We Made It!!!!!

Although I haven’t updated for almost a week (!!!), we made it to California on Saturday morning!!

On Thursday we started out in Albuquerque, NM where it was surprisingly chilly. Neither of us really wanted to leave; staying in a Hyatt Place was a welcome change from the not so nice La Quinta the night before. This was really the last we saw of civilization for awhile, and when we realized how much open land the United States still has. We drove through Flagstaff, AZ…which I would have completely missed had I not accidentally turned on my seat warmer in my sleep and woken up in Flagstaff with a burning butt.

Thursday night we stopped in Lake Havasu, aka hell on earth. When we got in, it was 104 degrees (compared to when we left New Mexico at 60 degrees), and the next day was 107. This seemed normal to everyone there. No. Lake Havasu itself was beautiful; our room looked directly out onto the lake…and the parking lot. The blinds weren’t open too much because the sun was blinding. Also in Lake Havasu is London Bridge. Who knew? Well, I knew it was in Arizona, and when I tried to tell Josh he assured me I was an idiot because he’d seen London Bridge in London. We’ll put that one up there with Josh locking himself in the car and not understanding the Cracker Barrel menu.

(excuse the smudges on the windshield that show up in a lot of these pictures!)

There aren’t many words to describe our drive from Lake Havasu to Los Angeles. The terrain was absolutely stunning, and also so open that it was a bit frightening. As we drove through the Mojave, we couldn’t see a building (or power line) for miles. This is where we almost ran out of gas, because the gas stations are more than 1/2 tank apart. Imagine our faces as the “LOW FUEL” indicator went on and we were looking out over miles of…desert. Luckily we devised a plan: Josh had a gas can in the trunk and he would bike to the gas station. Somehow we made it to an exit (barely), and paid $3.94 per gallon to fill up our tank. Apparently people live here.

And then there was California. After all of the beauty of the west, the hazy smog covering all of LA and surrounding areas was sort of a let down. But we’re both in love (with LA). I’m spending time searching for an Armenian boyfriend while Josh looks for a cougar. We’ll see how it goes.

You’re probably wondering what we’ve been eating while on the road….don’t worry, that’s coming soon