The great roadtrip of 2012

Okay, apologies for the fact that this will likely be a long post - well, no - not apologies in that I have been out living rather than reporting... So when we left off, I was heading out from Castleton, in Central Virginia on a major roadtrip. What a trip it has been thus far! The first stop was just outside of Lynchburg, VA, where I went to the "Walton's Mountain Museum" - if you are a fan of the tv show, you'd love it here. I saw the house where Earl Hamner was born, and learned a ton about him. It is beautiful and peaceful there - just what you would think it would be. It really amused me that the museum is in the senior center! :) I also had a great phone interview for a tour of "Clifford the Big Red Dog" - it was nice to be back in the land of cell service! I didn't ultimately get the tour, but it was a good interview. I then spent the evening in Lynchburg with a magician friend, Hiawatha. We haven't seen each other in nigh on 15 years, and it was good to catch up. From Lynchburg, I drove to Knoxville, TN, and saw my friend, William, who I have known for about a year through working some shows together. We had a great time making homeade pizza (complete with white heirloom tomatoes from the community garden) and just catching up. I also saw a remnant from the world's fair on my way out - would have also seen the world's largest rubik cube, but it seems to have been taken down. From Knoxville, I had a marathon 13-hour driving day to Lafayette, LA (just outside of New Orleans). I spent 2 days in Lafayette with some very dear friends that I haven't seen in 7 or 8 years. I also discovered that I have become one of those women who sees kids and the first thing she says is "My, you're all grown up!" I never understood why they do that - but you just can't help yourself... The last time I saw the boys, they came up to my waist - now they tower over me at 6'2" and 6'4"! And one is starting college this month - oh my, where does the time go? Then it was on to Houston for a night. I saw my good friend, Trixie Bond for lunch, and spent the night with one of my few friends from Indiana (yes, she escaped too!), Sarah. I got to see Sarah rehearse a new show, and play with the 8 month old pit/lab foster puppies. :) Sometimes I feel like I am still driving in Texas, and it never ends. I did have the unique experience of having my "need gas" light come on, without a town in sight. Fortunately, I did finally find Ft. Stockton, with about a half gallon remaining. Needless to say, I gassed up and found a motel for the night. :) I took a detour and spent about 3 hours in Roswell, NM. I had lunch at a lovely place (nowhere near as vegan-friendly as I was told at the Chamber of Commerce), and went to the alien museum. It was very interesting, and well worth the trip. I also discovered that Roswell itself is a lovely town, with a lot to offer beyond the obvious "incident". I then spent a couple of days in Albuquerque with my friend, Jen, who just relocated to Albuquerque for her veterinary internship. I spent a day kicking around Santa Fe while she worked (totally worth it to get to spend the drive with her) - had a skype interview (follow up for Clifford), bought some cool clothes on sale, and saw the new "Batman" movie (pretty good!). From there I picked up mom and we traded the stuff in my car for her and her stuff with my brother, and I took her to Utah for a week. There we visited family, went to my dad's family reunion, and finally buried her brother's ashes (he died 2 years ago this coming Thanksgiving). I met new family that I didn't know I had, saw some that I haven't seen in 30 years, and did a lot of reconnecting. It was wonderful to visit the house I grew up in that is now owned by my cousin and his family. It is definitely and wonderfully their home, but you still see small traces of my family that creates a nice continuity. I met my cousin and his wife that I have only known via Facebook, and it was wonderful to really reconnect with my cousins that I was close to growing up. One of the absolute highlights for me was spending a really lovely evening with Jon, my first boyfriend from when I was 19 years old. We hadn't seen each other in about 21 years, and it was beyond wonderful to get to catch up with him. I am so grateful he was able to make time to see me. :) After dropping Mom back in Los Alamos, I headed back to Albuquerque and flew out the next day to Orlando, FL, for a job interview in Ocala at the College of Central Florida. The interview went really well, and I am extremely hopeful that I will get an offer. It was then back to Albuquerque for a couple nights, then driving to Las Vegas. I am here for a few days visiting some dear friends, catching up with some folks I haven't seen in ages, and basically enjoying myself until I hear about the job on August 28th. Keep your fingers crossed for me!