A Revival & October Horror Challange

So here we are again. I'm staring at my laptop wondering how it has been nearly two years since I last visited this blog. However it came to be, it did, so let's just move on. Let's pick up where we left off.

So much has happened in the past two years, I don't really know where to start. The last time I wrote, Christmas 2013 was nearly upon us. We had a brief but very enjoyable visit from my mom, and I told you all about our new kitten, Hugo. About a month later, Hugo sadly disappeared. It was very sad timing, because just a week before, we adopted this mug.

This is Alfie, better known as Fred, Alfredo, Pickle, or my little Pickle-Biscuit. He's the worst, most lovable dog there ever was. He's disobedient and sneaky, greedy and stubborn. He's gorgeous, sweet, hilarious and very snuggly. He's my little best buddy, even despite the fact that he arrived in our home a week before the cat disappeared and I think this is rather suspicious, considering the cat didn't seem particularly fond of this stocky little barking nugget. Basically, I think the cat thought "what the hell have you brought into MY house? See you'se guys later" and found another, pug free home. It took me ages to get over the loss of little Hugo, but Alfie kept me company and now we are inseparable. Unless someone else is holding the food. He is loyal to she/he who holds the food.

Since I last wrote, Mick also took a new job. He still dabbles in freelance writing and has various projects going on with his interests, but he's also got a pretty sweet gig working in PR for a local budding organisation. Work is the same for me - good and busy, still in the same place.

About 10 months after Hugo decided to disappear and break my heart, I felt ready to get another kitten. Enter our gorgeous Isla.

She wasn't the most pleasant kitten, not like Hugo was. But she's beautiful and grew up to be lovely and fluffy with amazing markings and the bushiest tail you ever did see. She puts up with a lot from her Puggy brother, and loves to bring moths in the house from the garden and massacre them in the lounge while we watch TV. I know, gross right? But you've got to support their interests, I suppose.

The end of 2014 had wonderful cause for celebration - Mick and I returned to America to celebrate Christmas and New Years with my family. It had been two years since I had seen anyone, apart from my mom, and it was long overdue. We had a fantastic time enjoying the beautiful weather, seeing my favourite people and places, and just soaking up California goodness.

The biggest event of 2015 by far though, and the biggest step so far for myself and Mick, was becoming homeowners! After returning from America we decided it was time to start looking, even though at the time I was horribly homesick, falling from the high of being home and enjoying the many splendors that California has to offer - and as such, had absolutely no interest in setting any further roots in this grey and damp country that put so many miles between me and my loved ones.  We viewed a house or two, but my heart was not in it. And then we found it - a beautiful little three bedroom semi-detached on a quiet street, close to all our favourite stores and in the area we wanted to live. The owners showed us around on the evening we went to view, and when the lady went to turn on the light in the cupboard under the stairs and ducked out of sight, I glanced at Mick with that look on my face that he knows so well - the look that clearly states "I want it."
We fell in love with the house. It's a 1930's build so it has all kinds of character and charm, but it's also open and airy and bright, which satisfies my American tastes.
Everything went smoothly, and in April, we got our keys and spent a week getting ourselves moved in and all settled.

Home sweet home! We love it here and even though I was hesitant to buy, it's done wonders for me. I finally feel HOME. This is the sixth place I have lived since I moved to England 5 years ago, and it's such a wonderful feeling to finally know that this is it - we will be here for a long time and its OURS. Since this photo was taken, Mick really freshened things up by giving the garage a fresh coat of white glossy paint, my little trees decided to die (they've been disposed of) and I tucked the curtain back in the window upstairs (it was only that way for an hour or so!)

The summer of 2015 was a rainy one, but did bring with it a brief heat wave with temperatures that made me very happy my office is air conditioned and that our house seems to stay quite cool. In August, Mick surprised me massively with a weekend in Paris for my birthday. He got me all the way to the train station where you hop on the EuroStar before he gave me the tickets and clued me in on things. I of course got all teary and touched. We spent three and a half days in the City of Love seeing all the sights. I for one enjoyed the coffee and pastry far too much.

Yeah, he got some epic bonus points for this trip. It was so exciting to finally get to see a little slice of Europe, and Paris was lovely. It has a similar feel to London but it's not nearly as big and their underground is so much easier to manage. I have some really happy and unforgettable memories here - including wandering around the Louvre, everything feeling so surreal. The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and so many others.

A few weeks later it was Micks birthday, and I had arranged a night away in Hertfordshire where we ate an amazing Italian dinner at a funky little restaurant and stayed in a little lodge in the country. The next morning was the real event though - a day as zookeepers. We got to feed otters, pick up alpaca poo, hang out with raccoons and a skunk, as well as the cutest lizard EVER.

So that brings us pretty much all the way through to the end of September. All I remember about October is that we watched lots and lots of horror movies. 30, to be exact. For some reason I thought it would be a great idea to give ourselves an October Horror Challenge, where we watched a Horror or Halloween themed film every night for the month. We did very well, only missing one night because of a cooking competition that Mick was taking part in for his department at work. As a result, we were up cooking until midnight, so didn't have a chance to do any movie-watchin'.

If you're interested in which films we watched - check out the list below. I've included a very very brief review of each, should you ever decide you want to commit to anything like this in the future.

Night 1: "Saw II" - unimpressive. I'm a fan of the first but this doesn't tempt me to finish the rest.
Night 2: "28 Days Later" - there's not much to say about this one, very solid zombie film.
Night 3:  "28 Weeks Later" - sequel to the above. I prefer this one to the original.
Nights 4-7: "Scream 1-4". Classic slasher films and you can't go wrong.
Night 8: "Dawn of the Dead" - another solid zombie movie that doesn't let down.
Night 9: "An American Haunting" - meh. It's hard to deliver with ghosty ones - this didn't.
Night 10: "American Mary"- twisted. Very interesting and unlike anything I've ever seen.
Night 11: "The Blair Witch Project" - just as bad as I remembered. Worse, actually.
Night 12: "Mirrors" - very different, I liked this one.
Night 13: "What Lies Beneath" - one of my all time favourites. Ever. Of all genres.
Night 14: "Friday the 13th" - the original. Couldn't get into this one. Also, ketchup blood.
Night 15: "Friday the 13th Part II" - slightly better than the first one.
Night 16: "Nightmare on Elm Street" - 2010 remake, one I really like, though I seem to be alone.
Night 17: "The Omen" - oh man, such a good movie. One of the gems of the 70s.
Night 18: "The Omen II" - also good, but not nearly as good as the first.
Night 19: "White Noise" - good but I fell asleep. Starting movies at 9 on a school night is hard.
Night 20: "Wrong Turn 2" - sick. Sick, sick, sick. But I liked it.
Night 21: "Pernicious" - could have been good... but don't even bother.
Night 22: "Insidious 3" we both nearly wet ourselves. So scary! Best movie of the month.
Night 23: "Eden Lake" - it's good but for some reason I don't really like it. 
Nights 24-26: "Hostels 1,2&3" - not at all what I expected and very, very good. Third one is meh.
Night 27: "The Devil's Rejects" - ugh. Waste of my night. Didn't even pay attention.
Night 28: missed due to cooking
Night 29: "Would You Rather?" - Not really a horror, but very interesting premise.
Night 30: "Hocus Pocus" for me (have to watch it every year with a girlfriend!) and "The Human Centipede" for Mick. I refuse to watch this one. Blech!

And for our final night, the original "Nightmare on Elm Street!" Which we didn't actually finish because it was very late and we were rather sleepy.

We are discussing perhaps taking part in a similar challenge for December, but with Christmas movies! A movie a night for a whole month is a bigger commitment than you might think, so I'm not sure if we will do it!

Well, that brings you up to speed on what we've been up to. You're going to be seeing a lot more of me. I've really missed writing in general, as well as working on this blog, so I've made a conscience decision to be more present here, as well as with other, personal writing projects. Writing has been a passion of mine since the tender age of 8, when my 4th grade teacher held Writing Workshop every morning to encourage our creativity. I have been hooked since then, until the past few years when I allowed life to get in the way. No more. No more.

I'll also be taking part in 30 Days of Thanks over on my Instagram account by expressing thanks all throughout the month of November, and not just on Thanksgiving Day! Join me! Or simply just follow along as I rack my brains before bed each night, trying to find a photo I took throughout the day and reminding myself that really, life is wonderful and full of so many blessings

It's good to be back. xo

Still here!

It's been a very busy week! Mick and I were gone most of yesterday. We had to take the train to a little town called Romsey all the way in Hampshire so that I could get my biometrics done. Biometrics are digital photos and fingerprints for the UK Border Agency. Now my application is complete and all there is to do is wait to hear back from UKBA!
In other news, we are moving this weekend. We will still be living with my in-laws but we will be moving to another larger family house in Kent.

That's about all for now! I'll just leave you with a photo of mick in front of a tiny door of a tiny house in Romsey yesterday. It was a very cute little town and everything seemed so tiny!

An afternoon in Chichester

Yesterday we were invited to a friend of my mother in law's for dinner. She is a really special lady and even read a poem at our wedding. Mick and I had some errands to run in the afternoon so we went into Chichester earlier on the bus and met his mom and stepdad at the friend's house in the evening. We wandered around the market because I really wanted to see it before we move. Here are some photos of the day from instagr.am. Enjoy!

Lunch

Well, now all we can do is cross our fingers and hold our breath. Today, Mick and I went into Chichester to have passport photos taken and to send off my application for the marriage visa. I'm so tired of visa stuff already. I hope they approve it without any further inquiries. It's nerve wracking to go through this stuff- though the first visa was the one I had a really hard time with. I didn't even know if I'd be getting married until they approved it. But, like I said, held breath, crossed fingers and maybe some lit candles from you guys. And now we wait.

We spent the majority of the day wandering around Chichester, just the hubbind and myself. After we left the post office we stopped and got sandwiches and drinks from a drug store and sat down on a bench to people and architecture watch. This was the view we had while eating our simple sammiches:

That's one of the things I love so much about being in England. I get sit on a bench and eat a tuna and cucumber sandwich and take in the beauty of a 900 year old cathedral*. I looked at the thousands and thousands of bricks and thought about the people who laid them, what they must have been like and what techniques they used back in the 1100s. I thought about all the weddings and funerals and prayers that must have been said in this beautiful place. After we finished up our lunch, Mick and I wandered through the cloisters and past the St. Voldemort Statue (okay, it's really a statue of St. Richard, but it totally looks like Voldemort. With a nose). We lit a candle and I said a little prayer for a happy and healthy marriage.

And then we went on our way, and as we continued through Chichester, I swear I could hear the clippity-clop of ancient horses winding their way through the cobbled city.


Where did you eat your lunch today?




*To learn more about Chichester Cathedral, visit their website.

How Many Firemen Does it Take....?

Yesterday was such an interesting day! A couple things I wasn't expecting actually ended up happening. For starters, I found a wedding dress at the first shop we looked in! Mick's mum took me to the shop in Chichester where she bought her wedding dress a couple years ago. The shop was in a cute little arcade of shops and was called Confetti & Lace (if you're getting married in West Sussex, check it out. Great selection of gowns and really friendly staff!) We picked out a few that I really liked and put them aside. The lovely girl running the shop said she was swamped and couldn't help me in and out of any dresses (seriously, you need a pro for this. Who knew?) so we could come back in a couple hours. That worked fine, because Karen and I both had a few other errands we needed to run. Before too long, the girl from the shop called back and said she was free, so we headed back down. I tried on a couple dresses but nothing was looking quite right, or they just wouldn't fit at all.
There was one hanging up that didn't really catch my eye, but the girl said I really should try it. She had a good feeling about it and it's true that lots of times, what you don't like on the hanger looks amazing on. Well, that was the case here. As she was getting me into it and getting everything hooked up, I started to see it taking shape and I could tell that it was going to look good. "Natalie..." I said. "Before you do anymore, tell me the price. I don't want to get my heart set on it and find out I can't afford it!" The price was right. And I could tell by the look on Karen's face the minute I stepped out from behind the curtain that it was the one. We took pictures to send my mom and I bought it then and there. It was a discontinued style so we got it for over 50% off. We played with veils and tiaras and it was so much fun! I wanted to keep the tiara on so nobody would forget how special I am during this time!
Now, obviously I can't show you the dress. But here is a shot of a few that I liked but didn't work out!

Eenie meenie miney mo...

As we were chatting about the dress and general wedding plans, we noticed the gates that lead out of the shopping arcade (I don't mean arcade as in video games, I mean it as in a passage or walkway which contains retailers.) were being closed up for the evening. Natalie had stayed after hours to help us out. There were three gates and we could see that one or two of them were locked. Natalie said not to worry because they always leave one open longer.
We paid and set up dates for the fittings. She put my dress in the back to save until then. We thanked her and walked out the door and headed for the gate she said would still be open. Um. It wasn't. So we went back and let her know. "Oh, no problem," she reassured us. "I have the key to the big roll-up gate, let me get it." It didn't fit in the lock. The poor girl has only been back to work for a week after having a baby so I think she hasn't completely been briefed on everything. So we went back to the shop and sat on the couch while she called the Caretaker who locked us in without CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THE SHOP WAS EMPTY! No answer. No answer. No answer. So she tried the landlord. Out of the country for the next week and a half. She tried a coworker, no luck, no key. She tried the shop owner. No lock, no key. At this point she was getting really upset because what if there had been a fire or something? We were completely and utterly trapped in a tiny row of shops with no restrooms (they were on the other side of the gates, of course). And we were supposed to be meeting friends for dinner. When Karen called to tell the friends, they laughed and said "only you, Karen!" Which makes me pretty nervous because I'm going to be spending lots of time with this woman, as she's about to be my mother-in-law! :P
Karen called Andy and he said he and Mick would head home, feed the dog, and bring back his bolt cutters to see if he could cut one of the padlocks on a gate. Mick didn't seem all that concerned. Finally, Natalie called the police. Twenty minutes later, we heard sirens. We ventured out of the shop to see a bobby and three fireman fiddling with the lock. They talked about the pros and cons of cutting the bolt (no protection after they cut it because of course there was no replacement lock and all the shops are old and the doors aren't very strong, nor the locks). A minute later Mick and Andy showed up. The first thing Mick did was look at me through the bars like I'd done something wrong and said "it's a nice dress, is it?" Let me tell you, it's a good thing there were bars between us because he deserved a bollocking for that cheek! No "you ok babe? Been worried!" NO. Just sarcasm!

How many firemen does it take to bust a lock? In the end, about five.

The firemen (who are sexy even in England, let me say. It must be a universal thing!) tried using their bolt cutters, but they weren't strong enough. They tried automatic ones, but no luck. One of them had a screwdriver and was trying to unscrew the gate from the wall. Finally they pulled out what I think are the jaws of life (nobody here knows that term, but I heard one of the firemen say that they use it to open car doors so I'm pretty sure that's what they were) to pry the gate open wide enough to slip the padlock through and viola! Freedom! After two hours! We thanked the men for their help and headed to dinner. I needed the bathroom and a drink of water badly!

Thinking back, I remember turning to Karen and Natalie as we watched our rescuers struggle with the lock and saying "I really hope this isn't foreshadowing how the rest of my wedding planning is going to go..." And I really, really do hope that!

Time for a quick Sunday quote...

"I've never worn stockings and suspenders though. I think I'll save them to wear under my wedding dress."
-Jennifer Ellison

Ain't it the truth? All the equipment that goes into wearing a wedding dress!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone! :)

Animals with Attitude

Yesterday was Mick's sister's birthday. She and her boyfriend came to the house ( the house in Kent is Mick's gradfather's house. His step-dad is working in Kent right now, so they stay there a lot) to open her gifts. She loved all the pink stuff for the kitchen she'll have in the flat she and her boyfriend are about to move into. Then we all (me, Mick, Laura, Russ, mum and step-dad) piled into two different cars and drove about 40 minutes to Port Lympne Zoo.
The weather was very indecisive. We sat on a safari truck in the sunshine. Mick was near the window and seemed a bit bewildered because he was getting wet and he couldn't figure out why. As it turns out, folks, it can rain even when it's sunny. As we stopped for lunch and looked at meerkats, it really started to feel stormy. There was a charge in the air as black clouds came rolling in and we could hear thunder and see lightning. After a few minutes of this the rain came, so we went and checked out the reptile and insect house. Then it cleared up for a bit and we got back on a safari bus to head up to look at the carnivores. The rain started coming down really hard so we all had to rush for cover, but thankfully, it only held up for a few minutes so we could move on. BUT THEN! The sun came out and it warmed up and was disgustingly humid. I can deal with heat- I hate it, but I lived in it for 14 years, I deal. But when it comes to humidity I am a giant baby. Giant.
Either way, it was a fun day and I enjoyed being out with everybody very much. There was a strange moment when I ordered lunch for Mick and myself. The girl noticed my accent and said "are you here on holiday?" Mick piped up and answered "she is, I'm from here." I turned and looked at him and said "no, actually. I moved here. Remember, Mick?" You know, to like, marry you? Men. It is weird though, because, as I've said, it just feels like I'm here on vacation.

The animals at this zoo were really funny. They seemed very British to me in that they didn't give a crap.

We saw giraffes that didn't care if we wanted out the gate, they did too, so they were going to wait. The safari truck driver said that they tend to do this in hopes of escaping.

There was a Black Rhino drinking happily from his trough. He, too, didn't care if the truck wanted to get by. He wanted his water and took his sweet time in moving to the field to the left. But that's okay, it provided a great photo opportunity.

Mick was very into the snakes and lizards in the Reptile House. I refused to stop and look at the spiders. 

But my favorite part of the day was the amazing view. The zoo is built on a hill and provides an amazing panorama of Kent and the sea in the distance (if it's not cloudy).

See the hills between the trees?

A bit dreary, but still beautiful, don't you think?

After the zoo we went back to the house and got ready to go out to dinner with Mick's dad and his girlfriend to finish up Laura's birthday celebration. We went to a really chic pub in Eynesford, Kent where they actually have a ford. A ford is where a river or stream is shallow enough to wade or drive across (remember Fording the River in Oregon Trail with your oxen in front of your conestoga wagon? Yes.) Anyways, it's a gorgeous little village. Here's a shot of the ford

(image from geograph.org.uk) This is the ford. You can either drive through it or use the bridge.

Mick and I both had lamb and tomato soup and Eton Mess in The Plough. Eton Mess! I haven't told you about Eton Mess! More history lessons! It's a really good dessert made up of cream, meringue bits and strawberries. The story goes that there was some big to-do at Eton, which is a very prestigious boy's college (ages 13-18) and the person who was carrying the dessert (which probably looked something like this):

image from bbcgoodfood.com

Well, they dropped it. And they had no choice but to scoop it up and serve it anyway, so it ended up looking like this:

image also from bbcgoodfood.com

So, now they just make the messy version anyway. Viola! Eton Mess. I had it last summer for the first time and loved it.

Right, so. Back to the story....
Mick's dad dropped us back at the house. We had been directed by Mick's mom to be very quiet when we entered because both she and Mick's step-dad would be sleeping. It was about 11:00. We got in, flipped on a light switch and blew a fuse. We had no flashlight, so we used the light from the screen of my phone to search for the fuse box. Mick seemed fairly sure that it was in the cupboard under the stairs (yes! It's so Harry Potter!) and sure enough there was a metal box. We both tried to pry it open but realized you needed a screwdriver to open it. I thought that was kind of stupid, and I should have listened to myself when I thought "that really makes no sense. If you blow a fuse, and you're in the dark, you shouldn't have to search for a screwdriver..." So I unscrewed the panel and as soon as I did an annoying ring came from the house alarm. Mick looked in the box and began to curse. We'd opened the alarm control box which was just filled with wires. When we went back into the hallway and saw the alarm display, it said "tamper" and continued to let out one, long, never-ending beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. We decided we'd have to go out into the garage and search for the fuse box there. So, armed only with determination and the illumination from my phone, we found it and Mick flipped the switch and all was well. And thankfully closing the bedroom door drowned out the sound of said beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep because we didn't know how to stop it and didn't want to wake his mum or step-dad to do it for us. When we woke up this morning it was taken care of by his step-dad. And we didn't wake anyone up. Phew.
This morning we came back to Bognor with Mick's mum before she went to work. Early. We left the house at 6am and got here at about 8am. I took a nap and watched some television, then we went down to Tesco to get some stuff for dinner and lunch. We came back and ate and I worked on unpacking one of my suitcases, but I can't really finish until Mick clears some space for my underwear and jeans and stuff for me in his room (GIANT HINT, BABE!). I've got wardrobe space in the guestroom to hang stuff but no drawer space.

Anyway, it's nice to be back in Bognor. It's a boring town, but the weather is much nicer since it's on the sea.
Just to let you know, I'm doing more research for the second volume of Out of the Mouths of Brits. Hope to have that up for you in a couple days. Take care, everyone :)

Days 3 and 4

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
We woke up when we felt like it, which seemed to fall around 9am. We had the gorgeous golden view of the Mandalay out of our windows and snuggled, happy to be in such an exciting place together. I decided we should check out the buffet for breakfast, because I've always heard how amazing they are in Vegas. We thought we'd just get breakfast at the MORE Buffet in the Luxor, but when we saw the prices, we changed our mind. Breakfast for one adult was $15 or you could pay $30 for an all day pass. Come as often as you want and eat as much as you want. Trying to be as thrifty as possible (I AM unemployed now, after all...) we opted for this. Mick enjoyed being able to get eggs and bacon AND sausage like you get back in England, not this crappy eggs and bacon OR sausage garbage we do here. He was not, however, happy with my photographing him during a meal. Here he is exclaiming "WHY?" as I snapped a picture.

Next, we drove over to Ceasar's Palace. Mick was adamant about spending some time here, because it's where the Wolf Pack stayed in The Hangover. He was very impressed by the shopping area and the fountains, and especially the fancy benches in the shopping area. Ignore the closed eyes, he hates having his picture taken.

 

 After Caesar's we walked across the strip to The Venetian, which is my favorite hotel on the strip. We wanted to go on one of the gondola rides, but the lines were long and we figured we'll just wait until we go to Italy and do a real one. We even visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

Then we went back to the hotel, hit the buffet again for lunch and went back to the room to rest up a bit and shower. We decided to hit some of the hotel gift shops where we got keychains, hats, shirts, and I picked out a Cleopatra cartouche necklace which I'm very excited about. Then we crossed through Excalibur and went to New York New York where we played games in the arcade. It didn't take me long to find the one quarter game machine that was glitching and would spit out, literally, hundreds of tickets for even putting your money in the machine. We collected 2,000 tickets and got a light up LED sign that displays Route 66. We were stoked, but I couldn't help feeling like we were doing something wrong! After collecting our winnings, we trekked back to Luxor and put our things in our room and hit the buffet yet again. I wanted to drive up and down the strip to show Mick how cool it really is, and I wanted to show him the old end too, which I didn't want to walk because its a) too far and b) kinda seedy. We checked out the Paris, which is definitely a hotel I want to stay at next time we go to Vegas! Again, exhausted, we returned to the Luxor where I passed out earlier than I'd planned to.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Today didn't start off too nice. I woke up freaking out around 4am after a terrible dream in which Mick was deported for no reason, and they refused to let me into England. I woke up and reached for him, woke him up and told him about it. We fell back to sleep but I was really itchy all night and knew my hives were trying to come back. I could tell the night before when we were at Caesar's so I bought some Benadryl, which doesn't normally help. Anyways, even in half sleep I could tell I was breaking out. I woke up and headed to the bathroom for a shower and looked in the mirror. The entire left side of my face was swollen. I had half a fat lip and my eye was swollen about 1/3 shut. I immediately began freaking out and took off my pajamas only to find the worst hives I've had in the past few weeks. Everywhere. Hips, sides, chest, legs, back, butt. Mick called the front desk to see if anywhere in the hotel sold Zyrtec (the only thing that helps me) but no such luck. We drove down to CVS on the strip to buy a bottle for me. I took one and immediately the swelling went down and the hives went away. We had breakfast sandwiches in the deli at the hotel, packed our stuff up, and headed to my sister's in Southern California. The trip was long and sweaty because my air conditioning seems to be dying.

After a nice hot bath upon our arrival at my sister's, I began to feel a little better. 

And that was our sort of unofficial anniversary trip! It was a lot of fun, but I'm so happy to be in nicer weather!

Day 2

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Continuing the trend of oversleeping, Mick and I woke up at 8:45 when continental breakfast at the hotel ended at 9. We jumped up and threw on clothes and rushed down to the dining area. We threw down the traditional cold cereal, toast and yogurt down and went back to the room to get ready for the day. We packed up the car for Vegas, checked out of the hotel and decided to go to a really cool place in Williams called Bearizona. It's a small wild life Drive-Thru park where you can see all sorts of animals, including bison, wolves, big horn sheep and even bears! 

We had fun looking at all the animals, especially the bears. They were not at all interested in the cars, which was both fortunate and unfortunate. Could have made for some very interesting stories if they had tampered with the cars. Then we headed on over to the walking area where we got to see baby bears wrestling with each other and checked out the petting zoo. Mick possesses a strange power- he seems to be a magnet for animals and children. Children take a while to get over the shock of his hair, but they do warm up. Animals, on the other hand, immediately gravitate towards him, as was displayed by the goats at the petting zoo. It was actually pretty creepy. We'd pet the goats and walk away to look at another animal, then we'd turn around and they'd be standing there, waiting for us to pet them. They did like me as well, but apparently, Mick is where it's at. I want pet goats.

We hit the road and stopped in Williams for gas and lunch (I was frugal this trip and packed sandwich bits to prepare on the road). Then we headed up to Vegas. Mick wanted to see the Hoover Dam, but they've changed things since I was last there. You can no longer drive over the dam. You have to drive over a new, massive bridge, then exit the highway to get to it. We weren't interested in doing a tour or anything, Mick just wanted to see it so he could crack jokes like this. And, yes, as soon as we left he kept bragging that he was on the Beavis and Butthead Road Trip. Sigh. Anyways, we parked and hiked up a little hill where you can access the pedestrian part of the new bridge and saw the dam.
Mick also posed for a snapshot in recognition of the third US state he has visited.
Time to finish the last home stretch.... we made it to Vegas! We stayed at the Luxor, which was right up my alley, since I'm obsessed with anything to do with Egypt. And, apart from the terrifyingly rickety and wobbly elevators, we can't find anything to complain about for the entire stay. Our room was nice and had a great view of the Mandalay. We cleaned up and got ready for dinner. I had wanted to take Mick to the Mandalay so we could eat at a really cool restaurant called The Rum Jungle, but it apparently closed. So we ate at Shanghai Lilly's and feasted on ridiculously priced rice and noodles. After that we pretty much just wandered up and down the strip, checking out the M&M store and the Bellagio fountains. I had decided to wear a pair of really cute gladiatorish sandals that weren't exactly uncomfortable... they just didn't offer any support. So, with feet on fire, we hopped on a bus and went back to the Luxor.

Unofficial Anniversary Trip, Day 1

Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday night I had set my alarm for 6am. Mick and I wanted to start our long drive up to Northern Arizona early and leave by 7am. I woke up, fuzzy headed and confused Monday morning and looked at my phone. 7:06am! WTF? I scrambled out of bed and ran downstairs to wake Mick up. We got ready and threw all our stuff in the car. All my worldly possessions crammed into my car. We finally made it onto the road at about 8:30am and began the lonnngggg trip up north.
The curvy roads that led us up to Prescott proved to be problematic, as Mick is afraid of heights and I tend to get motion sickness. I managed to get us there safely, though, feeling the entire time like I needed to grab hold of something to stabilize myself. We stopped in Prescott for cold drinks and ice cream and to use the potty. We headed out of town and got onto the 89 which turned out to be a disaster. We ended up getting stuck in, not exactly traffic, and not exactly construction. But whatever it was, we were stuck in the road waiting for something behind a huge line of cars and an even huger line behind us. People were getting out of their cars and trying to see up the road, but nobody could figure anything out. Finally, and without explanation, traffic began moving again.
We finally made it up to the Grand Canyon at about 4pm. Mick began bouncing and making really annoying sounds in his seat due to over-excitement. We parked at a look out point and made the little trek up to the rim. Mick was very impressed! We looked at a few different look-out points and visited the gift shop and picked gifts out for people. Then we had dinner at one of the lodges before heading back down to Williams and checking into our hotel. It had been a really long day and I slept great!

Just a quick note...

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know Mick and I are having a great time in Las Vegas! It sure is hot, but so much fun! Once I get to my sister's house I'll give you a nice long update about the Grand Canyon and here, with lots of photos. But for now I'll leave you with just one!

 

 

 

In front of the Bellagio Fountains

Now we're off to do more exploring. And sweating... boo!