Salt Lake City...and beyonddddd!

In an effort to finish our 50 state travels, we took a road trip to visit several new states! 

 “You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.”
– Charles Kuralt 

Utah

:: Salt Lake City ::
lodging: Hotel Monaco... we love Kimpton Hotels. This one was great, with an interesting twist. Apparently Salt Lake City, Utah is just too boring for Hotel Monaco...so they have decided to try and "spice" it up a little with animal print robes and an interesting "collection" of items you can purchase from the mini-bar / basket. Ha! Who knew SLC could be so crazy...
dining: Ok, I know we live in the city that never sleeps, but c'mon...the entire town of SLC shuts down on Sunday. You could hear frogs croak outside it was so quiet. So, we had dinner at our hotel - and it was wonderful! We started the night with the hotel-hosted happy hour in a hotel suite with gorgeous city views (and a massage!), had dinner at Bambara and after-dinner drinks at The Vault.
favorite things: We toured Temple Square and Pioneer Park...really, we were just trying to walk off our food. ;)

Idaho

:: Downata Hot Springs ::
Us Texans were missing our pool time. Luckily, people in Idaho believe in swimming. I also needed a base tan before going to Bren's wedding in Florida! We found a natural water pool. We swam. It was glorious.

:: Idaho Potato Museum ::

We went to Idaho... to go to a potato museum. How can you go to Idaho and NOT go to a potato museum? It was totally worth it - just for visiting, they gave us free hashbrowns in a box (you know, the healthy kind). So thank you Idaho Potato Museum, my breakfast last week was awesome.

:: Idaho Falls ::

Well, we didn't see any "falls"...however, we were treated as royalty at Stockman's Restaurant. Sure, that is just because no one else was dining at 3:30PM (were were hungry after seeing all those potatoes!). Really though, they did Mexican food right. Thumbs up.

Wyoming

:: Yellowstone National Park - Lake Lodge Cabins ::

We had such a great day exploring Idaho, that we were afraid we would have to navigate Yellowstone in dark - and after all the crazy wildlife warnings (just wait), I was in no mood to wrestle a bear. Luckily, we got to our cabin (note: THIS is camping - I have pictures to prove it.) just as the sun was setting over Yellowstone Lake. It was truly gorgeous and cold! The next morning we had breakfast at the lodge (biscuits and gravy, that's right Wyoming) before heading over to Old Faithful.

There she is!

Inside of our cabin...camping!

BEAR SPAY! I've never laughed so hard...

lodging: Lake Lodge Cabins

dining: The Lodge - Lake Lodge Cabins

favorite things: Old Faithful, Wildlife Warnings


Montana

:: Livingston, MT ::
This was hands-down one of the cutest towns we have ever been to! Thanks to Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain (who I still think is a pompous jerk, but has good taste in food) we had lunch on the patio at the Murray Cafe at the historic Murray Hotel. There was definitely a hometown feel in the air.

:: Miles City, MT ::
Our first Bed and Breakfast! We stayed at the Horton House B and B in Miles City after enjoying a southern-style dinner at "The Rib and Chop House" - a town favorite. We were the only people at the Bed and Breakfast that night and the lady and her daughter were super sweet! The next morning, she made a ton of food for us and we swapped travel stories. She lived in New York when she was younger.

In front of the Horton House Bed and Breakfast

North Dakota

:: State Line ::

ND is a state of few words, things and sights.... so we entertained ourselves at the state line with a game of checkers.

South Dakota

:: Rapid City, SD ::
We celebrated the 4th of July in Rapid City. An hour before arriving at the hotel I realized that we were staying at a haunted hotel - Ghost Hunters even did an episode on it! Wonderful. Luckily, we had no visitors that night. Very cute town and our hotel was in the center of it. We enjoyed drinks on the rooftop of the Alex Johnson and then headed down to the city's 4th of July festival to watch the hot dog eating contest - these were seiously the largest hot dogs I've ever seen! Afterward, we enjoyed an Italian dinner before joining the ghosts at the hotel. The following day we visited Mt. Rushmore and went to Bear Country U.S.A. (Richard was way too excited about this detour). 

4th of July in Rapid City, SD

Look how BIG these hot dogs were for the competition!

Richard's life is now complete

Grizzly Bear

Mt. Rushmore - it was really cool to see in person!

lodging: Alex Johnson Historical Hotel

dining: Tally's Silver Spoon

favorite things: Drinks on top of the Alex Johnson Hotel, Christian music at the city festival, Hot dog eating contest, Mt. Rushmore, (and for Richard, the bears)

Utah 

:: Salt Lake City :: - back to where we started!

Lunch: Relying on Travel Channel again (this time, our favorite, Adam Richman) we had the recommended machine gun sandwich at Bruges Waffles and Frites. It was good and very, very different.

I really can't explain this sandwich, so here is Adam's explanation: "It's a classic friterie sandwich called a "mitraillette," directly translated to "machine gun"--and a far more refined sandwich than the description lets on. The merguez is snappy and hauntingly spicy, made by acclaimed Utah lamb producer Morgan Valley Lamb; the frites, Bruges's specialty, are crispy and creamy and delicious outside a sandwich or within. And the tangy, mildly spicy andalouse sauce brings it all together." 

You know how every so often you have a "brilliant" idea pop in your head and you go with it? Yeah, that was Lagoon Park - Salt Lake City's Water and Theme Park. Stay away - far, far away. I'm not one for theme parks or water parks to begin with - but this one had very little water and was lacking normal people.  

The "fun" had just begun....

Dinner: And another Adam Richman recommendation - Crown Burger. We had the signature meal -- a charbroiled beef patty topped with a pile of pastrami. Pure genius.

Left: Machine Gun Sandwich / Right: Crown Burger

favorite things: FOOD.

Fun pianos all over Salt Lake City!

***

We have officially hit over 40 states! Let the travels continue. 

Bren got married...and I got a tan!

I still remember meeting Bren in the 6th grade. We went through some of the most awkward times in our lives together...aka, Middle School. Together, we have been through boy troubles, pets, college, life's hard moments and life's biggest celebrations. She is my prayer warrior and constant voice of encouragment. So excited for Bren & Will to start their lives together. My favorite moment of the ceremony was having the tide wash over our feet.

The bride!

Richard and I relaxing the day before the wedding... Daytona Beach, Florida.

We loved staying right on the beach!

Morning of the wedding - writing in the sand, brunch at Crabby Joe's, welcome gifts and getting our hair done.

The vault. haha Our middle school days...

26 & Dallas.

It has finally happened. I have entered the second quarter of my life. AHHHHHHHH. Just kidding. I still have a 2 starting with my age, I think I will be OK. For four more years anyways... ;)

Well, as I told my family, God must know how much I love my birthday since He sent us back to Dallas for it! It was quite a whirlwind, especially since we had a 6AM flight from Florida to get there! However, in-between the chaos of travel and work, we were beyond excited to see friends and family. I am not a fan of large mixed crowds - they are exhausting and I feel like you miss out on good conversation and catching up. Luckily we were able to meet with separate groups of people during our short trip - sure, we might have had two dinners in one night, but who's counting?

It has only been 3 months since we left Dallas for NYC, and I was worried that my niece and nephew would be driving cars and dating - but luckily, Chloe has not started kindergarten yet, and Jude is still very much a little one. 

Being in Dallas felt... strange. It was our home, but it was not our home. We got to drive a car on familiar streets while having personal space (you do not get this privilege outside of your apartment in NYC), our hotel room was larger than our apartment, we listened to Kidd Kradick, watched our familiar local news anchors and splurged in Taco Bueno and Whataburger - not to be found in The Big Apple. We enjoyed coronoa-rita's, tex-mex, biscuits & gravy and good company. Until we meet again Dallas...

Our favorite part of coming back to New York City is the skyline - there is nothing like the view of the skyline you get driving back to your apartment (although, I get SO car sick in the taxis). But, of course, the best part is getting our sweet doggies, Pickle and Sundae, back home with us. Play time must have worn them out - they put themselves to bed. That never happens!

Family in The Big Apple!

They came. They saw. They walked. They toured. They ate. They rode subways. They took pictures. Lots of pictures. They...liked New York City? We hope so! =)

We had a great time with family...see for yourself!
***

As we drew near New York I was at first amused, and then somewhat staggered, by the cautious and grisly tales that went around. You would have thought we were to land upon a cannibal island. You must speak to no one in the streets, as they would not leave 'til you were rooked and beaten. You must enter a hotel lobby with military precautions; for the least you had to apprehend was to awake the next morning without money and baggage, or necessary raiment, a lone forked radish in a bed; and if the worst befell, you would instantly and mysteriously disappear from the ranks of mankind.

-Robert Lewis Stevenson

 New York is the biggest collection of villages in the world. -Alistair Cooke

 The thing that impressed me then as now about New York . . . was the sharp, and at the same time immense, contrast it showed between the dull and the shrewd, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant . . . the strong, or those who ultimately dominated, were so very strong, and the weak so very, very weak-- and so very, very many. -Theodore Dreiser

 New York is a different country. Maybe it ought to have a separate government. Everybody thinks differently, acts differently --they just don't know what the hell the rest of the United States is.

 -Henry Ford

 You come to New York to find the ambiance that will evoke your best. You do not necessarily know precisely what that might be, but you come to New York to discover it. -Dr. James Hillman

 Cut off as I am, it is inevitable that I should sometimes feel like a shadow walking in a shadowy world. When this happens I ask to be taken to New York City. Always I return home weary but I have the comforting certainty that mankind is real and I myself am not a dream. -Helen Keller

A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: It is a beautiful catastrophe. -Le Corbusier

Not only is New York the nation's melting pot, it is also the casserole, the chafing dish and the charcoal grill -Mayor John V. Lindsay

The thing I can't tell is whether cab drivers yield to each other out of fear or respect. -New York Policeman

 

Brooklyn Bridge

Watching the sunset over Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge... <3

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.


Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and as the East River Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name from an earlier January 25, 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an icon of New York City, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.

"Stand clear of the closing doors..."

When one moves to New York City, one loses all personal space. I am not just talking about the tiny apartment you live your life in. You no longer have the silent, temperature controlled, closed-in barrier that most refer to as a car. Everyone and everything become part of your bubble, you are alone no more. This is one of the many things people love to hate and hate to love about this strange and fascinating city.

Many days, I get a "free" concert while waiting for the subway to arrive. Sometimes welcomed, sometimes...just keep walking. There really are some very talented people sharing their skills while you wait though. We have even seen a one man band. Other times, you might get a Jamaican concert INSIDE of the subway. That's right. The other day, there was a full-on party inside of the subway...dancing, singing, and then asking for donations...that's where I pretended to be asleep. Yep, I totally shut my eyes and made my head tilt without giggling...however, I opened by eyes too early. I really need to wear headphones.

If you ride the subway enough, the words "stand clear of the closing doors" become ingrained in your mind. Or, if you are Richard, you say them on a daily basis. Just because.

Then there are the people on the street... we have some of the friendliest people that live in our neighborhood! I can tell you who has what dog, if they have kids, are from New York and most importantly, if they are a talker. Some days, it takes me 20 minutes per dog just for a quick outside potty break because of all the talkers! This one guy told me he knew someone with ELEVEN dachshunds...and then preceded to tell me all their names... very, very slowly. He also told me he owns a white dog who doesn't like to be dirty. After her walks, she pouts and jumps in the bathtub so she can have a bath. Then there is Tony and his lady-friend on the first floor. Tony and his girlfriend are probably in their 80's. For those of you that know our past Indian neighbor (Sonny), well this is the "new" Sonny of our building. They both have very thick accients and are super friendly...and pretty quirky. Tony's girlfriend often takes walks in her scantily clad clothing and Tony ALWAYS wears a suit...day, night, sun, rain, cold, hot. Always.

Speaking of Sonny...we are still in touch. She still gives us reports on neighbors in The Village, complains about her daughters, asks about Pickle and Sundae (who she always wants to know about but is terrified of), and has recently requested our new address. We shall see what that means. Just wait, it won't surprise me one bit if she attempted to mail me some of her Indian food.

We also met Lou, a sweet old man that lives above us. Lou runs with the "neighborhood crowd"...a group of retirees that can often be found on the steps of the apartments on our street, or gathering at Starbucks. I was working from Starbucks the other day and there was quite the uproar from the "neighborhood crowd" over chairs not being available outside. There was lawyer talk and whisper. Quite the drama. Lou always asks about Pickle and Sundae. Over the weekend, he left several articles on dogs under our door - including a Snoopy strip!

Jersey. Food. Work.

Hoboken, New Jersey

...was fabulous! The views of Manhattan were wonderful and we found the perfect restaurant, Turning Point Cafe. TPC sits on the Hudson river and the top left picture shows our view of Manhattan.

Funny sign in Turning Point Cafe

Fruit Stands

...are on every corner and open 24/7. Have an apple craving at 2AM? Just walk to your nearest corner.

Homemade Mexican Food vs. Casabel Taqueria

Richard's homemade quacomole. WINS!

This was really good though! Instead of a basket of chips, this is how it is served. Cute!

Relaxing Saturday

The previous Saturday was in no way relaxing due to the oven fire and then 3-day gas leak. It pretty much ruined our 4-day weekend (although our trip to Hoboken was really fun). So, we made up for it with a relaxing day to ourselves... :)

Top Left Photo: This is the East River (we see the East River each time we step out of our apartment). I love seeing sailboats pass by when I walk the dogs. It's just beautiful! This particular view is from the dog run that we take the dogs to every weekend. It is a wonderful way to start the weekend, filled with locals and the dogs love making new friends while running around off their leashes. We've also learned a ton about the city from other dog parents. =)

Bottom Left Photo: Dog run at Carl Schurz Park... Pickle and Sundae are making a new friend!

Top Right Photo: Pickle and Sundae tired after a fun day!

Bottom Right Photo: Dinner on the patio at Cascabel Taqueria. I went to yoga and Richard worked out prior to dinner...it was great!

Working Around the City

Capital One has an extremely mobile working environment. Therefore, being in this environment for over a year now has taught me to not sit still for too long! Thanks to free wifi, I can pretty much work anywhere...which I love because I am such a people watcher.

Bryant Park: Tons of tables, free wifi and you can charge your laptop!
 Isn't this a gorgeous view? Beats the inside of an office!

Lunch at Bryant Park - Witchcraft Cafe. Yes, it was as good as it looks. Before moving to NYC, I would never go somewhere and eat alone....here, it doesn't faze me!

New York Public Library - feels so strange working out of such a large tourist attraction. This is the wifi room.
 Don't think I'm crazy, but I never saw any books while in one of the largest libraries. Odd? I think so...

Dylan's Candy Store

The ultimate candy store. I love chocolate. Richard loves sweets. They had so much more....we even bought "candy" dog treats for Pickle and Sundae (we sang happy birthday to them before handing them over...they loved their "candy" treats)!