road trip 2008!
So I started a new blog so I could write about my road trip and put the pictures in with the text more easily, since apparently you can't upload pics to lj anymore, or maybe you never could, I'm really not sure. But here's a text-only version for my own reference:
So on Thursday, July 10, 2008, Debbie and I left for our road trip across the country, from Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles, CA! My car was beyond packed and we were prepared to spend way too many hours in the car, and ready with some mix CDs made for us by some wonderful friends.
day one we headed to Chicago, where we stayed with Debbie's friend Kate. So we got to Chicago and decided that it looked like it had stopped raining so we would try to go out for dinner. Of course on the way there the sky decided to open up on us and we got soaked. We went to dinner at a place I definitely don't remember the name of, but it was an English-style pub and it was nice. Rained on us again when we were walking back to the apartment, but that time it was okay because we could chance when we got inside. Pretty much went right to bed after that, since we had a very long day ahead of us the next day!
DAY TWO- Friday July 11, 2008
got up bright and early and got on the road. Made it through the lovely state of Iowa, where we gave a shout out to Vicki for being daring enough to live there, and stopped at what is apparently the largest truck stop in the world.
Other than that, Iowa wasn't very interesting. But Nebraska was even less interesting. Listened to lots of country music while driving through Nebraska, because it just seemed like the right thing to do.
We did manage to drive under the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. Had no idea what that was, and didn't get my camera out fast enough to take a pic, but there was a nice sign advertising it at Arby's. Unfortunately, the genius girls working at Arby's also had no idea what it was or why it was built. We probably should have realized we were getting ourselves into trouble when we got to Arby's and saw this on the door: (Arby's was out of roast beef).
The girls working there were also rather perplexed with the idea of taking our orders or getting our food. The whole experience there was quite ridiculous.
When we finally made it out of Arby's, we soon also made it out of Nebraska, thank god. Colorado was much better.
We finally made it to Nathan's place near Denver, the last hour or so of that drive once it got dark out was really not fun... all we really wanted to do when we got there was sleep. Hung out for just a little bit before getting some much-needed rest. Luckily we weren't driving the next day.
DAY THREE- Saturday, July 12, 2008
Got to sleep in a bit, and just lounge around in the morning instead of hitting the road, which was really quite wonderful. We went met up with Nathan's roommate for some yummy breakfast, and made a stop at Wal-Mart before going to relax for a while longer and watch some TV (got to catch up on thursday's SYTYCD, yay!). Then we headed to Nathan's aunt's house for his cousin's birthday party, which turned out to be a really fun party. Amazing food, fun people, the best crackers I have ever eaten, good times.
After the party, we just went back to Nathan's to have a few drinks, play a few games, and the details of that night, well... what happens in Denver stays in Denver. oh wait, maybe that's supposed to be Vegas!
DAY FOUR- July 13, 2008
Sunday morning we got up bright and early to get on the road for... Vegas!!! We drove all the way across Colorado, which is an absolutely beautiful state. I really need to go back there for a vacation someday, it was so pretty!
Then we got to Utah... a little pretty at times, but also filled with things like signs that said "no services next 150 miles" which is never good...
Eventually we got out of Utah, cut quickly through Arizona, and made it to Nevada!! Got into Vegas and checked into our hotel- Circus Circus, which really was a circus when we got there... it was quite crowded and we had to wait in line to check in. Managed to get ready at the speed of light, then headed down the strip to the Wynn, which was just plain amazing.
We walked around the hotel (I feel wrong saying hotel, since every hotel in Vegas is kind of like it's own little city) for a bit, met up with Mat who recommended a restaurant that wouldn't cost us more than our lives were worth, so we went and ate there. No idea which one it was but it was a cafe-type place that had very yummy food. After dinner we each gambled away $5, well Debbie gambled away her money and i actually won 80 cents- high rollers, I know. Nickel slots are the way to go! We walked back outside for a bit to see what the strip looked like once it was dark out.
We finished wasting time and then it was finally time to go see Le Reve!!! Absolutely amazing show, I could believe the things people were doing! I guess it's not actually a cirque du soleil show but it's the same idea. The show is all in water, and at first it seems like most of the water is pretty shallow, then as the show went on people started doing all kinds of flips and drops and things into the water... soon enough they were lifting people up into the ceiling and dropping them! Totally crazy. There was some amazing dancing, even some ballroom couples that I guess were a recent addition to the show. Crazy gymnastics, and of course the type of totally insane stuff that I can't even describe. I absolutely loved it, and Mat Miller is forever my hero for getting us comp tickets! I need to see the show 17 more times so I can pick up on all the things I didn't see the first time- there's just so much going on at once all the time! AMAZING.
After the show, we met up with Mat for a drink, got to chat about the show and learn some of their secrets, as well as catch up with him for a bit since I hadn't seen him in over a year! He also had us go watch this weird light show thing at the pretty waterfall type fountain we had seen earlier.
At this point in the night I'm pretty sure Debbie was ready to kill me, but we walked around the strip for a while to see lots of fun things.
Once we (well, I) had seen enough of Vegas, we went back to the hotel to eagerly pass out in bed!
DAY FIVE- July 14, 2008
Got up in the morning and wandered the Circus Circus for a short bit, found some breakfast, then got back in the car for the last leg of our trip! It was a very nice and short drive from Vegas to LA, which we were thankful for. Got into town and went to Patrick (one of my new roommates)'s office to get a key to the house, then we were finally here! Unloaded the massive amounts of stuff from my car, then relaxed for just a little bit before taking Debbie out to see a bit of Hollywood!
WE MADE IT!!!!!
Walked around hollywood and highland for a bit, had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, then I took her to the airport and was actually on my own in LA- eek! Freaked out a little bit before heading home to shower and relax, and spent the evening hanging out with Patrick and a few of his friends.
So that was our roadtrip. Long, not really all that interesting, but if you made it this far I'm glad to have shared it with you!
So on Thursday, July 10, 2008, Debbie and I left for our road trip across the country, from Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles, CA! My car was beyond packed and we were prepared to spend way too many hours in the car, and ready with some mix CDs made for us by some wonderful friends.
day one we headed to Chicago, where we stayed with Debbie's friend Kate. So we got to Chicago and decided that it looked like it had stopped raining so we would try to go out for dinner. Of course on the way there the sky decided to open up on us and we got soaked. We went to dinner at a place I definitely don't remember the name of, but it was an English-style pub and it was nice. Rained on us again when we were walking back to the apartment, but that time it was okay because we could chance when we got inside. Pretty much went right to bed after that, since we had a very long day ahead of us the next day!
DAY TWO- Friday July 11, 2008
got up bright and early and got on the road. Made it through the lovely state of Iowa, where we gave a shout out to Vicki for being daring enough to live there, and stopped at what is apparently the largest truck stop in the world.
Other than that, Iowa wasn't very interesting. But Nebraska was even less interesting. Listened to lots of country music while driving through Nebraska, because it just seemed like the right thing to do.
We did manage to drive under the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. Had no idea what that was, and didn't get my camera out fast enough to take a pic, but there was a nice sign advertising it at Arby's. Unfortunately, the genius girls working at Arby's also had no idea what it was or why it was built. We probably should have realized we were getting ourselves into trouble when we got to Arby's and saw this on the door: (Arby's was out of roast beef).
The girls working there were also rather perplexed with the idea of taking our orders or getting our food. The whole experience there was quite ridiculous.
When we finally made it out of Arby's, we soon also made it out of Nebraska, thank god. Colorado was much better.
We finally made it to Nathan's place near Denver, the last hour or so of that drive once it got dark out was really not fun... all we really wanted to do when we got there was sleep. Hung out for just a little bit before getting some much-needed rest. Luckily we weren't driving the next day.
DAY THREE- Saturday, July 12, 2008
Got to sleep in a bit, and just lounge around in the morning instead of hitting the road, which was really quite wonderful. We went met up with Nathan's roommate for some yummy breakfast, and made a stop at Wal-Mart before going to relax for a while longer and watch some TV (got to catch up on thursday's SYTYCD, yay!). Then we headed to Nathan's aunt's house for his cousin's birthday party, which turned out to be a really fun party. Amazing food, fun people, the best crackers I have ever eaten, good times.
After the party, we just went back to Nathan's to have a few drinks, play a few games, and the details of that night, well... what happens in Denver stays in Denver. oh wait, maybe that's supposed to be Vegas!
DAY FOUR- July 13, 2008
Sunday morning we got up bright and early to get on the road for... Vegas!!! We drove all the way across Colorado, which is an absolutely beautiful state. I really need to go back there for a vacation someday, it was so pretty!
Then we got to Utah... a little pretty at times, but also filled with things like signs that said "no services next 150 miles" which is never good...
Eventually we got out of Utah, cut quickly through Arizona, and made it to Nevada!! Got into Vegas and checked into our hotel- Circus Circus, which really was a circus when we got there... it was quite crowded and we had to wait in line to check in. Managed to get ready at the speed of light, then headed down the strip to the Wynn, which was just plain amazing.
We walked around the hotel (I feel wrong saying hotel, since every hotel in Vegas is kind of like it's own little city) for a bit, met up with Mat who recommended a restaurant that wouldn't cost us more than our lives were worth, so we went and ate there. No idea which one it was but it was a cafe-type place that had very yummy food. After dinner we each gambled away $5, well Debbie gambled away her money and i actually won 80 cents- high rollers, I know. Nickel slots are the way to go! We walked back outside for a bit to see what the strip looked like once it was dark out.
We finished wasting time and then it was finally time to go see Le Reve!!! Absolutely amazing show, I could believe the things people were doing! I guess it's not actually a cirque du soleil show but it's the same idea. The show is all in water, and at first it seems like most of the water is pretty shallow, then as the show went on people started doing all kinds of flips and drops and things into the water... soon enough they were lifting people up into the ceiling and dropping them! Totally crazy. There was some amazing dancing, even some ballroom couples that I guess were a recent addition to the show. Crazy gymnastics, and of course the type of totally insane stuff that I can't even describe. I absolutely loved it, and Mat Miller is forever my hero for getting us comp tickets! I need to see the show 17 more times so I can pick up on all the things I didn't see the first time- there's just so much going on at once all the time! AMAZING.
After the show, we met up with Mat for a drink, got to chat about the show and learn some of their secrets, as well as catch up with him for a bit since I hadn't seen him in over a year! He also had us go watch this weird light show thing at the pretty waterfall type fountain we had seen earlier.
At this point in the night I'm pretty sure Debbie was ready to kill me, but we walked around the strip for a while to see lots of fun things.
Once we (well, I) had seen enough of Vegas, we went back to the hotel to eagerly pass out in bed!
DAY FIVE- July 14, 2008
Got up in the morning and wandered the Circus Circus for a short bit, found some breakfast, then got back in the car for the last leg of our trip! It was a very nice and short drive from Vegas to LA, which we were thankful for. Got into town and went to Patrick (one of my new roommates)'s office to get a key to the house, then we were finally here! Unloaded the massive amounts of stuff from my car, then relaxed for just a little bit before taking Debbie out to see a bit of Hollywood!
WE MADE IT!!!!!
Walked around hollywood and highland for a bit, had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, then I took her to the airport and was actually on my own in LA- eek! Freaked out a little bit before heading home to shower and relax, and spent the evening hanging out with Patrick and a few of his friends.
So that was our roadtrip. Long, not really all that interesting, but if you made it this far I'm glad to have shared it with you!