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I woke-up in Vacaville this morning. It’s wonderful to be back in California. I know it’s grey, raining and a little dreary outside…but I’m thrilled to be home.

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I couldn’t have made this trip without Mark. He has been the road trip leader and our home provider. He’s been our rock. I’m grateful for his strength on this trip and for the next chapter in my career.

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On Day 3 of our Road Trip — we had a beautiful start in Salt Lake City. We were surrounded by salty water and shores after driving about 30 minutes away from the city. We also passed a few salt factories, like Morton’s, sitting on the far edges of the lake.

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We had time to pull over to the side of the road and sample the salty chunks. It tasted just like the stuff sprinkled over french fries!

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The drive through Nevada was mostly flat and empty. We passed several signs that said: “Prison Area: Hitchiking Prohibited.” I wondered why the state would build prisons so close to the interstate.

Road Trip: Day 3 from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.

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We met-up with my Medill buddy Sara in the Biggest Little City in the World. We seem to end-up traveling together, whether in Europe or the USA. She’s on a work move to San Francisco. I’m thrilled to have her as a Cali neighbor.

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We ended-up at Harrah’s Cafe Napa for dinner. They have some tasty $10 Asian entree specials from 4 PM until Midnight. I ordered the Walnut Shrimp with fried rice. It came with shrimp and salmon sushi plus fried soft crab legs. Loved everything but the rice. It was covered with this fruity melon sauce that clashed with the savory sweet walnut shrimp.

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Daisy and I fell asleep watching Reno’s local news. I couldn’t believe one local sports anchor pronounced V.A. Tech: “VA” Tech. What the hell?

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We crossed the California border on Day 4 of our Road Trip. Mark and I cheered. My eyes watered-up. So happy!

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It took us 4 days to travel from Kansas to California. I know we could have saved ourselves a day of travel but we didn’t want to drive through the Sierras at night. Despite the weather challenges, I thought our road trip was an adventurous vacation from work. It was also a neat way to spend A LOT of time with the hubby and our baby.

Orginal Post on Queenkv’s Brainpickings

Blogging from a Burger King in Salt Lake City. I usually avoid fast food joints…but I make exception for those carrying free wifi. The coffee’s not bad…after adding 5 packages of Coffeemate creamer.

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We said good-bye to downtown Laramie yesterday morning. We were happy we pushed passed Cheyenne after we heard the city saw a few feet of snow dump down overnight.

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We had sunny skies at the beginning of Day 2. But our westbound lanes on I-80 led into this large white band of clouds. I figured we could handle whatever Mother Nature could throw at us as long as we had sunny skies. Then the sun disappeared.

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Daisy likes to think she’s Mark’s co-pilot. She’s the cutest backseat passenger, ever.

Mark ended-up taking care of all the driving today. The icy roads forced him to crawl across the Interstate at 25 MPH or slower. Some parts of I80 were covered with brown slippery slush. Mark was an amazing and patient driver. I offered to help him out but he thought that was a bad idea. He said something like: “I love you but I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He also drove with hazard lights on and aimed for the thin dry strips of road in the left-hand lanes.

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Eventually, the roads got better and Mark was able to bump up his speed to 40 MPH.

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Mark delivered us to Salt Lake City, safe and sound. We did dinner at the Red Iguana on North Temple Ave. I ordered a tasty mojito made with Barcadi Rum.
Hopefully we’ll have clear skies and dry roads for the third day of our Road Trip.

Orginal Post on Queenkv’s Brainpickings

We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning in Laramie. I’m blogging from the Coral Creek Coffee Company and about to bite into my bagel with veggie cream cheese.

We said good-bye to Kansas yesterday. A cold start to another cross-country road trip. Daisy made herself at home in the back seat. I’m happy we didn’t have a medicated puppy on this ride.

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Here’s one last look at Kansas. We thought about taking a meandering pace. But we were worried about the forecast for a weekend ice storm and snowfall. We ended-up taking advantage of the clear skies. We drove through Nebraska and crossed over to Wyoming.

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We drove north on Highway 75 to Nebraska. After a few route turns, we ended up in the capital city of Lincoln. It had a bumpin’ downtown district.

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We did lunch at Brother’s. I ordered a local brew: the Three Stone Ale. Brother’s had glossy hardwood floors, flat screen TV’s tuned to ESPN channels and plenty of pub games like bowling lanes and pool tables.

After lunch, we ended-up on I-80. This interstate will take us all the way to Sacramento. The 20-degree temperatures made pumping gas and taking the puppy out for her potty a frigid experience.

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After crossing the Wyoming border, Daisy and Mark took a potty break by the Lincoln Monument. We were shocked and delighted to see it from I-80. We saw the temperatures jumped up to the 30s. That made it feel like springtime for our road trip!

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We spent the night in Laramie and had dinner at Tommy Jacks. We loved the stuffed olives with Asiago cheese.
Despite it’s notorious past (the brutal murder of a gay college student a few years ago), it looks like a charming town. Cute boutique stores, coffee shops and other downtown haunts. Plus it has a Christmas flair since the streets are decked out with holiday lights and trimmings.

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I also ordered the Easy Street Wheat. It was the server’s favorite local brew (even though it’s made in Colorado). The bottle instructions has drinkers pouring half the liquid into the glass, swirling the wheat stuff and then adding the rest of the beer. It had a subtle hearty taste and a smooth finish.
So far so good.

Today, we made it to Topeka.

The autumn leaves were beautiful - rich, jewel-like colors. I snapped a few pictures from the driver’s seat while we drove through Colorado.

Somewhere in the Rockies…or in the foothill of the Rockies - we pulled over. I snapped a few more pictures of fall.

Last weekend, we drove to Vegas. It was kinda like a test run for our next big road trip.

Next Sunday, we plan on taking I-15 - through Las Vegas, Arizona and Utah. Then we’ll pick up I-70 and cross into Colorado. I-70 will take us to our new home in Topeka, Kansas.

The desert has some amazing sunset - violent red and orange hues clashing in over the mountains. My Ate Gigi says you can hike up in those mountains.

Our co-worker once camped out in the Mojave desert. He said he liked camping over exploring the Strip. He’s a nature guy.

Mark’s best man was blown away buy the desert scenery. He told us he couldn’t stop taking pictures. He flew in with his family to Las Vegas International. They rented a car for the trip to California. I think the I-15 is a more interesting drive than the I-5.

Last Friday, it rained in Vegas. It could be a bad thing to be caught in a rain storm in the desert because it doesn’t have too many trees or plants to slow down the water flow. This temporary lake lingered around on Sunday.

OK - this dates back to last March…more or less… the snow stopped the next day. I think Mark woke up with a bit of a hangover. As usual - I woke up with a cheery smile on my face. We had breakfast in the Super 8 Lodge. The other hotel guests talked about heading up to the slopes…Lucky.

Andre said he didn’t like the snow. He’s a Golden Bear afterall. He took my hat for extra warmth.

My poor baby. She must be so cold! My 1999 Corolla is a rockin’ car. She’s been everywhere - from San Francisco - LA - Chicago - DC - and now…the Rocky Mountains. On road trips to Lake Tahoe or some other ski resort - the powers that be insist on drivers putting on chains.

I think the last time we dealt with chains was during New Year’s 2002/2003 - on our Tahoe trip with Stephanie and Bijan. We drove from Reno up to Tahoe. Steph had friends who had a lodge up there. On the way up into the mountains - a sign said we needed chains. It took Mark about 15-20 minutes to put them on. I helped. We drove about 10-15 minutes with the chains. Then we took them off when the road was cleared up.

Ever since I left the state and did snow driving in Chicago, DC and now the Rocky Mountains - I found the chain requirement is basically for people who don’t have a clue about snow driving. It’s all about control and no sudden braking. My car didn’t need chains - Mark’s an awesome snow driver

The snow plow people did a good job clearing up the road. I was a little worried about getting stuck in the Rocky Mountains. I had to get back to LA in time to catch my flight BACK to the east coast for a NY job interview. Sheesh.

We drove past Vail. Someday - we’ll come back to ski here and eat at Casa Bonita.

Louie loved the snow. He’s a polar bear after all. He kept whining about getting out of the car to see the snow…OK…I kept whining about getting out of the car to take more pictures. But Mark just wanted to get out of the Rockies. In any event. It’s a beautiful drive.

We got out of the Rockies and found springtime.

We did a lunch stop in Grand Junction. A cute town with some old-time charm. If anything, it felt great to walk under the sunshine again.

We found a Mexican restaurant. I had the fish tacos and Dos Equis. Most of our successful road trips include beer. Then we ended lunch with some yummy fried ice cream. The last Mexican Cantina we visited in DC had no idea about fried ice cream. The waiter asked if it was like flan…or something like that.

This little historic stree - something like “Main Street USA” - had art work scattered all over the place.

I thought the artwork looked quite friendly….here I am…looking for my Prince Charming.

There he is!

After lunch, we stopped at this bagel cafe for coffee. Our successful road trips also involve coffee. I also bought some postcards from the store next door.

We said good-bye to Colorado….and to all the MEAN state highway patrol cops…

Hello to Utah!

In this part of Utah - there’s not much to see on I-70. However, these rugged canyons and rock formations provided a welcome contrast to all the flat farm fields we drove past in Kansas.

I convinced Mark to pull over at out of the scenic road stops. A sign by the parking lot said this area was part of the Black Dragon Canyon. I loved the red-brown rust colors of the rocks. Only a few cars parked out here. It felt like we had the canyon all to ourselves.

Here’s Andre celebrating the sunshine. He’s thrilled to stretch out his stumpy legs after being cramped inside the car.

Here’s Mark trying to get Andre back into the car. He’s a bit worried about my bear being so closed to the edge. It’s a long way down into the canyon and Mark didn’t want to have to go after him.

We hit the 15 after a couple of hours. Before that - we had nothing but scenery - no gas stops and no highway towns. Thankfully - we found a rest stop with restrooms.

We stopped for dinner in a town next to the Arizona border, St. George. Most of the radio stations we tuned into played Christian music. A sure sign we stepped into Mormon country. Most of the restaurants were packed with familes of 8 or 9 or 10. We found a Red Lobster. The snotty hostess said it would be a 45 minute wait. Seriously, I had some bad vibes walking in there. People gave me funny looks. I’m not being paranoid. Mark felt it too. Then I asked the waitress if we could grab drinks and food at the bar - instead of waiting for a table.

“We don’t have a bar,” she stiffly told me.

I forgot - we’re in Christian country.

We found a Mongolian BBQ spot - with no waits for the tables. The food tasted healthy. We had picked out veggies and meat from the buffet table and the cooks stir-fried out selections. I still felt the funny vibes from the other patrons. It felt like they expected me to be working at the restaurant with the other Asian cooks and waiters - instead of eating like a customer.

I watched a girl from a loud family of 10 trying to use chopsticks. She stabbed her veggies and meat…as if the chopsticks were shish kabob skewers.

We got out of that dry town and left Mormon country. We ended up at the Arizona border and drove through that state for about 10-15 minutes. Then we hit the Nevada border.

Sin City welcomed us with open arms.

We stopped by my Ate’ Gigi’s hospitals and picked up her house keys.

This was the first night we got to sleep in a house….in a real bed….It’s a relief to leave our Super 8 nights behind us.

I kept bugging Mark about doing the married thing in Vegas….this place had a drive-through window were we could do our vows. Think about it - fast, simple and no hassle! We resisted the temptation of getting married in a Vegas-fashion…but took away some ideas for our Vegas Engagement Party/bachelor/bachelorette Weekend.

I know I still have a lot to blog on my cross-country trip…but I’d also like to bring you up to speed on our last road trip….

Last weekend - we went up to the bay area - Mark made sure everything was working with Berkeley’s new firewall. I met with my bridesmaids to plan our Vegas bachlorette/engagement party.

On our way back to LA - Mark wanted to take a meandering pace on the “1″. Why not? Highway 1 ran right next to the Pacific Ocean.

We saw this lighthouse from the highway. So we pulled over to find out more. It’s the Pidgeon Point Lighthouse. It’s out of comission now and the California Park system is trying to get funding for renovations. There’s a hostel next door.

California is beautiful.

So by day 3, Mark and I agreed to do more touristy things. We were prepared to head off the road at the next cool sign for some historic or other place.

We found this Applebee in Kansas. One of our first stops for food.

Louie’s trying to be helpful. He can’t wait to get into Colorado. He wants to see the snowfall.

We saw a sign off the highway for “Custard’s House.” We got off and ran into Fort Riley, instead. We drove on base and turned around. I wanted a cooler picture of this water tower - so I made Mark drive around the border of the base. We were both a bit nervous. We didn’t know what the folks at “America’s Warfighting” center would do to people who shouldn’t be there. So, I took some quick pix and we were back on the road again.

We also saw signs for a Wizard of Oz museum and Dorothy’s House. We got off the freeway and asked for directions to Dorothy’s House. The cashier at the gas station said it was 200 miles south of the highway. That’s a bit far for a tourist detour.

Mark and I got really excited about a sign for a praire dog farm. We found the exit and saw the farm was closed down.

So we left Kansas on a sour note.

Hello Colorado! Here’s where the speed limit got bumped up to 75 mph. So, I did want the locals did - and bumped up to 90 mph, or so.

One lesson for road traveling - DON’T DO WHAT THE LOCALS ARE DOING…..’cause it don’t mean shit to the state’s highway patrol.
My California plates stuck out llike a sore thumb. I got pulled over. I’d also like to note that all the other out-of-state plates got pulled over on I-70 and I didn’t see one CO plate pulled over. Talk about discrimination.

Mark snuck this picture in as the officer went back to his cop car to write me up.

When he came back - he tried to smooth things over with some BS charm.

“You have to be careful out here. The closest hospital is quite some way. Now what would happen if you got hurt?” he asked.

A good thing he didn’t call me little lady. I would have been tempted to back my Corolla into his cop car.

When you think about it - in retrospect - it’s kinda impressive that I got my car up to those speeds. We had backed my little black Corolla with all our worldy possesions from DC - and I got hear her working hard to make it up the hills and mountains.

Grr…at that moment - I hated Colorado.

I took a gas break after breaking the traffic laws of that state. I insisted on driving on to Denver. No stupid cop was going to scare me off the road.

I kept it at 75 mph - up to the mile high city.

We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. In the middle of dinner, it started to snow.

The Hard Rock Cafe is a nice international chain. You always know what you’re ordering ’cause the menu is pretty much the same, no matter where you go.

This night, we were pleased with the drinks and the main meals. However, we found some plastic pieces inside Mark’s pasta dish. OK - this was not on the level of finding a finger inside some chilli. Mark said he already took several bites and he didn’t plan on asking for a free meal. Besides, he wanted to keep eating it because he liked the tasted of the non-plastic pasta pieces. I told him we should probably let our server know about the pasta. So we did - telling her that we already ate most of it already.

Ten minutes later - she told us she talked to her manager and took our entrees off the tab. The manager came by and said the plastic was from some some other food containers.

We ordered some dessert and left a huge tip.

The snowfall got heavier after dinner. As we carefully drove through the streets to get back on to the freeway - I found Mark’s favorite Mexican restaurant.

On our first cross-country trip - we tried looking for Casa Bonita in Texas…and failed. But we were happier to find the one in Denver. The South Park folks made Casa Bonita the site of one of the silliest Cartman episodes….When we stepped out of the car, we kept chanting in our best dreamy Cartman voice: “Casa Boniiiiittttaaa….”

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In the South Park episode - Cartman’s not invited to Kyle’s birthday party. Cartman’s crushed because he had such fond memories of the food, the games and the divers. So - he convinces Butters, who has an invite to Kyle’s party, that the world is ending. I was tickled by how desparate Cartman was to go to this party and to see Casa Bonita. We figured it had to be a kickass place.

We went inside. I wanted to order a Corona and soak in the experience. Sadly, you could only get into the dining area by ordering dinner. Phooy. I told the hostess that we were South Park fans and that we’ve always wanted to check this place out. She said she remembered when the South Park creators visited Casa Bonita and asked if they could use it in their cartoons.

I told Mark we could come back here for one of our wedding anniversaries.

We made into the Rocky Mountains on our third day of traveling. But the snow was really bad and it was hard to drive. We were also worried about the exits being closed off if they had too much snowfall. So we pulled into another Super 8.

It was only 9 at night - so we figured we could drink some cheap booze and watch TV in our hotel room. We found a gas station that sold beer. Crappy Coors beer. I am so spolied with my taste for California microbrew. I asked the cashier why everything closed and she bitched about how things were in that part of the state…everything closed down.

“Good ole 3.5!” she crowed. When we got back to the hotel - we realized she was cracking-wise about the alcohol content of one of our Coors cans. 3.5 percent alcohol. Which meant we had to guzzle more cans of that foul liquid to work up a decent buzz.

Louie figure he could help us out with the booze.

Mark and I watched some “Myth Busters” on the Discovery Channel. I just realized that the Myth Busters now have chicks on the team. Mark’s tummy hurt - the beer tasted so bad.

My bears didn’t mind. They enjoyed chatting with a new member of my menagerie. Mark picked him from the Hard Rock Cafe….he’s my “Sorry you got a ticket from the mean highway patrol” present.

Mark named my new Hard Rock bear, “Speedy.”