North American Road Trip Pt6 - Sequoia, Yosemite

Sequoia was by far one of my most favourite places on our trip. In fact it may be one of my most favourite places ever. To me Sequoia was truly breathtaking – it was almost magical! I regret not spending more time there. There is something about the huge redwoods that made me feel completely at peace and totally at home. We hiked until it was night. Being the silly gal I am I wandered off and got lost...I was by myself in the middle of the forest in the dark, sans flashlight (pumas and jaguars and bears, oh my!). I was eventually found and was sad when we had to leave. I was even sadder when the low fuel light turned on and there were no gas stations to be seen....thankfully we were driving downhill and Jeff coasted in neutral (on fumes) until we found a motel for the night. Good-night Sequoia, good-morning Yosemite!

Yosemite is another beautiful location! Same type of forests and redwoods but it did not have the energy that Sequoia did. I wish we got to spend more time here as well – would have loved to hike more trails, and seen more waterfalls....to experience the beauty that America has to offer. For anyone who loves to camp, I highly recommend this National Park!

Our first tarantula....Jeff almost caused a car accident taking this picture. There were a lot of car honks and middle fingers....

Yosemite

North American Road Trip Pt 5 - Los Angeles

Driving down the highway we saw a sign that said “Calico Ghost Town”. With a name like that of course we had to stop! It is an old abandoned town where they used to mine silver….I can’t remember much else about it but they had a really cool cemetery. The ground is really hard so it’s difficult to dig graves so they just end up putting piles of rocks on the dead bodies. Descendants still use the cemetery today (of course the only thing I would remember is the morbid part of it) Check out more here: http://www.calicotown.com/ .

Grave Stone

Inside the mine


The Town


Lights, camera, action! We finally arrive in Los Angeles. Coming from a small town I always thought that Toronto was big but W-O-W! Nothing compared to this! So what to do in a huge city such as this? Hollywood boulevard of course! (well I did ask Jeff if we could go to Compton…he said no. *sigh* he never lets me do anything fun!). We went on a sightseeing tour where we checked out famous locations such as Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills (where we maaaay have seen Julia Roberts), saw Harry Potter in the best movie theatre ever-the Chinese theatre where they show the red carpet premieres, and did the walk of fame. It wasn’t long before we had enough of the city and hit up some beaches! The beaches were nice – they reminded me a lot of home—but the water was freezing. We ended up in Santa Monica at the famous pier and ate at Bubba Gumps…yum! We contemplated spending another day and going to Universal Studios but decided that we had had enough of the city life. *queue Willie Nelson* “On the road again”…

Me at Santa Monica beach

Michael Jacksons Star - R.I.P. MJ

North American Road Trip Pt4 - Rachel, Nevada

When you hear the name of the town Rachel Nevada you may think "meh never heard of it". How about driving down the Extraterrestrial Highway to Area 51? Heard of it now? This was one of the most interesting and intense experiences of the trip. Whether you are a conspiracy theorist or not, you would have to admit that SOMETHING very secret is going on here. The security was intense. When we turned down the road to drive to the boundary we were met by an unmarked military vehicle driven by “men in black”. They literally followed us the whole time. We passed by surveillance equipment, and the men in black never let us out of their sight. Now there isn’t anything to see at the boundary but it was still really cool. Surprisingly there isn’t a fence, just stakes in the ground to mark out the boundary. Apparently there is only one tiny little point where the actual building is visible to the public…and you can only reach it by hiking up a mountain. Driving for 2 hours in the middle of the desert with no cell phone or GPS service, no water, then a 2 hour hike up a mountain with poisonous spiders and scorpions (here in Canada we only have Polar Bears…eh), in 40 plus degree heat in late afternoon may not seem like such a good idea but we decided to try it! We drove down a lonely dirt road and almost made it to the mountain….the terrain was in rough shape and we couldn’t make it all the way there without bottoming out my car. We finally came to our senses and decided that one day we will have to come back when we actually had the proper supplies and do it. It would have been just plain stupid and unsafe for us to try it. So we got back into my car and drove back to the highway...

We said our good-byes to U.F.O. country and headed back on the road….we were almost at our destination, but first Los Angeles!

Men in Black watching us

The infamous sign at the boundary

North American Road Trip Pt 2 - New Mexico to Nevada (2009)

So we finally made it to our fist planned destination: Roswell, New Mexico. I am sure that I do not have to tell you what is enticing about this city (if you are still stumped click here). No we did not see any extraterrestrials --which was both disappointing and relieving at the same time (no anal probes for us!). I had an amusing conversation with some Americans at Dairy Queen and giggled at their excitement over the fact that Canada has coloured money and milk bags. We visited some museums, got our pictures taken with aliens, tried to stay indoors because it was HOT!!!

We travelled further south and visited the White Sands National Monument . Miles upon miles of pure white sand. It literally looked like snow! We trekked along the dunes but didn’t stray too far out. It is easy to get lost and people have died out there before. On a lighter note, you can rent sleds and go tobogganing down the dunes! One thing I did find odd was that the park closes down during the week so that the military can conduct tests…..of what I have no idea….do I smell conspiracy??

Playing in the sand

Continuing on our journey we took a little detour to check out the astronomical radio observatory Very Large Array. This is where some of the movie “Contact” was filmed (are you starting to see a trend here? Look out Area 51!). These things were HUGE! Unfortunately we arrived later in the day and it was closed so we didn’t get to go on a tour. It was starting to get dark so back on the road we continued our journey. Next stop, the Grand Canyon!

"Hi Mom!"

I'm in the bottom left corner

North American Road Trip Pt 1 - Missouri to New Mexico (summer 2009)

Laid off for 2 months….hmmm what to do? How about a 5 week road trip across North America? Why not!

With passports in hand and suitcases in tow my partner and I decided on a last minute road trip across North America. How last minute? We decided 3 days before we left….just enough time to renew our passports. Destination: British Columbia to visit his family. It was a beautiful day when we left….cruisin down the highway. Cruisin a little too fast –my bf got a speeding ticket before we even reached the Canada/U.S. border….oops.

Our plan was to save money by buying groceries and sleeping in the car (that idea lasted half a day lol). We ended up driving to Missouri and spending the night…first stop Stanton. We checked out Meramec Caverns, an underground cave system that was once a hide-out for Jesse James. Seeing rock formations that were billions of years old was quite amazing!

Underground rock formations at Meramec

Taking famous Highway Route 66 we saw tons of amazing things.The landscape was just breathtaking! I love Canada but we do not have the diversity of land that the U.S. has. One minute you are in farmland, the next you are in desert! We stopped along the way to check out Billy the Kids Tombstone (which now lives in a cage because of vandals).

Ckeck here to learn more about Billys Tombstone

We didn’t have a specific route planned out, but we had certain “must-see” spots….next stop? Roswell New, Mexico, “Dairy Capital of the Southwest”……….

Because Dairy Captial is the first thing I think of when I hear Roswell....

Cayo Coco Cuba

In Jan 2009 I visited an all inclusive resort in Cuba. Although the weather wasn’t super hot, it was sunny and warm and a lot better than the snowstorms they were having back in Canada!

The resort was still in the process of recovering from a hurricane, and the food….well let’s just say I had to have a little visit with the Dr (I believe that I got the food poisoning from the snorkeling excursion, not the resort)….other than that the trip was great! The resort was situated on the beach and on the first day of arrival I went parasailing. It was fab-u-lous. Even though I am afraid of heights, I managed quite well!!!

We did a few excursions such as horeseback riding on the beach and snorkeling (which was interesting...The water was kind of rough and I had a panic attack since it was my first time in the ocean and I’m terrified of sharks…and I was chased by jelly fish). We also spent the day in the city of Moran (missed out on Havana because of the food poisoning). I wish I got to experience more of the culture, but for the most part I had a blast! If you rent a moped and drive an hour there is a beau-ti-ful beach with white sand :)

Here’s some pics:

View from Parasailing

Beautiful Beaches

Kissing Crocs at the Crocodile farm

I had to beg my partner to let me drive the moped. As soon as I got on I drove straight into the bushes (and that would be why he didn't want me driving lol). My moped days are over.

Yikes! It's Happening!

Soooooo it's going to happen! And quick. Due to circumstances in my life the opportunity to take the time to travel the world has come up....and come up it has! Plans are to leave in August (I wasn't planning on taking this trip until 2012/2013) Yikes. That only gives me two and a half months to plan a trip, save money, get my house finished and rented, and get my belongings packed all while working a 60/hour week (rotating days/nights).

Sure I cooouuuullddd let this pass and stick with my original plan but I am starting to believe that things happen for a reason. And face it, who knows what my life will be like in a few years time --maybe my circumstances will change and I won't be able to travel. It's best I do this now :)

So where am I going you may ask? Well this ain't no Euro trip that's for sure. Sure I love adventure, sure I love the thrills but I have to admit there is a hidden agenda. I am on a quest. A quest for truth...to discover the spiritual and mysterious places of the earth, all while having the time of my life! This blog will be dedicated to the lighter side of me, travel plans, touristy things, excursions and all of that fun stuff. I have a seperate log dedicated to my spiritual journey which you can follow at: http://sacreddivine.blogspot.com/

I have to admit that I am feeling really overwhelmed but super excited!!! Since I still have a bit of time before I leave I will post Blogs on the adventures I have taken in the past 2 years to whet your apetite.

Enjoy!