CALIFORNIA!

So, back in the day, as in the last week of August before school started, Kirby and I took a road trip to California with our friends Mark and Amy. It was a blast. We took Mark and Amy's car (Mazda 3) as opposed to our older and less-comfy-for-the-back-seat-sitters Mazda Protege. The highlight of the trip was probably this:



But the whole trip was amazing--that oughta tell you just how good Wicked was! :) But let's get back to the beginning, shall we? And I should warn you--there were many favorites (as in... over 100, I think) and so I combined many into one image. If you want a better view, click on the image and it will enlarge nicely for you.

We began our adventure, well, in Utah. But the first place we stopped was in St. George for the night. Since we only had five or six hours left to drive, we went to Zions with our beautiful host--Amy's sister-in-law Ashley. It was gorgeous.


We had to be selective in the lookout spots we went to since we didn't have all day, but one of the spots we chose was the Weeping Rock. You can't tell from this picture, but there is water constantly dripping out of the top. And there are Ashley, Amy, Mark, and Kirby walking away!


We also saw this: A million-year-old nutcracker! Preserved in stone! :)


Two of these pictures weren't actually from Zions. Can you tell which ones?? The one of Mark on the stairs is when he reenacted a scene from The Princess Bride. Impressive, really.


This rock was on the trail to the Weeping Rock. It was split in half by a tree root! (Just in case you can't tell exactly what it is...) I personally think it looks like PacMan.


Warning signs can actually bring more danger...


These pictures are from the hotel. TMNT, and the reaction from a piece of fudge. One is from Disneyland (the giant ball--the highlight for Marka and Kirby) and one is from Zions. It wouldn't fit in the pictures above. :) Kirby is demonstrating his ninja skills. A.K.A. doing the water thing from The Count of Monte Cristo.


FOOOA! :) This one is worth looking at big-style. Even if it is just to see the "F". Mark is in that one--can you see?


In line for Space Mountain, trail mix, cupcakes, laughing, and a soggy foot. Priceless.


We met Wayne Szalinski (yeah. I had to look that one up) in 3-D fashion!


After a bit of confusion on the part of our husbands, we finally got this photo op sorted out.


The magical road that never ends! :)


This is the "Rocks" montage. I figured they all went together, right? Kirby and Mark had to go through an exhiliarating rock climb to survive. We found out how tough it is to be a bug (barely survived that one!), got yelled at for sitting on a rock wall (FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, PLEASE GET OFF THE ROCKS!!!), and were refreshed by plummeting walls of water. Ah, glorious mist.


Yeah. I cheated a little. But they're really bad quality, and we bought the Splash Mountain one. Couldn't resist. Amy is trying to PRY her eyes open. :) And see the fake water? How it looks like it's splashing AWAY from us? Well, think again. That all went on Amy. Please also take note of the Buzz Lightyear scores. It was a sad day.


Did we enjoy the gift shops? What makes you ask that?


This was taken right after splash mountain--mostly to document the fact that Amy's only dry parts are her crotch region and the backs of her knees. Oops! Sorry Amy. (She was the smallest, so naturally she had to sit in front!) :)


We only spent two days in the parks, which ended up being perfect. The next day we relaxed the whole day at the hotel--bought Kirby a new wallet (he made sure I put that in there)--and then we drove over to L.A. for dinner and WICKED!! We parked in the underground parking for a mall, and then went up to see what they had in terms of food. It turns out 10 Years Younger (TLC) was being filmed at that very mall and we became part of it! Okay, so we just stood there for 15 minutes waiting for the "unveiling" of the lady, after which we cheered. But by that time we were hungry enough that there was no way we would be waiting around to guess how old she was. So if any of you watch that show (because I don't) let me know if you ever see me and Kirby at the reveal. I doubt we will actually be on camera, but you never know! We took off the the California Pizza Kitchen pronto.

Ironically, right around the corner (on the same block!) was the Chinese theater with all the handprints of Hollywood's best! AWESOME. We also met two batmans, two jokers, Robin, Jack Sparrow (who we saw having a smoke with the Terminator), Shrek, etc. etc. etc. The joker was really nice.


Then--WICKED. Oh man. So cool. I knew most of the music (okay, so all of the music they put on the soundtrack) but it was so amazing to actually be there and hear it in person. On the soundtrack you think, "Wow. Really good voice." But when you see an actual person pumping it out live--indescribable. If any of you ever have the chance--GO. It is worth every penny!


Friday was our last day. We spend the morning at the Newport Temple. We got there a little early, so naturally we took some pictures. :)


And some more pictures...


Lots and lots of pictures...


And that night we finished up in the hotel pool. Classic moments in here, lemme tellya.


Saturday morning we ventured home--no stop halfway in St. George this time! There was a lot of this happening...


But meanwhile... Kirby was rockin'. That's my man.