The sunshine state

11/19/2010

Departure time: 1730:00

Destination: Provo, Utah. Corona, California.

many times my friends and I have argued which is better Chicago or California, so I agreed to visit this so called rival over Thanksgiving break. Although the beaches were gorgeous and it was great to go swimming in November, Chicago will always be number one in my heart. I must admit California was a good rival.

Day 1 and 1/2: Rexburg. Provo.

We leave Friday night to began the long trip to California, we arrive in Utah to pick up Max's friend around 10. We were exhausted after about 5 hours, after Provo I was demoted to the back row for the remaining 11 hours. Unfortunately I think I slept for maybe 4 hours, but hey I didn't have to walk to California so I guess I have no right to complain.

Day 2: Corona.

Makaal is already at Tanner's house when we get there, Tanner heads straight to bed while Makaal and I get to know his family. After a little girl time with his mom and sisters we chatted with the remainder of his family over breakfast. At about 12 Tanner wakes up, we realize we left Makaals luggage in Max's car. We drive up to San Diego and were told we were going to eat authentic burritos, although the burrito I must admit I was hoping for a little shack who does not abide by health codes so well. But it was still sooo delicious. San Diego was gorgeous, I aboslutely loved the roads and how they curved with the land and you could see the ocean almost constantly. After an extremely long day I finally got some sleep.

Day 3: Cornona.

Kendra and Emile arrived early in the morning, and still went to church with us! Emile and I are still in denial of our old age and so we snuck into Young Women's instead of Relief Society. Tanner was ordained an Elder, he invited us to be there it was really cool. It is the strangest thing, everyone my age is growing up, except me.

Day 4: Los Angeles.

We went to go see the L.A. temple (we couldn't go in because it was closed) and went in the visitors center. The Sister Missionary at the front desk sang at Lauren and Rory's wedding, it was crazy! such a small world. After looking around for a while we went out in search of some real Mexican food. After driving through some very ghetto neighborhoods(by ghetto I mean every window was gated) we parked in downtown L.A. We searched far and wide but I have suspicion that Johnny's authentic mexican restaurant was made up. We ended up choosing a true and extremely authentic restaurant, so authentic they even prove it by putting the name of the state in the title California Pizza Kitchen. We wanted to make sure we would eat something we couldn't find anywhere else in the country. And because we were at a pizza kitchen I had the obvious choice, lettuce wraps. Later that night we drove to Max's and stayed the night at his condo.

Day 5: Encinitas. La Jolla. San Diego.

Went to the Potato Shack for breakfast, finally a real California restaurant. It had such a laid back vibe and had pancakes the size of a manhole! We bet Johnny originally 5 dollars to eat a stick of butter, but we lowered that to 4 dollars to two sticks of butter. It probably one of the most unappetizing things I have ever seen, but so hilarious, I still cannot believe he did it. After the Potato Shack we went to the beach, it was that I can recall my first time ever in the ocean! The waves in comparison to Lake Michigan were HUGE!!! It was so much fun, and luckily Lake Michigan is freezing so the water felt just right. It was funny to look around and see all of the Californians wearing coats and scarves and the ones in the water were wearing wetsuits! It was about 70 degrees, in November! perfect swimming weather as far as we were concerned. I absolutely loved California beaches, they seemed to stretch on forever and the cliffs around them frame them perfectly. Makaal and I were exploring the beach and found a mangled seaweed bulb. Because both of us are from the mid-west we had no idea what it was. we determined it was Howard, the jellyfish (don't worry we knew it wasn't a jellyfish). It took us about ten minutes just to muster up the courage to touch it! We told everyone else about the crazy thing we found and they just looked at it and then us and shook their heads. And then tragically Johnny smashed Howard's head in, and that was the last of our jellyfish friend. We then headed to downtown La Jolla for the legendary Burger Lounge. First off, I love La Jolla (the AMAZING burger from Burger Lounge might have influenced it) the downtown was so polished and pretty. And Burger lounge well, I don't know how to even go about describing it. Just think of the most succulent burger you have ever eaten and then time that by ten and then you might understand how good it was! We walked down to the beach afterand went to this beach and there were seals everywhere! it was the most random thing ever. That night we stopped by at the San Diego temple, it was so incredible! It looks like a castle, hands down one of the most gorgeous buildings I have ever seen. I guess California is alright.

*The answer is Chicago.