HeLLo from the Grand Canyon

This is a bit ex post facto, but this Grand Canyon pic was just too dorky to pass up /:>  Thankfully, we were spared the 6 hour drive (each way) and opted to take a helicopter ride instead.  The tour was accompanied by a "picnic lunch" and champagne so gross that even I passed up a refill (and that's saying a lot), but the views were fantastic once I managed to be enough of a browmpass to demand a better seat.

My Secret Shame... I May Actually Enjoy Hiking

After a brief overnight in Vegas, Brandon and I have been hitting up some national parks in Utah. First up was Zion National Park (which I'm slightly ashamed to say I had never even heard of before), which was Awesomely Beautiful!  It also featured non-trivial amounts of overly-aggressive squirrels (as pictured above, courtesy of Brandon).

What I don't get is, even despite the signs that say "Don't Feed the Animals", who actually feeds the squirrels??  Sadly, many white trash families feeding these things Cheetos were in evidence.  Gross.

After a day and a half in Zion, we headed to Bryce Canyon, home of the famous hoodoos.  I know I'm starting to sound trite here, but man-- talk about some amazing nature or whatever!!

By my count, I've hiked over 17 miles in the past two days, so despite my previous life-long stance on the issue, I think this must mean I'm actually a fan of hiking. Thing is-- I think I've figured out the Betsy-approved way to enjoy hiking:  jamming out to my This American Life podcasts.  That way you're antisocial enough that no one wants to talk to you, and hopefully distracted enough to forget that you're exercising, but still able to take in 100% of the sights.

Ruby's in Palm Springs... Why Must I Ever Leave?

Brandon and I opted to start off our road trip at what is probably the most fabulous place on Earth- Ruby Montana's Coral Sands Inn in Palm Springs, a gem of a classic motel that I happened upon a few years back when I went to Coachella (back when it was still obscure enough to be cool, haha).

Why do I love this place? Of course there's the draw of Ruby's kidney-shaped swimming pool and her spirited pooches (especially Lola, also pictured above), the impeccable accommodations and relaxing vibe, the fabulous desert weather, the mystery of the desert men who haunt the local liquor stores... but I'd have to say that most of all, it's Ruby herself!  I'm not sure what else on this road trip will hold a candle to our night out at Trio followed by further entertainments courtesy of the Princess of Palm Springs /:>

Sigh-- missing Ruby already!

TEH birds

If only Hitchcock were still alive... he could create a sequel to The Birds involving packs of feral squirrels.

As a prequel to our roadtrip, Mister B and I spurned the siren call of an overnight in Novato (where we attended a quite sweet wedding on Saturday) and decided instead to spend a couple days in Sonoma.  We managed to tear ourselves away from the hot tub long enough to make a pilgrimage to Bodega, where much of this canonical Hitchcockian work was filmed.

Now I, too, can be 78 percent more self important

I've held off on venturing into the world of blogdom this long because, let's be honest, they can be pretty self indulgent, often in uninteresting ways.

But now that I'm forsaking my life in California for the more exotic climes of New Orleans, I figured I'd actually try to keep in touch with people.

Here I will chronicle my love/hate relationship with the inimical beast pictured above, as well as pontificate upon topics including, but not limited to: books, travel, bacons, grad school and New Orleans (once I make it there in August), rainbows, sun dogs, and unicorns.

More to come!