ear worm

every so often a song comes out that grabs a hold of me and shakes my ass and taps my feet and gets my groove on.  cut copy let me show you love gets it done!

just one more day

shane and i returned to san diego for one last day.  checked into the king's inn on hotel circle.  cool older hotel.  went to eat at the burger lounge, all natural burgers, fries.  i drank a maine root ginger brew.  absolutely delicious.  my new favorite ginger ale.  available at whole foods!  i can buy it in south bend too!  met up with adam at top of the park to watch the sunset.  i had an orange mule.  it is orange cream vodka and ginger ale.  delicious.  i have since bought the orange cream vodka and always have ginger ale in the fridge, so i will indulge on ocassion!  returned to the hotel to change clothes, then met up with tim for margaritas at baja betty's.  then it was time to head back to the hotel since we had an early flight out. 

two weeks.  two wonderful, awesome, incredible weeks.  i loved all the places on our trip.  i would live in any one of them!  don't be too surprised if a future entry is all about moving out west!  i can dream.

desert(ed)

drove to long beach for breakfast with jan before heading out to spend the day and night out in landers.  the high desert.  in an airstream trailer.  kate's lazy desert is an airstream resort owned by kate pierson of the b-52's and her partner monica coleman.  when shane and i booked the tinkerbell trailer we kidded each other that kate would be there to greet us upon arrival.  we arrived about 4pm, located our trailer, got situated, wandered the campground, which seemed like we would be the only occupants for the night, and were deciding on what to do for dinner when i noticed people starting to come up the trail from the caretakers scott and phillip's residence down the dunes.  first two, then two more appeared.  i told shane it was kate.  we laughed about it.  two were riding in a golf cart, two were walking.  a man and a woman on the cart waved and passed our trailer.  shane and i said it must be kate!  and we laughed.  they came over to say hello and introduce themselves.  it was phillip and monica.  at that time i noticed that the woman walking up the trail and distinctive red hair.  kate has red hair.  monica was here.  OH MY SCIENCE!  we were going to meet one of the b-52's!  sure enough it was kate and scott.  we chatted about the grounds, the area, the desert.  they recommended places for us to get food, drink, firewood.  they suggested we stay up and watch the stars.  kate picked a desert verbena for us to smell.  it was so cool!  then they took pictures around the campground while shane and i tripped over meeting them!  once they headed back down the sand dune, shane and i got in the car and drove over to yucca valley for dinner at this small diner that had delicious food.  we stopped at a small road side convenience store for firewood and soda and headed back to the lazy desert for a campfire and stargazing.  it was incredible.  i loved being out in the desert.  it was tranquil, beautiful.  in the morning we watched the sunrise, ate cupcakes and bananas for breakfast, and took in the views until it was time to head back to san diego for one final night before heading back home.

kate's lazy desert

inside tinkerbell

lounge

night lights

airstreams

campfire

pink flamingos

matt, kate, taran, and shane

tinkerbell

joshua trees

going to hollywood

started the day out by traveling through orange looking at eichler homes.  cool mid century modern architecture.  then up to los angeles and hollywood and surrounding areas.  hiked up to the hollywood sign, drove to the brady bunch house, visited walt disney's burial site, enjoyed starbucks in pasadena, walked on the santa monica pier, dined on in and out burgers, stuck in traffic on the 405, drove mulholland drive.  got back to anaheim after dark.

walt disney's private garden

santa monica pier

mulholland overlook

eichler home

brady house

mulholland

hollywood sign

pasadena street

traffic

pier

i'm going to disneyland!!!

drove from tucson to anaheim.  settled in the hotel and headed over to downtown disney the first night.  california adventure the next day.  soarin', the lttle mermaid, mickey's fun wheel, california screamin', radiator springs racers, tower of terror, monsters inc, world of color.  disneyland the following day.  space mountain, pirates of the caribbean, haunted mansion, mr toads wild ride, peter pan's flight, splash mountain, pooh's adventure, jungle cruise, indian jone adventure, dole whip.  i loved every moment of it!

pluto

nemo's submarine voyage

dole whip tiki hut



disneyland

mr toad's wild ride

woozles

tower of terror

downtown disney

california adventure

cars land

carsland town limits

fun wheel

village of the dark spring at the foot of the mountains

we left san diego around 10am and headed to our next destination, tucson.  drove through mountainous terrain and desert landscapes.  arrived at bill's just before dinner time.  we explored mount lemmon, dined on strawberry-rhubarb pie on the summit, watched the sunset from the peak, then headed back to the valley.  Shane and I went to the Biosphere located outside the city the next day.  That evening we went on top of a mountain to view the city at night.  Ventured to tubac for shopping, drove down to the us/mexico border in nogales, stopped at the desert diamond casino for some slots and dinner before heading back into tucson.  the next morning we'd be going back to cali, cali.

desert landscape

biosphere entance

rain forest sphere

view from "a" mountain

biosphere

biosphere structure

tubac

strawberry-rhubarb

mount lemmon apex

ascending mount lemmon

the adventure begins . . .

less than 12 hours before the flight, united cancels the first leg of the trip from south bend to chicago.  shane and i scrambled and our friend doug rose to the ocassion (thanks doug!) and got us to o'hare where we could catch the next flight from chicago to san diego.  i was immediately taken by the view of the city of san diego and thought to myself 'i like it here'. baggage claimed, rental car acquired, gps set, and text message sent to jen, who was graciously allowing us to stay at her humble abode while she stayed with friends. (thanks jen!). by the time i walked up the stairs to her 2nd floor condo, i was convinced that i would like it here.  the landscape, the architecture, the neighborhoods, the climate.  after settling in, meeting our host mulder the cat, shane and i set off to visit his great aunt dorothea (aunt dodo). it was a pleasant visit, aunt dodo was so adorable!  then we headed back to meet up with jen to go up into the mountains around juliet for pizza and blues.  The next day we met up with jen, heather, rey, and liam at the hash house a go go for an awesome breakfast, my cinnamon banana pancake was the size of a 9x11 cookie sheet! then headed over to the san diego zoo.  by now i am thinking to myself 'i could live here, i like it so much'. i can't say enough how incredible the zoo is, it is that incredible. pandas, giraffes, koalas, elephants, sake, dolphins, fun.  monday we drove over to visit aunt dodo again, went down to san ysidro and the us/mexico border, drove to la jolla, coronado, up to vista for dinner with adam and richard at a restaurant by the ocean in carlsbad.  the next day we went to the san diego wild animal park.  i loved it from the moment we pulled into the parking lot and hear the african music. by now i'm thinking 'i want to live here'.  afterward we went to ponce's, which had kick ass margaritas! in the morning we'd be heading out for our next stop.

panda

san diego zoo

camel

giraffe

warthog

jen's

margarita

san diego wild animal park

pancake



mulder