Cali Day 3

11 April 2010

Sunday

7:50 am

The walls are thin here. I took my turn in the community shower. That…well, it was an experience… J I started taking off my clothes. Then I turned around and realized the window was open just a little. The window goes out to the breezeway, but still… I shut the window. I don’t want someone to see my crack (-kt) through the crack (Sam) J hahah. It's Sam’s turn now.

Me, reenacting my reaction to hearing voices in the bathroom when I was pretty sure I was in there all alone. I was, but there was about a one inch gap where the wall should have met the other wall, yet didn't. Turns out, I was hearing the people in the next room.

9:10 am

We checked out of our hotel this just now. It’s been raining this morning. As we walked back to Sam’s car, a random guy on the sidewalk insisted we we take his umbrella. “I’ve got more at home”. His name was is Noi. Wow. Some people in this city are fantastically nice and generous.

9:17 am

Leaving San Francisco for Julie’s place. San Francisco, it’s been grand. Thanks for the great time!

11:19 am

Stop for gas and food. About time we find tacos! Yay J Del Taco it is. Sam just about went through the drive through backwards. Haha! J

2:01 pm

Found some smooshed hohos in the snack bag. My mouth must of known what was coming in because as soon as the plastic chocolate and creamy filling came close, my salivating glands kicked into overdrive and I almost drooled on myself.

4:04 pm

Got to Julies! Yay!!! Julie isn’t home… L I wonder if she’s going to make us food. I’m hungry again.

4:38 pm

Yay!! Julie called! She’s at church, now on her way home. Pretty much excited to see her face. She asked Sam how long we’d been waiting. Sam said five minutes. Try 30. 4. 34 minutes. Sam said it was nice to say five minutes. I attempted to convince her it was nicer to tell the truth. Lying was mean. Telling Julie we didn’t mind the wait would also be nice, and genuine.

Julie!! I just love that face!

I got my lips stuck to a popsicle. Sam thought it was funny.

Cali Day 2

10 April 2010

Saturday

8:30 am

Sam and I left Kylie’s and now we are back on the wide open road. San Francisco… HERE WE COME!!!

Stopped for gas at a mini mart in Sonora. I paid. $40.25?! Sick. $3.05/gallon.

*** En route to San Francisco ***

The terrain is beautiful!! So lush and green! The perfect ratio of field, hill, rock. The long green grass, reddish rock, and trees growing throughout – not too thick, not too thin. = gorgeous! Once in awhile there’s cows grazing in the fields. We’ve passed millions of amazing picture opportunities. Shucks. Too bad there's no time for us to stop at all of them.

11:12 am

US – 101 N – about 25 minutes from S.F.

Driving on the freeway I’m staring out the window at all the other people here on the road as we pass them and they pass us. I sure am admiring the variety of nationalities I’m seeing J We're not in Rexburg anymore, Sam.

“That guy looked like he was driving with his eyes closed. He must be Asian.”

11:48 am

SAN FRANCISCO!!!!

We tried to check into our hotel. Can’t until three. We’ll explore and discover until then.

1:30 pm

Just got back in the car after admiring the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s windy and just started to rain. Welcome to the Sunshine state! ;)

[Sure was blustery!]

Now we are in search of food. In-N-Out Burger it’s you for lun lun. Yum yum!

2:18 pm

Cheeseburgers at In-N-Out totally awesome!! Well deserving of the hype. Probably the best burger I’ve ever eaten.

Fries… lacking. The price is good on the wallet too. Met a nice couple. (The place was packed!! They shared our table.) They gave us good touristie advice. He works for Apple. J

[Our new friends are in the middle of the frame, man with the bald head, cute girl in the black sweater.]

We went north on the Golden Gate Bridge. To go around would cost us an hour and a half. I don’t think so. We’ll pay $6 to drive back across.

5:17 pm

Checked into the Encore express. Right in the heart of S.F. It’s an old building. I like it! Our room is one room and we share a bathroom with the whole floor. This is an adventure…

Highlights from the day:

After our delicious animal style hamburgers we went to Ghirdelli square.

We walked into a couple of stores on the square and was given a complimentary square of chocolate filled with creamy caramel. J Mmm… now that’s what I’m talkin’ about !

We also walked over to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Tons of street vendors, people perfoming for a price,

people playing music for tips, and bums just plain asking for money to buy their next beer.

[At least he's honest, eh?]

Sam took a picture of a bum. He insisted it would be better if one of us were in it with him. So I jumped right in...I dunno, what do you think? :)

Then it was Sam's turn when we found the next one.

[No worries, Ma. We didn't contribute to their bad habits. :) But we didn't give them a passalong card either :( Next time. ]

After watching a bunch of boys break dancing, I’ve decided that they are the most fit people in the world. Ever. Their abs, arms, thighs, everything! Was super toned! Perhaps I should take up that sport.

We also passed a boy in front of a winery. He called to us and wanted us to come over to talk to him. Probably so that he could get us to try some wine. Gick! We got ice cream next door. On the way back we were going to pass the same place again, (For the 4th time that day...) but then spotted the boy and made a hasty 180. That wasn’t awkward…or cowardly…. ;)

There was also a guy who was holding bundles of branches who jumped out at Sam and I. (Come to find out, he's pretty much famous. Everybody who's been to S.F. [and some who haven't] know about this "Bush Guy") Terrified the both of us.

We got back into the parking garage. We found the car, just didn't know how to get to it... well we did know how to get to it... it's just not the route most people go.

11:30 pm

Just got back from Wicked!!!

It was totally wicked!!!! Oh my AMAZING!!! It was fantastic, brilliant, wonderful!! The talent on stage (and under the stage) was phenomenal.

I also got my first (and second) ever ride in a taxi!

The ride cost $6 one way for LESS than a mile. [Less than a mile, it's true. We could have walked. But we were recommended against it by our In-N-Out friends. They told us we would be walking through an area with homeless people. And while they might not harm us, it would be awkward. Plus, we got to hail a taxi!] Yikes! I’m glad I don’t need a taxi very often! Din din at Burger King. Gosh! I’m burgered out. Where’s my tacos?!

There was a guy in B.K. who was mumbling the whole time. “Turrets.” Sam said , matter of Factly ;) ) Not gonna lie, it kinda freaked me out. Also, while I was sitting there stuffing my face with the last burger of the day, the boys who played “Fiyero” and “Boq” walked past the window we were eating by. They were handsome. And I was... not ('member? Shoving a chicken burger into my mouth so we could leave the crazy man behind). Let's not talk about that part. ;)

Time for bed!

Californ-I-A or Bust!

"It feels like I'm running at an incredible rate of speed!"

Last month I took a trip to Cali with Sam. We had a blast. I kept a log. Every day. Here it is. Along with some awesome pictures too :)

9 April 2010

9:15 am

Leaving Rexburg! Heading south on I-15.

9:23 am

We forgot Thom L

11:42 am

Gas at Garden of Eden near Twin Falls. Kylie paid. $40.01. There’s Krispy Kremes inside. I’m resisting…

2:58 pm (1:58 pacific time...we crossed the border)

We just got back on I-80 after stopping at Arctic Circle for lunch in Elko, Nevada. They have the best fries. Yum J

4:34 pm

Stopped in Lovelock for gas. Shanna pre-paid (old pumps J ) $40.00. The gas station is called, “Two Stiffs Selling Gas”. Hahahaha! J Photo shoot at the gas station.

I’m really craving some chocolate right about now… I bought a couple waters. No tax. I asked about it. The attendant told me unless I put the water in the microwave, which she recommended against because that would be yucky, there was no tax on the water. Following my blank and confused stare she told me if food was microwaved it would be considered “Restaurant food” and therefore would be taxed.

Also, I’m pretty sure I’m getting sunburned through the windshield….

5:47 pm

Sam and I have received new names. I’m Captain Random, and she’s Captain Obvious. Personally, I’m just happy I’m Captian of something. J

And this road! It just keeps coming!! *Dramatic sigh*.

6:28 pm

White Chevy van keeps getting in our way.

“Get your Astro out of our way!” –kt

6:33 pm

Almost rear-ended Astro. Close call… but they totally would have deserved it… ;)

9:48 pm

Pit stop at Burger King. Kylie got directions from her Dad that differed from Garmin’s. Ugh. Lost. (stink eye w/ nose curl) Hopefully Garmin can get us back on track.

Some time later that night…

Dropped Shanna off to her Mom J And yes, Garmin did get us there. He’s taking us to our destination. No disputes.

12:03 am (1:03 Mtn)

Finally! Got to Kylie’s! Get me outta this car! Mmmm, home for the night. Where’s my bed?

That's it for day one. And it just gets better! More to come shortly.

I always feel like....

Sometimes I get paranoid. My latest paranoia is this. Who reads my blog? It's open to EVERYONE... in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. And it kinda freaks me out. Just a little. But still enough that I believe I am soon going to be making my blog private. Sooo, if there are more than my known 2 readers and you want one of those special little invites to my blog, let me know and I'll make it happen :)

February Fun

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Well I'm back with a blog to knock your socks off. Or not. At the very least it will give you something to read for five minutes. :)

At the beginning of the month, my friend Ryan Scott Hales threw an Groundhog Party. We all celebrated by wearing hats.

Ryan Hales in his hat with his Macbook Pro. (He has good taste!)

Travis as the hat parade emcee

A few of the hats at the party:

(Marie's hat is in her hand...)

Love Celeste's face in this next one... :)

A week ago, my ward had a luau. Complete with a roasted pig!

Annj outfitted Celeste and I in her authentic Hawaiian attire. Thanks Annj!! I loved wearing it :) I'm sort of in a weird pose. I'm not sure what I was doing. (Oh, wait. I remember. Heh, I was trying to appear skinny... don't think it worked....)

Here's the main course!

Yum! .... Kinda not the most attractive boar in the world (Is there such a thing, anyways?) But the Man who showed me the pig said I had to kiss the pig as payment. So I did.

The photographer was little too quick with the shutter and clicked right before my lips met the pig's snout. J/K ;) Ick. My lips were not going to get any closer to that swine.

A couple mens in my ward bringing the pork in. Looks heavy.

Bobbie was ready to dig right in!

And Celeste was hesitant...

Despite the somewhat grotesque appearance of the porker, it tasted pretty good. Real good. Especially with the caterer's special sauce. :) After all the meat from the insides was eaten, people were coming back for (and fighting over who got) the ears and tongue. Blech.

Moving on in the fun of February. A week ago Celeste and I went on a double date. Our dates took us down to Red Robin in Idaho Falls. LOVE that place! Celeste's date was Moto Moto, and my date was Bruce Wayne. AKA, Batman.

When we walked in the hostess asked, "Table for two?" This is pretty much my favorite part of the night: We replied, "No, four, please". She took us over to a table and we all sat down. Well, Moto Moto stood. The waiter came by and took our drink orders. A few minutes later he asked if we would like to order then or wait for the others in our party to show up. We pointed to our dates and told him they were already here.

He looked at us like we were crazy! It's not THAT weird.... ;) We ordered our food and got to know each other better while we were waiting for our food to come.

The waiter soon returned with our food. One of the best things about Red Robin is the fact that they have bottomless fries. Oh baby. That was Moto Moto's favorite part. He ordered an extra basket. The waiter came back to tell him that they were making more fries and that it would be a couple more minutes. Right to Moto Moto. Just then, another waiter was washing the table next to ours and gave our waiter a baffled expression. Priceless. :)

Moto Moto ate the whole thing.

The food was fantastic, and very filling. Batman had to lay down and fat dog it for a minute.

The date went well, and I think the boys liked us!

Bruce even gave me a kiss!