My past that tried to enter my present

So, should I blog about this or not? I could rant and rave on my facebook page, but why clog up your news feed with my dirty laundry? So I thought, why not write a blog, get my feelings out and not feel ashamed. The people that want to read it will, the people who do not, will not have to. This is a situation that actually happened last week. A "old" boyfriend requested me as a friend on facebook.  I am not going to mention any names, but it seriously had me baffled. I mean sure,  the curious side of me, wanted to accept and see what they had been up to, I mean I did check to see if  his profile was private, and of course it was. But just as I couldn't see any info on his profile, I remembered duh....we are not friends in the "real" world so why I am I going to be friends in the "virtual"? So I immediately hit IGNORE, although I have to admit it's been on my mind all week. I hit IGNORE, not because I don't think about you, wonder, pray, and wish the best for you, but because I love, pray, and wish the best for me as well. I forgave you a long time ago, the part that was hard was to forgive myself. I hated who I had become, and continue to work to not ever be that person again. I hate to hear about the negitive things that have happened in your life, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and I do want you to know that I have said a prayer to the big guy up above that things will get better in your life.
Not only do I look different, I am different, and sometimes ones past needs to stay there. Your not forgotten, but your not welcome here anymore. I know that sounds harsh, but I gave you a piece of my heart along time ago, and I'm sorry you do not deserve any more.


~It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finished chapters, it doesn't matter what you call it; what matters is to leave behind us in the past those moments in life that are over~ Paulo Coelho The Zahir

Til next time, ~Love and Peace KT~

My One Year Plan!!!

On May 21, 2011 at 7:51 am (central time) I Kathryn Victoria Neeley, am writing down for the whole world to see; my one year plan.... Actually more like my 1 year,  4 month, and 24 hour plan (it is always nice to get in the moving truck early!)

Sept 2011 My 30th Birthday, I am taking a cruise, and buying myself a fabuloso piece of jewlry in St. Thomas

May 2012 I will be out of my loft in East Point, GA. I will put my things that I want to keep in storage.

May 2012-Aug 2012 I will commute from my parents house in West Virginia. I will spend quality time with my family over the summer, as I have taken for granted in my younger years!

Sept 2012- I will finally travel Europe as I had wanted to straight from college...4-5 weeks backpacking

and when I return I will start looking for places to live in Grayton Beach....

disclaimer: I do know that things can change in a 1 year, 4 months, and 24hours.....But this is my plan, of course I have to make sure that I still have a job as a Southwest FA, that I pass all my training, and all that boring adult stuff that pays the bills! But I have decided I am much to young to not be in a place that I want to be!! Life is way to short! And look at this view that I have been missing all this time!

So go ahead, start planning a visit..... Cause this is where I plan on being!!! Til next time Peace and Love ~KT~

Mystic Fish 2011

 Mystic Fish definition for me: Some cool ass people preserving southern tradtion in a not so "stuffy" way!

So where do I start this blog? I guess I need to give you a little history.. Approxamitly 4 years ago I moved into what is known as a "crashpad" by people in the airline industry in a city called East Point in the Atlanta perimeter. A "crashpad" for those of you that are not in the airline industry is a house that is rented out to flight atttendants and sometimes pilots. They normally have anywhere from 1-4 bunk beds in a 2/3 bedroom house. The idea being that you pay anywhere from $150-$300 a month and you have  a place to stay before trips,  inbetween trips when there was not enough time to fly to your "real" home, or when you could not make your commuting flight home. A "crash pad" lets you feel like your not always living out of a hotel, and gives you such ammentities  as a kitchen. See the thing is, I kinda turned mine into my full time home. I seemed to be there more often than others, so I decided to get to know the neighbors. I don't remember exactly how it happened but I went over one day and knocked on the neighbors door and introduced myself. I met what I now know to be the "cool ass married couple" named Stacy and Tracy.  Yeah I know what you are thinking......It was really hard in the beginning to remember which one was Stacy, and which one was Tracy especially for someone like me that forgets names so easily!  From there on out I seemed to build a relationship with this couple that reminds me of a family away from my family. Sometimes people forget how hard it is to be in the airline industry and be so far away from home and on the road all the time. They, Stacy and Tracy introduced me to some "cool ass" art, food, drinks, wine and also some front porch fun on Linwood Ave! I introduced Stacy to jager bombs (in which I was sent home early that night by Tracy) They were even nice enough this past Feburuary to go and pick up prescriptions for me when I left a voicemail in which Tracy said "I sounded like I was dying or in trouble." All I needed was someone to go and pick up prescriptions for me since I was not able to make it out of bed. There was even some freshed squeezed orange juice and chicken noodle soup outside my door. When your momma is 8 hours away in West Virginia, it sure is nice to know that you have people like this to count on! So this is the part that I get to the Mystic Fish. Over the years of getting to know Stacy and Tracy I have learned that they are from Mobile, AL originally. I  also learned that they  were  involved in a group known as the Mystic Fish and it had something to do with Mardi Gras. I had said for the past 3 years that I was going to make it to Mobile and see what this Mardi Gras was all about. This year I finally scheduled my vacation around Mardi Gras,  recived my invitation from the Mystic Fish, made no excuses and planned a solo road trip to Mobile, AL.

 I learned that Mobile was the "Original Mardi Gras".  As stated on the website squidoo.com: Most people associate Mardi Gras in the US with the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is true that New Orleans hosts the largest and most popular Mardi Gras, but they were not the first to celebrate the Carnival season. That honor goes to their smaller neighbor to the east: Mobile, Alabama. Mobile hosted its first Mardi Gras celebration in 1703, long before New Orleans.

 

This was my first expierence with any Mardi Gras ever, and man it was awesome! The first day when I arrived there were already tents put up for the dinner feast we were going to have that evening! My first shrimp broil! And I tried crawfish for the first time! We called them craw daddy's where I am from and I used to catch them with my best friend Chad. When I say catch, I meant that I lifted the rock, and if we saw one, I would take off running while the boys tried to put them into an old drywall bucket! But down south they are a delicacy!

My first crawfish!

As if the delcious food was not enough, just look at what else was provided!!! Now the party has started!

There was a liquor bar with just about anything you wanted! Although the rain and storms moved in the first evening it sure didn't ruin our Mystic Fish Party! I was able to meet some "cool ass" people from all over the country and I have to admit I was looking forward to the next day when the "peoples parade" would take place! I was even given a look at some of the floats that were going to be in parades that I was going to miss, and man they were cool! From what I learned this is a year long process and they get started on next years float right after Mardi Gras is over. They hire professional people to make the floats and all! Who actually gets to say when they are little "When I grow up I want to make floats??"  This was no St. Albans, WV parade that is for sure!!!



Theme "Slow and Steady Wins the Race"



The next day consisted of some more Delicious food and some tailgating before the parade! Lots of tailgating before the parade. Up to this point I was still a little confused as to what was taking place.. What were the Mystic Fish and what were they going to do in the parade?  The only expierence that I had with parades was when my Brownie troop dressed up in our local Christmas Parade. That is a whole other blog since I was dressed as a Christmas present (made out of a cardboard box) and I kept tripping over it and falling during the parade..Needless to say that parade could not have been over fast enough...

When the "Mystic Fish" were ready to leave and head to the parade everyone got dressed, and the energy was high!

Before the Mystic Fish and the group of about 75 people headed out for the 1/2 mile walk to the parade a 5 person band showed up. This" ain't" no parade without some music ( and yes I know I used  a double negitive)  What I learned from Tracy,  this is a group of college guys that make money every year playing for the Mystic Fish.. I have to admit, the music was GREAT!! A littel southern stlye jazz/blues. Exactly what I would expect for a Mardi Gras parade!

The time was now.... It was time to head to the People's Parade. The band led the Mystic Fish followed by Mr. Hartley

It was a blast to walk to the parade following the Mystic Fish. I still was unsure if we were the parade, or what exactly was going to happen. And then we came upopn the main parade. There were thousands of people watching and collecting beads, candy and moon pies!  The Mystic Fish have some special powers I tell ya. Once they came upon the parade route the gates were opened just for them to get onto the parade route! They get to dance and party like it 1999 for a good 15 minutes!  It was a site to see, and peolpe standing along the parade route loved it!

The whole parade was an experience in itself. We headed back to the house, drank, ate some more food, and socialized throughout the night. When the kids decided to put on a parade for the adults, it was a highlight! I think we may have some Mystic Fish in training!

I can not say enough about my exposure to this Southern tradition. It was an honor to be invited and be surrounded by all these "cool ass people" that called tehmselves the Mystic Fish. The food was to die for, the drinks delightful, and the company as warm and welcoming as you would expect from the South.  It's hard not to get into the spirit of Mardi Gras, even the statues do!!

It was a weekend to remember!!!

til next time, peace and love ~KT~

Running...pretty similar to life....

Running to me has a great deal of ups and downs. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes not so much. One thing for sure I am always trying to improve on it. It kinda sounds like my life! Since coming back from my "no expectation vacation" in October I have been quite the busy girl. I had decided to take a bible study class to enhance my knowledge of Christianity in which I really enjoyed and met some pretty cool people along the way. I liked the weekly meetings and the going to church on Sunday routine. I was kinda sad when it ended. Nothing forces me to go to church, it is just willpower at this point. And I have to admit the flying schedule has not been real conducive, and I am sure I can come up with a couple other excuses as to why I have not attended regularly. Goal this weekend...make it to church....note to self!

I have trained and completed my first half marathon.WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! For anyone that knows me, especially my soccer buddies from college, know that I HATE...HATE...HATE running! Playing soccer is a different story. I love chasing the ball, but all that pre-season run bull crap I HATED and quite frankly I was horrible at it. Maybe that is why I was a defender?I slow the fast people down! So the idea of running a half-marathon has never crossed my mind, that was until my friend Shari said that she and her daughter Michel were running the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. She told me that I should and that it was going to be a lot of fun. 13.1 miles fun???? The only thing in common with fun and run is that fact that they rhyme. That is it! Somehow I talked my friend Renee (whom I fly with) into the idea of running as well. I told her it was going to be "FUN" and it would give us a goal to work out on our layovers. Our training plan???  After Thanksgiving we said "We have to get serious now!", after Christmas "No really, We have to get serious!" and than after New Years we said" Oh Sh** we have less than two months we for REAL have to get serious!!" We were given all kinds of suggestions for training but we did what worked for us. I have to give us credit, for training we ran in the rain in DC, the snow in MI, even on an 80 degree day we decided to run our longest training run of 10miles past the Donald Trumps MANSION in West Palm Beach. We sometimes ran 2 miles, sometimes five, sometimes for 40 minutes, sometimes less. Depending on the day and how we felt. I came down with a severe sinus infection at the end of January the first part of February. I was down for the count for almost 10 days, no training, barely eating, and feeling like crud. I was sure that I would never finish the race. Our only goal was to not walk, which after my sickness seemed like a hell of a goal. But race day finally approached

My shirt that I made for the race in honor of new beginnings and tribute to a dear friend of mine that died in 2004

Renee making her shirt!



In Honor of DAD and Joe





300am bus ride to the race! Tiara's and all!





At mile 6 near the castle!



Mile 10! 3 to go!!

















Getting ready to cross the finish line!!



Getting my Princess Medal at the Finish Line



Renee Getting her Medal



Katie is D.O.N.E!!!!

2:47:57

From:

EAST POINT, GA

Age:

29

Gender:

Female

Bib:

#12550

Distance:

13.1 miles

Clock Time:

3:16:38

Net Time:

2:47:57

Overall Place:

7184 / 13797

Gender Place:

6794 / 13114

Division Place:

1361 / 2371

5K Split:

35:20

10K Split:

1:20:36

15K Split:

1:57:42

 

My official results from the Disney website!! Yes I finished and I achieved my goal of not walking. Besides the 10 minute restroom break and the short stops for pictures, we ran the whole time! The whole 2hours 47 minutes and please do not forget the 57seconds. I do not know what possessed me to run a half marathon but I did learn a couple of things.

#1 I do not get runners high, I get runners HATE!

#2 Running is a little more enjoyable when you don't have your college soccer coach yelling "Katie you better take 30 seconds off your time or the  whole team is running again" Thanks Greg! and please emphasize the "Little more enjoyable part"

#3 Bathrooms are a hot item while running...just say'n

#4 You chaf in places that you didn't know was possible

#5 There really is no feeling as good as when you cross the finish line

 

So you see running is alot like life. It has it ups and downs. For example, as I write this blog I just scarfed down 3 Samoas Girl Scout cookies in less than a minute flat. All in the name of supporting our Girl Scouts ( I was once a top seller you know) All kidding aside: LIFE NEEDS BALANCE. Running has reminded me that goals are possible to achieve, some days are good running days, some days are bad running days.  When my pace was not what I wanted or days when I wanted to quit, I  kept reminding myself of the many people, I could run in honor of. That helped put things in perspective. In life you have to take the good with the bad,  as in running, constantly strive for improvement. I guess the real reason I ran the Princess half marathon......I finally got to wear my tiara!!! Til Next time Peace and Love ~KT~



The end of the "no expectation vacation"

Current location: My loft
Mileage: 6,920
2 full days home from "no expectation vacation"


I have traveled 6, 920 miles in 21 days. I drove thru  Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and back to Georgia. (10 of which I had never driven thru) I went to three National Parks (Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Glacier) I have seen a grizzly bear, a moose, an elk, a white mountain goat, and bull horn mountain sheep all in the wild, in their own habitat. I have watched the sun lower on my left as I watched a full moon to my right. I have watched the sunset into cornfields, glaciers, and  rocky mountains. I have learned more about the Native Indian culture. I have felt extremely patriotic watching the four Presidents at Mount Rushmore under a clear sky and a full moon. I have built a camp fire all by myself, I have set up a tent as well. I have reconnected  with old friends. I have encountered extremely wonderful people all across the U.S. I stayed in my first Bed and Breakfast. I showered at truck stops. I saw windmills, cornfields, ranches, and did I mention corn fields? I had brunch with the Governor and senator of Wyoming (without a shower I might add) I did not turn on one TV, open one book, open one magazine, and I made my phone calls limited. I never even made it into a bar on this trip. Every day I had to figure out where I was going to sleep and what direction I was heading.

When the idea of this trip formed in the back of an airplane, I knew that I had to do it. I didn't know why and I really did not know what to expect. I also knew that I needed to challenge myself. People always wonder why did u stay in rest stops, campgrounds, and peoples houses. Yes I could have paid for a hotel, but then I would have gotten into bed, turned on the TV and not really experienced all the things that I did. Sometimes I think that we need to take away the modern conveniences of life to remind ourselves, there are other ways.  I started a blog, so I could write my feelings in the moment.When someone ask about the trip, it is easy to leave out details that happened along the way. My favorite author, Paulo Coelho says, that every time you speak of a dream  or a goal you give a piece of it away. I kinda feel the same way about this experience. Writing is not comfortable for me, and so it was another way to challenge myself.

I had to fill up my jeep 25 times ( you do the money calculations) but most importantly with each one of those stops, I was also filling up my soul. I have come to realize that people and cars may be very similar. When a car gets low on gas it needs to be filled up to be able to continue to drive. As with people, I think we also need refueled. Sometimes we need to refuel our emotional selves, our spiritual selves, and our mental selves. They also sometimes get low. I am starting to learn, that expectations will not always be met, goals not always accomplished. People will disappoint, as I am sure I will disappoint. There will be challenges, struggles, and heartache throughout ones life. The fact that you can not change people you can only improve yourself is starting to become more and more clear to me. My "no expectation vacation" did me good, but I am now back to the reality and challenges of life. I did not wake up in a bad mood once on the trip, and I think I may have been grumpy to my mother once on the phone (I accuse altitude sickness) J/J and sorry mom. What I realize though it is our choice on how we decided to deal with these things in life, because inevitably they are going to happen to us. I do not claim to be perfect, but I do know that after driving 6, 920 miles, thru 22 states, and doing a big ole circle around the U.S. I feel that I am finally on the right road. I am sure there will be detours, and U turns, but I can honestly say that I feel that I am on the right path for myself.

I know that I could not have done this trip without the amazing support of my friends and family. I had tons of CD's to get me thru the trip (so many that I never once turned on the radio) I had great snacks, and let's not forget the mace and very large knife my father bought me. I was glad that I was able to refuel myself thru my "no expectation vacation" and I highly recommend that you plan your own, whatever that might be.

I have decided that I will continue to blog, when I feel there is something important that I might want to talk about. There is a fine line with putting your thoughts and feelings for all to read, and as my friend stated once to me "some things you need to hold onto and keep for yourself, you need to keep a little of yourself so that one day you can share it with that special someone in your life" I couldn't agree more!  Til Next time Peace and Love ~KT~

Time to start heading home...

Current mileage: 6100 miles

Current location: At K-Bar Breakfast Cafe, Okemah, Oklahoma
Day # 20 of the no expectation vacation

On the morning of Thursday Sept. 30 I had a phone conversation with my best friend Renee. It seems that I had lost track of the time and days and while talking to her I realized that I should probably start heading towards Atlanta. I came to this conclusion because I was about 100 miles from the Canada border, and I had about 6 good days to get home! I guess that is part of the no expectation vacation. Loose track of time, which is a great feeling I might add! So on Thursday,  Kathy and Steve (my hiking partners from Washington) and I decided to head to the other side of Glacier and hike to a place called Hidden lakes. It was one of the places the Ranger said that I had to see while I was here. I exchanged numbers with Kathy and Steve, because my plan when I got to the other side was to find a place to shower (I was going on day 3, which is about my limit) Turns out that most places are closed since it was off season, but I did know that a KOA campground was open for one more day. I got to the KOA but it seems their office was only open from 8-11am and 4-9pm. Well I was there around noon. What I can tell you is: there showers were not closed, so I borrowed them!  Disclaimer I would have paid, but there was no one there. Ahhhhh showers ,man I tell ya, they can make you feel like a brand new person! After feeling like the cleanest person at Glacier I headed toward Logan pass to hike to Hidden Lakes. As soon as I pull in who do I see' No other than Steve and Kathy. They couldn't loose me even if they wanted to! The good thing about this couple is the fact that Steve likes to take pictures as much as me or even more than me. He even hikes with a tripod! I think it was meant to be that I met them. I can tell you one thing about Steve and Kathy. They seemed to have it figured out. They had been married for 37 years I think, 5 kids, and they just seemed to be content with each other. It was rather cute, and really inspiring! I posted the pictures in my previous blog, but I can tell ya, once again Glacier National Park by far at this point in my life has the most beautiful scenery, especially if you are willing to hike a couple of miles to get to the hidden places! After the hike I said my goodbyes to Steve and Kathy and got on the road.  I made it to a "rest area" towards the bottom of Montana at a place called Ghost Town, and slept for the night.

I woke up in the morning and finally made it to Idaho. Idaho is a little special to me because my first roommate from college is from out this way. Although me and Nichole were only roommates for one semester, we went thru some really tough freshman times.We both got mono our first semester, we were both homesick, we both played on the soccer team. We just bonded! Only problem is, I decided mid semester that I was sooooooo in love with my high school boyfriend that I was going to move home to be with him. Well, later turns out that was a very bad decision (like my father said it would be) and I lost touch with those girls that were there thru some of the biggest changes in my young adult life. I had reconnected with Nichole on myspace, but later deleted the account, not realizing how hard it would be to find her again. Keep in mind, we met in the year 1999 and it is now 2010. I had tried to do some research before I left, sending out random messages to people that I thought might be her or even related to her. NOTHING. But as I was seeing signs for the place that I knew she was from I just had to stop and try to find her one more time. I pulled over and spent about two hours on the internet. See the problem was, I forgot how to spell her last name, I knew that she was now married and it had changed, so I was running into a lot of dead ends. I tried looking up old soccer records thru the college but they didn't go back that far. Just when I was about to give up I found a link to Pocatello, Idaho class of 1999 on facebook with her name!!!! Yippie I found her! I immediately sent her a message and decided to make a pit stop in Pocatello to shower and do laundry, I knew that would buy me a couple of hours for her to read the message. I knew from facebook that she lived about 4 hours away, but I was willing to drive and see her. After about a 4 hour pit stop I decided to hit the road. Maybe she wasn't addicted to facebook like me, and it might be a couple of days before she read the message. Bummer. (Turns out Nichole called me the next evening while driving thru Colorado) even though we didn't get to meet up, it was nice to catch up with her on the phone. She is married and has five kids (WOW) and at least we were now facebook friends! I now can picture where she grew up, because Pocatello, Idaho seemed like a world away back in1999!

The rest of  the drive thru Idaho was scenic. I saw a person riding in this contraption, not to sure what it is called. I am sure my pilot friends would know. It looked like a go cart with a motor, and a kite on top. Sounds like fun to me! Anyways I had to stop and take a picture and watch this "thing" glide around!  I was also able to capture another sunset into he mountains....I do not think that I will ever capture or see enough of these to bore me in my lifetime. Every single sunset takes my breather away!

I got on the road and headed towards Salt Lake City. I had a couple of people that I knew lived in Salt Lake City, and since I had just slept in the jeep, a bed was sounding quite appealing. The first person that I called was a friend of a friend named Steph. Steph is a friend of my good friend Paula whom I met while working at my part time job. Steph knew I was going on this trip and offered up her telephone number and told me if I was out that way to give her a call. Well I took her up on that offer. Only problem, she was headed to California to see a friend. Hummmm, next option. I have an old college friend that lives out here, but I hated to just call up and say hey, I am in the area, mind if I sleep and shower at your house (which I now know she would have gladly taken me in) So my last option. Shari, a good friend that is also a flight attendant, whom stays at my house when needed for work told me that her brother lives in SLC. She told me to call her if I needed a place to stay. Well guess what, I called. Shari called her brother, and then called me back. Turns out Rick, Shari's brother had just had surgery, and understandably was not up for company. But hold up, since his mother in-law was at their house helping out with the kids she offered up her apartment, which was less than a mile away! After my bad direction following skills I finally found the place "gas station with the red roof" and Belinda (the mother in-law) met me with a key to her place. THANK YOU Belinda (and Shari)!!! She was so sweet, and made me feel right at home. I really hope that I posses these same qualities to total strangers! The main reason that I wanted to stay in Utah besides a bed and a shower was the fact that I would like to do a quick tour of downtown and although I was not brave enough to ask my college friend to stay at her house, I did send her a facebook message to see if she would like to have lunch the following day. Besides, I  have always heard that SLC was a cool town, and I had always wanted to see the Mormon temple.

The next morning, after stopping to get coffee I was informed by a SLC police officer that I was crazy to go downtown to that area if I didn't get there in the next hour. He informed me that it was "conference week" whatever that means and that there would be tons of protesters. So I have to say I made my stop in downtown brief, because as I passed the temple it was crowded, there were protesters, and quite frankly I just wasn't in the mood. I promised myself that I would be back to explore SLC in depth especially since my new employer (Southwest) flew here.


State Capitol of Utah


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         At this point in the trip I was two for two about sending out last minute facebook messages to meet up with old friends. But hold up.... Just as I was leaving Salt lake City I received a phone call from an old college friend from Davis and Elkins college. Jess and I had reconnected thru facebook and I had just seen a couple of days before that she was pregnant! BTW CONGRATULATIONS!!! So it was really cool that she called, I was able to turn around and met her and her husband for lunch. Turns out that they lived about 5 minutes from the apartment I stayed in the night before, and they said they would have gladly taken me in. Thanks! I can tell you, that when you are out  traveling on the road it is just really nice to see an old friend. Even if you have lost touch there is something about the common bond of the past that brought comfort to me on my solo road trip! It was really nice to meet Jess and her husband Elliot. We spent about two hours at lunch, and brought each other up to speed with our lives and what had happened in the past 6 years. Funny how time  just passes right by us! It really was a highlight on the trip!




Jess and Katie




Jess and her husband Elliot

 After lunch I got on the road and headed towards Denver. But not without some great picture opportunities!



made me think I was in WV



I listened to a whole book on tape (the Spellman files...Thank you Tracy) and made it just inside Colorado to sleep at a rest area to sleep in the town on Eagle. The next morning was Sunday and I was on the lookout for a church. Seems that I over slept a little that morning and it was rather hard to find a church. I drove all along I-70E thru the ski resorts such as Vail, and Beaver Creek, and saw million dollar homes, but no churches. So I continued to drive thru Colorado and decided I would try and catch a night service. This day was a particular hard day to drive. I was felling a little homesick, and was really actually excited to get home although I was more than a 1,000 miles away. Didn't stop me from speeding though! By my calculations as far as I had to go speeding would drop atleast 2 hours off my time, my sister Aimee, said like 5 minutes! No worries though cause the Colorado State Patrol put a stop to that. I was day dreaming I must admit when I came flying over this little hill only to glance and see a patrol car, that obviously saw me. Crap, I pulled over immediately because I knew that I was busted. Trooper Robinson was very nice, and very cute. He asked for the standard: license, insurance, and registration. And then asked if the address was my correct address. I told him no, and gave him my Atlanta address. He then asked for a phone number. I started to think great, he is going to ask me out....LOL NOT...........he said hold for me just a moment, I am going to write your citation. 89 in a 75 will cost you $170 in Colorado that averages out to $12 a mile....Humm bet I slowed down in Colorado! I never found a church but decided to pull out the computer and tap into the telecast via the Internet with the church I just started attending in Atlanta. Funny enough the subject was technology. As I was driving along I-70E listening to church service in Atlanta (ironic, sounds like someone above was talking directly to me) Anyone that knows me, knows that I absolutely HATE when people are with you at dinner or where ever and they constantly check their phone. I think that it is just plain rude! Well seems that I have the church on my side too. The sermon was AWESOME! There were three rules to follow #1 have only one conversation at a time (make the person your with feel of value.....i.e. DO NOT CHECK YOUR PHONE) #2 have important conversations in person (although it is tough and awkward you can make sure the person understands #3 have a designated place for conversation i.e. a quiet place. The moral of the sermon, communication is the key to great, lasting relationships, and technology was meant to enhance life, not replace it! AMEN BROTHER!!

This brings you up to speed as to where I am right now. I drove over 700 miles yesterday, thru Colorado, Kansas (not alot to say about that) and into Oklahoma. I finally made it to a a place called K-Bar Cafe (in Okemah, OK) a place where truckers can sleep, so I decided to sleep here as well. A really cool website to give you all the info you could want about where to shower and places to eat and get gas is http://www.truckerguide.com/. I must admit I was a little apprehensive sleeping here last night, but when I woke up from the Resort de Katie's jeep, opened the door and saw that the parking lot was full.. One thing I know from being a flight attendant.. Follow the locals. Although the place looks kinda scary they must do something right, so as I sit here writing, I just had a homemade breakfast that consisted of eggs, bacon, hash browns, biscuit and gravy (that could compete with my mom's) and coffee for $7.00 Sounds like a deal to me! I plan on hitting the road, finding a shower and enjoying my last couple of days on the road. I spent most of yesterday speeding to get home (it was just one of those days) and realized I was resorting to my old ways, so today I am going to try and remember to take my time and enjoy. Til next time Peace and Love ~KT~



Glacier.....The pictures say it all! The most beautiful place ever!

A whole blog of pictures from Glacier!