Capturing Forever One Frame at a Time: California We Made it!

So yes I know its been a couple days now. I unfortunately had some issues uploading my photos so my apologies!

Tuesday morning we woke up in Albuquerque New Mexico. We were staying at this Days Inn that wasn't the most flattering hotel in the world. Josh was a bit uneasy the whole time we were there but we were ok. It was a really neat city. My mom told me it was one of my grandmas favorite places to visit. We left around 7:30 am and didn't have to deal with traffic so that was great! As we kept going through New Mexico we starting seeing some white stuff on the ground... Yup it was snow and it was cold out. We put our winter coats back on after having them off the day before. We made our way into Arizona and to Flagstaff to see the Grand Canyon. We thought that once we got into Flagstaff it would be soon but it turns out that you still have to go another hour and half north to get to it. As we started getting higher and higher in elevation my head started to hurt. My ears were popping a ton and my mouth where my wisdom teeth were taken out just a week before were starting to hurt as well. It was pretty uncomfortable but what could you do. After a while I got use to it and soon enough we were by the entrance. We got our pass and got on the two lane road that stretched out another 30 miles around the Canyon. We didn't go that far out, we stopped at Mather's Point. We parked and got out to what looked like a visitor's center. There was a lot of people around but the problem was we didn't know where to go! I know this seems ridiculous but I figured it would be obvious where it was! It was very cold and there was snow everywhere. We ended up walking around this trail for a while and finally I saw it. We walked up to a point that had a fence around it but was a bit out which was really cool. The Canyon itself had a hazy fakeness to it. It almost didn't seem real but it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. It just went on and on for miles! We walked around to different views and soaked everything in. This is truly an American Treasure. After we were done we drove south and back on to the I-40 which is the old route 66. We wanted to get into California but I then realized that by the time we would do that it would be dark and I wouldn't be able to get a picture of the state line. The decision was then to stay in a city called Kingman which is about an hour from California. It was a nice stay much better then the hotel from the night before.

We woke up Wednesday morning very anxious and excited to get on the road however we encountered a couple problems. Our cables to charge our iPhones weren't working and the charger itself kept falling out of the cigarette lighter. Not good obviously. We ended up having to make a trip to get a new charger. It didn't set us back much but we then got everything figured out and were on the road. It took just under an hour to pass the state line into California. From there we ended up having to go through an inspection which I thought for sure was going to be rough just because we had so much stuff in our car. It ended up being pretty painless and quick. They asked us some questions, they gave us a paper, and then we were on our merry way. We would spend most of the day going up the state into northern California. We were pretty south, just a few hours east of LA. We were able to bypass and go around LA and its traffic so i was very relived about that. Around 11:00 we were getting pretty hungry. It was important for us to be able to try In-N-Out that day seeings how it was our first day in California. However, when we looked up the nearest one it ended up being two hours away! The rest stops are all so far apart so this wasn't surprising. Josh and I made the decision to hold out and wait till we got to it. Around 1:00 pm we made it to an

In-N-Out. We walked in and saw the very small menu consisting of 3 different burgers, one size fry, drinks, shakes, and well that was pretty much it. I was confused because I thought for sure there was more. We went simple and just ordered a couple burgers, fries, and a drink. They give you a number and you wait for your order to be called out. The place was packed! I noticed behind the counter a guy working at the fry machine. There was a machine that he was using to cut the potatoes into a bowel and right into the fryer. I thought that was pretty neat, not to mention I knew the fries would be fresh. Our order came out and we decided to sit outside. It was a bit chilly but still warm enough for me! I took a closer look at the burger and discovered that it had sauce on it... if you don't know Josh you should be informed that he HATES sauces. This wasn't a good sign. I took a bit into my burger and it was incredible! The sauce was amazing, the bun was soft, and it had pickles, it was just awesome! I tried the fries and wow the best fries at a fast food place hands down! In my head I'm celebrating but I turn to Josh scared of what his reaction would be... "this burger sucks" we're his words. I was pretty disappointed but after I saw that sauce I knew it wouldn't be good. I sent a picture to my sister and she then told me there was other stuff to order that isn't on the menu. There's different ways of ordering like 4x4, 3x4, 2x2, animal style, dutchman, grilled cheese, just a bunch of different options that just aren't there on the menu! I guess its a California thing to just know about it. We know better for next time I promise! Josh also agreed to try different things so that was nice. Hopefully next time will be better. With each hour I became more and more anxious. When we were about a half hour away it was around 5:30 and we started hitting traffic! I guess it was bound to happen especially since we hadn't dealt with it during our whole trip. It took us a while but we eventually got to our place in Berkeley which is across the bay from San Francisco. It was dark and we weren't

sure how to park.

The evening was spent unloading our stuff and getting settled into our sublet. Which is part of a house that we are renting out. We will be staying here for a month until we find a place of our own. We figured this would give us enough time to find a place we are comfortable with. We have some adjustments that we need to get use to. One is the green way of life. The land lords have a washer and dryer that we are allowed to use. However we can only use the dryer unless its an emergency and theres rain out. We have to hang dry our clothes on lines. Its actually kind of cool we won't have to do that quite yet but we will within the next couple weeks. Another thing is all the trash. There are three different bins for waste, compostable, recyclable, and trash. The trash is the smallest one... yeah this is sure something I don't want to mess up. I think after a while I will get use to it. There are fuel cell busses, waster vehicles that use reusable fuels, this town is very much a green city. I can appreciate that. The first evening we slept we went to bed very early and were asleep for about 12 hours... It had been a long 4 days. However everyday feels like we had been getting only a little sleep. We sleep great but I still feel very tired. I thought it was from the trip but people are suggesting that its from the elevation change. I hope I get use to it soon because I hate feeling like this. The time change is also bizarre. My internal clock has me waking up way earlier then I should be. Just another thing to get use to. It been raining the entire time we've been here. Its better then the snow back home but still a little sad. Its hard to walk around and start to get familiar with everything when its raining. Hopefully we can get our more soon. We've been driving around despite the rain running earns and checking out some places but I want to go exploring on foot! We will be getting into the city Sunday night to see a friend. I'm very excited for that. Lots to do I'm job hunting and we are working on finding a place of our own. More updates to come but until then here are some pictures.