Road Trip 2012

On Mardi Gras, I got up, tossed a few bags in my car and drove 600 miles to Ohio. I spent some time with my older brother and his wild dog, shot a few guns and "won" my first ever game of credit card roulette. (Winning credit card roulette means you get to pay for everyone!) I played poker, ate Brussels sprouts and had an Irish car bomb. Or two.

On the 10 hour drive back home, I was fortunate to spend a few hours with my Grandpa, tour his new house and eat a GIANT fish sandwich. I passed through four tunnels, saw one Amish buggy driving along and cows, sheep and goats. I only spent about $90 on 25 gallons of gas (way to go, Corolla!) and got very familiar with cruise control and the song "Houdini" by Foster the People.

I learned about the history of flight at the Air Force Museum and that my ideal road trip length is 5 hours. I also learned to double check that a cd you burn with a couple of hours of music on it actually burns correctly. Unless you don't mind listening to only one song, and then 20 seconds of every song after that (I do mind. Luckily, I had tons of back up music.)

The good thing about having a flexible work schedule (um, no job) is that it's easy to pick up and drive anywhere in the country you want to go. By the way, if you want to drive through Pennsylvania be prepared-- it's is a huge state.

Tunnel Vision

C'mon, you knew with that title, it was going to be a picture of a tunnel!

Highway Hypnosis

a trance-like state induced by the monotony of the highway

Vatican Lady

There is a ridiculous amount of art in the Vatican. I like this statue, especially the lighting.

La Tour Eiffel

I love this picture! I like how the sky is a dark blue... the Eiffel Tower looks pretty nice as well. Almost looks like a postcard picture, doesn't it?
When I went, we were able to walk up the stairs to the first and second levels for free. According to the official Eiffel Tower website, it now costs 4 euros to walk up!

= Amsterdam

There's a lot of public art in Amsterdam. This was a tree-like sculpture with mirror-like thingys on it. I have no idea what it means or what it's supposed to do, but this is what it looks like from underneath!

St. Peter's Basilica

This was a pretty cool place that I almost didn't get in to! There are decency police stationed outside, ready to turn away any wenches who look inappropriate. The friend I was traveling with was apparently too scantily clad and they tried to make me go buy her some kind of arm covering so she wouldn't offend anyone! However, we were sneaky and ducked in for a few hasty minutes then had to run to catch a train (um, which we missed). Very memorable day in Roma!

Vesuvius Looks Peaceful Today

That would be Mt. Vesuvius and a field of wonderful poppies.

Three White Hats

A few old ladies checking out the Coliseum.

My Shoes - London

When I was in Europe, I wanted to take the same kind of photo in every city. I thought maybe a picture of my feet, since I had taken some pictures like this before, but it didn't pan out. Turns out there's not much that's very interesting by my feet in most cities. This one is alright-- it's on the London Eye. This happens to be the first photo I took in Europe, like the second day I was there.

Almost Home

We were driving about 10 mph and I wanted to see what it would look like if I stuck my camera out the window and took a picture. This is what it looks like!

Crazy Rainbow Wall

Found it in Washington Dulles Airport. Kept me occupied during my layover!!

Wing of Flight

Headed south on vaca

On the Royal Mile

I took this on the second to last day I was in Europe, in Edinburgh, Scotland. I really have no idea what building this is but I can tell you that the blue flag is Scotland's.

Can You Spot Nessie?

This is the famous Loch Ness in Scotland. I took a three day bus tour of the country and on the first and second nights we stayed at a little inn basically on the shores of this lake. Try to see if you can spot the Loch Ness monster- I think she's out there....

Destination: The Sun

Middle of the Road

Zooom

Another shot from the back of the convertible with that top down.

Let's Put the Top Down

It's 60* in March?! Obviously warm enough to take a ride in a convertible with the top down. (Yeah, that is snow on the left side of the road.) New Englanders = tough