Our journey thus far. New York to Las Vegas, a quiet 8000km's travelled!
The lack of decent internet is becoming a rather exhausting problem. Couple that with being hosted by amazing, warm, hospitable, very distracting, ex-LA-current-Texans, and finding time to write and blog has blown away like a paper plane in a tornado. I always seem to be 2 steps behind. Shaun and I seem to lack the forward planning gene – one of the few things we actually have in common. This is the only reason a trip of this magnitude was possible for us. ‘On a wing and a prayer’ seems to be our unspoken, yet shared motto.
Recently we found out how well spontaneity can work out, after Erin and Marty (Lincolns angels from Mexico) invited us to stay with them in Dallas. Not only did they welcome us, relative strangers, into their home, but they first hooked us up with their good friends Erik and Judy in Austin. We couldn’t have asked for a warmer welcome anywhere, let alone from people we hardly knew. We were taken in, fed, given beds, shown around, and entertained, with not a whisper of how we might have put them out. It’s the kind of hospitality I would hope to find from close friends and family, it was both heart warming and humbling to find from busy strangers in a foreign country.
Included in our personal tour guides, excellent cuisine, local hangouts and private winter-wonderland-packed weekend, was a Phillip Phillips and John Meyer concert! Having always lived in South Africa, I cannot explain the excitement at finding out last minute that not 1, but 2 artists of this magnitude are playing 20 minutes down the road!.. and there were still tickets!!! 🙂 This is an experience that will be hard to beat – it is soundly etched in our memories!
Following that unforgettable experience, were then several more. On advice from our new American friends, we decided to squeeze in 3 extra National Parks on our way from Texas to the Grand Canyon. I use the term ‘on our way’ loosely. Not an impossible feat, but one which required much shuffling of our itinerary, and an extra 1300 km of driving. It was worth it! Thank you unspoken motto.
I’m beginning to think that for once the kids read the memo, their cooperation at our travelling distances and recent spate of moving every 2 days is mind blowing. The fact that they haven’t turned into belligerent little gremlins who refuse to sit in their seats or be buckled in defies my logic. That’s not to say that they aren’t tired of moving, God knows I need a break from all the driving, packing and eating out. We have been willing the 20th on so we can give work the old boot for a few weeks. ‘We’ is a bit of a strong word however. I will be catching up on the very ramshackle inner workings of our companies accounting system, while simultaneously continuing to furnish you all with stories of our adventures. Shaun and the kids will, however, have a much needed break from both work and tiring travel. My break will be in not having to pack our suitcases every few days, squeeze us and the average sized luggage store into the car, navigate our way through Hicksville to our next adventuresome town, and the real bonus, having an extra pair of eyes to watch the kids! They have both grown about a foot since we arrived, and with that has come the speed of a hundred horses – they are so quick we can’t seem to keep up anymore.
I look forward to regaling tails of national parks and gambling lands, and with the sun shining down on the glistening snow, I promise to not get too distracted, even though I know our next spontaneous adventure is lurking around the corner. Peace Y’all!
