Another Picture Update - From Texas to Pennsylvania (and back to Texas)!

Long-time coming - but here are some photos from the last 1/2 of the tour!!  Too much to write and I am not in the writing mood - but this gives you a taste of what the last half of the summer was and I felt like it was a good time for an update.

Also - this time next week guess where I will be??  BOULDER BABY!!!

'

Honey Sampling with Sue

Visits with Friends

The most beautiful place in the world...we made a stop in Lex!

Peel the Love even visited the tennis center

Sampling in Asheville, NC

Puerto Rican food in Asheville - and one of the best meals of the summer!

Coolest mural I have ever seen

Buying books without knowing what they are (more on that soon)

Not true, but pretty amazing...love restroom decor

Lifesize Connect Four in Asheville

San Antonio Riverwalk

Such a cool outdoor theater!!

We stumbled upon an accordion festival!

Hysterical.

Ice Cream with the Mansfields in Ardmore, OK - such a cool little town!

Cubs Game in Iowa

Hot Air Balloons!

The Hot Air Balloon Festival in Des Moines, IA

It's "somewhat fancy"

BFFs!

Such a little guy

Exploring Baltimore's inner harbor

...and playing with large instruments in the park!

An educational sidewalk - homophones!

A beer mobile in Baltimore

The lovely Katie in Baltimore

Baked Penne Massive Pizza

A stylish banana truck - a girl has to have her flowers!

Lighthouse Italian Ice in New Jersey with the Coles - Mmmm! Mmmm!

A trip into Manhattan at the break of dawn

Doubles Partners

Home Away from Home

Twinning with the Carmalts!

Such intricate and delicate decor in an authentic Mexican restaurant in NJ - the owner was AWESOME.

Lew!!!

U.S. Open in NYC

Hanging out with the one and only Ginny!

Nosebleed Section

We made it to the South Shore of Long Island

Craziest looking fish EVER

Biggest turtle EVER

2 year anniversary!

A hike with the Carmalts

Largest burrito ever - thanks Iowa!

Everyone's Story...

No.  This post has nothing to do with traveling, bananas, food, or anything I have ever written about.

Yes.  I love the show The Voice.  I didn't watch the first two seasons very closely, but Seasons 2 - 5 have had my attention.  I am not one to follow many television shows - we only have the most basic of basic channels at home and I typically only tune in for important things - the news, football games and game shows (read Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy).

With that said, The Voice has my full attention for this coming season and last night I finally could pin point what I love most about this show.  You see the real side of the contestants - their stories, their raw emotions, their passion for their craft.  Not only that, but you see the real side of the coaches (I hope and think) in a way you typically don't get to see celebs interact with one another.  I love their banter and they seem to genuinely enjoy themselves.  (Note - I can imagine they are being payed a pretty amount to act that way, but I will assume that they are just being themselves...).

Atleast three times last night I was almost crying because I could just feel the excitement those contestants were feeling, and you can just see their dreams coming true.  Plus, many of the stories these people share are incredible.  The woman from Jamaica, the shy yet remarkable 19 year old, and the man that was playing Lynyrd Skynyrd with the guitar his Dad used to play were all incredibly talented, but you could see the raw emotion on their face and in their eyes when those chairs turned around.  It gave me goosebumps.
Every since entering the field of education, and even more so, ever since interacting with 1,000s of different people all over the country this summer, I find myself stopping to consider or even just ponder differences among each and every person.  We all have our own story, and I know this summer has taught me the importance of considering where other people are coming from and what their story may be.  The human race is remarkable in countless ways, and I feel blessed to have been able to meet and interact with people from so many different walks of life.  This is also why I am so excited to begin teaching!!

NPR also recently did a broadcast all about stories during their TED hour and it was awesome.  Look it up!

Life is truly amazing.

Home

We are less than two weeks from returning to Colorado and I cannot wait to get home!  This whole summer has been an amazing adventure and we have plenty of stories to tell from our travels, but it is starting to feel like it is time to get back to our reality.  With the recent flooding in Boulder, and the yearning to want to be there to help those people I know have hours of cleaning up ahead of them, I have been "homesick" for the first time since I left home in May.

When we chose to go on the road for the summer, I wondered how long it would take for me to miss home.  Surprisingly, I haven't really been homesick until recently (read - until Boulder was hit by a devastating storm).  This lack of homesickness may have been because we were seeing so much of the country, it may have been because we saw family and/or friends in every state where we were serving up bananas, it may have been because we saw both our parents among other loved ones all summer long, it may have been for any number of reasons...

But I am pretty sure it has mostly been this:

A while back, I found this and thought it was a nice, heart-warming sentiment.  Now I believe it to be 100% true.  I haven't been missing our apartment, because my home has been with me this whole time!  I couldn't have made it through this summer without Lucas and I think it is a testament to the importance of keeping your family and loved ones close.  Lucas, my parents, Luke's parents and the many people we saw this summer made it a once in a lifetime experience and we always felt at home in each others company, and in the company of those dearest to us.  All I can say, is I am walking away from this experience (in a couple weeks) feeling completely blessed.

My good friend Lindsay recently passed along this quote, which resonated with me the past few days:

"And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days."

- Ray Wylie Hubbard

I certainly have been blessed this summer, and continue to feel those blessings in my life every single day.  As we finish out our tour, I can't help but come back to those things in my life in which I am so grateful - my husband, my parents, my entire family, the ability to travel, having access to food for cooking, being able to pursue my goals and passions with limited restrictions, having the means to explore and pick up to go on this adventure for a summer - and I realize that this summer has allowed me an amazing opportunity while surrounding me with these wonderful blessings.

I look forward to getting home and seeing friends and family in Colorado oh so soon, but in the mean time I will finish out the last leg of a summer that has left me feeling blessed.

A New Discovery and Fall Tradition in the Making

Honey Crisps - Ripe for the Picking!

After finishing work in NYC, we had a four day drive awaiting us - getting from Long Island, NY to San Antonio, TX wasn't looking like an easy drive in the truck, nor was it something I had planned on doing in this lifetime - but then again, who ever thought I would be touring the U.S. in a food truck?  We ended up making the drive enjoyable with some nice stops along the route (more on that soon), but first, we made a fantastic pit stop in PA for some R&R with Luke's parents and a quick visit with his Grandma Sally.  It was just the right amount of "real-life normalcy" (if that is even a thing) before hitting the road for the final push of our tour.

Grandma Sally and Luke

Our first stop in Pennsylvania was to see Luke's grandma Sally.  Our visit was too short, only a few hours, but we were able to make it happen which is what mattered.  We had lunch and chatted with Sally for a while, and took a short walk for her to check out our truck.  We also stumbled upon a great old fashion car, so we checked that out, too! Last summer we were fortunate to spend weeks upon weeks with Grandma Sally, but we were just happy to be able to see her this summer at all.

Classic Car Spotting

Lucas sitting on "his" steps

Then on to Milan, PA to see Bill and Sue.  We had a great few days with Luke's family and enjoyed a trip to Friendsville, gourmet meals compliments of chef Sue, a visit from Anneliza and Adam, and
education on bee keeping.  We also took a closer look at Sue's beehives - where my face ended up on the wrong side of a bee stinger (whoops)!  It turns out bees are more aggressive in the fall since they are working hard to pack in the honey before winter arrives.  We were sitting about seven feet from the fence but it was still too close and in the line of fire where the bees were entering and exiting one hive.  Lesson learned.

The highlight of our stay was when I discovered my new favorite fall activity.  I have always loved fall and welcome the season with open arms to breathe in the crisper air, create pumpkin dishes of every variety and surround myself with my favorite earth-tone colors.  However, never have I had a chance to partake in the best fall event of all...APPLE PICKING.  Well, while in PA, Sue introduced us to the joys of picking apples.

We went to Russell farms near Vestal, NY where they have 20 acres of trees spotted with every variety
of apple I could imagine and then some.  The apples looked so beautiful hanging from the branches, in some cases so heavy that the trees needed significant supports to stay standing.  Apples, I learned, reach peak ripeness at various times depending on the type of apple, and when we went picking the farmer recommended McIntosh, Ginger Golds, and (drum rolllllllllll) Honey Crisps!  I was ecstatic.

We spent the next 1.5 hours trying to find the best looking apples to put in our three 1/2 bushel bags and take home.  We admired the variety of colors, tasted some apples as we picked from the trees and pretended like we knew how to select the best of the best.  We were also amazed at the way a leaf shape could be "stenciled" on an apple if the leaf blocked the sun just right, and how sun kissed apples were colored so differently from their shaded neighbors.

Leaf Stencils

After making our way from McIntosh rows to the Ginger Golds, we headed over to the Honey Crisps.  One bite into those apples fresh from the tree confirmed why I am obsessed.  Plus, they sold for 1.49 per pound, double that of the others, yet this was a steal compared to store prices which are insanely expensive. Oh man, they are good!  

Once we had filled our bushels, we meandered through the rows of colorful vegetables, apple butters, and other farm fresh goods.  We picked up some sweet corn fresh out of the field to have with dinner, checked out and headed home.  The next day, we also helped Sue pick clean one of three apple trees right in their backyard.  They had some great apples right there and we filled three laundry baskets full of apples just from that one tree!  I would say we made out like kings.

I love colorful veggies!

Our picked apples

Sue is going to be busy making apple sauces and ciders to keep for the fall and winter.  Lucas and I will be busy eating up the of of apples we took with us for the road trip.  Either way, we discovered a fun fall activity that I plan on doing again when we get back to Colorado, once I do some research on apple picking locale in the Boulder area (pending flood damage...yikes!).

Yummy!

There is just so much more satisfaction in eating something you picked from the tree yourself.  Hence, why some day I would love to have our own garden.  In the meantime, when I get back to a real kitchen, I plan on indulging myself by making some of the following apple recipes - hopefully with hand picked apples!

Apples, Apples, Apples!

Easy Skillet Apple Pie - It is easy and amazing!  Favorite apple pie I have ever made.
Chopped Winter Salad (Squash, Apples and Feta) - Made it already, and loved it!
Or this salad from one of my favorite food blogs...
Fig, Apple and Gorgonzola Flatbread -  If only I could get fresh figs from the Hutcheson's fig tree!
Apple Pie Pull Apart Bread - This looks like something I could go for on a Sunday morning
BBQ Apple Pizza - Holy Smokes!  This sounds out of this world.  With fresh pizza dough...mmmmm!