trip taking

Man, I completely forgot to blog about my trip to Mexico in September! And that sucks because it was so fresh back then, the sunburn and the aching calves, and the slight hangover from pina coladas on the beach. What a brilliant time.

I absolutely love to travel. My family is not big on travelling and that saddens me. Don't get me wrong- they love home and being at home and living life in the home and that's great. I love that, too. But my sister once asked me why I travel so much. My response was simple.

It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day drama-deadlines to meet, who pissed off who, working out to work off last night's dinner, etc etc. That is so easy.
But when I travel, I do get to forget any woes at home. But I also see my little bubble of a life in the Metroplex is so small and really not anything to weep about compared to this vast world of people living and loving and being. And when I get home, my concerns seem so trivial.

So I love to travel. It's like each destination is a new little star I discovered in my galaxy and get to explore for a short time. And then I get to plan again... that's a great feeling. To boldly go where no Glori has ever gone before.

And with that, this trip I boldly took with my amazing husband, Josh, we snorkeled in clear waters (I saw a baracuda!) and looked up in awe at the ancient towers of Chichen Itza. Our boat docked on day in Progreso and I saw manta rays swarming the swirling, churning waters, no doubt gorging on a feast of whatever had been stirred up by the ship.

This I cannot make up. This I have etched in my memory. And they are so sweet.

This year I visited two opposites. The Northwest and Mexico. I'm going to New York City and Pennsylvania next month with my best friend to visit another best friend. How sweet life is. :)

The Ride Home

I was driving home from Austin with three friends fast asleep beside me and myself trying desperately not to drowse off lest I drive into a tree and blow the car up. Probably not the smartest thing to do but I didn't want to wake anyone and cause a disturbance. I was the weekend warrior martyr who sacrified herself to the highway gods and insisted on driving the 2:00 am shift.

Stupid.

But there was one saving grace. The patron saint of audio books, David Sedaris, read to me and his uncanny ability to make simple events into hilarious anecdotes kept me awake. It also got me thinking, ---maybe I could do that! Be witty and slightly self-deprecating but also disarmingly honest. But the truth is, I'm just an okay writer. The truth is that if I can get out a sentence that tells the point (subject, verb, predicate-in that order) without rambling on and on ad nauseum, then I'm doing okay.

Thus ends the thoughts on a great Austin weekend--a weekend filled with Mexican food and margaritas, lazy Comal river tubing, and Hippy Hollow moons.

There. No rambles. To the point. Thank you, David.

Where the wild things are...

I stood at the bottom of the ridge and looked up. Through the sagebrush hillside I could make out a dark shape, then two. .. I looked into my binoculars, pointing it towards where all the outstretched fingers around me indicated. With bated breath, we saw her walk into the clear- a grizzly bear in all her otherworldly magnificence, scaling the nearby hillside looking for a way down into the valley floor. And even more, she was accompanied by a cub! The frigid wind whipped around my ears, sending shivers down my spine. I could walk to her. She could walk to me. And nothing separated us. The sheer madness of the wild is breathtaking.

It is so foreign to me, me who works in an office, me who gets around in a car, me who eats frozen dinners with a staunch regularity.

And yet, somehow, I made my way to Hayden Valley, deep within Yellowstone Park. Josh and I were there at dusk and the animals, in this Garden of Eden, filled the spaces. And this, in fact, was not the only grizzly we saw. We had, in fact, seen three grizzlies total. And five black bears, one not more than 50 ft away; two bald eagles soaring through the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, the Upper Falls roaring in the background; three moose in the Grand Tetons (one of which was very young); a wolf springing through a gap in the woods and then it was gone; many many bison (two of which liked to hang out right by our cabin and pooh everywhere); and many many many elk.

We also saw countless geyers and other thermal hotspots. Turns out Yellowstone has a great caldera in it, formed by a massice volcanic eruption many many moons ago. I knew of Old Faithful, but in reality, there are geyers and fumaroles and paint/mud pots and hot springs everywhere through the park. It is not uncommon to drive through the park and see steam coming from out of the woods and to know that it is a hot spot.

We found the elusive 'warning'

While traveling along a secluded stretch of Wyoming earlier today, we discovered the elusive 'warning'. It came out of nowhere! And Josh and I starred in surprised shock as this encounter. I have always heard of the 'warning', but only now have I seen it.

We were pulled over for speeding---and the cop gave us a warning! In addition to viewing the elusive 'warning', we have also seen bison lining the side of the road, many many pronghorn antelope, and snow drifts 10 ft thick in the Togwotee Pass through the Continental Divide.

We are camping the next four days. Forecast calls for scattered rain and snow. More to come...

Heading towards Bear Country

Well, we leave Sunday for bear country...and as a security blanket to myself, on a camping trip, I'm bringing along DVDs. That's correct. You heard right. DVDs. (and a DVD player)

Not only will Josh and I be journeying on this trip, but the whole cast of "9 to 5" and "the Devil Wears Prada." Who knew so many could fit into a tent!

This insane/brilliant idea came to me when I was scoping out bug spray on the Target website. I saw the electronics tab, and thought, ok. why not?

why not, indeed. It's just a look, right?

And then, I had a mental image of my nights up north, in the cold dark tent, wided-eyed, awake, and curled up in the fetal position beside my snoring husband at three o'clock in the morning. Suddenly, I hear a couple of muffled grunts and growls outside. My breath catches as I glimpse a large ominous shadow on the other side of a 1/8" polyester barrier... scene fades to black.

So I'm bringing some movies. This is truly a security blanket, albeit one made out of metal and wiring. But I actually want to have a good time on this trip in spite of my fears (I will not let them dictate where I want to go!) and so each nite before bed, I will be accompanied by my friends, the cast of these films.

In all of their jolly escapades, I shall escape my fears.

From the depths of the Pacific, to the height of Everest

OK. First official blog. I'm not sure what to say. ...I don't think I can force thoughts, but maybe if I start a stream of consciousness.....right now, then the thoughts will unfold out of me and I will be able to work my way through the folds of my thoughts, and dissect what might be going on in my head. The theme (is there going to be a thematic element to my life?) is discovery and a journey til I make my fateful way up to Dieu and say my peace. So short a time...

Josh and I are going on a trip to the Northwest in a couple of weeks. I'm very excited about it. How about that? I can leave my office desk and little apartment and the known and then I get to be another Merriweather Lewis and Josh can be my Clark, and we will charter the unknown (to us) territories of America...the rapidly ever changing landscape of the green earth and will make a small imprint and lodge and breathe the air and be grateful. Can't wait.