Thursday, February 4, 2016

Fall trips!

I was pretty spoiled with a plethora of trips in the fall. I know I rounded out my last post by telling you about my trip to Nashville for the weekend, but I had two other trips during the autumn as well! I was pretty psyched to get to go visit Casey in Florida, and then to California to see Caitlin, Mel and Matt, and then finally to Arizona to see my family. Let's go chronologically through these trips, shall we?

Florida, Florida, Florida.. what a time I had on this whirlwind of a trip. Casey is a near and dear pal, and I was so excited to get to spend time with her for a weekend down in Fort Lauderdale. I hadn't been to Florida since I was a kid, and naturally I was eager to check out the unique microcosm that is Florida through my adult eyes. Plus, I was just excited to visit Casey, who's been ever so kind to visit me in Portland and Spain already!

I left early on a Friday and arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon to Florida. Casey picked me up, we had some lunch, I put down my things at her place, and we pretty quickly headed to the beach to catch some vitamin D and waves before the sun was to set. What a novelty it is to be in warm ocean water, as I typically have found myself at the Pacific, or northern Atlantic in recent times! After playing in the waves we headed back to her place, and I got to meet Casey's boyfriend J! The three of us jived so well, so quickly, and then we headed out for the evening to meet up with their friends to go to a really fun gay bar for a night of dancing! Day 1 went by faaaar too quickly! 
Greetings Atlantic!
Gal pals!
Casey and J giving me the evil eyes!
Drag shows are always fun!
Then came Saturday. We all slept in, which was much needed after being out til very late. We honestly had quite the lazy morning, before finally venturing to the beach. En route to the beach we made a pit stop at a fancy resort to have a drink seaside, and we all felt very classy! Then we headed to meet one of J's and Casey's friends to attempt some kite surfing. Their friend is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and he invited us to join him for an afternoon of kite surfing, and god was I horrible at it! I mostly just lounged on the beach with Casey and their friend's pups. Kevin instructed us to try out the kite surfing on the beach first, which now that I know makes total sense! If you're rubbish at kite surfing you don't want to be out in the ocean flailing around right away. Turns out I have no upper body strength, and the kite just drug me across the sand, all in good fun though. The afternoon concluded with a swim in the ocean and god was it fun! There's definitely a reason that people live near the sea, and when it's warm I definitely don't want to leave! We headed home, made some spaghetti and just spent the night doing a whole lot of relaxing, it was splendid!

Morning views from the balcony of Case, the pups, and the palm trees!
 Nugget and Falcore and Case and the beach!
Trying our hand at kite surfing..
Oh and we met a pretty bird too?
Friday we vowed to wake up early to make the most of sleeping our way through Saturday night. I was meant to get in a long run in preparation for my half marathon, so Casey took me to the beach for a jog. I got in my long run, and then we got breakfast and showered. Post showers, we headed to the Everglades for an air boar ride!! I was so excited about the air boat, and we snagged a groupon deal for it and everything! We headed to Sawgrass Recreation Park, and took our hour long boat tour through the swamp lands and we spotted SO many alligators, it was so neat! The park was also coupled with an exotic wildlife exhibit, so we wandered through that at the conclusion of our boat ride. The takeaway is that I highly recommend an air boat ride to all, and alligators are pretty sweet!

A decent view for a run.
Eye spy an alligator!
Then we headed into Miami, which I was eager to check out! I had a lot of preconceived notions in my head of what south Florida would be like, and to be honest, some were accurate, whereas others not. We headed to the artsy district, Wynwood, and checked out the insanely cool street art. The art, however, was coupled with a plethora of street cameras, but daytime is fine for wandering. We stumbled into an art fair, and found another place for a drink before we were to head out. We headed back to Fort Lauderdale and rounded out my last night in town at Casey and J's friends house. We had a really fun night hanging out by the pool listening to music and dancing all while enjoying the warm breeze! I had to head back early on Monday morning, and I didn't want to leave. Casey surely showed me up in being a good hostess, and I can't wait to hopefully go back sometime soon!

Wynwood
We have fun
A month later was already Thanksgiving week, time flies! I was really excited to be able to visit California for a few days prior to heading to Arizona for the holiday. I headed out to California on the Friday before Thanksgiving, arriving around midnight. Caitlin picked me up from LAX and we headed down to Long Beach. Matt and Mel were at Zion for the weekend, but they graciously let Caitlin and I stay at their place while they were gone. After staying up chatting til late, we finally called it a night. 

Saturday we woke up to sunshine and the smell of the sea! We headed to a fun breakfast spot near Matt and Mel's and we filled up on eggs and coffee. After our leisurely breakfast we decided to wander off to town to indulge in shopping and getting our nails done. After spending a few dollars on ourselves, we ventured back to make some food and get ready to go out. Caitlin recommended we go to this speakeasy type of bar called the Edison. The bar is aptly named, as it is "crafted from the architectural artifacts of LA's first private power plant." It was a lot of fun, as there was a burlesque show, fairies walking around with drinks, and a good dance atmosphere. 
Friends!
Burlesque babes
Then Sunday was a lazy morning of having breakfast in the backyard and soaking up more Vitamin D! Matt and Mel had boarded their new pup, Oscar, but asked if we could pick him up on Sunday before they got home. I was so excited to meet their fur ball, and Oscar was as handsome and well behaved as Matt and Mel had assured me. Caitlin and I were smitten with the pup, and spent some time with him in the yard. Eventually we wandered our way down to the beach for an afternoon of laying on the sand. After getting our fair share of sunshine, we headed back so that I could go on my long run. Post run Caitlin and I went shopping so that we could make dinner for Matt and Mel upon their return. Friends meeting friends is always so fun, and I was so pleased for these three to get to know each other. 
Hi Oscar!
Left coast running views!
Then on Monday morning everybody headed off in their different directions. Caitlin headed back to Pomona (where is in med school), and Matt and Mel off to work. I was not upset about having an afternoon with the pup and sun. I got some stuff done that had been lingering on my to-do list, and enjoyed some alone time. Matt and Mel got home and we naturally went out for tacos at Hole Mole, the infamous quarter taco shop! The night was followed with more chatting til bed time and playing with the pup. 
Mondays aren't for working, they're for sitting in the sun with Oscar!
Tuesday went much like Monday, with a run added in the mix. Upon Matt and Mel's return they generously made me dinner, and they also took me to the Vans store to get my fix! Eventually Mel and I headed into LA so that I could catch my night Greyhound bus. But first, Mel and I checked out a cool bar nearby. LA is such an odd city is always my takeaway, patchy with randomly dispersed fun things. All the same, I had SUCH a good time visiting these gal pals (and Matt and Oscar), as seeing friends really does recharge the soul! Oh and I suppose seeing the ocean doesn't hurt either.
And Tuesdays are for putting your feet in the sea with the pups!
A gal and her pup!
I took a night bus from LA to Phoenix on Tuesday night, waking up in Phoenix on Wednesday morning. The bus experience was fine, and thankfully I spent my sleeping hours on the bus. I woke up to a great sunrise over the desert mountains. There is something soothing every time I enter back into the southwest. 
Sunrise over the valley
The time in Arizona was good and relaxing. It's always nice to go home, especially after having not been in almost a year. There was lots of good food, plenty of time with the pups, and a handful of good movies thrown in the mix. Thanksgiving Day was pretty low key, with our typical Mexican themed meal, as is seeming to become a holiday favorite. Thanksgiving night was a fire in the chimenea, and the pups are never sure what to make of the glowing embers haha! We also saw the movie Legend in the theatre on Saturday night, and that comes highly recommended! We had a lively family discussion about the movie afterwards, but then again we can have lively discussions about most topics if given the opportunity :-) Saturday was rounded out with some good Indian food, a swell Saturday night!
I'm thankful for these dinguses!
Thanksgiving fire.
Then it was already time to fly home on Sunday morning. My trip was just what I needed, and I was so grateful for the sunshine, friends and family. It had already gotten quite cold and bleak in Indiana before the trip, so this really was just what the doctor ordered. I can't wait to head back west soon enough! 
It's back thataway!
So there are my autumn trips rolled into a post. I am so lucky to be able to do the traveling I do, this I know. As it is already 2016 when I'm writing this, I hope this year is equally as filled with fun adventures, and it didn't start out too shabby with my travels to England, that blog post to come soon!