Author: Today's Memoir

Hello! Coming to you from UTAH at the moment. I woke up from my big comfy KING bed in Boulder, took a nice long shower, blow dried my hair, and began getting on with my day. I left the hotel at about 9am and missed the bagged breakfast to go, but it forced me to get some local coffee and breakfast.

I went to a coffee house called Bona Coffee Roasters. I got my typical latte and this bom dot com pumpkin croissant. It had a freaking awesome pumpkin cream cheese filling.

I originally was going to go from Boulder up Route 25 to Cheyenne and dump into Salt Lake, but my trusty guides (Rick Mathe and Michael Miller) let me know Route 70 was much more scenic and doable as the snow had passed.

Route 70 DID NOT disappoint!! It was a spectacular drive and I found myself eying so many picturesque landscapes and objects. Here are some photos I snagged, but what I couldn’t snag were BABY GOATS right next to the highway (I could have literally pet them if I were able to stop), a field full of antelope, and another flat land full of deer.

I drove for a few hours and passed through Vail. I decided to snag some coffee and happen to stumble in to the cutest shop/cafe called Hygge Life.

I walked around the shop to stretch a bit, and almost bought a sheep (decor) from here until I learned of the price tag 🤑🤑🤑🤑. From the cafe, I had some of the best coffee I’ve had yet on this trip. I got a date vanilla bean latte. So yummy!

Also, my car is f*cking filthy. It’s even more filthy now as I write this blog. Randi (my car’s name) got 6 additional hours of drive time since this photo was taken, so imagine Randi twice as filthy. If I find a skull, I kinda wanna rig it as a hood ornament so Randi can be extra badass.

I then travelled to Breckinridge and just HAD to try Flipside. We have Flipsides back home in Ohio and I HAD to compare. I tried the blackened fish tacos and my most favorite fries, Flipside’s truffle fries 🤤🍟. TBH, the fish tacos were sloppy AF, but more importantly, they were delicious and I didn’t make a mess in my car while eating in there somehow 🙏

After having my yum-tastic lunch, I drove several hours and finally got into Utah! Colorado seems to have the pointed mountains and Utah seems to have the plateau-looking mountains. It’s quite interesting how different the mountains look even though the states are right next to each other. Utah is gorgeous and I’m bummed I only got to see ~1.5 hours of it in daylight/sunset until it got dark around 5:30pm and I had to drive throughout the mountains in the dark. It was quite an experience: knowing how large these mountains are and still being able to see their white snow reflect a little even at night. At one point, it got to be 21 degrees and began snowing and I began to get nervous about black ice, but all was good!

Here are some pics of Utah—I hope I can get some better shots not so on-the-go tomorrow.

I ended up just outside Spanish Fork, Utah this evening. I plan to hit up Salt Lake City tomorrow, but as always, plans can change!💙

Howdy ho from Colorado! I woke up well-rested and feeling great today. The weather got down to the low thirties last night, and it made my cocoon all the more wonderful to sleep in. I drove down to Denver from the Love’s truck stop and got to meet up with these LOVELY people!

Rick & Clare Mathe have been so helpful in my journey giving me tips on what to do and see in Colorado. I met up with them, got some coffee and we took a nice long socially distanced walk around the park in downtown Denver. I also got to feel like a queen tonight, which I’ll blog about later in this post, as they graciously treated me to a night at a hotel in Boulder!

Per Rick & Clare’s recommendation, I spent the afternoon at Union Station having some yummy food and working. I got brunch at Snooze Eatery and had an avocado smash benedict and a salmon benedict.

While at Union Station, it began snowing and a lot of people wanted to go outside and see/be in the snow. I decided to leave a little early to beat some of the traffic to get to Boulder. I got to drive in the Colorado snow and it was fun (I was at a red light when this was taken)!

I made my way and found the hotel I am staying at. I got to do some laundry, which was fabulous, but I also learned of the hot tub and got to make a reservation to have it (and the pool) all to my damn self! God it felt nice to soak in hot water.

I then got ready to meet with some friends for dinner, but first, I decided I must be a kid and jump on the King bed…woo hoo!!!

I got in my car and met Michael & Tzuria. I went to high school with Michael and got to first meet his lovely girlfriend on a virtual video meeting as they helped me map out my route thru Colorado. They are both awesome people and I am so glad we’ve all vm crossed paths! I hope they will come to CLE so we can mushroom hunt together!

We got the PERFECT food for this chilly weather: Zoe Ma Ma. I got a veggie dumpling and Ma Ma’s famous chicken soup.

After dinner and awesome conversation and laughs, we strolled down Pearl Street and they showed me all the boujee spots along with historic spots. One of the staples on this street is Trident. Trident is an independent book store and cafe located in the heart of downtown Boulder. Josh, we must go here some day!

It was a long day today, so I’m going to hit the hay in my King bed! Next stop, Salt Lake City, Utah. Good night everyone!

I stayed at a Cracker Barrel last night and got some much needed rest. First night at a Cracker Barrel and it was much quieter. I slept way better last night than the first night at the truck stop, but my nerves the first night probably didn’t help either!

I left Lincoln, Nebraska and drove for HOURS. I mean, I started driving around 7:45am and got to my destination around 3:45pm with a time zone change. Nebraska was a pretty boring drive on route 80. I did see a gnarly skull with horns/antlers on the side of the highway and I was half tempted to go get it and put it in a bag to bring home for Josh, but I immediately thought how judged I might be for doing that 🤣.

I also got to talk to my brother, Bucky, who lives out in California and he shared my sentiment of how boring route 80 is as he’s travelled cross country numerous times. he and his wife, Max, are about to welcome their first child in a week or so and I’m so excited for them!

There were many things I wish I could have taken photos of along the highway, but it is pretty difficult to stop quickly when you’re going 85 MPH on a two-lane highway. Nebraska is essentially all corn fields and crops along route 80. Occasionally, I saw farms with horses and cows, which really were beautiful to see. Nebraska, at least this time of year is very brown, and very dry.

I stopped in North Platte thinking that could be a cool town, but it was effectively taken over by chains and 2.5-3 star rated restaurants. It was also windy AF. The winds blew at 60 MPH pretty much all throughout Nebraska, so I had to grip and hold the steering wheel with two hands most of the way.

Also. I hit my first tumbleweed! Ok, I actually hit like 3 of them. You know those tumbleweeds you’d see in western cartoons? Yeah, they were in the road in real life blowing around and I somehow found incredible delight plowing into those twiggy tumbles.

I stopped for gas and noticed how fast the clouds were moving, which was neat.

I was originally going to go up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but Uncle Rick and Uncle Bill (Josh’s fam) advised that Fort Collins was a much better town to visit. One of my client’s daughters lives there and goes to school there so we texted and she gave me some options around town in Fort Collins.

I checked out Lory State Park, which was beautiful.

Next, I headed into town and got food from Jay’s Bistro…known for their lobster Mac (my cousin Vivienne would be jealous! Mac n cheese is her favorite food group🤣). I got a cherry kombucha fiz cocktail, lobster Mac and honey sriracha Brussels sprouts.

Fort Collins is a cute little college town and the trees downtown sparkled with lights!

After dinner, it was dark so I made my way to a Cracker Barrel to find out it had no over night parking 😭, so I found my trusty truck stop brand and am staying the night here.

Y’all. Would you look at this immaculate bathroom at this truck stop? Holy shit, it’s nicer than some hotels.

Well, that’s just about the end to my day. It was mostly spent driving, changing routes, and finding a place to stay for the night. I’m heading to Denver & Boulder tomorrow!

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions about car camping, or have recommendations for things to do or see, let me know! 💙

I woke up in my cozy down comforter cocoon from a not-so-restful sleep in Davenport, Iowa. I woke up feeling empowered that I successfully did my first solo overnight on the fly in a town I did not know.

I stayed at a Love’s truck stop, which was nice because I could get up at any time if I had to use the restroom and there are snacks 24/7. I got my toiletries together, went in and brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and got some water and coffee to start the day.

I haven’t had gas station coffee in years (it might even be safe to say decades🥴) and I went a little overboard with the vanilla creamer. My coffee was way too sweet, so unfortunately I had to part ways with it.

I ended up checking out the World’s Largest Truck Stop (recommendation from my step mom) and it was a very large rest area with restaurants and stores. I ended up getting a Caribou coffee from there and I could have sworn it had cigarette ashes in it, which made me actually miss my too-sweet Love’s coffee, but c’est la vie.

After driving for a few hours, I diverted off the path and made my way to a quaint little Quilt Museum in Winterset, Iowa. These quilts were old AF (some made in the 1800’s) and there was an Ohio quilt along with a cool doll house!

Also, I’ve never seen more windmills in my life while driving through Iowa. Warning: windmills cause cancer according to Trump, so be very, very, very careful driving through this state. ‼️

Made it to Nebraska!

I finally made it to Nebraska in the afternoon. I stopped in Omaha, which is there right as you enter the state from Route 80. There were a lot of restaurants to choose from, and I settled on El Arepón Venezuelan Food and got an arepa and empanada. Yum yum yum. Oh and this beer if from Infusion Brewing Company, which is a leader in Nebraska’s craft beer movement and I had the vanilla bean blonde beer. Delicious!!

I was able to find a good place to sleep tonight and I’m looking forward to a better night’s sleep and reading a good book.

Where will I be tomorrow?

I’m planning on driving to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but as always, things could change. If you have any recommendations for things to do or see out this way, let me know!!💙

Today, I am leaving for my first ever solo trip. Many have asked me why I decided to do this, and the short answer is: I’ve always wanted to solo travel and something in me is just telling me to go.

I hit my 7 year business anniversary in early October, all my client meetings have gone virtual, and I thought, What other time would I be able to do this? I know there is a pandemic and I am going to be very careful. Most of my activities on this trip will revolve around outdoor activities.

Another part of me going on this trip is to face fears. When I look back at all the scary things I’ve done or challenged myself to do, I always feel incredibly proud when I braved the unknown and went for it. I always want to live my life challenging myself and trying new things. Curiosity is in my blood.

Prep for the trip

There was an incredible amount of planning for this trip that I am winging. This has been our dining room table for the last month or so.

Where am I going?

That’s a great question. I know I am heading to Utah. I had originally wanted to make my furthest destination Colorado, but some folks at REI persuaded me to go to Utah as they spoke about how incredible it is. I somehow was fortunate enough to get a one night reservation in Zion Park, which I’m super stoked about.

Oh and I am going to be camping in my car. This is the part that scares me the most because I have to make on-the-fly decisions about where I will safely be staying over night.

Special thanks

I want to give a special thanks to my wonderful, amazing clients who have been supportive and excited for me for this trip. One of my clients even shared with me that she has always wanted to solo car camp across the country! I plan to work some while on this trip, but I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to have clients that tell me, “You go brave girl!”

Another special thanks to REI. I don’t know what I would have done without them. Of course there is Google, but there is so much information out there that it’s overwhelming. Walking in to REI to tell them what I wanted to do only had full support, and I found out many people, including women, who work at REI do this car camping thing frequently! They are an amazing resource for any sort of outdoor traveling.

A special thanks to an amazing women’s solo travel group on Facebook. My friend Georgi recently car camped and traveled and gave me some amazing wisdom along with introducing me to an amazingly supportive group of women on Facebook who have only been cheerleaders for me.

And of course my husband. When I told my husband I wanted to do this, he was like, “Hell yeah, wife! Let’s get you prepared!” He took numerous trips with me to REI, helped calm me down when I was frazzled, helped me build my car out, was a listening ear when I just needed to spew out all my ideas, and always kept the faith. He’s a rockstar.

More to come! Thanks for stopping by.