Keep it that way!! Not much out here, except for maybe heat rash...I guess this means that we are now headed on our way back. We have now completed 2 sides of our circle (fully aware circles don't have sides)
We woke up quite early this morning to some drunk neighbors. (Not tent neighbors, neighborhood neighbors.) Really drunk. And really mad at each other for some reason. They went on for like 2 hours yelling at each other. Found out this morning that a bunch of them were arrested and that we would (maybe) be getting a refund for the night. So after being able to fall back asleep around 2, we woke up at 5:30 to start our day. We figured that if we left early enough, we would be able to get to Las Vegas before it got too hot for the car. We packed so quickly that we were able to leave camp before 6:15. (I'm pretty sure that the staff member thought we were packing up early because of what had happened during the night.)
It's about 5 1/2 hours from San Diego to Las Vegas, with maybe 3 towns in between! OK, maybe five in California and three in Nevada. And there wasn't much to see on the sides of the road. We had to make sure that we had enough gas to get out here. Everyone warns about making sure you have enough so you don't have to push. I don't think it would be very fun to push a car 30 miles in 100+ degree heat. Lucky we had enough to get about half way out before filling, and then decided to refill just to be on the safe side. After we got out of the San Diego metro area, there was one other rather large area around Riverside and San Bernadino. Beyond that, nothing. The other two towns we passed through were Barstow and Baker. (Baker has a population of 600, but makes the map because it's your last chance to fill up.) This is also the area of the Mojave Preserve. On the other side was Death Valley. We took a few quick pictures of the signs pointing that way, but there was no way we were going to turn off the road!
After miles and miles of desert and Joshua Trees, we finally made it to Nevada! It's state number 16 on our list. It was kind of funny because the sign said that Primm (the first town in the state) was 3/4 mile away and it looked like it was literally right behind the sign. I guess that's what happens when there is nothing around. It was a small town, but it had 3 or 4 different "casinos" and an amusement park. One of them was called "Terrible's". The gas station also had over 30 pumps! I've never seen one that big before! And some slot machines. Just for fun! Forty more miles to go to Las Vegas. After we left California, there were no other large cities to give mileage for alongside the road. The first one we saw was Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Vegas had a distance, but it was blank for SLC. On the next sign, it said SLC was 502 miles. Not much else in between, I guess!
Around 12:30, we made it to Las Vegas. It was amazing to see the city among the desert. We also saw a sign for Dunkin Donuts- which made us really excited!! We continued down I-15 and saw all the hotels and everything everyone always talks about. Since we still had some time before check-in, we decided to go to the outlets at the end of the strip. It wasn't unbearably hot, but they had water misters, and it actually made it a little uncomfortable. We did some shopping, and then went to Treasure Island to check in. The wait wasn't too long. The room is gorgeous! We are on the 29th floor with a view of the strip. We can see everything out our window. I am pretty sure the bathroom is larger than my bedroom!! The beds and the pillows are super comfy- can't wait to sleep on a bed for a few days!! After settling in, we went downstairs and looked around a little. We decided to go out and do some more shopping- got some new outfits, too! We walked down to Caesar's Palace. That hotel is absolutely amazing! The fact that they have a spiral escalator!! We walked through the shops, stopped at Peter Lik's gallery and looked at some of his pictures. They were neat, but then we walked through some more and saw very similar pictures. After awhile, we decided that it was dinnertime. We got down as far as the Eiffel Tower. Since we had some long days recently, we decided to head back towards the hotel. We played a little on the machines (we were up $10.00 on our $2, but kept going till we had nothing left. High rollers, I know!!) After that, we came upstairs and now it's time to rest up for another long day!!
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Day Fifty-Two: Apparently, 'D' is for Toucan. Who Knew?
Since we didn't have as much planned out as we probably should have, we decided to do two things on our list. Luckily, they're in the same complex, so it made it super easy and convenient to make it a successful day. After starting our day at a relaxed pace, we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo first. We saw everything there, except for the reptile house! We saw their two polar bears (who are twins!) and five or six different elephants. One of the elephants is missing part of its ear because of a Hollywood mishap (he was in a movie and something happened to his ear. I couldn't understand what the guide was saying.) We saw the foosa from Madagascar, and the lemur they have to keep away (everything I learned about Madagascar, I learned from the movie). And we saw a group of meercats. One was sunning itself while the others were trying to get at something on the other side of the glass. There were two peacocks roaming around- one almost flew and knocked a lady over!) Other than the peacocks, there were a ton of birds there. They have at least three different aviaries there, including one for just hummingbirds. Of course, we saw some otters! They were so cute! They were swimming around their tank, rolling around with each other. Last, but not least, we saw the giraffes. They had four adults and one baby. Little party trivia: did you know that giraffes' tongues are blackish in order to prevent it from getting sunburn as they try to reach for the highest leaves? Interesting.
After the zoo, our second stop was to Balboa Park (home to HS XC Nationals). This park is huge!! There are around 30 museums there, including the San Diego Natural History Museum, a golf course, a rose garden, a cactus garden, and the Zoo. And that's only the part that we saw! The architecture on the buildings is amazing. Most of them are in the Spanish style. The carvings are so ornate, it was very impressive. I think my mouth dropped as we walked by them. It was getting late, so we didn't spend too much time here. We got back to the car with no problems. We headed back to camp to clean up and pack up. It is now bedtime. We have an early day tomorrow!
After the zoo, our second stop was to Balboa Park (home to HS XC Nationals). This park is huge!! There are around 30 museums there, including the San Diego Natural History Museum, a golf course, a rose garden, a cactus garden, and the Zoo. And that's only the part that we saw! The architecture on the buildings is amazing. Most of them are in the Spanish style. The carvings are so ornate, it was very impressive. I think my mouth dropped as we walked by them. It was getting late, so we didn't spend too much time here. We got back to the car with no problems. We headed back to camp to clean up and pack up. It is now bedtime. We have an early day tomorrow!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Day Fifty-One: Our California Adventure
Our plan for today was to head back to DisneyLand, for all of the things we missed, and then over to California Adventure, for everything else. We finished DisneyLand with Star Tours, which was the same as the ride in Florida. We wanted to get Erik something with Jedi Mickey, but couldn't find anything suitable. Sorry! We went on Space Mountain. I wasn't ready for it. They take you up two large hills at the very beginning, so all I could think was "Where is the huge downhill?" Since it was so dark in there, you couldn't tell where it was coming. Around every turn, I was freaking out a little. Robyn was next to me and just kept laughing!! We were really hoping to do Nemo's underwater ride, but it was closed when we got there. We had done everything that we wanted, so we went to a gift shop to do some shopping, and headed out of DisneyLand. It was sad.
Afterwards, we went next door to California Adventure, which is where they have more of the "adult" things to do. You could tell you're in California, when DisneyLand has a winery and cellar on the premise! Our first stop was to their "Hollywood Pictures Backlot". We were excited because we had just been there! We decided to go to the MuppetVision 3D. So much cooler than the one in Florida!! It starts off with the 2 old grumpy guys sitting in the balcony, criticizing the show. It had all of the "cheap 3D tricks" (like Kermit promised against) but newer ones, too. Somehow, they had Fozzie shoot a water gun at you and they had bubbles all over the place. They also had some more characters come out of doors and stuff. At the end, the building 'blows up' and it looks like there is fire coming out of the walls and stuff. When the show was over, you couldn't even tell what had been there. It was so cool!
Our next stop was to the Monsters, Inc. ride. At the end, the train stopped at the old boss lady. We figured that it was to let the cars in front of us off. No big deal. Then she started talking. She was like "Hi girls. You two in the third row (where we were sitting), are you two twins or something?" "Uhh... " after being in shock, "...yeah...". "Oh, nevermind, you humans all look the same." The girl in the front kept turning around to look at us. I was still in shock. After that, we met Sulley (also from Monsters, Inc.) and he gave us a great big hug and kisses! (It makes you wonder who's actually under the costume...) Anyway, it made our day!
The Tower of Terror is right next to it, so, since I promised Robyn I would do it, we went in that direction. Luckily, there was hardly a line (surprising) and we were able to go up rather quickly. I was shaking the entire time! Apparently, though, I have grown up a lot since Florida, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The picture at the top says otherwise, though, because I definitely covered my face at the top. They opened the doors to the outside twice, which made it worse because you knew that the only direction to go was down. It was a good thing we went when we did because the line when we got out was huge. We walked through "a bug's land", which is set up to be you walking around like a bug. Everything is high above you. We took pictures with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from Cars. After that, we walked around their Paradise Pier. It's designed to look like a boardwalk pier, and has shops, restaurants, and more rides. We went on the "Toy Story Midway Mania", which is a ride where you have to hit the target to get points. There are a bunch of different games that you play. It is another competitive one. Robyn won, but it was close! There is also a Ferris wheel there, with a huge picture of Mickey in the center, but we decided to head out and try to find the "Soarin' Over California" ride. It is one of the rides they pride themselves on, so we went for it. It is also one of the more popular rides, which made for a super long wait. It was about an hour until we actually got to go on it. They set it up to be sort of like an airplane, but once it starts, your feet end up dangling off the floor (our would anyway!) They take you over Yosemite Falls, Redwood Creek, the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa, and a few more. It was nice to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day, but I don't know if I would have waited in line to go on it again. I'd rather see the real thing! Since it took longer than we wanted, we didn't have time to do much else. It was a little disappointing, but we did everything we wanted to. We didn't do a very good job of planning- another day would have been perfect. All in all, though, DisneyLand was so much fun! It is absolutely amazing how much work and effort goes into running something like that, and as well as they do! And the artistic ability to build the sets and rides! Half the time, we were just looking at everything around us, not paying attention to the actual ride! Each character looks like who it's supposed to be and stuff. It's amazing!!
After Anaheim, it was off to our next stop. Since the last two days had been pretty long, we were going to stop for coffee before we got any farther. Turns out, the GPS thinks that there is a Starbucks in the middle of a gated community in the Laguna Hills. After getting turned around in a very affluent community, we decided to get back on the highway and keep going. We tried to go on the Pacific Coast Highway, but ended up going north on it. After turning around, we decided that it would probably be best to go on I-5 and just get to the campground. Since we couldn't find somewhere to stop, we figured we would get a water from one of the rest stops. It didn't taste 'right,' but it was legit bottled water, so we drank it anyway...Nothing has happened yet... We stopped at the store to pick some stuff up, and finally got to the campground. It's only two hours from Disney to here, but it felt like forever! We pitched our tent and made dinner. Now it's time for bed!!
Afterwards, we went next door to California Adventure, which is where they have more of the "adult" things to do. You could tell you're in California, when DisneyLand has a winery and cellar on the premise! Our first stop was to their "Hollywood Pictures Backlot". We were excited because we had just been there! We decided to go to the MuppetVision 3D. So much cooler than the one in Florida!! It starts off with the 2 old grumpy guys sitting in the balcony, criticizing the show. It had all of the "cheap 3D tricks" (like Kermit promised against) but newer ones, too. Somehow, they had Fozzie shoot a water gun at you and they had bubbles all over the place. They also had some more characters come out of doors and stuff. At the end, the building 'blows up' and it looks like there is fire coming out of the walls and stuff. When the show was over, you couldn't even tell what had been there. It was so cool!
Our next stop was to the Monsters, Inc. ride. At the end, the train stopped at the old boss lady. We figured that it was to let the cars in front of us off. No big deal. Then she started talking. She was like "Hi girls. You two in the third row (where we were sitting), are you two twins or something?" "Uhh... " after being in shock, "...yeah...". "Oh, nevermind, you humans all look the same." The girl in the front kept turning around to look at us. I was still in shock. After that, we met Sulley (also from Monsters, Inc.) and he gave us a great big hug and kisses! (It makes you wonder who's actually under the costume...) Anyway, it made our day!
The Tower of Terror is right next to it, so, since I promised Robyn I would do it, we went in that direction. Luckily, there was hardly a line (surprising) and we were able to go up rather quickly. I was shaking the entire time! Apparently, though, I have grown up a lot since Florida, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The picture at the top says otherwise, though, because I definitely covered my face at the top. They opened the doors to the outside twice, which made it worse because you knew that the only direction to go was down. It was a good thing we went when we did because the line when we got out was huge. We walked through "a bug's land", which is set up to be you walking around like a bug. Everything is high above you. We took pictures with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from Cars. After that, we walked around their Paradise Pier. It's designed to look like a boardwalk pier, and has shops, restaurants, and more rides. We went on the "Toy Story Midway Mania", which is a ride where you have to hit the target to get points. There are a bunch of different games that you play. It is another competitive one. Robyn won, but it was close! There is also a Ferris wheel there, with a huge picture of Mickey in the center, but we decided to head out and try to find the "Soarin' Over California" ride. It is one of the rides they pride themselves on, so we went for it. It is also one of the more popular rides, which made for a super long wait. It was about an hour until we actually got to go on it. They set it up to be sort of like an airplane, but once it starts, your feet end up dangling off the floor (our would anyway!) They take you over Yosemite Falls, Redwood Creek, the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa, and a few more. It was nice to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day, but I don't know if I would have waited in line to go on it again. I'd rather see the real thing! Since it took longer than we wanted, we didn't have time to do much else. It was a little disappointing, but we did everything we wanted to. We didn't do a very good job of planning- another day would have been perfect. All in all, though, DisneyLand was so much fun! It is absolutely amazing how much work and effort goes into running something like that, and as well as they do! And the artistic ability to build the sets and rides! Half the time, we were just looking at everything around us, not paying attention to the actual ride! Each character looks like who it's supposed to be and stuff. It's amazing!!
After Anaheim, it was off to our next stop. Since the last two days had been pretty long, we were going to stop for coffee before we got any farther. Turns out, the GPS thinks that there is a Starbucks in the middle of a gated community in the Laguna Hills. After getting turned around in a very affluent community, we decided to get back on the highway and keep going. We tried to go on the Pacific Coast Highway, but ended up going north on it. After turning around, we decided that it would probably be best to go on I-5 and just get to the campground. Since we couldn't find somewhere to stop, we figured we would get a water from one of the rest stops. It didn't taste 'right,' but it was legit bottled water, so we drank it anyway...Nothing has happened yet... We stopped at the store to pick some stuff up, and finally got to the campground. It's only two hours from Disney to here, but it felt like forever! We pitched our tent and made dinner. Now it's time for bed!!
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