Since I'm not up to par for working on MFC for another day or two, I figured I'd (try to) entertain you all a little with pics and details about my recent trip out of state.
It started with a train trip to the airport in Burbank. I actually enjoy train rides. I think it's the only transportation that doesn't make me nauseated if I'm a passenger. So far, at least. Once at the airport, it was a short wait til we hopped on a mediocre sized Southwest plane headed for Las Vegas. Even the 45 minute flight made me feel woosy. We decided to stay with friends there for a day, both to visit and to cut the driving time to our final destination shorter, since driving sucks balls. Rented a car (2009 Ford Escape with all the new bells and whistles, not too shabby for a Ford) and headed over to their house. We layed low for the day/night and woke up early on Thursday to start the drive.
I hate mountain roads. Just so you know. They give me srsface. Like this:
And yes, I drove every mile of this trip since I didn't feel like being carsick for the majority of my time away from home. I drove in 3 states within about 4 hours. Nevada, Arizona then to Utah. That was our destination. Why the hell did my parents want to move to Utah? Alcohol drinking, weed smoking folks could easily find a more suitable home state. But, to each their own. We arrived in the late afternoon to a quiet, out in the middle of nowhere neighborhood. Their neighbors have both tractors and sheep. It smells like a petting zoo.
We got my parents hooked up with my old iMac computer and got them on the Internet. I never thought I'd see the day that my mom would send an email, but it happened. Hallelujah, or whatever they say. After the hookup, some snacks and vodka, and at least 30 minutes of poor Jawbs sneezing and sniffling at their house due to their overpopulation of cats (he's terribly allergic, and they have 4) we headed to their local bowling alley. I suck so bad now! 3 games in a row, both Jawbs and my Mom beat the pants off me (no, not literally, freaks) and I didn't even break 100. Fail. Went to some pretty janky local diner for salad bar dinner and headed back to our hotel to recover for the night.
Friday morning we woke somewhat early and had a yummy free hotel breakfast (I love free food! Yeah I'm a total fatass at heart, sue me.) We picked up my parents, packed up the fishing gear, and headed to Wal-Mart for our fishing licenses and some supplies for the day. I got a spiffy new pink and camo fishing hat, a 12 pack of Coors and some bait. Classy purchase, I know. Then it was time for another nearly hour-long drive out to the lake. At least this drive was scenic and pretty and green. And my Mom talks a lot so it gave her a chance to get it all out of her system.
Here's a pretty creek at a pit-stop we had to make along the way:
Once at our fishing spot, we went right to it. My Mom and stepdad hooked up all the fishing poles, Jawbs and I busted out the Coors, then we casted into a cute little stream that lead to a bigger part of the lake. Within minutes my Mom and stepdad were catching lots of small fish. But I had my eye on a bigger prize. I stood near a canal where I could see a big trout hangin' out. I teased him with my worm and hook, and stood completely silent. I got the sucka!
I was the only one to catch a trout, or anything over about 6 inches, really. I was so excited! Between my Mom, myself and my stepdad, we probably caught around 15-20 fish that day. How many did Jawbs catch? Hmm... oh yeah: NONE! I don't know what the deal was, he was doing everything we were, just had zero luck. I felt a little sad for him, but we were all still having a good time and enjoying the outdoors, so it didn't matter to him. It did rain a couple of times while we were fishing, but it sort of added to the experience.
Here's another smaller one I caught:
We ran out of bait after a couple of hours so we packed up and headed towards home. I'm glad we left when we did, because it seemed a bigger storm was brewing over the pretty lake. It was super cold when we got out to snap this pic:
As we drove farther from the lake, there were more and more cows around the road. It was pretty cool seeing them all out, wandering free. They did get in our way a bit, though:
Seeing something like this definitely reminded me that we weren't in L.A. anymore. It was so nice to get out of the city for a while and appreciate scenery like this. And the air felt and smelled so fresh.
We cleaned up from fishing and headed out for dinner again, this time driving through the small town. It's so cute! After a big meal and that long day, getting back to the hotel and relaxing felt so good. Early to bed for us again, since we had to wake up and drive on Saturday. We had another nom nom free hotel breakfast, said a quick goodbye to my parents and got back on the road to Nevada. Before we knew it, we were on and off the plane to Burbank and back on the train towards home. Ahh, comfy bed and normal sized pillow...
It started with a train trip to the airport in Burbank. I actually enjoy train rides. I think it's the only transportation that doesn't make me nauseated if I'm a passenger. So far, at least. Once at the airport, it was a short wait til we hopped on a mediocre sized Southwest plane headed for Las Vegas. Even the 45 minute flight made me feel woosy. We decided to stay with friends there for a day, both to visit and to cut the driving time to our final destination shorter, since driving sucks balls. Rented a car (2009 Ford Escape with all the new bells and whistles, not too shabby for a Ford) and headed over to their house. We layed low for the day/night and woke up early on Thursday to start the drive.
I hate mountain roads. Just so you know. They give me srsface. Like this:
And yes, I drove every mile of this trip since I didn't feel like being carsick for the majority of my time away from home. I drove in 3 states within about 4 hours. Nevada, Arizona then to Utah. That was our destination. Why the hell did my parents want to move to Utah? Alcohol drinking, weed smoking folks could easily find a more suitable home state. But, to each their own. We arrived in the late afternoon to a quiet, out in the middle of nowhere neighborhood. Their neighbors have both tractors and sheep. It smells like a petting zoo.
We got my parents hooked up with my old iMac computer and got them on the Internet. I never thought I'd see the day that my mom would send an email, but it happened. Hallelujah, or whatever they say. After the hookup, some snacks and vodka, and at least 30 minutes of poor Jawbs sneezing and sniffling at their house due to their overpopulation of cats (he's terribly allergic, and they have 4) we headed to their local bowling alley. I suck so bad now! 3 games in a row, both Jawbs and my Mom beat the pants off me (no, not literally, freaks) and I didn't even break 100. Fail. Went to some pretty janky local diner for salad bar dinner and headed back to our hotel to recover for the night.
Friday morning we woke somewhat early and had a yummy free hotel breakfast (I love free food! Yeah I'm a total fatass at heart, sue me.) We picked up my parents, packed up the fishing gear, and headed to Wal-Mart for our fishing licenses and some supplies for the day. I got a spiffy new pink and camo fishing hat, a 12 pack of Coors and some bait. Classy purchase, I know. Then it was time for another nearly hour-long drive out to the lake. At least this drive was scenic and pretty and green. And my Mom talks a lot so it gave her a chance to get it all out of her system.
Here's a pretty creek at a pit-stop we had to make along the way:
Once at our fishing spot, we went right to it. My Mom and stepdad hooked up all the fishing poles, Jawbs and I busted out the Coors, then we casted into a cute little stream that lead to a bigger part of the lake. Within minutes my Mom and stepdad were catching lots of small fish. But I had my eye on a bigger prize. I stood near a canal where I could see a big trout hangin' out. I teased him with my worm and hook, and stood completely silent. I got the sucka!
I was the only one to catch a trout, or anything over about 6 inches, really. I was so excited! Between my Mom, myself and my stepdad, we probably caught around 15-20 fish that day. How many did Jawbs catch? Hmm... oh yeah: NONE! I don't know what the deal was, he was doing everything we were, just had zero luck. I felt a little sad for him, but we were all still having a good time and enjoying the outdoors, so it didn't matter to him. It did rain a couple of times while we were fishing, but it sort of added to the experience.
Here's another smaller one I caught:
We ran out of bait after a couple of hours so we packed up and headed towards home. I'm glad we left when we did, because it seemed a bigger storm was brewing over the pretty lake. It was super cold when we got out to snap this pic:
As we drove farther from the lake, there were more and more cows around the road. It was pretty cool seeing them all out, wandering free. They did get in our way a bit, though:
Seeing something like this definitely reminded me that we weren't in L.A. anymore. It was so nice to get out of the city for a while and appreciate scenery like this. And the air felt and smelled so fresh.
We cleaned up from fishing and headed out for dinner again, this time driving through the small town. It's so cute! After a big meal and that long day, getting back to the hotel and relaxing felt so good. Early to bed for us again, since we had to wake up and drive on Saturday. We had another nom nom free hotel breakfast, said a quick goodbye to my parents and got back on the road to Nevada. Before we knew it, we were on and off the plane to Burbank and back on the train towards home. Ahh, comfy bed and normal sized pillow...
