Warsaw, Poland

June 5, 2015

After spending a delightful two weeks in Florida with family, Martin and I made our long journey to Poland. We flew on June 2 out of Miami airport via Aeroflot, Russian Airlines. We thought American airlines were bad, try flying Aeroflot for 11 hours. I'm a short person and my knee touched the seat in front of me. I got absolutely no sleep, while Martin snoozed for 4 hours next to me. To say I was jealous was an understatement.

We arrived in Warsaw, Poland at around 3:30 p.m. on June 3rd. Martin's Aunt, met us at the airport and helped us with our bicycle boxes. She led us through the bus system back to her apartment in the city. Eight floors up and overlooking a basketball court with children playing, we were finally able to relax. Like all of Martin's family, she gave us a warm welcome with food and more food. About to fall asleep at the table, I was determined to stay awake until at least 9 p.m. to get on the European schedule.

Kate and Marcin in Old Town, Warsaw

Day two in Warsaw we woke up late, very late. I guess we weren't ready for the time change yet. But Martin's Aunt waited for us and greeted us with a healthy breakfast. After that, we made our way to Old Town. In the picture above, the palace sits behind us. In World War II, as most of you know, Warsaw was destroyed by the Germans. So the city worked together, most not paid, to rebuild the city as it was before the war. They finished rebuilding in the 1950s. Old town was bustling with people because it was Corpus Christi, a traditional polish catholic holiday. Most people have the day off to celebrate and commemorate.

In the evening we went to a "local" restaurant which had live music. I had yummy golonka, which is pork shoulder in really good sauce. Marcin had soup.

Marcin and his aunt

Day two in Warsaw, Martin's uncle arrived from their vacation home in the country. In the morning Marcin and I put together our bicycles and got them ready for Saturday. We then made our late start at the Warsaw Rising Museum (Muzeum Powstania Warszavskiego) about the fight for independent Poland and the insurgence on the capital. It was interesting and laid out a lot like the WWII museum in New Orleans - so it was confusing and not laid out very well. Plus, because of the holiday, the museum was overcrowded. We didn't stay long, and we didn't read as much as we wanted because of the crowds. After the museum we went to lunch at Czerwony Wieprz, or The Inn Under the Red Pig, which is a communist themed restaurant. The history behind the restaurant is that it was a popular meeting place for communist leaders such as Lenin. I had Russian Pierogies, which were filled with potatoes and brown onion. Yum! Marcin had soup, of course. 

Tomorrow we set off for Wroclaw, Poland by train. The quick ride will be about 4 hours - so we leave at 8 a.m. and will arrive by 12:00 p.m. Marcin noted to me that the times in Poland have changed since joining the EU - trains are faster, there are more highways, and we expect that Wroclaw has changed in the last 9 years as well. The last time I was there was in 2006 and Marcin visited was in 2008. We will be in Wroclaw for 2 nights and leave for Tymowa, which is where Grandma and Grandpa live. We will leave for Tymowa on Monday and we plan to bike 70 km to start to get into shape for our trip! We decided today that we will be leaving for either Prague or Munich by June 20th. Prior to that, however, I will have little internet access, so I don't expect to update this in a while. 

New Orleans, LA

May 18 and 19, 2015

New Orleans. What is there to say about such a wonderful, crazy, fun, energetic, hot, and muggy city?! We are lucky enough to know some locals in New Orleans, who not only knows music but is a bit of an expert on great music to see. Kim, our friend from Alaska moved to New Orleans years ago and has made a home of this fantastic city. We only had one night and one night alone because we wanted to make our way to my Aunt's beach house by Tuesday evening. Kim's house was full and the hostel was exceedingly pricey, but our friend from Flagstaff introduced us to his cousin. He was nice enough to take us in for one night.

We started out at a quite neighborhood bar with free rice and beans, perfect for this hungry couple. We then made our way into the French Quarter and listened to some amazing music. Time flew past at before we knew it, it was 2:00 a.m. Ian, our friend's cousin, joined us in the evening and we were able to repay his kindness with a hearty late night meal of "Tachos".

Martin, Kim, and Kate

 

 

 

 

 

The Spotted Cat Music Club

On Tuesday, May 19, we woke up early, even after sleeping only four hours. We slept hard that night, but wanted to get out early to see the World War II Museum. My grandfather had a friend whose helmet is featured in the museum. It was important for me to seek that out and spend a lot of time in this world class museum. If you do end up going there, plan to spend at least 5 hours there. We ended up spending 5 hours and then walked the French Quarter again before getting on the road.

My grandpa's friend, Kenneth Kassel

The story

The famed helmet with the bullet scar

Music everywhere in New Orleans

An amazing violinist playing in the French Quarter

It is only a 4.5 hour drive to the beach house outside of Destin, Florida, but it felt like an eternity. We arrived at the house at about 9:30 p.m. and crashed. My aunt arrived on Wednesday the 20th, and we are excited to spend another week at this beach house before making our way to Delray Beach!

Caverns of Sonara, the Alamo, and Yenik family in Houston, TX

May 17, 2015

We woke up early on Sunday, May 17th, realizing we had a long day of travel ahead of us. Our first destination was Caverns of Sonora. This family owned cavern was a lot different than the busy National Park. The cavern was beautiful with a lot more features than the National Park.

Caverns of Sonora

Back on I-10 and heading east, we drove towards Houston and stopped in San Antonio. We, of course, went through the Alamo, which was small in size from what we had expected. Apparently a lot of people think that when they visit the Alamo. We walked a bit through the River Walk of San Antonio, and surprisingly wished we had more time to spend there. 

Kate at The Alamo

We arrived in Houston at about 7:30 p.m. with a warm greeting from Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike. We were excited to eat a home cooked meal, take a shower and catch up with family. Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike were so welcoming and it was so nice to catch up and hear about the Yenik's in Texas! On Monday, May 18th, we stayed in Houston long enough to catch up with my cousin and her son. So glad we had an opportunity to see each other! I am excited to plan another trip back to Texas and spend more quality time with that part of my family! After a nice relaxing morning, we were back on the road by 1:45 p.m. and heading towards New Orleans. 

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas and Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

May 16 and 17, 2015

Kate at the top of Texas!

Martin and Kate at the top of Texas!

View from the top

We arrived in Guadalupe National Park on Friday, May 15 around dusk. The mountains jetted from the plains like I've never seen before. The tallest mountain in Texas is located in Guadalupe National Park, and is rightly called Guadalupe Peak. It stands surprisingly tall at 8,700 feet. We slept at a  pull out on the side of the road, right outside of the National Park. We are committed to not pay to sleep for as much as possible. The goal is to make our funding last for an entire year.

Trail leading down into Carlsbad Cavern

We woke up early to tackle the mountain. The air was dry and windy. The hike was 9 miles round trip with 3,000 feet of elevation gain. It was surprisingly easy and quick to get to the top. Only two hours to the top and an hour and a half back down. We were back down at the car by about 11:00 a.m.

Carlsbad Cavern

Carlsbad Caverns National Park was only a 35 minute drive. Carlsbad Cavern is one of 120 caves in the area and provides easy walk down into the deep dark cave. The cave was formed by sulfuric acid within the cracks of the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites were fantastic. The large were huge and spacious. I can't imagine how it must have been to be the first to discover such an amazing find. 

One of many storms we worked to avoid in Texas

After spending time at Carlsbad Caverns National Park we made our way back across the border to Texas. We decided to camp at a rest stop around Peco, TX to avoid tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms.

Tornado's and thunderstorms surrounded us. After calling my aunt and uncle in Houston, we made a plan to stay in Houston and visit family tomorrow. We are excited to sleep under a roof, have running water, and catch up with family!

Turkey Creek Hot Springs, New Mexico

May 14 and 15, 2015

We slept at the Turkey Creek trailhead. I feel like we've been on the road already for weeks. It feels comfortable to us. We continue to remind each other how lucky we are to afford such an adventure and lifestyle. It may not be everyone's preference to travel this way but we are making memories along the way.

The hike into Turkey Creek was an easy 3 miles. The hike in was beautiful. We ended up passing a man who had turned around because he couldn't find the hot springs. The pool was primitive and I can see how some may pass right by it. It wasn't regulated, so the temperatures were either too hot or too cold. It was obvious that the wall around the pool had been washed out so Martin and I worked on rebuilding the wall with rocks. It reminded me of playing in the creek behind my house as a kid. The creek and the red cliffs made for a little slice of heaven in the New Mexican wilderness.

Martin pumping water next to our campsite at Turkey hot springs

We arrived to the hot springs early, so we had plenty of time to read and relax before night fall. After building up the make-shift wall around the hot spring we sat around the creek and read, wrote, and took photos. It was a relaxing day.

Our protected campsite

Evening came and a storm came in. Luckily we were camped underneath a large boulder that protected us from the rain.  It stormed all night long, but by the morning it was sunny. We both agreed that it was a beautiful hike, but if you are looking for a hot spring, this may not be the best place to stop. We must be spoiled with pre-made cement hot springs.

Keeping warm during a thunderstorm

We made it back to the car at a descent time. We started to drive to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. Our next stop: Guadalupe Mountain.

Hannah Hot Springs, Arizona

May 12 and 13, 2015

On Tuesday, May 12 we pack up our things in our mobile storage unit and our Subaru and officially said goodbye to our Flagstaff home. We left Flagstaff after a full night of catching up with current Game of Thrones episodes with close friends. Anya made a hearty breakfast in the morning and we were off to drop off the van at Martin's friends house. Since the van is not registered, we were nervous about driving it a short time to its temporary resting place, but we made it with no issues. We are grateful that Martin's friend has the space to keep our van until we are back in the fall.

Hannah Hot Springs

Our first destination was Hannah Hot Springs in Eastern Arizona, on the border of New Mexico. We made it to the parking lot at 3p.m. and quickly packed our backpacks to hike in. The description said it would be about 10.5 miles to the hot spring, so we didn't have any expectations to make it all the way there before nightfall. No  trail was in sight and hiked up the river up to a canyon, only to hike up another slot canyon to the hot springs. After some searching and about 5.5 hours of hiking we surprisingly found the hot springs. We were exhausted but both agreed that the mileage in the description didn't make sense.

The air temperature was warm, which made the hot springs pool seem extra hot.  After an early night to bed and a quick soak in the morning we packed up and started to head back. Another feature to this excursion was the "blue box",

The start of the Blue Box

which was a conglomerate slot canyon, which looked blue in the right light. We were fascinated by this short canyon and the hue of blue it created all around us. After visiting the blue box, we started to make our trudge back to the car at about 9 a.m. With numerous breaks on a hot sunny day, we slowly made our way back to the car. Burnt, dehydrated, bitten up by mystery flies, and exhausted, we repacked the car and drove out of Arizona through the Morencie Copper Mine and into New Mexico. Martin had one more hot springs in the plans - Turkey Creek Hot Springs in New Mexico.

Here we go again!

Martin and I are planning again for another year-long adventure!

I am so excited to report that I am graduating in May with a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Northern Arizona University. These past few years in Flagstaff have been both memorable and tough. We made some great friends and I got some great experience at The Guidance Center. However, the time has come for us to pack up again, and move on.

I have given my one-month notice at The Guidance Center. My last day will be April 24, 2015. My parents are coming on May 2 to watch the graduation ceremony on May 8th. Soon after that, most likely on May 11th, Martin and I are packing up and moving out. We are going to store our van somewhere in Flagstaff and pack up our bikes and gear into the Subaru. We plan to make it to Florida to spend some time with my aunt and celebrate a her birthday with her! 

On June 2nd, we are flying out of Miami, FL  to Warsaw, Poland via Moscow! We'll be spending a lot of time with Martin's grandparents in Wroclaw and then we will be doing a bike tour in Central Europe.  We are excited to kick back, relax, and see some historical sights in Central Europe. 

We'll keep this up to date as we travel. In the mean time, I need to get back to writing my thesis and finishing up my last month of school then on to our next adventure!

~ Kate