Wednesday's adventures Continue

What should we get into next? 

Can you tell how windy it was? 

I needed to add another jacket before we headed down the Venice Boardwalk. 

Its hard to put into words what you see walking down Venice beach, but I enjoyed the people watching.

One thing that stood out was all of the places to get diagnosed for a prescription of medical marijuana. All you have to do is pay $40, check a few boxes on a 'medical assessment' and there you go to get your toke on!

We opted to pass at this point... and headed down the Pacific Coast Highway towards San Diego.

It took way too long to get out of the LA area around 4PM, so we eaked down "The 1" and stopped for some breathtaking photo opts...
Laguna Beach at Sunset melted our hearts (and thats a good thing, because my patience was wearing out and an irritating fight was just about getting ready to start)... something about the awe of creation (and the chance to pee) brought me out of my funk.

Then, onto San Diego where we met up with Robin and Ron. Robin and I were roommates when Matt and I met and hadn't seen each other in years. We got to meet her fiance and they graciously hosted us at the last minute and showed us a great time in OB Sand Diego.

I think this night's Cerviche tacos actually competed with the butter poached lobster from Chicago.

After dinner were spent the night hanging out their brand new hot tub! Another amazing evening full of great conversation and reconnecting with good friends. But, we must press on to the next destination...

Food Truck App

One thing that you might not know, is how much my husband loves food trucks... the few twitter accounts he follow include 2 friends and 3 food trucks (Klausie's Pizza!)... so, we discovered a new App: "roaminghunger"-- bad news for the Raleigh folks-- none of the trucks in our area show up, but in LA there are lots! 

After a slow morning and a Rowe stroll down Rodeo Drive we started to get hungry... lets check the app... then look directly to the left... GRILLED CHEESE FOOD TRUCK... 

Matt waited in line for about 45 minutes to order his two sandwhiches (honey, pear & brie and gueyre on french) with tots... it was a little breezy in the shade, so I went exploring to find my favorite meal... a gormet salad. 

Once we picked up or dreamy lunch, we walked back to our hotel past the movie trailers out front to sit on the balcony over looking the studio and enjoyed a delightful meal in the sun. 

Matt's art

Sunny California

As we headed out we asked the valet driver why there were all of the movie trailers in front of the hotel and found out that Season 4 of Castle was being filmed in the hotel. We are now determined to figure out which episode we were close enough to touch. Unfortunately, we didn't meet or see and famous people, but we did see some folks walking out of the elevator carrying a suspicious piece of artwork... we think it might be a clue! 

Enough of dreaming that we were celebrities... onto Venice Beach

First Evening in California

After loading up the Jetta, we trusted Matt's iPhone to take us to Dona Rosa's in Pasadena to meet up with the Myers. It wasn't too far from the airport, but we had to merge on what seemed to me (as the navigator) like a zillion highways, so after a few detours and recalculations later we made it to Dona Rosa and were greeted by a sweet Mariachi band!

Negro Modelo-- yes please!! Good food and great conversation. We got to meet the little Myer and catch up with Shannon and Dave. I love that we were able to connect on substantial topics and share real life even when not seeing our friends over long stretches of time.

Then onto the Hotel (we were ready for sleep!) This time we were able to score an amazing deal on priceline... Century City Intercontinental Hotel about a mile from Rodeo drive and in the middle of production studios.

Opening the door to our room was like walking into a litle slice of paradise. I don't even know what the thread counts on the sheets were and I'm pretty sure that both Matt and I were able to go completely spread eagle on the gynormous bed without touching each other.

Glorious Sleep!

The first snafoo

We learned a few lessons about planning trips last minute. Lesson 1: Its tons of fun and totally worth it!

Lesson 2: When booking multiple things in a rushed fashion online while trying to get the best deals possible, some details are hard to catch.

The rental car... We were surprised that we could book a rental car so cheaply from Long Beach and drop it off in Denver. This was actually one of the main reasons that we decided to abandon our Craigslist search. We thought that Alamo & Priceline worked together to offer us an affordable driving adventure... well, not so much!

Apparently, when we booked the car we failed to double check that the drop off destination was Denver... oops! So, when we went to pick up our cute back Jetta and said "Denver on Saturday, right?"... the nice man behind the counter said, "Um, what? No, you are returning the car here..."

The email verification did not include drop off cities, but now we already had a flight out of Denver on Sunday... options... pay double the price? others?? we couldn't really come up with any other options at that point and Alamo worked with us quite a bit to get the price down as much as possible. What can you expect... picking up a car in Long Beach and Returning it Denver 5 days later and only expecting to pay $50 a day for unlimited miles?? That was reach, we know... but we thought we could have done it.

So, we sucked it up and reminded ourselves that this is vacation and we could afford it, just didn't want to. Jumped in the Jetta and headed up to Pasadena to see our friends Shannon & Dave Myer.

I should add that one of the reasons why I love my husband so much is that he remained calm during all of the negotiations and did not let this change of pace interrupt his Spirit. I'm thankful for his calm and cool demeanor and his ability to negotiate in seemingly stressful situations.

Day 3: Off to the West Coast

Backpack full and ready to move on to the next city. 

Beautiful views from the river walk. We had to take in the last bits of scenery before riding the L to O'Hare.

We woke up Tuesday morning and got ready to say Goodbye to Chicago. Our hotel offered free breakfast and then we took one last walk down the river to see the sights during day light, then onto the L and out to the air port where we hopped on our plane to Long Beach California.

Day 2: Chicago-- lunch and beyond

As I mentioned before, I hadn't eaten any gluten or dairy for about 8 months prior to this trip... but I was taking a break from my new reality and what better way then to get some Chicago Deep Dish Pizza... I had never experienced anything like it.

You order and then wait about 45 minutes for them to cook it to order and it comes out like an actual pie. Sausage and Mushroom? Yes Please!!

I am still recovering from the shock to my system... but it was O so delicious! 

After our relaxing and satisfying lunch we headed back outside where it felt like it already dropped about 10 degrees. We weren't sure how that was possible, but apparently it was... so on to the Art Institute (inside to get our culture and heat on).

The museum is huge and full of delightful artifacts, but we weren't really sure what was what so we walked through in a bout an hour and took in the sights that we could. Some of it was pretty amazing and some of it looked like I could have done it when I was in first grade. Sometimes I wonder who gets to decide what counts as 'art'??

After the museum we headed straight for the L to make it to the Oak Park Neighborhood before the sun went down. We wanted to see the prized architecture created by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a long ride, but well worth it and gave us a chance to see some of the city on our way there.

The museum was closed when we got there, but we still got take it some of the famous houses from the outside. Apparently, at one point in the year, you can pay a lot of money to get tours of the inside of the houses. If you are into architecture and design, that would be a great treat!

Matt is a great photographer! (And this was taken with an iPhone)

Back to the hotel to change our clothes and then another night of adventure at Lula Cafe. Lula is another local joint where they have farm fresh food and a more casual atmosphere. We had found out their our server (Chivan from Spiaggia)'s husband was the wine buyer for Lula! Small World.

My favorite part of this meal was the dessert. Some type of lemon custard and fresh berries, refreshing and delightful! I think I must be into lemon these days??

After dinner we weren't quite ready to head back yet and decided that we needed to walk... so we headed down the street that paralleled the L line. What you might not know is that all of the neighborhoods in Chicago aren't super populated, clean or safe... but, we headed down the road regardless. This time I had on a coat and gloves, so I was much more ready for a walk!

We safely made it passed multiple thrift stores on portions of il light streets with trash blowing around  until we found the more populate section... trendy and hip neighborhood of Wicker Park. This is where we spent a little bit of time exploring. We were still too full to stop in anywhere so we headed back on the L to the hotel and called it a night.

Day 2: The morning... and so much already done!

Matt and I got started slowly on Monday morning. We still hadn't figured out what we were doing post Tuesday at 11AM (when we needed to check out of the hotel) so, we got some coffee from the lobby, ordered room service and spent the morning on the computer mapping out routes across the country.

On our way to Spiaggia... dressed for snow right?

After being frozen to the core the night before we were feeling a hotter climate coming our way... LA here we come!! We booked a one way ticket to LA and signed up to rent a car that we could return in Denver 5 days later... I didn't know you could do that... but it was easier then finding a car to buy on Craigslist LA--

The initial plan was to buy a cheap car and sell it at the final destination, but after an hour or two of searching with no luck we opted for the rental.**Lesson Learned... buying a cheap car on Craigslist at the last minute does not always work... (BIG BLUE VAN WAS AN EXCEPTION!)

Now it was time to explore Chicago... it was so cold! We walked out of our hotel, around the block and quickly found ourselves in Macy's. Matt bought some gloves and I bought some tights. Then to Caribu Coffee to put my tights on and grab some warmth for the soul.

Millennial Park was the next stop. Looked at the lake, took some awesome pictures, walked and talked, watched people and then ice skating!! This happened to be one of my favorite parts of the trip, but Matt didn't love it as much as I did. The last time I had that much fun was at my niece Shiloah's 5th Birthday Party!! (Roller Skating) Its so relaxing (at least for those of us with a lower center of gravity and not as far to fall if you scrape on the ice.

For those of you who are getting tired or reading this post... I will adjourn and pick up with lunch next