Friday-- winding to a close

I know I have kept everyone waiting in anticipation for our next moves and the view from Zion National Park in the morning, but watching Avitar and finishing the 2 last books in the Hunger Games sequal have kept me severely busy!

So, lets go... onto the next marathon day of adventure. I would have to say this one was one of the tops. Actually, looking back on the trip, its hard to choose which adventure was my favorite, but this one was the most scenic.

Wake Up: 8AM (ish) -- here is our view from our cabin--

AMAZING!! I think this post might have to consist of a majority of photographs because words are hard to express the beauty and majesty of the cliffs surrounding us.

When we awoke it was still about 30 degrees outside, so we loaded up our layers of clothes and headed to the lodge from breakfast before a morning hike. We left the lodge around 9:30AM and needed to check out by noon... our aim was to do a mini hike. I checked out the guide books and looked for one that should have lasted us an hour. Emerald Pools trail... here we come!

Please notice that my full anticipation of whats ahead includes a ski band and sweatshirt...

We made it to the 'lower pools' in what seemed like 10 minutes, so the hour long hike was a little to amateur for our taste and we pushed ahead... shedding layers as we went. The new glorious views at every turn tempted us to continue even though we both left our phones in our room and had no concept how long this adventure was going to take us... we marched on.

More layers down... and more views conquered... new trails kept running into each other so we had to keep exploring...

I wanted to turn back way earlier, but we were thankful to find some other hikers to take a picture of us, and Matt needed to sit and take in the sights while is awas patiently soaking in the sights myself...

Once we made it back to the flat we started our jog back to the lodge to shower and move on to the next adventure. We made it back to our room by 11:15AM (2 hours of hiking and 4.5 miles down) We actually completed 3 separate hikes during our rampage through the forest... And I was nervous we were going to run out of time?

Can worry add any minutes to your life? I guess not!

Thursday Night

Now we hit the road hard... no more lolly gagging on the West Coast :( 

Next Destination Las Vegas-- but on the way we needed to book a hotel room for the night.

I'm still resistant to having my own smart phone, but I don't think we could have completed this journey without Matt's iPhone in hand. We booked just about everything from the car. Unfortunately we forgot to bring the car charger, so we had to conserve the battery. Watching the battery wane away just added more risk and excitement to the adventure.

Google: Zion Natinal Park -- only one option for lodging popped up and... the lodge inside the park! I called and they meet all of our criteria: 1) Arrival between 10PM & 1AM 2) Less that $100 3) Clean

So we booked the room and drove on down the road. Neveda here we come... As we crossed the border we found an exit lit up like it was Disney world... all you needed was the ability to gamble and all of a sudden hotels and roller coasters arrive decked out with millions of blinking lights. They even had slot machines in the gas station...

We were headed to Vegas and arrived at 6:52PM-- Our goal, eat dinner and be headed out by 8PM-- could we do it? Well, good news for us there is a FREE parking deck next to the MGM Grand. So, we pulled in and headed to Craft Steak.

**Another Top Chef Favorite** Head Judge Tom Colicchio's place. Would we be able to get in?

No problem! We walked striaight up to the Host Stand in our sweat shirts and asked if we could sit at the bar... sure thing... we found two vacant stools and ordered some drinks and a 'few' items off the menu... scallops, snap peas, mushroom assortment and a flat iron steak!

The steak melted in my mouth llke nothing else, creamy yet meaty at the same time... How do they do that? I will say the service wasn't that great, but the food made up for it and we got to plug in the phone, which gave us just enough juice to make through the cliffs into Zion by Midnight.

8:10PM, enough time to cruise down the strip before hitting the road again.

We were lucky enough to pass the Bellagio while the fountain show was going off. 

2-3 hours more to drive... getting a little sleepy, but determined to make it. We were hitting a lul when the full moon started bouncing off of cliffs all around us. It was mesmorizing! I felt like I was riding a roller coaster through the cliffs and Matt enjoyed stearing the Jetta through the twists and turns.

The last hour had us on the edge of our seats. In the middle of nowhere, gas and iPhone battery dwindeling down and the temperature quickly dropping from the 80+ earlier that day to 30 when we climbed out of the car to check into the lodge.

To our room to plug in our electronics, turn on the heat and get some sleep...

On our way to Zion

At this point, our plan only included returning our rental car to the Denver Airport by 6:30PM on Saturday, but not sure what adventures awaited us on the way... Grand Canyon? Skiing? Tijuana?

Robin & Rob steered us away from Tijuana (We were only 15 miles away, but safety changes dramatically as you edge towards the border). We were sad not to use our passports, but thankful for the adventure we got to have.

We were also thinking possible Grand Canyon, but a few things deterred us from there. 1) My parents were going just a few days after us and it would have been sad to just barely miss them & we would get to see their pictures. 2) We learned that it would have taken us a half day to drive in and then not be able to see everything we want 3) We mapped a route through southern Utah that took us through Zion National Park, a one of a kind treat! 

We will take a trip to the Grand Canyon at some point... anyone want to go with us? 

The water was FREEZING!!

So, out of the zoo we headed North towards the La Jolla area of San Diego to say good bye to the beach for the last time. 

Thanks to the iPhone we found a route that wound our way towards Las Vegas and passed through the Torrey Pines Golf Course (only a slight 30 minute detour)-- 2PM and about 8 hours of driving to go. 

Heading back East... still a lot to do!

In the OB neighborhood of San Diego credit cards are almost non-exitant and chain stores are no where to be found. It is truly a gem. So, Robin & Ron walked us down the street to a quaint beach cafe for breakfast. We ordered 'to go' and walked another block to sit on some benches overlooking the Pacific Ocean. What a glorious morning!

We had quite a bit to accomplish before heading East so we needed the nourshiment... Matt's breakfast burrioto was stuffed with everything from avacados to french fries and my breakfast scramble mixed potatoes, eggs, and veggies! Yum!

See my tip toes :) I keep trying to get taller.

Life time friends!
Breath taking views
Delicious food!

After breakfast we headed to the San Diego Zoo. Thankfully Robin had some day passes to spare for Matt and I. That was a big treat since we only had an hour and half to spend before moving to the next location.

We arrived at the zoo at 10:30AM and picked up a map. One of the fun things for me to do is plan... so I devised a route for us to make it through the entire park and be out the door by noon. -- We did it... jumped in the car at 12:15 after seeing all of the exhibits. Seriously, a whirlwind, but so glad we did it.

The camels were my favoriate. They had a bunch of different kinds.

Real Elphants!

We can't go anywhere with out Matt asking me to climb on something for a photo op!

On our way out of the park we rode the Sky Train back to the Entrance. 

On a mission! 

Lions, Tigers & Bears Oh MY!

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!