It's Just 5-1/2 Hours

Well our 5-1/2 hours was closer to 6-1/2-ish but it was great!

The idea of working the booth at the LA Times Travel and Adventure show sounded fun so we made plans to head down to St. George and hop aboard the St. George company van, hitching a ride with Kevin to LA. Upon realizing that our car registration was expired (last month) we figured while we were down, we might want to get it inspected and legal again. So we decided to have Tyler sluff his Thursday afternoon classes and head down to St. George early so we could get inspected and to the DMV before heading out on our adventure. We were under the false impression that good weather was with us, upon reaching Scipio we accepted our mistake and by Panguitch we were praying hard. At a speed of 45 mph in the fast lane, we found ourselves in the midst of a blizzard with taillights in front of us as the only conformation we were still on the road. All at once, we saw the motor home one car ahead of us dive into the median. Of course we're thinking "Oh my gosh! We just saw a wreck!" But then the car directly ahead of us followed suit-off into the median! What is going on? Then appearing as if poofed there, a jack-knifed FED-EX truck! So off we went into the median. I don't remember much, other than we made it thru unscathed and it didn't appear that anyone else was hurt in the six car pile-up. Well we got to St. George ok and our car was taken care of. The next morning Kayron informed us that I-15 was closed at Beaver last night from a different accident-needless to say we were very lucky-or very watched-over.

Our drive to Cali was uneventful (and we couldn't have been happier) except for Cass and Kevin's first experience at Tommy's Burgers. We made is safely to the Convention Center and set up, then checked in to the Marina Pacifica Hotel right on Venice Beach.

That night, we walked along the boardwalk, then wandered down the street to a great little sushi shack. Hama's Sushi Restaurant. Kevin tried Edamames and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Then back to the hotel to rest and arise early.

Our timing is definitely something that we need to work on. Early Saturday morning (Valentine's Day) we got up, got ready and headed downtown to make sure the booth was ready to go. We got there way early and missed out on breakfast, but ran down across the Convention Center to grab some hot chocolate and a doughnut. Then we worked the booth-and I got say it was so fun! It was easy and busy and nice! They day was a little long, but we had an awesome evening to look forward to! After closing up shop at the Convention Center we ran to Von's to get supplies for tomorrow then headed to the Thibodeau's to meet up for our awesome dinner at Claim Jumper! Thanks Dawna and Rick for taking care of us! It was a fabulous dinner and even better company!

Then we headed of the the Aztec Hotel/Elephant Bar to watch Rick and his band play! Wow! It was so fun! Watching the musicians on stage is just one of the coolest things. We unfortunately had to leave after the first set, Dawna was still recovering (you look great) and we all had the trade show the next morning.

Next morning we got to sleep in a bit so we decided to get breakfast on the boardwalk. It was nice and a great place to people-watch. Then we had to walk along the beach again as saw the cutest most adorable baby seagulls scampering around the surf. They were just delightful. But of course they made us late to the show! (Just a little).

Sunday's show was a success as well as Saturday's, it felt a little slower, but that could have been because the show's hours were shorter. Anyway we had a nice time, then promptly at 5:00 pm, we closed up shop and headed to the LA Temple to keep the Spirit.

Then we decided we'd better get some dinner so we wandered around the rich side of Santa Monica Pier Promenade, found a Buca Di Beppo and put our name on the list. A 40-minute wait, so naturally we wandered around the streets and were compelled to find the band that was playing. We found them, the two guitar players that is-they were amazing! After walked and observing we found ourselves in a Barns & Nobel. Here we discovered very important words of wisdom--'real men don't say splendid'! Thus proving that those cute, most adorable baby seagulls scampering around the surf, were NOT just delightful, because real men would say cute, adorable or delightful. Well we found our way back to Buca and waited another 15 minutes and less than satisfying service, but Buca still has great food. Well Monday brought and end to our trip. We got up extra early to head out and get to St. George with enough time to get us back to Orem by a decent hour. Lucky for us we got up early as we met awful weather in in the Cajon Pass. Let the pictures do the talking. Kevin was driving (yikes!), Tyler was serving as documentor and Cass had her face buried in a blanket in the back of the van. A expressed by the native Californian in the car, "I have never seen it like this in California!"

Well after a few tense hours (ok maybe not hours) we made it thru to clear weather. Dawna gave us a quick call checking that we had made it thru and informing us that I-15 was closed (2nd time in Cass and Tyler's trip). After detouring slightly in the black-hole of Barstow, we found ourselves calming driving thru the Gorge when Kevin observed the gas light come on. We thought for sure we'd make it and as we were pulling to the off-ramp of the first exit in St. George, the boys found themselves pushing the van off the freeway. So add another chapter to the LA Times Travel and Adventure novel, throw in some gas, food and Ryan and you'll reach the happy ending of a dry, uneventful drive back to Orem, and two very happy UVU students back to the grind!