Tag Archives: san diego

Cross Country Trip, Travel

San Diego, CA

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We got to San Diego around 2:30 on Monday night and have been staying and Chris’s Uncle Kevin’s house since then. His house is awesome and really unique. He has a lot of artwork hanging everywhere and not a white wall to be seen. It is nice to have a bed to sleep in and a shower that you don’t have to wear shoes in. He even had a bunch of candles lit for our arrival (I am sure he does the same for you too Susan) We hung out and had a few beers and before we knew it, the sun was rising.

We woke up on Tuesday around noon because people kept calling for Illstreet. (unfortunately now since we are actually in California, Chris opens at 8 am and closes at 5.) Chris was pretty backed up on his work since we had only a little cell phone and internet connection for the past few days and he was closed for hiking the grand canyon. So Chris worked for the next five hours straight and I watched some tv and playing with Spike (Kevin’s American Bulldog, super relaxed and laid back dog). I watched the news to see the 1000 fires that are in California right now and that might affect our drive north. Everyone has told us to go to Big Sur and right now, we are not sure if we are going to be able to go there or Napa. 🙁

spikekevins-place

We also found out that San Diego has a new “no drinking alcohol on the beach” law here. (which is total crap) They even have this flashlight wand that they can wave over your drink and it sucks in the vapors to tell if there is liquor or beer in it(in case you try to sneak booze in a cup.) The fine is 100 dollars for your first offense. Uncle Kevin said the beaches have been empty since this law began; it will also have a big affect on the fireworks this year.

So after work and the news, Chris and I rode bikes around trying to get to the beach. One left turn instead of a right turn and no water was to be seen. So we headed back to the house and got on the dirt bike to head off to dinner. Before we got to Old Town Mexican Cafe (the bar/restaurant Kevin manages) we stopped at Pacific Beach and walked the boardwalk for a little while. The waves were so much bigger than anywhere we had seen before and we were shocked at how cool the weather was. Chris and I both had jeans on and we were still chilly.

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We hopped back on the dirt bike and went off to get some dinner. The food at the Mexican Cafe was ammmazzingg. They make all their tortillas by hand where you can watch and of course the margaritas rocked since we had an experienced bar tender hooking us up. We literally had about 5 plates of food in front of us and I think we finished almost all of it. Chris and I were still really tired at this point from not sleeping much so we just headed home and ended up falling asleep on the couch shortly after. (not exciting I know, but the rest of our weekend is going to be crazy, we have to save up for it)

We woke up early again today because we definitely wanted to spend the day at the beach. Tomorrow, Uncle Kevin’s girlfriend Susan is coming to town for the fourth of July and we are going to spend all day Friday outside and going to a bunch of Kevin’s friends places to watch the fireworks. Chris and Kevin are off picking up one of his nine cars right now (which means I am back to my blogging duties since Chris nnneeevverr writes anything.)

Overall, San Diego has kicked ass so far and we can’t wait to see more of it. Oh yes, and I forgot to say the most important thing….less than a week until my biirtthhdayy 🙂 We don’t know where we will be spending my big 2-2 yet but hopefully it will be somewhere fabulous. Kevin has some crazy things planned for the weekend so I hope Chris and I can keep up.

Stuff to write about still:

Went down to the boardwalk

Met Kevin at Nicks at the Beach and had a very drinks

Drove the bikes up the cross but it was too foggy so we went back in the morning

Seal Beach

Lambo/Ferrari shopping

Mexican food for lunch at this cool burrito place

Nude Beach

Susan got in and we went to eat at Olde Town Cafe

Trying to get a very prickly cactus into Susan’s Sebring convertible

Chris and Kevin went mountain biking (the wheel fell off of Chris’ mountain bike)

Went to a bar and met up with Kevin’s friends at the beach (20 dollar shots from Billy)

Went and bought Susan her watermelon; and we got burgers beers and liquor

Took showers and got ready in less than an hour (all 4 people with one bathroom)

Went to a really nice house and picked up some of Kevin’s friends; we went right up the street to Dave’s (gorgeous 5-6 million dollar home with amazing views of downtown San Diego.

Walked in with about 10 people and watched a fireworks show over the whole city with 7 coinciding fireworks shows

Then went to a loft downtown to hang out some more; After that Chris and I walked Spike and Roxy for a couple of hours

Susan and I went to get mani/pedi and Chris was a little hungover

Went and watched Ultimate Fighting (super cool)

Sunday- we went and saw Kevin’s condos and a bunch of different beaches. We went and ate at a steakhouse for dinner and then went back to Kevin’s for a little bit before we left San Diego around 9 pm.

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Cross Country Trip, Travel

Phoenix, AZ

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Can anyone here say HOT! Because that is how Chris and I would describe Phoenix. We had only a 2+ hour drive from Sedona, but that short drive feels very long in 115 degree heat and NO air-conditioning. We saw probably at least 20 trucks stopped on the side of the road, broken down from overheating. It was still very hilly and had lots of steep grades so after a while; Chris pulled off the highway to try and find some shade to park in and let the rv “cool down.”

At this point, we couldn’t figure out if it was better to have to windows open or closed. The breeze felt like a blowdryer blowing hot air on your face and with the windows closed, we had to have ice packs on our neck to keep cool. We had to drive through Phoenix anyways to get to San Diego and I wanted to stop and see one of my favorite cousins Kaine and his preggers girlfriend Lacey.

We show up to their new apartment complex (Costco across the street..haha another obsession with my family) and Chris and I drove around until we found 3 spots we could take up in the back. We get ready to walk in when we realize that the back door won’t close and lock. This is a nice area of town, right by downtown Scottsdale but Chris and I have 3 laptops, xbox, flat screen tv ect., way too much to risk leaving it open. Chris proceeds to take apart the door handle (for about the 3rd time) and try to fix it. It took him about 30 minutes and we were all yucky and hot.

Kaine called to make sure we weren’t lost and I explained our little situation. Instead of us walking to their place, they came and picked us up from the back and took us out to dinner. We went to this really cool restaurant and ate outside on couches (they also have these really cool misting things that hang from the ceiling all over around there). For some reason I can’t remember the name of the restaurant (Kaine can comment about it if he is not too busy at work to check out our cool blog..haha) They had at least 75 beers on tap, most of which were ones that Chris and I have never heard of, yummy.

We ate and chatted about our trip, Kaine’s work, family, and the new baby Dillon Robert (of course not born yet, only 7.5 months pregnant). I don’t know how Lacey does it being pregnant in the heat down here, it must be intense. Chris liked looking at all the really cools cars and lifts that you could see everywhere around there (Westlake people, the downtown there is kind of like Crocker Park but bigger).

After dinner we went back to their apartment and hung out for a little while longer. We got the see the baby’s new room and all the decorating they have already done for it. It was great to get to see both of them. I met Lacey at Thanksgiving this past year and that’s the last time I saw Kaine too since they live soooo far away in Arizona. They seem really excited for the new baby and both seem really happy.

Around 9 o’clock, we had to get back on the road so we could get a few hours out of phoenix before morning traffic. We said our goodbyes and packed back up in our very hot rv. You would think that since it was dark it might have cooled down, but no. Hot Hot Hot Hot.

Chris knew we couldn’t make it too far because the rv had started making noises earlier and he wanted to stop for the night and replace the spark plugs wires again and the bushing. We only made it about 45 minutes down the road he said we had to pull over. So he gets out to check the engine and realizes that we have NO oil. (he had just done a full oil change before we left.) Unfortunately we are in the middle of no where (nearest gas station is 6 miles back from where we came from). Chris unloads the dirtbike and of course I am going with him (no way am I sitting in the rv on the side of the road alone for 20 minutes)

Thanks for the dirtbike, we got the oil and luckily no damage was done to the engine. Chris knew at that point that we really needed to stop at the soonest rv park (about 30 miles down the road). I gave him directions and then accidentally fell asleep ( I was tired from unpacking from the Grand Canyon, doing a bunch of loads of laundry, and a counter full of dishes earlier). So we miss that park and instead end up at a different rv resort another 30 miles down the road (truly a blessing in disguise).

Around midnight we pull in and go to sleep, running the air conditioner but it is still soooo warm in the rv. We had to pay to plug in because you couldn’t sleep in a rest stop with no cool air.

In the morning, we wake up at 9 am and Chris goes outside to start working on the bushing before it gets too hot. So he is banging and banging, using a hammer and a crowbar to try and get the old one off. The noise brought out the owner of Oasis Rv Park, Jim, on his golfcart, asking if Chris needed any help. We thought we were going to get yelled at because we still hadn’t paid from pulling in the night before, but instead he offered Chris some really amazing help. The owner called a shop and actually lent Chris a car to go and drive there!! The first shop couldn’t do it so he went to a second one about 30 minutes away. I can’t believe that the owner was so nice and willing to do that for us. I stayed behind and answered all his Illstreet calls and cleaned up again.

While Chris was driving he swears he saw Big Black (from a MTV show he likes called Rob & Big) He said the driver looked exactly like him and he was driving a new, clean, black Jeep Cherokee with big wheels, tinted windows, and had a big silver BB sign in the back (Big Blacks symbol).

He gets back and thanks the owner for being so nice and they chat about how hot this place is in the summer. 117 today. The owner of Oasis is retired from the navy and traveled all over the world. He decided to buy some land and his dream was to live in the Sunbelt and own an rv park, not necessarily for the money but more for the lifestyle. He said in the winter, it is packed full of people here. He told Chris that we can’t leave until later because the rest of the drive is very hilly and hot (he basically said the rv couldn’t make it if we left now.) So basically we have been sitting here, Chris working and me watching a movie, drinking water and still sweating with the ac running. Later on he also gave Chris a tire patch kit and an aircompressor as well. (we had somehow run over a pair of scissors in our journey)

At this point, we can’t wait to get to San Diego where we will be staying with Chris’s Uncle Kevin until the 4th of July. We are only about 3 hours away and should get there tonight, hopefully experiencing some much cooler weather.