THEMACGIRL*

If you’ve been reading my blog you’ll know that I’m embarking on a cross-country road trip in fourteen days! It’s hard to believe how fast time has flown by since the entry in which I initially mentioned going to Seattle. I’m excited about this, but I wish I had more time to get some extra cash, and had some time to rest before leaving as I’m leaving right after the semester is up.

I’ve been downloading all sorts of new music to have for the trip. I’ve been burned out on my current music selection for a while so the new music is welcomed. I got a few recommendations from friends for road trip music, and if you have some to add please do. Today I downloaded Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog OST (saw this recently and loved it), The Dandy Warhols (Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars and Welcome To The Monkey House), and Tinted Windows – Taylor Hanson’s side project. I’m really interested to hear the Tinted Windows album, it’s Taylor Hanson (from my favorite band of all time Hanson, obviously), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne and Ivy). It’s got a lot of good reviews, but my opinion will be biased either way.

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Trip Itinerary
Day 1 (Sunday, May 17th)
- Leaving early morning, stopping in St. Louis for lunch near the Gateway Arch.
- Drive through the night to South Dakota. We’re half way there!

Day 2
- Arrive at Mt. Rushmore in Keystone, SD to sightsee.
- Travel a couple more hours to Wyoming to Devil’s Tower. Should I see the Steven Spielberg film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” before going? Apparently it was filmed there many years ago.
- Drive a few more hours to Red Lodge, Montana and stay the night in a hotel. Are we going to wake up the next morning? Heh-heh.

Day 3
- That morning (late morning, I hope) begin the Beartooth Scenic Byway. I think this will be my favorite part, from the pictures I’ve seen the views are incredible. My friends will probably hate me by the end of the drive because I’ll be stopping too many times to take photos. ;-P
- Find a hotel and relax. Those were the plans, but we found out on Friday that the Beartooth Scenic Bypass is only open seasonly – Memorial Day weekend to early September. I was a bit disappointed in that, but there are several bypasses in Seattle and Oregon that I can do on my own time. Plans for the extra day we’ll have are still up in the air.

Day 4
- Day at Yellowstone National Park.
- Get mauled by a bear. :(
- Recover and depending on how we feel we will either drive the 11 hours to Seattle, or we will stay at the hotel again and leave the following morning.

Day 5 (Friday, May 22nd)
- Arrive in Seattle after 2,600+ miles of driving (!!)

View more images… / Lazy? Here’s a slideshow.

I’ve spent the last few days in New Jersey and NYC visiting with my friend Andy and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect the first day I was there, so we went to the shore in Seaside Heights and walked along the beach. It was odd seeing a beach almost deserted, but then again it is October. Despite my fear of large bodies of water I wandered in just a tiny bit, only to run out when the shock of the cold water hit my feet. The shore was my favorite part of the trip, because I’ve never been to a beach and it was nice to experience it.

Andy and I also spent some time in parts of New York visiting Central Park, the Empire State Building, and walking the Brooklyn Bridge to name a few. The views from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building were spectacular! Andy hadn’t been to either the Empire State Building or walked the Brooklyn Bridge in the time that he has lived near the city. Needless to say, it was an experience for both of us.

This has only been my second trip to NYC, but there’s something about it that I really like, maybe the fact that there’s always something new and fun to see. Like a homeless woman washing her naughty bits in a public restroom. Or a man bumping into a woman and inadvertently (or purposely) groping her. Technically those two incidents happened in Jersey — maybe it’s people from Jersey who are weird. ;-)

I don’t travel often, but when I do I feel reluctant about coming home and back to the daily grind. It’s nice doing daily activities that you want to do and not what you have to do. Unfortunately, time goes by too fast on vacation and it’s over with before you know it. Despite being back home and back to normal life I’m happy that I got to see Andy again and made new memories.

You may see a part two to this post in a few days, because the film from my Holga is currently being developed. Cross your fingers that I actually did everything right this time and my images don’t come back weird. Heh-heh. I really thought I would have more photos to show but I didn’t take a lot of diverse images. Still I’m happy with the ones that I did upload.