11.13.10 // LIFE AS A ROADIE

It took me a while, but I have humbly come to the conclusion that I am not the best at blogging. I tend to blog, blog, blog for a while and then take long hiatuses from blogging. I like to think that it's because I get easily distracted (..I just spent five minutes staring at the window at a squirrel..) Whatever the reason, I apologize to anyone who actually takes the time to look at my blog. The very fact that you (whoever you may be.. if you do exist outside of my imagination) would take time out of your day to read this little blog makes me so happy.. and then so sad that I have let you down. Just so you know, I do have sort of a good excuse for not blogging over the past month or so.. I had very limited internet in my motor home/work space. With that said, here's a make up post for all those posts that I missed.. A collection of photos from my Roadie team's trip counterclockwise around the United States. We started in Costa Mesa, California and took the southern route all the way to Washington, D.C. From there we headed up North through Chicago and Montana over all the way to Seattle, WA. We're not stationed in San Francisco, CA.. making our way back South to arrive at our home office next week. It's been an amazing trip. I love being a Roadie.. enough to do the job twice! I love Roadtrip Nation and the message that they are sending to our generation - that you really can do what you love and what you are passionate about with your life. With that said, here's a collection of photos from the road. I tried to limit the photos to one per state that we stopped in, but I was unsuccessful with a few places (there are just so many wonderful things to see and photograph in each state!)

CALIFORNIA

Roadie launch party. That guy singing there.. that's Joey Sanders. He's my fellow Roadie on Jr. the RV. He's definitely going to be famous one day, so be on the lookout!

ARIZONA

We only drove through Arizona, but I could tell that the state was beautiful. We stopped to use the bathroom at this rest stop that had boulders all around it. We did a little climbing and picture taking.

NEW MEXICO
So beautiful! We checked out White Sands, NM. It was amazing. AMAZING! Jr. looked more green than usual against the snow white scenery.

TEXAS
Oh, Texas.. how I love you. Texas has so much to offer and so many hidden treasures. One of them is Marfa, TX. If you want to visit a place that is equal parts awesome and weird.. this is your place. Marfa, TX is home to a large community of artists (large meaning a population of about 2,000!) and The Marfa Mystery Lights. We went all over Marfa and Joey (being the excellent musician that he is) discovered some perfect acoustics on top of the town's courthouse.

From Marfa, we headed East toward Austin. Man, do I love that city. I could totally live there. It's got so much character and spunk.. not to mention, some of the best music festivals in the country.

We happened to be in Austin during Austin City Limits, one such fabulous music festival. A major part of what Roadtrip Nation does is give people the opportunity to interview people who love what they do. Our Roadie team's main focus was promoting Roadtrip on college campuses and recruiting future Roadtrippers. We also had the chance do a few interviews of our own on the trip. We attempted to set up an interview with Band of Horses, but the band was too busy to meet with us. Instead, we were told that we could sit in on their rehearsal, but we were turned down by the band's manager after we arrived at the KLRU studio. Luckily, we met an amazing intern who gave us an all access studio tour and hooked us up with free tickets to the band's performance for the Austin City Limits television show! It was incredible.

TENNESSEE
Tennessee is another one of those states with so many hidden treasures. I never thought much of Tennessee until I actually went to visit it. There is so much music history in Memphis and Nashville and as you head further East, the Smokey Mountains meet you with a beautiful "hello".

WASHINGTON, D.C.

NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK
Our team wasn't scheduled to head up to New York from Washington, D.C. but we had the opportunity to meet up with the other Roadie team who are currently traveling clockwise around the country so we decided to drive a few extra hours to see them!

PENNSYLVANIA

ILLINOIS
We went urban climbing in Chicago. I had never been to "The Windy City" before and seeing it at night from a rooftop was definitely worth sneaking into an apartment building to see!

NORTH DAKOTA

MONTANA
Montana is SO BEAUTIFUL! I love the snowy mountain tops and crisp air.. not to mention the flannel wearing boys that are everywhere! I also saw my best friend, Sarah, in Montana.. which was a highlight of my trip!

WASHINGTON

Oregon and Northern California photos are soon to come...