Las Vegas and Beyond

Whew! Las Vegas... I have to say they may want to tone it down just a little. The "hotel room" was bigger than my last apartment! And that was a cheaper one - yikes! Can't even imagine what the suites are like. Anyways, we spent about two nights in Vegas. Made it to another show (LOVE that our student ID's haven't expired yet) this time it was Ka, one of the dozens of cirque de soliel Vegas has to offer. Hands down the coolest stage either of us has ever seen, and also a great performance. We also went up in the miniature Eiffel Tower, even half the size of the real one it was plenty for the two of us (I don't think I'll ever convince Ryan to go up in the real one) but it was fun to see the entire strip lit up at night. After Vegas we continued our Journey East to Williams, Arizona where it was 25 degrees and snowing (and we were in Flip flops) who knew Arizona was cold? Waking up with no ice scraper, hats, or real gloves and having our car in 4 or 5 inches of snow we decided to take the train up to the Grand Canyon. After bundling up as much as we could we headed over to the Grand Canyon Railway, also home to the polar express. It was quite the winter wonderland. While we quite enjoyed the whipping winds and icy paths, the Canyon left a little something to be desired. Only Kidding - reverse that. The Canyon is definitely a site that lives up to its fame. Unfortunately, between the snow and lack of reservations we weren't able to hike down and stay at Phantom Ranch which was our original plan so we will have to come back. After a few stops to see old friends, and take it easy in Winslow, Arizona, oh and our Wigwam Motel (!) - we finally arrived in Albuquerque to see Mikey and Anita!  17 days and counting until Thanksgiving - think we'll make it back to Boston?? Wish us luck!

Vegas from the Mini-Eiffel Tower.

The Winter Wonderland that is Arizona.

Grand Canyon covered in snow!

More Grand Canyon..

Ryan wonders if this is where his Dad got him that shirt?

Ryan and Ben with Ben's Mustang!

In Sedona..

Our giant things saga continues, just wait you all haven't even seen the half of it.

Wigwam Motel - inspiration for the one in the movie Cars (if you have kiddies).

Blizzard #2 Begins, Thanks for being warm like you promised New Mexico!

Ryan ponders the great question - if I pee on the Continental Divide will it travel to the Atlantic or the Pacific? Don't worry he didn't test his theory...

I just saw Christmas Lights...

I guess that's a sign that we need to get moving? We just saw several fully decorated and lit up Christmas Trees down here in the south west... we're also supposed to get snow tonight. Luckily  for us we found the plethora of Motel 6 what a score! Sadly we finally made it out of California and have started heading back East. It's pretty scary to think we're starting our journey home! But we're also looking forward to seeing everyone again. The last few days we've been in San Diego, Tijuana, and Death Valley, and as usual we loved them all. Tijuana was another foodie paradise. REAL Mexican food is pretty different and pretty amazing. At our tour guides suggestion we decided to ignore the possibilities of Montezuma's Revenge and enjoy everything they had to offer like frozen margaritas and free shots of Tequila at all the local shops. Luckily enough he was right about things being much better with the water and we were fine! San Diego had a lot to offer and it was hard to leave but we knew we should not before we got to Kayak around in La Jolla Caves next to a community of sea lions playing around! After San Diego we headed out to Death Valley (and made it out alive too!) despite ferocious winds and with the help of about a ton of rocks we got our tent up, however it didn't quite survive being taken down and we lost a tent pole to wind damage. Despite the winds we went climbing both during the day and at night and found quite the amazing spot to see the stars. We hiked Golden Canyon and headed below sea level to the lowest spot in the country called bad water, because it was full of salt. Where the water had dried out there's just salt covering miles of ground, very cool! Haven't slept much in a few days so I think that's all for now, here's a few pictures from our travels!

Baby Panda from the San Diego Zoo.

Pumpkin Carving!

The Sea Lions we Kayaked with.

One of the sea caves.

Ryan enjoying his Mexican Margarita and rooftop views of Tijuana!

Yeah, we thought that was a weird street name too...

Desert!

Ryan's on top of the world in Death Valley!

The salt field- That's all Salt!

Legoland!

Jenn plays the lap guitar a little... differently.

So we had a great time at Disney, despite the best rides being closed... After that we headed to Carlsbad and spent a few days there! We went surfing again and it was a little different since the waves were stronger and it was high-tide. We managed to get up a few times but didn't have enough water in front of us to really go anywhere. Still a fun time though! We had a quick stop in at a music museum that had a bunch of awesome instruments that helped shape the musical industry. I got to play a key-tar (which was awesome) and they had other hands-on exhibits that you could play!
 

I guess it's a HORN-monica (heh, heh, get it?)

LEGOLAND!!!!!!!

After that we headed to Legoland!!! It was awesome, and I foresee a trip there with Curran sometime in the future! Not only were the rides fun but there were awesome sculptures everywhere! From dinosaurs to miniature cities, Legoland knows how to make some interesting things! Now we are in sunny San Diego, kayaking the day away at the La Jolla caves! It was a perfect day for it since there wasn't any surf which meant we got to go in and out of the caves. There were sea lions all around us sunbathing and jumping in and out of the water. We got pretty close to them and they were pretty interested in us! Next we're headed south of the border to Tijuana!


Tacos anyone?

Star Wars Legos!

New York!

Time square!

Looks pretty realistic for Legos!

Bridge!

California?

We've done a LOT in the last few days so it's hard to even keep track, but I'll try to cover a little bit more of our adventures! We've been keeping busy so not much time to update. Currently we're staying in a hostel in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego which seems like a fun area plus we're meeting lots of fun people and joining in on the Halloween fun. Before I get into that though... we did the whole L.A./ Hollywood scene which had its ups and downs. A lot of Hollywood was just way too touristy, and the walk of fame was just a side walk with celebrity names.. not all that entertaining and way too much like Time Square which we both are not huge fans of. But the foodies within us did find an AMAZING restaurant with stuffed Pancakes so big they had to give you two plates- Ryan went the October Pumpkin route, while I went my usual way with Oreo. We also got to check out some of the TV/Movie life with tours of Warner Brothers and Paramount Studio. Our only celeb sighting was a classic- Chevy Chase outside on the set of Community. He had a New York license plate too so we felt connected. After Hollywood we headed out to Pasadena to meet up with an old friend and then headed down to Disneyland. We had a great time at "The Happiest Place on Earth" but were majorly disappointed since after buying tickets and walking around the park we found out that the rides Ryan and I were most interested in (Pirates of The Caribbean and Its a small world, respectively) were closed for the day. Also, Disneyland is MUCH smaller than Disney World. We did the entire park, every ride that was open besides the teacups :( and a walk-around tree house in less than the full time they were open. But we still enjoyed the classics like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and a whole bunch of other fun stuff and did get a couple of chances to see Mickey Mouse! Anyways Ryan is anxious to tell you about the next few adventures so I'll leave it to him, and leave you with some more photos since we all know that's what you want anyways (Yes, Mom, I mean you!). As the Californians say.. Hang Ten!

Pancakes!

Community!!!

We visited studio New York, complete with their own Subway Station entrance.

Hollywood's version of Central Park ... as seen on Friends. I'll admit they fooled me a couple times.

Ryan in Central Perk!

Ryan and I with Walt Disney and the Disney Castle, we know its an awkward photo but the professional made us stand like that...

I got my picture with Mickey Mouse!!!

Surfs up!

Don't have any pictures to share with you today, because we were both in the water. But  we had an AMAZING time surfing! Ryan caught the first wave and was up and after a little messing around we were both up catching waves and having a great time. We even learned how to steer and brake! Not only were we surfing by otters but enjoying the sunset as we waited for good waves to roll in. So cool! We just loved it and Santa Cruz! We could have stayed there and surfed forever but L.A. and the lure of being home for Thanksgiving lured us on.  Along the drive we also visited The Tech and The Winchester Mansion. Both of which were pretty neat. The Winchester is an old Victorian from the early 1900s, 160 rooms of mazes, doors to no where, and stairs to the ceiling built by the heiress of the rifle company (by the same name) who thought that the spirits of people killed by her rifles were haunting her. A little weird but quite the HUGE house, it was like an entire block of Marlborough Rd in Brooklyn put together as one house, and we only saw what was left after parts were torn down due to Earthquake damage! The Tech was also interesting, definitely a Ryan sight. Basically its a museum sponsored by huge technology corporations like Microsoft where you can create robots, video games, green power, ride in simulator jet packs and earthquakes - even create your own jellyfish DNA (which we did) and attach it to other organisms to make some sort of weird jellyfish clone cells that glow. Here's a couple random pictures to keep you entertained, we're excited to go surfing again -  but we'll have to take some pictures next time to share with you all!

The completely gingerbread version of the Winchester Mansion.

Ryan in front of the giant artichoke.

The otters playing around in the water!

Fun in San Fran!

So the date night was amazing! Kevin Spacey was phenomenal, Jenn already covered that (just thought I'd say it again!)

Our last day in San Francisco was so much fun! We walked the Golden Gate Bridge, went to a place called the Exploratorium, went to Alcatraz, and then headed south!

We picked a great day to walk the bridge!

View from the bridge!

Walking the Golden Gate Bridge was like walking the Brooklyn Bridge except it was a lot longer, there was more wind, and you could feel the bridge move due to traffic a lot more. Parking was a hassle until we realized about the second, barely full parking lot 100 feet down the road. It was a lot of fun!

Alcatraz was also quite the experience, we got to take a self guided tour where they give you an audio player with comments and dialogue from inmates and guards that were actually there. It gave a first hand look at a place many people only see in the movies, and it shed some light onto the inner workings of the island. We got to see where the inmates dug through the concrete wall with spoons and escaped from, as well as where Al Capone was held. Fun fact: The date on milk that tells you when it's fresh? That was put in place by Capone because kids were getting sick off spoiled milk. He didn't want his son getting sick so he lobbied congress to have a law passed, he also opened many soup kitchens during the great depression. He wasn't as terrible as the media has portrayed him.

Lunar Lander! Great game!

After the tour we went to the Exploratorium, which turns out, is mostly for kids... Mostly. There were some neat exhibits for sound and electricity that I got a kick out of, but the best part was that they had an arcade game that I had never played, but my dad had... Lunar Lander! It is quite the challenging game! Jenn and I had a couple successful landings after a few crashes which felt really rewarding. The other thing the Exploratorium had was a tactile dome. Basically it is a pitch black dome that you feel your way through. You crawl, stumble, climb, and slide your way to the end and if you are lucky, and not tall like me, you won't bash your head on the ceiling too many times.

One of the buildings on Alcatraz!

Prisoner's cell where they dug through the wall. Imagine trying to crawl through that without anyone knowing!

Alcatraz guard tower!

San Francisco!

San Francisco was a FUN city with a lot to offer, we just got a taste of it but I would definitely go back!

Jenn and I riding the cable car on the outside!

Date Night

San Fransisco! We finally made it. After walking the San Andreas Fault, we pulled into the city last night a little too late to do anything touristy after probably getting a ticket thinking we could use our ezpass to go over the Golden Gate Bridge fasttrack lane like we do in Boston. So after our check in at The Hotel California (which we may never be able to leave) and our free frosted tequila shots we decided just to walk around and check out the West Coast's version of Union Square. On a whim we walked into the Curran theater and Ryan got us an AMAZING rush ticket deal on $400 opening night seats to Richard III where we sat about 10 ft from Kevin Spacey all night!  After walking around the area a bit more before the show we realized we didn't have much time for dinner so decided to get dressed up for opening night and head down to the hotel restaurant which turned out to be an upscale vegetarian restaurant that impressed even my carnivorous co-pilot! Kevin Spacey gave a spectacular performance and we ended the night at a local bar/club, a great night out in San Fran! 

Ryan Climbs a tree on the San Andreas Fault Line.

Monkey Boy!

Golden Gate!

Curran Theater!

Looking Cool - Ryan may have had too many Irish Car Bombs... but a great night!

Bodega Bay and Napa Valley

So Ryan and I have been embracing our finer sides these past few days. Our first stop was a gorgeous balcony sunset and free champagne (actually sparkling wine, ill explain later) in Bodega Bay. Next we headed up to Napa Valley for some excellent wine tastings including the Ledson Castle, Kendall-Jackson, and Mumm Cuvee. Surprise Surprise on my two favorites Lesdson Castles red dessert wine which I think was port? Either way they made it with Grappa and served with chocolate chips so you know I loved it. And Kendall-Jackson's dessert chardonnay.  Unfortunately both are unavailable back home, and mostly only in California... bummer. We learned a pretty valuable lesson, just about no one ships to Massachusetts.  Ryan's favorite was the sparkling wines at Mumm Cuvee, by far the best experience with the best tour and free champagne glasses which I'm sure we'll break real soon in the car. In case you never knew, sparkling wine and champagne are the same thing and in Mumm's case made in the same way. The difference is only in the region it's made and grown, and alas we were not in Champagne, France so they could  not call it Champagne. However, they also make a rare sparkling red wine that was very interesting .. hoping we can find a way to order online!

Finally after all the wine tasting was over, we realized our way back to the shore and our next stop was also a large part of a Culinary Tour ... so we embraced our inner foodies and went all out in the style of the French. Stopping at local farms for fresh fruit and veggies, then an amazing bakery for fresh baked bread, finally a creamery for four delicious different kinds of cheese and made ourselves a little picnic dinner to enjoy in Point Reyes National Seashore. We've given up on driving for a bit since gas is almost $5 a gallon! After a nice hike tomorrow we're headed straight for San Fransisco.

Not a whole lot of pictures for you today, we're taking in most of California in my grandma's style. Wondering if we can somehow work the (spell check anyone?) Kankimangus highway  into the trip for a reenactment?  Ryan is hoping Dave will sit in the back seat so it will be true to the original, but I don't think he'll go for it somehow especially not if we make him sing. :)

Morning view in the fog of Bodega Bay.

Bodega Bay's night sky picture that Ryan took. The cloud looking bit is the Milky Way!

Vineyards!

Ledson Castle and Vineyards.

Our picnic spread!