Honeymoon Shenanigans and Ironman Oceanside 70.3

After an perfect, but exhausting day Brian and I started out on a week long honeymoon adventure to California! Here is how it played out. March 21 - We stayed the night at the cutest little bed and breakfast in Salt Lake City - Castle Creek Inn. Even though it was right in the middle of the city, it was set back off the road and seemed so secluded. It is castle themed and seriously looked like a Castle! It was really fun. Brian had them throw red rose pedals all over the room and have cold Martinelli's waiting of us. It was perfect! March 22 - We headed to Vegas!! I wanted to spend a day in Vegas, mostly to cut the drive to California down, but also to wander around the city. John happened to be there for the weekend, so we had dinner with him that night at Olives. The food was crazy good and we sat with a perfect view of the Belagio fountains. As we were walking to dinner we stopped to watch the fountain show outside and the soundtrack song was "I'm Proud to be an American." There was a group of guys standing by us that just started singing their hearts out! So, of course, I started a "USA! USA!" chant right after the song. It was so hilarious!

March 23 - We finally arrive at the Huntington Beach Hotel. Brian's mom hooked us up with a sweet room at the hotel, for free!! She has crazy awesome connections. We decided to relax that night. We ate a Buffalo Wild Wings and saw the new Gerard Butler movie - Olympus Has Fallen. It was a pretty great movie.

Our welcome in the hotel room

Our huge room!! March 24 - Hollywood!! Out of all the trips I have taken to L.A. I've never seen Hollywood! So Brian took me there to explore! We went to Ripely's Believe It or Not museum, which was interesting. Then we took a walk along the Hollywood Stars to find a few special stars! Louis Armstrong, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronald Reagan - our favorite people. After our nice little walk Brian drove us around until I could get a good picture of the Hollywood sign. He is so good to me. When we got back we went a little bike ride and watch the sun set at Huntington Beach. We walked up and down the pier and just enjoyed being there!

The Hollywood sign is so hard to find!! We kept running into this sign instead!

My first view of the Hollywood sign!!

March 25 - Six Flag - Magic Mountain!! We thought going to Six Flags on a Monday was a good idea, because everyone would be in school. Oh boy were we wrong. In stead of being in school, it was the first day of Spring Break, which means EVERYONE was there. We spend about 7 hours in the park and only had time to go on 4 rides! That how long the lines were! It was craziness!

March 26 - Relaxation Day! Brian and I just spent the day relaxing. We took a nice drive down to Laguna Beach and spent some time there. Then back at the hotel Brian got me hooked on the show America Ninja Warrior! I thought it was dumb at first but then I couldn't stop watching it!!

March 27 - Educational Day...kind of. We started the day by going to the Richard Nixon Libary. You better believe I whipped out "The Nixon" for the pictures. The library/museum was put together really well and we learned so much about Nixon and America! Then we went to visit the Queen Mary! I guess its a super haunted ship, but I didn't see any ghosts. Although I was super freaked out walking around the engine room. It was a beautiful ship!! Part of our tour was suppose to be Ghost stories, but they were sold out. Instead we took a tour of a Russian submarine. That was also very freaky! I don't know what it is about submarines, but they just give me the creeps.

"The Nixon"

Brian at the museum and in the gardens!

The Queen Mary

The freaky Russian Sub March 28 - Travel day to Oceanside. On the way down to Oceanside, Brian took me on a tour to all the houses that he grew up in. He even remembered how to get to him old elementary school!! Brian has lived in a lot of houses, so it took the better part of the day. Ready? Here are all the places he has lived: Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Sandia Creek, Valley Center, Escondido. After we checked into our hotel, we went down to the beach and wander around for a while.

March 29 - Our last day of activities! Brian took me to Balboa park! We didn't go into any of the museums, but we walked around the park. It was so nice and relaxing. I love to just take walks, especially with Brian. On the way to Balboa Park we stopped and walked around the temple grounds. The temple was closed for cleaning, so we just took some pictures outside. WOW...that temple is incredible! Its huge! And it looks like a pointy castle!! I'm so glad we stopped to see it!

The San Diego Temple

Balboa Park March 30 - Ironman Oceanside 70.3!! It was finally time for the big race!!! Brian has been looking forward to this race for months and months! He rocked it too! He swam so fast that I missed his first transition!!! The poor guy was out in the sun so long that he got a wicked bad sunburn. At least the race went well!!

March 31 - Happy Easter and goodbye California. It was time to make the 13 hour drive back to the real world. Longest drive of my life!! I didn't even sleep at all! We had so much fun in California, but we were ready to head home.