Memories of France: Hell Hole High

7 years ago, I participated in a summer study abroad program in Lyon, France. This happened during my fabulous college days at the University of Saint Thomas. I was the ripe age of 24, thought I knew EVERYTHING, of course, because well I did. This trip was a huge undertaking for me, my family, and all those around me. You see I was only 2 years out from being hospital bound from my illness, I still was receiving IV treatments on a regular basis, and every day was a chance I took, a risk of possibly not making a full 24 hours without a relapse. But I knew EVERYTHING, and knew I would be just fine, despite the mini heart attacks I gave my parents and doctors while planning this adventure to leave off on my own and go live in France for the summer. I was DONE letting that stupid disease run my life, and so I jumped in the drivers seat and took off.

The whole group being Welcomed by the Lyon officials

Traveling abroad was a wonderful and enlightening experience for me. I learned so much about other cultures and more importantly about myself. I met some wonderful people, whom otherwise may have not entered my life, had I not taken the chance and jumped on that jet plane to France. I buddied up with a fabulous woman while in France who I will call B. We did not know each other before taking this trip to France, but quickly developed a life long friendship that not only carried us through the trenches of Europe, scared to death about having to spend a night in the park, or getting kicked out of a pub by a seniors group, or getting dumped off at a train station even the Little engine that could would be scared of, but rather a friendship that can outlast marriages, births of children, life accomplishments and Fat Tush's! Yep that is friendship my friends!

Those bushes behind me were briefly going to be my "blanket" for the night, you would think I might not have such a smile on my face right?

Recently I was looking through some memorabilia in hopes of possibly starting that scrapbook from my travels through Europe and France, might i remind you that this was 7 years ago and these goodies are still "waiting" to be scrapped! Ooops. I came across several of the emails that I sent home from France during my stay. The school that we stayed at was a Lycee, and I will define in short form that this means high school age children, students, attending classes here where we early and mid 20's age college folks were staying. French versus American. The tension was fabulous!

Classic pose everyone has if they visit Paris

While looking through memories recently, I cam across this email I sent home to all my friends and family during my stay abroad. I pissed all over myself while reading it. I remembered exactly how I felt when it was going down and then when I took the mtime to share it with my family and friends. I had a sort of go with the flow vibe rocking while living in France. Nothing I planned turned out to be how I thought it would be, or how it would go down. So I stopped planning anything and just went with life as it came at me. This took me on so many adventures in Europe that I might not otherwise have never encountered. Some of it lovely some of it awful, but all of it amazing and an experience I would never change! Enjoy this funny first hand tale of one of my weekends in France, summer of 2003, completely unedited and here in the exact manner my friends and family received!

"so as you know i stayed in Lyon this weekend. well most of the students left, in fact they are still not back today Tuesday because of the strike. trains are not running. 3 of the girls jumped on the back of a train and rode on the outside so they could get back to class. we had no idea where the other students were until today because we are not allowed to use phones or computers over the weekend...which brings me to my story. we were told it was no problem to stay here at the dorms over the weekends. well apparently that was another big fat lie. we went off on a fantastic shopping spree on Saturday like most women would enjoy. after walking up the gigantic hill which i have now learned is a mountain and the wrestling with the automatic gate which is not automatic we finally enter the courtyard of our hell hole high school. all we could think of was the wonderful hard mattress at the top of the 8 flights of stairs and the wonderful no air conditioning. upon arrival we learned that the school decided they wanted to lock all the doors in the building and let us sleep in the stairwell. now you know that went over real well with 3 women who had just returned from a day of shopping and mountain climbing {with our packages of course} boy we were pissed so we did the following"

1. went to the phone booth and promptly called the states looking for the phone number to this hell hole facility because of course the phone numbers were up the 8 flights of stairs lounging in our no air conditioned rooms behind locked doors. that failed

2. went to the bar we frequent and said we need help, tried to speak french that was funny. lady tried to help us by calling information and getting phone numbers of the school, unfortunately we don't know the last names of anyone here. not only that but the school was deserted, who were we going to call we don't even know if phones exist on campus because we are forbidden to use them. stupid Americans cant use anything those fat asses who are always in line first at meals and eat like pigs. oh sorry when there is actually meals and that's a whole other story. again this attempt failed

3. we called an American student we met at a restaurant and left a frantic message on her answering machine telling her we were not freaks but we wanted to invade her home use her free toilet and sleep at her place. we then encountered the problem of not being able to give her a return phone number because us stupid Americans cant have access to the phone or computer. this attempt failed as well

4. ate a block o cheese ( Ah let me please insert here that this was a daily ritual for me while in France)

5. found a nun this attempt worked

the 350 16 year olds have returned today. you see they were not here yesterday and we were grateful. what we did not know was that yesterday was a holiday. the school remained closed no food for us fat Americans. also town was closed. we are still not sure what holiday we just encountered.the hours are bizarre here. you can only eat from 12p to 1p for lunch the stores and restaurants close from 2 to 6, you can only order something to drink until 715pm when the gate opens and dinner starts and runs to 8pm. this is not at the school this is in town. hours never stay the same either. people here just decided when they want to do something at any given point screw everyone else.

so i hope you enjoyed hearing about my weekend! having a blast in France wish you were here! you could join in the journey up the mountain!!!! hahhahahahahahaha"

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

As you know NBC has taken over my Dream Travel in and RV weekly post for a while. They have brought to our living rooms my dream come true in their new reality show. So while this show is airing I will take a brief break from my own personal virtual RV tour of offbeat America and recap this show. How fabulous is that! Pink Haired Momma reviews her dream vacation from the comfort of her Hot pink couch!!
Did you watch the pilot of the new RV show The Great American Road trip? What did you think? Let me know you honest thoughts. If you missed it you can view it by clicking the link below:

Pilot Episode

So basically 7 families gathered together and were each given keys their own RV and told Have fun you will traveling the country with your family in this tin can. The show revolves around the 7 families competing with each other against the clock and through family involved challenges. Some challenges result in cool prizes while others are "end of the road" challenges that send one RV rolling the family back to their home and out of the competition. The pilot episode introduced each family and gave us a glimpse into their personalities of the families as a whole as well as some insight into the personalities of each individual family member. The premise of the show and the game were revealed in the pilot in the classic nifty reality show fashion and we were able to see that the outcome will provide one family the title of ultimate winner and they will receive the grand prize of $100,000 if they complete all the challenges and cross the country ahead of the other families. Pretty basic show. Honestly nothing to be too excited about thus far. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, but am I am taking my Pink Haired Momma optimistic attitude and hoping for the best with the next show on Tuesday at 8/7pm central on NBC.

Let's talk about the families. We have 7 families each with 4 members. The ages vary but they are all of competitive ages and skills.

The Coote Family: To me this family seems to be your average American family. Mom and dad both work their tails off to provide a wonderful life for their children. Both kids are spoiled but for the most part are well mannered, at least so far. Jake is a riot. He is such a ham and cracks me up. I adore his scratchy voice and think it just adds fabulousness to his personality. They seem to work well together as a family and they won the first challenge. Reward being a fabulous dinner over the Mississippi river. Way to go Fantastic four!!

The DiSalvatore Family: Wow. What a tough Mom we have here. Dad is a classic 80's dude who does NOTHING to help the family. Well he does drive the RV but Mom has to start it for him because he can not figure it out. Ummm that is a bit scary!! I do have to admit I was cracking up when the Dad was hunting for a place to "lounge" while Mom was cleaning the poop out of the RV! Classic! As a mom and wife to be I know that this is pretty much a common event! LOL I love that this family is from Yonkers, New york. I think it is fitting because this crazy dad is borderline BONKERS!!

The Favery Family: I like the attitude of this family. To me they really represent the current American family right now. They struggle each month to make ends meet but still want to give the world to their kids. This RV vacation is something they would not be able to normally embark upon, so this Reality show is providing a much needed vacation to this hardworking family as well as allowing the parents to show their children the world they would not ordinarily be able to show them.

The Katzenberg Family: This is your typical blended family. Mom meets dad and falls in love. Big rock appears and a marriage ensues. Followed by boy and girl kids of each parent becoming new brother and sister during teenage years. They bicker with one another but for the most part get along. This seems like a very high maintenance family and I would not guess that an RV would be their normal type of vacation. Unfortunately we will not be getting to know this family in more depth because they were eliminated and sent rolling home at the first "end of the road" challenge.

The Montgomery Family: I really didn't get a feel for this family. They had some camera time but for the most part seem to be a quiet family and just average during the competitions. I am hoping to get to see more into their personalities during future shows. What I did pick up on is a well rounded family who are religious in nature and seem to care deeply for one another.

The Pollard Family: These guys crack me up. They are so country and just have a fabulous attitude. This is a family I would love to hang with and drink a cold beer while singing around a campfire. They have a fabulous spunk and work really hard during the competitions. I also thought that Anslie's pink gun was hysterical!

The Rico Family: Another family I didn't really get a feel for during this first show. They had some camera time but nothing about their personalities really struck me. I sure am hoping to learn more about them in the upcoming episodes, I mean they are from my TOWN so they have to be fabulous!

The pilot is complete. We now have met the various families and have gained knowledge of how the game and show will play out. I am hoping that episode 2 sparks a little more excitement in me. I totally love the concept and I am so looking forward to seeing what Mr. DiSalvatore has in store for the RV voyage!

Who was your favorite family and why? What did you think of the challenges?

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

You all know that every week I write about some off the beaten path that I have found and would love to visit in my RV. Funny thing is, we do not have an RV. I have been trying for some time now and will continue to try and persuade Hubbs-to-be that we need to rent out our house, buy an RV and travel the country. So far we are still tucked in tight in our nice little suburban neighborhood with no RV in sight. I secretly hope that Hubbs-to-be will find my writings so exciting that he may give in to my crazy Pink Haired plans! Since this totally fabulous idea of mine has been squashed, I write each week about our virtual adventures with the sincere hope that someday in the future we will in fact load up my Pink Haired Family RV and head out on the open road.

You can imagine my excitement when a friend of mine brought to my attention that there is a brand new reality show starting this week on Tuesday night on NBC! It is called The Great American Road Trip! It is 7 families living in RV's and traveling the country!

HELLO!!!

MY DREAM!!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

WHY OF WHY DID I NOT FIND THIS SOONER!!!!

I SO WOULD HAVE SIGNED US UP!!!

So tune in to NBC on Tuesday nights 8/7central to see my dream travel unfold for 7 lucky families. Then check back here on Sundays for my Dream Travel post. While this show is on, I will definitely have to recap it! I am so excited!

Here is a totally cool pic of the cast!!

I AM SOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

Pink Haired Momma rounds the bend and eases the virtual RV into its resting spot at the Red Barn RV Park. This wonderful RV resting ground boasts that "you will always feel at home no matter what universe you call home". Now you might consider that an odd expression but those who reside in this weeks Dream Travel destination do not. We are in the totally fabulous and creepy Roswell, New Mexico.

Since it is Father's Day, Pink Haired Momma turned over the navigation reigns and allowed Hubbs-to-be to choose where in this vast county he would like to visit. Not an easy task for the Pink Haired Momma, but since it is Father's Day, I suppose he can make this decision. Hubbs-to-be steered the Pink Haired Momma Family RV in the direction Roswell where the "incident" occurred. Interesting pick I must say. But that is why I love Hubbs-to-be so incredibly so. You never know what he might bring to the table.

With the confirmed location from hubbs-to-be, The Pink Haired Momma Family loaded up the virtual RV and headed on out on the virtual open road in hopes of finding an alien encounter. We enticed Baby DIVA with stories of little green men. Baby DIVA chewed happily on her little green frog toy as we chatted all the virtual way to Roswell, New Mexico while relaxing in her mobile crib. Although our virtual visit is happening here in late June, I would like to inform everyone that the anniversary of the incident is the first week of July and is celebrated with the Roswalien experience. We will not be attending this experience on this trip but look forward to it in future years. Check it out.

We arrive virtually in Roswell, New Mexico and get our home on wheels parked and comfortable for the duration. Then it is off we go to check out the famous area 51. Below you can view a map of the area and see that the actual are where the incident occurred is quite small.

After virtually viewing Area 51 and all the glory that a patch of land can offer we head off to UFO museum for some more entertainment and learning adventures.

Quite and interesting adventure hunting aliens. And since there are no real sightings of green men, just sightings of some similarly crazy folks like ourselves that our dressed up in little green men costumes; we succumb to the touristy attractions of the area. Virtually amusing! We head back to our RV dreaming still of catching a glimpse of aliens. Again since nothing of the sort has occurred, Pink Haired Momma has come to the rescue and brought along with us to travel in the house on wheels this fabulous treasure of a memory that will forever be able to hold Pink Haired Momma's Martini glass. Sighting confirmed!

Pink Haired Momma Approved

Wanna know more??
Witness to Roswell
Dreamland
Alien Agenda

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

You may have noticed that last Sunday there was no Dream Travel post. Well our virtual RV had some routine maintenance to attend to back in our virtual home town of Houston, Texas. While we attended a few family graduation parties and baby showers over the weekend, our Virtual RV was having all of its bells and whistles checked and polished. Now the RV is reading to Rock and Roll again.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling!

Pink Haired Momma, Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA are back on the virtual open road heading out to discover all the cool off the beaten path places that their virtual RV will take them!! Woohoo!!

And here we go...

This week we are visiting a totally fabulous "green" living subdivision about 13 miles outside of Taos, New Mexico. This Pink Haired Momma has really been engaging herself and her mind in a wealth of information about living more earth conscious and healthy. During these new discoveries I came across this totally fabulous off the grid community. And of course I am virtually dragging the Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA along for the ride. they think I am quite looney but sure do love my Pink Haired craziness and will virtually go where not other hubbs-to-be, Baby DIVA and Pink Haired Momma have gone before, just to make me happy! Gotta love my family!

The fabulous community/subdivision is known at the Greater World. It is completely self sustainable. Not only is this community off the grid, and by this I mean no water lines, no sewer lines, no electrical lines, and no gas lines, but the total green homes are absolutely beautiful. In more ways than one. Beautiful for the environment and beautiful for the eyes to see!

The homes that are part of this community are commonly known as Earthships. What is an Earthship? An earthship, as I understand it, is a structure made of natural and recycled product that relies on solar energies to function. Totally awesome if you ask me. The Earthships in this area are literally designed and made from tires, aluminum cans and soil. Fantabulous guys! Simply Fantabulous! Environmentally friendly and gorgeous!

Check out the views of the patio and kitchen of one Earthships!

This is such a wonderful concept. Living green in a modern passionate way while preserving the earth but still providing beauty to the beholder of each home. It is the best of both worlds. I love it!

Now of course rolling into this wonderful town in a fabulous gas guzzling virtual RV is just too dang tacky. So we virtually parked down the street out of the way and rode our bikes into town!

TeeHee!

Wanna know more?
How to build your own Earthship
Easy Green Living
Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style

Pink Haired Momma Approved!

My personal thoughts on Pull Over DIVA response

Although the response is welcomed and I am happy that my voice was in fact heard, I feel it does not get me any further to an answer to my concerns. The problem is still apparent. I do not want to purposely anger the police officer if I take my time in exiting the freeway to protect my child which can result in the officers discretion as to how to handle me. I have seen far to many incidences where an officers "discretion" was used and such discretion was used to taser a traffic stop citizen or arrest them for an unjust reason (usually later deemed unjust by the court system). I also have taken a slight defense to the "follow all the traffic laws" statement in this email. I find that this is implying that I the Pink Haired Momma would be "guilty" of the offense if a police officer has pulled me over. However it is my understanding that I have the right as a citizen to go through the legal system and appear before a judge and my peers before the guilt is associated with me, if in fact I am truly guilty of said citation. I also would like to note that an officer is human and can make issue citations when no citations would be necessary, again to be decided in a court of law. Just my thoughts in response to this email.

Response to Pull Over Baby DIVA

A few days ago I posted a concerning question that I posed to various transportation agencies around Texas regarding the safety of my child during a traffic stop by police. I promised you, the reader, I would update you as responses were received and given to me the Pink Haired Momma. I received the first response yesterday from the Texas Department of Transportation. Although the response is welcomed and I am happy that my voice was in fact heard, I feel it does not get me any further to an answer to my concerns. I would like to hear what your thoughts are on this concern as well as the response I received from the Texas Department of Transportation. As to not taint your own individual thoughts I will wait and post my personal response at a later time.



Here is a copy of email received:



Ms. (Pink Haired Momma),
There are no state statutes that cover the scenario you provided. When stopped by an emergency vehicle, drivers are required to pull to the right and stop. Common sense yields that the location of the stop should be in a safe area. Many agencies conduct traffic stops on freeways on the shoulder. However, I’m sure those officers would prefer to be in a safer location during the stop. As long as the nearest exit is used and you make your intentions to the officer as clear as possible as you’ve suggested, I believe you will be ok. It is up to the discretion of each officer to decide if the driver is attempting to evade arrest or attempting to find a safe place to stop.

Another suggestion would be to obey all of the traffic laws and, therefore, never provide an opportunity to placed in this situation.

I wish you safe travels for you and your child.

Texas Highway Patrol
Austin

Pull Over Baby DIVA?

Recently I was driving along the freeway when My Pink Haired brain poofed an incredible thought. “What if I get pulled over by a cop while Baby DIVA is in the car?” I do not feel comfortable pulling off to the side of the freeway and parking. There are too many crazy not attention paying freaks who won’t put down their blackberry and are trying to twitter about the traffic that they just might slam in to my car and injure my child.

NO THANK YOU!!!

Recently here In Houston we have experienced a horrible accident on the freeway system that not only took the life of 2 individuals it also injured a police officer. What you ask happened? Well the deceased individuals had their cars parked on the shoulder as well as the officer who was injured. Another car did in fact slam in to them and it resulted in a catastrophic nightmare. These kinds of accidents, although they seem rare, do happen. I am not willing to take any chance with my daughter’s life. Shouldn't’t a citizen be able to take a few extra moments to remove themselves from harm’s way?

I went to my parents, who lucky for me, just happen to be traffic attorney's, and asked them about this situation. I questioned them with the following: I am concerned that if I am being pulled over by a police officer on the freeway and I turn on my flashers and carefully and safely try and exit the freeway and proceed to a safe out of danger place to pull my car over, that I am in turn just going to anger the police officer to the point where he gives further citations. Is there a proper protocol for this matter and if so how do I handle this scenario? How do I properly alert the officer that I am going to comply with his request to pull over, however I am choosing to do so in a safe manner to protect the safety of my child who is in the car?

You may think that a police officer would not be angered by such scenario; I assure you that you are wrong. If a police officer has to follow you for unknown reasons he or she is most likely not going to be happy. And who could blame him? If the officer has no idea what is going on in your vehicle, he has only been trained to expect the worst.

Mom and Pop alerted me to that fact that we do not have a protocol for such scenario. In fact there are not any laws or legislation in regards to the safety of the passengers in the car or how to exit properly if you have an infant or children in the car. There is just a law or understanding that you pull over to the right side as quickly and safely as possible.

HMMMM! Interesting! I pondered this for a moment.

Then I decided to take it upon myself to contact my state representatives, John Coryn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Houston Police Chief, and the Texas Department of Public Safety in regards to this matter. I am curious if this has ever been addressed. I am also hoping that by raising and proposing this question officers can be alerted to this concern parents may have about being pulled over for citations while driving on the freeway system.

I propose that officers be aware that cars that carry a “Baby on Board” sticker may need to take a few extra moments in getting off the freeway before the citation process begins. By simply switching the flasher lights on coupled with the “Baby on Board” sign should generate enough warning to the officer that a citizen is in fact following the requested act that the area of concern should be diminished. I hope that open communication on this matter between the local police and the citizens can draw a conclusion that the child’s safety is of concern and we can work together to try and do what we can to prevent as many tragedies as possible.

I am currently waiting on response from the State Representatives, Houston Police Chief and the Texas Department of Public Safety. I will update you to their responses upon receipt.

What are you thoughts on this matter?

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

Last week found Pink Haired Momma, Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA sharing a little funky fun in a European inspired Dream Travel in an RV. We packed our virtual mansion on wheels and rolled off down the road to see the fabulously chic Eiffel Tower, American...well Texan style. We had a fun and fabulous virtual experience checking out the tower wearing nothing other than a beautiful gigantic red Cowgirl hat!

Building on this European influence of our American Dream Travel in and RV from last week, this week the Pink Haired Momma is leading her family to a totally cool European...well English inspired novelty found right here in the greatest place...TEXAS!!!! Virtually only of course...for NOW!!


Rolling Rolling Rolling...European inspired right here in Kerrville, Texas!



Recognize this awesome stone carving? Well just in case you do not, this is Stonehenge...Texas Style; known to those who have stumbled upon this wonder in the rolling hills of Texas as Stonehenge II!! The original can be found in England, however those of us who travel in an RV here in America have a little trouble seeing some of those European historical places. Something to do with RV's and oceans, you know they just don't quite mesh!!

Back to Stonehenge!! This place is a riot. A gentleman by the name of Al Sheppard was delighted one year to receive for his birthday a giant rock. Oh goodie you must be thinking. A ROCK!!!!
I know I would have smiled that sarcastic Pink Haired Momma smile and muttered some smart butt response of "Oh Thank you so much! Just what I have always wanted!", if I received a ROCK. Okay whatever!

Mr. Al Sheppard luckily, saw promise in this ROCK. Turns out the Rock was a chunk of limestone. Sheppard was inspired and began construction of a novelty he knew all passerbys would take notice of. He parlayed that one chunk of limestone into a masterpiece that draws in tourists from all over the world. He brought Stonehenge here to America and Texas nonetheless. Fabulous! Superb! Fantastic!

Great thinking man! Pure Genius!

Quite nifty to take a walk amongst the the stove carvings and construction of some many years past. Dates all the way back to The 80's ! 1989 that is. So you know it is a classic if it manifested from the 80's! Pink Haired Momma is a total fan and product of the 80's!

What a totally fabulous place to stop the RV and take a stroll!! Virtually only of course...for NOW!!

Pink Haired Momma approved!!

Dream Travel in an RV: Where would you go?

Pink Haired Momma, Hubbs-to-be, and Baby DIVA have done the unimaginable...

We have driven all the way to Paris from Houston, Texas in our RV!!

Can you believe it?

PARIS!!!!

Paris, Texas that is!

Although we are traveling virtually in our RV, this week we are focusing on a small town in our favorite state, Texas, that actually holds a great place in our heart.

Baby DIVA's, Uncle Diamond, currently resides in this chic cow town and he is polishing up his skills at school and is about to enter the career world as a full artistic educated jewelry designer!! (Side note: Uncle diamond is designing and surprising Pink Haired Momma and Hubbs-to-be with one of a kind wedding rings!! Keep a look out over the next few months for the updates and pictures of this fabulous event!)

So what is so special about this chic cow town?

In a world as vast as ours, there are so many sites to see. And yet sometimes these sites are so far away and you find yourself separated by thousands of miles of ocean, or tall mountains, and various other terrain issues. You may find yourself longing to stand before an icon in France and have the typical tourist picture snapped as you gaze lovingly at its splendor. Unfortunately the distance is too broad and your passport is expired. So instead you hop in your trusty RV, head over to Paris...Texas and grab that tourist snapshot in front of this...

Photo courtesy of Hubbs-to-be

Yes Folks, here in Paris, Texas you can find the Eiffel Tower...on Texan soil!!

And we Texans gave the Eiffel tower the most fabulous and necessary accessory...The totally rad and fabulously chic cowgirl hat!!! Throw on your boots and your designer scarf and get your picture here!!!

You must stop by here if you are in the area. It is a great place and photo op and is a nice quiet town to relax in for a bit.

Pink Haired Momma approved!

Dream Travel: In an RV. Where would you go?

We took a brief virtual cross country detour last week in order to honor the greatest day of the year:

Mother's Day!

Now we are back on track and will resume of RV trek across the country with Pink Haired Momma, Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA. When we originally left off we had visited the totally fabulous Beer Can House in Houston, Texas, Now the RV is flowing full of green friendly gas and Pink Haired Momma is at the wheel as we virtually head out along the long stretch of Highway 290 to another wonderful place in Texas, the capital to be exact, Austin. Our RV fits in superb in this crazy town. Weird Austin as we folks here in Texas refer to it. Austin is a bustling city full of an artistic crowd. It is quite the convergence. The fantastic world of the city and the excitement associated with this lifestyle, coupled with the artistic flair of eco-friendly and happy people provides this Pink Haired Momma, her Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA with an outpouring of familiarity and passion for learning what serendipitous events we may encounter.

After doing some quick research This Family decides the virtual RV tour must make a stop at the junkiest place in Austin...

The Cathedral of Junk!

This place is so captivating. Taking my virtual stroll through this man's artistic castle made my heart flutter. I now know that when the junk begins to pile up (and Hubbs-to-be is adamantly shouting "You will never use that blooming onion maker you bought on TV". again) and I just can not bear to part with that silly cup with the cute Sheera doll etched on the glass, it is okay because I can just glue it to the outside of my house and call it art! Totally Fab! I love it! No more Garage sales here! All junk to be used as "art" from now on.

Really, this place is fascinating. Vince Hanneman, the designer/artist/owner or whatnot has taken is passion for art and turned this otherwise bleak home into his personal masterpiece. Go Vince! You rock!

If you happen to be in Austin, Texas and have some time to kill, go ahead and view this novelty. You will not be disappointed. Pink Haired Momma approved!

Dream Travel: In an RV!!! Where would you go?

Dream Travel in an RV Team is off, rolling into the virtual sunset of America, riding along in our giant home on wheels. Pink Haired Momma is sitting passenger to the Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA chillaxin in her mobile crib. We virtually arrive in Oakland, California and make our way to 81st Street.

In the spirit of Mother's Day, I thought it would be a real yummy treat for my virtual Dream Travel in an RV team to embark on a journey that lands us amidst the wonderful world of white and pink frosted circus cookies. I am a new mommy and my life feels like a Circus a good majority of the time, so this certainly is fitting for this glorious day!!

I know you are imagining the delightful image of these fantastic cookies right now as you embrace the lush taste of remembrance in your thoughts and it begins to make your mouth water. But after all that illustrious imagery, can you recall the brand name of such a delicious novelty treat...


MOTHER's BAKERY
Of course!!


Here is a little background on Mother's Bakery:
Mother's was founded by a newspaper vendor in 1914 known as N.M Wheatley. Everyday Wheatley smelled the sweet aroma of homemade cookies waft by from the hands of an elderly couple as they passed his newspaper stand on their journey to sell their prized cookies. Finally one day he inquired about the cookies. Upon tasting these beloved sweets, N.M. Wheatley purchased the rights to the recipe.

The purchase of this wonderful recipe brought to the world of Mr. Wheatley nothing but sweetness. The development of his cookie company brought to him his future bride which in turn grew into his future son who would eventually grow up and take over this ingenious business. Totally fabulous outcome Mr. Wheatley. Smart move dude!!

You can imagine my shock and surprise as I researched the directions and history of our virtual visit, that I learned that Mother's has closed its doors for GOOD!!!! Gone, are those yummy little cookies and there is no more bakery for us to visit. I was utterly devastated. Some much so that I found this wonderful Memorial that I think everyone needs to purchase in order to honor the loss of such a phenomenon as the Pink and White frosted circus cookies. I even began writing a little letter to the President stating that we may need to have a day of remembrance for this beloved cookie.

However, as I continued to research more and more about this tragic loss, I found out that Kellogg's has purchased the trademarks of Mother's and is planning to reintroduce many of the favorite cookies from Mother's we all know and love. So although this week we do not have a specific destination to visit per say; we can most definitely visit the former location and origins of this masterpiece of sweet snack; and we can in the future visit the new production facility of this grand cookie.

I decided that despite not being able to virtually visit this location right now, that Mother's has a great place in our stomachs rather our hearts and deserves to be honored with a virtual visit from the Pink Haired Momma, Hubbs-to-be and Baby DIVA in the Dream Travel in an RV.

Rolling! Rolling! Rolling!