Mason and I got married in May 2007 right before our college graduations, Mason's commissioning, and our move to Wichita Falls. So with all that, we didn't really have the time or money to take a honeymoon. While Mason was in pilot training, we were very fortunate to be able to take a lot of weekend camping trips and day hikes, but not a large trip. Mason and I were lucky enough to have the break after his UPT graduation, and my school winter break so we got our chance to go on a honeymoon. I was a little sad not to be home for Hanukkah and Christmas, but I was so glad we went. It was an amazing trip! We spent 9 days traveling all over California (driving over 1500 miles, to be exact).
Mason and I left Wichita Falls on the 22nd and traveled to Dallas to catch our flight. This was the first time Mason and I had ever traveled together (on a non-car trip) in the 6 1/2 years we've been together-kinda crazy...but we left early in the morning, and thankfully traffic was easy. There were no hassles with parking or security, so we had plenty of time to wait around for our flight. My parents and sister left Wichita Falls right after Mason's graduation and were also headed to California. L.A. at Last! When we arrived in Los Angeles, we checked into our hotel (very nice, Doubletree in Commerce, CA) and then quickly split to meet up with my Dad's side of the family. We got to have a wonderful visit with my Dad's Aunt Mary, and Uncle Art as well as some of their children. It was great to see them. My grandparents are all deceased and we haven't seen Mason's grandparents in so long, that it was just great to have the attention of grandparent-like relatives.
Mason and I woke up early on Tuesday morning, and drove through the hot spots in Los Angeles. We had breakfast near Grauman's Chinese Theater, and drove down Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, and Hollywood Avenue. We also drove up into Beverly Hills to check out come celebrity houses- pretty sure we saw Candice Cameron (DJ Tanner's) house. We then drove down to Santa Monica beach to enjoy the beautiful weather! It was so nice outside. We'd left a cold Dallas. We just enjoyed walking the beach for an hour.
My mom was kind enough to write to the Jay Leno show and get tickets for all 5 of us while we were in town. We spent Tuesday afternoon watching the taping of Jay Leno. It was really cool to watch a show being filmed. For all of your Leno watchers, we were there when Owen Wilson and Natalie Cole were on (and the animal lady). It was a really fun experience, and we had awesome seats! That night we took a long (bad traffic) drive down to Anaheim and had dinner at Downtown Disney. LA's version is definitely not up to par with Orlando. However, it was Mason's first time on Disney soil- so we had a chuckle about that.
My family flew home to Chicago on Wednesday (Christmas Eve) and Mason and I headed down to Culver City to visit with Mason's Aunt Caty and Uncle Derik and their sweet daughter Janneka. We had a great time v
isiting with them. I met them for the first time at our wedding and this was the first time we had met Janneka. She was a really happy and cute baby! We were hoping for a short drive to San Diego from the LA area, but after getting lost on our way to highway 1, we ended up spending almost the entire day in the car driving. The drive was scenic, and the weather was more cloudy and rainy, but we were getting a bit tired of driving at this point. We finally made it to San Diego Naval Base, where we were spending the next two nights. Navy Bases are not as nice as Air Force bases, by the way. It was fun to see the ships and F-18s, but other then that the base had a very cold feeling.
We hit the town Wednesday night and found an AWESOME Thai restaurant. It m
et our expectations hugely. Mason had been deprived of good Thai food since we moved to Wichita Falls so this would be the first of three Thai dinners we had on the trip. Thursday (Christmas), Mason and I decided to see the animals. We spent the morning at the San Diego Zoo. The weather partly rainy, partly sunny...so that was okay...except getting dumped on...but we had fun. I guess going to the zoo lets out the inner-kid in me (and Mason). The animals must have loved the weather, because many of them were out and active. After a quick stop for lunch we headed to Sea World for the afternoon. (The military has great discounts- and lots of free tickets, which is why we were able to do so much, so affordably). Sea World was so fun! Again, the animal thing. Mason and I had never been, but the shows were impressive. We were doing the tourist thing taking pictures of everything with our new camera but it seemed like everytime a show would start, the rain would dump on us. But we can now say we have seen Shamu!
Friday, we packed our bags, and headed North for a long drive to the Sequoia National Forest. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for both of us. Mason and I both love the city, but after living in a smaller town like Wichita Falls for a year and a half, we've gotten used to things like, no traffic, kinds people, etc...and city life was a little crazy (ie annoying and rude) for us! We both love that each other likes to be in nature and enjoy beautiful scenery. Mason tends to be extreme, and I more conservative when it comes to exploring and "roughing" it in the wilderness, but we discovered that this makes the best balance. He makes me push my limits, and I keep him from breaking a leg. The drive was fairly easy again, but long. We drove past so many orange groves, it was tempting to stop and pick some, but we didn't. Luckily we decided to stay at a Comfort Inn in three rivers (basically at the base of the Sequoia National Forest mountains). As were were checking in, several guests that were planning to stay at the lodge (up at the top of the mountain) were trying to get rooms, because the lodge had to shut down for a few days due to a power outage. (Ironically, a large Sequoia tree had fallen on the power lines.)
o my waist, and hard to climb out of. I think Mason wanted to keep exploring- but he was smart enough to know I was getting a bit crabby. We were also so happy that we got our early Christmas present (our new camera). Mason took beautiful pictures (over 1200 on the trip) and many of them from the mountains. Total wildlife sightings: 2 bears, 4 mule deer, 3 wolves (who were very interested in us when we started to roll our car window down...)It's truly amazing to me to see the beauties of the very country that we live in. Sometimes I think it would be cool to see the 7 wonders of the world, but then I realize that I want to discover the beautiful country and land right outside my back door. I was able to reflect a lot on my personal life on this trip. I was able to look inward at myself as the person I've become, but to also reflect on how to be a better person, wife, daughter, sister. It was appropriate being just before the New Year, although I believe that people can change anytime they really set their minds to it. People who know us, know that this past year and a half has been an amazing time in our lives. We've both changed a lot and grown up a great deal. I'm the luckiest person in the world to have such a loving, supportive family, great friends, and most of all Mason.
I think it was hard for us both to leave the serene beauty of the forest, but we traveled on in our California Adventure. Saturday afternoon, we hit the road southeast towards Edwards AFB. Our stop-over between the forest and Vegas. Not much to say about Edwards- but we got to stay in a Distinguished Visitor Suite (probably because no one else would ever want to visit Edwards) that was awesome and check out their plane "museum." Mason was very excited to see an SR- 71(another jet plane) just parked in their outside museum like a classic chevy or something. They also had an old B-52D (the current model is the H) on display that was pretty cool. Sunday, we hit the road to Vegas. We stayed our first night in another pretty nice suite at Nellis AFB and the next evening at the Luxor hotel. Very nice. Vegas is a crazy city. This was Mason's third time, and my first. I'm glad I've been, but not sure I care to go back. We enjoyed walking the strip Sunday and Monday. We liked the free shows- especially the fountain show at the Bellagio- and the food was awesome! We each agreed to spend $100 in the casinos. Mason lost all his money playing Craps- but had fun doing so (and I got to roll for one round too). He studied up for a long time after his last trip to Vegas on the T-38 cross country. I came out $33 ahead from playing the slots! But all th
at was nothing in comparison to Ellen getting to visit the meca; M&M world. Other than that, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.The trip home was simple and we are happy to be home. No more driving. We had a low key New Year and have been enjoying our time together before we're back at work Monday. Oh yeah, we came home to 70s, so I guess we missed winter (hopefully). And get this- after 1500 miles of driving through California and Las Vegas, we come back to po-dunk Wichita Falls and get pulled over on New Year's Eve!! Going 58 in a 65 zone, so why?? Because our stupid rear license plate light was out. So if anybody comes across officer J. Hutchins of the Texas State Troopers, give him the bird.
But to end on a happy note, we have lots of pictures (a small sample from all the ones we took) posted on facebook- so check out the links below.
Los Angeles
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024603&l=236f3&id=77800450
Sequoia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024607&l=561a3&id=77800450
Sequoia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024609&l=d06d7&id=77800450
Edwards, Nellis, Vegas
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024611&l=00afa&id=77800450
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