i am finally getting around to uploading my pictures from my trip to california.
on the first morning of my trip, i flew from charlotte to dallas. i brought a book, and my first flight was rather uneventful. upon landing in dallas, i was reminded by every souvenir shop and restaurant sign that i was indeed in texas. i had a short layover, and arrived to my connecting gate to see my luggage getting wet in the rain at dfw. good times! my connecting flight was from dallas to ontario (california not canada), and i had the joy of sitting in the middle seat between a talkative older woman (who nearly spilled her wine on me a few times) and a man who was about 6'4'', 240 lb. they were both nice folks, but i quickly realized that i would not get much reading in on this flight and that two men of our size should not sit next to one another on a flight in coach. i hadn't flown in a while, but i'm pretty sure those seats are smaller than the last time i did.
it was a work trip, but i did have a chance during the weekend to do some sightseeing. on saturday, some coworkers and i decided to go hiking in joshua tree national forest.
the park was about two hours from our hotel, so i actually got to know a few coworkers outside of work. a few interesting landmarks along the way: 1) an 11,000+ ft. mountain with snow still on its peak, and 2) a whole bunch of wind turbines (that's right, you guessed it, ge). we ate at a real mexican restaurant along the way - pretty much the same as monterrey.
we wouldn't call joshua tree a forest in the southeast, but there were a lot more trees there than anywhere nearby. it's on the border of the mojave and colorado deserts, so you get the idea. the
joshua tree is a pretty cool looking tree that's a member of the yucca family. anway, that's all more than you wanted to know, so i'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures.
on sunday, i went to the world famous san diego zoo. i'll be honest, it was just a zoo, but they did have some cool animals that i hadn't seen before. like a komodo dragon:
no flying unicorns or centaurs, so apparently the world famous part has to do with the breeding and conservation programs. i also stopped off at la jolla beach about 10 miles north of san diego. very pretty beach, very cold water. i like the gulf stream.
the rest of the time was just work, so if you really want to know you can ask. the flight home was as uneventful as the flight there. all in all, it was a pretty good first company travel experience.
last wednesday, august 11th, marked 3 years of marriage for christopher & me! we are thankful for God bringing us together and for strengthening our marriage these past few years. we have many more to go! we spent the weekend celebrating with a trip to charleston, which chris planned and kept a surprise until last week. i hadn't been there since middle school and had been wanting to visit again, now that we're south carolinians and all. we stayed at an antebellum hotel downtown called the mills house.
on friday evening we took a carriage tour of downtown. i love the quaint row houses and cobblestone streets! on saturday, chris & i each planned an activity. there was an art museum two blocks from our hotel, the gibbes museum, so i couldn't resist that! chris was very patient with me as i enjoy taking my time looking at paintings.
chris chose for us to visit ft. sumter, so we took a ferry that afternoon. he definitely enjoyed looking at the monument and old cannons. i was reminded about how little i retained from u.s. history, which i attribute to having coaches for all my high school history classes!
we ate delicious food (especially seafood!) all weekend. my favorite restaurants we went to were magnolia's, where they serve kind of a modern southern cuisine, and hominy grill, a quaint brunch place where the servers wear t-shirts that read "grits are good for you." when we left the hotel on sunday morning, there was a torrential downpour! chris had to navigate alternate streets so as not to forge the rivers that various streets had become. we had planned to drive to the beach at isle of palms before going home, so we headed there (less than a half hour drive), hoping the rain would subside. it did briefly, but began again. we just decided to enjoy our time there, since we were getting wet anyway!
my husband is a master of surprises. i brag to my coworkers (who, being counselors, are pretty good at confidentiality!) that christopher is like a vault...i haven't had a chance to blog about it, but he also surprised me on my birthday in july. i wanted to get some friends together at my favorite restaurant in greenville, the lazy goat (mediterranean tapas food). chris made all the reservations. my favorite part of any meal is dessert, and this is especially important on a birthday. i thought maybe friends could come over for cake and coffee afterwards. chris led me to believe he had some amazing dessert in the fridge (i wasn't allowed to look in it all afternoon), and then surprised me at the restaurant by having them (singing, of course), bring out a mint chocolate cake from their sister restaurant/bakery. it was delicious! i love christopher!
