“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…”  ~ John Muir

I am not someone who will sleep under the stars, or in a tent, or in a rustic cabin or go anywhere near anything that creeps, slithers, buzzes, flies, sneaks, spins a web, etc.  I do absolutely love to be outside and I love to hike, as long as the hike doesn’t include me edging along some precarious cliff face. I’ve mentioned before, I’m burdened with a wicked fear of heights.

It’s the stuff movies are made of. Monument Valley. The classic western hero riding his horse along the horizon, the magnificent sandstone buttes that must be seen to be believed and Yes!  There he his, John Wayne, on a 5-year quest; The Searchers.  Yep, it’s the stuff movies are made of.

JFK & LBJ. Why the fascination? When we mapped out our See the USA road trip we never really focused on where we would stop or what we would see.  It was more of a let’s see where the road takes us kind of thing.  As it turns out, the road led us to two fascinating moments in history that will forever be linked together.  Both moments definitely still hold the fascination of many.

Around here, we use the month of February to ready ourselves – both personally and professionally – for our upcoming high tourist season.  Once we get rolling in the spring it becomes time-challenging to book appointments and such.  That’s not to say it can’t be done, it’s just much easier to get it out of the way, now, while we’re still moving slowly.  Included in this effort was my recent visit to my doctor for an annual exam.

Charleston and Scarlett O’Hara.  I’m finally coming out of my road trip fog and accepting the fact that we are actually home and life goes on.  I always have some delicious little what’s next travel plan in my head.  I can’t help it, I’m always ready to go again.  In the meantime though it’s time to get it in gear and get this Bed & Breakfast Inn of ours ready for guests and the upcoming season.

I stood on top of a mountain today.  If you know me at all you know the impact of that statement and I had the most perfect moment.  The surrounding silence of my majestic mountain was stunning and I thought to myself, “Everyone should have the opportunity to stand on top of a mountain at least once in their life.”

There is an age-old saying; money can’t buy happiness.  I think I could argue the point.  Money bought this and I’m pretty damn happy right about now.  Have we been traveling like this for the past eight weeks?  Absolutely not.  This little slice of paradise is the result of a substantial withdrawal from our points bank, but that’s a story for another post.

Did you ever arrive somewhere, full of anticipation, and almost immediately realize it wasn’t going to do it for you?  You can’t quite put your finger on why, but you know you’re not feeling it.  That was our nearly immediate reaction to San Antonio, TX.

I wasn’t sure what to title this post:  Southern Hospitality is Alive and Well?  The 25-cent Martini? The 3-Martini Lunch?  Happy Birthday to Me?!  So, fueled by a 3-Martini lunch I thought I’d just start writing and see where it takes me.

It would seem, when the great minds of engineering laid out the path of Interstate 10, they said, “Hey, let’s keep it simple; just mow down the forest and slap on the asphalt.”