California

Until two weeks ago, I had never been to California. Which means this trip included a whole lot of firsts for me. Becky and I left right after school on Tuesday and drove to Las Vegas. We were SO CLOSE to the city when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw those lovely blue flashing lights (I was only going 5 over, REALLY). Turns out the officer had no problem with my speed but was concerned about Becky's car's lack of license plate (she did have the temporary paper, but I guess that wasn't good enough). We handed over our licenses and registration but when the officer came back and said it was the registration for another car I began having visions of handcuffs and jail. Eeep! It all worked out, though. The registration turned out to be that of her old car and although the car salesman hadn't given Becky her new registration, the officer was able to find enough paperwork to pacify himself. Once again, on to Vegas.

We stayed at the Sahara, which seemed like a GREAT idea, mainly because it was cheap, on the Strip, and we had heard of it. Sadly, it was a less-than-cozy place, but it worked. Although I don't recommend it. The next morning we went shopping at the mall in Planet Hollywood, then continued on to CA.

There's nothing like sand between your toes.

As soon as we got there we went straight to the beach (ah, glorious ocean!). The next day we went to Disneyland, which was all that I had hoped and dreamed it would be. :) We got there bright and early in the morning and left late that night.

The next day we drove down to San Diego (wow, I might want to live there some day) and went to the zoo. Going to that zoo has been a dream of mine for years, I had always heard that it is incredible, and it turned out to be pretty great.

Inside one of the aviaries.

That night we drove up to Hemet (with a short stop along the way to pick up a toy for Becky; a shiny new code reader) and the next day we went to Elizabeth and Broc's wedding and reception. It made me SO happy to see her marry a wonderful guy. It was all perfect and reminded me that the Lord does guide our lives, if we let him.

The day after that we drove straight back to Provo. It was a fantastic vacation. I might need to do that again.

*Everyone told me that driving in California is terrifying because people are so aggressive - but I really liked it. I thought it was fun. :) They may be aggressive but they know what they are doing.

*Even though it is California, that does not mean it will be warm. Stubborn me, I woke up every day and looked at the sun shining and thought 'today will be nice, I don't need a jacket,' and every day I froze. Result: I now have a cold and could not talk for 3 days. Next time I will be smarter.