For a few months we had been thinking about a trip to Southern California to visit Jared's parents who are serving in the California, San Fernando Mission. We kind of went back and forth on whether or not to go, and finally decided it would be a pretty inexpensive trip and his parents really wanted us to come visit...and we couldn't disappoint them, so we finally went last week.
We had so much fun and I have a slight picture overload coming up.
We loved every second!
Not only did we get to do/see way cool things, but we got to see Richard and Susan and it had been a long 9 months since they left.
First thing you need for a 12 hour drive is snacks. Don't worry, we didn't even come close to finishing this gigantic bag.
We left at 4:00 am on Thursday morning. Yikes! We were a little tired by the time we got there.
On the way down we decided to stop in Vegas for lunch and to take a break from driving. Jared had never been to the M&M Store or the Coca-Cola Store so we went to those.
We mainly just walked the strip and went into a few places. I wanted him to see the inside of the Venetian because I think it is so cool and its my favorite.
After a long, long day we finally made it to California. We met Jared's parents at their office then they took us back to the house they are staying at. Luckily, we were able to stay at the house with them. That made it really nice because we got to spend even more time with them. That night we went and had dinner at Chipotle(how has this delicious place existed and I not been there before now?) and then just visited/caught up.
The next day we decided to venture into LA to see the Hollywood sign. It seemed like a great idea until there was an accident on the freeway and we got stuck in traffic for almost 3 hours. But eventually we made it. We went to the Griffith Observatory because they have a good view of the sign. They also have lots of "sciency" exhibits inside that we looked at.
After that we headed over to Hollywood Boulevard and had some lunch at Hard Rock Café. Then we walked the Walk of Fame and went to the Hollywood Wax Museum.
I absolutely LOVED the Wax Museum. It was shocking how real they look. I couldn't stop being amazed!
Don't worry I have like a billion photos from that place so be grateful I only put those ones up.
That evening before heading home we stopped by the LA Temple. It's beautiful!
Saturday we went to the Angels baseball game. We had so much fun! It wasn't even boring. I was kind of expecting it to be, but it was great. The only bad thing is that we forgot the sunscreen and we all got burned pretty badly. Oh well, it was worth it!
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| Yep, we had to have a hot dog at the baseball game. |
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| And some peanuts and cracker jacks! |
On Sunday we went to church and just hung out and played some games. That night we went for a drive past Six Flags. Many of you know Jared is absolutely terrified of roller coasters. He did not enjoy this activity, even though he was safe and sound in the car, it was making him sick just watching the roller coasters! I couldn't stop laughing about it.
So I had to take this picture of his face. He is so disturbed by thrill rides.
He just kept saying, "I just don't get why people think that is fun"!
On Monday morning Jared and his dad went golfing, but after that they had to go back into the office. Jared and I headed out to Santa Monica Pier to hang out.
I will say this, if I was forced to move out of Utah I might choose Santa Monica. I loved everything about it. It was beautiful and clean and I just loved it.
After the beach we headed over to Rodeo Drive to see what that's all about. $$$$, is what it's about. I am pretty sure every car was either a Mercedes, BMW, or Porsche. Every store has guards or policeman by the doors and if felt out of place just walking on the sidewalks. Like even they were too nice to walk on...
After that Richard and Susan were back from the office and we went back to have dinner and play more games.
We enjoyed are time so much while we were down there. We didn't want to leave. Susan kept asking us to stay another week and you have no idea how tempting that was. Thanks Richard and Susan for letting us stay and for taking us to do all these fun things! We love you guys and are excited for January to come. But mostly, it was just good to see them again, sometimes I forgot we were in California, it felt like we were back in Mantua hanging out on a Sunday afternoon.
