Spokane, Washington --> Gainesville, Florida: Day 3

Day 3!

Departing conditions:

• Time: 9:45am (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011 (Easter)
• City: Manhattan, California
• Temp: 60
• Gas: $47.05
• Gallons: 10.945

It was great staying with my uncle at his house. He lives right on the beach in California and just a flew blocks away is where Tiger Woods has a house!

View from his roof in Manhattan Beach, California

Me and my great Uncle Earl

Stop #1:

• Time: 10:45am (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Hollywood, California
• Temp: 70

Welcome to Hollywood!!!!!  With only 4 hours allotted to our trip to Hollywood, CA, we definitely wanted to make it count! We arrived on Hollywood Boulevard and checked out the Walk of Fame.

Margaret and I with Carlie Sheen! WINNIIINNGGG!!!!

Halfway through our Star Walk, we stopped at Grauman's Theater to check out the hand and foot prints in the sidewalk.

Then we hit up Madame Toussades. We even ran into some famous people!!!

Margaret and Forest

Captain Margaret!

We hit it off great! Me and Jack

Sue Sylvester is a badass!

Tiger needed some help sinking that putt.

Well, we met some great people, took a bunch of photos and grabbed some souvenir's. We even caught a glimpse of the Hollywood sign!

No, it is not a picture of this random guy, but look to the right of the car and you'll see the Hollywood Sign!

We left Hollywood, California at 1:15pm and headed on over to Las Vegas!!!!!

Stop #2:

• Time: 1:57pm (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Duarte, California
• Temp: 70
• Eating place: We were starving and out of the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, so we stopped for some grub! We ended up eating at Qdoba and treated our self to a relaxing dessert at Tutti Fruitti (frozen yogurt). Even though we were on a tight schedule, we sat outside and enjoyed our first day of sunshine and heat since we left Florida two months prior.
• Miles driven: 1,405.2 miles

Stop #3

• Time: 5:10pm (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Yermo, Nevada
• Temp: 67
• Rest stop --> we REALLY had to pee! Wearing a dress at this rest stop was....a challenge. It was extremely windy! So windy that I had to take off my dangle earrings because I felt like they were going to be ripped from my ears! The wind had to be at least 50 mph, and it was constant. So I held my dress down with all my might, let my hair fly all over the place and ran to the bathroom. There was no way we were going to give up this rest area, especially since it was the last one for a VERY long time. I'm pretty sure my face got windburn...if that is such a thing.
• Miles driven: 1,585.5 miles

Even though we were so close to Las Vegas, we had to stop and get some gas!

Stop #4

• Time: 6:05pm (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Temp: 74
• Gas: $37.38
• Gallons: 9.587
• Miles driven: 1, 643.7 miles

Stop #5

• Time: 6:34pm (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: LAS VEGAS BABY!!!!!!

We drove down the strip and parking the old girl at the Paris! It is one of my favorite casinos on the strip. Then we made our way over to the Bellagio Casino. Apparently we were just in time for their famous Fountain Show! Unfortunately for us, it was cancelled due to too much wind :( We did get some great photos while waiting though!

The Flamingo...the beginning of it all.

Waiting for the fountain show that never happened.

The Paris.

The Bellagio at night...gorgeous!

Woo!!! Paris!!!

Gambling was a must while in Vegas. I played Roulette. Lost $30. I should have bet it all on black! Margaret played a round of Roulette and then hit up the slot machine. Margaret lost $15. Not too bad for a few hours in Las Vegas.

Since we had to be in Flagstaff, AZ that night, we had to leave earlier than we would have liked. But we had to do what we had to do! We left Las Vegas at 9:13pm.

Stop #6

• Time: 9:32pm (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Temp: 73
• Eating place: McDonald's --> because we gambled...and lost :(

Sleep!

• Time: 1:16am (Pacific) Monday, April 25, 2011
• City: Flagstaff, Arizona
• Temp: 39
• Resting place: Quality Inn --> they advertise, "No Train Noise". Not sure why, but we didn't hear any trains! Finally, we were getting some sleep so we could explore the Grand Canyon in the morning!!!

ELEVATION: 7,335 ft --> no wonder our ears were popping like rice crispies!

Spokane, Washington --> Gainesville, Florida: Day 2

Day 2

We slept through breakfast. But at least we got a great night sleep in our own KING sized beds! (Even though Margaret did find a pube on the comforter).

Departing conditions:

• Time: 10:20am (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Salem, Oregon
• Temp: 58

On the road again! For a LONG time!

Stop #1:

• Time: 12:17pm (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Roseburg, Oregon
• Temp: 61
• Gas: $39.10
• Gallons: 10.105
• Eating place: Big Town Hero --> we really wanted sandwiches because we knew how much greasy foods we would be eating throughout the trip. Luckily, we happened to be looking for gas and found this cute little sandwich place! The sandwiches were really good and, once again, we had our gas pumped for us.
• Miles driven: 566.3 miles

WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA!!!!

Stop #2

• Time: 2:49pm (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Hornbrook, California
• Temp: 56 (and super windy!)
• Welcome Center
• Miles driven: 703.2 miles

Shortly after crossing the California state line, we were funneled into a "customs" like facility. We both looked at each other and couldn't figure out why we would be getting stopped. Apparently, they want to know if you are carrying any plants/food into the state and leaving it there. No plants in our car! We were free to go!

Stop #3

• Time: 5:17pm (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Corning, California
• Temp: 66
• Gas: $46. 73
• Gallons: 11.236
• Eating place: Marco's Pizza --> just to clue you in about Corning, CA: we felt like we were in Mexico...or at least it looked like Mexico from the movies. We were hungry and only had about 3 options: Wendy's, Subway or Marco's. We chose Marco's. At first, we thought the place was sketchy. Later, we learned that it was actually sketchy. Apparently, Marco's Pizza used to be a motel of some sort. The outside looks exactly like a motel, the inside looks like a motel without any rooms and one big open space with an oven in place of the front desk. The pizza was good though! Add that to one of our many food adventures!
• Miles driven: 856.8 miles

Stop #4

• Time: 8:57pm (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Peterson, California
• Temp: 62
• Gas: $30.80
• Gallons: 7.164 --> this was by far the SKETCHiest gas station so far. No joke. Like, for realsies! So we stop and fill 'er up. Then go inside to empty our bladders. Normal, right? Not here. Not in Peterson, California. I went before Margaret while she topped off the tank and didn't have too much of an issue, except when I came out of the bathroom, I saw this chick in SOCKS and talking on a hands free set. She was having some sort of conversation and something, I think it was about poop, but don't quote me on that. Then it was Margaret's turn for the potty and things just got straight up WEIRD! The socks chick was taking a dump in the bathroom and having a conversation on her hands free. So maybe she was talking about poo. But seriously, I can understand talking on the phone while pooing, but to wear just socks? Gross! After the socks chick dropped the last kid off in the pool, she came out of the stall, saw Margaret, and asked, "Was you be speeding on I-5?" Not sure how to respond, Margaret said, "No" and walked away. Good move. When we were settling back into the car, we saw the sock chick get into her car with another chick. Then they proceeded to light a huge fat one and smoke in the car. It was hard not to stare, but I was very much afraid of getting my ass kicked at this point. So we scurried off into the night!
• Miles driven: 1,053.4 miles

Around 7:00pm that day, I had the biggest revelation. My great uncle lives in California! He even lives just outside of Hollywood, California, which is where we planned on going in the morning. Luckily, he offered his place for the night, and being broke traveling college student, we took him up on his offer. And, I haven't seen him in about 4 years, so it was definitely a plus!

Sleep!

• Time: 1:12am (Pacific) Sunday, April 24, 2011
• City: Manhattan Beach, California
• Temp: 57
• Miles driven: 1,357.3 miles

Spokane, Washington --> Gainesville, Florida: Day 1

We stuffed our bags back into my tiny car, said our goodbyes and set our GPS for Florida. Our time had come to an end. We were going to miss our rotation and all the people at the clinic, but we definitely won't miss that apartment!

Departing conditions: 4:17pm (Pacific) Friday, April 22, 2011

• City: Wellpinit, Washington
• Temp: 55

Day 1!!!!

We got our maps, glasses and sunroof: all we need!

And we were off!!!! We knew that our first and last day of the trip would be about covering as much distance as possible, so we settled in and remembered what it was like to travel all day! Originally, we had planned on going through Oregon, then Nevada and eventually make our way down California, but at the last minute, we flew by the seat of our pants and decided to go down I-5!

During the change in plans, the GPS decided to have a little hissy fit. It took us down some super sketchy (and super dark) country road. We stopped on some random street off of this country road to take a look at our map. While sitting in our car with our hazard lights on, the cabin light on and two confused young women staring at a giant map, a very nice mom and daughter stopped and asked if we needed help. At first, we were hesitant, but then we probably looked just as sketchy to them and they did to us. With their help, we decided to get back onto I-5 and take the "longer" route. At least we knew we weren't going to hit a deer, potentially roll our car into a ditch and eventually get eaten by bears. It was definitely a much better decision for us.

Stop #1:

• Time: 6:55pm (Pacific) Friday, April 22, 2011
• City: Kennewick, Washington
• Temp: 61
• Eating Place: Panda Express --> we were craving Chinese ever since we passed up the opportunity in Vancouver
• Miles driven: 154.6 miles

With a lot of open road before us, we settled back in for the long haul.

Stop #2:

• 9:20pm (Pacific) Friday, April 22, 2011
• City: The Dalles, Oregon
• Temp: 50
• Gas: $46.63
• Gallons: 12.051
• Miles driven: 284.1 miles

BTW, Oregon is the BEST place to get gas! Gas attendants should be employed all over the country. It is unbelievably awesome to just sit in your car while someone fills up your tank, and they clean off the million bugs smushed on my windsheild!

SLEEP!

• 12:05am (Pacific) Saturday, April 23, 2011
• City: Salem, Oregon
• Temp: 49
• Sleeping place: Howard Johnson. While in one of the last major cities off the interstate, we started calling around to different hotels to find a great place to snuggle up and get some sleep. One of the problems that we had during the entire trip with hotels was getting across to the front desk that we wanted ONE room with TWO beds for TWO people with ZERO kids. Seriously, I cannot recall how many times we had to repeat it. So to our amazement, we got quoted $76 for ONE room with TWO KING size beds. SOLD! So we checked in and got our keys and hiked up the stairs to our room. Yes, I said stairs because most of the hotels that are two stories don't have elevators. We got to our room and realized that our key wasn't working. We were able to use the key to enter the main building, so we couldn't understand why it wasn't working for our room door. So I went back downstairs and left Margaret with the luggage and asked our China man what happened. He probably thought that I couldn't figure out how to work the key, so he reset the key and walked me upstairs to "show me" how to use the key. Wouldn't you know that it didn't work for him either! The whole lock mechanism was broken! You would have thought that we would have been offered a different room, but NOPE, we were told to make sure we both didn't leave the room so one of us could open the door. Seriously? And of course, I locked myself out of the room while Margaret was in the shower the next morning. Fail!
• Miles driven: 436.9 miles