Vegas Baby, Vegas!

We all had SO much fun in Vegas. The evening started in Ceasar's Place at Fat Tuesday (a slushi bar, we are pictured above there) and ended in the early morning at the Peppermill Lounge, but as the saying goes "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!"

Road Trip - Day 5

The last day. I am preparing to fly out of Denver this afternoon and will head to Vegas to meet up with S, C, K, and E. My impressions of Denver aren't that great. It seems to be a very gray city and the downtown is under major construction, so it is difficult to get around. The area around the Civic Center seemed nice, so my opinions might be biased due to the construction. Emily is going to check it out over the summer and make a decision on if it's a city we love (or not so much). I'm hoping that Ben will be working in Colorado again sometime soon because I would love to come back (I had such a great time!), and by then Emily should be a Colorado expert and can show me around!

Road Trip - Day 4

Our plan was to drive from Eagle, Colorado through the Arapaho National Forest (Vail is here), and then drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park from the southern entrance to Estes Park on the east. This gave us the opportunity to see the whole park and to hike both at low and high elevations.There seemed to be a lot more to do here then at the other parks, so we had to make a quick decision of what we wanted to do for the day. We decided on a short hike following the Colorado River for lunch, and then after we weren't so hungry we would make more decisions.Zion and Arches were beautiful, but I find myself loving the scenery at Rocky Mountain. I love the tall trees, flowing rivers, and the greenery that is everywhere. Watching a guy fishing made me want to go with C and S when they go fishing this summer.
We continued our drive through the park and quickly gained elevation. We came to some snow/ice on the ground and Emily wanted a picture with it as she hasn't been to snow very often. It was quite the comparison to the desert of yesterday. We finally stopped for a hike in the Tundra at the tallest area (12,200 feet) and it was cold, windy, and tough, but we made it to the top!It was amazing to be above the tree line and to look down into the valley. We continued the drive through the park and as we were coming down we decided that we had enough time to do an easy 4-mile hike in the valley. It was wonderful to end the trip with a nice walk at the end of the day.

Road Trip - Day 3

Here we are in beautiful Red Rock Country, home to Arches National Park. It is such a contrast to the Central Coast and even Zion. It is extremely hot and dry with no shade, so while we were filling up with gas I noticed an outdoor gear store next door and decided to go and see if they had any good hats. We decided to get cool Indiana Jones-type hats that we noticed everyone wearing at Zion and they definitely saved us (I would have been the nice color of a tomato if I didn't get one), not to mention we look SO cool!Today's hiking was filled with excursions in over 100 degree heat to large arches and beautiful rocks (pictured below is Emily climbing into Turret Arch). Even though we were hot, tired, and sticky due to the sunscreen, we kept going and saw beautiful sites and got our shoes covered in the red clay dirt. There were signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and we figured out that we drank over a gallon of water each!Our plan for the evening was to drive the four hours into Eagle, Colorado which meant we were going to cross the Colorado state line.We were hoping there was going to be a big sign and there was! Since we were the only people on the freeway we quickly pulled over and took a picture of Emily in front of the sign. This is her new state for the next 2-3 months.

Road Trip - Day 2

Today's adventures included driving to Zion National Park near St. George, Utah and then hiking all day in the park.
(FYI: There is this cool deal for National Parks - pay $50 and then get a year pass that covers all National Parks. Only one person has to buy the pass and everyone with that person gets in for free! We took advantage of this offer and both of our names are on the card so let me know if you are ever up for some national park fun!)

We first took a short hike up to the Weeping Rock (pictured below) to have lunch and then took the West Rim Trail down to the Emerald Pools.Those few hikes filled up our day so we boarded the bus to leave Zion and return to town (you can leave your car there for free). We then drove six hours to Moab, Utah where we are staying for the night.

Road Trip - Day 1

Emily and I are off to the great state of Colorado. We are starting a little late (my fault) and with an 8 hour drive ahead of us through California and Nevada to Mesquite, Nevada (on the Nevada/Arizona border) we won't get to our hotel until 2am. It's going to be a long night.

Working Lunch

Since my advisor is a HUGE soccer fan (he is from Mexico), we had a working lunch to allow us all to watch the Germany-Poland (aka The Blitz) match. Germany was successful in defeating Poland by scoring one goal in stop time (nothing like waiting for the last minute). We were able to leave after seeing Germany's success, our stomachs' full, and some work accomplished.

It was also Rachel's 22nd birthday (Happy Birthday Rachel!) and it has been years since I have been able to celebrate it with her on her actual day, so we all went out to dinner at the Cornerview Restaurant. Ben and I were our fashionably late selves (pictured above is their expressions at our late arrival), but we were forgiven and enjoyed a nice dinner together. It was also sad as this was our last chance to see Rachel and Nick for the summer as they leave tomorrow to work at a summer camp in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Vote for Nerd Bird

Yay, the Threadless T-shirt I requested to be reprinted (Doodle Bug) arrived and it fits perfectly! Now all I need is Nerd Bird to be reprinted and I will be very happy.

Graduation!

We did it!

What a weekend! My family was in town, Ben's family was in town, all of my friend's families were in town, so it was two days full of lunches, dinners, parties, and just hanging out. I was a little stressed about everything, but when Saturday came I just suddenly stopped worrying and focused on enjoying the weekend and spending time with everyone. I had such a good time and everything worked out perfectly - I couldn't have asked for a better graduation weekend!

060606 Party

It only happens every thousand years, and The Office mentioned an 050505 party, so we decided it was the perfect excuse for a little party on a Tuesday!

No Crabs Allowed

After L's "Good-bye Work Happy Hour" at The Cliffs (I do like their happy hour and free taco bar), a small group of us headed over to the Cracked Crab for dinner since we were already in Pismo. I was shocked at how expensive it has gotten - $60 for the 2-person bucket (it use to be only $40), so we split a bucket amongst 5 people giving us an ok amount of food. The place still has the fun atmosphere where they tie a plastic bib around you, give you "utensils of destruction" and dump a bucket of yummy crab on the table, but definitely has become focused on the tourist dollar instead of the local dollar. Since the dinner made us all broke, we enjoyed cheap drinks at the Gaslight Lounge (the local dive bar in SLO) which really isn't my place but I still had a good time.