So now, 24 years later, I was FINALLY able to go to California-a place I've always wanted to visit!
But our trip did not start off so great. First-we had to board Tucker. That may not seem like a big deal to some but Tucker is pretty much our fur baby and leaving him is always hard =( Any chance we get to take him somewhere we always do, even if it's just to my family's for the weekend! So he had to get an evaluation and they stated he was really shy and seemed anxious. They recommended that he come a few more times before we board (it's also a doggy day care) but with time running out we had to bite the bullet and board him there.... (Luckily, after we picked him up they said he warmed up a lot and seemed to have a good time over all. He did get extremely sick when we got hom and was for almost a week but we don't think it was the boarding as much as it was the food change and new bone he got)
Next we got a call right before we headed out the door early Wednesday that our flight got canceled! Due to severe storms and tornadoes in Dallas (our layover city and AA hub) we had to get a flight almost 12 hours later and in a completely different airport than planned (we were trying to land in Ontario, CA so Derrick's grandparents could pick us up but instead had to land in LAX-luckily Der's Aunt Patty was able to get us!) I was a bit motion sick but after getting some food (In N Out Burger) and some amazing hot tea,
we finally make it to Derrick's Uncle Mike and Aunt Patty's house to crash.
The next day we got to go exploring in El Segundo, California! This little place is located less than 10 minutes from LAX and only about 2 miles from the Pacific Ocean! I got to see the Pacific Ocean for the FIRST TIME! I teared up at seeing it-it's absolutely beautiful!
Look at that water!
The sun was in our eyes, lol.
Next we went to grab som brunch at a local eatery right on the beach. We saw surfers coming in, lots of people playing volleyball, and even more people jogging or strolling along the coast. It was awesome!
After brunch we went exploring around the area for a bit, taking in the scenery and enjoying the weather (a wonderful 75ish degrees and sunny) before heading out to Reddlands, CA to visit the rest of the Raleys! They were all coming in for Easter weekend so we were lucky enough to see them all!
From L: Me, Der, Grandfather David, Mark (Der's dad), Michelle (Der's stepmom), Andy (the dog she's holding, Cole (Der's half brother, in blue), Grandmother Diane, Guy (Der's other half brother, in front of me), Whisper (black dog) and Saddie (cream dog).
It was a great time getting to meet many of Derrick's family members, seeing where he gets some of his quirks and traits from. They were all SUPER nice, making it less stressful for me and I felt very relaxed with them. We mostly hung out, exploring Reddlands and the surrounding area with the family, getting grub and laughing back home.
This was a coffee shop/diner that serves fresh hot apple pies. They used apples straight from California vineyards!
Unfortunately it was a short visit because we had to head to San Diego, CA the next evening for my SSSA conference presentation. Derrick's dad Mark and grandfather David drove us to San Diego and said goodbye-it was bittersweet!
We checked into our room, perused the hotel, and then went to bed since I had a big day in the morning.
The next morning I got up and got ready for my SSSA presentation. I was to be presenting over work I've done with my GA professor regarding religiousness and spirituality as a way of coping for women with life sentences in prison. I go, check in, make it back to the conference room where I would present alongside 4 other speakers...only to find out that no one had come!! Only me and one other presenter ended up showing up...I won't lie...it was kind of disappointing. I mean, I realized there wouldn't be a lot of people because it was the last day of the conference, in the morning, on Easter weekend, but still...I was a bit bummed. Luckily, the other speaker was presenting on similar data so we just talked for about an hour about our work and the future needs for studies like ours.
After my "presentation" I headed back to the room and lo and behold our friend Patrick was there! He and his girlfriend Laina had driven to us from Los Angeles, CA to visit. We haven't seen Pat for over a year! We 4 packed into the rental car Patrick had and went to the San Diego Zoo for the day! Check out the pics below of some of the awesome things we were able to see! There were so many more pictures but here are a few for laughs and intrigue.
Pat (L) and Der (R) being silly at one of the children's exhibits.
FLAMINGOS!!
A sweet giraffe that looks like it's a out to fall!
Baby monkey
Hungry panda
Patrick and Laina
Me and Der at the waterfall in the bird terrarium.
After the zoo we went back to the hotel to figure out food plans before Pat and Laina left. We walked along the bay and ended up settling for a little steak house there (although it was over priced and not that great considering...). We ate and said goodbye to Patrick and Laine then headed back to the room to re-pack and sleep.
Der at the San Diego Bay.
The Bay at sunset <3
We got up the next morning, got a cab to the airport, and once we got to Dallas we had another issue with delayed flights-apparently in the ENTIRE DFW airport all flights to Nashville and the surrounding areas had been cancelled! We were so frustrated by this happening again...we had to stand in line for approximately 2 hours to speak to someone who basically said there was no way we were leaving the airport and heading that way that night. GRRRRR!! So we had the choice of sleeping in the airport for free or we could obtain a discounted hotel voucher and stay somewhere else. Thankfully, since DFW is so huge, there were 2 hotels joined to the airport. We chose to stay in one of those (which ended up being SUPER nice considering) and went to the room to sleep. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal but since we were flying home on a Sunday and got delayed I had to: 1-call in to work using PTO and no pay time to cover for it, 2-pay to stay in a hotel when we hadn't budgeted for it (thank god I had money on my CC!) and 3-pay an extra day to board Tucker. Talk about aggravating! And the most frustrating part was that they said it was due to storms in the East but everyone I talked to in and around Nashville said they saw nothing but sunny skies and great weather... *SIGH* We had to get up at 5 am, catch a flight to North Carolina, then finally, headed back to Nashville. We picked up Tuck, made it home, and CRASHED.
It was a whirlwind of a trip! I can't wait to go back-it was too much fun outside of the stupid travel issues!
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