Back in Sin City…
Little travelling tidbit for ya… apparently the FAA doesn’t allow people to check in to their flight more than 4 hours before it departs. So Spence-O and I had to wait for 1.5 hours in the lobby before we could actually enter the airport.
Last night we stayed in Laughlin, NV. We affectionately nicknamed it Vegas Jr. It’s got casinos and a mini-strip of its own. We ended up finding a $2 bet blackjack table at one of the casinos there. I doubled my money (Off an initial $20). Spence-O wasn’t as fortunate. One thing about casinos that is great (and not at the same time) is the complimentary drinks they provide. I had way too much to drink last night. I actually didn’t get back to the hotel until about 9 AM, so I had a nice hour nap before we had to check-out. I have no idea what happened to me between the hours of 3 AM and 9 AM. When I woke up from my nap I found $20 (extra) in chips from the casino I was at. Score!
So now we’re waiting another 3 hours for our flight back to the east coast… A 5 hour flight to the coast, lose an hour due to daylight savings time, then a nice 5 hr car ride back to blacksburg. It was a good trip but I’m glad it’s over… I’m exhausted…
On the road again…
Spence-O and I have left San Diego. Took us about 3 hours to get 60 miles (courtesy of some nice Friday rush hour traffic. Today we went to two beaches (Imperial Beach, and coronado Beach) but we were only there for a few minutes each. It was too cold out to actually do anything (temperature was probably around the 60s, but you have to factor in the ocean breeze).
After the Beaches we went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. It was pretty neat. I was a little disappointed. That was mostly because of the animal cages though. They aren’t really camera friendly. If it was a glass cage there would be smudges or glare, and if it was a wire cage then the camera would focus mainly on the wires, not the animals. I hate that.
Over the course of the trip we’ve taken 1072 pictures. Also on the trip I’ve learned that I don’t really like my camera at all. I really need a digital SLR or at least something closer to that style. I really enjoy technical photography… manually focusing the camera, messing with exposure times and f-stops, etc.
This summer I will probably buy a new laptop (Apple Macbook Pro) and a new digital camera. Call them graduation presents to myself since my parents are most likely not going to get me anything. Anyways… back to the epicness…
Traffic in SoCal is dreadful. It alone is enough of a reason not to live out here. San Francisco was the best California city that we went to. Had the most to do… was very cultural. If someone lived there though they’d have to be in great shape (LOTS of hills). Mythbusters is also filmed there… I didn’t find that out til we were in LA, and it wasn’t really remotely close to anywhere we went in the city, but I wish we had stopped by there.
Back to the road…
P.S. We passed a sign getting on US 40 that said Wilmington, NC was 2567 miles away.
Glad to be out…
Post from the road traffic…
(insert picture)
I hate LA. Hollywood was surprisingly unimpressive. Maybe I was just hoping to see Scarlett Johannsen too much, seeing that movie with her in it last night didn’t help that. There were 2 neat buildings on Hollywood Blvd. The Kodak Theater was nice and the Chinese Theater… can’t remember its name… was pretty neat too. It’s the place where they do the actors hands in cement. I put mine up against Samuel L Jackson… he won.
Side note… There’s a Pyramid in LA??? Where are we?!?
Santa Monica Pier was pretty nice too. It was a little chilly out. Walking around without a shirt on was manageable, but it could’ve been warmer. Hopefully San Diego will be better.
Damn this traffic! I will NEVER live out here. Way too many cars on the road. Normally I’m a very friendly person but 80% of them are horrible drivers.
Our GPS died (overheated) not too long ago. It’s a good thing I have my laptop with me. I’ve got Microsoft Streets and Trips installed and it let’s us avoid the toll roads. It’s always something…
We’re heading to San Diego right now. We didn’t really have the internet last night so we couldn’t reserve a hotel, so my parents are doing that right now. We’re gonna hit up the World Renowned San Diego Zoo tomorrow, then head out to AZ to see the Grand Canyon on Saturday. Then back to school… sigh…
SF part 2…
whew…
8 miles later, back at the hotel room. We walked to the marina/fisherman’s wharf, then down to the financial district and chinatown, as planned. Stopped in the San Francisco Brewing Co. for a beer (it was voted best brewery in SF). And I had a pretty good porter. Not the best I’ve ever had, but it was still good. I also took 29 more pictures. I wish I had a tripod/nicer camera. I love night photography. Most of my pictures came out blurry, but the decent ones are now posted online. http://www.mattmartz.com/pics/ or San Francisco Pics… Other than that we’re just getting ready for the trip down to LA/Hollywood tomorrow.
Let’s see… by request (from Adam) the weather. Today it was around 60? a lil chilly with the breeze from the Pacific Ocean, but a jacket wasn’t required or anything. Weather on the entire trip has been surprisingly warm. I wish I brought my sandals cause walking around in boots has been hard on my feet.
And also by request (from Rachel) here are the pics I attempted of sea otters:
