We found our spot!

Oh my gosh! How long has it been since we've updated our blog!?! Tyler was actually asking the other day if our blog would ever be finished ... our poor trip followers will be left hanging and have no idea what our next trip will be or where we're even considering moving!

Well, we'll help you out .. we've had some extreme change of plans in the last few weeks and are getting ready to ... duh duh duh ... move permanently!

Let's back up a bit so you can get the whole story!

So, the last time we checked in, we were hanging out in Chicago with our great friend Emily. We had an amazing weekend of relaxing, running, partying, and just feeling loved and welcomed. From Chicago, we headed to Madison, Wisconsin. We stayed with Ty's cousin Spencer and took some biking tours of the capitol of Wisconsin. We even met another chiropractor and his personal trainer wife whose daughter's name is also Aspen Grace (NO JOKE!). That one was stranger than fiction.

From Wisconsin we went to Laurel, Nebraska where we spent a few days with Tyler's Danish side of the family that we'd never met. We stayed on the family farm and learned about family tradition, including making "lamby cake" for birthdays and having fish frys. The rural experience was amazing, especially nestled into so much family history! To give an idea, Ty's grandmother was one of twelve kids and his great grandmother made sure that her kids and all of her grandkids created a very tight knit family. Everyone has similar traditions and memories - it was absolutely amazing!

From Laurel, we drove straight through to Yellowstone National Park (Oh yeah, after checking out Mount Rushmore in Rapid City, SD) and had an absolutely amazing three days of camping. (That's saying a lot for a city girl who doesn't like being alone in the wilderness without any amenities). The first night of camping was beautifully set next to a babbling brook, shadowed by gorgeous hillsides and crisp air. Unfortunately, we spent a fair amount of time in our tent hiding from the mosquitos! Note to self: Natural bug spray DOESN'T WORK! So we drove through the rest of Yellowstone the next day, took a pit-stop at the general store and bought the bug spray with the most amount of DEET available, and hiked another 5 miles into our next campsite. This time, we were in heaven. We built a fire, pitched our tent, and slept under the stars, next to our own lagoon and freezing cold creek. Perfect for a morning refresher! For all of the wildlife they told us we'd see, though, we didn't think it would be a few birds, the elk that hang out by the lodge for safety, and the mosquitos. We didn't see Yogi or any of his buddies, no deer, no moose, no nothing! We're convinced there are special underground elevators underneath Yellowstone where the rangers beam up the cool wildlife. Apparently we didn't get the memo as to where the bears where coming up or when. Sheesh!

From Yellowstone, we drove to our next potential, Jackson, Wyoming, and actually kept driving straight through! We hated it, so stayed with more couchsurfers in Driggs, ID instead, our original "potential." Driggs has 1100 people, but is just outside of the Tetons and had some really great natural food stores and fun outdoor music events. Hills got some great altitude training in for her marathon.

At this point in our travels, we were essentially "wasting time" before we got to Bend, Oregon for Hillary's marathon in early August, so we mapped out a few more spots in Montana and Idaho that could have been potential spots. The morning we left Driggs, though, our plans changed completely and we missed all of those Northern spots. At 5:40am, we were driving North toward Helena, Montana and happened to be chatting about the family reunion that Hillary's family has every year at Lake Tahoe. The two week reunion had been going on for about five days and this would be one of the first years Hills would have missed it. We were both thinking out loud and both said "How great would it be to be sitting on the beach at Lake Tahoe right now!?" We took one look at each other, smiled like little kids, and pulled over to do some calculations. An hour later, we were headed in the completely opposite direction, toward Nevada, and on our way to five amazing days at Lake Tahoe!

So rather than spend 5 more days trying to find our perfect spot, we decided that we had already found our perfect spot and it turns out it wasn't even a place that was originally on our list! We couldn't have been more excited about Fort Collins, Colorado, Tyler's hometown! Funny - since he's always said he'd never go back there. The more we talked about it, though, the better we felt about it and the more we realized it was a win-win place for the marriage of the city mouse and the country mouse. So we spent five days on the beach of Lake Tahoe, dreaming about our perfect home, nestled on the Front Range and only a hop skip and a jump from everything we need!

The first week of August brought us to Bend, Oregon, where Hills was focusing on completing her first marathon. While there, we realized that Bend is awesome! There's nothing about Bend that we don't like. We stayed with Hillary's aunt Mardi, who is an absolutely fabulous tour guide for her hometown and over the three days we stayed there, we fell in love with the small town, the lazy Deschutes River that runs through the town, the beautiful homes, the adorable downtown, and the outdoor activity that is less than 30 minutes away for any activity (rafting, skiing, snowboarding, trail running, biking, world-class climbing). We were hooked.

Oh yeah, and the marathon went well. Hills finished in just under 5 hours and is resting from most activity right now, but excited to take on the next challenge. 2500 feet of elevation gain and then 2000 feet of elevation loss is quite a bit for the body to take on in 26.2 miles, so she's thinking something a bit flatter next time.

But now we had a dilemma: Bend or Fort Collins?? We really were stumped.

Well, turns out that the deciding factor came from a death in the family. Hillary's uncle passed suddenly and unfortunately after a bike accident in Denver. After four months of traveling, Ty decided to stay back in the Bay Area while Hillary and Aspen took the trip to Denver for the memorial service. While in Denver, the two Gatteau girls hooked up with family in Fort Collins, about an hour away, and Hills got to take her own tour of the place where Tyler grew up.

Our deciding factor: accessibility! In Fort Collins, we'd only be an hour from an airline hub so it's easy to visit us and easy to travel. We have family on both sides close by (all of whom know each other regardless of our connection - small world!) and we have some great friends in the area. Fort Collins again won over all the rest and we were set!

So we figured we'd found our perfect place, and setting up our home base is more important right now than traveling all over the world. We've put our Asia and New Zealand trips on hold and will probably do the same with our Europe trip. Traveling is really a wonderful opportunity, but after living out of a suitcase for four months, with a baby, we're ready to put down some roots. We've really learned a lot about each other and are so excited that we found a spot about which we're both ecstatic.

Back in the SF Bay Area, we've been getting ready for a move, trying to find a great house to rent, catching up with friends and family, and making some money. We've been doing a bit more housesitting and Ty has been spending 10-hour days installing solar for Jesse's company, REC Solar. Hills will be driving out to Fort Collins to set up house next week, and Ty will follow a week or so after to start getting settled into the world of chiropractic.

We are SOOO excited to be getting settled! Our 9 month trip turned into a 4 month trip and although we're slightly sad we won't be seeing the world, we're more than excited to be putting down our roots!

Where in the World are all of the Gatteaus?

Thanks to Ty for updating everyone via e-mail. We'll now put it in the blog :). We've been doing so much and seeing so many people, that when we finally get a chance to sit down and record everything, it starts to get daunting and we can easily find something else to do rather than write the blog. But we're happy and healthy and ready to fill everyone in!

First off, how are we? We're great! We've been learning quite a bit about each other on this road trip and have truly learned what makes us a strong couple and a strong family. We've hit some bumps in the road, we've almost reached across the car to pull each others hair out, and in the end, have come out stronger. We've had opportunities to see each other in different lights and to re-introduce ourselves to each other. Traveling together has done us well.

Aspen is continuing to thrive and grow and amaze us each and every day. We've been using less diapers per day as she's quickly getting the hang of potty training. She loves books and hangs out on her baby seat while pointing at the pictures. It helps that potty and diaper change are two of the signs she knows in baby sign language. As for signing, Aspen has about 20 signs under her belt. She points things out and tells us what she needs - it's amazing!

Aspen can sign:
Momma
Dadda
Milk
Food
More
Water
Apple
Cracker
Diaper Change
Potty
Dog (this one is her favorite)
Horse
Bear
Pig
Bird
Elephant
Gorilla
Tiger (although she growls rather than signs for this one :) )
Baby
Help
All done
Thank you
Please
I love you

She's also very into shoes, purses, jewelry, credit cards, and phones ... uh oh!

Other than that, we're all enjoying friends and family and continue to be so thankful for everyone who has offered us hospitality and support on our trip!

Here are some trip highlights from the past weeks:

Florida:
Before heading off for our exotic destination, we spent a wonderful four days with Ty's parents. We were pampered, sunned, wined, and dined and were welcomed into the house with a cocktail party in our honor. Aspen was by far the cutest guest and was showered with gifts and love. Magic, Ty's stepmom, whipped up some fantastic food, and we got to share all of our traveling woes with eager ears. Jesse worked on getting his diving certification, Hills and Ty got to take advantage of staying with the grandparents by taking a date night, and overall, really appreciated the downtime.

Puerto Rico:
While enjoying our vacation within our vacation, we stayed with a great friend in the Coast Guard, Kim, who was nice enough to host us for the entire 12 day stay. She has a great little beach house 1 block from the ocean. It was hot and humid, but a great little island. We spent our days relaxing, swimming in the ocean, and running. At one point we all jumped into a large van that our friend had borrowed and explored the island for a few days. Kim was amazing, because she set us up with so many great things. We got to stay in nice little beach villas, we got to take a small plane over part of the island to see it from the air (Hillary flew the plane for part of it!), and we got to scuba/snorkel in some unbelievable reefs. We also jumped off bridges into rivers, swam in big waterfalls and explored caves while in Puerto Rico. It seems to be filled with things to do. Don't worry, we of course ate and drank. Kim enjoyed healthy foods and made her own Kambucha, chips and great pizzas. We ate well and washed all things down with local rum. We did three tours of different free rum tasting spots. Bacardi was the biggest, but we also sampled Don Q and the San Juan visitor center.

Our favorite moments, by far, of our Puerto Rico trip were Aspen's first steps. She finally got enough courage to let our hands go and cruise around on her own. When she fell, she popped right back up on her own and continued again. We took lots of video, so it is all on our picture site. The end of our Puerto Rico trip marked the end of our travels with Jesse, so from here on out, we'll get to spend our days with each other and our little bean - a fun change of pace.

Puerto Rican Spanish Lessons:
This was one vacation where it was so hot, we weren't worried about rushing around to see everything all at once. Speaking of hot, we quickly learned that Puerto Rican spanish is quite different from the spanish that Jesse was trying to learn from a hand-held text book. Apparently (according to our friend Luis, who is a P.R. native), it's too hot to say all the sounds in typical spanish words. Puerto Ricans remove 's' from the ends and middles of words, and there are a few consonants that are taken out of the middle of words. For example, "thank you" would be "gracias," but is instead pronounced "gracia." The middle of the spanish word for fish is removed, so you can ask for "pescado" all over the island, but you won't get anything unless you pronounce it "pecayo." And the best example: Most spanish speakers might say "Buenos dias," but the PR's have shortened it to "Bueno dia" and actually tend to take out the entire second word altogether, so in order to greet someone, you would say "Buena!" So, in short, we threw out our spanish dictionaries and used "Hablo englais?"

Camp Lovee, Newnan, GA:
After a quick hello and good bye with the Ty's parents again, we jumped in the car and headed out of the heat. Our first stop was to see Hills' Aunt Lovee outside of Atlanta, GA. Ty didn't understand why Hillary kept calling it "Camp Lovee," but once we got there, he quickly saw why. She lives in a beautiful home, outside of the big city, with a huge yard and a great neighborhood. She makes great food and opened her home to us. To increase the relaxation factor, we took a day playing around on Lovee's new boat on a nearby lake. We all piled on, including Gus the dog, and we motored around until we found some great swimming and some nice sun. Aspen seemed to love the boat and again Hillary got to drive it. :) After the boat we ate some great food at the marina and for the first time tried fried pickles. Southerners sure know how to eat! :)

North Carolina - Asheville and Boone:
From Georgia, we took a quick skip and a jump up to see two potential settling spots, Asheville and Boone. Since we're looking for a cutesy, medium-sized, mountain town, we thought these might be fabulous spots for outdoor activities, liberal thinking, and having close proximity to family. In Asheville, a town of 70,000 hippies (think of Berkeley to the 10th power), we stayed with a good friend of Tyler's. It was a cool little place up in the the trees of North Western NC and the weather was the best we had experienced for awhile. We both noticed the very strong sense of community very soon after getting to Asheville - on Friday night, we crowded around a drum circle in the center of town where high school kids shared the dance space with babies and an older generation and were all visibly connected by the beat created by a line of 20 ad-lib drummers. Saturday brought a blue grass festival where families and younger singles hang out to listen to a Southern taste of music. Aspen had a chance to run around with other kids and get in the local flavor. This is definitely a very friendly small city and everyone there is very proud of the community in which they participate. We have yet to find a place with more love for music than in Asheville. We enjoyed the local people and the artsiness of the town. Our friend, Robin, was an excellent tour guide and very helpful in showing us the pros and cons of her town. We enjoyed some great drives and some great hikes. Our favorite outing: a date night with pizza, beer, and a movie at a local theater. We saw "When in Vegas" and many aspects of trying to make a marriage work really hit home for the two of us.
Boone came after Asheville. It's also a very cute town, but much smaller. This town was voted as one of four top outdoor sport towns in North America, so there is plenty to do outside. Boone is home of Appalachian State University, and the student population contributes to half of the town's population. While in Boone, we stayed with a cute couple we met through couchsurfing.com and we felt like family 5 minutes after we met them. Taylor was one of the best tour guides we have ever had and seemed to get his joys of life from showing people the parts of his town that were great. He showed us back country local waterfalls and high over looks to see the whole town. He showed us houses and great places to eat. He seemed to have a story for every spot. We haven't completely written off these two cute little towns, but we're still on the search for our perfect spot.

Davidsonville, MD:
After checking out North Carolina, we took an early morning and left Boone at 4am. As the legs of the trip get longer, we prefer to leave earlier so Aspen can sleep for as much of the day's driving as possible. She does pretty well in the car, but she can get ancy after a few hours. We headed to Annapolis, Washington DC, and Davidsonville, MD to take in the sights and see Ty's step-sister, Renee, her husband, Dan, and our niece, Gabby. We learned how to rip into Maryland fresh crab and work through the tough shell when we celebrated Hillary's 25th birthday at a local seafood eatery. We also got to spend time with some of Aspen's cousins she had never met. Gabby's 11 now and loves dressing up her little cousins. Aspen couldn't get enough of the accessories and matching dresses. Dan and Renee were wonderfully gracious hosts and let us take some relaxation time around the pool and some movie viewing in their in-home theater (wow, we have to have one of these things). We took some time exploring Washington D.C. monuments and memorials with one of our awesome nieces. We spent the Fourth of July with our cousin Rick, watching fireworks from his home with blueberry martinis in hand. It was a great retreat for 3 days and we loved the company!


NYC, here we come!
From Maryland, we made the quick drive up to New York City and had the opportunity to stay in a friend's fabulous Brooklyn Heights apartment while he was out of town. Only ten minutes away from the Brooklyn Bridge, we spent time in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hills took a three hour running tour of Manhattan, just before we all headed over for a completely different take on the city. There's constantly something new to explore and there's a gem on every corner of the city. Although the big city is not quite our style, we loved our city excursions and have vowed to return every now and then to get in a constant flow of culture and movement.

After three days of city life, we headed onto Long Island to visit Uncle Jim and Aunt Roe and then on to spend five fabulous days with Ty's sister and her family. While staying with Christine, Jeff, and their three amazing kids, we enjoyed some family bonding over cocktails, a visit to Fire Island where we were treated like complete royalty by our family that runs the local grocery store, a chance to meet a load of Gatteaus at their annual family picnic, and tons of trampoline fun! Aspen had a fabulous time being around her three older cousins who adored her completely. The four of them played dress-up, tag, and just had a grand-old time.

Middlebury and Burlington, VT:
From Long Island, we made the seven hour drive up through Massachusetts - there still may be some potential there, but we have to do some more research after all the traveling is done. Eventually we made it to Middlebury, Vermont, where we hunkered down with some great hosts from couchsurfing.com (we're telling you! - this is definitely the way to travel!). Emma is a sweet and loving girl who was born and raised in Vermont and loves to make anyone feel at home in her home state. Craig, her roommate, is also a very sweet, loving person, and will do whatever is necessary to make guests welcome. In Middlebury, we checked out the single-street downtown, listened to an outdoor concert, loaded up on organic foods from the local co-op, and spent time with the local Vermontites. Driving on a low tire, we switched out to our spare and made the trip 35 miles north to Burlington to get new tires and check out a slightly larger Vermont town. We totally fell in love with Burlington - loved the University of Vermont as part of the town's atmosphere, loved all of the homes and their huge grassy yards, loved the small downtown that looks bigger than it really is, loved all of the outdoor opportunities that are available, and LOVED the absolutely gorgeous Lake Champlain right down the block from the downtown. Although we have heard mixed things about Vermont winters, this gorgeous little spot is definitely top on our list and has a close-by international airport for all of you to come visit!

Where are we NOW?
After making a quick, one-night trip for a stay with a fellow couch surfer in Niagra Falls (we got to cross over into Canada, have dinner, and get Aspen's first passport stamp), we started out early for a nine hour trip to Chicago. We got to stay with Bill, a retired Catholic priest with an amazing zeal for everything life has to offer. He had a view of the falls from his window! We took a quick two hour stop during the trip at St. Joseph's, Michigan for a quick romp in the sand and some macadamia nut coffee - mmmm. We've finally made it to The Windy City and are staying with our wonderful friend, Emily, taking some down time, doing some much-needed errands, and getting excited for Emily's much-awaited housewarming party this weekend. Hills is getting revved up for her 20-mile training run along Lake Michigan and Aspen is learning how to climb the furniture.

We're happy, healthy, and starting to plan the next phase of our trip ... international travels!

Don't forget to check out pics! 25 states, 1 territory, and 1 district down!

Florida

So now is the point in our journey we like to call "Our vacation within our vacation." We arrived in Florida on Saturday night and stayed in Tallahassee with a wonderful couple we met through www.couchsurfing.com. (This is a great network opportunity for travelers on a budget.) From Tallahassee, we made a quick trip down to Titusville, just outside of Orlando and spent some time with an old friend of Ty's, Steve, and his wonderful wife, Susan. Despite the fact that Steve and Susan recently lost their Orlando apartment to arson, they graciously offered up all the available space in their new one-bedroom apartment to three weary travelers and their knee-high. Jesse visited the Kennedy Space Center while Ty and Hills caught up on some sleep. After two days of great homemade food, a chance to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones, and a very hot yoga class, we collected ourselves and headed for the beach! (P.S. Susan makes gorgeous vintage bridal jewelry and can make custom pieces according to your personal taste - check out her work!)

From Orlando, we buzzed down to spend an evening and then a morning with Ty's parents in Delray Beach. The whole crew spent the morning strolling down Atlantic Avenue, grabbing coffee and browsing the racks of the local thrift store. After a homemade lunch, we reloaded and drove over to Ft. Lauderdale for some poolside relaxation with GiVi (Grandma Victoria). We have languidly enjoyed poolside lounging, community BBQs, and early morning walks on the beach. Teaching our daughter to swim and body surf has been pretty great too!

Stay tuned! More Florida beach adventures, then it's off to Puerto Rico!

Everyday is Fat Tuesday!

Ty has finally had a chance to experience The Big Easy as an adult and has spent the week looking at New Orleans through his wife's eyes, three years after Katrina's evacuation. After the worst camping trip EVER (see previous post...) we got here on a Sunday morning and took some much needed rest in Hillary's former roommates' apartment. We were fortunate to have the place to ourselves for two days and reboot, while soaking up the quintessential Southern spirit. Ty and Hills both agree completely that when walking through New Orleans, it is absolutely impossible not to soak up a certain flavor that seems to simply seep into the skin and get into one's pores. There's not a single place in New Orleans where you won't run into Southern hospitality, some rogues notes of a lively jazz tune, or some absolutely amazing food. And knowing us, you better believe we followed our bellies through some traditional Southern cooking.

With an entire week to spend with our friends, Kristi and Nathan, we had plenty of time to tour uptown (Audubon Park, St. Charles Ave., and the Tulane Campus), downtown (the French Quarter, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street), and the 9th Ward. Jesse rejoined us on Thursday after spending a week with family and his lovely girlfriend, Star. We hit up some traditional joints and tourist attractions this week, but were all able to fit in some new things that even Hills hadn't done while living there.

Some trip highlights:
*Tours around Tulane University
*Runs around New Orleans Uptown to soak in old haunts and nearby above-ground cemeteries
*A streetcar ride downtown to sample some local grub, to check out architecture and the French Market, to have lunch by the Mississippi River, and to introduce Jazz and Southern heat to our dancing daughter (this is a MUST SEE video)
*An afternoon spent at a warm Audubon Park playground, soaking up humidity, meeting local parents and tots, and listening to the hum of the streetcar while playing smash ball
*Stopping at venue after venue for live jazz music

*A boys night out on the town - Jean Lafitte's, Bourbon St., and the Cat's Meow (a karaoke bar)
*A tour through the 9th Ward: Hills had never been to this part of town, so neither Hills nor Ty were really able to recognize a huge difference, although there was definitely a sad and broken down appearance to the area.
*Learning how to suck the heads of crawfish at a traditional neighborhood crawfish boil. Ty is now a pro at peeling off the tails and sucking the flavor out of those guys! This was also a first for Hills
*Catching up with old friends through late hours of the night
*A traditional Jazz brunch with a memorable version of "Baby Face" dedicated to our little "Baby Face"

Restaurant Ratings: (New Orleans is so famous for its culinary hot spots, we had to give you a taste with our own personal ratings!)
Cheesecake Bistro: Good food, but "to die for" cheesecake. We chose the 'dulce du leche and pralines' version of the dessert.

Cafe du Monde: The traditional beignet spot. (A beignet is a puff of fried down with powdered sugar piled on top). Great coffee and creamy hot cocoa. A must for any visitor.

Central Grocery: They serve a good traditional muffaletta, if you like that type of sandwich. Ham, turkey, salami, swiss, and olive tapenade piled onto foccacia bread. It's even better if you split it with the love of your life, picnic-style, next to the Mississippi.

Camelia Grill: An old uptown spot with limited sitting room, this cute old-fashioned lunch counter has the friendliest waiters, best grill, and most mouth-watering piece of pecan pie. Waiters and short-order cooks offer a smile, a quick bite, and a satisfied customer.

Club 300: Great management (our good friends Kristi and Nathan), extremely friendly service, and a really comfortable and vibrant ambiance that lend to a memorable dining and musical experience.

Frankie and Johnny's: Hole-in-the-wall Italian joint with bubbly staff and a traditional New Orleans menu. Hills introduced Aspen to her favorite dish of red beans and rice and Ty sampled a Po Boy; slightly dry, but a satisfying meal with the right sauces.

Port of Call: Said to be the best burger joint by locals and tour books alike, this edge of town place offers mushroom burgers that are only slightly better than a homemade patty, but the baked potatoes are pretty good.

R-Bar: Set deep in the neighborhood streets of the Marigny, this corner bar has a free crawfish boil every Friday evening. The cooks and bartenders are more than happy to give a crawfish peeling lesson for newbies.

Commander's Palace: An upscale spot set in the heart of uptown, this was a must on our last day in town. This place is famous for its "Jazz Brunch," where waiters in tuxedos took our orders while a three-part jazz band played in the background. Entrees include an appetizer and a dessert and we certainly got our fair share of rich Creole cuisine.

Note to self: NEVER CAMP IN THE SOUTH!

So as we head deeper and deeper into the South, we realize more and more that this is definitely NOT where we will end up.

We left Marble Falls, TX yesterday morning and took a quick hop, skip, and a jump over to Austin to have a fabulous Tex Mex breakfast with our friend, Lydia. After a few hours of catching up about her doctorate program (she's currently spending her time studying and talking to petri dishes), we loaded back into the car for a hot ride with views of ranch houses and swamps. With a sick-ish baby in tow, we decided that five hours was enough driving for one day and found a Louisiana campground at Lake Charles that we figured would be a great stopping point before continuing onto New Orleans. We stopped in at Sam Houston Jones State Park and got our first taste of Southern camping.

We apparently didn't get the memo that camping in Texas or Louisiana means stringing along your yappy dog, lap-sized television, and, of course, your portable air conditioning unit complete with tube to fit inside your tent. We found out from our Louisiana neighbors that Texans are responsible for the AC, but later found out that they, in fact, had bedside floor fans tucked into their two-roomed tent. In 90 degree weather, it's also quite common to strike up the camp fire to roast s'mores. Like most other West coast campers, we were all but pointing and laughing at the activity that these families called "camping," but 20 minutes into trying to sleep, we realized these folks were onto something! The sun may set in the south, but that doesn't mean it gets any cooler! At 6am and with only a few hours of broken sleep under our belts, we were out of there quicker than you can say "That was horrible and why don't you people just set up a tent in your living room?"

We're now in New Orleans, staying in our friends, Kristi and Nathan's, apartment while they're out of town until Tuesday. We spent our first evening (after a much-needed nap and some laundry) driving around up-town and around the Garden District, finishing up with an amazing meal at the Cheesecake Bistro. We still have almost an entire week to divulge in Creole and Cajun cuisine, tour Tulane, and explore the French Quarter.

Hills is learning that training for a marathon in the South means waking up at 5:30 to get in the mileage before the heat and humidity take over. Aspen is fighting her way through a pretty yucky cough, but is otherwise handling the traveling pretty well. Ty is being an amazing support to his Katrina victim as the two of us make our way through ghosts and memories of a life that has ultimately lent itself to our fabulous marriage.

A quick side trip and then back through Texas

Finally a chance to sit down and catch up!

We are back on the road after spending five days in Boston and Marblehead, MA to see Hillary's sister, Lauren, graduate with her BS in Exercise Science from BU. We flew out to Boston last Friday after spending the day with Tyler's Uncle Doug and his new fiancee, Judy. After caving, we all needed a day to lounge, connect, and fill up on some awesome bar-b-que!

Once in Boston, Hills, Ty, Aspen, and Jesse had the privilege of staying with one of Tyler's patient's sister and her husband. Only two and a half miles from Lauren's BU apartment, we definitely got our fair share of walking in - which was a good thing considering all of the amazing meals we consumed! We spent the weekend with Hillary's parents, sister, aunt, family friend, and grandma and the entire group enjoyed boating, museums, walking, dining, and touring the outskirts of Boston. Definitely a good time. Congrats, Bort! You did it!

After Hillary's family left town, we set out for Marblehead, MA to spend a night with some old friends of Ty's family. In this little town across the harbor from Salem, we got the royal treatment with an historic tour or the sweet little town, including the local ghost stories, some super burgers and then a taste of scrod (again following our bellies ...) A day of traveling (with a screaming baby on the plane - yes, we were that family with the baby that drives everyone crazy), and we were back in Alvarado to stay one more night with Uncle Doug.

Back in Fort Worth area, Doug took us to his natural gas company's local fracture and drilling sites. Neither of us had any idea what type of work and labor went into bringing heat and gas for cooking into our homes, so it was a great tour of the machines, sites, and processes! We are certainly learning something new every day! We also stopped in at The Flying Saucer, a local beer bar, to help Doug drink his way through 200 different beers in order to get his name on a plate on the wall. Of course we were glad to help and the wheels started turning about opening something similar where we end up ... hmmm.

Aspen and Doug got to go on their first horseback rides (well, Doug's since he was 8 - I think that should count as his first). Doug's a natural and we're sure by their wedding, that he'll be comfortable enough to let go of the "Oh Shit Horn" on the saddle :). Aspen can also now do the sign for horse. She's pretty amazing.

Continuing on through Texas, we left Fort Worth area on Thursday for a quick three hour trek to Marble Falls, TX to see a school friend of Ty's, Hope Hamilton. We spent a night with her family and her grandkids and helped her granddaughter celebrate her high school graduation.

We are so thankful to everyone along the way who has opened their hearts and homes to us! We have caught up with great friends, have met some amazing people, and have been able to get the insider's view on all of the cute little towns we've used as stops along the way.

Coming up ... New Orleans, Florida, and Puerto Rico!
Don't forget to check out pics!

ATV's, horses, and caves .. Oh My!

The last few days have certainly been a whirlwind of activity, driving, and great food! We left Fort Collins this week after some fabulous cinnamon rolls, stopped for a quick lunch in Denver (again, following our tummies), and then made our way down to Castlerock, CO to visit some great friends their fabulous house and view. Ty and Jesse spent some time on their ATV's, while Hills and Aspen fed the turkeys, chickens, and ducks. We were able to visit with Ty's great friends from college, Spencer and Elise, and their sweet kids, over a fabulous dinner.


After Castlerock, we made a quick stop in Elizabeth, CO. Ty, Aspen, and Jesse stayed with Isaac, one of Ty's best men from our wedding, and his parents, while Hills got scooped up by our friend Haley for a "girls' weekend." The boys enjoyed great homemade bbq, while Hills and Haley drove to Denver for ladies' night and line dancing. (Free margaritas aren't always a great thing ..)
Hills spent another day with Haley, hanging out at the barn where she trains show horses and nursing her hangover, while Tyler, Jesse, and Isaac drove toward Lake George to stay at the Indian Paintbrush Ranch for some gorgeous lodge living.

After Hills' much-needed girl time, she picked up Trevor, and joined the boys at the ranch, where Hills, Ty, Jesse, and Trevor got the opportunity to explore the ranch on a two hour trail ride. Ty and Jesse proved their cowboy tendencies and took the lead of the ride, while Hills and Trevor stayed back and chatted with the wranglers. We all got in some great hiking and took in fabulous views! Boys will be boys and did all the jumping, hanging, and climbing they could possibly muster up:

After two days of isolated ranch living, Ty, Jesse, Hills, and Trevor headed back down to Monte Vista to pick up our much-missed Birdie! This Mother's Day was full of driving and waiting as we sat around waiting for the mechanic to re-secure the bolt they forgot to put in when they replaced the transmission! OOPS! (Let's hope we don't run into anymore technical issues).

With our trusted steed finally back in good health, we've made our way down to Carlsbad, NM to check out the Carlsbad Caverns. (PS - New Mexico may very well be the ugliest state in our country!) Hills poked her head in the first cave and was right back out after five minutes. Too dark and too small. The guys, however, are currently exploring miles of underground caves, equipped with their harnesses, ropes, and climbing shoes.


Aspen's hanging in there. The driving is a bit much for her - our little bear is still too small to face forward in her seat and gets awfully frustrated when she can't see the scenery throughout the drives. She did take her first step on Mother's Day though! Yay! Soon, she'll be running!

Aspen having a temper tantrum: These are new for us: