On September 15th, in the heart of the Bluegrass, flanked by historic brick colonials and shaded by a tall maple tree, Andras and I were finally married! We opted for a small, intimate ceremony combining a blend of natural beauty with southern elegance. In the weeks and months before, I'd busily hit the corners of the country again - Seattle for a bridal shower, New York to pick up the wedding dress - while Andras was out of the country in Mexico. The days prior were filled with last-minute errands, picking up family at the airport and finalizing arrangements for the rehersal dinner, watching the weather forecast call first for rain, then for thunderstorms, then for severe thunderstorms strickly limited to the hours our wedding was to be held outdoors. And somehow, everything was perfect. Up ... read more

Yes, literally in the footsteps - or wagon tracks as it were - of the America pioneers, expanding across the Great Plains and deserts to the valleys of the west, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. We were, naturally, doing things backwards, having started (both in terms of this trip and of life) in the Northwestern corner of the country and traversing eastward, relocating much of our stuff from Seattle back to Kentucky. "Hold on just a moment," you say. "Weren't you living in New York? And didn't you join Travelblog in the first place because you were making an epic cross-country move from Kentucky to Seattle?" How very astute of you, good reader. Yes. We were and we did. But life, just like a neatly planned itinerary, rarely goes as planned. If we're lucky, ... read more

From the northeast to the southwest, two days after my graduation in New York City we flew 2,500 miles down to San Diego to attend my sister's. Everytime I go to southern California I'm struck by the difference in culture, and not in a particularly pleasant way. Maybe it's residual childhood resentment - us laid-back Pacific Northwesterners, with our messy hair, flannel covered arms and sock-filled sandals, standing ground against the influx of carefull coifed bleached-blond, busty, bikini babes and hard-bodies migrating north during the real-estate dot com boom of the early 90s. As kids we would roll our eyes at California license plates. "Oh they're from California..." Pushy. Stuck up. Superficial. Can't drive. And honestly, parts of San Diego remind me exactly why we used to say that. But I do like to believe that ... read more

I have a difficult time deciding on a favorite season, but when it comes to spring in New York I must admit that for all the pros, I can think of very few cons. Flowers everywhere, with such a vibrancy as everyone slowly emerges from a season of black wool and boots to colorful sundresses and sandals. A time when picnics supplement dinner reservations and productivity slowly gives way to long, meandering walks in the park. After months of dismal weather the sun emerged over the weekend showering the streets with a explosion of petals as trees burst forth with blooms and buds. Because I've been in "thesis mode" for the past several weeks, it took a little convincing from Andras to put down the books, step away from the keyboard, and emerge from my academic ... read more

Vancouver Island is beautiful, especially once you start moving away from the strait and venture closer towards the coast of the Pacific. Wild berries, eagles, seals, crashing ocean waves, water worn pebbles, the sound of gulls riding a current and the fresh scent of fir and pine. Magnificent! It's as if all the quintessence of the northwest has somehow been condensed and put on display for all to see and experience in one spot - which really, if you think about it, is what transforms a location into a locale, particularly one visitors might desire to visit. The lure of such imagined Northwestiness was too strong to resist, especially for two Northwesterners, and even when our actual experiences failed to align with our anticipated ones, the lovely thing about memory is that you can conveniently neglect ... read more