Heavenly Mountain

After work today, I decided that I needed to go on an adventure so I took a road that I have been meaning to follow for the last year or so. Today was incredibly beautiful and just perfect for a drive through the hilly countryside of Boone. I had heard about this, now abandoned, 'Buddhist temple' on top of Heavenly Mountain from a couple of friends and I vaguely knew that it was somewhere in the direction that I was traveling. Apparently, the place was/is a big compound consisting of temples, dormitories, etc. and my goal was to see it. After a couple of wrong turns and ending up at the entrance to Turtle Island (which, if you don't know what this is you should definitely research it and its founder Eustace Conway), I eventually chose the right twisting mountain road and ended up among many buildings whose style is completely foreign in Boone or the surrounding area. They, as I later discovered, are not built using Chinese architecture but rather Indian. All of them featured a kalash roof ornament as well as, a vastu style fence. This place is incredibly beautiful with some of the best mountain views around and on top of that it is just crazy to be among all of the intricate, large, and completely out of place buildings. If the apartments weren't so far away I would definitely want to live in one!!!

It turns out that this place was supposed to be a community/retreat center for believers of a certain type of Transcendental Meditation. It was created in the mid 1990s and actually became quite large--many people came and stayed and there are even giant crystals on the property that are supposed to create 'good energy'. The facility was closed when one of the property owners decided to disassociate himself with the practice and required the practitioners to leave. Who know what will happen to this incredible place--for now it will suffice to house college students!

The only camera I had with me was my Holga--so Godwilling, I will post some AWESOME pictures of the Heavenly Mountain resort as soon as the film is ready. In the meantime, check this out.


Also, Turtle Island, like I mentioned before is in the same area. It is a sort of preserve I suppose, where people come to live and work off the grid. It is an almost primitive living community where the people grow their own food, build their own houses, make everything they need, and all without most modern technology. I visited a couple of years ago and it was a very interesting experience. I recommend reading the book, 'The Last American Man' by Elizabeth Gilbert, to learn a bit more about the man behind Turtle Island.

I Like Hipster Music

I took a whirlwind 36 hour trip to D.C. and this is all I saw

It took at least 14 hours in the car to get to D.C., then an hour long commute by Metro for 5 minutes spent in the Spanish consulate. I literally walked in the building, handed over the documents and money, then left. Is it really necessary to make people do that in person???? Oh well, it is finished and hopefully in a month I will have a visa! Unfortunately, because my trip was so short, I don't have any exciting trip details. I have been to D.C. a million and a half times to visit family so I have seen most of the monuments and many museums. If you haven't done this, I HIGHLY recommend it. D.C. is a great city to visit--it is very accessible and tourist friendly (the Metro has to be the easiest mode of public transportation to use). PS: I've been invited by my Great Aunt and Uncle to go with them to Alaska in July!

As an aside, if you have the chance to go to Johnson City, TN, I wouldn't say jump at the opportunity, but it is a much cuter city than I expected. The city is extremely clean and seems like it is becoming a nice place to shop and eat. I went because Miles heard about a Cage the Elephant show so we decided to check it out. Good music doesn't often come to the Boone area so we took a mini road trip down the mountain. We found a little German restaurant to eat at called Freiberg's, I can't say that I am an authority on good/authentic German food, but I had schnitzel, sauerkraut, and red cabbage so I can't complain.

Here is where the hipster music finally comes in! In the restaurant I was on hipster alert as we kept seeing them come in and out of the building. After dinner we walked down the street to the venue, Capone's, hoping to have missed the openers (I never appreciate hearing the opening bands which is kind of unfortunate). Turns out we didn't miss them and there were two! The first one AutoVaughn was decent, but nothing to write home about, however the second band, Morning Teleportation was very good and even better, ALL of the hipsters from Freiberg's were in the band. But in all honesty I think you should watch out for Morning Teleportation, I think they could be really big and are under the wing of Modest Mouse!!! Most importantly though Cage the Elephant gave a great energetic performance and the best encore i've ever seen. I like them much better live than on the album however, both are good. Overall, it was a good trip with good food and music!!!

Time Flies

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"- John Lennon
I don't believe John Lennon has been more correct about anything!!! For the past week I feel like I haven't been able to catch my breath. Job training, cleaning, rearranging my life, and filling out forms have consumed all of my time. It is summer and I can't wait to get back to living! Tomorrow will bring me one day closer--I am making my way to Washington D.C. to apply for a visa, wish me luck and many adventures!

In the meantime, I have planted an herb garden...OK, more like some potted herbs, but one day I will have a real kitchen garden!!! I recommend doing this for summer cooking.

Rosemary, mint, and basil

My take on a margherita pizza, with fresh basil

Preparations and Paperwork

Today, out of the blue, I was invited to the lake house of a friend of a friend! It was a wonderful surprise to be able to spend the afternoon getting some sun and floating in the water. Unfortunately, I was so lazy that I didn't bring my camera. But, the fun has now come to an end because I just got home from work and must spend the evening filling out visa applications (the Spanish consulate is quite picky). On top of that, I have to go to Washington D.C. next week to personally deliver all of my forms, I better get to work!

More importantly though, I found an awesome website, http://www.dritr.com. Driftr is an online community for travelers where one can post itineraries from previous trips for other travelers and also view great hotels, restaurants, and photos in almost every destination. Check it out to get ideas for your next trip!!! My user name is ellamccoy--we can be friends!

My yard is a jungle of dandelions--Happy Summer!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Yesterday was my last day of exams--it is now officially summer time!!! To celebrate, I went to 'Taco Tuesday' with a great bunch of girls and had some excellent tacos. To continue the celebration, we took advantage of the beautiful weather by laying out in our skivvies, eating Popsicles, and making earrings. I had never made jewelry before, but with the guidance of my teacher Katie I made my first pair of earrings (which, in my opinion, are a masterpiece).

Anna for comic relief!

Cat in pursuit of the right beads!

Always smiling--Abby!

Keep Track Of Your Travels

I found a cool site that allows you to chart the places that you have been to! It's a modern spin on the old map and pushpin. Check it out and chart your travels.
I have some work to do since I have only seen 3.5% of the world's countries

visited 8 states (3.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Plus the entire Western portion of the U.S.

visited 21 states (42%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Ends Are Transitions Into Beginings

I am beginning this blog in the midst of, well in the midst of everything actually! I wanted to create a blog in order to document my semester in Spain however, while procrastinating studying for my very last exam, I have begun early (17 weeks, 2976 hours, 178,560 seconds early to be exact!) With all the preparation that I have had to do already, it is hard for me to believe that Spain is still four months away! In the mean time, I need to finish my last semester in Boone, complete job training, fill out a mountain of paperwork, and find someone to sublease my house. Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

I did however discover "The Four Essential Travel Phrases" that all travelers should know and upon discovering them I realized that despite my five semesters of Spanish, I don't know that I can translate them! Clearly I have my work cut out for me--
1) Where is my room?
2) Where is the beach?
3) Where is the bar?
4) Don't touch me there!
I don't know that all of these are essential. What about "where is the bathroom" and "how do I get there"????

Oh well, another time! Back to studying for me!