California

In between Winter and Spring semesters we get a 10 day break. At the beginning of the semester my roommates and I discussed going to California over the break. Eventually people dropped out but three of us stayed strong and decided to still go! Liz, Bekah, and I had the best time!

Salt Lake

We were planning on leaving Rexburg and driving straight to my house so that morning we really didn't get ready. As we got closer to Salt Lake, Liz and I realized that Bekah (who was asleep in the back...go figure!) had never really been to Salt Lake. So we took like a five hour detour. We visited Gateway Mall and Temple Square and then got tours of the Beehive House and the Conference Center. We finished the day off by eating dinner at Crown Burger. Yum! Here are some pictures (please excuse the ugliness!) Bekah and I infront of the Salt Lake Temple

Liz and me (we were so glad to see plants actually blooming!)

Las Vegas, baby!

While we were planning our trip we decided it would be fun to stop in Las Vegas on the way. Liz and Bekah had never experienced Vegas so it was a pretty exciting experience...haha. We got there in the afternoon and walked the strip. My advice would be to never wear a pair of sandals that you haven't broken in while walking down the strip. Our feet were absolutely killing us!

Bekah and me at the Bellagio Fountains

Definitely not as cool as the real Eiffel Tower....

CALIFORNIA!!

On Sunday afternoon we made the long and treacherous journey for Pasadena. Map Quest told us that it should take about 4 hours from Vegas to Pasadena, but the traffic was horrendous. I have never seen so many cars driving in the middle of nowhere before. We just kept hoping that the traffic would go away, but we weren't so fortunate. It took us over 6 hours to get to Pasadena but I would have driven much longer to enjoy California weather! We were so lucky to be able to stay with Liz's Great Aunt and Uncle for free. Without them there is no way we could have afforded the trip. They had a twin home and we got to stay in the half that no one lives in. Her Uncle Bob provided us with lots of map and with some yummy food. The first day we just wanted to relax. We drove up along the coast north of Malibu and it was so beautiful. We spent the afternoon at the beach which is all I wanted! As a reminder, we were using the maps and we did so well. We would start going the wrong direction, but atleast we knew when we were! Later that night we met up with Liz's cousin and he took us out for some great Mexican and to an A-mazing ice cream place called Handel's.

Us back in the car before driving to San Bernadino for dinner

The next day was exhausting! We rode the metro and went to China Town, Hollywood, and then finally Long Beach. It took us over 3 hours to get home by the time we had worked our way out. We became quite the pros at changing trains and freeways!

The last day we decided we wanted to go around the Newport Beach area. But...we got a flat tire! We pulled over, changed the flat (yes, my Dad was very proud!) and then we spent the rest of the day on the phone trying to get directions to a Goodyear Tire. We then went out to dinner with Liz's Uncle and then went the the Santa Monica pier which was beautiful. I did a horrid job taking pictures and so my roommates have all of those, oh well.

At the time California was experiencing a "cold" front. This didn't surprise us, because we only figured we would bring the cold weather somehow! All the Californians were complaining about the cold. We just wanted to tell them to move to Rexburg and experience REAL cold.

We had so much fun! I was able to come home and spend sometime with my family (yes, the parents were actually home this time..) I'm glad I decided to go and that everything worked out so well. Thanks for the car, Rachel!