Memories that Remain...

Just got back from our first family vacation...pretty much ever. Well, no, that isn't totally true. We went to Disneyland when I was in 5th grade, and Lake Powell several times, but it's been probably close to 8 years since my family went somewhere new just for the sake of getting away.

This time we went to Solvang, California for the final individual time trial of the Amgen Tour of California.

Coolest. Town. Ever.

Before we got there, though, allow to complain about how much of my weekend was spent in a car.

From Salt Lake to St. George- 4.5 hrs.
Running errands around Hurricane- 2 hrs.
From Hurricane to St. George - .5 hrs.
From St. George to Prim- 4 hrs.
From Prim to Solvang- 7 hrs.
From Solvang to Marina Del Ray - 5 hrs.
Marina Del Ray to Long Beach- 1 hr.
Long Beach to Baker- 4 hrs.
Baker to Hurricane- 4 hrs.
St. George to Salt Lake- 4.5

TOTAL = 36.5 hrs. out of 96 hrs. or almost 40% of my weekend.

That's actually a slightly smaller number than I expected. That's a good thing, really.

As always, traveling with my family was a blast. We either spend the time singing as loud as we can (S.O.S. is a huge hit with my younger siblings and myself) or laughing hysterically at something or other. Like someone thinking that a work-visa was a credit card we gave foreigners. Or my saying "do speakers even know how engineers work?" instead of the other way around.

I think that's one of the best things about my family. No matter where we are, we're laughing.

The first night we stayed at a casino in Prim. It should have been a clue when the amenities said "Terrible's" on them that it wasn't the best of hotels. Actually, I think walking in was the first clue. Still, it wasn't the worst place I've ever been, and we watched "Burn Notice" which I had never seen before, but may start watching on USA in my free time.

I also played on my first slot machine! Yes, I know, we're not supposed to but...well, my dad always plays about a dollar in the 1 or 2 cent machines, and since I'm old enough now we thought it would be fun to do it together. I got my dollar up to $3.78, and then my Daddy lost it. I don't blame him though. I'm not even sure how the machine I was playing on worked. I just hit randomly lit buttons.

We got up at 3:30 AM (Pacific time) to start our drive to Solvang. The stage started at noon, but we wanted to be there in plenty of time to check out all the fun stuff going on. The drive up wasn't so bad, as we missed the worst of the LA traffic. We drove passed Santa Barbra, which was fun for me since I'm such a ridiculous Psych fan.

As I said previously, Solvang was awesome. It reminded me of Belgium, with the style of buildings and the sidewalks made of bricks. There were so many things to look at. I'm really bummed we didn't stay longer. I would have loved to go to the Hans Christian Anderson musuem.

The stage itself was cool. I'm not as into cycling as my dad and sister, but I admire their work ethic, and I got to wear my awesome polka-dot hat without getting any weird looks. I love my polka dot hat, since to me the King of the Mountains is the coolest rider in any tour. He can't rely on his team the same way the others can. He has to win it himself, though sheer willpower and strength. Which is, quite frankly, freakin' awesome.

Seeing the cyclists up close was fun. We actually saw Lance Armstrong, in real life, as well as Levi (who's last name I obviously cannot spell), Davy Z., George Hincappi, and so many others it almost made me dizzy. These are guys I've watched ride for almost five summers in a row now. It was awesome.

After stopping to get the yummiest treats ever (and me my new Solvang hat for my collection), we headed back down to Marina Del Ray to visit my Aunt, who I haven't seen in about 8 years.

The traffic was a nightmare to say the least. And then the Bomb Squad drove by. And then we saw a blimp that my mom thought looked just like a UFO (which freaked her out more than the Bomb Squad truck). We were all a mass of hysterically giggling idiots by the time we got to the resturant to meet her. It was so much fun, though, and the food was good.

We stayed a nice hotel that night, and I got to watch the Psych season finale on TV, instead of having to wait until today when I'll get it off iTunes. Which was great, because it was cool and intense.

The next morning we met up with my Aunt again and ate at iHop. Strawberry Banana Pancakes = my new favorite thing. No joke. And her husband snuck and paid for all of us, which was totally cool of him. He seems like a really great guy. I'm happy for her.

They gave us very simple instructions as how to find first a beach-- which we stopped at to watch some surfers and just enjoy the waves-- and then find the right road to take us back to I-15. We ended up in Long Beach heading to San Diego, which wasn't really where we wanted to go (this trip, anyway). We bought a map and found out back the right direction, settling in for the long drive home.

We did stop in Baker and ate at The Mad Greek. From what I've seen on the internet, experiences there vary from terrible to outstanding. I'd say over all the food was normal-ish (I had a burger, and while better than most fast food it wasn't the most amazing thing I'd ever eaten). The fresh strawberry shake though? Oh. My. Gosh. It was THE best thing I have EVER had. I'm going to be craving the stupid thing for months now.

Nothing particularly exciting to report about the rest of the drive home, but overall the trip was a blast. I hope we get the chance to do it again before we all grow up too much.