Monday, June 27, 2011
SO many adventures! So little time to blog them all! (part 1)
Oof! So many things to catch up on! Which is something that I think becomes more difficult when the days kind of lose meaning, and I've lost track of time...
We caught up with our lovely friend, Miranda, in Phoenix after going to a delicious South Indian lunch with Aparna's uncle and little cousin. It was so good to see Miranda again...like soul sisters reuniting. Even though the car's thermostat read up to 112 F that day, we braved the heat and, with the help of local second-hand shop owner, randomly found the way to an old-timey ice cream joint called Mary...something... Anyway, it was the first ice cream place that I've ever seen have a sit-down menu full of sundaes and specials. All of us got double scoop waffle bowls of yumminess... Very filling! And the place itself was pretty cute. It looked like it had the same decor as when it opened in the 1950s, so we had fun with that.
My uncle John took everyone (the two of us and my cousins) out to dinner that night, so I filled up on yummy ceviche on top of my mountain of ice cream. It was kind of an epic dinner in that I heard a lot of family stories I hadn't gotten to hear before, but it was really nice to get the chance to visit with them all.
We left for Chandler to go to Aparna's uncle's house (which was maybe 45 mins away...? Everything is so far apart there!) where Chachi was waiting to fill us up again with a whole Indian dinner. It was the most food I've eaten in a day...maybe ever...but it was so good, and I literally couldn't refuse an extra spoonful because it was basically already in my bowl. :) Gosh though, we had some of the most delicious Indian food from Chachi's hands, and she was so sweet about answering all my foodie questions, so I definitely have some cooking homework to do when I get back home! Oh, and they had the coolest garden. Seriously they had like ten pomegranate trees, a bunch of citrus and tons of vegetables! So cool.
We hit the road out of Phoenix on Thursday morning and followed a good chunk of Route 66 to the Petrified Forest. We did have to take a pretty major detour because the big fire that was (is?) raging in Arizona jumped the highway we were set to go on just before we hit the junction. So we took a nice detour through Snowflake, AZ which is I think the most beautiful country I've seen so far...the whole Apache/Hopi reservation country in general, including up to what is National Park land that we were on. There's just something about the combination bleached white grasses with the big blue sky and the green scrub. It took my breath away, my thoughts, my emotions...everything.
So by the time we go to the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, we assumed it would take maybe an hour or less to see it all and be back on the road. Wrong!
(K. More to come!) Lovelovelove.
-Alia
We caught up with our lovely friend, Miranda, in Phoenix after going to a delicious South Indian lunch with Aparna's uncle and little cousin. It was so good to see Miranda again...like soul sisters reuniting. Even though the car's thermostat read up to 112 F that day, we braved the heat and, with the help of local second-hand shop owner, randomly found the way to an old-timey ice cream joint called Mary...something... Anyway, it was the first ice cream place that I've ever seen have a sit-down menu full of sundaes and specials. All of us got double scoop waffle bowls of yumminess... Very filling! And the place itself was pretty cute. It looked like it had the same decor as when it opened in the 1950s, so we had fun with that.
My uncle John took everyone (the two of us and my cousins) out to dinner that night, so I filled up on yummy ceviche on top of my mountain of ice cream. It was kind of an epic dinner in that I heard a lot of family stories I hadn't gotten to hear before, but it was really nice to get the chance to visit with them all.
We left for Chandler to go to Aparna's uncle's house (which was maybe 45 mins away...? Everything is so far apart there!) where Chachi was waiting to fill us up again with a whole Indian dinner. It was the most food I've eaten in a day...maybe ever...but it was so good, and I literally couldn't refuse an extra spoonful because it was basically already in my bowl. :) Gosh though, we had some of the most delicious Indian food from Chachi's hands, and she was so sweet about answering all my foodie questions, so I definitely have some cooking homework to do when I get back home! Oh, and they had the coolest garden. Seriously they had like ten pomegranate trees, a bunch of citrus and tons of vegetables! So cool.
We hit the road out of Phoenix on Thursday morning and followed a good chunk of Route 66 to the Petrified Forest. We did have to take a pretty major detour because the big fire that was (is?) raging in Arizona jumped the highway we were set to go on just before we hit the junction. So we took a nice detour through Snowflake, AZ which is I think the most beautiful country I've seen so far...the whole Apache/Hopi reservation country in general, including up to what is National Park land that we were on. There's just something about the combination bleached white grasses with the big blue sky and the green scrub. It took my breath away, my thoughts, my emotions...everything.
So by the time we go to the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, we assumed it would take maybe an hour or less to see it all and be back on the road. Wrong!
(K. More to come!) Lovelovelove.
-Alia
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Seeing the sights
What a treat to wake up in sunny sunny Phoenix and have a bowl of frosted flakes on the patio! I'm staring at my uncle's orange tree and thinking I might go pick one for the road today... :)
Arizona has been so nice, and the landscape is surprisingly so varied here. First off, the Grand Canyon was SOOO EPIC! And so HUGE! We stayed at the North Rim, and pulled in pretty late on Saturday night (and thus had to pitch our tent and cook our Maggi noodles/nutrella in the dark). (Oh, definite props to Aparna's Jet Boil and the invention of the headlamp!) But we decided to hang out at the Canyon all day Sunday, too, and we were able to finaggle a campsite for the second night, too, even though we had only reserved the first night in advance. So we got to drive up to about 5 different lookouts over the north rim, after we explored the cliffs close to camp, and the sights were breathtaking.
We had a fun time looking at all the rocks because they all sparkle and have little geodes all over. We even found some fossils of sea shells and different things up on one of the really high ledges of the rim...which I totally didn't expect, but it was just crazy to think about the transformation of the earth since those organisms lived...and to know that we were touching them however many millions of years later. My favorite fossil was this tiny perfect star that could have only been a few mm across, but it just stuck out of the sandstone as though someone had poured the stone, set it in there, and let it dry.
We drove/hiked up to the highest point on the canyon which was about 8800 ft in elevation, and ate cheese-its with sriracha sauce while admiring the view of the river and just the canyon itself. Aparna taught me a lot about the Colorado River and the impacts of it's development in just the last few generations. It's a pretty sad history.
We got to watch the sunset back at camp, but it got pretty cold pretty quickly, and that put a damper on the whole rest of the night. The highlight was driving out to the cliff and looking at the stars for a few mins. before the moon lit everything up and washed out the sky a bit. But we got to drive back to our site with the heat on full blast. :D
We pretty much packed up and hit the road for Phoenix yesterday morn. We chose the scenic route home and got to drive past the Vermillion Cliffs. There is a site up there, I think its on the Res, but I'm not sure, where these massive boulders have fallen from the cliffs, and the sandstone has eroded around them but not underneath a lot of them, so they sit on pedestals, basically. At some point, someone built dwellings around/between the boulders, and it was really cool to see the construction of the stone walls, the wooden outhouse, and just the nooks and shady places that would have provided shelter from the sun. They definitely did for us!
We also crossed the Navajo Bridge shortly thereafter, and walked out on it to see the Colorado. It was amazingly green, and the flow really was a slow crawl. It was interesting to see, but I reserve my opinions on whether I think it is pretty because I have no idea how it looked before all the development on the river changed all the hydrology to what it is today.
Driving through the reservation was also very humbling. I felt very unworthy, very over-privileged to be able to just drive through in the air-conditioned car, to know that I do not have to live every day in the heat as they do. I don't think I have processed the experience enough to be able to articulate what it was.
We did stop in Flagstaff for tacos and gas at Tacos los Altos. Then we drove into Phoenix through the beautiful Sedona, and Aparna dropped me off at my uncle's house. It's been good to see the fam again!
I guess that's all for now... Lovelovelove!
-Alia
Arizona has been so nice, and the landscape is surprisingly so varied here. First off, the Grand Canyon was SOOO EPIC! And so HUGE! We stayed at the North Rim, and pulled in pretty late on Saturday night (and thus had to pitch our tent and cook our Maggi noodles/nutrella in the dark). (Oh, definite props to Aparna's Jet Boil and the invention of the headlamp!) But we decided to hang out at the Canyon all day Sunday, too, and we were able to finaggle a campsite for the second night, too, even though we had only reserved the first night in advance. So we got to drive up to about 5 different lookouts over the north rim, after we explored the cliffs close to camp, and the sights were breathtaking.
We had a fun time looking at all the rocks because they all sparkle and have little geodes all over. We even found some fossils of sea shells and different things up on one of the really high ledges of the rim...which I totally didn't expect, but it was just crazy to think about the transformation of the earth since those organisms lived...and to know that we were touching them however many millions of years later. My favorite fossil was this tiny perfect star that could have only been a few mm across, but it just stuck out of the sandstone as though someone had poured the stone, set it in there, and let it dry.
We drove/hiked up to the highest point on the canyon which was about 8800 ft in elevation, and ate cheese-its with sriracha sauce while admiring the view of the river and just the canyon itself. Aparna taught me a lot about the Colorado River and the impacts of it's development in just the last few generations. It's a pretty sad history.
We got to watch the sunset back at camp, but it got pretty cold pretty quickly, and that put a damper on the whole rest of the night. The highlight was driving out to the cliff and looking at the stars for a few mins. before the moon lit everything up and washed out the sky a bit. But we got to drive back to our site with the heat on full blast. :D
We pretty much packed up and hit the road for Phoenix yesterday morn. We chose the scenic route home and got to drive past the Vermillion Cliffs. There is a site up there, I think its on the Res, but I'm not sure, where these massive boulders have fallen from the cliffs, and the sandstone has eroded around them but not underneath a lot of them, so they sit on pedestals, basically. At some point, someone built dwellings around/between the boulders, and it was really cool to see the construction of the stone walls, the wooden outhouse, and just the nooks and shady places that would have provided shelter from the sun. They definitely did for us!
We also crossed the Navajo Bridge shortly thereafter, and walked out on it to see the Colorado. It was amazingly green, and the flow really was a slow crawl. It was interesting to see, but I reserve my opinions on whether I think it is pretty because I have no idea how it looked before all the development on the river changed all the hydrology to what it is today.
Driving through the reservation was also very humbling. I felt very unworthy, very over-privileged to be able to just drive through in the air-conditioned car, to know that I do not have to live every day in the heat as they do. I don't think I have processed the experience enough to be able to articulate what it was.
We did stop in Flagstaff for tacos and gas at Tacos los Altos. Then we drove into Phoenix through the beautiful Sedona, and Aparna dropped me off at my uncle's house. It's been good to see the fam again!
I guess that's all for now... Lovelovelove!
-Alia
Friday, June 17, 2011
Now it gets serious! :D
Wow! The last couple days have really flown by. I feel like I haven't been able to process much or reflect on the the trip so far. I've totally just been enjoying the ride and taking it all in. In large part, I still can't believe this is even happening, and I get to do this amazing trip with an amazing friend! But I best get some of it down so I can keep the sights and smells all fresh for years to come. :)
Reno has been very hospitable this last day+, and it was really good to see my good friend Rob again after so long. He took me downtown to the Nugget for an Awful Awful burger (a true Reno treat, and something I admit to having been craving for a while now) and then we went on a nice night walk in the arboretum. I didn't get to see many trees, but the company and catching up was completely satisfying!
This morning I was able to snag some internet...I'm still waiting to see if the extension on my Political Identities Project is going to pan out...and then Rob and I went for sandwiches. We met up with a couple of his friends that I had met last year when I came down, so that was nice to visit with them as we waltzed around (a big box store I don't care to mention right now).
I was able to convince Rob that since tomorrow we have to start driving so early tomorrow (we hit the road at 5:30 am), he needed to mix us some driving music, which he kindly obliged. I can't wait to pop that in ... in just a few hours now, and head on down the road. I did catch some of the set as he was spinning/recording, and I'm really happy that I get to keep that cd as a souvenir FOREVER! Wahoo!
I met back up with Aparna at the Salgo's (also Reno-ans) and we had a quick adventure to Arby's for jamoca shakes (super yummy!) and took food back to the Salgo's back patio for a big family dinner. It's been very nice to pause here and rest up, get reorganized a bit, and get pumped for a loooooong day of driving tomorrow.
I do also have to give a fair mention to our experience in the redwoods yesterday, too, while I'm on here. It was truly amazing to be among the giants....basically the largest living organisms on earth. Aparna and I took a really nice walk, heard some creaking trees, admired the way the wind in the tree tops sounds like a nearby river flowing, and took some nice pictures we hope to have up in a little while. We even caught the beginning of a group guided "tour" of the grove and learned all about the redwoods, and how they reproduce by growing offshoots. My favorite facts were about the way the redwood bark heals old burn scars by growing over the wounds and shielding the wood from further burns.
Then as we walked back to the car, I noticed a large group of trees all together (so it was actually all one tree with many stems) and wanted to go check it out. It truly felt like a very holy and healing place. There was evidence of a large amount of damage from long ago, and they way the bark flowed in and around the inner space of the many stems was so beautiful, I wanted to climb inside. I resisted, but I feel like if I ever do need a place of really great healing, I can go back to that...tree temple... I think that's the best way to describe it.
Ok. Sleep Time! G'night y'all!
LoveLoveLove,
Alia
Reno has been very hospitable this last day+, and it was really good to see my good friend Rob again after so long. He took me downtown to the Nugget for an Awful Awful burger (a true Reno treat, and something I admit to having been craving for a while now) and then we went on a nice night walk in the arboretum. I didn't get to see many trees, but the company and catching up was completely satisfying!
This morning I was able to snag some internet...I'm still waiting to see if the extension on my Political Identities Project is going to pan out...and then Rob and I went for sandwiches. We met up with a couple of his friends that I had met last year when I came down, so that was nice to visit with them as we waltzed around (a big box store I don't care to mention right now).
I was able to convince Rob that since tomorrow we have to start driving so early tomorrow (we hit the road at 5:30 am), he needed to mix us some driving music, which he kindly obliged. I can't wait to pop that in ... in just a few hours now, and head on down the road. I did catch some of the set as he was spinning/recording, and I'm really happy that I get to keep that cd as a souvenir FOREVER! Wahoo!
I met back up with Aparna at the Salgo's (also Reno-ans) and we had a quick adventure to Arby's for jamoca shakes (super yummy!) and took food back to the Salgo's back patio for a big family dinner. It's been very nice to pause here and rest up, get reorganized a bit, and get pumped for a loooooong day of driving tomorrow.
I do also have to give a fair mention to our experience in the redwoods yesterday, too, while I'm on here. It was truly amazing to be among the giants....basically the largest living organisms on earth. Aparna and I took a really nice walk, heard some creaking trees, admired the way the wind in the tree tops sounds like a nearby river flowing, and took some nice pictures we hope to have up in a little while. We even caught the beginning of a group guided "tour" of the grove and learned all about the redwoods, and how they reproduce by growing offshoots. My favorite facts were about the way the redwood bark heals old burn scars by growing over the wounds and shielding the wood from further burns.
Then as we walked back to the car, I noticed a large group of trees all together (so it was actually all one tree with many stems) and wanted to go check it out. It truly felt like a very holy and healing place. There was evidence of a large amount of damage from long ago, and they way the bark flowed in and around the inner space of the many stems was so beautiful, I wanted to climb inside. I resisted, but I feel like if I ever do need a place of really great healing, I can go back to that...tree temple... I think that's the best way to describe it.
Ok. Sleep Time! G'night y'all!
LoveLoveLove,
Alia
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Off to good start!
Good morning! We've officially started our journey and have made it successfully to Crescent City. We ended up booking a motel since we were going to be rolling in pretty late and didn't think it'd be fun to pitch a tent in the dark. Apparently, if you're booking on the same day that you're staying, you get really sweet cheap deals! The drive was pretty windy and we did a good job splitting up the time on the wheel. We stopped in Albany to get dinner and say our last goodbye to our lovely friend there =). We even have a pretty awesome crew joining us on the dashboard-we'll upload a pictures soon, promise! We're gonna go tromp around the Redwood Forest now and then continue on our adventures.
Much love!
Aparna
p.s. we totes get free breakfast at this motel. woo hooooo for free food ;)
Much love!
Aparna
p.s. we totes get free breakfast at this motel. woo hooooo for free food ;)
Friday, June 10, 2011
A repurposed Road Trip...my mission!
I realize I kind of left of the other part of the week's roller coaster. Sorry, folks!
Allow me to contextualize for a sec. All term, I have been working (yes for pay) on the Political Identities Project with the ASOSU Student Advocate, Christian Matheis (whom I will forever be a better person for knowing). The premise of the project is getting recorded statements of student's political identities, the development of such, what significant events in their lives have shaped their personalities and the way they see the world, etc. etc. It's been really cool to hear all these narratives and find out about other peoples' passions and drives, their central influences.
The catch was that I only had one term to try to produce 10-15 segments and turn them into podcasts on the University iTunes and YouTube channels. Unfortunately, time has not worked in my favor, and I have some stuff I would love a bit more time to wrap up.
So I presented the idea to Christian that I could incorporate the project into the trip and interview people in cities all over along the way. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to engage in conversation, help to create a national dialogue about issues we all face as a collective people, and get to know how people tick in other regions. Anyway, so far Christian seems to like the idea, and we've involved Kryn Freehling-Burton (my beloved first ever women's studies professor) as someone to take over the role of liason to the U (as Christian is off to bigger and better things soon)...and something tells me this just MIGHT work out.
At least I really hope that it does. When Aparna and I initiated this whole road trip idea, I was really excited about modeling it after Roadtrip Nation where students road trip around the country to interview people in fields/jobs they find interesting and may potentially want to pursue. I like that idea so much, and getting to produce the P.I.P. along the way would be really fulfilling in that I would have an excuse to talk to people in completely different geographical and social locations from myself.
So now, I'm waiting to hear about funding. Someone's gotta pay the bills, ya know? So I'll let y'all know when/what I find out about that. Feel free to help me hope on it in the meantime!
lovelovelove!
-Alia
Allow me to contextualize for a sec. All term, I have been working (yes for pay) on the Political Identities Project with the ASOSU Student Advocate, Christian Matheis (whom I will forever be a better person for knowing). The premise of the project is getting recorded statements of student's political identities, the development of such, what significant events in their lives have shaped their personalities and the way they see the world, etc. etc. It's been really cool to hear all these narratives and find out about other peoples' passions and drives, their central influences.
The catch was that I only had one term to try to produce 10-15 segments and turn them into podcasts on the University iTunes and YouTube channels. Unfortunately, time has not worked in my favor, and I have some stuff I would love a bit more time to wrap up.
So I presented the idea to Christian that I could incorporate the project into the trip and interview people in cities all over along the way. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to engage in conversation, help to create a national dialogue about issues we all face as a collective people, and get to know how people tick in other regions. Anyway, so far Christian seems to like the idea, and we've involved Kryn Freehling-Burton (my beloved first ever women's studies professor) as someone to take over the role of liason to the U (as Christian is off to bigger and better things soon)...and something tells me this just MIGHT work out.
At least I really hope that it does. When Aparna and I initiated this whole road trip idea, I was really excited about modeling it after Roadtrip Nation where students road trip around the country to interview people in fields/jobs they find interesting and may potentially want to pursue. I like that idea so much, and getting to produce the P.I.P. along the way would be really fulfilling in that I would have an excuse to talk to people in completely different geographical and social locations from myself.
So now, I'm waiting to hear about funding. Someone's gotta pay the bills, ya know? So I'll let y'all know when/what I find out about that. Feel free to help me hope on it in the meantime!
lovelovelove!
-Alia
Thursday, June 9, 2011
1! week and Counting
I can't believe we are only ONE WEEK away from leaving! The past seven days have been a complete roller coaster (partly the reason I haven't posted in so long...) but we are finally back on track, getting things set and even expanding some possibilities that not only offer some financial backing for the trip, but could really enrich the experience on the road.
Intrigued yet? ;)
So the main thing that made the last week SO tumultuous was actually really great news, but pretty much could have completely wiped out any chances of us actually doing this. We will be adjusting our plan to some degree, changing the route a little bit and all, but I am really still happy with the opportunity to go, and now we get to spend a bit more time in a lot of the locations since we cut out some driving.
I am sad that neither of us will get to see our sisters this time...AND that having red velvet cake in Georgia will have to wait for the NEXT trip. ;) But, frankly, nothing can stop my stoke at this point!
I definitely got a lurch realizing I actually DID only have a week to pack up my entire Corvallis life AND get organized for the trip! We had a minor debacle with getting a campsite at the Grand Canyon. I ended up reserving the 18th/19th on the North rim like we wanted...but I realized that it was for the 18th/19th of August, not June, only after I confirmed it. So I lost $10 there on cancellation fee... But we were able to get one night still at the South rim, and I guess we just have an extra day to spend in Tempe with Miranda (call me back, homegirl!!)
The new route is going to be as follows:
Redwoods
Ashland (or Humboldt)
Reno
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Phoenix
Chaco Canyon
Albuquerque
Fort Worth/Dallas
Austin
Houston
Dallas
the Ozarks
Chicago
Milwaulkee
Minneapolis
Badlands Natl. Park
Denver
Salt Lake City
Yellowstone
Kenniwick
PORTLAND!
...I feel like we have so much left to do to get ready!! But I think at some point, I just have to let variables be variables and just take things as they come. And it will be amazing no matter what. :)
YiPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
lovelovelove,
Alia
Intrigued yet? ;)
So the main thing that made the last week SO tumultuous was actually really great news, but pretty much could have completely wiped out any chances of us actually doing this. We will be adjusting our plan to some degree, changing the route a little bit and all, but I am really still happy with the opportunity to go, and now we get to spend a bit more time in a lot of the locations since we cut out some driving.
I am sad that neither of us will get to see our sisters this time...AND that having red velvet cake in Georgia will have to wait for the NEXT trip. ;) But, frankly, nothing can stop my stoke at this point!
I definitely got a lurch realizing I actually DID only have a week to pack up my entire Corvallis life AND get organized for the trip! We had a minor debacle with getting a campsite at the Grand Canyon. I ended up reserving the 18th/19th on the North rim like we wanted...but I realized that it was for the 18th/19th of August, not June, only after I confirmed it. So I lost $10 there on cancellation fee... But we were able to get one night still at the South rim, and I guess we just have an extra day to spend in Tempe with Miranda (call me back, homegirl!!)
The new route is going to be as follows:
Redwoods
Ashland (or Humboldt)
Reno
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Phoenix
Chaco Canyon
Albuquerque
Fort Worth/Dallas
Austin
Houston
Dallas
the Ozarks
Chicago
Milwaulkee
Minneapolis
Badlands Natl. Park
Denver
Salt Lake City
Yellowstone
Kenniwick
PORTLAND!
...I feel like we have so much left to do to get ready!! But I think at some point, I just have to let variables be variables and just take things as they come. And it will be amazing no matter what. :)
YiPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
lovelovelove,
Alia
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
One step closer!
WE GOT OUR TRIPTIK TODAY! ...Actually, Aparna got it in the mail yesterday when she got home from her adventure in Bend for the long holiday weekend. It was really great, because I got to meet up with her at the Les Schwab Amphitheater (only a few minutes from my brother's new place in Bend!) and we sat in line for a full 2 hours before the gates opened to make sure we got right up front for the Rodrigo y Gabriela concert they played on Sunday. While it's true that RyG were openers for the Decemberists, we were really super there just for the chance to see them and possibly get a picture with them, too.
Well, I must say that the set they played was RIDICULOUSYSTUPENDOUSLYFANTASTICALLY face-melting. :) And that Gabriela is for sure una diosa. I think it's pretty awesome that, throughout, even Rodrigo gave it up to her to steal the show, which she did unassumingly, my heart included. He even smiled at Aparna when he noticed her sign that said "R+G, Can I get a picture with u after?" that she had scribbled on two pages of my trip-planning journal.
After our faces were thoroughly melted and they were exiting the stage, we booked it to the side gate to see if we could catch a glipse of them and possibly get them to take a photo with us. Alas, even though the gate guy was very friendly, we pretty much were just at a (very cold) loss. We did get one guy to point out which vehicle was theirs for the night, and even the sound guy obliged us by going back on stage to grab Aparna a souvenir setlist (she is the mega-fan, afterall).
Then, just as we were about to give up all hope (since the sound guy told us they were already gone and on their way to the hotel), Aparna spotted R by the big white GMC we had been watching like hawks. Naturally, we started screaming our guts out to him to come over for one picture PLEAAAAAASE and POR FAVORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Much to OUR surprise, it worked! The GMC pulled up to the gate, and one of the roadies asked the gate guy, "Can we let these two ladies in for a moment?" I was so shocked, I forgot to remember everything that happened, but I definitely remember getting a fist bump from R and a big hug from G (whom I actually told I thought was una diosa!) and we posed for a couple of snaps. Aparna was also pretty stoked on the fact that G hugged her TWICE. Soo Epic!
We were pretty much just reeling from the unbelievableness of what we had actually just pulled off and swapped "Oh my GOSH"es for like an hour. That's also about the time that we decided we have pretty much nothing to worry about on our road trip because, apparently, we can make anything happen!! ;)
But yeah. I got the text from Aparna yesterday that the TripTik had come and that she was graciously waiting til I got back from Bend/Prineville with the fam to open it. (a TripTik is the special custom trip planner book that AAA made for us after we mapped out the route with Kelly the travel agent.) It is really cool cos we have turn-by-turn maps and directions for the whole 94XX miles of the route. Tomorrow we will get down to business with it and try to plan out each day of the trek. WaHOOO!
Well, I must say that the set they played was RIDICULOUSYSTUPENDOUSLYFANTASTICALLY face-melting. :) And that Gabriela is for sure una diosa. I think it's pretty awesome that, throughout, even Rodrigo gave it up to her to steal the show, which she did unassumingly, my heart included. He even smiled at Aparna when he noticed her sign that said "R+G, Can I get a picture with u after?" that she had scribbled on two pages of my trip-planning journal.
After our faces were thoroughly melted and they were exiting the stage, we booked it to the side gate to see if we could catch a glipse of them and possibly get them to take a photo with us. Alas, even though the gate guy was very friendly, we pretty much were just at a (very cold) loss. We did get one guy to point out which vehicle was theirs for the night, and even the sound guy obliged us by going back on stage to grab Aparna a souvenir setlist (she is the mega-fan, afterall).
Then, just as we were about to give up all hope (since the sound guy told us they were already gone and on their way to the hotel), Aparna spotted R by the big white GMC we had been watching like hawks. Naturally, we started screaming our guts out to him to come over for one picture PLEAAAAAASE and POR FAVORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Much to OUR surprise, it worked! The GMC pulled up to the gate, and one of the roadies asked the gate guy, "Can we let these two ladies in for a moment?" I was so shocked, I forgot to remember everything that happened, but I definitely remember getting a fist bump from R and a big hug from G (whom I actually told I thought was una diosa!) and we posed for a couple of snaps. Aparna was also pretty stoked on the fact that G hugged her TWICE. Soo Epic!
We were pretty much just reeling from the unbelievableness of what we had actually just pulled off and swapped "Oh my GOSH"es for like an hour. That's also about the time that we decided we have pretty much nothing to worry about on our road trip because, apparently, we can make anything happen!! ;)
But yeah. I got the text from Aparna yesterday that the TripTik had come and that she was graciously waiting til I got back from Bend/Prineville with the fam to open it. (a TripTik is the special custom trip planner book that AAA made for us after we mapped out the route with Kelly the travel agent.) It is really cool cos we have turn-by-turn maps and directions for the whole 94XX miles of the route. Tomorrow we will get down to business with it and try to plan out each day of the trek. WaHOOO!
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