Mind Over Matter

While hiking up Bishop's Peak (San Louis Obispo, CA) my sister assured me that it's all "mind over matter" to get to the top. She told me that reaching to top is so refreshing that you feel like a new person and the hike down is no problem. She was right. Standing on the top of that rock felt so good that it was hard to believe that at times during the climb my heart was beating so hard that I thought it was going to explode.

Up there, I spotted a woman meditating on a near by rock on the neighboring peak. I guess that day she needed a new start.

Naples, Florida

Naples, Florida is full of old people, and boy do they love it there. It is a place where they can congregate and let those years of experience shine. In a society where youth is admired, not a one seemed jealous of my youth and its inherent ignorance. Of all of the free (and unsolicited) advice that I received, the best lesson that I learned is that optimism doesn't have to fade with age.

Have a look at some pictures of the Independence Day Parade. This was one in which high school marching bands are replaced with senior citizens and boy scouts' floats are replaced with retired war veterans. I have to say, after the tank rolled past, everything else seemed anti-climactic.

night flight

Have you ever flown east to west in the evening? It is beautiful. From 34,000 ft above sea level you have the best view in the world of a sunset that can last literally for hours as your plane races the sun to the other side of the earth. The sun always wins.


How could you sleep through a flight like that?

Alligator Alley

I travel lots between Naples and Miami, Fl on I-75. The portion of this road that crosses the Everglades is called Alligator Alley. It is a dead straight line through the middle of no where. And it is beautiful. Sometimes people are unimpressed by the Everglades, or the River of Grass, because it is just that: grass. Lots and lots of grass. Spectacular grass, though!

About half way across (mile 50 on a road that stretches from mile marker 23 to 100), you find Snake Road. A passage into Seminole territory and their unique tourist traps. For once I decided to stop and see what they had. After all, I had driven by signs for the Ah-ta-kaka-what-ever Museum for years so I thought it was about time.

Well, I never found it.

I exited Alligator Alley and the rest stop had a map with only two perpendicular roads (Alligator Alley, and Snake Road) with directions claiming that the museum was only 15 minutes north of that spot. Ok, I thought, 15 minutes is not too far off the road. I checked the clock and left. Two minutes later, I checked the clock again. Ok, Natalie, don't get impatient. Five minutes into the drive I saw no signs of people, just grass, and I started to regret the decision to do this alone. Maybe I should have brought someone with me. Or at least told someone that I'd be out here. If I drove my car off the road no one would ever miss me. Don't panic. By then there was no going back. The two lane road was far too narrow to make a u-turn and the surrounding wetlands would quickly swallow up my car given the chance.

After driving for 10 minutes- a street sign! Yes! An almost entirely useless sign with a list of the upcoming attractions and their mileage from that point. On a road with no mile markers. I figured Hell, I can't miss it out here. I passed Billy Swamp Safari, a rodeo and entertainment center, a gift shop, a water treatment plant, and hundreds of cows, but no museum! curses. Finally I passed a sign that said "No Trespassing/ Seminole Land" OMG now I'm trespassing. And I'm not even on American soil anymore. If one of these indians wants to kill me for some reason he could do it and nothing would come of it! Cute town, though. How did I miss that damn museum?? Is that the high school? 'Home of the Unconquered Seminoles' Are they their own mascot? That's bad ass. lol

I finally turned around at the laundromat and got back on my way to Miami. The next day I noticed some pretty gnarly bug bites on my leg. HUGE Are those from that rest stop in the Everglades or the couch I spent the night on in my friend's living room? hmm...

I can do that!

Today it hit me: I was watching Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel do a weekend trip to Winter Park, the place where people (locals, not tourits) actually live in Orlando. I thought, "I've been there." It reminded me about the Food Channel's special once on Benny's Puerto Rican Cuisine, a restaurant literally across the street from my home of four years. I then realized, I can do that! In fact many of the places that I go just might be the trip of a life time for some. I have been across America, Colombia, Spain, and Italy, and now I want to share my daily adventures with you. This is my new travel blog.

=)