Colorado Springs w/ TP (Fri & Sat)

Highlights:

- Going out shootin' in the wilderness. For reals, with a pistol.

- Getting to meet Teresa Pinkal's beau so I can approve/disapprove. So far, so good.

- Muddy buddies for dinner! And Ritz/PB/choc chips for snack. And Old Chicago pizza. I have yet to actually get hungry.


Lowlights:

- Eating it twice while mtn biking. But no pain, no bruise. So it was well worth it.

- Going to bed at 10pm Fri night.

- Spending Sat night watching youtube videos cause we were too tired and lazy to think of anything more riveting.

26.2 miles of goodness

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Walking out the door right to the starting line.

- The fall colors, cool East coast houses, and pretty riverfront along the course. Did I mention perfect running weather?

- The out-and-back portion where Dad passed me and we got to give each other mid-race hugs.

- Mile 20 when there were people handing out fun-size Snickers and Hershey miniatures. Could've kissed them!

- Random running buddies I'd acquire to keep me company for a few miles here and there. Totally helped the time fly.

- Getting WAY better than our goal times! Wahoo!

LOWLIGHTS:

- The bands along the race course. Personal fav was the man in a cowboy hat playing from the bed of his truck. Would've been ok if he were playing something faster than ol' cowboy blues songs. Come mile 16, that's NOT what you want to be setting your cadence to.

- Mile 15 when there was still no sign of goo. Well, I guess the real lowlight was scanning the ground for an unused or even half-eaten goo that someone else may have dropped.

- The excruciatingly painful shower afterwards due to excessive chaffing.

Hartford or bust!

So my dad and I went to Hartford, CT to run a marathon together (and by "together," I mean about an hour apart). Why Hartford, you may ask? Because we've never been!

Highlights:

- The fact that I got to go with my pops. :)

- The steak dinner the night after the race. Ahhh.... AMAZING. Ridiculously good steak and everything else we could eat along with it. Hit the spot!

- 2 hrs after gorging ourselves at the steakhouse when my dad and I looked at each other and sheepishly admitted that we were both hungry again. Since we were too tired to move, that meant $5 worth of vending machine candy to eat in bed.

- Our gorgeous view of the park and capitol bldg. Our hotel room was so close that we just walked out the door and to the starting line.

- Retracing the race course the next day to really take in the scenery. The best part was chillin on some random steps by the river with my dad and discussing the finer points of life. So east coast.

Lowlights:

- The day before the race: Alternated eating and sleeping the entire day. No joke.

- Before the trip, I asked some knowledgeable ppl what there was to do in Hartford. They just kinda laughed. I thought they were underestimating the little town, but no joke! There was nothing there. It was hilarious. Bldgs, but no ppl. A real life ghost town.

- The fact that Dunkin Donuts appeared to be the town staple. Sketch!

- The day after the race, hobbling around and around and around trying to find a place to eat. (Remember, literally a ghost town. Restaurants just minus food and employees.) I wanted to curl up on the sidewalk in fetal position and not move for a long time.

Back to Ol' Nauvoo

I came to visit my old mission with my friend Megan and her beau, Jared. Just a 48-hr jaunt but ahhhh...how blissful.

HIGHLIGHTS
Every SECOND!! Seriously!

- Seeing the Herbsts who I lived with in Iowa. Mockery abounds and I love it! And Brock is so cuddly and I actually got to cuddle him this time.

- Sis Randall (who we're staying with) freaking out because Jared randomly bought Rummikub on the way up here. She found her Rummikub soulmate. In her own words: "This is the most excited I've been my whole mission!...Besides when my grandkids came." We've played every night until midnight.

- Still being eligible for free frozen custard at Annie's because "once a sister, always a sister." Thanks Helen!

- Getting to hug the senior elders.

- Seeing mission "posterity" and all the sisters hard at work.

LOWLIGHTS
- Reading all of the signs as we drove past them on the road, often in midwestern farmer accents.

- When Megan chose a "salad" for her side and the options were: maccaroni, jello, potato, and lettuce. "Yes, I'll choose the lettuce salad please." Which turned out to be a handful of the bagged iceburg in a cup. Yes, welcome back to Midwest cuisine. How I've missed you. I was laughing with delight at her shock and horror.

- The Dusty Farmer running out of creamed corn nuggets.

- Regaining the "Nauvoo 30" in just 2 days. It was all downhill after the Twizzlers for breakfast.

- Going to the temple today. Really a highlight but it really made me miss the sisters.

OR Coast

Highlights:

- Seeing all kinds of wildlife: seals, whales, sea lions, sea anenomies, etc. Really wild. Like the crocodile hunter but for the coast.

- Our cute and FREE condo we got to stay in. (Thanks Paige's mom and dad!) Right on the edge of a cliff down to the beach.

- Going on runs though the woods and along the sand.

- Making yummy, wholesome meals at night. Followed by yummy, less-wholesome desserts.

- Seeing my friends I love and miss and having long meaningful and meaningless conversations.

Lowlights:

- Uh, I'd say the chilly, massive fog cloud we've been in the whole time, but that's all part of the OR experience.

- Hearing, "Mom! I'm not kidding! I'm really gonna puke!" and "I just wanna go HOME!!!" from Paige's nephews (out here for a day). They very nearly didn't make it through the hour whale-watching trip. I'm not ashamed to say I captured a pic of them both doubled over and almost in tears.

- The seven hours we spent at the outlet mall. I ended up pulling a Scott and leaving to sleep in the car. Though not in a fit of rage.

HOME

HIGHLIGHTS

- Was my sister's bday!!!! Happy Bday Katie! :) (Played soccer that night w/ fam and friends, ate good food, etc.)

- Made bff's with the two Indian kids on my plane. Pretty sure a road trip to Bakersfield to hang out with them is in the works. Sure makes the 1/2 day plane trips shorter when you have good buddies to sit next to!


LOWLIGHTS

- Couldn't adjust to Western culture and when waiting for my ride at the airport, layed down on the cement outside instead of sitting on the bench.

10-hour layover in Seoul

HIGHLIGHTS

- Saw Seoul, Korea!

- Ate some super random noodle/slug dish from some street-side stand. The woman who sold it to me pitied me so she gave me some extra soup.

- Found some amazing treasures in their shopping area. Even found the American Embassy, aka Gap.

- Discovered an AMAZING giant brown sweater with stars to calm my woes (see "lowlights"...).

LOWLIGHTS

- Took me an hour just to get out of the airport cause I kept getting super sketchy info from the "information" booth ladies.

- Forgot that it was actually winter in some places. Too bad I gave away all my remotely warm clothes before I left Thailand...

- Spent the first hour and a half wandering the streets of the shopping district FREEZING cold in my short fisherman pants and flip flops waiting for stores to open so I could buy a sweater.

-Shopowners eyeing me suspiciously as I crept around their stores wrapped in the grey airport blanket and misc. scarves looking for something cheap enough and warm enough to purchase.

- Learned never to try on jeans in a city of people who are built without curves. Tough on the self-esteem.

Last day in Thailand! :(

HIGHLIGHTS

- Took Muay Thai class. AMAZING! I'm pretty much a champ.

- Went on hour or so bike ride around the perimeter of the city. Way cool.

- Found a random temple and a monk gave me some incense to light and I got to write my "wish" on some banner thing they wrap around the temple.

- Took an amazing nap at this random park.

- Made BEST FRIENDS with the taxi driver. Love him! Exchanged gifts and hugs and then I was on my way to the airplane.

Arrive in Chang Mai

HIGHLIGHTS

- Rented bike for $1.50 for 24 hrs to cruise around the city by myself.

- Ate great "California-style" burrito. I know, I know. I'm only in Asia once, but I figured it'd help me reacclimate to the food back home. Plus, they had free potable water.

- Spent a couple hours chillin in the restaurant at the hotel having deep discussions with fellow travelers from France, Sweden, and Germany. I feel more cultured by the minute.

- Saw Muay Thai Boxing match to see what I'd be getting myself into for the next day.

LOWLIGHTS

- Carried on the tradition of getting the top floor of the hotel.

- Spent more time by myself than is healthy.

Bangkok Day

HIGHLIGHTS

- Went to CHURCH again. Weeeee! Loved it! It was an int'l branch so there were people from all different countries. I got to interview a couple for another story. She's Thai and he's from Nepal and they went through a lot in order to be baptized. They were really an inspiration. Loved it! (Did I already say that?)

- Took a gamble and showed up at the train station at 9:30pm with no ticket and no hotel in case I couldn't get a ticket. But the train gods were smiling on me and I got a ticket for a fraction of the cost of what it would've been earlier that day.

- Riding in "third class." I didn't even know they had a third class. Turns out it was these nasty old benches that really were way more comfy and gave you way more room than regular. (see pic).

LOWLIGHTS

- Got into Bangkok at 4:30am instead of 5:30am. Eesh. Painful. Wandered the streets with the rats and the stray cats until we could find a place to crash.

- Said goodbye to Cakes in the morning and Blair in the evening. Left all alone. Very weird.

- Don't actually know what I'm doing with the next 2 days.

Happy V-day. Spent it on a bus.

Traveled back up to Bangkok

HIGHLIGHTS

- Sat next to a Scotish guy and had lots of interesting chats about the church and Scotland and I learned all sorts of random things.

- Found amazing banana chips.

- Did the standard transportation thing from bus to boat to taxi, etc. How they herd you though is that they give you little stickers you wear. That way, when you're sitting on the sidewalk, they can just yell your sticker color at you and that's what gets you on the bus/boat/whatever. I guess if it works well for 5th graders, why change a good thing.

LOWLIGHTS

- The fact that we spent the whole V-day on a bus. :)

Happy Fri the 13th. Chill on beach.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Kayaked to this cool rock formation thing and climbed around.

- Went on solo hike to cool viewpoint. Got to run up a crazy hill, which always makes me a little happy.

- Got oil massages on the beach. I tried not to let the Jack Johnson make me feel like I wasn't in Asia. :) It was a dream.

- Cake's ATM card was eaten by the machine and then miraculously recovered a few hours later. Yay for answered prayers.

LOWLIGHTS

- Enjoyed sunrise on the beach to the company of several stray dogs. I think there's a karma thing where the more you dislike dogs, the more they hang around you. Cakes was surrounded and not entertained about it.

- Spent an eternity at the internet place trying to burn our CDs of pics. Only semi-successful.

- Last day enjoying the sun/islands.

NE Kho Phangan

HIGHLIGHTS

- Went to a way more low-key beach. Floated in the warm, clear water and it was like heaven.

- Ran along the beach until my feet were raw. I was so happy.

- Ate Thai food (obviously) sitting on the floor up to our table.

- Rainbow tie-dye hammock at our bungalow. (Did I mention we were spending $2.50/night each?)

LOWLIGHTS

- Let's be honest. Nothing's ever totally perfect. The warm, crystal clear water was actually filled with thousands of invisible "water fleas." Who's ever heard of water fleas? So as we were floating around enjoying the beach, we'd have to give out occasional yelps of frustration. The fleas weren't enough to keep you completely out of the water, but definitely a noticeable discomfort. I experimented though, and found that the more I flailed, the less they bothered me. Real relaxing. :)

- Blair and I bought food from vendors across the street from each other then both got reprimanded for not eating at a table in front of THEIR restaurant. Short of eating in the middle of the street, we couldn't think of a way to appease them. It was tense.

- Took bus ride to this island. It was a dirt trail and I'm pretty sure was handled in 1st gear the whole time. Impressive to say the least.

Day of pooling it

HIGHLIGHTS

- Just chilled at our MTV pool all day. With sunscreen. Promise.

- So there are smoothie stands everywhere. The best kind to get is the "mixed fruit." Or as this place we went to most recently called them, "many, many fruit." I'm also, esp as an editing nerd, endlessly entertained by typos and mistranslations in foreign lands. So to the place that sold my best fruit shake ever, I'd have to credit them with the yummiest "smooty" of the trip so far.

LOWLIGHTS

- Again, not so much my lowlight, but others. At this Full Moon Party there are many burning rings of fire, burning limbo sticks, etc. Lots of flame. Why anyone thinks this is a good idea to mix with tens of thousands of drunk twenty-somethings is anyone's guess. Then again, perhaps they're in cahoots with the dozens of emergency clinics that line the streets of this relatively small tourist town. Hmmm.... Really makes you think.

Full Moon Party

HIGHLIGHTS

- Surprise reunion with Cakes on the ferry to Ko Phanang.

- Met up with Guy and Jules again and joined them at the resort they were staying at that's straight out of MTV Spring Break.

- Watched fireworks and floating Chinese lanterns from the balcony.

LOWLIGHTS

- So there's this giant party on this island every full moon. We went just to witness it. It's like 80,000 ppl on the beach or something ridiculous. Anyway, backpackers in swimsuits everywhere and neon body paint and techno. Eesh. An experience, to say the least. The lowlight, which is secretly a highlight, was that my tummy wasn't feeling the best so I got to go back to the hotel and chill instead. I enjoyed the party from afar.

- Yet another day o' travel to get there. Boat to tuk-tuk to bus to another bus to ferry to tuk-tuk. The last tuk-tuk was straight out of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, made worse by the fact that driving on the left side of the road makes it look even more like head-on collisions will be the result of every sharp curve.

Phi Phi

HIGHLIGHTS

- Oh my goodness! The entire day. This was what the other boat cruise gone bad was supposed to be. We snorkled and kayaked and watched an amazing orange sunset and an equally amazing orange moonrise. Got to swim from the boat over this crazy coral stuff onto different islands. Went to the island where the movie The Beach was filmed. Less impressive, I think, when you haven't seen the movie. But we got to go through a cool cave thing to get there.

- More on snorkeling. The COOLEST fish. Amazing visibility and so many colors. The fish we're like the coolest irridescenty things. And there were ones with like neon leopard print and ones with huge fat heads and ones that were rainbow/see-through and then i saw some sharks. Yeah, dangerous, huh? They were just little guys. Maybe like 2-3 ft long. SOOO cool though. Loved every second!

- So Blair's a closet picky eater. For as low-key as she is about most things, not about food preferences. So we went to this place that sold Italian food and she got bruschetta. Displeased, she ended up basically eating a bagette as she dumped the toppings off on her plate. The men at the table next to us looked at her with sad faces, feeling bad that she didn't like it. Turns out they were Italian, ironically. They, on the other hand, were eating amazing chocolate sundaes. She made big eyes at his sundae and turned back to her bread. Soon a long spoon with chocolate fudge covered chocolate ice cream appeared in front of her face. He was sharing. She tried to turn it down but I told her she couldn't and that we needed the experience for our highlight section. So, Highlight: Random Italian man feeding Blair ice cream.

LOWLIGHTS

- Sleeping on what was the equivalent of a gymnastics mat.

- Inadvertantly started dred locks with our unkempt hair that is washed only in pools and oceans, then blown around to perfection by the wind on boat rides.

- Want to hear an all-time hygene low? I know, you thought they couldn't get any worse. So almost none of the restrooms have TP. True story. So occassionally, desperate times call for despeate measures and necessity is the matter of invention so who says that the last few pages of a good paperback don't do just as good of a job. Certainly not Blair Pettijohn. Man, never a dull moment when traveling with this girl.