Cross Country Road Trip

Welp! It is official, Chris and I have taken the journey across the United States to move from Western Pennsylvania to good ol' Sin City.

The journey was quite long, and a bit boring at times. We've driven through Ohio and Indiana loads of times so those were nothing new, not that the drive through there those states is exciting by any means to begin with. But, we did stop at Notre Dame so I could see the famous stadium where Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger was carried off the field.

Coach Frank Leahy
1908 - 1973

Coach Lou Holtz
1986-1998

Coach Knute Rockne
1918 - 1930

Coach Dan Devine
1975 - 1980
(coach of Rudy Ruettiger)

Coach Ara Parseghian
1964 - 1974

Chris with our kitten, Artemis, on the adventure of her lifetime. She's got more miles on her than a wild cat.

Beautiful drive through the campus

My aunt actually the real Rudy, not the actor that played him in the movie (although I would not mind meeting Sean Astin) at an educational conference once, so that was probably pretty awesome for her.

Illinois is boring flatland and full of terrible drivers. End of story.

We got to visit Chris's old roommate and best friend, and his girlfriend, in Iowa where they took us to eat at a hole in the wall dive called Tic Toc. This place was actually really awesome, the environment was extremely welcoming and friendly. It was full of sports memorabilia (kind of like the average Applebee's restaurant) but this place wasn't the typical chain restaurant. They were even nice enough to serve us after they normally stop serving people for the night. Chris had a Reuben and I had a delicious taco salad the size of Texas. Definite go to place if you are in the Cedar Rapids area of Iowa.

Much to my dismay, I did not get to visit the future birthplace of James T. Kirk to bask in the glory of my nerd-dom. I'll just have to go back to Iowa someday just for that.

Apparently they're living the good life in Nebraska. But I have nothing exciting to report. We didn't really stop anywhere because we were making a trip from Cedar Rapids to Denver and got a late start. 

Lucky for me, my lovely cousin stayed awake to welcome Chris and I to Denver at 10:30pm when she had to get up for work at 5:00am the next day. We got to bond with her and her gigantor puppy dogs.

Colorado was beautiful and mountainous. We stopped a couple of times in the mountains, once at an apparent tourist hiking place called Hanging Lake. It's a beautiful stop and apparently there is a slightly strenuous one mile hike up to the actual waterfall. We didn't get to do the entire hike, but were able to bring Artemis along the initial hike up to the trail. She had a splendid time hiding in the tall grass and chasing bees. Plus there was a sign noting that "No dogs are allowed on the trail," everyone passing by just giggled and said "Well, it didn't say anything about cats."

Rolling in the grass.

"What do you want?"

Time for a drink!

Cute little kitty harness.

Didn't get to the waterfall, but the view was still stunning!

More miles under the kitten's belt!

Utah was probably one of my favorite states that I have been to now. I thought Colorado was absolutely beautiful, but what bothered me was the fact that we were literally driving in and through the mountains, absolutely surrounded by them, whereas in Utah, we were able to see the mountains in the distance and drive through them. We weren't just surrounded by rock.

Looking over the valley.

It was just a little bit windy.

On his way down to run hills back up for a mid-journey workout.

Beautiful scenery.

Hop on down!

And alas, after a grueling journey packed front to back, floor to ceiling in a Dodge Challenger with a kitten, we made it to Vegas!

Welcome to Nevada!

Fremont Street Experience! Way better than the Strip.

That's all for this journey across the country! I have learned that, although I very much love my kitten, I think the trip would've been full of some more epic adventures had she not been in the mix. But, at least we're allowed to have her at my new apartment and with that she is basking in the glory of the sunshine through the window day after day.

Expect more to come with my new city to explore, having to fly home for a wedding in a month, and off to Disneyland in two months to celebrate Nevada Day! (Yeah, I didn't believe it existed either.)

Until next time,

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,

Carly K.

World of Warthogs

This is the video I created when I went to South Africa. Spent a lot of time hanging out with the warthogs, who are scared off more than any other animal I've seen.

If you get the chance to go to South Africa, I suggest stopping off at the Schotia Game Reserve, it's really awesome. The food is awesome, they have their own garden where the grow most of the vegetables they feed us. On special nights you get impala or some other deer species straight from the reserve.

Enjoy my video!

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

Date at a Wildlife Park

My fiance and I went to the Living Treasures Animal Park in New Castle, PA for a date today. It was surprising worth the money of $10 a piece. I think we were expecting something of a children's zoo, which I guess it was, but you can feed pretty much every animal that is there except for the big cats.

The adventure starts off viewing some flamingos, cranes, and a sloth. Then it's off to the races to feed as many animals as possible.

My fiance, Chris, feeding some baby reindeer

The alligator pond had food that you could toss to them, these suckers are quick on the jump!

Feeding a baby zebra!

The cute small aviary is full of parakeets and cockatiels that you can feed

Don't be afraid to pet the kangaroos, they love a good scratch; they also don't mind being fed by hand

Although you can't feed the leapord, this guy was cute and really fun to watch

Like I said, definitely a nice deal for this small place. They also sell giant buckets of feed and bags of carrots for $3.50 to feed the animals. One bucket of feed lasted my fiance and I through the entire park, plus some spare quarters for feed for the alligators and a kudamundi -- which was awesome since I've never seen one before.

The park also has buffalo, a big lion, giraffes, emus, ostriches, muntjac deer, and so much more that serve to entertain the child inside, or real children.

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

Filming in South Africa

Big Mama

Today I started planning my documentary; what animal I wanted my documentary to be on, problems the animal could face, problems I could face while filming, the cutaways I could get while filming so I could make the story more dramatic while in the editing room. Filming documentaries is almost like shooting a fictional film, you work with real subjects but the editing is what makes the story real.

I chose to work with warthogs and lions to create a television trailer for a new documentary series I made up called World of Warthogs, based off of Meerkat Manor. I created the story of big head honcho Boris in charge of keeping his clan, the Tuskers, safe from his outcast brother Scar with his War-Thugs and bigger threats like lions. Other characters are introduced in the trailer which I will post soon! 

I realized that one of the worst things about working with warthogs is that they are incredibly skiddish and will run away and almost any movement. I learned a lot of patience while working with these creatures and recommend anyone that ever does a documentary to have much more patience than I do to even attempt to work with these awesome animals. The one neat thing, though, is that even though Big Mama is super protective, I got to know her and the twins quite well and was able to get within ten to fifteen feet of them and sit with them for long periods of time and record them. I think Big Mama was able to sense that I was not as threatening as some other creatures, considering I wasn't threatening at all. I really grew to love my warthog 

The twins, Gerdy and Forrest

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

Schotia Wildlife Reserve, South Africa

Today was the arrival at the Schotia Wildlife Reserve in South Africa where I will be spending ten days of spending time with and filming the wildlife to make my documentary short.

Bush Camp at Schotia Game Reserve, South Africa

Guests are allowed to stay here in a small hotel like area in the safe zone. There are different building with different amenities included, I don't really know any of them because I got to stay at Bush Camp. Literally, two cabins in a bush. I was told that at first they didn't have the bush labeled,  and it looked like every other bush on the reserve so the interns previously would always get lost trying to find it. I definitely appreciated the sign.

Giraffe interrupted from eating

Bush Camp is in the 'safe zone' of the reserve where the animals that roam free are not ones that can readily eat you. When I wake up, outside my door I get to see rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest, zebras, and more.

The fence that crosses into the 'danger zone' is not too far from Bush Camp. There are things like jackals, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, lions, and more. The pride has a total of nine lions, three females and five males. The big daddy male is easy to hear roaring during the night, that was probably one of the coolest things to hear in the wild.

Crocodile ready for action!

Upon arrival, we were informed that a hyena had broken into the reserve, probably using a warthog hole underneath the fence since warthogs tend to dig and escape in and out. They only see it once and a while, but with nine lions to contend with for feeding purposes, I don't think I'd stick around too much if I were a hyena myself.

The highlight of the first night was being stalked and surrounded by the nine lions. The five of us were in an open land rover with our guide, while other tourists have closed land rovers. So the young males and especially the young female that was born without an ear found us especially entertaining and worth pursuing. The first time we saw the lions they came up to our land rover quite inquisitive but Leandi, our guide, revved the engine which seemed to scare them off a little bit. 

Afternoon snooze after catching and eating an impala

The second time we saw them, though, they were much more daring and we actually got surrounded by five or six of the young lions wanting to 'play.' The young female without an ear took a small leap at the car, but not enough to get onto it or get any of us. It was quite terrifying and excited all at once, but since I didn't die it makes for one great story. Leandi didn't stick around or rev the engine after that, she just slammed down the gas out of there. It was exhilarating even more so that the pride continue to follow us in a stalking matter until we were out of the danger zone for the night. It was crazy! If you go to South Africa and want to stay somewhere awesome with game drives and such, I definitely suggest staying at the Schotia Game Reserve.

Sunset at Schotia

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

Jukani, Wildlife Sanctuary

Spent the day earlier in the week at Jukani, a wildlife sanctuary in Mossell Bay, with everything from white tigers, white lions, Siberian tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars, panthers, caracals, and other animals like jackals and African wild dogs.

Snoozing caracal

I have seen most of these animals at zoos before, but I have never seen a jackal before and never seen nor heard of a caracal which is almost a small bobcat without the fancy markings.

The white tigers and lions were absolutely stunning. I have never heard of a white lion before, because I guess they are so highly hunted for their coats that they are very endangered. I was thankful for the opportunity to be able to see these animals up close.

Male lion

Female white lion, so beautiful

White tiger

Pacing cheetah

Curious tiger, sniffing at the fence

I wish I had more to say about this place but some things are really harder to put into words than others. I can just hope that the pictures I shared can help get the breathtaking feeling I felt across to you guys.

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

"Dreams do come true in New Orleans!"

Tiana knew what was up in The Princess and the Frog. Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel to the beautiful city of New Orleans, Louisiana to volunteer for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Youth Gathering. The ELCA Youth Gathering has occurred every three years since 1988, taking place in large cities around the nation such as Detroit, San Antonio, Denver, and more. I went to the gathering in 2006 in San Antonio, Texas as a participant. That will be a blast from the past blog post for another time, though.

These gatherings bring together thousands of youth from around the nation to come together and make a difference. The past two gatherings, 2009 and 2012, have been hosted in New Orleans due to the tragic occurrence of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. High school students, ages 15-18, come to these gathering to volunteer their time to help the community while indulging in a new culture, meeting amazing new people, and finding spiritual guidance.

Powdered-sugar perfection.

As a hotel life volunteer, I got to send the groups off in the mornings and welcome them back in the evenings, having most of my days free to enjoy the New Orleans culture for myself.

The beauty of NOLA (how the locals pronounce it) is almost too breathtaking to be able to describe. There is a constant hum of music, whether playing on the radio from a shop or from the very talented street performers like the jazz musicians that often jam in front of the Cafe Du Monde. This famous cafe is located in the French Quarter and it is almost a requirement to stop for coffee and beignets during your visit to NOLA. If you're not a morning person, don't worry because they are open 24/7.

I also highly suggest walking down the Riverwalk, which provides beautiful scenery along the Mississippi Riverfront, which lines up perfectly with the French Market. In the morning you can take a stroll down Decatur Street, the main street that runs through the French Quarter, and come back on the Riverwalk in the afternoon. 

Also located on the riverfront is the Riverwalk mall, which also has a small Cafe Du Monde, and is great for all of your tourist needs; I bought my parents a back scratcher made with alligator teeth, and myself an alligator tooth necklace. 

Parrots at The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is also located on the Riverwalk. The aquarium is beautiful and abundant with not only sea life, but some reptiles and birds as well. Any aquatic lover would enjoy the sharks, stingrays, and the feeling like you're on a rain-forest adventure.

Since I was there for a church event, and was not twenty-one at the time, I will have to go back to experience Bourbon Street. I hear it gets a bit crazy during Mardi Gras season, but when we walked down the street it just seemed like a party all day, every day if you're around, "forget about all your cares in the world" sort of deal. Next time I am there, I will be sure to go back to Bourbon Street.

There is always more to be said when speaking about a city full of beautiful scenery and the friendliest people in the world. I've never felt more welcome anywhere in my twenty-one years of living than I felt when I went to New Orleans. I actually never had an overwhelming pull to visit this city in the first place, but I am glad that I did and it will forever be in my top cities.

The St. Louis Cathedral overlooking Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.

"To infinity and beyond."

Hey there and welcome to my Blog. As a short introduction, my name is Carly K. I am a screenwriter and a poet, and a self-proclaimed world class traveler. This Blog is for my writing benefit and as well as your entertainment to follow me on my adventures across the city, across the state, across the country, and across the world. "To infinity and beyond," classic Toy Story moment to teach you that there is always more to life outside of the toy chest.

I grew up a dreamer and living life as a constant adventure through my literal physical travels as well as adventure through reading, writing, and watching films and television.

I am starting this after I've already been on several adventures and so will write about those as well as keep you up to date on my current adventures. At the age of twenty-one I have already traveled to two continents (make that three in less than a month), seven countries, and twelve states. Hope you get interested in my new Blog and get inspired to seek excitement.

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.