7.19.14 Disneyland & Disney California Adventure - Anaheim, CA

Day 32-
7:30 am  Wake up call : "If we do Disney  we have to meet the people getting us in kinda early. Latest 8:45am"

We haven't really had any plans since Yellowstone. We have had an idea of where we had wanted to go but nothing really solidified onto our itinerary. Disneyland was something I threw on there for fun. It was more of a joke really. We were going to go to Las Vegas and I figured that Disneyland would be on a similar level of epicness.

We had to cut Vegas out of our trip. After time and financial budget constraints, we both realized that we wanted to do Vegas big. We have been living out of my van for the past month and I felt for myself that I did not want to get lost in Vegas in my current state.

Disney was a different story... We did not think Disney would happen either but we were lucky to meet wonderful friends through our journey. About a month ago, we met the most amazing people at Firefly Music Festival. Our friends from the taco tribe who live near Los Angeles have been super welcoming during our visit. They were able to get us into Disney courtesy of a friend who worked there. IT WAS AWESOME!

I woke up to my phone vibrating on the floor across the bedroom near Culver City on a Saturday morning. We had to meet our friend in Norwalk in less than an hour. I didn't change my clothes and got into soccer mom mode driving my van quickly across Los Angeles. It was great, we were listening to hip hop on the freeway.

I had absolutely no expectations from Disney. We pulled into the Donald Duck level of the parking garage. I looked around for a giant mountain with a castle on top like the animation I had seen before all the films growing up. There was none... there was a tram that would take us to the gates.

One more thing - the last time I was at a theme park was nearly 10 years ago. I developed a fear of roller coasters and cried as I stood in line for my 4th ride at Six Flags in Maryland. This phobia was something I was willing to rise above. We entered Disneyland and headed to Tommorowland.

Our first ride was Space Mountain. It was amazing. I definitely had a panic attack on the ride. My eyes were closed tight as I sat on the ride. I would take quick peeks in between breaths to see the laser stars around me as the wind blew past. Eventually I realized that if I kept breathing at the rate that I was something was going to happen - so I stopped and took in deep breathes to calm myself down. I opened my eyes and enjoyed all the production that went into the ride. I liked seeing the lasers hit the metal beams that created the structure. I wondered what it all looked like. Disneyland was all a massive production. I survived the ride. We rode a lot of rides. I RODE THE TEA CUPS! I liked waiting in that line. "A very, merry unbirthday to you!" It was somewhere around that point that I realized I was in Disney and that I wouldn't die in Disneyland.

I challenged my fears and rode the rides on our mountain tour of Disneyland. We were introduced to the magic of the single ride line - we rode Splash Mountain independently of our group and bypassed the stand by line completely. I screamed on the ride. I got wet. There was a small human in the seat before mine. I got splashed on the mountain and was thankful for my waterproof backpack as I shivered and trembled on the ride. I was cold and scared. I enjoyed the production of the moving animals, sets, and music. It was eerie. I kept imagining what the park was like in the past. I could imagine the exterior mountain structure being lifted to reveal the magic inside. Disney is magic.

The Haunted Mansion was cool. I'm not a fan of seeing bodies hanging so the first room creeped me out. There was also a hanging bear in Splash Mountain that made me feel uncomfortable. Seeing these huge nonliving illusions move and sing and repeat that felt very odd. I feel that they could be traumatizing on some level. Pirates of the Caribbean was weird. How do they hide so much production within these structures? The line mazes were interesting to study too.

We didn't try food in Disney but we did get a Pinapple Ice Cream Float from the Dole Tiki Bar near Adventureland. That was delicious! I absolutely love pineapple juice. They reminded me of Chilean "terremotos" made of pineapple sorbet and pipeño.

We caught a parade in Disneyland and followed the chimney sweepers from the Mary Poppins float all the way to the front entrance where we got our left hand stamped and continues across the plaza to Disney California Adventure. At this point we had spent 6 hours in Disney and had done a lot of exploring. We were running low on fuel and looking forward to a delicious BBQ afterwards. We set a limit of rides and went straight for them. There wasn't much time or energy for this park after such an entertaining morning in Disneyland.

We went to Soarin' Over California, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, California Screamin', and ended our day on Grizzly River Run. Soarin' Over California wasn't anything very special. I was expecting more motion and drops as we were harnessed and raised into a panoramic projection bubble. I also thought that there would at least been more of a storyline to contextualize the images of the California landscape. Christina worried about me in the Tower of Terror as I screamed during the entire ride. I hate tower drops. I probably haven't been on one since I was in middle school. It was the Twilight Zone and I was in California so I had to challenge my fears. I survived. We walked over to California Screamin' and as soon as I saw the loop I decided that I had had enough of the rides... no loops. We saw Grizzly River Run as we were leaving the park. It was the first time I ever rode a ride like that. I usually sit it out and hold onto everyone's bags while they get wet. It was fun.

We still needed food. Chavo invited us over to his home for dinner. We needed to stop by North Gate, a Mexican supermarket, to get supplies. On the way, Chavo talked up Super Fries from Albert's in Norwalk. We stopped by for an order of Mini Super Fries to serve as an appetizer. Super Fries come in a carry out box with beans, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and salsa. They offer an assortment of sauces to add to the food. It was an experience to savor.

James met us at Chavo's and together they prepared a delicious meal of beer-marinated carne asada with coffee and garlic seasoning from Trader Joe's. Tortilla chips and a pineapple guacamole salsa. Chavo's father joined us later and we stayed up talking and experiencing a hot pepper tasting and a tequila tasting.  I know myself and observed only.  I don't do hot peppers or tequila. It was a great night to end a great day at the "happiest place on Earth."

7.14-15.14 San Francisco, CA (Petaluma, CA)

I have lost track of the days since Seattle. We have been moving very fast and doing very much within the past week. I still need to catch up and reflect on the Pacific Northwest. I also need to take time to share my reflections from this trip thus far. It has almost been a month since we began this journey across the United States.

We were very lucky in San Francisco. We did not know exactly where we would be staying. I had a few friends but no definite hosts until a few days before our arrival. It didn't help that we did not have an exact arrival date. I love friends and their friends. 

We have been blessed to stay in a beautiful home in Tiburon, California. It is about 20 minutes north of San Francisco. We have been spoiled with this place and it has felt very relaxing compared to our running around on the roads. We drove all through the night to arrive to here on July 14, 2014. I didn't want to further inconvenience our host by waking him up before dawn. So when we arrived in the Bay Area, I took advantage of seeing parts of the city before everyone woke up and traffic became terrible. I had been to San Francisco once before in 2012. I remembered the traffic and the streets. This time was a different trip entirely. 

Day 27- 

We saw the sun rise over California State Route-37. Both of use were exhausted. I kept driving on to the city while Christina slept and I sang along to the radio music. As we neared the city, it was the strangest experience to see the fog roll along the hills. I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. Last time I was in SF, I only saw it from a distance. It was beautiful. Within my first hour in city, I accomplished the highlights that I had failed to experience on my first visit. 

My destination was the Palace of Fine Arts. I had seen the beautiful images of the site. I saw the top of the dome from a distance during a bus ride from Presidio last time I was in SF as I tried to get myself to the airport in time. This time I parked alongside and ran out to explore the structure at dawn. It was eerie. It was massive. It was overwhelming. The figures on the structure were creepy. It was a beautiful space but I did not like the feminine figure that were on the corners. They were all exactly the same and looked as if they had gotten in trouble and had to put their head down. I walked around the fountain. It was awesome to see all the bird species. 

Walked back to the car and drove to the house of our host and fell asleep in our car seats. It was a still too early and I didn't want to wake him... he saw our car and invited us in as he rushed out to work. We fell asleep on his couch and woke up hours later. We had been awake for 24 hours with only a few naps in between. Sleep was glorious. 

We woke up late that morning. It was late for us to go into the city of San Francisco. We didn't have much of a plan. It was a heavy day. We were pulling ourselves together. We decided to go to Petaluma to check out the Lagunitas Brewery. We enjoyed a tour and learned about their colorful history. It felt like a fun place to work and their beer is really good. After our tour, we went to Ray's Deli for delicious sandwiches. It was getting late and we still didn't have much of a plan or energy to really do anything. I got to visit Mrs. Grossman's Sticker factory. It was too late to go on a tour but I was really happy to spend money on the same stickers that I had when I was a kid. We spent the evening wandering around the Petaluma riverfront.

Day 28-
We still had not formed much of a plan but we figured we would explore San Francisco today. Our first mission was Dim Sum in Richmond. We had a feast! We ordered so much food; it would last us the whole day. After our big meal, we needed to walk around to work off the food. My friend recommended a visit to Sutro Baths. I was expecting to see the beautiful remains of the old building but they were really ruins. It was nice. We relaxed by the ocean and walked along trails.

We got back into the car and worked our way through the city. We went to 16th & Moraga to climb up the mosaic tiled steps. We discovered more stairs up above. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the whole city. We drove down Lombard Street, one of the steepest and curviest streets. We wandered around Chinatown before we drove to the Bay Bridge. The sunset and we watched the Bay Lights installation by Leo Villareal. We ate the last of our dim sum left overs sitting by Cupid's Span sculpture by Claus Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen.

6.24.14 Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, PA) & Columbus, OH

Day 7-
We went to The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. It was fantastic! I was so happy to see all of Andy's history. I loved the family photographs on the 7th floor. I got so many lesson ideas from the eras of Andy. His Time Capsules were awesome. He was such a strange genius. I made a screen test that I'll check out later.  Christina and I took a set of photos in the photobooth. So much fun! I am thankful I had a Smithsonian experience.  We were able to bypass the $20 cost with my old Smithsonian ID. It also saved us $8 at Fallingwater. 

Another bonus was that I spotted an Andre the Giant by Shepard Fairley across the street from the museum.

Before we left Pittsburgh we made sure we got pierogies. We went to Szmidt's Old World Deli for lunch. The Beastarogie was delicious!

We spent the afternoon driving to Columbus, OH to stay with my friend from high school. He welcomed us and let us do our first load of laundry on this trip. We are eternally thankful.  Afterwards, he took us on a tour of downtown Columbus. We played pool and enjoyed a burger and brews at Elevator Brewery and Drafthouse on High Street.

A night of sleep on a couch and air mattress after relaxing with Parks and Recreation.  We move North in the morning.

6.23.14 fallingwater & Downtown Pittsburgh, PA

Day 6-
We left Delaware in the morning. I bought a new phone. It is a hot pink Samsung Galaxy mini - I've named it Miss Piggy though its more of an Animal hot mess pink. Traveling with Kermit and Miss Piggy sitting in traffic going from the east coast out west!

Christina made my dream come true! I finally saw Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in PA! We didn't go inside but walked around with ground pass. It wasn't everything I imagined it to be but I was happy to be there and finally complete that mission. I was glad it was a stop through. If we had more time we would have explored Ohiopyle State Park. It would be even more spectacular in the fall with the leaves changing.

We continued on to Downtown Pittsburgh for dinner. We had sandwiches filled with fries from Primanti Bros. at Market Square. We wandered to Point State Park to check out the reflection pool and the fountain where all three rivers converge.  We walked over a bridge and took a lift to check out the Duquesne Incline. We saw the sunset over the Pittsburgh skyline.

We a slept in a real bed that night and had showers. It was amazing! A friend of a friend of Christina opened thier guest room to us for the night in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

6.18-22.14 Firefly Music Festival - Dover, DE

This is my first time walking up with nothing to do and nowhere to go in a really long time. All I want in this moment is some type of normality. I have been sleeping in a tent the past few nights. Someone is playing Outkast in the distance. Christina and I will be living out of my minivan for the next month as we travel around the United States.  Here's a recap of the first adventures.

Day 1-
Our journey began with a detour to Damascus, MD. I wanted to drop off somethings to dear friends before the trip. We continued on to the University Alumni Center to check in for Firefly Music Festival volunteers.

We made it to our campsite and successfully set up camp between the both of us with a little help from our California taco vendor neighbors.  They helped us with the canopy.

We worked our first shift at tge Camping Check-in 8pm-2am. It began to storm towards the en of our shift. We spent most of the time watching the skies light up with lightning after a beautiful sunset in Dover, DE.

We returned to our campsite and lay outside watching the natural light show. Christina stayed out longer. I went into the tent to sleep.  I thought we were going to die that night. I imagined a branch falling on us. I imagined the canopy would crush us. I felt like the wind would carry the tent away with me in it.  j managed to fall asleep through the fear. I realized that fear was preventing me from enjoying the beautiful lightning outside. 

Day 2-
The festival started today. We checked in campers frpm 11am-6pm. It was what it was. We befriended volunteers and people waiting in thier cars.
We were able to experience Local Natives from a great spot near the front. I love thier music! It was a great start to the festival. I also enjoyed a Korean bbq taco from Lemongrass.

Day 3-
It began with our alarms going off at 4:30am. Our shift was from 5am-12pm. We did nothing but organize some boxes and sleep in the sunlight. After that shift we were free to enjoy the entire festival for the rest of the weekend. Showers were glorious!

I brought Christina to the brewery and we enjoyed a Midas Touch from Dogfish Head Brewery. I had a "David Bowie" pizza from Pie for the People. It was great! So much happiness.

We returned to camp and bonded with our neighbors. Shots of Jameson, Christina and I observed a round of "rage cage" before we got ready for Artic Monkeys. We danced at A-TRAK and found a space under the trees for Foo Fighters. I saw Pat Smear! PAT SMEAR! who played with Darby Crash in THE GERMS! So ridiculously happy. We made it front row for Girl Talk. I spent the whole time dancing but it didn't feel quite right. I needed more space to move freely. We came straight back and tried to get ourselves together before passing out to sleep. We were exhausted.

Day 4-
Casualty: cell phone misplaced.  There is a complete possibility that I may have dropped my cell phone between a Flower of Life light sculpture and the campsite last night. It is okay. I laughed. I lost all pictures. 

So much happened...
2 Midas Touch. Peace Love Tacos.
Germany vs. Ghana 2-2 draw. (Third Eye Blind) . Grouplove. Tune-Yards. Grouplove. OUTKAST. Pretty Lights.
I had 1 hour of sleep and stayed up all night with the taco tribe. They are each individually amazing!

Day 5-
I couldn't even lift my head the next morning. I cuddled with Timothy monkey for a few hours and sweat in the tent as I tried to get some rest.
We saw Weezer, Ziggy Marley, Washed Out, Phantogram, Childish Gambino, and ended the night at Big Gigantic. 
We came back and hung out at Peace Love Tacos for a while. Our dancing feet were done! We met back at camp later and shared some music before going to sleep. Successful Firefly experience filled with new friends and great music!

6.14.2014 Hampden, Baltimore

"Excuse me, Hon." - Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to post-celebrate my Hannah Hon's birthday at HonFest 2014 in Hampden, a quirky neighborhood in Baltimore. We spent the day wandering down the Avenue amid the crowds.

Our afternoon began at The Charmery.  They
have a really nice exhibition space, awesome local artwork displayed on thier walls. We decided it would be our last stop but it ended up being quite an eventful day. I need to go back and try their ice cream!

Around the corner is a great shop called BAZAAR. It definitely brought me back to my strange childhood, exploring the oddities in my Uncle Woo's collection. They had a Shunken Hon! The storefront display was really beautiful. They upcycled odd things into floating planters.


We spent the majority of the afternoon in and out of bars during the World Cup futbol matches. I had an enlightening conversation with a music teacher now working in the private school system. I learned about other paths towards teaching abroad.

It was a beautiful day. It was fun to be dressed up and to see others made-up and adorned in beehive updos. One of my favorite moments was singing along to jazz-style renditions of Sublime. Surrounded by good company and merriment, I lost myself a little.

Luckily, I received a reminder from a friend for an early show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. I parted ways from my friends, they got me a ride to my car courtesy of Uber, and swiftly made my way back home to pick up the tickets. It was a perfect way to celebrate the end of the school year. I spent the night dancing to the live music of tUnE-yArDs.

tUnE-yArDs @ 9:30 Club - 14 June 2014

6.6.14 Cape Henlopen State Park - Lewes, Delaware

We took the day off to enjoy a little bit of sand and sunlight before parting ways. It felt like a preview of this summer's adventure. 

Preparing snacks for the drive. Sitting in traffic. Being patient. Sing alongs in the car... that was new to me. I don't have much of a musical history. I don't sing aloud too often. Most times my voice is barely audible if others are present to listen. 

We arrived and the beach happened to be down wind from some smells. It gave me more of a reason to lay on the sand and bury my face into my towel and forget about everything. I was on the beach enjoying the sights and sounds. Smell has been one of my weakest senses anyways. 

Water was green, murky, and cold. That didn't stop me from enjoying the waves along my legs. I got in completely once but then was pushed over by a wave and made my way back to our spot to dry off. 

The day ended with a beautiful sunset on the other side of the cape. Then we drove off into the distance back home.