Episode 49 - Sightseeing Across 5 American States

Big sights drew us in, but the small moments did the heavy lifting. Across seven weeks we threaded a tight Tokyo layover, San Francisco’s storied streets, the bright blur of Las Vegas, sweeping Texas plains and the deep hush of New Mexico caverns, collecting memories and lessons that linger. 

From Alcatraz after dark and the Golden Gate’s twin vantage points to a misty walk in Muir Woods and a driverless Waymo ride, we balanced iconic landmarks with intentional pacing and small-group tours that kept our nervous systems calm and our curiosity high.

In Nevada, the sensory crush of F1 weekend forced honest boundaries. We found calm by day and wonder at night with Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson One, then reset in the desert at Seven Magic Mountains, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon’s humbling edge. 

Texas brought belonging and breadth, a veteran’s plaque on a wall of remembrance, the charm of prairie dogs & museum hits and misses and a behind-the-scenes tour of Texas Tech’s Jones Stadium that showcased the scale and pride of college sport. We slowed right down in Ransom Canyon, off-roading with family and watching the lake catch sunset, then chased texture with day trips through oil country, Route 66 nostalgia in Amarillo and spray cans at Cadillac Ranch. Waco’s Magnolia delivered a design-lover’s dream, balanced by the Texas Ranger Museum, Topgolf laughs and a Dr Pepper history fix.

Not everything went to plan. A delayed domestic flight, non-linked bookings, and limited insurance coverage cost us $5,000 and a 36-hour slog home. The takeaways are practical and clear, book true connecting flights on one record, read your insurance fine print and assume delays. Yet the trip still gave us what we needed, gratitude, resilience and the reminder that meaning often shows up between the big moments. 

If you’re planning a long-haul adventure, you’ll walk away with smarter travel tactics and a fresh lens for finding joy on the road. If this story resonated, follow the show, leave a quick review and share it with a friend who loves purposeful travel. Tell us your best travel hack or small moment that changed a trip, we’d love to hear it.

Transcript

Welcome And Purpose

Trudie Marie 0:00

Want a behind the scenes look at my recent trip across two countries and five American states? I'm going to share the highs, the lows, the unexpected lessons along the way. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it helped me and my hubby cross off bucket list dreams while also reminding me of the power of gratitude, resilience, and staying present in the small moments. This is the Everyday Warriors Podcast, where courageous guests share the truth of what they've survived, what they've learned, and how they have rebuilt their lives. I'm your host, Trudie Marie. Listen to these stories of resilience, purpose, and hope so you can remember you're not alone.

Trudie Marie 0:47

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Why This Trip Mattered

Trudie Marie 1:45

It is my memoir of hiking the 1,000km Bibbleman track, a journey that was as much about finding my way back to myself as it was about conquering the trail through the highs and lows and everything in between. This book is taken from my journals and is my raw and honest experience of overcoming trauma and embracing the strength within. Grab your copy now, just head to the link in the show notes and let's take this journey together.

Tokyo In Six Hours

Trudie Marie 2:40

If you love traveling stories with meaning, real life reflections, and a few honest moments in between, you're going to love this episode. So let's get into it. We recently went to America for a seven-week holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving, my husband's 50th birthday, and Christmas New Year's with his family and friends. And let me tell you, it was an absolute dream holiday. It was an experience that we will both never forget. We have new memories and experiences to take with us for a long time. We started by choosing where we wanted to go in the states other than his home state of Texas. And two of the places we wanted to see was San Francisco because both of us had never been there before, and Las Vegas. I had never been, but Hubby had. So that was going to be our en route to get to Texas.

Trudie Marie 3:38

To get to the states, we looked at options of how to travel and we decided to go via Tokyo. The reason being is that if we we live in Perth, Western Australia, we would have had to fly Perth, Sydney, Sydney, LA, LA, San Francisco had we gone that route. But going via Tokyo meant we went Perth, Tokyo, Tokyo, San Francisco. It was two relatively even flights, and we chose to fly with Air Nippon. And let me tell you, they are definitely worth flying with if you're going to Japan. They have incredible service and we could not fault the two flights. Because we only had the day in Japan between those two flights, we were able to arrange a private tour of the city, and we did this well in advance. I managed to find something online, and the tour guide we were given was a lady named Erica, and she was amazing. She was so generous, she was easy to communicate with, and she really made our stay the best possible time to make use of the six-hour layover that we had. She met us at the airport, she arranged our train tickets both into Tokyo because we flew into Narita and our train tickets back, so we didn't have to worry about that and stress about that later on. We went to three places during that six-hour layover.

Trudie Marie 5:07

So the first, and forgive me for my pronunciation, the first was the Sensoji Temple in uh Asakuza, I think it is, and it was fabulous. It was a beautiful temple, it was everything I thought it would be. There were some amazing markets that you could wander through as little or as long as you wanted to get to the temple from the street front. It was very, very busy, lots and lots of tourists, but I really did enjoy that experience of seeing the temple.

Trudie Marie 5:40

The second place we went to was the Shibuya Crossing, which is the famous intersection with about six or seven pedestrian crossings. We were able to watch it from the upper level to begin with, where the train came in, and people watching is just incredible in that space. And down actually on street level, we were able to do the crossing multiple times. It is just full of people, cameras, phones, tripods, tourists just wanting to capture that moment, us being one of them. But it was just a vibe of activity, and I would have loved to have stayed shopping in that particular area had we had longer, but it's definitely worth seeing if you're on a trip to Japan.

Trudie Marie 6:28

The last place we got to go was the Deepachika food market, which is a sub-level food market, so in a basement, large, large scale food court slash food market. Anything you could have wanted to try in the way of Japanese cuisine was there. And we picked a few things to eat on our train ride back to the airport. So it was well worth having that layover. It's definitely something to consider if you're flying Perth to the States and starting in San Francisco. It's just a different way of getting there, and you get to see something extra as well. So that was our experience in Tokyo, Japan.

San Francisco Highlights

Trudie Marie 7:14

Then it was obviously on to the United States, and yes, we started in California in San Francisco. Both Hubby and I have always been a fan of The Rock, so we wanted to see Alcatraz, but we're also wine lovers, so we wanted to see the Napa Valley region as well. And let me tell you, San Francisco did not disappoint. So some of the tourist destinations that we got to experience while in San Francisco was firstly Union Square. We stayed only a few blocks from Union Square, and we were also right in the heart of the Tenderloin district, or just on the edge of it. So we kind of got to experience both parts of that, the good and the bad, because the Tenderloin district is well known for the homeless people within San Francisco. The one downside for me is that in San Francisco or California, cannabis or marijuana is actually legal, and the smell is not one that I'm a fan of, and you could smell it everywhere you went. So, especially being on the edge of the Tenderloin district, it was quite prolific. But Union Square with its ice skating rink, its big tree for Christmas, being opposite Macy's, uh, Neiman Marcus, Tiffany's, Victoria's Secrets, it's all that high-end sort of shopping area and just the whole experience of Union Square. So definitely worth a visit.

Trudie Marie 8:46

We also went to, of course, Fisherman's Wharf. We went there twice on our first day and before going to Alcatraz. Fisherman's Wharf is just a hub of activity. There is so much to see and do. The bakery is phenomenal, though I cannot remember the name of it. But we also ate clam chowder, which is something the area is renowned for. Fisherman's Wharf reminded me of Hillary's in Western Australia, just on a larger scale. It was a hub of activity, the weather was beautiful, even though it was winter, and we were able to, you know, really explore the different stores and the different restaurants and things along Fisherman's Wharf. Probably my favourite was the left-handed store. Yes, being a lefty, that was my go-to. It was just cool finding some interesting left-handed items. My favorite, and I have no shame in saying this, was a baseball cap that says, I may be left-handed, but I'm always right. Let me tell you, Hubby didn't really like me purchasing that item.

Trudie Marie 9:49

Obviously, when you're in San Francisco, cable cars are a must to ride. They are relatively easy to get off and on. You can purchase a ticket through an app on your phone. And we did this multiple times while being in San Francisco because it's an easy way. Who wants to walk up and down those hills? Because let me tell you, there's some steep ones. The other place we went was Ghirardelli's. I am a lover of dark chocolate. I'm a lover of hot chocolate, given that I don't drink coffee anymore. And Ghirardelli's did not disappoint. It is a beautiful old building, it has the history of the place there. It is in a really nice sort of area as well, like with the other businesses in that particular centre. We played mini golf there as well, so that was a lot of fun.

Trudie Marie 10:40

Of course, Golden Gate Bridge. We got to see twice. So we did two tours, and both tours went to Golden Gate Bridge, but both sides. So the first tour we went on took us to the other side on the Napa Valley side of the Golden Gate Bridge and looked back. And then the other tour we did went to the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate Bridge. So it was really cool being able to see both vantage points of that. Very, very interesting when you get up close to it. So the Golden Gate Bridge is one of those phenomenons that you see, you hear, and now I've got to say I've seen it, I've had a photograph with it, and I've crossed it multiple times.

Trudie Marie 11:22

We also went to the Napa Sonoma Valley for wines and we did a full winery tour. One thing I can say when booking tours on trips, having my history uh with trauma and things like that, I don't like big groups. And so booking smaller intimate tours, you may have to pay a little bit more for, but I find the experience is way more intimate, easier to navigate. You don't have these big bustling groups of people that you have to deal with, and it's just a really nice way to experience different things within that smaller group. The tour to Napa and Sonoma Valley, we end up going to three wineries. So the wineries we did were Roche, B. R. Cohen, and Madonna. The things I liked about those particular wineries and the experience of that was that I'm used to the Swan Valley here in Western Australia, near Perth, the Margaret River region, and also the Great Southern region around Mount Barker in Denmark. And just seeing how other countries and other wineries do their wine tours was really quite beautiful. Like they predominantly do Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, my two least favourite wines. But just being able to experience that was really lovely. The town of Sonoma, where we had lunch, was also incredible. And Steve and I would be happy to go back there at any time. It was just a really beautiful, I don't know, there was just something, it was there was a charm about it and a peacefulness, and it would be quite easy to actually live there and have San Francisco just on the other side of the bridge, but really lovely, sort of country vibe feel to those different communities.

Trudie Marie 13:15

The next place we went to on our second tour was a bit of a tour around the actual area of San Francisco. So we went to Knob Hill and got to see the Mrs. Doubtfire house, some of the few of like sort of Millionaires Row and the views out over the bay, like just a stunning area that we got to see. And the next day we actually went back to the Fairmont Hotel, and let me tell you, that's a bucket list stay that I want to do down the track because beautiful, beautiful heritage hotel.

Trudie Marie 13:52

The other place we went to, which some people may or may not be familiar with, is Muir Woods. So in the southwest of Western Australia, we have Warpole and the Valley of the Giants and our beautiful carry trees and tingle trees. But Muir Woods is renowned for the redwoods, giant redwoods. And let me tell you, that was a magical experience. We had no fog during San Francisco, which was absolutely amazing given how foggy it is. But we had this really light misty rain the time we were there, and going into the woods and seeing these beautiful trees, the dew, the rain, the smell of the damp forest. I loved hiking through Muir Woods, and I would definitely recommend it because it really is a beautiful space. On the way back from there, we stopped in this little town called Sassalito, and it was a really cool vibe right on the water, looking back over the bay to San Francisco. So definitely worth a visit if you're over that side of the bridge.

Wine Country And Small-Group Tours

Trudie Marie 14:58

Of course, we did the Alcatraz tour, and I actually booked through the website itself with Alcatraz and we did a behind the scenes tour. It meant that we had to go over in the afternoon and stay till the early evening, but well worth it. You don't just get the normal audio soundtrack kind of experience that you do if you were just going over on one of a normal tours, but they take you behind the scenes to certain areas of the island or the buildings that the rest of the public don't go to. So some of the things that we got to experience was going through the gardens, going through the underground area that were the old part of the barracks from when it was military before it became a prison, and also to see the cells where the film The Rock was actually carried out. So that was kind of cool. Probably the most poignant thing that we did while on Alcatraz was actually experiencing the opening and closing of the slammers. And they do that as the final thing before getting on the ferry home in the evening, and it is absolutely incredible to just hear that sound, like it's spine tingling kind of stuff. So if you're considering Alcatraz as an experience, go the extra mile and do the behind the scenes tour because it's well worth it.

Trudie Marie 16:20

We also got to see Little Italy and Chinatown both during the day and at night. We did that as part of our tour, but then we also went back to have dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to the famous Tony's Pizza. It was super packed, it had a two-hour wait for eating time. So we decided to find another little quieter Italian restaurant and then walk home to Union Square via Chinatown. I don't think I've ever felt so safe in a big capital city. I never once, you know, watched my back. I mean, don't get me wrong, we have our senses around us and we're very situationally aware, but I just never felt unsafe during my time in San Francisco.

Trudie Marie 17:04

The other thing we got to do, and being so close to the Silicon Valley, is drive in a Waymo car, which is the driverless car. Weird experience. It was something I didn't really want to do, but it was right up Hubby's alley, and he just it was either go with him or be stuck on my own. So I went along, I didn't know whether to feel safe or secure. It was weird watching the steering wheel, the indicators, the windscreen wipers all being used without a driver, but we managed a couple of drives in this vehicle instead of catching an Uber to where we needed to go. And I can say that I've done it now, and that's where I'm going to leave that. So that was San Francisco. I think we captured a lot of it, but definitely there is so much more that we could have seen and done had we had longer there. Definitely a place I would go back to. Loved it way more than Los Angeles, which I've been to on a previous trip.

Trudie Marie 18:06

The next place we went to was Las Vegas, obviously in Nevada, and we flew into the strip. It was around six o'clock in the evening when our flight arrived. So coming into all the lights of Vegas was kind of one of those whirlwind moments where you're like, wow, I'm really here. But we stayed at the Luxor Hotel. Uh, I wanted my little piece of ancient Egypt, and we were down that end of the strip. And unfortunately, that's the only part of the strip we got to see. We were only in Vegas for a couple of days, we had lots to see and do. But that first night on the strip, having the Formula One Grand Prix and a local football game happening in town, there were so many people around. It was very overwhelming and also very over-stimulating. I literally had a meltdown kind of when we were walking around. Hubby's like, are you okay? Because I don't think you're really enjoying this. And I said, No, I'm I'm actually not right now. It's so overwhelming with the sounds, the smells, the sights, the noises. Everything was just there's so many people. But walking around during the daytime, I felt much more relaxed, and I feel like I still got to see a lot of the stuff. I got to choose when I went in and out of the casinos. I still got to see a lot of the strip. But for me, my preference was daytime overnighttime.

Trudie Marie 19:39

We, of course, you cannot go to Vegas without going to a show, and the show we chose to go to was Michael Jackson's One with Cirque de Soleil. Probably one of the best shows I have ever seen, including with Cirque de Soleil. The dancing, obviously, the music was all Michael Jackson, but the Interactive, the AI, just the whole magic of the show was unreal. It was such an incredible experience and probably one of my favorite parts of being in Vegas.

Redwoods, Sausalito, And Alcatraz

Trudie Marie 20:12

While we were there, we also decided to do a tour, and that tour started again, very intimate, small tour, and I'm so glad I picked that style of tour. But this particular one took us firstly to the Vegas sign, so we had our popular Instagram moment of our photo with the sign, but there was also an Elvis Presley impersonator there, so we got to have photos and a bit of fun with him. We then went on to Seven Magic Mountains, which is an art installation with these gigantic rocks in the middle of the Nevada Desert. So very interesting. That's pretty much all I can say about that. And then it was on to Hoover Dam. Now I have a little bit of history and relation with J. Edgar Hoover in the sense that I was born and then worked in Leonora, and J. Edgar Hoover, before he became a president, was actually a mining engineer in Leonora, and he built Hoover House near the mine site in Leonora, and then obviously went back to the States, and his engineering feat had him create Hoover Dam as well. The fun part about Hoover Dam is that you can stand in the middle of the dam and you will have one foot in Arizona and one foot in Nevada. So that was kind of cool, but the whole dam itself and the architecture and the engineering and just the whole magic of it all is really something to be seen. So I'm glad I was able to cross that off my bucket list. From there, we went on to the Joshua Tree National Park. Now I'd heard of Joshua Trees, obviously, there's songs about it, but I never really understood the tree itself. But seeing this sort of forest with all these trees in the middle of the desert was something to be seen, and they are very slow growing. So very interesting, like learning about that aspect. Of course, then it was onto the Grand Canyon, and let me tell you, that was a breathtaking, unforgettable moment of standing in front of one of the seven wonders of the world, feeling completely insignificant in this grand space, and just the grandeur of it all, of reading about the history with the natives of the area, seeing their stalls and all that kind of thing, but just the Grand Canyon itself, there are no words. It is honestly something that you really have to see. So if that is on your bucket list, make sure it's something you cross off the list because it is well worth it.

Trudie Marie 22:55

From there, it was on to Texas, which is my husband's home state, and where we were going to be spending six weeks of our time. So my husband is from a town called Lubbock, which is in the northwestern part of the state, and it is a town of around 300,000 people. So for comparative size in Australia, you're looking at a town like Townsville or Newcastle, sort of to get an idea of how large it is. Amazing town in the sense that it's laid out in a grid with a what they call the loop that goes around it, and all the streets in one direction are named, and all the streets in the other direction are numbered. So it is quite easy to navigate around the town. It's a city, really. I just think of towns in Australia being so small, but it really is a city. So some of the sites we got to see in Lubbock were firstly the Wall of Remembrance. Now, this is a military kind of memorial area. My husband is a veteran of the United States Air Force, and so his mum has erected a plaque in his name in this wall of remembrance. So that was really lovely to see and get a photo of my husband with his own plaque.

Trudie Marie 24:13

We also got to see the Buddy Holly Museum. Now, Buddy Holly is from Lubbock, it's their claim to fame. The museum itself was a little disappointing in a way. For some reason, you couldn't take any photos or videos. It was very underwhelming, but also at the same time very interesting to hear the story of Buddy Holly. Another thing which I loved, which most farmers hate, is the prairie dogs. Seeing a real-life prairie dog was super cool, and they do have an area in the town called Prairie Dog Town that you can actually go and see and take photos of them if they're around. But to be honest, I got to see them nearly every day that we drove from my hubby's parents' house to Lubbock, like every day. So I got to see them multiple times. Hubby hated them, I loved them, I thought they were super cute. We also got to go to the museum and also the National Heritage Center at Texas Tech University. And the museum, again, I was very underwhelmed with what was in there. It was interesting, but it was hit and miss. I could have left it and not gone to it. But the National Heritage Center I loved. It was this whole history of ranching, it had a lot of history about the different styles of ranches, the different styles of how they operated, the big ones that exist today. And of course, there was a tribute to the Four Sixers Ranch, which, if you're a Yellowstone fan, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. So that was really cool. The other thing I loved about it is that they had an interactive children's section, which a lot of school groups go to, a lot of families can take their children into, and I thought that was really well done. It is such a vast place if you have to go, like as it's quite a big acreage that you walk around, but this little small area for two school groups and children was amazing. I thought it was a brilliant idea and concept.

Safety, Night Neighbourhoods, And Waymo

First Impressions Of Las Vegas

Trudie Marie 26:17

Probably the highlight of our trip to Lubbock was going to Jones Stadium. So the biggest university in the area is obviously Texas Tech University. My husband follows both the basketball and football here in Australia. We're always looking on ESPN for the local games, and Hubby follows them. So prior going to the States, I actually contacted the Red Raiders Club, which is their social club, to see if I could arrange something, whether it was memorabilia, whether it was a tour of the university campus, or something that was a little bit of an extra given that my husband's 50th birthday was while we're in the States. They were super gracious and very generous in what they offered. So we got tickets to a basketball game. Unfortunately, there wasn't a football game while we were in town. But the basketball game was an amazing experience. It was very much like going to an NBL game here in Australia, like with uh the Wildcats in Perth. But just at a college level, it was an amazing experience to see. Stadium was a little bit quieter than what it normally would have been, given it was Thanksgiving weekend, and a lot of people had gone home for Thanksgiving, but it was still an awesome game, and the Red Raiders won. So that was a really good outcome for us. But the probably the main highlight was actually touring Jones Stadium. So there is a dedicated football stadium for the team. I just cannot put into words the amount of money and professionalism behind these college football teams, especially for Texas Tech. They have not only the main stadium being Jones Stadium, they have a practice stadium, they have an indoor practice stadium, they have a 20-meter yard line which also has an interactive screen that they can run defensive and offensive plays against. They have a their own bar, their everything is branded, including the weights in the gym. They have communal areas, they have alumni bars, they have everything about the team on display. So where people have gone in the NFL, where people have gone, you know, in their in their play for the year, like it's it was an amazing experience. I'm so glad that my husband got to enjoy that with his best mate. I felt like I was just along for the ride, but I was just overwhelmed. Like this was like, oh my god, this is just a college team, but such an incredible experience. And our tour guide, who is a student at the campus, was also incredible. The one thing I loved about it too is that when we were in the trophy room, there was room and a little sort of plaque that they said they were working towards the B12 championship, which is the division that they were in. And the weekend we went or the day we went, they were all out of town for the championship game. So to know that we went home a few days later and watched that championship game, watch Texas Tech win that championship game, and then know that that little plaque was going to be replaced with the championship trophy was just awesome. Like we will never get that opportunity again.

Trudie Marie 29:40

The main place we stayed wasn't actually in Lubbock itself, unless we were staying with uh my hubby's sister, but his parents lived just out of Lubbock in a small community called Ransom Canyon. No, it is not the same as the place, um, which has a Netflix show named after it, but it is a beautiful place of its own. It's in a canyon, it has a lake, there are geese, there are deer. It was just a beautiful area to relax, unwind, sit out overlooking the lake, watching sunset, watching sunrise. It really was a perfect place to have a holiday. Before you get to Ransom Canyon, there is another area called Buffalo Springs Lake. It is a gated community with a public lake, so you can pay to go into the community and use the lake. The only time we went to Buffalo Springs Lake was I went with my father-in-law in the Jeep to do some off-roading along the top of the canyon, and that was an incredible experience. I don't normally do any kind of off-roading or four-wheel driving, and this was just super fun, something I will never probably get to do again. But being so close to his home, it was awesome.

Cirque Show And Desert Sights

Trudie Marie 30:56

While we were also in Texas, we managed to go to a couple of other places. The first was Midland Odessa. Now, this is kind of southwest of Lubbeck, and it is consists pretty much of flat plains and oil wells. So when you get that kind of stereotypical image of the oil wells pumping up and down, that's pretty much Midland Odessa. You're in the heart of oil country. But Steve has an auntie and a cousin that live there, so we went to visit them. That was a day trip, and it was well worth it to see obviously family, but also experience a different part of Texas.

Trudie Marie 31:35

We then went to Amarillo on a different day. So Amarillo is about two hours north of Lubbock, right up in the top square, and on the way we got to go to a place called Paladura Canyon, and I believe it is the second largest canyon from the Grand Canyon in the United States. It is a place where my husband used to go camping and out with his friends. It's just a beautiful place. It was quite dry being winter, which is kind of the opposite for what we have here in Western Australia, where winter is where everything greens up, but that tends to be spring in the United States. So I would love to go back to Paladuro Canyon and do some of the hiking trails and camp out that area because it really was very pretty. We literally got to go to the uh, I suppose, museum tourist center at the top of the canyon, and that was about as much as we saw. From there, it was continuing on to Amarillo itself. We went to a Bucky's, and Buckeys is a service station with a difference. It is or has around 100 to 130 gas bowsers or petrol bowsers. There's no real cue for them, but trucks aren't allowed and big motorhomes aren't allowed, so literally smaller vehicles. Then it has this giant gift shop/slash food court, but it's not really a food court because you don't sit in there and eat. Everything is designed to go or take away, as we say in Australia. But I have never seen anything like it. It really is a Buc-ee's experience that you have to go if you're ever in Texas or the southern states of America, go to a Buc-ee's. If you can't, if you've got no plans of going there, look it up on TikTok because you have to see this place to believe it, honestly. From there, we drove into Amarillo. Uh, we drove along part of the old Route 66. Again, that's a bucket list item I'd love to do in the future, but seeing part of the old route was really quite nostalgic. Just seeing the old inns and the old buildings, some of them still exist, others have closed down and no longer are there, but the old signs and stuff are there. But it really was just, you know, this part of like, wow, it's Route 66. I would have loved to have gone to the Midway Cafe, which is just outside of Amarillo. Unfortunately, they were closed for the Christmas period. So we end up stopping at this place called Cadillac Ranch, which is an art installation. Again, there are eight up-ended Cadillacs standing in the middle of this field. You can spray paint them, it's very interactive. So you can bet we bought a can of spray paint and did our own little painting, left our own little mark. But it was it was a fun day that we got to experience with my husband's sister. So that was Amarillo.

Trudie Marie 34:38

We were supposed to go to New York on this trip. Unfortunately, some circumstances happened that that wasn't feasible for us, and we weren't able to do that. So instead, we went to Waco. Why Waco? Because I wanted my fixer upper moment. Now, Waco for from Lubbock is about a five, five and a half hour drive, and it was really pretty going from the vast open plains and cotton fields and wind farms right through to kind of a more hilly, farmy area leading into Waco. We stopped in a little town on the way called Dublin, which does have an Irish vibe, like its name. And the reason we stopped there is that there is a soda factory, or was a soda factory back in the day, that made a version of Dr. Pepper, and so we stopped there. But probably the favourite thing about Dublin was that we had to do a detour off the main road due to road works, and we were looking for somewhere to have lunch, and we came across this little Mexican hacienda, and it was probably the best Mexican we had while we were in the States. So that was the coolest part of going to Dublin, Texas.

Grand Canyon Awe

Trudie Marie 35:54

But when we got to Waco, obviously the main thing that I wanted to go to was the Magnolia experience, and you can do that in a number of ways. So obviously, Magnolia Silos is the main area with the old silos and the big magnolia development. It has the bakery, it has a coffee shop, it has Joanna's homeware shops, it has a big family area to experience a number of things, whether it's food trucks, whether it's just relaxing, have a picnic, whether it's playing games, whether it's having a mini game of baseball. It really is a phenomenal space that Chip and Joanna Gaines have created and definitely worth going to. If you ask my husband, he would say never again because that's not his vibe. But for all those fixer-upper fans out there, let me tell you, it is well worth it. Probably the two places my husband did like going to was Magnolia Table, which is their restaurant, and also Hotel 1928, which is the hotel they helped renovate. Both places, incredible food, incredible service, and definitely worth the visit. So make sure you go if you're going to Waco to have that Magnolia fixer up a moment, make sure you do visit all the places because they are all worth it. The other place we did get to go while there was Big Jimmy Don's metalwork company, which is across the road from the silos. We happened to buy some of his metalwork items and were able to have them autographed and have a photo with Big Jimmy Don. So that was another experience as well.

Settling Into Texas Life

Trudie Marie 37:38

In Waco, you also have the Dr. Pepper Museum. I've never been a fan of Dr. Pepper, however, my husband is, he grew up with it, and I really did enjoy the history of the museum and seeing it all evolve, and how I've not had Seven Up in such a long time. Seeing that made and the whole experience was kind of cool. The other place we went to, which again Hubby wasn't a fan of, but if you're on a girls' trip, is a place called the Spice Markets. Now I was involved in a pop-up shop of craft and homewares and things like that in my previous town, but these spice markets go to a whole other level. Most of it is corporate, so there is a lot of like commercially made products, but there is also a lot of craft products as well, and it is a whole top floor. The bottom floor is predominantly restaurants and cafes, but the top floor of this market is like next level. Anything you want there, you could probably purchase. So definitely worth a visit.

Trudie Marie 38:52

The Texas Ranger Museum was also on our radar, both being police officers or for me prior. Experiencing this whole Texas Ranger history was something else. Seeing how they operate today and seeing the wall of fame of all the current Rangers who work, but it is like something different altogether comparative to normal policing. Uh, I'm so glad I got to go there and see the history and see the dedication and the professionalism that the Texas Rangers have. So definitely worth going to. One of the other places we did get to experience, which there is only one in Australia on the Gold Coast, and that is Top Golf. I hate golf. My dad loves golf, but I'm just not a golfer. I don't enjoy watching it, I don't really enjoy playing it. Even mini golf, I do it at a stretch. But because it was raining, we decided to go to this place, and it's like a driving range, but a driving range with a different you get served. Food and drinks, you play these games that are all electronically registered because of everything under the ground or under the surface, like artificial turf. But it was such a cool afternoon, and we had a great time. So definitely recommend if there is a top golf near you, go visit it because it's well worth it. So that was pretty much all the places we went to within Texas.

Trudie Marie 40:27

The only other state we visited was New Mexico, and this was purely by chance, and funnily enough, over a conversation from breakfast. So over breakfast, my father-in-law had been talking about the caves, and I related to it because of all the caves we have down in our southwest, near between Dunsborough and Margaret River. And I was like, Yeah, I know what you're talking about. And my hubby said he hadn't been there since he was a child, and New Mexico or Carlsbad, New Mexico, from where we were, was like a three-hour drive. So we decided to have a 48-hour trip, uh, driving to Carlsbad, going down to the caverns, and then driving home the following day. It was well worth it. We drove over, we went through Hobbs, which is on the border of Texas and New Mexico. We drove on to Carlsbad, and you drive up into the hills, and then it is a 750-meter descent into the cave. It's around a 1.2 mile walk down. It's all switchbacks. Let me tell you, I was sore for a couple of days after. But incredible size and scale of these caverns, they were giant. The caves here in Western Australia I found to be prettier and more delicate, stalagmite formations, but just the sheer size and scale in Carlsbad, and just that whole deep descent into the mountain was amazing. And what really surprised me was that there is a cafe, a gift shop, and a toilet at the bottom of the cavern, and then there is an elevator to get you back to the surface. I loved that because I did not want to walk up what I'd just walked down. We also had some incredible Mexican food in Carlsbad in our overnight stay, and I got to drive on the road coming back and experience driving on the wrong side of the road. So that was a lot of fun going to New Mexico, which made up the fifth state that we got to experience.

Lubbock Museums And Memories

Trudie Marie 42:37

Obviously, we spent most of our time in Lubbock and Ransom Canyon, and some of the other things we did is we got to experience, well, for me, I got to experience an American Thanksgiving, which was really beautiful. So grateful to have that. We also went to a place, a roadside dive, self-named, uh called Dirty Larry's, uh, which is halfway between Ransom Canyon and Lubbock. They also went above and beyond and created a little bit of a birthday party for my husband's 50th, and they put a poster up of him in his younger days, which was kind of cool. But that was a really fun, vibey place. So I had a lot of fun there. In Ransom Canyon itself, they are renowned for their Christmas lights. We helped my hubby's mum put up some of the lights for their place, and they do this parade of houses where you actually get to go in four nominated houses and see how they decorate for Christmas. So that was really cool seeing what you traditionally see in the movies, and I no word of a lie, that's how they pretty much decorate for Christmas. It is full on and a whole other experience in itself. And it was like this little picturesque postcard town over a lake, just minus the snow. And I was so disappointed we did not get a white Christmas, but you know, you win some, you lose some. We also got to experience a number of wonderful restaurants and places that obviously you only read about or hear about in the movies. So we went to a number of those catching up with various family and friends. We also went to a casino night, which was arranged for New Year's Eve in Ransom Canyon, and that was a lot of fun, play money, lots of fun and games, meeting lots of people. They obviously all loved the Aussie accent. Uh, but that just was a really nice way to finish our trip.

Trudie Marie 44:34

But prior to that, we went out to my husband's family's ranch, uh, which is predominantly a hunting ranch. My father-in-law has an amazing collection of firearms. Uh, he regularly takes people out to hunt. They hunt everything from wild pigs, wild turkey, coyote, deer, just to name a few. So that was really amazing. That was also cool to ride the buggies around the ranch and also pick up a firearm again. I haven't used a firearm since my service weapon, and that was in qualifications. So being able to pick up that again and try a couple of other pistols that my father-in-law had and shoot at metal targets, see how accurate I still am, which I was kind of chuffed about. But it was just a more relaxing space to experience that in, as opposed to doing it in qualification under the sound of a pack timer, just to be able to learn more about the weapons themselves with information from my father-in-law, and do that.

Inside Texas Tech And Jones Stadium

Trudie Marie 45:40

So, overall, we did a lot of engaging things for the first time. We had some incredible experiences. The only experience I wish we could have avoided was our trip home. And there's a couple of things I'd like to say about that. So, when I booked my flights, both internal and external, being the domestic and the international flights, I couldn't book a connecting flight. I had to book separately. Unfortunately, our United Airlines flight was delayed enough that we would miss our connecting flight, which I'd allowed six hours for, but that's what happens, uh, to get the international flight with Air New Zealand home. Unfortunately, I booked a non-refundable flight, and the circumstances in which the flight of the delayed flight happened meant that our travel insurance didn't cover it either. So, my point here or my lesson is that if you're going to be booking flights, make sure they are connecting flights under the one booking reference, and two, that you read the fine print of travel insurance prior to purchasing it. To be honest, I booked my travel insurance predominantly for medical. I feel that when you go to a different country, you never want to have a medical experience. It is going to leave you tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. You never expect the worst, like of having to claim against travel insurance for anything else, but our flights were not covered to the extent that we wanted them to be covered. So this meant that we missed our flights, we lost $5,000 in having to repurchase flights. We had to do the milk run home. So instead of flying via Houston and Auckland back to Perth, we had to fly via Dallas, Los Angeles, Hong Kong back to Perth. We were in the air for over 27 hours, we were in transit for about 36, and it was awful. And we were just so depressed about the whole thing, annoyed that we it cost us more money, but we safely got home, which is the main thing. To make matters worse, we also had a baggage piece of baggage lost, got left in Hong Kong, and it took another 48 hours before we got that back. So it was not the end of our experience that we wanted, but let's just say we were super grateful. One, to be able to afford the trip home and cover that expense, but two to actually land safe back on Aussie soil. Both airlines, Air Nippon flying over, Cafe Pacific flying back, were amazing. Internally in the States, we flew with the United American and Alaskan Air. They were all amazing. I have no complaints about any of those airlines. It's just, yeah, double check your bookings, make sure you have connecting flights. And that was what was super annoying. Had they been connecting flights, we would have been looked after by both airlines to make sure we got home. Because they weren't connected, neither airline wanted anything to do with us and wouldn't help us in any way, shape, or form. So extremely disappointing, and something to note when you're on long-term or long-haul flights.

Trudie Marie 49:00

So that is basically my trip and my journey. I thank you for listening and experiencing this with me. This trip honestly reminded me that the best moments aren't always the big ones we plan for. Sometimes it's the just the quiet, unexpected ones that leave us feeling, you know, changed or that are most profound. So if you enjoyed hearing about my trip, then I would love to hear from you. So leave a comment or if you want to learn any more information about specific aspects of the trip, please feel free to send me a message because I would love to share that information with you. So until next time, I hope you keep showing up like the everyday warrior that you are. Thank you for tuning in to the Everyday Warriors podcast. If you have an idea for a future episode or a story you'd like to share yourself, then please reach out and message me as I am always up for real, raw, and authentic conversations with other Everyday Warriors. Also, be sure to subscribe so that you can download all the latest episodes as they are published. And spread the word to your family and friends and colleagues so they can listen in too. If you're sharing on social media, please be sure to tag me so that I can personally acknowledge you. I'm always open to comment about how these episodes have resonated with you, the listener. And remember, lead with love as you live this one wild and precious life.