Again, before I forget, let me catch up on where I've been. And mention my 1 year anniversary of officially living in NYC. Forgot how much I LOVE fall and all the seasons.
I'll quickly mention my Thanksgiving in Florida (oh wait, that was 2011) and many many trips from NYC to VT. Living that dream of mine.
Made it for my usual "whirl wind best friends / best city stop in Chicago on my way to something" trip this year. This time it was to film the final interview for my circus film in Wisconsin. Road tripped Chicago to Wisconsin and replaced a hotel for tent and quiet campground. Paused the whirl wind for a perfect 1 hour float, in the sun, in a canoe, on a lake.
Spent almost 2 weeks in Breckenridge, CO in June. Mostly inside my hotel room & inside the production office trailer. But the views were beautiful and the air was crisp, although extremely scarce. I've been to Cusco / Machu Picchu and hiked mountains, but I don't remember having problems with the whole "lack of oxygen" thing. I definitely noticed it in Breckenridge.
I escaped the NYC humid heat in August for a job back in Los Angeles. I had my first encounter with jet lag, leading to my first encounter of being a morning person. Who knew you could wake up with a smile on your face at 7am? The gleaming sun, blue sky, cat in my face, and amazing friends in the next room making breakfast may have helped all that. Was amazed at how I survived there for 5 years without ending up in an insane asylum for road rage, but didn't mind at all being back for a month.
From LA, it was a quick family reunion in IL / STL and then I planned on heading back to NYC to finish, under a crazy deadline, my Circus film. Instead, I stopped in Alaska for 3 days.
As the plane started the down tilt to land in Anchorage, AK, the pilot came on and laughed, "well, they're evacuating the airport due to high winds, and there is no one in the control tower, so I guess we won't be landing there." Instead I ended up on the Fairbanks airport floor for 8 hours. Over 12 hours late, I made it to Anchorage, without my bags (reminder to ALWAYS pack a spare set in your cary on). I headed towards my rental car in my shorts (I had packed for LA) and drove the 45min to "work". I have to say, as soon as I hit highway 1, along the water with the mountains as the backdrop, none of the travel pains mattered. Alaska is spectacular and I must return. In my few days there, even though 95% of the time I was inside a production trailer or my hotel room, I still saw a beluga whale, bald eagle, and a bear - AND drove an RV. Classic Alaska adventure.
Most recently I spent a long weekend in Nashville, home of bachelorette parties, apparently. Awesome old friends, that are more like family, and 3 whole days without turning on a computer. I don't think I've done that in...years.
2012 was the first time in 6 years that I didn't make it to Peru. Josh still went to see the amazing progress on the hospital, and see them break ground on our Yantalo International Volunteer House. Amazing progress! Definitely miss Peru, the people, and the language, and can't wait for next year.
