Jet, Set, GO!

Alright, I hate to admit it, but I have been terrible at keeping up with blogging. Settling

into a new job that takes me to a different location every single week has been
overwhelming and exciting to get used to! But now that I have adapted to a “Jet, Set, Go” lifestyle, I am going to do my best to consistently share my experiences!

Since I haven’t posted in a while, I have decided to do a bit of a summary of the several locations that I’ve been. So far, I have visited cities in 14 states since September, so here goes nothing:

Tempe and Sedona, Arizona

The four weeks I worked in Tempe were usually filled with 10-12 hours of daily managerial training. Because we worked so hard, my partner and I decided that our infrequent days off needed to be spent well.

One day, thanks to a college friend who traded the Iowa cold for the sunny Arizona, insisting on us exploring the nearby vineyards, I got to sip a variety of really delicious local wines from Arizona! Yes way rosé all the live long day.

Then, after a particularly long week, my partner, Austin, and I laced up our gym shoes and decided to drive the two hours to Sedona to hike in a lesser known state park, home to Wet Beaver Creek. There was a swimming hole somewhere in the park, so we were determined to find it cause it was HOT.

Well, six miles turned into ten miles, which turned into us apparently getting off the trail, which did eventually lead to a swimming hole, which led to us having to jog down a mountain for 5 miles because the sun was setting, which miraculously did NOT lead to any mountain lion OR tarantula spottings. All of this lead to a well deserved burger at the end of the day.

Anyways, here are a couple more photos of that gorgeous adventure:

Then, somehow my schedule lined up for this to happen:

Then I officially finished training and started my adventures on the road!

My first stop was in Alton, IL which once was home to the tallest man in the world at 8’11”: Robert Wadlow. After that I headed northwest to Sioux Falls, SD, which I think is a very cool and underrated town. Definitely worth checking out if you are driving through. After a pit stop at Iowa State (because what even is graduation?) I spent the week working in Des Moines, and then got a nice break for Thanksgiving. Back to work for me meant a trip to Fontana, CA though, so it was nice a sunny.

Then came one of my favorite weeks. I flew into Nashville where my new partner picked me up and the two of us drove through the beautiful Smokey Mountains to Chattanooga, TN!

In Tennessee, I feasted on some delicious shrimp and grits, ate my way through my first visit to Waffle House, and then we closed the week out with this gorgeous view from Lookout Mountain, just over the city:

From Tennessee, I flew straight to my next destination: Washington D.C., which allowed me to spend the weekend with some friends from Iowa State! Since I had gotten the grand tour before (or as grand of a tour that one can get when they go on their middle school’s 8th grade trip), this time I was treated to an insider tour full of great restaurants, breweries, and personally tailored history lessons from my wonderful hosts. Expect a separate post on the entertainments of D.C.

Then Christmas break was mercifully upon us, and I got to stay in one place for a little while…well, after a trip to New York! But that also calls for it’s own blog post.

Post Christmas brought me and 11 inches of snow to the Denver, CO area. This made for a very memorable commute to work and some explicit words muttered under our breath as my partner and I tried to clear off the car at 6am…without an ice scraper. We looked forward to the following week of Visalia, CA and sunny weather once again. But even sunnier? Tallahassee, FL and a lot of fresh seafood and 80 degree weather! That weather made working in frigid Racine, WI a very bitter experience…Thank god it was followed with two weeks in Texas split between Houston and Dallas!

We were just outside of Houston the week before the Superbowl, which brought a lot of energy to the city, but also a lot of traffic and much less parking. So unfortunately I wasn’t able to celebrate too well,  but luckily got a good taste of Texas while spending the weekend in Dallas! Literally a “taste” of Texas because I took a food tour! But, alas, that calls for yet another separate post.

As I write this, I am in Des Moines, IA (back for a visit with friends and family at Iowa State this weekend!) and just finished a week in Baltimore, MD for the first time! The seafood was fantastic and the scenery right down on the harbor, home to old brick row houses and cobblestone streets was just as lovely! I plan to be much more active with La Americana as the year continues and so do my travels, so stay tuned!

If you liked this post, please “follow” La Americana for updates right when I post!