The Amazing Road Trip: Carlsbad Caverns

On Tuesday, we were sent off early in the morning by my parents with omelets, biscuits, and coffee. We made it to Carlsbad Caverns in time for a picnic lunch before we met our tour in the cavern.


Colin had signed us up for a tour of the lower cave. We donned gloves and headlamp helmets then went down a rope and three ladders to get there.


We were instructed to stay between the orange tape to keep from disturbing too many of the cave formations.

We were told this tour is one of the few where you can see cave pearls, which are formed around bits of sediment or bones.

I took my little camera and the only light we had was the light on our headlamps, so the pictures aren't all that great, but if you're ever at Carlsbad, I recommend this guided tour!


After our tour, we drove through El Paso to Deming, NM where we spent the night.

The Amazing Road Trip begins: Austin goodbyes

Colin flew to Austin to drive with me back to California. We looked at possible wedding places, had last minute goodbyes with friends and got packed up and ready to go.


We had dinner with Carolyn and Suzanne at Korea House. Yum.

Coffee at Dominican Joe's with my cousins Audra and Sarah. Colin's in the background working on Sarah's computer. Sarah sang his praises after that.

While Colin was researching places for our road trip (he planned an awesome itinerary for our trip), he found out that barbecue in Lockhart is not to be missed. So, we drove out there on Friday night.

Sunday I had a last hurrah at Mimi's house for people to stop by and Monday morning we packed the car and drove to Abilene to see my parents before heading further west.

I've been busy unpacking, organizing, finding my way around this place, and applying for jobs, but I finally got all the pics uploaded! So, I'll post the pics from Tuesday through Saturday tomorrow.

getting ready to say goodbye

I'm jobless, but plenty busy lately because I'm getting ready to move to the L.A. area! Colin and I decided that it was probably a good idea to at least live in the same city before we tie the knot. So, he's coming in tonight to stay a week and we're gonna head towards the West coast sometime next week. In the meantime, we hope to find a place to get married (still haven't set the date), meet for a few pre-marital chats with my pastor, and say goodbye to Austin friends for a while.

I've started the packing and saying goodbye process, but I don't think it's really hit me yet. The other day I told my friend that I wouldn't be able to go to some show in September because I'll be "out of town."
I finally went to Flip Happy Crepes with my cousin Sarah. It was delicious. And, they have really amazing cold brew coffee. Have you tried cold brew coffee? It was so nice that I thought it had sugar in it!


The Smothers brothers and me at Chez Zee for brunch on Sunday. Such a lovely place! Since it was under 100 degrees outside and such a warm festive feel on the inside, we felt like it was the holidays already.

Besides packing, I just finished reading this love story, which is almost as addicting as the Twilight series, trying to finish the books I have borrowed from friends and the library before I go, plus I just started P90x (bought it for less on ebay!) and have an ever lengthening to-do-before-I-go list. I might be staying too busy on purpose to keep myself from thinking about how I really need a job and am a little scared to move to California, but I don't know.

Cancun: the beach

We spent the last day in Cancun on the beach, reading, getting sunburned, watching vendors pass by with cartons of fruit balanced on their heads.

The water is absolutely amazing and the sand is wonderfully white.



Goodbye, Mexico! Thanks for some good times!

Mayan Ruins

The second day, we drove to Chichen Itza to see the Mayan ruins there. They were incredible! Even though I've seen many more beautiful architectural treasures, these (maybe because they're so old) were somehow more impressive.


The ball court, where the winner of the game would have his head cut off because it was considered an honor to go to the next life.


A tiny woman selling handkerchiefs to tourists (like my Dad).




The famous temple of the god Kukulcan. It has a staircase for each season: 91 steps each plus the top makes 365 steps total. When the spring and fall equinoxes come, triangles along one of the staircases are lit up that make a body to connect to the serpent head. Amazing!


We visited a cenote (underground pool) on the drive back. You could swim in it, but the guide book said that if you're wearing sunscreen, that could kill microorganisms. I didn't want to kill any organisms, so I didn't swim.

We decided to visit the ruins at Tulum on the way home, since it was just a little out of the way, but we didn't make it before it closed, so we took pictures through the gate.I wanted to see if we could see the ruins from the beach too. You can see them on the hill, but they're kinda far away.

Cancun!

My Dad called me up last week as I was on my way to St. Louis and asked if I wanted to join him in Cancun the next week. I thought about it for just a little bit and then said yes!

The first day was spent shopping in Playa del Carmen and snorkeling off the coast of Cozumel.
Cozumel at dusk.

Cozumel central square.

My Dad at a little restaurant in Cozumel.

Shopping in Playa del Carmen.

St. Louis

I got to spend last week with my excellent sister and cousins. The last time we all got together was a year and a half ago!


I made Sarah and Audra experiment with into the sun shots with me. I love this one.


We spent fun times at our hotel, ate a lot of good food, visited the Anheuser Busch brewery (complete with two free tastings at the end!) and the arch. It is great to have such wonderful family!