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Tag Archives: going with the flow

the roadtrip

As many of you already know one of my goals from last year was to drive across the country before I turned 30. I’ve always thought it sounded incredibly adventurous and the idea of roaming the country without a care in the world sounded beyond romantic. At heart I am a total free spirit; sometimes I think I forget that when I am busy writing to-do lists!

I am happiest going with the flow of life, without an agenda.

Leading up to the trip I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it all off. Who was going to go with me? Mr. McClafferty would just die if I drove it by myself. How would I take all that time off from work? How would I afford the trip? How? How? How?

But as most things do when you trust the universe, it all fell into place perfectly. My wildly adventurous and free-spirited best girlfriend, Rachel of One Part Gypsy signed up to go on the trip with me. I got the time off from work and we somehow paid for most of the trip with the help of fabulous sponsors (thanks guys!). We got lucky, but we also worked our asses of to put this trip together.

We left on the roadtrip exactly one year ago and it ended up being the Best. Month. Of. My. Life.

Sure, there was some fighting…I mean, have you ever traveled in a car with a person for a month? Sure, we almost lost our lives in Mississippi when a big rig swerved into our lane and ran us off the road. Sure, we got lost more times than I’d care to admit (shhhh….sometimes we drove hours out-of-the-way). Sure, we woke up most mornings at 4am to start the drive. Sure, we probably both gained 10 (ok maybe 8) pounds eating our way across America…I mean, have you been to the South?? But, we survived it all with our senses of humor and an insane amount of red bulls, and we are better friends because if it.

There really isn’t another person I could imagine having accomplished this goal with. Traveling across the country with Rachel will forever be one of my favorite memories. I’m pretty sure when we are old and grey we will be telling our grandkids about the wild month in 2012 we conquered the USA.

one_part_gypsy_365_til_30_american_roadtrip_marfa_texas_el_cosmico_teepee1

Read some of my favorite posts from that month!

– Marfa, Texas

– Getting chased by a dirt devil

– Visiting Georgia O’ Keefe’s private residence

– Memphis!

– Our night at a sweet little B&B in Alabama

– Our day with wild horses

– Santa Fe

– Struggs

– Going to F. Scott Fitzgeralds home

– We’re going to Graceland!

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Arizona, drive across the USA, friendship, girls on a road trip, goals, going with the flow, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Orleans, One Part Gypsy, road trip across america, road trips, soul, thelma and Louise, travel, universe

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Categories Drive Across The USA

reflections.

20 Feb

“The physical body is at work every moment, an array of mechanisms with a brilliance of design and efficiency our human efforts have never begun to match. Our hearts beat, our lungs breathe, our ears hear, our hair grows. And we don’t have to make them work- they just do. Planets revolve around the sun, seeds become flowers, embryos become babies, and with no help from us. Their movement is built into a natural system. You and I are integral parts of that system, too. We can let our lives be directed by the same force that makes flowers grow- or we can do it ourselves.

To trust the force that moves the universe is faith. Faith isn’t blind, it’s visionary. Faith is believing that the universe is on our side, and that the universe knows what it’s doing. Faith is a psychological awareness of an unfolding force for good, constantly at work in all dimensions. Our attempts to direct this force only interferes with it. Our willingness to relax into it allows it to work on our behalf.”

– excerpt from “A Return To Love” by Marianne Williamson

Tags: 365 til, 365 til 30, A return to love, faith, going with the flow, Gratitude, inspirations, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, Love, Marianne Williamson, meditation, trust, universe

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Categories Uncategorized

Day 4, Part 2: Puye Cliff Dwellings & Abiquiu Inn

20 Apr

ROAD TRIP

Day 4, Part 2

The day of u-turns, cliff dwellings, black holes & cookies

After the epic (I don’t use that word lightly) few hours spent lounging around in hot tubes and saunas at Ten Thousand Waves, I was feeling refreshed, relaxed and blissfully unaware of the next few hours to come.

Rachel and I spent them very lost, with no cell service, trying to locate the Puye Cliff Dwellings, which was next on our itinerary for the day. The Puye Cliffs were home to 1,500 Pueblo Indians who lived, farmed and hunted game there from the 900s to 1580 A.D.

Seeing the dwellings was something both of us were dying to see while in New Mexico because we thought it would be a wonderful way to learn about the history of the region, so there was no way in hell we weren’t going to find it.

It was a comedy of errors- we lost our packet of directions, had no cell service, took many wrong turns and at one point ended up on a tiny, curvy two lane highway in the snow-capped mountains above Santa Fe.

I’m truly floored that Rachel and I don’t end up killing each other during these high stress moments. Instead we both sit there silently managing our emotions.

After spending 3 hours making u-turns (silently) we finally made it to The Puye Cliff Dwellings not even sure if we would be able to tour the site anymore considering we were 2 hours late and they were closing. Luckily, the people who run the dwellings are the KINDEST people and said they would make sure we got a tour even if only for 10 minutes. Steve, our tour guide, is actually an ancestor of the people who inhabited the dwellings at one time- how cool is that? He ended up staying an hour late to give us the full tour- I mean how lovely of him, right?

I have been on a tour of cliff dwellings before and hated it, but this was a completely different experience. On the last tour I felt like I was a million miles away from the cliffs and couldn’t spot a thing. I ended up lying to the group and said that I could see the dwellings, windows and murals because I was getting so annoyed with everyone trying to point them out.

But this was a completely different experience! This time we got to walk through them!!! It was an amazing and I am still blown away that this was even allowed!

The only problem with being able to walk through the ruins was having to climb this enormous ladder wearing heeled boots and skinny jeans.

I’m sure graceful wasn’t the first word that came to mind when I climbed it.

But the view from the top was worth the climb.

After the tour we got in the car to make the hour-long drive to the Abiquiu Inn in Abiquiu, New Mexico. We were both excited to check in to our hotel and get some work done. As we got deeper and deeper into the mountains, both our phones lost service again and it was then I realized that I would be without my phone for the next two days while we explored Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. Ugh, very frustrating but hey, at least I had my computer and could finally get some blogging done!

Sadly, when we checked in to the hotel we were told the rooms didn’t have internet service- I almost died. How ridiculous is that? Here I am at a beautiful hotel in a breathtaking location in the New Mexico mountains and I am worried about internet service. Shameful! I re-grouped and reminded myself to go with the flow and enjoy the adventure.

When we got to our room, we were greeted by a plate of warm Biscochito cookies (New Mexico’s official state cookie- it’s an anise flavored little piece of heaven) that immediately made everything better.

…

See Rachel’s take here!

365til30: instagram @kate365, twitter, facebook

One Part Gypsy: instagram @onepartgypsy, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, Abiquiu, Abiquiu Inn, adventure, drive across the USA, Explore, fun, goals, going with the flow, Gratitude, happy, Inspiration, inspirations, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, New Mexico, One Part Gypsy, puye cliff dwellings, Rio Grande River, Road trip, Santa Clara Pueblo, Ten Thousand Waves, turning 30, universe

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Categories Drive Across The USA

I am a writer, blogger and host living in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Brian and French Bulldog Frank.

I started this blog in 2011 on the eve of my 29th birthday because I was feeling frustrated with the state of my life. In an inspired moment I compiled a list of 10 goals to accomplish in the 365 days leading up to my 30th birthday. Goals that I thought would bring me closer to the life I wanted-- and with that, 365 til 30 was born. That year was an incredible journey and truly changed my life. Since then, the blog has grown to include everything that happens after turning 30.

My professional website can be found here.