Long and winding roads...

It's hard to believe it's been ten days since our last post, it doesn't feel like it at all. And yet SO much has happened since then! 

Austin... ok, let me think for a minute.

So we decided to go to Austin at the very last minute, as in... we were at the hostel in New Orleans, and we were packing up the cooler to put it back in the car and some girl was talking to us from Texas. We told her we were on our way to Dallas and she was like WHY would you go to Dallas?? GO TO AUSTIN! She said there's way more to do and see and then some other dude jumped in and was like... Austin? I was just there. Had the time of my life. We figured that we couldn't pass it up after those recommendations, so we rerouted and hit the road. Spent most of the car ride on Taylor's phone trying to get someone to couchsurf with for the night. We got to Austin, ate at this amazing mexican restaurant.. seriously, cheesy rice and a burrito...so good. Stayed with this dude named Paul, who was pretty cool and originally from New York so we had that in common. Got up SUPER  early(that is capitalized because we got up really early and because I used the word super). Went to this place called the Kerby Cafe for breakfast... it's a local chain, open 24/7, think Denny's but instead of denny's food you're eating pancakes that taste like joy and magic. After we got over how freaking good breakfast was, we went to Starbucks for awhile to get some internet and book our camping stuff for the next few days. We had lunch in a park and then went window shopping, got some ice cream, then walked to the bridge to watch the bat migration. Which is basically millions of bats flying out of the bottom of the bridge at twilight into the sky... it was crazy. We took a lot of pictures but it was kinda dark so I don't know how good they came out. Thennn we stayed with this girl Charlie for the night, omg she was really cool, she's travelled all over the world and done all this awesome stuff. And she had a pet snake. And a cute dog. 

Woke up.. drove 11 hours from Austin to Santa Fe (we ended up skipping Wichita as well, don't think we missed much though).  Stayed in our tent for the first time, honestly it is hilarious because the tent is 5x6 ft and we jut barely fit the two of us, I think it's a child's tent really... and it's not waterproof. More on that later. Anyways, woke up early and walked around the town, which was SO cool...everything was like adobe-looking and tan and south-west ish. Lots of turquoise jewelry and native american artwork and stuff. 

We packed up yet again and drove to Colorado... originally we were going to stay in Denver, but our campsite was in Buena Vista (I think that is southwest of Denver). It ended up being way better than staying in the city because we were ten minutes away from the hot springs, so we spent some time there, then went back to camp and hiked around and took pictures of the mountains... it's beautiful. Ahhh.... our pictures just don't do it justice. We tried though! In the morning we got up for our long car ride... 13 hours to the North Rim at the Grand Canyon. Yikes. But it was sooooo worth it.. definitely my favorite day in the car. First we drove through Colorado..which was just amazing.. first the mountains are rocky, then covered in grass, then there's snow, then a waterfall... all the way down this windy road through the hills. We stopped at the four corners, then continued into Arizona. Deserts and rock formations.... honestly the scenery changes every 5 minutes, we couldn't get over it. Getting closer to the Grand Canyon, it kind of looked like prehistoric times which was pretty cool... then all of a sudden, the desert turned into a forest, and there were trees everywhere, and SNOW, and deer. It had been drizzling all day so we were kinda thinking about sleeping in the car because as I mentioned earlier, the tent really can't get wet. But the old guy at the checkout thing told us that it won't rain, hasn't rained in months, even when it does the trees keep the ground from getting wet, etc, we would be fine. It's dark out by now so we set it up real quick and Taylor went to the bathroom (with the car AND THE ONLY FLASHLIGHT).  She was gone for like an hour, I'm sitting in the tent wondering where the hell she was, so I walk out, can't see a damn thing, don't have my glasses on, so I'm walking super (super) slow down the little road, trying to figure out what happened to her. Turns out she recut her finger, only worse, and it was bleeding so much she almost passed out. Oh and did I mention that she had a tick on her neck earlier in the day while we were driving? And that one of her toenails fell completely off and she has no clue as to how or why? Yeah, not a good day to be Taylor.

SOOOO, we finally get to the tent, and basically pass out because we were so tired. But sweet sleep cannot be had, because it rained. all. night. long. And our tent was wet, our sleeping bags were wet, our pillows were wet, oh it sucked. So we decided to make a run for the car and just leave everything out in the rain, we would deal with it tomorrow. It was freezing in the car, but we slept for two hours, then woke up at quarter to five to hike and see the sunrise in the canyon. What we saw of the canyon was gorgeous, but since it was rainy there was a ton of fog and most of it was covered up by clouds. But I climbed to the top of a rock and sat there for awhile, I really liked it. We ended up not staying because it was gonna rain all day and we just needed a shower and some sleep at this point. So we drive six hours south to Phoenix, where we stayed with my cousin Jenelle, we had such, SUCH a good time... I got to see my aunt and meet my cousin's friends and just hang out with her, it was awesome. Plus we go No Doubt tickets for 15 bucks at this place so we went there the second night, they were sooo good. Gwen Stefani is the shit. 

Stayed for two days, then drove to San Diego, saw border patrol, drove through 103 degree weather with the AC OFF, ugh. Got to the zoo just in time for it to close, such good timing. But we walked around Balboa Park for awhile, and then drove to La Jolla Cove to see the sunset (over the ocean!). Still didn't have a place to stay so we drove 3 hours north to Taylor's friend's cousin's apartment in Santa Barbara. Slept in for the first time in two weeks, went to the pier and got fresh crab at a seafood shack place, yummm, and got some salt water taffy. Drove to San Francisco, up route 1..... SO worth it. Not only did we see the coast, and cliffs and awesome scenery.. but we saw elephant seals laying on the beach, they were hilarious..... and... zebras. In a field. In California. WHAT???? It was crazy. Got to San Francisco, at the LAST minute got a call from our friend RJ who lives in Half Moon Bay and he said we could stay at his friend Marshall's house. Had a great night with them, it was nice to see a familiar face after being on the road for so long. Woke up this morning and drove around the city, saw the bridge, Haight St., and the Castro. Lots of hills and super (super) cute apartments. 

Then a few hours north and that brings us to Colusa, California. We are staying with a friend's friend's parents. One thing I have discovered on this trip is how truly generous and giving people are in this world. Night after night when we have needed a place to stay, strangers (and family and friends!!!) have welcomed us in and let us crash for the night... and not only let us crash but let us shower, and make sure we have food, and make us so comfortable, much more comfortable than we thought we would be on the road! We are both so grateful for everyone who has opened up their homes to us so far. And I know we still have a lot of road to cover before we're home but I feel very blessed for being so well taken care of over the past two weeks.

Tomorrow we are driving to see the redwoods on rt 1 and then I think camping in Florence, Oregon, or somewhere near there. Then..... STACY!!!!!!! I can't wait :D And we will definitely have internet there, so pictures will be coming! 

Sorry this was so incredibly lengthy, and probably chock full of unimportant details, but it has definitely been the little things that have made us happiest on the trip, so I'll keep them in. There is a lot more rattling around in my head right now but I think I'll save it for next time. 

If you read all the way to the end of this post, wow, you rock! It's freaking long. Enjoy!!