ROADTRIP TO CALIFORNIA - Playin' cattttch-up.

Be prepared--this may be a long one.

Sorry. SOrRRy! Sorry! I'm the worrrrst blog updater ever. Please have faith in me! I've been busy on the move for the sunshine state of Cal-i-fornia! So--last week Friday morning (October 8, 2010) my dad and I filled up the G6 at 4am and headed on our roadtrip out West.....

to drop me off for at least 4 months. Alone. (yep, weird) Most might be thinking...wHaaat? Well, yeah-your reaction is the same as mine. I have lived in my parents house for 21 years and have never left. Nothing like taking the HUGE leap of faith, eh?

Friday.October.8.2010:::: After sleeping through my alarm and dad coming downstairs to get my butt out of bed, I slowly roll out of my comfy sheets (not excited that I will not be in this bed until Christmas) and throw on some comfies for a long car ride. We left at 4:06am--riiiight on schedule! I slept the first 4 hours while I let Dad do the driving honors. I woke up mid-way through Iowa which was one of the most boring states to drive in. Going down US-151, my hub cap busted off (probably should have listened to Drew when he said I should've gotten my cracked hub cap fixed...whoops). I now have a ghetto lookin' left side of my vehicle. I guess it gives it character! ha.

Once my hub cap busted off I decided to take on the 7 hour drive through Nebraska, one of the flattest states! It was an easy drive on the I-80W. Nebraska is where the storm chasers go because you can see miles and miles ahead of you. As we crossed the border into Colorado, we hit what looked like might be a bad storm - luckily we missed it and only got a few sprinkles. Around 7:00 we fueled up and went to PIZZA HUT (which was the best pizza...maybe because we were just sooo hungry & anything n' everything could have been the best? haha). Our 8am McDonalds (yuck!) and pretzels could only hold us over for so long. At this point, Dad and I set off for the Colorado mountains --- we wanted to get a little ways into the mountains after Denver. I saw Lookout point and all of the city lights from a'far and went through The Eisenhower Tunnel which was 5 miles long under the mountain. We made it to Silverthorne and decided to call it quits!

Saturday.October.9.2010~~~~ 6am wake up call. On the road by 6:30.
Mmmkay--Scratch that. We made a pit stop to a Shell gas station to top off the gas and get 2 hot chocolates..it was FREAKin' ChiLLy out!! Needles to say, our pit stop took about 10 extra minutes due to my dad over filling his hot chocolate and then it spilling all over my hand when I tried to help him. hahahahaha. After repouring his serving, I got mine and headed out the door. Colorado is one of the most beautiful states. We went under, into, through and around the mountains - some topped off with snow, others still in their fall season. As we were going down the mountain there were signs everywhere telling truckers to go in low gear and there were off ramps in case their brakes went out---SCARY. We went through the cities of Avon, Breckenridge, Vail & topped it off with Grand Juction right before the Utah border. Now...I thought Colorado was beautiful...well I just hit a whole new type of beauty entering Utah! Utah might take the cake in my eyes! So much change in scenery from 1 mile to the next. I'd be surrounded by white canyons one minute, red canyons the next, then it'd change to multi-colored canyons, then trees would be everywhere and then you could only see the canyons from miles away. GORGEOUS!! We swung into Subway and a gas station--there was a "back to the future car". Dad says it's called "The Delarian".

Arizona - we only trickled through a sliver of it but what we saw was gorgeous. Virgin River Canyon.
Nevada here we comeeeeee...right when we hit the state line, CasinO-GALorE was thrown at us! We got off I-15 and Dad drove down Las Vegas Blvd...the streets were packed with tourists and it was complete CHAOS. So after being about halfway through, I told dad to get back on the hwy - it was super rad but I wasn't in the mood for an hour of bumper to bumper traffic. Once we passed Vegas, the ride got longer and we eventually hit California. We got into a town called Ontario, CA and decided to stay there for the night. My dad has a good buddy who is the Crew Chief for a NASCAR driver, David Ragen #6 - he landed us Pit Passes and Garage passes for the race in the morning so we hung out with the crew.

Sunday.October.10.2010 (10-10-10...whoahhhhh)
ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE.

Hit the road for the California Speedway - We were VIP and behind the scenes at the race the whole time. We got to hang out with the crews before the race in the garages, check out the cars on the track, stand with the crews during the National Anthem and got to sit in the pit area where the cars come into re-fuel and get new tires. I met Richard Petty "The King", William Fichtner (stars in "the dark night", "Prison Break", "Dodgeball", "Date Night" and many many more movies!), Kim Coates (from Sons of Anarchy) and NASCAR drivers Martin & Earnhardt Jr. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.

After the race, we set off for Encinitas, CA which is where both of my jobs are. We went to D Street Bar & Grill (my serving job) and checked out the food and atmosphere. We met up with my second cousins, Mike and Matt for some food and drinks. Afterwards, we headed to Bonnie's (my moms cousins) to check out my new temporary home for a few weeks! It's kind of crammed quarters right now but it's a beautiful place to call home for a short while - inground pool, hot tub, fresh vegetables and herbs and a running trail I can train on.

---ohh yeah. Side note: I'm thinking of signing up for the Death Valley Marathon. I'll talk about that in another blog :)

Monday.October.11.2010 - the Calm before the Storm
Drove up and down the coast with Dad - needless to say, the morning was quiet. I knew and Dad knew he was leaving his 1st born child in San Diego, CA - 2,200 miles away from home at 11:30am. We exploered the coastal roads through all of the beach towns and probably said a whole 10 sentences. I pulled into SD international airport, right by his terminal and the tears came. He squeezed me harder than he's ever held me. After the emotions, I was ready to get the heck on my way and DO SOMETHING!! I met up with my 2 friends who kind of, took me under their wing - Looney & Nate. We headed to PB [pacific beach] and went body surfing in the ocean. It was pretty much fricken awesome. I remember talking to Loones about sharks biting us as Nate & I headed the heck back to shore - to see him get dimolished by a HUGE wave. hahahaha. We screwed around on the shoreline while popped the kelp on the beach with our toes and heels ((new favorite obsession)), while loones pretended to be a dragon with the massive kelp he discovered. ha. We rode the "beach cruisers"--which are bikes but for the beach...kind of like mountain bikes?lol.

We headed to Ralph's Grocery store. [side note: you park in a garage and take a moving walking ramp up to the grocery store] Monday Night Football hit--we chowed on Tennessee's famous hot wings prepared by the one and only - then went home and slept!


Tuesday.October.12.2010 ---- CoRoNado (definition: Island off of SD, you take a big bridge over the SD bay)
Ran 4 miles. Ate Grapes. Showered. I am now ready for my 1st day of work - oh nevermind. I got called into work thursday instead. WhooOoo HoOoOO - I've got a few days to explore! I ate lunch with Bonnie by the pool while reading the San Diego guide book..which gave me some inspiration to go do something fun! I set my mind that I wanted to go to Coronado. I met a friend in Coronado and they showed me the "ropes of Coronado". I saw "the letters" that spell Coronado on the beach, Hotel Del Coronado (where a lot of famous movies were filmed), saw a palm tree that looked like a PINEAPPLE and a ton of cool, expensive houses. The shops and restaurants are so neat looking - I can't wait to go back! I saw around the Navy Seal base, the obstacle course they had to master by phase 3 and we then took "the strand" to Imperial Beach (which is a little lower class side of Coronado). There were some really sweet hole in the wall restaurants along that area. I came home, ate dinner with Bonnie & Tony (her boyfriend)...pork tenderloin...mmmmmhmmmm :) then hit the sack while watching Tosh.O (funniest show ever!) and Gossip Girl re-runs ha!

Wednesday.October.13.2010 ((LA JOLLA))
I slept in today - felt good! I caught up on a few emails and did a quick and efficient Crossfit workout [100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats]. I showered and decided to venture off to LA JOLLA. It's for some reason cloudy today--which is rare. I decided to journal on the La Jolla Shore Beach while listening to a little DMB in my green cross county shirt and comfy shorts. My pen kept being filled with sand but that's okay. It was peaceful here - I get to set my mind free and regroup with myself and my well being. I think about a lot out here, which could be a good or bad thing....I won't get into details on that part of my life :)... I'll spare you!

After feeling like I regrouped enough at the beach, I went along the coast to "Coast Blvd" which lead me to a cave -which was neat and then a place called "Childrens Beach" where there's beautiful cliffs and seals EVERYWHERE!! I thought to myself...why does it smell...fishy? ha--then I realized there were seals making noise and I put two and two together :-) Later, after La Jolla I went to Chula Vista to dominate a sweet Mexican restaurant called "Miguels"--went there with a friend and it was yummmyyyyy.

thursday.october.14.2010
---played catch up. met a girl for a condo. and worked at D Street Bar & Grill for the first night. Well...I love it there. Awesome girls to work with - we all help eachother. And I kicked ace on my first day---we were so busy I was helping take tables all by myself. It was pretty bomb. Loved it.

Todayyyyyyy---freakin' FINALLY!!!
I'm finally getting back on this thing - after livin' and exploring I will be back on a timely basis. Kick my butt if I don't!

My inspiration for like the last month---this is what has gotten me to where I am through all the scariness of this move and leaving the only thing I know. Just be!

Gracias (yes, I'm close to the Mexican border now. he he)