California Dreamin! [part 1]

So it's been kind of a while since I got back from Cali.

And by that I mean its been just about a week.

I think this means I'm way over due.

Thus begins the post in which I tell you how incredibly amazing the left coast is!

The plans have been in the making for quite awhile now.

It all began the beginning of May when a couple friends and I threw the idea of a road trip to Cali around. Who would have ever thought this would ACTUALLY happen?!

I am quite pleased that it did.

With memorial day weekend nigh, the plans came together perfectly. There was a group of 15 people (mostly from the ward) that planned to drive down in three cars, spend the weekend nights in Yucaipa at the Miskin and Cooper homes, and spend the weekend days lounging on the beach and having the best time of our lives!

Two of the cars left early. 4:00 in the morning!

My car left quite a bit later because two of us had class, one of us didn't want to wake up, one of us had work, and the last person had a girlfriend who had class and would prefer to drive with her rather than anyone else.

Of course I didn't start packing until two hours before we had to leave. I went to class from 8:00-10:00, came home, showered, folded my laundry, cleaned my car, packed and ate brunch [because i didn't wake up early enough for breakfast] all in two hours!

HOLY RUSHER MICRUSSIAN!

(please note the play on words).

I was ready to peace out at noon.

But of course, we had some stragglers so we didn't leave until 1:30pm.

Such is life.

We loaded up the car and were on our way straight to the coastline!

I drove the first 6 hours.

NOT STRAIGHT OF COURSE!

We made it to St. George in record time!

3hours.

[don't tell mom].

And we stopped to dine at our favorite fat I mean fast food restaurant...

IN&OUT!

After we sufficiently stuffed our faces, we jumped back in the car and drove off again.

I drove this next leg of the race as well.

Next stop?

LAS VEGAS!

[only long enough to get gas, but Vegas none the less].

Post St. George, we soon entered the BEAUTIFUL Virgin River Valley.

Then passed right into Arizona!

This just so happens to be the land of my beautiful mother!

I called her immediately and left a message saying that I had returned to the motherland!

Just about now, the post meal hump hit the rest of the car and they all fell asleep while I jammed along to the radio.

And thus we carried on.

We had one minor set back around 6:00pm that lasted about 45 minutes.

I won't say what it was about, but I'll give you a hint.

His name was Officer Frabbeile.

No worries though, all is well on the Western front.

We made it safely to Vegas and filled the car with Gas.

Then my dear roommate, Andrea, drove.

Thank goodness for her!

I fell asleep right when we got back in the car and slept for the next two hours!

By the time I woke up I got to watch the sun set IN CALIFORNIA!

We made it safely to the Miskin house around 10:30pm and stuffed our faces with homemade black bean soup and homemade bread...

WHICH WAS FANTASTIC!

Then we all passed out on our respective beds/air mattresses/couches.

The next morning we slept in until 9:00 (which is a lot considering that I usually have to wake up at 7:00). Those of us who stayed at the Miskin home helped momma Miskin with breakfast. We made pancakes and I squeezed orange juice using the freshly picked oranges, which by the way ARE WAY BETTER THAN ANY ORANGES I'VE HAD IN MY WHOLE LIFE!

Around noon we loaded up in two big vans and headed off to Huntington Beach.

I literally screamed when I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

IT WAS SO HUGE!

We claimed a fire pit then laid the rest of our stuff out much closer to the ocean. Half the crew got right to the water, but I chose to lay out with some of the other girls and work on my soon to be stellar fab tan in my new swim suit!

I made sure to take a picture on my phone to send to my mom!

This is Carolina, Reesa, and I just before we laid down and all fell asleep!

I didn't lay out all day though. I ran into the water once!

When I came out I realized my legs were burned and Andrea had the privilege of rubbing sun screen all over my legs. Lets face it. That was the highlight of her weekend.

Then after I was sufficiently dry I ran away and threw a frisbee around with Cooper and Aaron. It was getting a bit later in the day and most people were hungry so a big crew ran off to get food while a few of us stayed back to play volleyball with some of Aaron's friends.

The highlight of my day, however, was the killer intense game of soccer that we played in the sand. All of our legs were killer sore after and my feet were big time cut up, but it was AMAZINGLY fun! Aaron and I made up a tripping game where you use only your legs to trip the other person. He mostly won because he's super tall, but I like to think I was a good competitor.

Eventually we all fell over and sat in the sand for awhile before the second round of volleyball.

The two girls in the front were some of their California friends.

You can see us in the back. Starting in the green swim suit and going clockwise we have, Aaron, Me, Mckenna, Tim, Fernie, Julia, and Andrea.

When we left for the second round of volleyball, the others came back and started the fire. We ended the night by roasting hot dogs and s'mores.

When we all got home we big time crashed.

Photo credit goes to Reesa Tirrell and Camille Lucero*