GOODBYES SUCK :(

Today I am packing up and spending as much time with danny as possible (meaning right now hes playing NCAA football) so I have time to blog. Looking back this really has been one of the very best trips of my life, its crazy to think i have been gone 2 weeks because it actually seems like so much longer. I was here in Batavia for 10 days and I am realizing how much I am going to miss this place. This house is so welcoming and warm and Mrs. Schmitt is the most amazing cook (really going to miss her tasty treats). I have been able to take the time I needed to clear my head from last semester and relax before I must go back to the grind of working. It has been such a wonderful opportunity to enjoy all the little things and reflect on the best trip of my 20 years in life. I have to mention I am really excited to see my friends, family, and little mr. doggie back home but I am sad my trip must come to a close. This marks the start of the longest stretch without seeing danny that we have ever had to do. Possibly 2 and a half months before Ill see my man again, and Im pretty bummed out about it. I keep telling him he should fly home and pop in and surprise me but I doubt that will happen. What a fantastic time this has been, I found out more about myself then I had expected and am really ready for the rest of summer and working my booty off. Ill miss you road trip 2010, and everything that came along with you.... but all great things must come to an end...so farewell 2010 roadtrip... goodbye Batavia.. and adios Schmitt household !

HELLO ARIZONA AND HOME !!

THE WINDY CITY

-Chicago, Illinois-

We headed downtown Chicago yesterday to explore the windy city. It was Kates first time in town so I was really looking forward to seeing if she loved it as much as I always have. The day was supposed to be sunny but unfortunately it was not sunny the entire day... Ill get to that though. The train ride was fun except danny and justin PASSED out, so kate and i just had to entertain ourselves. We decided that we would tickle dannys nose and watch him hit himself.. which by the way was hilarious.

But we were soon into chicago.... The day started by walking to get hot dogs at the #1 hotdog place in Chicago-- they sadly we not nearly as good as I remembered them, and more expensive then I remember too but it was okay. We then were off to Millennium Park where there are all sorts of cool things to look at. There is the bean and the outdoor theatre designed specifically for acoustic sounds, there are all sorts of statues and a water playground. We had fun looking around and we even saw a "love train" conga line of elderly people shouting their names and ages.

We then headed to Navy pier where we rode the ferris wheel (my absolute favorite part of chicago) Mind you I voted we walked here, which isnt far but I was unaware we would be walking everywhere all day... and my feet were already a little sore by the time we got here. We also took pictures with some statues and we walked around. fun fact of the day: I first realized I was in love with danny on this very ferris wheel in Chicago. (PRECIOUS I KNOW) ;)

We then decided to walk to North beach, which didnt LOOK too far away but boy were we wrong. It was nice to walk along the water and if it smelled the least bit salty i would say it reminded me of the ocean. The great lakes are HUGE, i know that seems like a silly statement but seriously they look like oceans. The weather was starting to look a little gray here and I decided to put back on my light jacket. By the time we got to North beach my feet and knees were killing me. Dannys friends had came down on the train to meet us but decided not to walk that far away so they kept calling or we kept calling and every time i would here "dude, where are you ?) haha hilarious by the end of the day. We then decided to go to the Lincoln Park zoo, which is one of (of not THE) first zoo in the country. This was SO COOL. to be able to see all these exotic animals for free was one of the coolest things i have done here... I have to mention this because i still cannot believe this exhibit was in a ZOO... but they have this cage that looks really dark in the african safari house... the boys and kate walked over to it first before turning suddenly around telling me WHATEVER YOU DO SHY DONT GO IN THERE. when they told me what was in this cage I about fainted... there is an exhibit full of my biggest fear.. thousands.. thousands.. of... cockroaches ! WHAT THE HECK lincoln park zoo, thats just disgusting. Other then that the zoo was actually really cool. We saw all sorts of things I have never seen in zoos before such as sandcats (which look like kittens with huge ears) and fruit bats, and warthogs. The zoo is also home to lions and tigers, giraffes, fish, polar bears, and otters. This was a really cool experience.

By the time we left the zoo I thought my knee was on fire and my feet were going to fall off... and we had to make the hike back to millenium park. On the way back we walked through the most gorgeous residential area I have ever seen. the most picture perfect homes EVER. It was raining by this time and kate and I were in dresses. UGH. We made the hike to pot bellies before catching the train.. which we almost missed, we had to run to catch it. I fell asleep on the train and once off I realized I had really messed up my foot. In so much pain from 10 miles of walking I actually cried. I think by favoring my hurting knee I messed my foot up... it was swollen and gross but a hot foot bath made me feel a lotttttt better. We finished out the day by watching a movie at a friends house and we all passed out epically early !

stay tuned for the rest of my 5 days here !

Batavia Part 2:

Batavia is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This little city is home to everything from chipmunks to squirrels to fox's and fish and even buffalo ? Everything here is green and lush, the flowers smell amazing and are bright and in full bloom, and a river flows right through the town. Honestly this place is picture perfect. We woke up to just a gorgeous sunny day which kate and I took advantage of the warmth and wore dresses. It was so lovely outside I cant describe it, but a picture is worth a thousand words. We walked through the batavia river walk which is a path right by the river and it smelled amazing, and looked so GREEN ! he river is particularly high this time of year though so we werent able to walk right down by it but we all put our feet in and enjoyed the refreshing water and warm weather.

We went to a little cafe for me to get iced tea and we read books for a little bit where I found this sign... which I found sorta funny cause I was a hippie girl this day.

When we got home mama schmitty allowed us to help with dinner. I had a quick chat with my sister and came in to smell cinnomin and see chicken, I was pretty sure what this meant but it was soon confirmed: MOROCCAN CHICKEN. oh my gosh yummy, one of my absolute favorite things that Mrs. Schmitt makes. It is this dish with olives and chicken and chick peas and tomatoes and ginger and garlic. Sounds like a weird mixture of stuff but it is just absolutely delightfully delicious. Kate and I were happy to help while mrs. schmitt made this "quick apple cake" from scratch. dont let the name fool you.... it may have been quick but it was freaking so yummy. I felt like a kid when she let us lick the spoons and it was just wonderful.

Batavia, Illinois

Noun: The city of energy, a big city with a small town feel, birthplace of Danny Schmitt, and the town that I have fallen even more in love with.

So we made it to Batavia, which is a little suburb outside of Chicago where Danny grew up. The drive was 15 hours long and let me tell you, I felt every second of it. The first leg wasnt so bad, we drove through Cheyenne, Wyoming which was sort of cool for me, and then we had to drive through the ENTIRE sate of Nebraska and the ENTIRE state of Iowa before we could reach Batavia. Nebraska could be one of the most boring states on earth, and even worse we drove through it at night. I feel as if this trip has brought us every kind of weather imaginable ( within reason I should say) we had rain in Utah, blizzard in Vail, Sunshine in fort collins, HEAVY fog in Nebraska and this weird misty rain in Iowa. The drive started out with twenty questions which was really entertaining but unfortunately only for around an hour and a half of the 15 hour trip. Soon after the gams were over Kate and Justin passed out in the back seat.. (right on time as usual) and I stayed awake with Danny to assure he also didnt get tired. This was rough because highway 80 is a two lane highway that is literally a straight away with barely any hills and little to no curves. We stopped for our token redbulls to keep us awake on these long drives. Soon after mine kicked in and i was ready to roll... but Danny was unaffected and needed a break (poor guy drove the entire trip) so I told him I would drive for a couple hours since I was wired. He took a couple hour nap and kate and I entertained ourselves with the signs and attractions on the road.. did you all know that Nebraska is home to : a zoo, a town called "friend" a town called "dix" and also "beaver crossing", a shine to the holy family, and a real life SAFARI. I have to tell you we found this all entirely too funny and Kate and I laughed the entire 2 hours I drove. Finally we were through the HUGE city of Omaha (where the speed limit was like 50 the whole way UGH) and I switched back to the passenger seat. We made it to Iowa soon after that which is literally an entire state full of agricultural fields. What was cool about this to me is that the fields are also hills, (everywhere im from its flat agriculture) and here they were filled with deer and these little antelope looking things, and they were all SO GREEN, it was so gorgeous. I fell asleep for around an hour here to take a nappy nap and woke back up in time to see the university of Iowa and the biggest truck stop in the world (maybe not the world, maybe America) but it was still cool. OOOHHH i also got to see the Mississippi River for the first time. The very last leg of the trip was the shortest and we were soon in the sweet little town of Batavia, at the Schmitt residence. I cant explain how wonderful it feels to know I have a place to sleep that is not the seat of a car or motel room.

Once in town we all showered, thank goodness because we all smelled rancid, and we headed to portillos for some chicago food then we took an EPIC 4 hour nap. The Schmitt house is so wonderful and homey it was really refreshing to be back here. The thing I possibly missed the most about Batavia is Mrs. Schmitts cooking. Everything she makes is just steaming with deliciousness and last night she treated us to baked salmon, brown rice and green beans (UHM FANTASTIC). This house is always so warm and welcoming and I feel so lucky to know this family. After dinner we headed to Dannys softball game where we caught up with his Aunt Cathy (which is always a really fun time :) ) and watched the boys play. Danny had a sweet catch where he rolled and caught it tin the air and a few good hits as well.

We headed to steak and shake after all this because Justin was craving it where we met up with friends: Anthony Lamy and Corey Cretney and Mikey Mahan. After the best fries in the entire world and a owl of delicious chilli we headed to Coreys to have a few drinks and hang out for the night. Strangely enough stores dont sell any alcohol here after 11, this was weird because in Tempe you can buy it 24-7 and I guess I never realized that isnt how it is everywhere else. Coreys house was fun, we hung out in his basement... yes i said basement, what a cool concept, I wish we had basements in Arizona... everyone here has them and they are all so cool. Anyways, it was nice to see friends that I dont usually see, and wonderful to come home and climb into (literally, its a bunked mattress) bed.

Stick around for our adventures at Batavia High school, Geneva boutiques, and Peter Mitchells 21st birthday.

BUD- WEIS- ERRRRRR

Brew Tour !

After our night out we slept in pretty late, and woke up happy. I was happy to wake up to little Klaus dog kissing my hands. Sarah told us about a legit yummy bagel sandwich place so we headed there for some much needed food and hangover recovery. I had the tastiest sandwich with spinach artichoke cream cheese and eggs and sausage on a wheat bagel.. oh YUM. We then decided we would hit up a brew tour. For those of you who don’t know Anheiser Busch (sp?) has a brewery right there in fort Collins.. and they give free tours?, yeah count us in. when we got there they told us it was get your picture with a Clidesdale day so we headed out to take pictures with “Danny” the giant clidesdale Budweiser horse.

I have never seen such a huge animal in my life, but he was very sweet. Our tour guides name was Luke and he lead us to the main brew house for our Budweiser tour.

First thing I noticed was the smell. Something like fresh made bread ? bur I was told I was smelling the hopps from the fermentation process. The tour was really cool and I learned a lot about making beer. Did you guys know that Budweiser makes Stella Artois, Bacardi Mojito, and shock top ? cause I sure didn’t. on the last leg of the tour they took us into this really cold room where the last part of the beer is made.. let me tell you, this room smelled AMAZING. It was fresh beer, so delicious. After the tour they take you back to the main house, and let you try 2 full free beer samples and one half og their berry beer. How amazing, free beer ? we were all happy little road trippers. Kate and I bought a sixer of the berry beer with intent on making pancakes once we arrive to Chicago. The beer we sampled was some of the freshest in the world because there was no wait time from production to sample and let me tell you it was some of the best beer I had ever had. We stopped in the gift shop then headed out after some pictures. Danny and Justin played bags with Sarah and her friend and also a few games of pool while Kate and I caught up on the internet and e mail. We then headed out for the last leg of our journey which I am currently writing from…. 15 hours in the car from Colorado to Chicago. Wyoming was gorgeous but let me tell you Nebraska is TERRIBLY boring… especially at night.. we played some games of 20 questions and would you rather before kate and Justin fell asleep.

If all goes as planned we should be getting to Batavia (dannys home town) by noon tomorrow. Check back soon for more crazy stories J

Fort Collins Colorado-- I think I love you

Once we left Denver and headed to fort Collins I was about worn out. So I took a nap on the floor of the van on the drive up in hopes that I would be rested by the time we got there. I was awoke when Danny told me we were close and I pried myself off the ground. When I sat up in a seat I felt like I was in a different world. Everything around me was GREEN, and I mean really green. The streets were hustling with local students and people and the best park about the town is seriously everywhere you look, someone had a dog. Being around other dogs helps a lot when you miss your little dog so much. We arrive at dannys cousin Sarah house in fort Collins around 5 all ready to eat, we were all getting a little grumpy from being so hungry. It was so nice to know we would be staying in a house and not in the van, and also to have someone who knows the city there to help show us around. Sarah is possibly one of the most relaxed chill funny people I have ever met. We all set straight out for their main strip of bars and restaurants which was a lot like Tempes, Mill ave. I had said I was in the mood for Mexican so Sarah took us to a place called the Rio. It was a little cloudy out and Kate and I were just about near freezing because the wind was blowing and we are total wussies for the cold weather. The Rio was really good food and Kate and I shared a really yummy dish of floutas, and kate had the tiniest margarhita I have ever seen. We headed back to the house after this to hang out and power nap and such before we went out for the night. Sarah explained that it was CSU’s (Colorado state university) graduation that day and that bars would be slam packed but a lot of fun. Apparently we came the right night !! We headed to get mixers from a liquor store and pre gamed a bit at the house before Sarah came home from her friends graduation.

Before I go any further I should mention at this point I have completely fallen in love with this little dog named Klaus. He is a boston terrier who I might mention is HUGE for his breed. He is Sarahs friends dog that she was dog sitting and really the sweetest little guy. He made me feel so much better about missing my little Crashy baby.

So back to the party. At this point we are all a little buzzed from pre gaming and we head to the bars. First stop was an outside bar and I might ad it was my first actual bar I tried my ID at.. again I got a Thank you Carly. So I took a picture to commemorate and then quickly bought kate and I our first round

.

Can you say amazing 3$ vodka redbulls ?! we weren’t here very long though before we headed out to our next and final bar. All the bars in Colorado are based on occupancy so no one can go in unless someone comes out in place of you so the line took a bit but it wasn’t too bad. As we quickly headed for the bar for our second round sarah bought us all a gummy beat shot. Uhm sooo yummy. Then kate and I walked around, mingled, and made new friends. One thing I really love about fort colins is the people. I was bought a total or 11 drinks that night and only paid for one. But the men who bought me drinks never hit on me or were disrespectful or pushy in any way, they just genuinely wanted to talk for a few minutes. This was wonderful. Pretty soon kate and I are wasted, and have made friends with half the people in the bar. Apparently you get drunker faster there because of the elevation… great haha I wish I was warned me. Kate and I had so much fun talking and dancing around here..

So we finally find danny, Justin and Sarah and we are chit chatting when out of no where a bar fight breaks out. I get shoved into the table and kicked in the process of them breaking it up and kate got nailed in the head. We both were hurting pretty bad and so we got more free drinks to make us feel better… like we needed them or something.

Around 1:30 is last call, which I though was kinda weird but we were ready to head out anyways at this point. On the way back to the car we decided to grad a euro from a street vendor, let me tell you… best drunk food ever, and all of like 3 dollars. Can you say fantastic ? I should take a second to re assure any questions here… we had a sober ride home so all you parents and family members do not fret J we made it back to Sarah;s house happy, full, drunk, and so ready for sleep it was insane. What a wonderful night we had, probably my favorite place so far.

NEXT UP: BREW TOURS ?! uhm yes please.

COLORADO OR BREAK !

Yes break.. not bust, as Justin described to us. I would go ahead and start this blog about colorado but I am pretty sure the trip in warrants a blog for itself. It was just insane to say the least. Justin and Kater were in the back seat and I was in the front as navigator, we decided first to take the scenic byway because as we said we had all the time in the world, on this road.. to my complete happiness we ran into a bunch of baby cows in the middle of the road. SO CUTE. We them headed towards the mountains which would be the last part of our 6 hour long trip from Arches to Denver. It was raining pretty hard and the windsheild wipers just SUCKED so we had to stop to buy new ones and top the tank off. This whole process was so hilarious because Danny and Justin couldnt figure out how to change them for the life of them. We took a video which I will upload at some point for all of your viewing pleasures. ABout half way up the mountain I realized that the rain was getting thicker... so thick... oh yes, it was SNOWING. As we climbed the mountain it just got worse and worse.... I explained to my comrades this was the first real snow storm I had ever driven in and kept asking if it was a blizzard. Apparently it was because we could not see more then 5 feet ahead and I had to watch the side rail to gage where we were on the road. Instead of stopping we decided to TREK ON ! Could have been a terrible decision but we happened to make it. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life ! We got into Denver around 2 in the morning but it took us FOREVER to find somewhere to sleep. Being that it was so cold we decided to make the group decision to get a motel, something VERY VERY cheap. Irwin the GPS was not helping in finding us motels very well but we finally called a place who said we could stay for around 40$ total for 2 beds, split four ways. We got there, got checked in (looked shady but not unpassable). As we were getting out things out of the car this guy who works at a nearby bar stopped and asked, "youre not gonna stay here are you?!" uhm yes we were planning on it.. and then he said "well dont leave a single thing in your car cause itll get stolen" ohhh uhm thanks. I turned around and we all looked at each other and we decided at once we needed to leave. Finally we found a motel 6 and agreed to drive there. when we arrived there were cop cars outside (GREAT, can this city get any worse?!) I guess the SECURITY GUARD was assaulted or something. CRAP, all we wanted was to sleep so we went ahead and checked in and got the room. It was so nice to sleep in a bed.. as shitty as it was, and we woke up the next morning showered and refreshed and ready to drive around Denver a bit before we headed up to Fort Collins.

Oh Colorado... I think I will love you forever... stay tuned for Ft. Collins !