It's been quiet around here lately. I had entertained ideas of blogging from the road, but as you can see, that did not happen. We have triumphantly returned from our journey to California and Las Vegas. It was a wonderful trip with temps in the 70s and 80s. We actually got back Wednesday evening and so were greeted Thursday morning by our first real dusting of snow. And then, of course, it dumped on us tonight. It would be more satisfying if this white junk had made it's inaugural appearance while we were running around the desert in shorts and t-shirts, but I guess we still get to brag about running around in shorts and t-shirts a mere 3 days ago.
We flew into Las Vegas on Thanksgiving day. We traveled with my mom, stepdad, and grandma and lucked into a mini van for a rental car. A couple of years ago we made this same trip and got a much smaller car. We were pretty cozy that year. The mini van afforded us the luxury of spreading out and relaxing during the drive to California. We drove through the desert and saw Joshua Tree and other desert treasures. This is a part of the country I'd never seen before, so it was interesting and beautiful in that unique way that the desert does beauty.
We stayed with family in California. I'd never been to visit them before so it was nice to get a chance to see where they live and explore their part of the country. Our hosts included two african boerboels (and yes, I had to look up the spelling on that) that are the biggest dogs I've ever seen and move in that slinky, feline way that lions move. They're huge teddy bears though, and they took the edge off of missing our own little zoo while we were gone.
Because we arrived on Thanksgiving day, we were welcomed with a fantastic Thanksgiving meal. We joked about how we'd come a long way for our turkey this year - but it was worth it! We were happy to be able to celebrate the holiday with our family, even though we were miles from home. And of course we were thankful for the warm reception and wonderful food that awaited us there!
A friend of mine had tipped me off that there are occasionally seals and sea lions at La Jolla beach in southern California, so we set out in search of the seals. Unfortunately, no seals were to be found - but it was still a gorgeous drive and an amazing beach. I'm so glad I got to see it. I had never been to the Pacific ocean and it's striking in contrast to the Atlantic. And COLD! We wandered down the little cliffside and peered into the tide pools to see all the little bits of wildlife the tide left behind. I was going to step off into the actual ocean, but it looked questionably deeper than it appeared from land. I had visions of myself stepping in and sinking up to my waist -- and I wasn't prepared for swimming, especially not after a wave curled up over the edge of the beach and I felt just exactly how cold that swim would be. Once the wave crashed over my foot I exclaimed "OK! I've been in the pacific ocean!" That was enough!
We spent our second day in California visiting a street fair. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the sun and wandering through all the vendors. After that, we set out in search of San Diego Chargers stuff. As a Chargers fan (for better or for worse) we thought that this would be a good opportunity to find stuff that we can't usually find at home. This was actually much harder to accomplish than one would think. Apparently there are a lot of Steelers fans in California. And, in one store at least, a lot of Iowa fans. Madness! We did finally find some things -- at Target, of all places (Oh, Target, I love you in all states!) and then settled in for a final evening with good food, good drinks, good conversation, and a beautiful evening by the outdoor fire. Todd said that this was one of his favorite vacations that we've taken - I think it's because our host and hostess thoroughly spoiled us!
From California we headed back to Las Vegas. We've been to Las Vegas 3 times in the last 3 years. We're becoming pros -- and it's starting to feel like a second home to us. We love the bright lights and constant activity. The first night in Vegas we stayed on Fremont Street - which was a first for us. We loved it! We love the feel of downtown Vegas. It feels cozier and more accessible and/or friendly than the strip. I told Todd that the next time we go to Vegas, I would like to stay the whole time downtown. That was, of course, before we got to our hotel on the strip.
Because this was the third time we'd been there, we had some comps that got us two free nights at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. We'd seen the hotel rooms before, but we'd forgotten just how awesome they were. And, of course, they're even more awesome when you're the one staying in them. We had two bathrooms, a living room, a ginormous bedroom, and a bath the size of a small pool. We were on the 32nd floor overlooking the strip, so our views were amazing. I kept saying that I'd be completely ready to go home if the hotel room we had wasn't so amazing. We had really good service there too - probably the best we've had anywhere in Vegas. Everyone was so nice and friendly. We had to store our luggage because we got there too early for check-in, so when the bellhop brought our luggage up we found out he was originally from Minnesota as well and we had about a 15 minute conversation about the Vikings. Football is the universal language of traveling in the U.S., it seems.
To summarize - we had a blast! It went so fast and we came home thoroughly exhausted. It's good to be home. We missed our animals and now the holiday season is starting to pick up speed so it's going to be a crazy month. These distractions are good while we wait for our lives to change, so the busy December will be a welcome one.
No comments:
Post a Comment