Backdrops

It was pretty cool to experience how different parts of the U.S. are from each other. Most states have certain stereotypes associated with them, and yet often we wouldn't have know that we'd crossed into another state if there hadn't been a giant sign letting us know. And actually we took backroads into Colorado, where there definitely aren't any signs (let alone pavement), so we didn't know when we had officially crossed the border.

Here's a shot of Bradellina as we drove through North Dakota. I think this was one of the stretches we experienced in the midwest where it looked like the edge of the world was just out of view, and eventually we would plummet off when we finally reached the end of the road.

If you've ever spent a long period of time in a radically different area from what you're used to, you might start to miss things that you never thought you'd care about, simply because it's familiar. Right now I experience this phenomenon with strip malls and parking lots. I'm living in New York City, but I grew up in Washington State (no, not Seattle). In NYC almost every bit of land is stacked with buildings, so when make the occasional trip to New Jersey, I get really excited when I see stores that are only one story high and have huge plots where nothing is built at all, but rather they just painted lines on the ground. You're probably making fun of me right now, but I challenge you to live somewhere very different from your usual place for at least a year, and then you'll know what I'm talking about. BUT the point of that little ramble is that that is what the below-pictured Starbucks was for us on the roadtrip. The Southeast doesn't have many Starbucks, so when we found one in Amarillo, TX we were way over-excited.

I think one of my favorite places we got to stay while on the roadtrip was the ranch in Oklahoma. It was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. Right up there with the ocean. We were there in early January, so it was freezing, but there were no clouds so at night you could see every star God created (that might be an over-exaggeration, but that's what it felt like). We got to help out on the ranch, which was hard work, and yet so easy to do because of the easy-going pace. There was no TV, no internet, very little cell phone reception, and that just made life seem so simple. Someday I would LOVE to go live and work on a ranch like that. Bradellina loved his/her time there, too, where it was just him/her and his/her music. 

A few states later we were in Las Vegas (Vegas, baby, yeah! Riiiiight...). We had fun getting play slot machines and some of the simpler card games. I think the best part of Vegas was when we visited Fremont Street, an area north of the Strip. That's where Hannah procured this awesome cowboy boot cup, which she and Bradellina shared (yes, he/she is over 21 years of age, so he/she was drinking and gambling legally).