LA

I am enjoying my time with Joel in Los Angeles. Got here late Wednesday night then spent all day Thursday at Disneyland. Then yesterday was more relaxing. We slept in then went for coffee in a cool coffee shop bookstore. 

He was happy in this picture, just not so happy about getting his picture taken. 

Joel lives in Echo Park. It is a cool, upcoming area near Echo Park Lake and the 101. It does have a small tent city but they are all over. 

We then drove downtown and got to see Joel's work.  His building is super cool, retro, upscale. The lobby and a library upstairs had old style red couches. The floors were those tiny octagon tiles and the walls were marble. Joel's work is actually in a loft with a full kitchen and bathroom. It had a sitting area and a long work table and huge windows. 

I met one of Joel's co- workers, Rae, as his boss and the other co worker were off  .  

They put the VR goggles on me to show me one thing they've been working on. It was an ocean and sky sequence with birds and fish and animals. The blue sky and sunset and ocean and fog were super cool. It zoomed down and soared up. I oo'd and aw'd. 

Joel took me up to the roof of his work and I was very impressed. It is a patio with fountains and about six seating areas with awesome furniture and then a pool deck with comfy furniture around it. There was even fake grass in an area for dogs. 

We walked a ways downtown to a food court that had all kinds of food, mostly ethnic. Joel and I got wood fired pizza. Joel, mike, Rae and I sat outside and ate lunch. 

After lunch we went to the grocery store then back to Joel's apartment and took a nap. Then we walked up a huge hill and two blocks more to echo park lake. We found a grassy place to sit and laid down and looked up into a weeping willow tree. We relaxed and talked with a duck napping nearby and a turtle checking in on us several times. 

We changed clothes at the apartment and drive into the next neighborhood and ate dinner at Umami burger. I had truffle cheese fries. 

We drive further into Hollywood and went to a friend of Jc's house for a birthday party.  I had such a great time. These are Jc's friends from church and some friends that Kristin knows from dance everyone there was beautiful, literally, models and dancers. But they were also very nice and fun to talk to. Jon was there with some people from home and I made friends with a gal who wants to be a social worker. We drank and played beer pong, but not with beer. 

Woke up early this morning and had my quiet time in Joel's room while a Kansas thunderstorm boomed outside. We eventually went to a yummy breakfast with mike then made arrangements to take me to the airport. 

I had such a great visit with Joel. It was short but very worth it bi am determined not to feel sad as Joel is hoping to come home to visit in September. 

Disneyland

What an amazing day!  Joel said everyone is happy at Disneyland and he wasn't kidding!  I am so glad to have had this experience.  I am not sure it can be captured in words or pictures.

We parked and rode the tram then entered the park.  

You immediately are in a fantasy land called Main Street with shops and Victorian houses and cute signs.  

At the end, you can see the famous Disney castle which was glittered up for the 60 year anniversary celebration.  

We made some plans and made our way to get a fast track for a bigger ride later to cut down on the waiting then made our way back for the first attraction, pirates of the Caribbean.

All the rides have waiting but they really work to make the waits decorative or entertaining for the most part.  Pirates of the Caribbean  was an indoor water ride with amazing animated scenes set up all along a water pathway.  I liked the scenes but I hate log rides where they take the boat up ramps then release it because it makes my anxiety go through the roof.  Just a fact.

We then waited in line for the haunted mansion which was also very cool.  The first room we all went I to while waiting grew because the ceiling raised way up.  Then we got in these little carts that whisked us through the attraction of animated horror scenes.  Some of the lighting ones were pretty impressive.

We got a snack then waiting in line for Space mountain.  The boys had to do a lot of talking to me while waiting for this one because it was a roller coaster.  But it was indoors and didn't have any drops and so I liked it!  The lighting was again fabulous as we shot through space while hurling 35 miles per hour around curves, etc, so to be honest with you, I had my eyes squeezed shut for most of it.  But it was fun!

We walked around some more through the various parts of the park, Adventureland, Tomorrow Land, Frontier land..... And walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle.

I liked The Buzz light year ride even though the line was long and hot.  We got in carts and basically shot targets with lasers.  It was so fun!  I just completely became a kid for a few minutes!

The Indiana Jones ride was cool mostly because the waiting was in a cave like structure that fit the theme and was pretty impressive.  The ride itself was fast and bumpy.  When Indiana was being lowered down to us on a rope, it really looked like Harrison Ford!  And it looked so real!

The jungle tour water ride was fun, silly, entertaining.  There were fake animals and the tour guide joked the whole way.  At one point, perhauana fish spewed water all around the boat.

We all liked the Finding Nemo ride, too.  We got into a submarine and were actually submerged under water for a fun show as the sub traveled around a lagoon.

We had a couple of good meals, one in downtown Disney.  I bought some sandals.  And we went into the hotel lobby which was a perfect place for my nap.

Our favorite ride was the Star Tours, which is a short, interactive,simulated Star Wars flick. So we were on a space ship with c3po and shot through the galaxy and under the water and participated in an intergalactic battle.  Loved it!  The wait was all about boarding the ship so there were Star Wars characters and it felt like they were taking right times.  

At the end of the night, we got in the middle of a huge crowd for the ending parade and fireworks show.  We were exhausted and my expectations were low. I could not believe how unbelievably fantastic it was, particularly the lighted parade!   Each float was animated and lighted and themed and each one blew my mind!  I cried!  Then the fireworks show over the top of the castle with the castle being illuminated and Disney movie songs blasting was crazy.  So emotional singing Jungle book and Little Mermaid and then of course, Let it Go, from Frozen.  Awesome.

So we had to end the night with a second Star Tours ride.  Fun!

Afterwards, Joel wondered what stood out in my mind.  I'd have to say that the fun times I had hanging out with him, standing in line, etc, is what stood out.  Joel is so humorous and easy to be with.  

I loved Disneyland.

Coloring

I bought a coloring book!  I've been spending the cool afternoons out on the back deck either listening to praise music or watching hgtv and coloring in my new coloring book!  A friend called the other day and asked what I was doing.  I said, "Coloring in my adult coloring book."  She said, "what, does it have nudies and stuff?"  You'd have to know my friend, she's hilarious. Right, I'm coloring the fun parts different colors.

Laramie and Home

We got back to the hotel after the hike and showered then were rejoined by Hannah and Kent for delicious pizza which we ate on the bed.  Leah and I stayed in a super cheap pet friendly hotel, TravelLodge.  It looked like it was falling down on the outside but the room was totally fine.  

After we ate, Kent went to do homework and the girls and I snuggled up under the covers and Skyped with this guy:

And this guy:

And laughed a lot.  It was a perfect evening.

The next morning, we picked up Hannah and took her for breakfast at the Night Heron bookstore and coffee shop.  We ate our breakfast burritos and drank our lattes outside.  Then we walked around downtown Laramie and looked at the murals.  We also walked up on the railroad trestle.  

Leah and I had a good, long drive home listening to our audio book "The Help" pretty much the entire way.  I was so tired when I got home but it was sooo worth it!

Here are some more various random pics of the trip:

Med Bow Mountain

On Sunday morning we hiked Medicine Bow Peak.  I planned on kicking this mountain's butt, but alas, it kicked mine:).  But I did it!  I only panicked three times and cried once:).  The kids planned on it taking 3 hours, 4 at most.  It took 6.  Kent can do it in 1 1/2!  This was my second time up med bow and I don't remember it being this hard.  A few years older may be it, who knows.  I told Hannah that if her pack weighed 30 pounds, we were probably close to even up only mine isn't on my back but more around my middle.  

Leah and I got coffee before we left against Hannah's advice.  Double shot lattes.  I knew I was hydrated so I wasn't worried about that but I hadn't thought about the altitude.

We drove the beautiful one hour drive to the snowy range across rolling hills that I think of when I think of Wyoming, with cows and deer and ranches and wild flowers and the mountains in the background.  These are lower, wider, flatter and less rocky than the flint hills.  The sky and clouds were amazing.  We drove through a tiny mountain town, Centennial, then up into the mountains and along beautiful, clear tree lined lakes.

We parked and got situated and started up.  Kent carried our water, hannah carried our lunch and put Professor in her pack.

 Sierra, Kent's dog tagged along.  She kep running ahead and back and checked on us.  She loved the snow, rolled in it in delight.

Kent and Hannah are used to hiking and they are beasts!  Leah admitted later that it was hard for her, too, but she quietly hiked.  Though it was hard for me, I don't regret it and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.  It was an adventure and growth experience.

The first 20 feet right off the bat I was sure I would die.  My heart rate skyrocketed and I couldn't get my breath.  Kent must have anticipated this and stopped to check on us.  After a short rest, I got my wind and off we went.

The very first part is switchback through rocky meadows and trees and then eventually out of the trees and across some snowy patches and wet grounds.  This was the easy part.  We went a good pace with lots of stops and water breaks.  When I got pretty fatigued about 3/4 of the way up, we stopped for a snack.  As I laid down, the whole world was spinning.  Snacking helped and on we went.

We eventually reached a part where we had to scramble over huge boulders next to each other.  Kent just hopped along like they were nothing.  I had to pause frequently to plan my next few steps since my legs were tired and it was difficult when I'd step onto a precarious rock at a slant to get to other flatter rocks.  But I did it and eventually we reached the top!

The top is always great.  It is so beautiful up there!  We ate lunch and took pictures and rested.  

Then came the hard part.  We decided to go a different way down than the way we'd come.

First, we headed down a fairly steep snowy berm.  It was slippery in my tennies and every now and then, my foot would sink in pretty far.  Once, it sunk in all the way up to my crotch.  So there I was with one foot all the way out and one foot all the way sunk.  It was a scary feeling but I got out.

Then came more giant boulders with no end in sight.  It was fine but took lots of leg strength for my already exhausted legs.  Then it started to get a lot more difficult.  I kept having the experience of feeling stranded with no options in all four directions to turn other than precarious steps on slanted or far apart boulders.  I had to sit and scoot and reach over and over.  The kids went on ahead and I couldn't see them.  At one point, I had started to feel sort of panicky and I looked up and realized that it was going to get steeper as we went down these crazy boulders.  I started breathing hard and crying.  Hannah saw me and the kids headed back toward me.  Kent went back the way we came and spoke to another hiker ( we only saw two people up that high) and found out we were off the trail.  The other trail down, however, was a long, deep snowy section that was also steep.  So this meant we had to go back the way we came!  Across the boulders and back up the step snow bank!  On the way up, I had to put my hand up so I couldn't see the view, sort of like when you are reading in the car and block the view so you don't get carsick.  

We got back to the top, up and over, and got through the boulder section and back the way we came.  People think the way up a mountain is hard, but the opposite is true.  It takes completely different muscles to go down, on already exhausted legs.  My ankles were pretty fried from all the rocks, Large and small.  But it was still beautiful.  Kent walked much of it with me and we had a great talk.  He was very patient.  The only other panicky moment was when on a snowy part, my foot sunk in deep and got jammed between two rocks.  It hurt and I had to dig it out of the snow with my hands.  

Overall, I loved this, the beauty, the clean, quiet air, the adventure and camaraderie.  I think next time we'd better take a little easier hike.  

Laramie

Leah and I drove to Laramie for a long weekend!  I love coming up here and spending time with Hannah where she lives.  We always have such a good time.  And this time it was special,because it was also with Leah!  

Leah and I got up Friday morning and took her puppy to be boarded in Manhattan then drove to Laramie!  we brought our travel companion, Professor!

We got to town about 6:30 and met Hannah and Kent their friend Maggie and her boyfriend at Coal Creek for a beer and to finish watching the USA  women soccer match.  Then we went for dinner at Thai Spice then went over to see their apartment and met their new roommate, Conner.  

Saturday morning we were going to go to hot yoga but didn't time it right so we did yoga poses in the park for a few minutes.  

Then walked to a coffee shop called Turtle Rock and ate breakfast and chatted.  

Then we went to the Laramie pool and laid out in the sun for much of the afternoon.  It was perfect weather, warm with a cool breeze.

We thrift shopped in 3 stores and bought some fun things!  I bought two white summer shirts, some leggings, a tiny purse for my work tag, and some leather gloves.  I also bought a colorful dress to wear with leggings.  The girls found some cute things, too.  

Saturday night we went to Downtown Laramie for dinner and ate delicious burgers at Born in a Barn then went back to Hannah and Kent's and watched netflix with Kent's brother Garrett.  

Today we hiked medicine Bow in the Snowy mountains!  I'm super tired and we don't have access to the pics so I will blog about it tomorrow!