A quick glimpse at St Louis, Missouri!

This road trip has been nothing short of a whirlwind, and I'm starting to feel like this week is gonna be closer to a Tornado (literally) than a whirlwind.... We're planning to stop in St Louis, Pittsburgh, Lancaster (Amish country) and Philadelphia, before landing in Brooklyn NYC on Saturday!  Here goes nothing!

We woke up in our cozy hotel room in St Louis and were faced with another threat of a tornado!!  EEekkkk!  The darn things were following us!  We hunkered down for an hour or so, drinking our coffee and munching on the continental breakfast downstairs before the storm passed and the coast was clear...

And boy was the coast clear - look at that beautiful 630 ft arch, surrounded by a perfectly clear blue sky!!  Can you spot me down below?

It was the perfect day for a picnic in the park - sadly we weren't prepared with food, so we just sat and enjoyed the grass and view of the river instead!

The arch, from below.

I'd love to say that we tried some famous St. Louis toasted ravioli, local style pizza, pork steaks, gooey buttercake or one of the city's many beers (It is beer capital of the US after all) while we were in town, but we actually just grabbed a blue raspberry Slurpee here instead and made turkey sandwiches in the car!  haha  Hey, a 3 month road trip can get expensive, so we have to be cheap budget savy sometimes!

We took a walk through the Gateway Arch park and saw an old church off in the distance and walked towards it to check it out... Turns out, it's the Basilica of St Louis, the very first cathedral West of the Mississippi (I love typing that word!)! It was stunning.

... and for $3.00, you could light your very own prayer candle. 

We left the Basilica of St Louis and made our way out of town towards Louisville, until we saw this GEM, the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis, built in 1914, which slightly (no, more like majorly) trumped the last cathedral was saw!  I mean look that this place!

We had the chance to go inside for about 5 minutes, before the mass began, to get a glimpse of the incredible work of art!  The cathedral walls are adorned with 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces in more than 7,000 colors!  The mosaics cover 83,000 sq feet, making it one of the largest mosaics in the world, and definitely the most amazing one I've ever seen!  What I would give to photograph a wedding in this cathedral - WOW!

We hated to say goodbye to St. Louis, just like we've hated to say goodbye to every other city we've visited, but were on a mission, and excited to get over to Louisville, Kentucky!   

Kansas City!

We were up with the sun and had said goodbye to our cool downtown home in Denver before 6:30am because we had a VERY LONG DRIVE through Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri to drive!  In case you were wondering what Kansas looks like out the car window, here you go!  Pretty exciting, huh?!

My friend Andrea used to live in Salinas, a small town right in the middle of Kansas, so she recommended a cute little restaurant in the downtown area that we could check out for lunch.  When we got there, it happened to be the “Statue Tour” day and the local dance studio was performing in the middle of the street to start off the tour.  I LOVE SMALL TOWN events… they’re just so small!  lol

There really wasn’t much to see in Kansas, although I did think this field of dandelions outside the rest stop was pretty cool. J

We made it to Kansas City, MO around 6:00pm and were floored with how awesome it was!  We were just planning to “stop through” this city and found ourselves wanting to stay!  It’s charming, the neighborhoods are historic and well maintained, the restaurants are fantastic, the architecture is cool, the people are young and hip , there are museums galore, and there’s grass and big huge trees all over the city!  We checked into our 3^rd AirBnB home in a neighborhood called “The Plaza” and were met by the sweet owner, a single, very active and spunky woman named Carol, in her 70s!

We lounged around in her den, getting to hear her incredible life story of love, loss, family, moving from upstate NY to here in the 70’s and making a life for herself in a town she HATED but now never wants to leave!  Getting to know people is what using www.AirBnB.com  is all about, and I love it!  She also recommended a couple restaurants that all of the locals love, so off we went to Jack Stack BBQ in The Plaza area of town.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains and boasts hundreds of beautiful fountains!

After dinner, we drove around the area and headed back home just in time to find shelter from the lightning and thunder storm that rolled through the city! (By the way, we literally escaped a tornado by 2 hours earlier today.  It touched down right near the FWY we drove down.) 

The next morning (Sunday), we woke up, said goodbye to Carol and her beautiful home and checked out the WW1 museum (The only one in the country!).

Can you guess who’s idea this was?  Lol

While I’m not a war fanatic, I did like looking through the old posters…

And the old cars were really cool…

After touring the museum, we headed outside and up the steps to the WW1 memorial tower!

The tornadoes may be 100 miles away, but the wind was fierce today!!

But the view atop the tower was COMPLETELY worth my hair violetntly whipping me in the face… and girls you know how painful that can be sometimes! Lol

And this one’s just to prove we were up there! J

After the WW1 museum, Aaron dropped me off to explore The Plaza Area while he checked out the famous art museum in town. J

I may have opted for ice cream for lunch today. J

We had to leave Kansas City in the afternoon because the tornadoes were headed in that direction and we weren’t all that interested in getting swept away if they did in fact make it downtown!  But before we jumped on the FWY, we cruised around some of the historic neighborhoods near Carol’s house!   I’ve always loved looking at homes and I’m especially in love with the homes here – they’re so southern looking, with all the brick, stone, shutters, fireplaces, front porches, mature trees...!  Ahhhhh!  So, here’s my exclusive Kansas City house tour! J ENJOY 

We stopped into Trader Joe's for some sandwich supplies before leaving town, and have now made it to St Louis, with the tornadoes 200 miles behind us, whew!  We're checked into a nice lil Best Western that we found a coupon for in a rest stop magazine somewhere in Kansas!  SCORE!  Tomorrow we'll check out the St Louis Arch and then head over to Louisville, Kentucky... yeehaw!  

Denver, Colorado!

We left Vail yesterday and drove 2 hours East to Denver, Colorado, reaching over 11,000 feet and lots of snow along the way!  I love that when I snapped this photo, the elevation was EXACTLY 11,111 feet. Make a wish!

We made it to Denver around 2:30pm and checked into our AirBnB house, just a mile from downtown.  I am loving www.airbnb.com and the experiences we’re having.  This one was only $48 and while we would have loved to have gotten to know the lady who lived here, she was sadly out at her twins birthday party most of the night and asleep by the time we got home later.

At 3:30, we drove a couple blocks to meet up with Aaron’s old college friend, Jeremy, who now lives in Denver.  I love getting to meet A’s old friends... but I love meeting my old friends even more!  So, I left Jeremy’s place after a short hour and drove over to meet my good friend Jill, an old Arizona high school co-worker, at a cool neighborhood bar downtown!  It was sooooo good to catch up with her over the bar’s famous tatter tots and salad! (I’m so bummed I don’t have a picture of either of these! Ugh...)

After dinner, Jill drove me over to the Coor’s Field, in downtown Denver, so I could meet up with Aaron for a Denver Rockies vs San Fransisco Giants game!  It was one of the best games I’ve seen in years – 2 home runs, 1 grand slam, and a VERY close final score of 10-9 with the Rockies winning!  We may have sat in the nosebleed section but that didn't stop us from having a great time!

We tried to walk the mile back home, but we got into a shaddy area and had to jump in a cab for the final 5 blocks!  When we got home, we played with the cool black cat that lived there, watched a little TV and went to bed, knowing that we'd be up early for our big drive through Kansas in the morning... 

Vail, Colorado!

So, the drive from Jackson Hole, WY to Vail, CO was our longest yet, by about 4 hours, with a total drive time of just over 9 whopping hours!  Don't think we didn't take advantage of the time together with podcast and road kill counting!  Yep, you heard that right!  We actually started counting the dead deer on the side of the road for the first 30 miles after we crossed the border into Colorado....

...and I kid you not, we counted 1 live deer and 142 DEAD DEER!  I've never seen anything like it!  They were EVERYWHERE!  But don't let that fool you into thinking Colorado is disgusting, because it is FAAAAR from that!  We're both in love with this state and being in Vail, with my aunt, uncle and cousins was the best added perk to this leg of the trip!  How beautiful is their house?  Don't mind my flower sniffing husband... He think it's funny to be doing something stupid when I snap a photo! :)

Our first day in Vail was spent kind of piddling around (is that a phrase?) and checking out the area. We went up to Beaver Creek, a fancy schmancy rich people spot which is hoppin' in the winter... (not so much in mid May) and did a little window shopping and exploring!  It's really a beautiful spot!

Then we took a drive over to Vail Village, a darling 50 year old area of Vail, to check out the old wooden covered bridge... 

... fun, one of a kind, cafes and restaurants...

... the outdoor ice skating rink (sadly it was closed today)... 

... the pretty Spring flowers...

 ... cute Swiss looking shops and restaurants...

... charming old churches... 

...a bunch of cool statues...

...fancy Swiss looking hotels on the river...

... and the most amazing dogs/puppies you've ever seen!  This town is dog friendly to the extreme!  :)

We spent the rest of our night with my aunt Barb, uncle Jeff, and cousin Nicole at a fantastic family owned restaurant, feasting on steak and birthday-eve brownies and ice cream!  (Thanks to the owner, who's a friend of my aunt and uncle's, this dessert was on the house!)

The next day was my 32nd BIRTHDAY!  Woot Woot!  I woke up to a knock on my door and my aunt handing me a homemade fruit smoothie (I think she saw me lusting over hers the morning before and knew I'd love one!)... and then when I came downstairs, she had this laying on the counter!  L.O.V.E.D it and love her thoughtfulness!  She's also a Senior Sales Director at Mary Kay and gave me a $75 gift card to go shopping in her inventory!  YES!!! (The yellow fan was actually from our wedding and the picture was from last night's dinner.) 

Aaron gave me the funniest birthday card this year!  If you've ever lived in Korea, you know why this is funny.  (Korean girls love to force their boyfriends to wear "Couple T's" to publicly confess their commitment to each other.)  We were actually shopping for a thank you card for our good friends Bill and Helen in Jackson Hole, who I'm pretty sure are our biggest ANP photography business fans and have already referred two of our brides to us, and Aaron found this while I was on the other side of the store and secretly bought it when I wasn't looking! :)  I LOVE IT!  The inside of the card is even better, but I'll leave that for my eyes... some things should stay private! :)

(Instagram pic)

I love opening presents (I think more than anything, I just love knowing that people thought of me!) and I had quite a few this year!  Big thanks to my mom and dad, Pegg, Okk and Loola, Aaron, my sister Amy and my aunt and uncle: Barb and Jeff!  I wish I would have taken a picture of everything, but I just got so excited about it all that I forgot!  Sad.    

At around 10:00am, Aaron, my cousin Nicole and I all headed over to Northside Cafe for a proper doughnut breakfast - They're the best donuts in town, so we had to check them out!  My cousin Nicole and I haven't actually had the chance to hang out since I was in Colorado the last time, almost 16 years ago, when I was 16 and she was 10.  There wasn't a whole lot of "relating" back then, which is why this time was so great!  It was as if we've been friends the whole time and the same age now!  Aaron and I absolutely loved getting to hang with her!  

After breakfast, Aaron and I drove over to check out President Gerald and Betty Ford's old house in Beaver Creek, which recently sold for a measly 11 million! lol  It's in the most incredible neighborhood... surrounded by giant custom homes (some 6 floors) overlooking the ski slopes or the valley below.  What's crazy is most of them are VACATION HOMES! Sheesh!

At 2:30pm, I had a little fun at a salon in Vail and had some blonde put back into my hair - aaahhh, to be a little more blonde again! :)  Then we went back to my aunt and uncle's house for a family birthday party!  My cousin Nicole's birthday is Sunday, so we had a joint party.  (From left to right: Aaron, Me, my cousin Zac, my aunt Barb, my cousin Nicole, my cousin Darren, and my uncle Jeff)  I'm including 3 pics, cuz I couldn't choose which one was the best of the 15 or so we attempted.  We laughed so hard trying to get a good picture of the 7 of us without someone doing something silly... We're a crazy group, for sure!

"Showing off our birthday crowns!"

My adorable husband, who knows me SO WELL, worked so hard to secretly find cupcakes for my birthday!  As it turns out, he was able to get a lady to come into her shop during her day off, to make these 12 UNBELIEVABLE custom cupcakes for me!  :)  It was the best surprise!  

I mean look at these flavors - YUMMM!

The next morning, Nicole, Aaron and I drove over to her friend James's ranch.  He and two friends live in the oldest home in the area and are surrounded by over 50 horses, a river, cool old barns, and little abandoned homes like this one...  It's kind of an eerie place, but awesome at the same time!  

... and this little house was originally built for the owner's pot belly pigs, but now the 2 resident peahens (female peacocks) have taken it over and love to hang here when they're not lounging on Jame's 2 chairs on the front porch of his house!  Silly peahens.

James, Nicole's friend, is an AVID fly fisherman!  He fishes almost everyday and even works in a fly fishing shop in Vail, so when he found out Aaron and I have been wanting to fly fish the whole time we've been on the road trip, he offered to take us out on the river AND even borrowed some waders and rods from his store for FREE!  Usually people pay $375 for a full day of fly fishing when he's guiding, so we obviously felt like we had won the lottery and were incredibly appreciative of him doing this all for free and showing us (the girls) the ropes!

This guy was in HEAVEN!!! Especially when I took this picture, because it was right as he was reeling in the first catch of the day, a beautiful trout!

 I love how Nicole can look adorable wearing anything... even baggy ole' waders!

I always thought bait fishing was the way to go, but I've been converted!  I L.O.V.E fly fishing.  There's so much more too it and getting to "whip" the line around is my favorite part!  :) 

Check out that "whipping" action! lol  The guys joked about how they would always flinch when I would re-cast because of how loud my "whipping" the line was!  hahaha

James was soooo helpful!  He really knows his stuff and taught Nicole and I everything we needed to know about how to cast, reel in the fish and wade out into the FREEZING COLD water! :)

... and he and Aaron are like soul mates!  They definitely hit it off and were in their element the whole day. 

I couldn't have asked for a better day full of family, a new friend, and being out on the river!  I think I had to remind Aaron that we're moving to Charleston and not staying in Vail, since I'm sure he would be ecstatic if we decided to stay!

After fishing, we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house and Aaron and I cooked dinner for the group!  :)  While we probably should have eaten all together, Barb and I brought the bar stools into the kitchen and watched the American Idol  finale together!  We just couldn't manage missing it!  :)  Then the 6 of us lounged around, chatting and getting our last minutes of hang time in before we all went to bed. It was the perfect way to end our time in Vail with this awesome family. 

This morning, Aaron and I woke up to a VERY quite house - Jeff was already at work, Barb was on her way to Omaha for business and Nicole was off to Dallas for a birthday weekend with friends.  We stalled, a lot, this morning.  I think neither of us really wanted to leave, but alas, the road trip must go on, right?!  Next stop is Denver, Colorado!  Then on to Kansas City, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Buffalo, NY... then possibly up into Canada! :)