Since college, I have taken a road trip to California each summer and let me tell you......actually, I better keep some of those experiences to myself. Since Ryan and I hooked up in 2006 we have taken 3 road trips to Cali. We just got back from our third trip: First stop...Fresno, to see Ryan's dad and crash after a long drive and countless hours listening to old school 90's rap, country and my IPOD "workout" and "mellow" favorites! The next day we left for Pasadena to see the Fresno State vs. UCLA game...of course we were rooting for Fresno and boy did we see a good game despite the 98+ temp. which caused 2nd degree burns on my face. I'm not joking...we forgot the sunblock and I wasn't about to buy the travel size one at the hotel for $17. Later I wished I had forked out the cash because my face, specifically my upper lip, was jacked up and in serious pain the rest of the trip. On a good note, Fresno won 36 to 31.
After the game, we headed to Murrietta (not sure if I'm spelling that right) near San Diego to see my old roomie Rachel, her husband Cameron and their new little adorable baby girl. It was great catching up and I loved getting a dose of Rachel who always makes me laugh and puts a smile on my face. After two nights in Pasadena, we headed to Santa Barbara for the day and just hung out on the beach and the pier. I love Santa Barbara. It is so peaceful and serene and I love all the artwork along the beach. Next we headed back to Fresno to get a good sleep, do laundry and hang out more with Ryan's dad.
Fourth stop, Yosemite National Park. Yosemite was really beautiful. If you ever go, go during the spring because by the fall all the waterfalls are all dried up. We camped two nights in Upper Pines campground. Ryan was hoping a bear would wander its' way into our campsite. I on the other hand, was so freaked out about bears and other wild critters roaming near by that I didn't go to the bathroom all night therefore getting no sleep. The second night I slept with my contacts in so at least I could see the bear about to eat me on my way to the bathroom instead of being blindsided. We spent one day at Bass lake and rented jet ski's which was a lot of fun because we pretty much had the lake all to ourselves!
Fifth stop, Lake Tahoe. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. Lake Tahoe is really serene and charming. I may have a slight addiction to slot machines so we gave ourselves a slot machine budget and on our way up to our room one night we put $20 into a 5 cent slot and walked away with over $500. If only that happened every time. By the time we left we pretty much broke even and left about $50 more than what we started with.
Finally, we headed home and were ready to give our cat Tabby a big hug and sleep in our own bed. There truly is no place like home!
