The Journey Begins

New York to Seattle Washington by way of the southwest.  We are in the middle of our journey about to pack up and head to our next destination.  Sedona, AZ has been great to us and presented motivation to keep all friends and family up to date on our travels.  The miles are adding up, almost at 3,000 so far.  The road is a great place to be, we have been meeting some fascinating people and seeing some amazing sites.  Only so much can be written. Our Driveabout so far: Richmond, VA:  Debbi surprised us with some homemade Eggplant Parmigiana, yum.  Went to Debbi & Ed's favorite little jazz place and experienced some great music.  It was a quick stop, but so great to see Debbi & Ed, & the dogs.  Crossing over the Blue Ridge Mountains was pretty spectacular.  I think Kelly and I found a new love for the beauty in Virginia. Nashville, TN:  Country Music and fried pickles.  Only one is good, can you guess which? Memphis TN: Best Ribs on my life.  No question.  You can order the vacuum sealed seasoned spectacular. Charles Vergos' Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs.  And well there is Elvis, we have never seen so many gold records in our lives (next to the carpet on the ceiling of course... Yes there is green carpet on his ceiling in his party room... Those of you who lived through the 70's probably aren't too surprised by that).  If you didn't guess by now, this is Elvis's couch in the 'Jungle Room'. Hot Springs, AR: Dilapidated Victorian mansions show the reminisce of a once thriving oasis.  Natural hot springs feed these beautiful bath houses, bringing the Roman bath to the early 20th century.  Tucked away in Arkansas, a hidden gem. Amarillo, TX:  Well, West Texas.  We don't want to offend anyone, but it is West Texas.  A free 72oz steak if you can eat it in under an hour (plus a couple of sides).  We had the police chauffeur us in and out of the restaurant because the WWE was in town with crazy fans outside.  We saw the wrestler Big Show, he literally sat on a chair and it collapsed! Santa Fe, NM:  One of Kelly's favorites so far.  It feels like the center of Native American Art.  We got to see Jed's business, The Shiprock Trading Post, the most beautiful gallery we saw (we are NOT being biased).  Not too dog friendly of a city, for we had animal control called on us when we tied Cassius up outside a restaurant for 15 min.  We bought a great piece of Zuni Pueblo Pottery.  Jackalope furniture, sat next to our Silver Saddle motel and held great pieces, we found a flawless deer skull.  Tons of great Salsa and people. Gallop, NM:  Quick stop. We stayed in the famous El Rancho Hotel, where old western movie stars frequented.  The history was interesting, the food - not so much. Petrified Forest National Park:  The sheer energy in that wood, wow.  Every stop we made we had ancient Native Spirits in the insanely large crows, protecting each area like sentinels.  Kelly is certain they were Chief Spirits.
Sedona, AZ:  We have spent the past week on a spiritual retreat, soaking up the essence of what it means to be alive.  So much personal and shared growth has occurred.  The energy here is trans-formative.   We both feel almost bombarded from it all, it will take us a good amount of time to fully digest.

 
Now off to the Grand Canyon, then Scottsdale, then who knows.... But eventually we will be in Seattle!