First Weekend

So, I wish I could say we did some really amazing crazy stuff on first weekend here in LA... but it was a pretty low key weekend, probably because we had to wake up early every morning to apartment hunt.

About that, apartment hunting can be REALLY intense, and stressful, and disappointing at times. Sometimes it seems too good to be true, so we're just keeping our fingers crossed and doing what we have to do to find the right apartment for us.

 

I put the phone next to the fro-yo cup to show how big it was, but that didn't really work. It was actually a bowl, and I was okay with that. 

 I got a badge before Jeremy! Rarely does this happen, I guess my caffeine addiction paid off.

Yes, that's a Kool Aid aisle at this supermarket, Jeremy really enjoyed this, but we did not buy any Kool Aid this trip.

"Do you know how to get to Smaland?" asked a random young child. Why yes, yes we do... we took a trip to IKEA to look at some prices and pretended that we lived there! Don't laugh, you know you do that too.

After walking like 3 miles in IKEA, we were really hungry. We hit up Tomato Pie and got some slices, this is probably one of the best meals we have had since we've been in LA. Oh and Poquito Mas, so delicious.

Well, we are off to work in the morning! Hope everyone had a great weekend.
-Charlsie

Los Angeles

Well we made it here, alive and in one piece. Driving across country is such a freaking amazing experience. I know some people cringe at the idea of sitting in a car for 8+ hours a day, but if you have a great buddy it doesn't seem that long and you really get into a groove of switching on and off. I can't believe we saw so many things in such a short amount of time, and I can wait to do it again sometime in the future.

Los Angeles has been very welcoming so far, some might argue that traffic is not welcoming but we view it as something that is just "the way it is". Today we start the apartment hunt but here is some fun we've been having the first few days in LA.

Wish us luck with the apartment!

-Charlsie & Jeremy

Day 6 & 7: Winslow, AZ to Phoenix

WOAH. We finally made it! We did have a few stops before we actually hit LA. On Tuesday morning we went to the corner in Winslow, if you don't know what that refers to, check out this YouTube clip.

I had a nice couple take a picture of us, one of the few of the two of us in that same picture, unfortunately. The city of Winslow is literally, the La Posada hotel, this corner, the snow cone booth and a daunting correctional facility that we passed. It's pretty desolate.

The road we took to Phoenix was basically a one lane highway with ZERO rest areas. We passed through a town called Stawberry and there were signs for the oldest standing school house in AZ, so we stopped.

It was very cute... but thats all it was. We needed to stop since there was no rest areas and we passed this honey stand in Pines, which was right after Strawberry. It was the cutest honey stand ever and we bought some orange blossom honey, which is kind of random but the flavor is great.

 

After we finally got to where Charlsie's family lives we nommed a delicious dinner at Olive Garden and then finished the night with some intense Wii bowling/ golf. Has anyone played the 100 pins game? Insanity.

We had such a fun time and crashed early so we could get up and hit the road to LA, but not before some of my uncle's pancakes. My little cousin B calls him Poppy so now the world famous pancakes will now be referred to as "Poppy's Pancakes" and they were such a great way to start the day!

Big shout out to my gracious family and my hilarious little cuz who had us cracking up all night! Well we need to get to bed early tonight so we can apartment/car hunt tomorrow. More to come!

-Charlsie & Jeremy

Day 5: Amarillo, TX to Winslow, AZ

Leaving Amarillo, we knew we wanted to visit Cadillac Ranch, a bizarre but super cool art display that's different every day. This is because people who visit are free to spray paint any of the Cadillacs. We saw everything from a detailed mandolin (presumably painted by a girl we saw with an actual mandolin) to "JUGGALO" written large on one of the cars. Those Insane Clown Posse fans are everywhere. Before leaving we put "J & C" on one of the cars to leave our mark.

After this stop, we said PEACE to Texas and began driving through New Mexico, which was pretty uneventful but the speed limit was 75 mph and we made a really touristy pit stop in Santa Rosa, where we visited a gimmicky auto museum with like 20 beat up cars that the owner was trying to sell and then proceeded to The Blue Hole. It is in fact a big hole filled with water. Fascinating, huh? Besides the fact that it was 81 feet deep, we were not particularly impressed.

During the drive to Arizona, we actually hit some unexpected thunderstorms (see ominous sky below) but that didn't deter us from hitting up some Navajo Indian Stores. Charlsie was hyping up "fry bread" and I wanted a Powerade to wash down the Jack Pack I just ate (the road makes you crave weird food) so we pulled off the road to Chee's Indian Store. Where else in the world could you buy moccasins, amethysts, and Powerade in the same place? Maybe Walmart but that's besides the point.

Now we're at La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ and about to leave for Phoenix to visit some of Charlsie's family. This place has a ton of history behind it and used to be a popular railroad hotel, back in the days when Winslow was poppin'. It has been restored and contains what appears to be most of the original structure and art. Here are some pics of us goofing off after dinner last night!

We ate a little mexican spot down the road from La Posada since you need reservations to eat at their restaurant and it is $$$. We ate HUGE but nothing to write home about chimichangas. Breakfast at the hotel is supposed to be great so we're looking forward to that!

We're getting closer to our destination and being homeless- which is exciting nonetheless!

-Charlsie & Jeremy

Day 4: Memphis, TN to Amarillo, TX

Let's get one thing out in the open here first... Oklahoma is a freaking long state.

We drove about about 724 miles on this leg of the journey, bringing our total mileage to 1,853. It was a pretty uneventful drive, seeing as OK basically is just flat and dry, nothing special. We barely has cell service in most of the state! We did get a pretty good pic of the entering sign, even though it wasn't the best state...

Oh well, at least we got Panera for lunch which was the least greasy food we've eaten all trip and it was pretty good to change it up. After driving for what seemed like eternity in what felt like 1000 degree weather, not kidding like half the country was in a heat advisory! We saw lots of nothing until we hit Texas! No sign picture of course... but there was some pretty scenery.

Cool windmills! After we got all settled in at our hotel in Amarillo we went to pretty much the only place in Amarillo worth going to, The Big Texan. Yep you read right, home of the 72oz steak. Wowzers.

We opted for the 21oz steak to share, and two of their home brewed beer. Pretty delish! Texas sure knows what they are doing in the beef department. Stay tune for a full post/review on The Big Texan.

Were a little behind on the posting, but I promise there will be pleanty to read as we figure out our lives in LA. Look out for tomorrow's post, Day 5: Amarillo, TX to Winslow, AZ.

-Charlsie & Jeremy