Nevada-- 4 of 50

02/21/2010

Well how last minute is this. its about 1030 pm and Rachel and I just decided to go to Vegas tomorrow. Were meeting my parents there! Gonna be another epic trip with my huss Rachel. Should be one for the books. :) VIVA LAS VEGAS!

LAS VEGAS DAY 1 (02/22/2010)

I flew out of SBA and intended on meeting Rachel in Vegas shortly after she landed but like every US Air flight... all the PHX LAS flights for the WHOLE day were full. I ended up buy a zed fare on Southwest for about 27 dollars and got there about three hours after i was supposed to. All of my three bags were there waiting for me though! yes, i checked three bags! I need to do laundry so I intend on doing it here in VEGAS! haha well we rolled out of the airport and it was freezing! MY goodness. After we got to the condo and put on a jacket we went for a walk to meet up with my moms best friend and her family at a new mall on the strip. This picture to the right is the newest addition to the strip and the architecture is so cool! the buildings are sort of slanted and the ground is sparkly. every store inside is super expensive and designer.

After walking around the strip. Saw some interesting people, one guy was carrying his beer with his mobilized wheelchair/scotter. After a bit we went back to the hotel, grabbed my laundry and when to the family friends house. There we had some nice homemade foods, hung out the the "cousins", and used their laundry services :) it was a very long day.

LAS VEGAS DAY 2 (02/23/2010)

Today we woke up and looked up on the things that we could do in vegas for free! Just because I fly everywhere doesn't mean I have money to spend while I'm there! We walked around and tried to hit them all up: free drinks by pretending to gamble, free wildlife habitat at the Flamingo, free rain show at the Miracle Mile Mall, free water show at the Bellagio, free viewing of the rock and roll memorabilia at the Hard Rock... we had some great food at the ocean one bar and grill. They had a great lunch deal! I'm pretty sure our waitress was a man...

We went back to our condo, which just so happened to be behind the Hooters Casino! CLASSY! My parents got ready for their show, Ka, but Rachel and I had other plans of our own! We planned to take the town by storm! And that we did! On the way out we saw some Germans who said they were just in Vegas for the night from PHX. They claimed they were in PHX training to be pilots for Lufthansa.... I didn't believe them for one second! First stop was Bills to sing a karaoke song, and yes of course we chose Queen, Wanna Break Free. What else would we choose!? We rocked it! It was $2 Blue Moon so of course we got that. Im pretty sure we blew everyone away. No doubt. While we were there we some how scored a winnings coupon with about $15 on it! My parents joined us but it just got too smokey and too many people were trying to steal out limelight so Rachel and I continued on our merry buzzed way.

The next stop was O'Sheas. Rachel wanted a pretzel and as we were sitting down eating out free pretzel ping pong balls kept flying passed us. This was the start of it all. There was a group of people, mainly from Wisconsin, playing beer pong. They proceeded to invite us to play flip cup. They told me that they were gonna beat me and I said to them... "I graduated from UCSB. I took flip cup as a class in college!" haha. It was great fun and we played so many flip cup games that I lost count! It was amazing! (and the team I was on won every time). At some point we left and made our way to Coyote Ugly. We made another karaoke stop on the way. My new friend, Paul,

sang Fly Me to the Moon. He was really good... but doesn't compare to Rachel and I! :) It was such a fun night. I didnt want it to end, but Rachel and I had to wake up early for our flights so after a $5 each cover at Coyote Ugly, an exchange of phone numbers and facebooks, and some good byes we wished our new friends from Wisconsin and Paul "Fine" farewell and walked our way back to our condo. A great night and alot of fun... and I didnt wear heels so I can feel my toes!!!!!!

LAS VEGAS DAY 3 (02/24/2010)

Rachel always likes to get to the airport at the very last second and today was no different. I had about 15 mins before my flight started boarding and of course I like to be there before then. I went through the employee security line which was a joke because they let regular travels in that line if there arent enough employees and they happened to let through the oldest travels in history into the employee line. what a joke! I made it back to SBA through PHX no problem this time. Got home and now im writing this blog. as soon as I'm done I'm going to sleep. Good night world!

4 states down, 46 to go!

North Carolina-- 3 of 50

02/07/2010

Tomorrow I'm going to Fayetteville NC to see my old friend Steve Ploog who has been in Afghanistan for about two years! I haven't seen him in forever so it is going to be really nice to catch up. In stead of flying to FAY I will be flying to RDU and he will be picking my up. There is a nonstop flight from PHX to RDU but its only once a day and in the morning. To make this flight I'll have to somehow get a seat on a full flight out of SBA. All of tomorrows flights are on US Airways. Wish me luck!

FAYETTEVILLE DAY 1 (02/08/2010)

Well today was the day of lucky flights! I first made it onto a full flight out of SBA to PHX (which is really hard to do!). Then I made it onto a full flight to RDU! Wow. Luck is on my side this trip. Well the flight to RDU felt like it took forever!!!! But I finally made it! Steve completely tricked me when he picked me up. I walked down the escalator talking to him on the phone and he was hiding around the corner and surprised me when i got down. What a tricky guy!

We had a nice long hug.

Sure was nice to see him after so many years! We drove around Raleigh for a bit. Saw a rundown hotel right in front of a factory. Looked like something outta a horror movie!! Steve wanted to take me to Smithfield's Chicken N Bar-B-Q. The cashier said that if i wasn't from the south I probably shouldn't get the BBQ because its "different from BBQ in California." He was right. I tried some of Steve's. Its was kinda vinegar-y. Wells after food we drove to Steve's girlfriend, Megan's, work. It was really nice to meet her. I had heard so much about her.

After meeting Megan we drove back to Fayetteville. We stopped off at the Food Lion, the local grocery store and stocked up on foods. They had eggs in a crate and I thought it was so smart of them. Eggs in a crate= no broken eggs!

I'm staying with Steve on the Army Base in Fort Bragg while I'm here because he doesn't have a roommate yet so he has an extra bed! It works out almost perfectly. When we drove through the entrance of the Base the guy looked at my ID and said "California. The land of shakes and quakes".... I guess thats what were known for out on the east.

FAYETTEVILLE DAY 2 (02/09/2010)

Today i was woken up by some sort of bugle horn! I guess that is what its like to be in the military. Steve had to work this morning but only for a few hours. When he got off we went for a ride around Fayetteville. It was a bit rainy but nothing we couldnt handle. We went to this coffee shop with free internet so that I could do some homework. Looked for a TV. Had the best Mexican food I've had in a long while! I told the host that I was from California and they are just getting lazy on their Mexican food out there. He told me he was from LA. haha. We saw Avatar. It was amazing. First

movie I've ever seen in 3D. It blew my mind. The only down side was the burning eyes after all that 3D action for nearly 2 hours! It was a great movie! That night we went bowling on the base. It was so much fun! Shared a pitcher of bud light. I think my favorite quote of the whole day was the "bar tender" (i put it in quotes because he was just the fat old guy that worked the whole bowling alley), said "Bud light is the only real beer!". He clearly hasn't gotten around much. They are pretty classy in NC. Checkout the formal dinging they offer for Valentines day!

FAYETTEVILLE DAY 3 (02/10/2010)

Bugal horn again this morning! UGH I would hate that if i was trying to sleep in (WHICH I WAS). Steve had to work again this morning but just for a few hours. I decided to go for a walk around the base area. Im so glad i bought that peacoat in Vermont last Oct because i sure needed it! I was so cold when i was walking it hurt to breath in!!!! soooo cooolddd! the wind chill factor probably made it like 10 degrees! Im from California! Im not used to thisss!!! The base is so huge! Its probably bigger than Carpinteria! there is a bowling alley, a bingo place, two malls! I found a little mini market and in the mini market i saw Santa Barbara Biscotti! Santa Barbara all the way in Fort Bragg, NC!!

Well today Steve and I went back to that place for free internet. He needed to take care of some

business about insurance so we went there. Just drove around and looked at the hoppin town of Fayetteville! Ran across some interesting stores. Had a bunch of food at this Texas grill place! It was very good but very filling. We told yourselves... ok lets get something light so we can have a nice dinner... but we went all out. potatoes, veggies, stakes, grilled chicken, artichoke dip! so much fooood!

That night Steve surprised me with a Peter Pan play! Peter Pan has always been our thing and it was so thoughtful and sweet of him. It was actually really good. The girl who played Peter was annoying, but i think thats how her character is supposed to be. It was so good to get to spend the time with him after a few years apart.

FAYETTEVILLE DAY 4 (02/11/2010)

Well today I took the adventure of crossing the US on US Airways. I dont understand why US Airways it always full. Well the flight from FAY to CLT were fine. Made that one no problem. It was just getting from CLT to the west coast period. I spent a lot of time while I was in NC trying to figure out backups. This storm up in New England is throwing everything off and making everything full. I figured I'd keep it safe and take the nonstop to LAX but then I'd be stuck in LA. Some how, miraculously the gate to PHX was right next to the gate for LAX. I checked the hub and saw that there was room (when yesterday there wasnt). I ran over there and they put me on it! The nicest east coast hub agents I've EVER met! People in PHL are just rude beyond all get out! I dont know how it all happened but i made the flight to PHX! AMAZING! I got a window and there was no one in the middle so that was good. The flight ended up having a ground delay and people were freaking out. All i could think was "I dont care how delayed it gets, just dont cancel!!!" It didnt cancel and I made it to PHX. Grabbed some Blue Burrito and headed to my gate. Sat next to this really really annoying guy who called me spoiled cus I fly alot and wanted the front row, but I made it home! It was a great adventure and one more added to the list

3 states down. 47 to go!