30th Birthday Party in the Outer Banks, NC

After working for 6 days in a row we decided to get in the car and drive just under 3,000 miles across the country to Corolla, NC.  This happens to be the end of our road.  Just in case you don't think we actually went from coast to coast....yes, that is the Atlantic Ocean on the right.

Here's a look at our route map.  We took I-40 for all it was worth!

 

All sixteen members of the Laning family got together to celebrate Elise turning 30 this year.  (She is the only one not pictured here! Hey, someone had to take the picture.)

 

The weeks activities included many things.... Like a ton of surfing.

 

.....Wild horses.

 

....Playing in the sand.

 

....Lounging by the pool.

 

....Watching scary movies.

 

....Bird watching, or "birding," depending on how serious you are about it.

 

....Playing in the pool.

 

....and drinking coffee.

 

....Too bad vacation has to end. Time for a quick 17 hour ride home. (hey, after 45 hours, 17 doesn't seem so bad.)

5 down, 1 to go

Nurses are wearing these pins at the hospital we are working at. 

The pin is in reference to the possible strike coming up, but we feel it is a good motto for our 6th night of work in a row.

Well, it looks as if our time in Oxnard/Port Hueneme is coming to an end.  We had to get a few of our favorite activities in on our last free day.  That meant some surfing in the morning for me.  We think that my surfing nickname should be TBW (Tumbled By Waves).

Trisha wanted to go for a bike ride up into the Ojai Valley.  It was about 14 miles one way and up about 1000 feet.  It sure was easy on the way back.  

 

We'll be leaving Oxnard/Port Hueneme in about a week or so, but we have to work until then, so there won't be much fun until then.  That is, unless you consider taking care of heroin overdoses and crack addicts as fun.

Enjoying 62 degree weather on our last night here. Yes, there was a heat wave. It is usually 55 degrees, regardless of rain or shine.

Being almost done with our assignment in Oxnard, we are able to reflect on the things we like... and dislike about the area.  A definite like: the strawberries. Kurt has eaten one of these boxes in one sitting! (Yes, we are working on moderation in his life)

A dislike: the traffic. Whenever we go into LA, it looks like a parking lot... any time, every day. 

 

And we get to do really COOL things like go to the Ronald Reagan Library. It sounded so exciting, our friend, Megan, just had to come along! (...we really bribed her to come with us)

Air Force One (not as great as what they make it sound)

Kurt doing his best impression of George H.W. Bush. "A thousand points of light..."

(I am not sure why he was quoting H.W. Bush... he probably was having so much fun he forgot we were at the REAGAN library)

 

Marine One. We don't know why we are smiling. I guess that's what you do when a camera is in front of you. Habit.

The Brewers Hit Hollywood!

The Brewers lone trip to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers just so happened to be during one of our last weeks here so we decided to catch a game.

 

 

Trisha's cousin Lindsay and her husband Gabe (a Dodger fan) helped us navigate our way around Chavez Ravine and introduced us to Dodger Dogs for the first time.

In the end it was the Brewers fans who had the last laugh.  That's right, Trish is a Brewers fan by marriage now.  

(Trisha: but when I get the chance I root for another team just to make Kurt's life more interesting!)

(Kurt: When she's paying attention.)

(Trisha: He made me wear that shirt)

(Kurt: I'll bet you've never seen a couple argue on a blog before!)

 

All's well that ends well.

Party in Las Vegas!

For Kurt's birthday, we headed to Las Vegas to see what kind of party we could find.

 

There were lots of weirdos to party beside

We sang with the fountains of the Bellagio

 

And Kurt almost succeeded in keeping his eyes cross-eyed for the whole trip!

(we didn't really do any of those things... there just isn't anything really to say about Las Vegas. If you would like to find dirty homeless people, go to Las Vegas, or just find Kurt. They seem to follow him!)

Sprinkles in Beverly Hills

The last time you went into a bakery did you think, "man, I'm so sick of these people helping me and serving me my food?"  Well, Beverly Hills has found you a solution.

Ta Da! The Sprinkles cupcake ATM.  Now the bakery doesn't even have to be open to take your money!

 

Trisha's friend Megan took us all around including stops at the cupcake ATM and the shops on Rodeo Dr. (She must have known that Pretty Woman is Trisha's favorite movie)

A SoCal Birthday

May 15 is Trisha's birthday and, lucky us, we had a few days to get out of Port Hueneme.  We decided to go to San Diego and visit Trisha's favorite thing...the Zoo (sarcasm).

 

While it is true that Trish isn't always fond of zoos, the San Diego Zoo is a pretty good one and we managed to have a great time anyways.

 

How could you not love polar bears swimming in their pool?.....Especially with ten inch glass between you and them.

 

....Don't know what that is behind us.

 

All the butt sniffing fun you can handle.

 

Orangutang

 

This is the view from our 29th floor hotel room on San Diego Bay.  Not too shabby, huh?

 

Trish finishing off her most perfect of days.

King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

After leaving Yosemite, we headed south in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the much less crowded King's Canyon National Park.  

King's Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon...

 

And has some giant Sequoias

 

Sunset overlooking King's Canyon

 

The next day, we went to Sequoia National Park. This is the General Sherman tree, which is an estimated 2,200 years old and the biggest tree in the world. It's not the tallest tree or the widest, but it is the biggest by volume at 2.5 million pounds. 

Let's play "Where's Kurt?"  He is hiding like Waldo.

 

On top of Moro Rock

 

The Sequoias are grand

 

After many days of exploring, hiking, and sleeping in the car, it was time to head home.

Yosemite National Park

 (El Capitan)

We had another stretch off from work and took the opportunity to see yet another one of our national parks. We don't find many Americans in our national parks... so we represent our country when we are there!

 (Yosemite Falls)

Yosemite was stunning... the waterfalls thundering down, the sheer granite cliffs, the meadows, the full moon so bright you didn't need a light.

Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America and the 5th tallest in the world.  When you hear stats like that, it makes you think, "I would like to climb to the top." 

And so we did.

 

The view straight down from the top of Yosemite Falls. (Kurt took this picture. I (Trisha) was petrified to go to the edge.) Did you spot the visitor center in the upper left hand corner?

 

After such a climb, we needed quite a snack break in order to rejuvinate ourselves for the way down.

 

A view of Half Dome in the distance.

 

Yosemite Valley with El Capital and Bridalveil Falls in the distance. 

(this was our third day without a shower)

The bird's eye view from Glacier point of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome

 

Our wild life that we encountered. Not sure, but we thought this coyote was tame.... either that or he was about to rip our face off.

What to say? There are no words. Another breathtaking view.