Tag: outdoors

Southwest Road Trip Day 3: Grand Canyon

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They always say that nothing can prepare you for the awesome sight of the Grand Canyon. Yes, we’ve all seen pictures of it, but can they really do such a monumentally place justice? Actually, both Carrie and I have been there in our youth, but it had been so long that it was truly like being there for the first time again.

Carrie and I got up this morning, rarin’ to go. We drove on in and parked in the Grand Canyon Village, where the various lodges and eateries are located. We decided from the beginning that we would follow the Rim Trail as that would afford us a great variety of spectacular views. Our first glimpse was no disappointment!

It was hard not to become reflective looking at the view…

We kept hiking the rim until we became hungry. What to do? No worries there as we had prepared a picnic lunch!

Walking further along, we finally caught a glimpse of the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon!

What an amazing day. Well, all that hiking did make us pretty hungry, and we still did need to address the matter of celebrating our third anniversary, so what better place to go within the national park than to El Tovar, the finest dining establishment at the Grand Canyon?

We started off with a few cocktails, naturally…

The restaurant turned 100 years old in 2005, as these plates show.

Carrie had a New York Strip while I went all old school and ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu. Seriously, who gets that anymore? It was delicious…

Wonderful and awe-inspiring day. And still so much more yet to come! Tomorrow, we hit the road again, so stay tuned!

Southwest Roadtrip Day 2: Route 66 Roadside Towns

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Today’s leg of our trip focused on all things Route 66! There was plenty to see and do – and we couldn’t wait to hit the road!

But, first things first – keeping in line with our kitschy theme, we had to hit up The Pioneer in Laughlin for breakfast before starting our day.  What can we say – the Pioneer was a goldmine of kitsch, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Old West theme!

In Ed’s words, “When you’re in a gamblin’ kind of place, you gotta have a shrimp cocktail, no matter how early it is” – so here is my happy guy with his Shrimp Cocktail:

I chose to stick with coffee and pancakes. :)

Route 66 Roadside Town #1: OATMAN

Oatman is quite a place – and yes, you read it right – the sign mentions Wild Burros. As you walk through the main drag in town, there are tons of donkeys just cruising around unattended! They are descendants of all the pack animals brought to the tiny town by miners back in the day. You can buy a bag of carrots to feed them for $1, so of course we did!

Another big claim to fame for the town is the Oatman Hotel – where Clark Gable & Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon! The actual suite is undergoing renovations, but here is the entrance:

Oatman is a cute little old west town, and it was fun to take a few shots of all the old signage.

After leaving Oatman, we made a few stops along the way to take in the scenery.  A man was even nice enough to take a picture of the two of us!  Here are a few shots, but man – it really doesn’t do things justice!  One thing we both agreed on was that it was during this stretch of the road that definitely seemed the loneliest, and definitely most forgotten …


We even drove by the infamous Cool Springs Mobil Gas Station, which is an icon of stops along The Mother Road:

Route 66 Roadside Town #2: KINGMAN
We got into Kingman, which is one of the better known roadside towns. It was home of the Route 66 Museum, so we had to make a stop inside to check out all the memorabilia.

Also in Kingman is Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner. We were holding out for another place to actually eat at which was a few towns away (more on that later!), so we settled on a milkshake at Mr. D’z.

We didn’t have too much time in Kingman, because we wanted to make sure to get to the Grand Canyon Cavern in time to check it out before it closed. On the way, we passed through a TON of open road, some Hualapai Indian Territory, and the teeny tiny town of Peach Springs.

Route 66 Roadside Attraction: GRAND CANYON CAVERN & CAVERN INN

The Cavern was so awesome! We were glad to make it in time for the last tour of the day (they don’t let you go down there unattended). We took an elevator 21 stories down underneath the ground with 4 others and our tour guide, Johnny. Tough to capture – but here we are in the Cavern!

Also on site is a ton of other fun stuff, like dinosaurs & the groovy old sign at the Inn!

Route 66 Roadside Town #3: SELIGMAN

We hightailed it out of the Cavern as soon as the tour ended en route to Seligman – where the fictional town of Radiator Springs (from the Pixar movie Cars) is basically inspired from. There were promises of a pretty extensive (and wacky) mega gift store, as well as the diner we’d really been holding out for all day – The Snow Cap Drive-In. We are bummed to report the Snow Cap was CLOSED by the time we got there! However, they had lots of pictures of cars just like the ones in the movie Cars – so these pics are for you, Facey family! :)
Look at the eyes they put in the windows:

We were really disappointed, the Snow Cap just seemed like the ultimate place to stop … SO old school!

They’re most famous for their “Dead Chicken” – and we didn’t get to find out what it was all about!

Route 66 Roadside Town #4: WILLIAMS
By the time we got to Williams, the sun had already gone down – but this was the most bustling of the roadside towns. Don’t get me wrong – its still teeny & quaint – but the lights were on, the Old West vibe was strong, and there were lots of people milling around. This is the Route 66 town before we left the Mother Road to head to the Grand Canyon.

To finally quench our ultimate Route 66 diner quest, we had a bite at Cruiser’s Cafe 66.

That wraps things up for day 2. We gotta get some rest – we’re planning a big day of hiking at the Grand Canyon. We both can’t wait to see it, we’re getting up early!

Danna & Jarod’s Wedding!

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Last Saturday, two of our dearest friends got married in Lake Arrowhead.  Danna has been Ed’s best friend since they were 18 – meaning now, they can officially say they have been friends for 1/2 their lives!  Danna was Ed’s Best (Wo)Man  at our wedding, so he got to return the favor by being Danna’s Lad of Honor at her wedding.  I was a bridesmaid too, which made things fun –  we got the unique opportunity to be on the same side of the wedding party!  Since Jarod was also a groomsman at our wedding, favors were being returned all over the place.  Both Ed & I felt very honored to be a part of such a beautiful wedding.

The wedding was really cool, because it was like a mini-destination wedding – we all got to stay at Arrowhead Ranch for the weekend. Because we were in the wedding party, Danna & Jarod hooked us up with a cozy little cabin!  Here is the infamous Cabin 6:
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The location couldn’t have been more awesome.  The ceremony took place in the ampitheater, outdoors among the trees.  It seemed so magical – as one of Danna’s cousin’s put it, it was like being right in the middle of a Midsummer’s Night Dream!

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Also really cool, our other dear friend Rebecca made Danna & Jarod’s wedding cake topper!  It turned out perfect. Rebecca also made the cake topper for our wedding … it’s fun to look at them both!
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Danna looked absolutely gorgeous of course:

And the rest of us girls didn’t look so bad either!

Ed was dashing as the Lad of Honor:

The stunning ceremony location:
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And the bride & groom even cut their cake with Lord of the Rings swords!

We are just so happy for Jarod and Danna! They are a perfect couple – and we love them both dearly. Congrats, Jarod & Danna – the “Wild Mountain Kobers“!

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Walking in LA – for real!

So yesterday, Ed had to take the car in for its service in Fullerton which meant he’d be carless for the day. So what to do? How about something really novel for us Southern Californians – take the train and use our feet! On top of that, Ed would be walking in a place where walking happens so seldomly that there’s even a song about it – that’s right, LA! Downtown LA, to be exact.

Fortunately, the shop was really close to the Fullerton train station.

And here’s Ed’s train!

Being in the train felt like Europe – not just because Ed was in a train in the first place, but also because half of the people Ed saw were Europeans about Ed’s age or younger!

From Union Station, Ed took the Red Line to Pershing Square in downtown. It’s easy to forget that there’s an increasingly expansive subway system in Los Angeles!

Walking around downtown, you quickly realize that it must have been very glitzy and glamorous back in the day. There are so many intricately detailed facades on the buildings and they must have looked very impressive years ago. But today, much of it is run down and decrepit. Several years ago, Downtown LA began a resurgence of sorts, and there are plenty of signs of it throughout downtown – art galleries, hip shops, restaurants, lofts, etc. Still, there’s some ways to go.

The Toy District: full of discount toy sellers, specializing in knockoffs!

This was undoubtedly the strangest and funniest sighting from the day: Obama dog tags! The funniest part is how the banners advertise them (grammatically incorrectly) as if they’re the hottest thing right now – “YES – We make dog tag!” If nothing else, it shows how happy so many different worldwide communities are about Obama coming to power.

This car was just cool:

Something totally unexpected in LA – an outdoor skating rink?!?

Here’s Ed resting his weary legs – he walked at least 9 miles that day!

You can see the whole album by clicking below.

Downtown LA Walking Tour

Visiting Shannon in Santa Cruz: Day 3 and Back Home

Ed’s 3rd day in Santa Cruz was all about experiencing a “day in the life of Shannon”. We started out by taking a morning hike in the forest right outside their backyard. Literally!

Gorgeous scenery was everywhere. It’s amazing that all this was literally behind Shannon and Mani’s house. We took the three dogs along for the walk.


Yogi Bear is such a cool dog:

Poor Spirit…he loves going on walks but because he’s getting old, he often drags his butt along the ground because his third leg is so tired. He kicks up a plume of dust whenever he does this!


This is a fairy ring. New redwoods grow around the dead stump of an old tree. Apparently, they grow from the roots of the dead tree, hence the circle of trees around the stump.

Afterwards, Ed tagged along with Shannon to her job. She takes care of these two adorable kids named Orion and Marina, ages 3 and 2, respectively. They are so precocious and talkative. They took to Ed really quickly considering he was a complete stranger! Ed also has to say that Shannon is SO good with kids…she knows how to be loving and fun but also knows how to lay down the law – while at the same time empowering them to come to the best decisions.

Shannon looks so domesticated driving the minivan, doesn’t she?

We went for a short hike in one of the many gorgeous state parks in the area. The kids absolutely love it – it really stokes their imaginations and gives them such an appreciation for the nature that surrounds them.

This is one of the biggest redwoods in the area. Look how big it is compared to Shannon and the kids!

Orion declared himself King when he climbed into this giant stump. He declared his little sister as the Princess.

And finally, here’s Ed and Marina! SO cute! She’s very talkative, but you can only understand maybe a quarter of what she’s saying. She’s definitely learning to talk…and since her brother uses such big words for his age and she copies him a lot, she’s probably trying to use words that are bigger than her developed level of speech. It’s adorable.

So that’s it! Ed had such a wonderful trip. Santa Cruz was awesome and beautiful, but most of all he got to spend some real quality time with Shannon. Ed can’t wait to get back there…only this time with Carrie!