San Diego: in San Diego we had the pleasure of staying with some amazing family friends of mine. Only having met them once before Charlie and Lynda were so welcoming. They made us steaks the first night we were there, made us feel right at home, and feed us some much needed home cookin. While we were there we got to visit the San Diego Zoo and one of the local beaches on the coast. The San Diego Zoo was awesome! It is huge and had animals I've never even heard of; one of them being a combination of a zebra and a horse. Our favorite was definitely the polar bear exhibit. There were three of them and two of which were natural entertainers. Playing with their toys and one another the crowd was impressed and the bears seemed to be enjoying themselves. After the zoo we went out in search for a beach. After a lot of driving around we found a spot to sit and take in out first view of the Pacific. I took a short nap... and Nadeen... well she sat there and stared at the waves :) That night Charlie cooked us his famous fried chicken (knowing that Nadeen lives fried chicken and is going through Bojangles withdrawals). The rest of their family came over and once again we felt right at home and enjoyed a nice home cooked meal.
Los Angeles: Our original intent on going to L.A was to see a taping of the Ellen show. Well we didn't get tickets in advance because they never called us back but we were still hoping to get the day of tickets... well that didn't happen. Apparently it is very hard to get in touch with Ellen or anyone that works with the show. So we ended up just winging it. We went to Hollywood and got a picture with the sign and we took another opportunity and went to the beach. Unfortunately it was extremely windy and Nadeen wasn't feeling well so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Big Sur: Big Sur was the place I was most excited about on the west coast. Its listed in the book of 100 places to see in America and I was excited to see the sea life and the coast in a not so commercialized area. It was BEAUTIFUL! On the way to Big Sur we got to stop and see a bunch of elephant seals that were relaxing on the coast. This was super cool. They were very vocal and seemed undisturbed by all the people peeking in on them. We continued on and enjoyed two nights at the Big Sur State Park campground. The first night we tried to make it to the sunset but couldn't make it to the beach area in time. The trail a ranger had told us to take would have required us to walk across a river that was realllly cold (I know because I started walking across, thinking Nadeen would come behind me like she had said, but really she just got a picture and I was left cold and wet). We got some pictures from the side of the road and made it for a sunset the next night instead (at a different beach area we had spent most of the day at).
The morning of leaving Big Sur was Nadeen's Birthday!!! We had planned to get up early and go take a tour of Pointe Sur Lighthouse. The tour was about 2.5 hours long and after that we were headed to Fresno to continue the celebration of Nadeen's 24th. The lighthouse tour was cool. We saw dolphins and seals on our way up to the top.
Fresno: Getting to Fresno was exciting for the both of us. I was excited to take a shower after not having access to one in Big Sur.. and Nadeen was excited that it was HER BIRTHDAY!! haha We checked into the hotel, cleaned up, did some research on places to eat and movies to see, and then headed out. Nadeen chose to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. Dinner got off to a rocky start with Nadeen sitting outside while I searched all over the mall parking lot for a parking spot. Nadeen sat at the table for a good 12 minutes ( 3 of which I was present for) waiting for someone to greet her... never happened. So we went back inside and asked for a new table that we then had to wait even longer for. Luckily I think it was worth the wait. We ended up with an awesome server. Nadeen enjoyed a few drinks and a lot of food and of course some cheesecake. We walked out with two bags of food to eat the next day. I love it when I get two meals out of one!! The food was great and Nadeen left feeling great :) Following dinner we went to see a movie. We ended up having to wait for an hour in the car until the movie started but I would rather kill time that way than settle for seeing "How to Train Your Dragon" (which was apparently number 1 at the box office this weekend), instead we saw "Backup Plan" which was pretty cute.
We have spent a lot of time in Fresno so far and we aren't done yet. On Sunday we were supposed to go to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park but after some research we found out that a lot of the roads were closed up that way due to snow so we voted against that for the time being and we went to the Fresno Mall instead. We decided to get a little shopping out of our system (one reason we're going to run out of money early). I got a pair of new shoes, Nadeen got TWO new pairs of shoes (there's something wrong with this), new jeans for me, and a new dress and jewelry for Nadeen. Overall Sunday was another GREAT day! And we ended it by eating at my favorite burger places ever... IN-N-OUT.
Death Valley: Next stop... Death Valley National Park! I can describe Death Valley in 2 words: FREAKING HOT! We hit 101 degree weather and Nadeen was about to die. Neither of us slept that night.. tent camping when it's that hot is not recommended by either of us. The day we arrived we went out to the lowest point in the US which is 282 ft below sea level... still hot there! We walked through a field of salt, went on a scenic drive, watched the sunset over the mountains, grilled some chicken fingers, played cards, and attempted to go to sleep. This is how most nights go. After a restless night in the heat we decided to make a trip to the sand dunes and head back toward Fresno and closer to the destination for tomorrow... Yosemite National Park. Tonight we went out to play some a couple rounds of mini golf and Nadeen hit the batting cages. Nadeen opened the first round with a Hole In One (after saying she was no good) but we both won a round and Nadeen hit about 8 out of 20 medium speed pitches. Props to her because I was too scared to even try.
Well I think I covered it all. Tomorrow is still up in the air for us. Its supposed to be snowing at Yosemite for the next couple days and raining in the rest of California. The only definite it that we will again be staying in Fresno for the next 4 nights... AND my mom is coming in town on Friday!! YAY :)
I'm super excited to see her and make it possible for her to see a part of the US she has always wanted to visit.
Until next time...
Amanda
How brave of you, camping in Death Valley. Undertaking a long road trip is pretty brave, too. I always wanted to do that, and probably won't now, but one never knows ...if my husband suggests it, I just might not say "no"! Wishing you lots of luck with your travels.
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