Homeward Bound

Oh. Dear. We are going to be in home in four days. This little bloggy-poo has been harder than we thought to keep up with so here is a brief synopsis of our most recent untold adventures:

Nashville:

Keeley says: Nashville continues to be one of my most favorite places. It was so glorious to see so many old friends (and for those of you I missed, I miss you so much!!!) Deanna and Rick were rockstar hosts, we were fed well and constantly caffeinated, not to mention that they are some of the most inspiring souls to be around. Highlights of the week for me included: touring the city with Jer, lunch at Calypso Café (ohhhh Lucayan salad, you are magical) playing in a round at the Bluebird and getting to also be a fan in the audience at the Bluebird, canoeing down the Duck River, and watching Jeremy make friends with Ben Folds at the Frothy Monkey Coffee Shop the day we left town. These are all clearly abbreviated explanations, the week was full of heartwarming and laughing and deep gratitude to just be there.

I, Jeremy Hogan, love Nashville. I think the Bluebird might be my new favorite place to watch live music. Hours of just real, amazing music, without the L.A. pretense…I mean a night of Keeley and Lori Mckenna…just ridiculous. Charles…you are a stud…not only did I love your music, you set up a fantastic night…thank you for everything!! Other things I learned about Nash…Rick is a legit chef…his food was amazing and he and Deanna have a beautiful home and were great hosts. Meeting their wonderful family and drinking Deanna’s fantastic iced coffee was so so fun. I also have a complete mental image now of every place Keeley has ever walked in Nashville…I think she was born to be a tour guide. Meeting Keeleys friends and enjoying the local fare kept us busy and canoeing down the Duck River with the wonderful newlyweds, Matt and Emily Mandango was a highlight. I’ve heard so many great things about Nashville, but this quick visit exceeded my expectations and I cant wait to come back.

Louisville:

Keeley says:

-lovely lovely city!

-Derby City Espresso was a pretty interesting place, not sure how I got booked there given the night was pretty much rock and roll opened by little old me on the guitar

-thank you Keith Kirkland for hotwire.com and the whole new world of discount hotelling!

-why is Kentucky on eastern time?

Things Jeremy learned:

-Apparently, the fleur-de-lis is not only the symbol of New Orleans, but also the official seal of Louisville…who knew…not me…and I’m sorry for offending you Louisvillians with my ignorance.

-Louisville is not afraid to mix soft singer songwriters with pure rock and roll…bitchin!!

-Louisvillians like good beer…also bitchin!!

-Louisville can cook a mean breakfast!

-Gonna have to visit again some day and remember not to bring up New Orleans

Indianapolis:

Keeley says:

-downtown is absolutely charming. kind of reminded me of trafalger square in London.

-sometimes getting a room through hotwire.com means that you will be put in the room right next to the pool and right across from the conference room that is hosting a giant family reunion beginning at 9am.

-music scene in Indy also quite eclectic.

Jeremy:

-surprisingly good Mexican food and margs!!

-surprisingly beautiful downtown.

-sorry Indianapolis for being so surprised

-little girls asking for Keeleys autograph…super cute

Chicago:

Keeley says:

-Lake Shore Drive is so scenic and a really great way to be welcomed into the Windy City

-traffic there sucks!

-Lake Bluff and Lake Forest are so so so cute!!! Fantastic time was had hanging with the Scheutz’s, my stomach hurt all night from laughing so much

-there is so much to see in downtown

-one of my favorite things I saw was how happy Jeremy was to try different pizzarias

-the view from the John Hancock building is pretty ridiculous

-Wrigley Field is magical and I’m not even a baseballologist

-apparently Obama was there the day we left. terrible timing!!

Jeremy says

-the Scheutz and all of Lake Bluff is so so charming…our one night with them was so so fun…p.s. birthday cake ice cream is the way to go.

-surprise stay at a historic hotel in downtown Chicago...day of pizza and exploration…best views of downtown…game at Wrigley…could there be a better day…could there be a better girlfriend…I think not!!

-Pizza...deep dish pizza…amazing deep dish pizza!!!

-Pizza!!!

-more Pizza!!!

-amazing architecture, beautiful city and a history of planning…so cool

Minneapolis:

Keeley:

-the drive through Wisconsin was so picturesque and so very beautiful

-people in Wisconsin must love Journey because they were on the radio every 5 minutes

-Minneapolis and St. Paul were seriously so enjoyable I feel like I could live there

-The Big Ginger at The Local is one of the best drinks I’ve ever had

-long talks with my boyfriend about life make the world go round

-can I PLEASE have a Midwestern accent??

-Lake Calhoun is amazing. (see bullet point #3)

-last minute stop at the local co-op, delish local, organic snacks for the road! YAY!

-absolutely loved driving through the Twin Cities imagining my Noni growing up there

Jeremy thinks everything that Keeley thinks…Jameson and ginger ale…duh…amazing conversation with the one you love-double duh… clean, amazing city full of nice people with cool accents…I mean all this equals a great time…I could definitely see myself walking the streets of the twin cities again some day…who knows!

Montana:

Keeley:

-my boyfriend is a rockstar driver!!

-oh, what do you know, North Dakota loves Journey too

-waking up to the sun rising over the Bighorn Mountains is truly good for the soul

-Fred Burr canyon smells the same everytime we get up there

-our car is a covered in nasty bugs

-I can’t wait for the next few days here….so much to do and see and so little time

-Liason’s Coffee Shop in downtown Hamilton, MT is the bomb. The owner is the sweetest lady with the cutest daughter and these Italia sodas are gooooood.

Jeremy thinks he is becoming obsessed with Montana.

-and the Midwest is legit obsessed with Journey…I mean allll thheee tiiiimmme.

-am radio at 2am in North Dakota is really really weird

-Driving through the 43 in Montana reminded me of why I believe in a God…breathtaking.

-pulling up to the shack in the Bitterroot Mts.-I could feel a rush of joy come over me. This is only my second visit here, but I already love it.

So, that’s all for now folks. Our crazy, glorious trip will be over in like 4 days……I’m in denial about that for sure.

Southern Comfort

Jer and I are sitting at Fido’s in Hillsboro Village. I used to come here several times a week when I was a Nashvillian and being that my boyfriend is coffee-expert and an aficionado of the café, I couldn’t wait to take him here and show off my stomping ground.

Driving into Nashville I felt a surge of joy. As happy as I am to be back in California, there is something so homey and comforting and exciting about being in Music City. It’s beautiful here. It’s charming and quaint, it’s green and rolling hills, it’s brick and steeples, it’s southern hospitality. We are staying with Deanna and Rick, two of my faves. Deanna was my songwriting teacher when I was at Vandy and my subsequent mentor for everything from lyrics to life when I graduated. We were greeted last night with a huge helping of homemade pesto sauce and aged cheeses followed by a typical culinary masterpiece a la Rick. Charles, Wendy and their glorious daughter Serena joined in for supper and it was really a perfect night.

So far this morning at Fido’s I’ve just been trying to coordinate with all the people I want to visit. I’m so so so excited to see you all.

We left Noni and Papa’s on Sunday morning after a brief adventure with a flat tire the night before. (We are fine and fully inflated). As I have since I was a little kid I felt the tears welling up as we waved goodbye to them. They are just so dear to my heart.

We decided to skip New Orleans in favor of saving money and time on the road so we hightailed it to Little Rock instead. The drive up to Arkansas was really quite picturesque. We took the lessor travelled Interstate 79 out of Texas instead of the 35 and it was so so pretty. We winded along east Texas and into Louisiana and finally, the Natural State. I feel kind of bad admitting how surprised we were that is was so pretty, but I guess we weren’t the only ones. At the hotel there was a brochure that said something like ‘If you’re like all our other visitors you were probably surprised by the natural beauty here!” Yes, yes we were.

Jer woke me up with coffee on Sunday morning and the day was magical! (thanks for all the warm and sweet birthday wishes everyone!!! so so kind!) We cruised around Little Rock and hopped on I-40 for the drive up to Nash. We took a detour in Memphis and walked around Beale Street. Jer was realllllly excited to see the Mississippi River (which he has nicknamed the Mississip). The drive continued to be gorgeous and soothing and welcoming. And now were are in Nash until Friday and I can’t wait to show him every single thing I love about it.

It’s still so surreal that we are on this trip and getting to explore and see everything that we are. I just feel so thankful for every minute.

The Fun Is Bigger In Texas!

So we’ve made it to the lone star state.(we’ve actually been here since Friday, but haven’t set aside any time to update) I never thought I’d say this, but I’m an official fan of Texas. I know, I know, but it’s true…wait, let me go back a bit…

Ok, so after our brief and rather unmemorable stopover in Roswell, Keels and I drove down to Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico. If you’ve never been, it’s absolutely beautiful! There’s something so prehistoric and creepy about caves…and if you ask Keeley, upon entering…very stinky! Admittedly, the bat guano and bird poo was a bit overwhelming. She had to cover her face with a jacket as we descended down 4 bazillion feet. Eventually, the smell went away along with the 90+ degree weather. Underneath the hot New Mexican desert, it was a pleasant 56 degrees, and it felt like a completely different world…with all the drooping stalactites and dripping water. It was amazing. So, Carlsbad Caverns is hidden underneath the Guadalupe mountains and Guadalupe Mountain National Park is just a ½ hr drive away in Texas. So, after our jaunt through the marvelous caves of New Mexico, we ventured into solid red country. I swear, after we crossed that state line, things really did seem to change. I mean, I don’t know what it was, but it was odd and the trucks were obviously bigger. Maybe the road is getting to me, but it seriously felt different. Guadalupe NP was just gorgeous though…these sharp craggily mountains dramatically jut out of these green gentle Texas hills. It was breathtaking. (see pic above) We camped underneath the stars with a perfect view of the crags, and I had a wonderfully nutritious meal of Mac and Cheese. As you can tell, after my Sante Fe disaster, I’ve quickly returned to my obsession with cheese and everything grand. Jeremy is once again feeling strong! So, after our first successful night in Texas, Keeley and I headed over to the one blue section of Texas…Austin. Now, I’ve heard Austin is fun, but I had no clue it’d be as wild as it was. We got a cheap hotel and quickly hit the town, heading over to 6^th street. You can definitely tell Austin is the one liberal part of Texas. In fact, I think the surrounding conservatism has made Austin go a bit overboard. It was a Saturday night in the summer, but it felt like college was in full swing. It was pretty crazy...or maybe I’m just getting old. Either way, it was great fun. They blocked off the streets and people were walking through the middle, music was playing everywhere, it was wild. I found my favorite bourbon and a good local beer, and Keeley had some cocktails and we just walked around soaking everything in. The next day, we were off again and headed over to Dallas to see some friends and watch Keeley perform. I must thank our Dallas friends Shelly and Keith for being such wonderful hosts. You two are awesome! They were very gracious and we enjoyed some fabulous Tex-Mex and some frickin awesome burgers at the Twisted Root. Keeley’s show was Monday night, but she and Sara J laid out by the pool all day while Keith, Zach and I laid inside, watching ESPN and a Ken Burns baseball documentary. You just cant go wrong with this day, right?! Eventually, six-thirty finally came around and we headed over to the Opening Bell Café. This day just keeps getting better and better, I know! The show at the Opening Bell was a singer/songwriter round and Keeley ba-rought it!! She sang six songs…some oldies…some newbie’s. It was great to see all the friends who came out. It was a fantastic audience and a really cool little café. Our time in Dallas came to an end on Tuesday and we eagerly made our way down highway 35 to Boerne (it’s about 45 minutes north of San Antonio), where Keeley’s grandparents live. Now…Keeley had been looking forward to this part of the trip forever and I’ve been waiting to meet them for about a year now. So, finally, after about 5 hours on the 35, we arrived at Noni and Papa’s beautiful home in the rolling hills of Texas. If you can picture the cutest, nicest grandparents in the world, then you’ve got Keeley’s Noni and Papa. They are so so sweet and had a wonderful salmon dinner ready for us when we arrived. (They are notorious for feeding their guests and feeding them well.) The next day I met more of the family. Her sweet aunt MaryAnne picked us up and brought us over to Bandera where Keeley was to perform. In Bandera, I met her uncle Mike and we checked out their beautiful home, ate some more Tex-Mex and drove through the quant little city. (Bandera is apparently known as the cowboy capital of the world) (see pic below) That night Keeley performed at this cute little coffeehouse on main street. The show was awesome...MaryAnne made sure the local paper had a nice write up about Keeley announcing the details of the show and it brought some lovely people out who were very kind. It was a wonderful show. She entertained the crowd for two hours and we all loved it. So…hopefully now after this long winded posting, you can understand how this California boy has somehow fallen in love with Texas. And yes, I do understand that the Texas Rangers lead the Angels by six games…and no…I’m not happy about it…but our time here has been just amazing…I’m grateful for every minute of it. The last four days here in Boerne have just been unbelievable. I’ve enjoyed some great home cookin…met Keeley’s grandparents, wonderful aunt MaryAnne, and kind uncle Mike…I’ve been blessed to watch Keeley sing her heart out…we’ve played Uno, taken in some Texas sun, and just relaxed in this wonderfully refreshing place. Keeley has mentioned to me many times how rejuvenating it is here, and now I completely understand. So…until next time…hopefully it’ll be much sooner.

Stairway to Magic

Our adventures in Santa Fe continued with gusto after our last post. Not more that 4 hours later dear Jer came down with some kind of 24 hour flu/food poisoning/something bad situation and spent his entire night at the KOA barfing. It was one of the greatest tragedies I've ever witnessed. As soon as I could the next morning I relocated us to a hotel with a nice, cozy bed, air conditioning and shade and a bathroom with great proximity. We spent most of yesterday watching an NCIS marathon on USA which to be honest was pretty awesome as I'm obsessed those kinds of shows. Jer ate a slice of pizza for din last night so I knew we were back in biz.

We woke up this morning and headed north the the Bandelier National Monument (see the pic to the left- Jer made me post a pic of myself this time FYI) The monument contains the ruins of a Puebloan community dating back to the 12 and 1300's. The surrounding canyon walls are actually a type of volcanic rock called Tuff that is evidently easy to manipulate and as such these Pueblo people built homes in the sides of the cliffs. There are several ladders leading up into these cliff dwellings, the longest taking you up 140 feet. The views were spectacular and the feel inside of these dwellings was also amazing- the ceilings still charred with black smoke from long ago. It was a great day to be outside and to explore and the monument was just plain cool.

After a giant Coke at the visitor center we loaded back into the car and headed south, finally leaving Santa Fe. We ended up in Roswell. This is a very interesting place. They are really proud of the alien stuff. The street lamps are even in the shape of alien heads. I haven't noticed anything other worldly yet except that the hotels here are all pretty expensive given the fact we are basically in the middle of nowhere. We're staying in a Motel 6 and I'm telling you, the bed comforter is THE ugliest thing I've ever seen. It's all colors of neon blue with all these random animals on it. I took a great of pic of Jer holding the Motel 6 Welcome Book while pointing at the bed and I wanted that to be the picture for this post but he wouldn't let me.

We have two more days of adventuring in New Mexico before we reach Texas.. I can only imagine all the glory that awaits.

Green Chilies Make The World Go Round

First things first, downtown Tucson on a Sunday is not that exciting. Our apologies to any Tucsonians (we didn't after all, properly research) but that main street was dead!! On the other hand, Apache National Forest (in AZ) was beautiful. It took us longer to get there than we thought but the drive on the 191 was worth it. We were greeted with rain showers, no entrance fee, and a fantastic campground host, Cliff.

The drive to Santa Fe was less than stellar. In our next life, we need an ipod so we don't have to listen to the same pinche cd 3 times in a row. Literally. Three. times. in. a. row.

Santa Fe, however, is truly magical. We were only planning on staying here for a night or two but have since fallen in love with it and are staying as long as we can. The adobe architecture, art galleries, sterling silver, and clearly, New Mexican cuisine, have cast a spell over these humble Californians. To top it off, every local we have met has been so kind and gracious and excited to talk to us about their favorite places in town. There is so much culture and so much history here, in fact Santa Fe is celebrating it's 400th year!! It's the oldest capitol in the US.

Now we must apologize to our fathers for passing up the opportunity to stay at a legit campground in order to stay at a........KOA. So we can get internet and showers...sacrelig!!!!!

Above is a pic of Jer enjoying locally brewed beer and some killllller green chili at The Shed.

Tucson, AZ 9:15pm

Jer and I pulled into a Super 8 on the outskirts of downtown. Our room was stifling. The car thermometer registered over 100 degrees outside for the majority of our 7 hour drive. The pool here stays open until 9 pm so we figured we had about 20 minutes. I haven’t gone swimming in a long time. I’m at a pool frequently enough, but usually just lounging or putting my feet in or the occasional dip to cool off whilst tanning. I haven’t played in the pool in awhile. We jumped in without even feeling the water and I just immediately started laughing. I just felt silly, but in a good way. We tried to think of pool games that only have two people but we came up short so we settled on submarine rides and wall to wall races. Two little kids and their grandma came in, the kids no more than 4 and both wearing full body floaties that made their chests look disproportionately larger than the rest of their bodies. The little boy was so excited to get in the water and show off his paddling and floating skills. He was just as jovial as could be. It was so sweet and so refreshing. I remember being a little kid and being on an all day car trip and pulling into a hotel in the later part of the night and just hoping we would make the pool hours. The whole day has brought back such happy memories of my youth, the desert skyline, the smells, the dairy queen blizzard stop. It’s been a really busy couple of weeks between packing and moving and hopping around between relatives and friends. There has been a lot of laughter in the hanging out and a lot of tears in saying goodbyes. But tonight I feel a childlike kind of carelessness. Not irresponsibility but just a freedom. We are on the road.

Last Days in SoCal

Leaving for San Diego, clearly without brushing my hair.....

License Plate Game scoresheet (I'm winning right now)

Dearest Dede!!! (Jer's aunt)

Visiting the Sawdust festival with Nat before Art a Fair!