From L.A. to AL

It has been a while since I've posted anything...too long. From what seemed like the moment I returned home from our road trip, I worked non-stop through Christmas and then until after the first of the year. Which brings me to my first order of business- my recap of our cross-country trip. Well, I started off the trip exhausted from work, naturally. We flew out to L.A. on the first of December. Johnathan and Katie picked us up from the LAX. Then we drove to what I think was called the 3rd Street Promenade where we walked around until we met up with David's brother Mark and his new girlfriend Ashley. This was the first time I had seen Mark since he had moved to L.A. to "Live the dream". I was pleasantly surprised to find him doing so well. He's gotten in shape, worked on several films, and best of all found himself a super sweet, cute lady. I am so happy for him. Me, David, Mark, and Ashley eating at Houston's on Willshire

Johnathan, Katie, me, and David at the beginning of our journey

Once we finished dinner, we went to spend the night with Johnathan's friend Max. We woke up early the next morning and drove from L.A. to Bryce Canyon, Utah. We arrived in Bryce Canyon around nightfall. We set up camp, roasted hot dogs and smores, and stood dangerously close to the fire to keep warm. Finally, it was time to sleep. I was excited about crawling into the tent, seeing as it was my only real chance at warmth. Once the four of us were all huddled together in our sleeping bags, I thought "This isn't so bad", and I drifted off to sleep. A couple of hours later, I woke up freezing, my back was killing me, and I was feeling claustrophobic! I began to cry quietly in misery. David, already awake from being pushed off of the padding onto the hard rocks, overheard me crying and offered to take me to the hotel just up the road. Not wanting to "Wuss out" I told him I would try to tough it out. Eventually, I fell back asleep only to wake a couple hours later, still freezing and in terrible pain. I asked David if the offer still stood about the hotel, and he asked Johnathan for the truck keys so he could drive me there, but Johnathan said we would be leaving in a couple of hours. So I spent my whole first night camping ever, in Utah in December. When we left later that morning, the thermostat in Johnathan's truck read 7 degrees. Some places in the canyon were below zero.

David and me freezing our booties off in Bryce Canyon

So the dreaded camping trip was out of the way. Now for my second biggest fear of the trip, skiing. We drove all day and reached Boulder that night. We went to dinner then to our hotel. I took along, warm shower and went to bed. Everyone else was already asleep. Then we woke up early and drove to Eldora. I was so miserably cold, and the high altitudes and thin air made it difficult to breathe (not to mention being completely out of shape). I was out of breath and already feeling discouraged by the time we walked up the hill to the ski lift. Speaking of the ski lift, I was afraid but managed to make it on without any problem. Then on the ride the wind was blowing and making us sway back and forth. As we were swaying, David tried to explain to me how to get off of the ski lift. I tried to do what he said, but obviously I didn't do it correctly, because I fell flat on my face as I tried to dismount. :( By this time, I was feeling super discouraged. It didn't help that little children were passing me by, and I was spending more time falling than I was skiing. At one point, I just sat in the snow crying. David asked me if I wanted him to get someone to pick me up on a snowmobile. This only caused me to cry more and exclaim, "No, THAT would be embarrassing"! LOL I tried to "french fry" and "pizza slice" like I had seen on South Park, but when I would pizza slice, I wouldn't stop! Poor David was so patient and stayed by my side the entire time, helping me up every time I would fall. It took me and embarrassingly long time to make it down the bunny slope, but by the time I reached the bottom, and I DID reach the bottom, I was actually enjoying myself a little. I decided to sit out the rest of the day, and let David enjoy himself instead of being stuck helping pick me up every few seconds. I also decided that I do want to ski again one day when we can spend at least a few days there, and also get an instructor so David doesn't have to be tied down. Unfortunately, the wind was so strong, the resort shut down all of the slopes but the bunny slopes, so David didn't get to enjoy himself as much as I would have liked.

David and Johnathan at Eldora

We stayed until the resort closed then drove back to Boulder, met up with Katie's friend Sam, ate dinner then went to Sam's friend's birthday party. Then Sam's girlfriend and her housemates were kind enough to take us in for the night. We woke up the next morning for our shortest leg of the trip to Kansas where we stayed with Katie's Aunt and Uncle. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met, and I swear Katie's Aunt Janell and I are kindred spirits. We woke up early, yet again, for our 18 hour trip back to Birmingham. We arrived home around 1 o'clock in the morning. I'm not sure what to say about our cross-country road trip. Was it fun? Not exactly. Was it an adventure? Absolutely! I did so many things that I never thought I would be able to say that I have done, which is pretty exciting. I feel like I am much more brave than I give myself credit for, and capable of doing do much more than I believe. I guess that is the best thing that came from this journey...well, besides having a wonderful time with my husband, his childhood friend, and his fabulous girlfriend!
That's it! Over a month later, that is my recap of our trip. I doubt it was worth the wait, but I can feel accomplished that I finally did it.