Almost done

Today I write this from San Francisco, CA. After wonderful adventures surfing in San Diego, Mark and I hit the road driving north along route 1 from Santa Barbara to San Francisco. We stopped over night to camp and to regroup after experiencing some of the most incredible scenery we've ever encountered (pictures to follow some time soon... the batteries are recharging right now). I'd describe the drive, but it wouldn't even begin to do it justice. Now we're in San Francisco, and after eating Chinese food in Chinatown and taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge we're calling it a day.

Tomorrow is our last full day on the road together. And then... Tuesday, I fly to Kentucky for a conference and Mark drives to his home for the next few months... Oregon. And life will never quite be the same again.

A Whole New World

I went to Mexico today, how about you?

Today we ventured off the native-English-speaking road and made it over to Tijuana, Mexico for lunch (thanks for the tips Gabe, they were AWESOME!!!). It was a great cultural experience. Now we're here in San Diego and loving it thoroughly!!! I'm sorry, but we may just not come back.

I'm tired and don't feel like typing more, so I'll just give you pictures:







Us in Tijuana, Mexico!
















Me in front of the Hollywood sign (yesterday)












Myself, Carrie (my friend) and Mark at Huntington Beach.

California Dreaming...

Well, we made it to the left coast. Today I touched the Pacific Ocean. But before we get too carried away, I'll give you the brief breakdown (because you don't want to read too much and I don't want to type too much, it'll be in bullet form!) because I'm tired and scattered in my thinking.

Sunday:

- Got up, left from Utah and saw the Grand Canyon (INCREDIBLE).
- Camped in the National Forest near the Grand Canyon and saw the most incredible display of stars I have ever encountered. It was also incredibly cold (like we dropped below freezing cold) for camping. But we survived with many blankets and sleeping bags. Who knew Arizon was cold!

Monday:
- We got up at 4:20 am and saw probably one of the most incredible sights of my life: sunrise over the Grand Canyon
- We hiked 10 miles around the Grand Canyon
- We drove 5 hours to get to Las Vegas
- Wandered around Vegas for a couple of hours... just enough time to develop an educated perspective that I probably don't need to go there again!

Tuesday:
- Saw the fountain in front of Bellagio... incredible!
- Drove to Los Angeles where we met up with my friend Mel from Houghton and then fellow admission counselor Carrie.

Wednesday:
- Today we ran off to Hollywood, Santa Monica beach and Huntington Beach. Gotta love the beach!!!

Who knows what adventures await us tomorrow...

On the road again

Well, today is day three of our adventures on the road. Thursday we left from Chicago and headed towards Colorado with the intention of stopping wherever we felt like it. That ended up being the glorious state of Nebraska (well, not-quite-glorious-but-surprisingly-pleasant), but not before cruising through Iowa.















Next came the trip to Colorado, seeing our wonderful friend Angela (and a whole crew of her friends) and gawking at the mountains.


After being stunned by the drastically different geography found within the state of Colorado (desert to mountains to desert again) we headed off to Utah.












In Utah we experienced vast plains of pretty desolate land, probably the loneliest road we've experienced thus far, and even a little bit of snow falling from the sky (we couldn't figure out if it was rain or bugs at first).










Well, now, it is late, I am tired and in much need of sleep to prepare for the adventures to come tomorrow!

Talk to you in a few days!

I thought it would never happen!

Well, it's finally happened. I broke down and updated my blog (just for you Rach). Now all you can follow along the adventures of Mark and Noel on the road. In case you're just joining us, I'm meeting up with my good friend Mark in Chicago (he's from Stouffville, ON but out there for a conference) and driving to Oregon where he'll be working. Just for kicks we're going by way of California. Unfortunately I won't make it all the way to Oregon, and he'll drop me off in Reno, NV.

Yesterday I flew from Buffalo to Chicago and our adventure commenced.

















Standing on the shores of Lake Michigan

















Today I had the chance to run around Chicago before hitting the road tomorrow.

Yes, it's that painting!

Wow this is super!

I've found a new meaning for life... and it comes in blog form. Since I have so much spare time I'm going to spend all of it writing the intimate details of my life on a page for complete strangers to read. But yet, I won't talk to my family. I love life!

What do you mean... no, I'm not cynical!