a whirlwind, or, a tumbleweed

deepest apologies for the lack of updates, but i have been quite busy readying myself for my holiday(s). first off, i shall relate my cross country road trip to bring my beloved car, gertrude, back to kansas.

my friend richard and i drove back together. this makes sense becuase 1. he is from kansas city (bv north) and 2. likes roadtrips. we took along his pinata and named it tumbleweed becuase in the middle of arizona, richard saw his first tumbleweed.

these are my roomates, chasing us and waving goodbye.

we stopped the first night in kingman, arizona, right after the ca/az border. the next morning, we at breakfast with 6 guys from the netherlands riding their harleys along route 66. on day two, we drove across arizona and new mexico, stopping at a meteor crater. they entrapped tourists with tantalizing signs such as this:

obviously, we stopped. we arrived that night in albequequre (i still can't spell it) to stay with our friend tyler. we at delicious tamales at the frontier, a unm legendary diner.

the next day we drove for 13, count 'em, 13 hours to come home to KC. highlights include:

i was very glad to be home.

until!

i discovered that my friend beth did not have the receipt necessary to pick up my visa at the brazilian consulate in los angeles becuase i had never given it to her becuase i had LOST IT. i had never, ever, lost anything this important before.

plan number 1: fly to LA two days before we were supposed to leave for BAires, get my visa, then fly straight to dallas and then to BA.

why plan number 1 failed: ticket prices were EXPENSIVE, in the $500 range. so i looked to use my southwest free flight, but i couldnt use them for the dates i wanted. the dates i could use them for: the very next day at 7:30 am. there were also multiple flights available wednesday and thursday to come home. so, at 10:30 pm i booked my flight and told mom she had to take me to KCI at 5:50am.

i arrived in LA at 9:00, and my good friend sarah picked me up. she was kind enough to let me borrow her car. long story short, i drove to the brazilian consulate, aruged with the security gaurd for a little while, and left with my visa in hand 3 hours later. i treated myself with a honey vanilla latte from urth caffe, and returned to sarah's apartment, where i booked a flight for 7:05 that night. i got back to KC at 12:20 that night, where mom picked me up a mere 20 hours later.

this is how fast i move.

countdown to argentina holiday: 6 days!