Day 18 - Drive from LA to Monteray, CA

Before we left LA, we had to stop at Venice Beach! It was pretty much what we expected it to be like. Very nice beach, loads of street vendors on the boardwalk, and lots of muscle-y men.

Here is the Muscle Beach workout center! It's right on the beach. Unfortunately, we did not see Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In Santa Barbara, we met up with a Boston friend, Zak. Here he is forcing Nathan to eat raw seafood.
The harbor in Santa Barbara.
Right before we got to Monteray, we stopped at a state beach that was covered with Elephant Seals. They were so lazy! And made a lot of funny noises.
The sunset from the beach.

Day 17 - Los Angeles: Part 2

For Nathan's birthday I bought us tickets to Disneyland! It's quite a bit smaller than Disney World, but was still very fun! I even convinced Nathan to go on one roller coaster!
After we got back from Disneyland, Cooper brought us to the Apple Pan for burgers. They were the best burgers we have had on this trip so far!

This is an old lounge/bar called the Dresden where Marty & Elaine have been playing 3 or 4 nights a week forever! Apparently they were featured in the movie Swingers. Nathan, Zahed, and Cooper. Zahed and Cooper were former Dear Abbey members when the group first started in 1992.

And we couldn't leave LA without doing the most touristy thing possible...
Nathan's hands are the same size as Matt Damon's!

Day 16 ~ Los Angeles: Part 1

We began a fairly long drive from Flagstaff, AZ to the Pacific Coast finally! The drive was scenic, but the most noteworthy memory was the intensely dry heat. We thought we had already experienced this in New Mexico but we were proven wrong. We stepped out of the car for lunch and were bombarded by high winds and the sensation of being inside a sauna. It was 114 degrees outside and we were only on the edge of the desert!

Our glimpse of the desert.

We met up with friends in Los Angeles and went out to relax and see some sights. One of our friends was staying at The Four Seasons while we were there so we drank coca-cola in high style. Here is Sarah and Stevie.

Stevie, Cooper our LA host, and myself.

Cooper took us to the Beverly Hills hotel, otherwise known as The Pink Palace. I can't tell you how out of place and underdressed we felt here. The closest we came to seeing experiencing a stay here was peeking into the bathrooms...and they were magnificent.

A view of LA from up in the hills.

Day 15 - Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon

We got up bright and early to drive to Sedona for our Pink Jeep Tour. It's an off-road jeep tour that brings you into a pygmy forest and on top of huge red rocks. It lasted for two hours, and I (Sarah) did not get car sick!!!

This picture is kind of hard to see, but this is the highway we had to take to Sedona. It had a ton of curves! Not so good for driving on when you are half asleep...

Our Pink Jeep tour guide.

Heading down a steep red rock!
A break for pictures.

After the Jeep tour, we drove 3 1/2 hours to the Grand Canyon. We were worried that it would look too similar to the other parks we had visited to really be worth the drive, but it wasn't!!! The Grand Canyon is massive and looks like a painting. These pictures don't do it justice.

Day 14 ~ Bryce Canyon National Park

We visited Bryce Canyon National Park as recommended by my Dad unsure of what we might find. We were planning on seeing the Grand Canyon the next day and thought this might be too similar. Turns out it was incredible unique one of our favorite stops so far.

Its not a canyon so much as an natural amphitheater filled with "Hoodoos".

This is what a "hoodoo" is!

Our artsy picture of the day.

The walk down into the amphitheater was pretty easy, but I needed a couple of breaks on the way up.

As we walked we noticed a massive forest fire miles away that had begun. This was on our way back once it had gotten even bigger.

As we finished our drive to Flagstaff, Arizona that night, we stopped and watched the sunset over Lake Powell.

Day 13 - Colorado to Utah

Before we got on the road, we met up with our friend Amanda who lives in Colorado Springs and went to a park called Garden of the Gods. It's at the base of the Rockies, and has a bunch of walking trails that lead you to these interesting red-rock formations.

We decided to treat the car to a wash, but they took cash only. And they did not take$20 bills so I stupidly put a $20 bill in a change machine thinking that it would give me smaller bills and it spit out quarters everywhere. While I was stressed out and trying to figure out what to do Nathan was taking pictures and laughing.

A view from the highway in Utah.
We pulled over to watch the sunset! I don't think any cars passed on the highway for the ten minutes we were stopped.