took a picture of myself under the 'welcome to oregon sign' but it took me like 20 mins to figure out the timer on my camera so dont expect many pics of me from the trip...

i arrived in portland friday evening and was lucky enough to stay with pat and cindy ferguson. pat is my uncle jeff's cousin and they live in laurel hurst (looks very similar to the area of pasadena near mjs sans the pretentious people). we went to this awesome community garage sale saturday morning and i bought a sweet sweater. their family--especially their grandson freddy--is so sweet and loving and helped set the standard for the rest of my trip (keep that in mind future hosts! haha i kid! but, seriously...)

portland is an ideal town. its big but with that small town feel. it has great food and views and everything is green. also everyone is super mellow and genuinely kind. basically i might not come back to LA.

i was lucky enough to see a couple friends while there--john cruicshank from LMU and my friend julian from UBC. Julian played host to show me around town. he knew all the spots id be really into and zipping around in his golf yellow 2002 bmw put my prius to shame. we ate at evoe on hawthorne; got coffee at stumptown on belmont; drank tecate at rom tons (is that what its called?); didnt fit in at kells; got photo happy in crema; picked flowers in the rose garden; sat in a tree in washington park; etc, etc, etc. i also got to try some native beers at dueschants brewery which was yum! but i still hate IPA. seriously, smells like b.o.

i left this morning for seattle and am now enjoying time with jessie and her new puppy chilli.
but im way tired and will write more soon.

i really am having a wonderful time on my adventure thus far. i romanticized for weeks about how this trip would be and what i created in my head is lame compared to what im actually experiencing. i really wish you all could be with me but im sure youd get tired of hearing me hit repeat on 'train in vain' for the 10th time...

burn burn burn
kate

*i regret that i am not a strong enough writer to accurately share my experiences in words (i need a ghost writer--charlotte?) once i have some real time to sit and fiddle with this i promise to upload some pics

burn burn burn

what should my boots and i do today?

goodbye san fran

off to eureka

what my boots and i did today

lalalalala it has begun!

i didnt end up leaving pasadena til like 10 (had to go get sandwiches at tedes for the drive) but i got into SF by 830 which isnt terrible driving the 1 up.

the prius is amazing. like whoa.

yesterday was so beautiful and the ocean was the same color as the sky, blending together seeming infinite.

speaking of infinite i played one of my favorite games to keep myself busy; trying to figure out if there is anything that there is more of than the infinite number of stars.

i drove by the place where we spilled the pear sauce.

had drinks with kmoo and stevie clark at fishbowl

my original post title was "what me and my boots did today" but i changed it to be grammatically correct because i could just hear my dads voice saying something about being a college graduate ...

stay tuned! we're only in the fetus stage of the trip...

I wish brody could come...