Two Guys, Two Girls and A Chevy

Well the mystery blogger is here....Nick's cousin Courtney. I was lucky enough to join the boys and the chevy for a week of their trip with my friend Lindsay. This was our journey...

Although, I am supposed to pick up after Chris, I have to comment about our arrival in LA. We were greeted right as we left the terminal by two shaggy haired boys, I guess Chris was more shaggy than Nick but for how long Nick ever has his hair we might as well call it shaggy, and the cleanest Chevy I have even seen. I knew it was going to be a fabulous trip!

Ok, now on to my post...After our crazy time at Venice beach, we headed to Pasadena. One of my best friends just moved to Pasadena so I was very excited to visit her and everybody else was all too happy to have a free place to stay. That night we headed out to Old Pasadena to grab some dinner and drinks. It was great to catch up with my friend and catch up with the boys, although nothing special to comment on about LA.

After staying in our cramped quarters and many alarm clocks going off, the teachers were having a hard time parting with their routine, we loaded up the Chevy. The loading of the Chevy throughout the trip was a very funny experience. To give a visual, we had Nick taking everything out of the trunk to put everything back in, we had Chris saying, "I just don't think everything is going to fit" and Lindsay and I just trying to stay out of the way....everything always fit. For our drive down to San Diego I was behind the wheel, had to earn my keep on the trip. We headed out on Highway 1 where the views were great although the cloudiness was a bit of a bummer. On Highway 1 in Orange County we stopped at a great little restaurant for fish tacos, one of many fish tacos stops on the trip. The food was great and the sun came out, we were happy road trippers.

For the next three days our destination was my Grandma's in San Marcos, a city about 20 miles north of downtown San Diego. What would these boys have done without me? Luckily enough for me my Dad was also at my grandmas for the night. He was ready for some young company so after arrival we jumped back in the car and headed to the beach. It was a perfect Sunday evening. We had a few things we really wanted to accomplish in San Diego but most of the time we just went with the flow of things. We went to the San Diego Zoo which was a great time. We got to see so many of the animals d as the zoo is the perfect size to get around and even got a to see a few animals in action. It was fun being a kid at the zoo, again. We got dinner downtown that night, the food was great and nice to spend some time outside of the retirement community, not that I ever would complain about our fabulous accommodations. Being in San Diego we had to make it to the beach and got IN the water even though the forecast was a high of 70. Three of us got in and Linds sat huddled under layers of towels. After we came to our senses, we headed out for another lunch of fish tacos at a fav San Diego restaurant, the Brigintine. Our last night was spent hanging out with my grandma, cooking out and preparing for our next part of the journey. Although Nunum is not a blog reader, nor Internet goer, I must give her a shout out for the cozy beds and wonderful aussie bites.

The next morning we loaded up the Chevy, and I was behind the wheel again as we headed for our next stop, Tucson. The drive was really great going through mountains which changed into the desert but it was certainly an adjustment from driving the Civic. Nick was a little on edge as Linds, and I were driving... It built character. For lunch we stopped in Yuma which looked a bit Wild West. The roadtrip book lead us to a great spot in Yuma. As we walked in someone was playing the piano and we knew then we were in the right spot. Lindsay took one for the team that meal and ordered the Lutes special, cheeseburger with hotdog on top. Her response was, "why haven't I thought of this before?" Back on the road and Lindsay behind the wheel.

Arriving in Tucson, we were all curious what we were in for but had heard great things. Our first meal was at restaurant that claimed to have started making mexican food as we know it. The meal was great and the beginning of the wonderful service that we had throughout our time in Tucson. After dinner we found a great spot near University of Arizona to hang out, people watch and play some Pac Man. Our next day was spent in Saguro National Park. We found a trail and headed off onto a massive area filled with Cacti that were taller than you could imagine. We found a few spots to sit and just enjoy the view of the mountains and the lack of people and buildings around us. From there we headed to Gates Pass which was touted as one of the best sunset spots around. Another mexican dinner and life was good.

On our last morning in Tucson we had a wonderful breakfast with the view of the mountains in the background. We all decided that Tucson was a really great city. The people were all very friendly, it has a very laid back feeling, lots of great food and the scenery is beautiful. What more could you ask for?

Back on the road and our next stop was Phoenix,with a quick a stop along the way...SKYDIVE ARIZONA!! I did not want to spoil earlier but we had decided the first day we HAD to go skydiving so there we were. Lindsay, Nick and I had no reservations but for those of you who don't know Chris he is very scared of heights. I have to say I am very impressed that he was all for it and even enjoyed it, I think. After a very short video that basically explained to us that we would be signing our life away, and then actually signing our life away we were ready to go. Our instructors called us up to get suited up. The girls were tough and stepped right in our harness, while the boys had to wear the skydiving suit. At this point we were in our instructors hands. The plane was full but we were the only tandem jumpers which was pretty cool, we were right in the plane with real skydivers, yes we were fakes. The ride up was amazing, and crazy to think that as high as we went up, we would be falling down. When we got to our altitude of 13,000 ft, the door opened and people starting jumping out. Lindsay was first for our group and I still have the image of Lindsay flying out of the plane, next was was me! Nick actually had a wait a bit as the plane was not at the correct altitude, probably too much time to think about what he was actually doing. After being lunged out of the plane, the free fall was an absolutely amazing feeling. I yelled a bit and the instructor would spin you around which was so cool. You are in free fall for about a minute and then they pull the parachute, except for Nick who pulled his own parachute, insane I know. Once the parachute was pulled, you were just hanging out in the sky. This was truly my favorite part which the others would disagree as they loved free fall, and Chris would completely disagree as this is where you realized how high you are. The instructor would spin you around and your feet were just dangling, and the views were amazing with mountains off in the distance. Once we landed I was shaking from the thrill. Each of us had the biggest smile and were just rambling about how awesome it was. A story and bond we will have forever.

Next stop was Phoenix. We didn't get to see much as I was told everything is really spread out but all we wanted to do at that point was lay by the pool. For our last night we had a nice dinner sitting outside and then just hanging out as we were getting a little sad to part ways, atleast I was, the boys could have been ready to get rid of us. The next morning we boarded the shuttle and headed back home to Washington D.C. I have to say thank you to Nick and Chris our fabulous road trip hosts. It was a perfect mix of beautiful scenery and wonderful company. Can't wait to see you on the D.C. part of the trip. I also hope I made you proud with my blog post!

xo
Courtney