A Wonderful Time In San Francisco

After Yosemite we drove to San Francisco. Not a bad drive. In fact, along the way we bought a bag of avo-ca-do's and while buying them ate an amazing lunch. Homemade tamales for 1.50 each at some little shop on the side of the road. Really good. We sold them out of the tamales...we were hungry, hungry hippos and they were delicious, delicious tamales.

Upon arriving into San Francisco, we decided to check out Fisherman's Wharf. It was, how you say, cold. I had no idea that the city would be that chilly. We wandered around aimlessly without really an idea of where we were going to stay. There was an old game place we checked out...a submarine...and then we drove around for awhile looking for the perfect coffee shop, which in the end turned out to be Starbucks. Damn you Starbucks. There was literally two within the block from one another. That's just _________. While relaxing at this lovely little place, Auren received a call from his cousin and we had a place to stay...ahhhhh! So, it was off to Albany, which is right outside of Berkeley. They were super nice and welcomed us in and we all had a place to sleep (couch, air mattress, and pull out bed!) So, we set our things done, got cleaned up and went out on the town...this was fun. The first bar we went to didn't serve liquor, which isn't really our type of going out vibe, so naturally we had to make our way to a new bar. The kind of bar that serves long islands that seriously only have a splash of Coke. All it took was one of these and we were feeling good...Also, we may or may not have -we most definitely did- shotgun beers before evening going to the first bar. Janssen and I helped to introduce Auren to this wonderful experience. It was even better since it was warm! This concluded our first night in San Francisco.

When we woke up the next morning-we had predicted it would be 7 am, but ended up being more like 1130- and had no real plans. This turned into us exploring Berkeley and enjoying People's Park. What a wonderful place that is. Go read up on it and you'll see why it is so cool.
While we were there we talked with some people who help manage the park and helped a local guy with a puzzle he was working on. It's funny to work on puzzles with people, because you end up learning different organizational skills of people. The way their brain works when they are forced to take a cluster of objects and make them form something complete. It was just an interesting thing to observe as everyone tried to help. After this we made our way to Peet's coffee shop. Here we spent hours upon hours reading, writing, updating and just hanging around. Upon leaving the store we made a mistake. Not the biggest mistake, well actually, in retrospect, it was a great thing. We entered a book store. Now, the funny thing about books is that all four of us are completely in love with them. To the point that it's getting a little sick and wrong. Auren has a small library in the trunk of the car. I'm not kidding. So, you can see why us entering a bookstore (not just any bookstore, but a used one!) would be a little bit unneccesary. We didn't go overboard, but we did buy books. I got a personality book, which has been a long discussion ever since. Janssen bought a book called Cunt and that has really opened her eyes/mouth/brain. I'm about to read it next, so I'll let you know how that goes. Auren bought like four books and I'm still not sure if he's made it around to reading any of them...I shall ask when he awakens from his manly slumber. Okay, that covers the book aspect, now on to dinner.

Dinner was so fabulous it gets its own paragraph and you know how I feel about paragraphs. Auren has an Uncle Mark living in SanFran who invited us over for dinner. Lovely in general, but Mark and Norma were awesome. They were the nonjudgemental type...guiders..advice givers...like they've been there and this is what they have to say about it, but not like they are trying to sway how you live our life. Really awesome adults :) We talked with them for a bit before dinner and had a discussion about how hot it really is in Death Valley. They pulled out some maps and showed us where it is and the surrounding places such as, but not limited to Devil's Hole and Funeral Mountains. How exquisite? After this we were off to a place called Chow's. It was a great local spot. There was no corking fee for the wine and the food was moderately priced. The food was amazing...there was....calamari, potstickers (wooo!), ribs, pasta, and thai food. Very diverse and well done. We all had a fabulous dinner and great wine with even better conversation. We learned about wine and how the couple met, which was fairytale-eque. After becoming buzzed and bloated we went back to their place for an after dinner drink and smoke. Mark and Norma were incredibly hospitable, sweet, and seemed like the positive type of mentor anyone can use in their life. I'm grateful I was given the opportunity to meet them and share time with one another.

The next day we went out the Muir woods, which has redwood trees, which are huge. Very large trees. Very old, large trees. It was interesting and cool to see. The next place we went to was Mount Tamalpais. It was at this mountain that Auren's mother went years earlier and it told her to go and meet up with his dad and make a baby. Thus, Auren. After our adventure here, we went back to SanFran and to Haight and Ashbury. Here we just walked around and looked at some stores. The boys had some amazing crepes at a store...Mmmmm so gooood. Also, we got stopped by some guy who was on drugs, but really fun. He was from Ann Arbor, which is where the boys are from so he was telling them all sorts of things...Just an interesting conversation and at the end of it, he asked if we wanted some LSD...we didn't. Then we traveled around to the Castro district and then couldn't find a store so we ended up at a coffee shop, which was a nice little place. We spent more hours at a coffee shop. Our adventure out ended with us getting food at a pizza place (auren had a sandwich) and then back to cousin tommy's for some discussion before bed.

Our next day would be marked by driving...lots of driving...Here we come Vegas!

Natural Beauty

Natural beauty is such a funny thing. You hear it all the time, but how many of us really appreciate it? Well, I can tell you that going to Yosemite national park is some serious natural beauty. The trees. The prospect of crazy bears. The cliffs to dangle your feet from. It's all there and it's all natural.

I drove a good six hours into the park with the traffic and all. I'll admit I was tired at first, but nothing some serious caffeine can't fix. After that, it was hiking time. Janssen and I took it upon ourselves to talk to the people next to us and figure out some trails, which directed us to the park ranger. After listening to him talk and point out various trails, we decided to just drive to the nearest trail parking lot and go. Boy did we go. At first we were just walking and climbing random rocks along the path, but then we found the high cliffs. The ones where you could let your feet hang off the edge. Heights that you would look over the edge and see thousands of feet below you. Breathtaking. When I get the chance I will upload some pictures for everyone. They're on someone else's computer at the moment. After spending a significant portion of time feeling vulnerable and tiny, we started hiking downhill on a trail or hike or maybe something we made up. In any case, it was all downhill. This means that when we decided to turn around and come back it was all uphill. Not as fun. What made it worse was by the time we had really started the uphill we had about no water. Really not as fun, but taking a break in the shade and being able to look out and see so many gorgeous sites helped to alleaviate the pain. We made it to the dome where we were able to look all around us. Gorgeous. Everyone should go and see this. The pictures we took are beautiful and were quite fun to take :)

That ended our long hike and we went back to the campgrounds. Our evening consisted of cooking canned food, drinking, and meeting some exceptionally nice people who hooked us up. More on that if you ask me personally ;) After trying to go to sleep in the tent and realizing that it was freezing and maybe we could hear bears or were imagining it, Janssen and I decided to sleep in the car. Not the most comfortable, but warmer than before. This ended Yosemite and the beauty that it is. Now for more stories....

Where I Should Have Gone To College...

After a long and exciting day at a park full of fun we went to what can be described as the essence of "California livin' is easy, let's just all relax". The beauty in this town was made possible by our host Chris (he too is part of couchsurfing). His house was this eccentric, homey, so relaxed place. He had corn growing in his front yard! We showed up rather late, but he greeted us and told us how to get to the still alive and functioning part of town, which happened to be about two blocks away. Along the walk we spied a drunk man passed out on the sidewalk, ballsack written on the street, and perfect palm trees. We asked a lovely young lady where to get food and we were introduced to ectasy. I share with you Freebird. Regular burriots? No. MONSTER BURRITOS. For $8, I received a burrito the size of my head. It was so good Auren and Jonathon had it again the next day. These burritos made it rain in my mouth! Also at Freebirds, we were asked if we were seeling some green and Jonathon was asked if he was, I believe, trippin'. All within fifteen minutes of being in this lovely town.

Moving along...Jonathona nd I read books from Chris's absolutely amazing bookshefl, Janssen clickclacked on the compute rand Auren took it upon himself to sleep outside on the hammock. It was determined the next morning that this is cold and dewey. Morning time for us came around noon and we headed out to the beach. I believe it was three blocks from his house, which is the kind of life I want. At the beach we read and relaxed. It wasn't a "deathly kill you with my UV Rays type of day", but the lovely "beach breeze with the sun's rays massaging your shoulders". It was a good day. What a simple sentence. What a true sentence. To be honest, everyday I've been on this journey could be summed up that way...

After our beach getaway, we made it back to Chris's. There we met fellow couchsurfers who were also being allwed a lovely place to stay. There were two English guys and frou guys from Finland. This would have made ten people in the same house, not including the people who actually live there...so we decided that maybe we should leave for Yosemite, but not until we ate a fabulous dinner and enjoyed some Reggae music.

We ate dinner at a place called The Palace Grill. Cajun food and a lovely atmosphere. They were all about service...They didn't have to let us in, but the man decided to seat us. Get this, I had fish and actually didn't mind it. We had breaded crawfish dipped in a cajun sauce and it was yummy. They gave us muffins for bread. As for the entrees, Auren ate Catfish, which wasn't too shabby...Jonathon had stuffed crab that had some sort of breading and that was very good...I had the Jambalaya mmmmm and Janssen went for the Shrimp etoufee. I didn't really like hers...too fishy for me. Then they gave us a dessert on the house and it was so exquisite. Lovely. Tastebuds were joining hands and spinning around with delight. After our meal, we went to Sandbar and listened to live Reggae. Janssen and I also decided to sit outside with our drinks and hold man auditions...here's how it went...

The first man comes up and sits down with the line of his friends were being boring and he just wanted to talk. So, we do. Conversation about him being a chef and the types of meals he cooks and just a lot of things about cooking really. He was wearing a shirt that said Cali Green and so I asked if smoked...he said he did, but then was like I don't have any, well actually I'd be embarrassed to share the half bowl I have in my car...This turned into an awkward silence of pretty much Janssen and I being like "well...uhh...what else could there be to talk about?" So, he leaves.
The next guy just wanders up..hammered. He goes up to j and is just like "alright, let's get this out of the way, before your boyfriend comes back" and then tries to get her number, but realizes his phone is dead, dead, dead. We briefly tell him about our journey and he goes "go to the marina...say it with me. go to the marina." This man was full of excitement and crazy. Apparently at the marina you can go "No, no, no, PARTY" as in just walk and find a bar to suit your evening. We tell him we're from Iowa and he goes "Oh, I've been there"...J, "Oh yeah, what city?" ...crazy, "Boise"...me "hahahhahahahahhahahahahahah". He then told us about Michigan and how he has family in "linkin park, detroit, travers park, linkin park" Once again, I laughed. Crazy got mad at us when he said he needed a drink and we causally mentioned that he would have to go to the bar, because we didn't have a waitress...in his words he "took offense"
The final audition was held with the guys involved. I have no idea how he came up to the table, because at the time I was in the bathroom...all I know is I walked up and he was yelling about politics. I had overheard him earlier in the evening and what I heard him say was quite profound..."I get angry because I'm an American". I laughed at that too. Anyway, he's blahblahblahin and we are all quiet and listening to his rant and finally he leans over and whispers in my ear "I've been checking you out for the past 45 minutes" and my response was "I don't think that's appropriate". We'll count that as the romantic quote of the day.

After this lovely evening, we were off to Yosemite. Jonathon decided to be a saint and take the first shift of 2am-6am (he was sober!) I took the final 6am-noon and we put ourselves into the most wonderful kind of beauty there is: natural beauty.

Six Flags + Friends = FUN!

When you go to six flags you expect fun and let me tell you, that's exactly what we got. If you are near the park or someone even mentions it...DO IT! So fun! I guess the most theme parky I've ever gotten was at Worlds of Fun and that doesn't even compare. I will try to get through the day as best as I can recall....

X2 would be the first ride of the day. Oh side note: It was a hot day, but this could not deter from the fun that would be had. Alright, so the line is relatively long, but hey, it's a theme park. So, everyone is cool and excited...everyone except Janssen. As soon as standing in the line for the seats came up she looked like she was gonna vomit. Luckily for all, she didn't. This ride was incredible. I swear I had no freakin' sense of direction. It felt like I was just being thrown around like a little puppet and I loved it. As soon as the ride was over we were sitting there strapped in, just chillin...for thirty seconds...for a minute....then they start asking if we want to go again and what can you say to that? So of course I'm screaming "Wooo!" and "YEAH!" and Janssen is sitting there trying not to have a panic attack. A guy who works there comes around and I start asking him why we would have the honor of going again and he responds with that they can't get the straps to unlock, so Janssen asks if they would randomly open up on the ride and he casually responds with...they might. Now Janssen really wants off. Long story short, they didn't do the ride again, the seats opened and we all lived.

Every other ride was amazing, but I can't recall the order, so I'll just name some and a few thoughts about them.

The Riddler: We asked each other riddles and made friends with others in line. Apparently, this ride is the tallest and fastest stand-up coaster. Clearly, this makes it rock.

Batman The Ride: Besides this ride just being freakin' fun...there was NO line! I mean we literally just walked all the way up to the front and got on the next ride. How cool? Afterwards we did it again, except in the back. Yeah we did it from the front then the back.

Superman The Escape: Really fast and really fun. Even waiting for the ride wasn't bad, because they had us in a little cave and it was cool. Also, we pretended to superman on the railings.

Colossus: A wooden roller coaster that wasn't moving when we first got in line. Then they start telling people how they are taking one of the trains off the track and just running one so it'll be a few minutes. Everyone being in America and impatient at the thought that they would have to wait, well, they started to leave. This put our group at the front of the line without even trying. How awesome.

Deja Vu: This one was fun. Totally understandable why they call it Deja Vu with the whole foreward, backwards deal.

Goliath: Freakin tall, freakin' fun.

Scream: This coaster was titled correctly. We screamed. I believe it was on this ride that we learned a little trick to keep our flops from dying. You take them and loop them through the seatbelt. Very beneficial.

Tatsu: This one felt like you were flying. You literally did it on your stomach. Was so good we had to do it twice.

Terminator: This ride was hyped more than it should be. I guess it was fun, but just not my favorite. But, if you're in the park, why not?

Viper: Full of loops. That's really about it.

As far as the day as a whole, I'd say it was a success. We didn't eat once while we were at the park, which is amazing. Everytime we'd get hungry we'd bypass it with the fact that we would rather be on a ride. Here's a piece of advice for theme parks...go with people who you truly enjoy their company. Lines aren't that much of a hassle then. While in line, play twenty questions. It can really help expand how you think about things and the questions you ask. Not to brag or anything, but I was super quiet during one of the games and then finally asked a question that was the money question to help discover what it was :) Then, when it was my turn, I took a morbid track and had everyone stumped....I was trying to make them guess dead puppies. Alright, that's it for six flags...

This is mine. This isn't mine.

It's early in the morning here and I haven't blogged in a few days...I wish I was sleeping like everyone else in my group, but nooooo....somehow I was convinced to set my alarm for seven and make sure that everyone got up. I did this, but then I also checked the time the park opens and realized that it isn't until later, so I'll let 'em sleep. Greedy bastards :)

Well, I believe I left off with Friday night and me being a real shitshow. Oh, brother...

Saturday....

We woke up and left for San Diego, which of course in German means a whales vagina. The drive down was enjoyable for me as I somehow managed to grab the front seat, while four others crammed in the back. We couldn't find any couchsurfing hosts, so when we arrived to the city we were searching for a cheap hostel. It appeared that the city was pretty sold out, except for one hostel room with two single beds where we were going to cram six people at still twenty bucks a person. Not the best, but at least it would be a roof. Just as we were about to book the room, life worked out. One of Janssen's friends called and told us he had a hotel room downtown that he'd be willing to share with all of us. Obviously, this was the better option. After dropping off all our stuff, we went to the nearest beach and chilled for the remainder of the beach hours (which didn't equate to too much). Then we went out in the Gaslamp and out to a few bars. San Diego has a pretty good nightlife scene and we went to a bar where we could chill and drink a few and then off to one that was a little more club like, with many more that we just didn't have the time to experience.

It's storytime for the evening. I'm making a prediction that somewhere along the journey Auren is gonna get punched. Here is why: Two times. Two times in one evening. This would be the number Auren almost got into a scuffle. The first was with some Asian chick. I really don't know the entire situation due to the fact that I hadn't been hanging out with them at the bar, but I remember seeing him talk to her and then her walking way. A few minutes later, she is coming forcefully towards him and there appeared to be some yelling. Well, she got escorted out of the bar and that was that. Some time passed and people got drunk food and we were walking home and then I instigated this, but it was taken out on him. Pretty much, there was a guy yelling about his dick and how big it was and how he'd show them and so I was like "fine, show us" This is under my whole don't-go-yelling-about-having-a-big-dick-then-not-own-up-to-it deal. He got mad, because I was being smart about it and he's like "it's a figure of speech" and asked if I had gone to college and knew what a figure of speech is. I guess "Imma show you my big dick" is a new figure of speech. So, he's yelling and he's gotten closer and he's angry. He's also trying to involve the guys by asking if I was their girlfriend and how he didn't want to hit them, because I got smart. This guy was proving to have found two new things: 1. new figures of speech and 2. logic. So, he had a hand kind of in my face and Auren kind of stepped up like could you please just lower your hand. At this point, I was saying we're cool, sorry for being dumb, we're leaving. Then the guy busts out some spanish on Auren like I'm going to kill you and Auren being able to speak spanish responds with something along the lines of you have no reason to kill. The guy then starts talking about how he has a good heart. Just when everything is looking to be cool, the guy whoooshes forward and grabs Auren's neck...It wasn't long and he just moved, but still an intense moment. I feel bad about my loudmouth, but in the end it's a story.

Moving on to Sunday. Sunday was one of those perfect type of days. We woke up and got everyone up and moving at a decent hour. Then Blake (our hookup to the hotel room) told us about an awesome beach that we needed to go to called Cornado. Apparently, it's ranked like the fourth best beach in the country. He bought us all ferry tickets and we were on our way. It was like this gorgeous perfect town. Everything was pretty, even the weeds were pretty. We ended up having to walk a few blocks before getting the beach, but once we were there it was worth it. The water had gold flakes in it. The sand was soft. There were people everywhere. Ah, perfection. We setup camp and basically spent the day laying out, playing toss and talking. What a gorgeous place. When it got to be about 5:30 we decided to head back so we could get ready for the evening. As we were walking, we realized that we weren't going to make the ferry, but that's alright, yeah that's okay, because as we were walking, there was a giant sunday night band/dance party going on. They were rockin' out oldies and people were everywhere drinking, eating and dancing. Naturally, we found our ways to the front and danced the entire time we were there. It wasn't just young people gettin' down, in fact, it was mainly older couples really showing off their dance moves and I loved it! If I'm ever going to be with a guy, he better be able to get silly. After some time of this, we had to head back to the ferry. As we were leaving some ladies stopped us and asked if we wanted to eat some of their homemade bean dip and of course we did. It was a crazy perfect town. They are all like, ohhhh we just spent a perfect day at the perfect beach and now we should just probably start having a big dance party in the town park, while the sunsets and shows us colors reserved for angels. To end our day, we ended up being able to get a Marriott room down the street from the downtown hotel we had been at (literally like three blocks away) for just seven bucks a person. Clearly, we still went downtown, but it wasn't too busy so we just chilled at a bar and enjoyed our company.

Finally, Monday's events. We woke up and left San Diego to head back to L.A. The car trip this time was not as fun, because I was in the back. Ohhhh well. When we got back to our place, we changed and headed out to Hollywood. We saw the stars on the grounds and all the little t-shirt places and people dressed up and just about as touristy as you would imagine. After this, we met up with Maria who was going to show us around. When we met up with her, we split people in cars and we didn't think. Everyone who had a phone was in one car and everyone else who's phones were either dead or broken were in another. Then the cars got seperated and that was fun little adventure of find your friends and think where they would be if you got seperated in L.A. It was only a good half hour of confusion, before everything was resolved. Then we went to UCLA's campus and that was pretty, but not too eventful. Next, Venice beach. This is the one where there are bodybuilders, street vendors, courts and interesting people. I liked it here. It was interesting and everyone just seemed to be doing their own thing without imposing on you. After playing around we got some food and then headed home, but not before being awed by the medicinal marijuana shops and getting a sticker. That night we went out to a pretty relaxed little bar called The Saddle Ranch. They had a mechanical bull and people were on it trying to win them some money. We showed up a little too late to participate in the contest, but Janssen paid for a bullride after it was all said and done. Clearly, the guy was just making her boobs shake and look like a sex symbol, but regardless, she had a good time. Also, Janssen and I walking into the bar had said we were only going to have one drink. Heading out was a different story. I was a lil tipsy and so was Janssen-her maybe more so than me. Right before leaving the bar, we got our tab. The waitress hadn't seperated everyone's things off correctly and so Janssen had a big bill and was not happy. The next five minutes were spent with Jonathon and her going through the list and every item her being like "This is mine. This isn't mine. This is mine. This isn't mine." and everytime she got to a "This isn't mine", she was so angry. The result of this was me laughing uncontrollably. She sounded so funny and it was just a funny scene...It still puts a smile on my face. Then we went home and crashed out.

Now, after writing this long blog and giving everyone more time to sleep. I'm waking their sleepy punk asses up! It's time for Six Flags and fun and MORE FUN!

I promise pictures and what not when I get more of a chance with the computer.

So we took a left and walked straight 'til we hit the nearest liquor store....

Okay, so I'm using another person's computer, so I must make this slightly brief...

Yesterday was a slow day that involved some traffic...by some, I mean A LOT! I don't like it :( Buuuut, I suppose being with everyone was fun and we had good conversation...Next, beach. We were there for a brief amount of time. Afterwards we went to a house and swam for a little bit of time- IT HAD A SLIDE! Then the drinking happened and I mean happened. Two bottles of whiskey...no real shots, just us taking pulls from it. Needless to say, I was all over the place. Yup, that's about it...drinking and crazy fun! I have to get off this computer, so this is short, but maybe I'll upload a pic or video at some point.

Time for la playa y drinks! Adios!

We're in sombrero's bitch!

"Girl you look kinda cute in your blue and red sombrero. Here's what I wanna do, keep on that blue and red sombrero" - J-Train and D-Nasty's remixed version of LMFAO's song "We're in Miami, bitch"...Oh and it's been decided that our somby's will be used to document our travels.

One day into the trip and you can bet I have stories. Alright gang, let's do this....

It began with being dropped off at the airport. Janssen and I looked ridiculous. Bags that probably shouldn't be carry-on, well we made it happen. Sombrero's on our heads-also known as 'brero's or somby's. We screamed fun without saying a word. Before going through security we decided we needed some caffeine in our lives and that is where we found this interesting lil' creature. I named it a centithousapede. Very accurate. I should clearly be a scientist.



Passing through security, I told the lady that I looked fat in cowboy hats, but fun in sombrero's. Janssen and I were let through without question. We had flasks and other questionable items, but when you're dealing with these girls it's best not to ask questions.

Showing up to our terminal we saw our 7th grade history teacher. Crrraaazzzyy. Here's a memory...I remember in MS there was a rumor he was gay. All because MSers are drama induced rumor spreaders. Oh, the good ol' days where it was a serious thing if you kissed a boy. Now it's disappointing if I don't. So, to end this, he is in fact not gay. He has a wife. They were going to Rome for their honeymoon. There you go kids!

Alright, time for our flight from DSM to Denver. At this point in time there was a substantial amount of caffeine pumping through my veins. I believe I transformed into an eight-year-old. How cool is that? On the plane, I was sitting a seat in front of J and we were far from quiet. We make friends. It's just something we do, wherever we go. Sitting next to me was a fabulous woman from just outside of D.C. She was going to Denver for meditation and just vacation. She has her own meditation studio and was just this full-of-life lady who was easy to talk to. We pretty much talked the entire flight and by the end of it she had invited us out to her place whenever. I think I may have gotten her signed up for couchsurfing (more on that later). Janssen was talking to a man across the aisle who goes by the name Doug. He was on his way to California for a camping adventure! Although I didn't get to have much interaction with this man, I certainly made an impression and he has provided me with an amazing quote. It was mentioned to him our plan to go to Mexico and he began telling us that it was kinda scary. Moving along, I get up to use the restroom....side note: the first one I went into I tried to use it. I did. I couldn't. There was poop stuck to the side of it and it smelled awful and it wouldn't flush and I was gonna just hoover and pee, but couldn't. Intense bathroom situation. The second one was fine....Alright, okay, so, I'm in the bathroom and apparently while I was gone Doug says to Janssen, "She seems like the crazier one. Keep her out of Mexico." Here's something I just thought about that after I wrote that...this man says I seem like the 'crazier' one. He already had both of us on a scale of crazy. I'm just topping it. That is about the extent of that flight.

Denver to LAX: Pretty uneventful, except this. On our first flight when I was boarding my ticket didn't scan, so I had to stand there for a minute holding up the line while it beeped and everyone looked and I looked crazy. I'm sure people were weary about me being on the flight. Well, they figured it out and printed me new tickets. So, now for the second flight. It's obviously a bigger flight and there are lots of people. Hands full, sombrero on, I hand the man my ticket and it scans so I scream "Wooooo!" and walk on. Probably making the other flighters nervous. Janssen was a few behind me. She, too, is wearing a 'brero. The man taking tickets asks if she is with me. Her response, "yeah..." His words of wisdom were, "Be careful." Apparently, I send of the crazy, out-of-control vibe. I love life.

From there we were in LA!!!!! Friend from college, Maria, picked us up. On the drive back to her place I managed to get a number. What is with guys with their mom's thinking it's cool to just go ahead and get the mac on. Seems odd to me. I wouldn't want my mom seeing me run game. The entire drive I was having fun staring at people. When we got to Maria's she suggested we swim and relax while she went to class. So, Janssen and I go to the pool and we put on our music from the phone. It's how we roll. We are the only two in the pool. Not really doing anything bad, in comparision with our usual lifestyle-aka we are sober. Floating around...making our hair look crazy. We really might be little kids, because when we were doing our hair in the pool we kept pretending that Janssen was George Washington and I was Benjamin Franklin. We would have conversations and then afterwards be like "oh, man, it was crazy. You missed it! George Washington was just here!" That was the extent of our behavior. Well, shortly after this, the manager came up and kicked us out of the pool, because we weren't with any tenants. To this, I say, screw trying to be civil. People are less likely to mess up your fun and games if you seem a little crazy.

The evening came and we bought some booze and met up with Maria's friends, Jason and Jorge. They immediately liked us. It might have been the fact that before we went into the bar we decided to drink in the car. We didn't have cups. Just a bottle of vodka, a bottle of SoCo, some vitamin water and some lime juice. Pull and chase. I felt like I was in high school again. It was beautiful.


After this, it was time for the bar. The bar was called The Perfect Fit and that we were. Hookah, shots, the tiniest Corona's in the world. Jorge managed to screw up two hookahs that evening and after the second one fell we decided we probably shouldn't be drinking and smoking hookah anymore...Here's another little story. There were some dumbfuck guys who were trying to talk to me at first and then they told me that they wanted to watch me smoke the hookah. I got angry, because they were being dumb and I didn't want to talk to them and they kept saying shit. My, now edited, words to Maria were something along the lines of "It's not their dick in my mouth". I want everyone to remember that this girl is classy. When we got to the car, Janssen promptly passed out and I mean passed out. Her phone was on her face and ringing and she did NOT notice. I'd say it was a great evening. I ended the evening by drinking more and apparently sending texts that I would not remember. It's been decided that I am more fun when I'm drunk, sooooo, you know what that means.

My final topic of this blog revolves around Mary, Maria's mom. She is amazingly sweet. She's opened her house to us and that alone is so kind, but then the way she treats us is too kind. First, when we arrived yesterday, she had dinner for us. We had carne asada and homemade salsa and were in heaven. There are even leftovers, which I will totally be eating later in life. She wasn't even home yet; she just had it ready for us! When she came home, she offered us more food...HOMEMADE ICE CREAM! I have to admit, I haven't eaten it yet, but I will when I am ready for ice cream. She offered us the ice cream at several points in life, but it just wasn't ice cream time. You know? When it is, trust, Imma be allllll over it. Later when we came home from the bar in tiptop shape she had the bed ready for us. Janssen was quick to just grab a blanket and pass out. I still up and functioning insisted on sleeping on the floor even though there was a bed. I just didn't want anyone to share and the floor was actually comfy. No pains or aches today! In the morning she offered us breakfast and both of us were still in a sleepy haze and politely declined. Next thing you know, she still made us eggs, bacon, and biscuits. Everything was delicious. Her hospitatlity and kindness towards us is wonderful.

So far, a great start to our trip. We are suppose to meet up with Auren and Jonathon at some point today and get loose.

If you are looking for a book to read, I recommend Gang Leader For A Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Interesting.

If you are looking for a quote, I recommend "Amanda and I double-hit to get more high and to get guys to buy us beer. This time I was double-hitting to be a whore" - a very philosophical person.

Also, Janssen has started her own blog, so if you'd like to read about what she's going through go to janssenrenee.blogspot.com

Oh, this will be the ending to this long, long post. I just remembered about couchsurfing. Since I've been a part of the organization I have been telling people all about the wonderfulness that it is. So far, I've managed to get three people to sign up and start an account...maybe more that I'm just not aware of at the moment. How cool is that? This just makes me really happy.

Alright, time to continue my happy journey....

Comforting Thoughts

In a few hours the plane takes off. I'll be on the other side of the country and exploring. I'm also dropping off my computer at Best Buy to get fixed for good, so from now on I'll be relying on others for their internet usage. I'll still write.

If anyone is nervous about my trip, I'll be following the advice of my dear friend Gooi:
"well i feel that out of courtesy to all your friends, you should tattoo specific instructions on your back for the serial killer, so that he can send at least SOME bits of you (the ones that he won't be eating anyway, of course) to all of us. I'd like a tooth. a nail wouldn't be bad either. please and thanks."

Also, I figure that if these guys were going to murder us they would have done so while staying in the apartment. Doubtful that they would have taken their chances of us coming on the trip with them. I ain't sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Next time I write I'll be in a whole new world....

Couldn't pack light, so I packed tight

Today has been one of those days. You know, the day that doesn't fit in. Well, it was a Monday.

First off, Janssen and Destiny should not be allowed to drink that much wine. It was fun though :)

After sippin' on some H2O and getting my life together it was time for packing. Weeeeee! It was so hard. I was told to pack lightly and that I wouldn't be needing any clothes *wink* but i've never been a good listener, so instead I packed clothes and it wasn't light, but tight. It made it all into carry-on! I have a backpack and a lil bag. It's impressive, really. It took several rounds of clothing being eliminated and then being decided it could fit...I have a skill for squeezing it all in. Ohhh yeahhh.

When packing was finished, it was time to have my first one-on-one with my lil bro from Big Brothers, Big Sisters. At first I thought they had forgotten about the whole deal, because I showed up five minutes late-I got lost- and no one answered the door. Slightly bummed. Then the angels were singing and their van drove up to the driveway. Next, it was super awkward trying to get the kid out of his house and ready to go. He couldn't find his sandals and his little sister wanted to come along...the grandma was not handeling this well and yelling and there I was like "ohhh, well I bet if you just look in your room you'll find them". If you know me, you know how I get when I'm trying to be polite, but I'm awkward and obviously uncomfortable. It's just...an...intense...household. Once he was in the car though he was awesome. We talked. I bought him dinner since he hadn't eaten and he loved that. On the drive home he was telling me how he wanted to compromise and do something he wanted to do then the next week do something I wanted to do..you should have seen the huge smile on his face when I told him that I only wanted to do things he did. Oh! We listened to Disney music- uh, yeah, I burned my own Disney CD like the naturally fabulous gal I am- and he would tell me the movie and what part of the movie it was on every song. Amazing. I felt bad telling him I would be out of town for a little bit, but he seemed okay with it and was just like, I can't wait to have our next time together. Grrrrr, kids shouldn't be so cute. It's at this point I start thinking my own? adoption? I go back and forth and in between. When it's time for me to make decisions I'll know what's right.

Despues mi visit, Janssen and I took off for Des Moines. We had a fabulous drive, as usual. Talking. Songs. Car dancing. Ghettoing out. It only got me more pumped for the trip.

Now it's now and I sit inside a bedroom in J's house. I've been talking myself into my fake ID. I have a plan. Plus, I'm just gonna be mad if it doesn't work. People know my anger issues when I have to argue that it is indeed me on the ID. It'll work. It always has. It scans. The picture is dark. It kind of looks like a younger, more awkward me....Everything always works out.

Tuesday here I come. Des Moines imma be alllll over you tomorrow ;)

Marriott Demons

The Marriott has demons.

I kid you not.

Seriously.

Demons.

I repeat, The Marriott has demons. They were well aware of the fact that tonight was my last shift for awhile, so they made me work for the end. They were like, "HEY, Destiny! FUUUUUUCK YOU!" and so they did....long to short, short to long, work sucked.

After work, Janssen and I had an amazing talk about...life? I love her. I'll miss her, but not yet.

*sigh*

Anyways, I love the song "She's mine" by Jason Mraz...love or hate, i still love. :)

Hammy And The Gnats

Tonight I am all alone in my apartment. Janssen is off visiting her cousin and Vicky is in Puerto Rico, which leaves me here. I'm all alone except for Hammy who is working out in her wheel (she's the apartment hamster...her full name is Miss Hammy The Ham Ham...I named her!) and the gnats who beg for my attention by landing on my glass of wine every thirty seconds. Oh, what a quiet Saturday night it is.

I never really like spending the night totally alone. It's always been a comfort thing to know someone is at least in the other room. I should learn though; I can't always be with someone. Tonight is a good night to just read a book, maybe make a CD for a friend (Mark, I promise it's coming!), or just watch a movie. Hell, I might do some laundry and start packing for my big adventure...that's if I'm feeling really crazy. But, back to being alone...

It's crazy to me how you can be alone even when the room is full of people. There are moments in life where I am surrounded by people and yet almost all of us are disconnected. We are checking our phones, listening to our Ipods, or blatantly trying to ignore that there is anyone around. Then, there are other times when you are by yourself. You can call someone up and the conversation, the connection, you are having at that moment makes it seems like they are sitting right next to you. I don't know where this thinking is leading to, it's just me rambling...I suppose just opening up more. I should be the friendly stranger and at the same time stop being the friend who's been a stranger. For now, I won't make any calls because it's late and I'm not sure who's up and who's not, but tomorrow is a new day and it deserves more of my attention.

Now it's time for randomness:

• I think that if I'm wearing an obnoxious red hat and all purple it's probably a good sign I'm not getting laid. Oh no, I might have to start wearing that now.
• I decided to go tanning today and got burnt. The front side of me looks silly.
• When you cut your hair short, it does indeed take forever to grow back. Not so silly.
• My end of August goal is to increase my cardio skill level. Right now it's at poor on a scale of piss poor to freakin' badass. I'm shooting for an alright, not so shabby.
  
• Finally, I'll leave you with this picture:

It's About Time...

I finally started my own blog...seriously, I'm committing to it this time! I'm traveling soon and it's about time. Everyone always says how they read my shit (and some mighty good shit it is), so why not?

If you're new to my life and not quite on stalker status yet, let me update you. I'm leaving for L.A. this upcoming Wed. and I only have a one way ticket. I'm meeting up with some friends and then going to meet up with these couchsurfers I met a week ago. From there, life will take us and show us where we should be. How scary and fun does this sound?

For those who don't know, couchsurfing is this organization that allows users to create a profile and choose to either surf or host people. It's an amazing website, that has already changed my life in the short amount of time I've had it. So far, I've only been fortunate to host people traveling through Iowa City, but now, now it's my turn. I get to go and dive into the joys of sleeping on others couches and seeing their lifestyles. If you're curious about joining this wonderful, amazing, superb site...DO IT! www.couchsurfing.org Just go check it out. Maybe right now you can't, but that doesn't have to stop you from looking at it, making a profile and keeping it in the back of your head. It's so much more than cheap travel; it's life connections. Seriously, go!

You might be thinking to yourself, "hey, I wonder what Destiny is going to do about her job?" Well, to answer your delightful question, they have been really, really cool. They are allowing me to be on request off status until I get a hold of them. This to me is mind blowing. I really think that it is my time to journey off and experience a side of the states I've never seen.

I know I'm going on and on about this, but who wouldn't be excited? I met these guys Sunday. Monday we had this absolute perfect day filled with laughter, great food, exploration (not just physically but mentally and emotionally) and ended it with just an intense amount of fun. During lunch the next day it was casually mentioned to tag along on the journey and something in the universe made me not just laugh it off, but think yes. Something about feeling so alive during those few days and realizing that I didn't just have to live through life and go through the motions. It was up to me if I wanted to see something or make a change. These guys who I'm going with have made an amazing impact on my life already and I only hope that one day I can do that for someone. Maybe I have? Maybe I haven't? Regardless of that answer for the past, it's time to start doing that now.

There's something positive in the air. I think it's change. Perhaps, it's adventure. It could be a swirling combination. For now, I want it to surround me, sink into my skin, and steal my preconceptions of life.

I'll leave you with a few bullet points:

• Read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It's a pretty good memoir and can be read in just a few pages at a time.
• Listen to "I Seen Beyonce At Burger King" by Cazwell, actually youtube it. Oh, how silly.
• I forgot to mention that my trip with these people will be done with my roommate.