back from Los Angeles!

We LOVED our trip to California over Spring Break!  We visited Chris, one of Justin's best friends and one of my favorite people, and stayed with him at his place... a staggering two to three block walk from the beach.

Day 1 -- we drove up to Rancho Palos Verdes and went hiking around the cliffs on the coast, then went and ate at an Irish restaurant right on the beach.  Gorgeous.  Took lots of pictures.  Felt pale in comparison to all the great tans walking around me!  I had forgotten how beautiful California can be.  Palm trees everywhere, all these fragrant flowers on the warm breeze... lovely.

Day 2 -- Easter Sunday seems like a great day to go to a theme park, right?  We drove out to Anaheim and went to Knott's Berry Farm (we originally considered Disneyland, but it's kind of a rip-off, and KBF is a MUCH better deal).  I hate to say this, but Easter was actually one of the best days to go -- the crowds were way down.  We only waited in a couple of lines, and those were for about 10-15 minutes, which is nothing.  The last time Chris went, he vowed he would never go back again, because he did nothing but wait in lines, but we were able to nearly reverse that painful experience for him.

Favorite rides:

Ghost Rider -- This was a super cool wooden rollercoaster we rode about 5 times (and it's a pretty long ride in comparison to the others), constantly trying to make funnier faces for the photo.



Supreme Scream -- Did this one twice, and it was fully worth how much it scared the crap out of me.  Takes you straight up 254 feet in the air, then drops you straight down, hitting 50 mph in three seconds.  It feels like you're weightless on the way down.  Amazing ride -- although, as it was nearing the top and I could see for miles, I kept on saying, "No... no... no... this was not a good idea..."





Perilous Plunge -- Not so favorite because the harness left bruises on my arms, but it took guts to ride it, so I'm pretty happy with myself.  This one's pretty simple.  Takes you up in the air 115 feet, then throws you down a waterfall at 77 degrees (almost straight down), splashing down in a pool at the end, leaving you soaking wet (which is nice since the weather's warm).



Day 3 -- Chris had to work, so Justin and I nerded out at the local Starbucks for an hour and then hit the beach.  It was a little chillier than it had been the day before, and I didn't realize I was burning (usually I can tell pretty quickly).  My attempt to "even out" the burn from our hiking on the cliffs did not go so well, and the rest of the trip became an adventure in aloe vera application.  Still, it was great just to chill out for a few hours in the sand, watching the waves and taking it easy together.  That night, we went with Chris to dinner and then to a large arcade, where we played some skee-ball.  The prizes were pretty lame, so we picked up 110 rubber thimbles and had fun placing them in various locations on our walk home.

Day 4 -- Too tired and sunburned to do much else, we went to Starbucks and played Rummy 500 for about three hours.  Went back to the arcade and played more skee-ball -- this time coming home with 8 visored pink and black do-rags, which we insisted on wearing around the house when Chris got home from work.  Introduced Chris and Justin to the wonder that is Bucca di Beppo's Italian restaurant.  Ate way too much (three people at a family-style restaurant is a little small), but it was worth it -- and we had leftovers, anyway.

Day 5 -- Weather wasn't so great (An extremely chilly 65 degrees -- we promptly turned into huge weather wimps during our stay) so we ate at Joe's and then hung out at home and played Carcassonne and poker til it was time to go to the airport.

On the flight home, it was a little shocking when our plane kept on having to do these holding patterns because Seattle was getting SNOW.  (Even more shocking when we finally landed -- my poor sunburned skin was NOT ready for this).  We landed about an hour late, but made it home safe and sound, so grateful for the trip but glad to be back in our own bed.

Thanks for having us, Chris!  :)