Road tripping across the United States || winner of the Roly Poly Pinafore

*I packed my bags for the summer and moved from North Carolina to California.  This means my blog packed its bags too.  owen's olivia will return to its normal schedule of sewing and home decorating sometime in late August.

He's my little Elton John.

Well, we made it!  If you follow along on Facebook, which you totally should, you may know that we have settled into our new place.  Road tripping across the United States is serious business.  Get two adults and one child into a small car, and well, I'll let you guess the rest.
 

Can I tell you the lower part of the United States is beautiful?  We drove through NC, TN, AK, TX, NM, UT, AZ, NV, and CA.  If people tell you the US is overpopulated, they are lying.  It's just that a lot of people want to live in the same places, and there's a lot of open land in the Southwest.   It may be owned by farmers or whatnot, but technically speaking, there is plenty of land for everyone.  

 

My least favorite drive was from Copperas Cove, Texas to Cedar City, UT, which we broke up by staying in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  There's just nothing out there.  And most of it was flat with lots of dirt and rocks. 

 

We will travel the middle part of the US on our way back to NC.

The only sewing I did while I was in the car were these few hexagons.  I spent the rest of the time playing Candy Crush.  Shame.on.me.

Here are a few pictures from the road.

Arkansas 

Wind mill farms in Texas.

New Mexico

New Mexico

 

Shiprock, New Mexico

 

Four Corners.  Four state lines touch each other: New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.  It's so freaking hot at Four Corners, and I am wearing jeans and wool slippers.

Arizona

 

Nevada

Alien Fresh Jerky - Nevada. 

Bryce Canyons, Utah

Cafe Rio -  A MUST try if you are ever near one.  I had the sweet pork barbacoa salad sans lettuce (go ahead and laugh) and Matt had the enchilada burrito.  To die for.  You must try their mint lemonade too. Oh, and kids eat free! 

While we stayed in Cedar City, UT, Matt's good friend hooked me up with antlers!  Amazing, right?!  Not sure what I am going to do with them yet, so if I start pinning antlers like crazy, you will now know why. (You can find me on Pinterest here.)

 We were fortunate to find a furnished one bedroom apartment on Craigslist.  We didn't get scammed.  Hooray!  This apartment is the least kid-friendly, family-friendly apartment ever, but we are so happy to have a place in a nice district and didn't need to rent any furniture.  Do you want a tour of the apartment?  We are within walking distance to many shops and restaurants and we have access to a nice pool and workout gym, tons of trails, bike paths, and sidewalks, and the beach is 4 miles down the road.  Oh, did I mention the LDS San Diego Temple is right behind our building?

You do not have to be Mormon to appreciate the beauty in LDS temples.  They are simply downright gorgeous structures with the most well manicured lawns and landscaping you will ever see.

It's a bit of culture shock for me living in an apartment with a family, and most people live in apartments here.  I cannot send my son into the backyard anymore, and if we forget something at the apartment, that means carrying everything back up three flights to go get it.

Did you know San Diego is hilly?  Random yes, but I was thinking since we were on the coast that it would mostly be flat.  Pacific coast is very different from the Atlantic coast, and I am sure a fault line or two has something to do with that.  Oh, and the weather!  The weather is just spoiling me to death out here!  Low humidity, cool temperatures in the mornings and evenings, and warm sun during the day.  I am already dreading going back to North Carolina!

So in summary, I am really liking the place so far.  As I spend more time here, I can talk more about San Diego, but just let it be known that it's very easy for someone to become a total bum while living here.  It's just that great.  :)

If you want to stay updated, follow me on Facebook or through bloglovin' or RSS.  GFC is going away this summer.  I hope you'll tag along!

Random.org chose Katie from Simple Simon and Company as the winner of the Roly Poly Pinafore by imagine gnats.  An email has been sent.  Congrats!