Our Western Dream Trip

(Chris's) Western Dream Trip.  Way back in the day, almost a year ago when Chris was just starting to take private pilot lessons he planned a trip from Colorado to California catching spectacular views and stopping to visit loved ones.  That dream came true for us!

Our flight to Cali was amazing!  The only thing that could've made it better was if I didn't have to sleep most of it.  We left at about 5am as soon as I got home from working my hardest shift in the critical care unit.  So I was exhausted and slept most of the flight.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  The scenery was breathtaking.  We flew through mountain passes and about ten miles north of the beatufiul town of Ouray where I was raised.  It was so amazing to see all of the mountains and I can't wait to check out the views again!  We flew over Lake Powell and The Grand Canyon which were both awesome!

Ouray nestled in the mountains 

We spent the first day with Chris' good friends from high school.  Once Chris starts doing karaoke, there's no stopping him!

David and Billy are a couple of friends from college.  They've been living in La Jolla for the past couple of years.  David will be finishing his PhD in engineering this year.  Smart cookie!  Any nice, single, Catholic girls?- I'll hook you up!  They took us surfing and we had a BLAST!  They were so patient with us.  I guess I couldn't really say I surfed, Chris did though.  I think it took me a little while to catch on to the "catch the wave" part.  I would either not be pointing straight or I would be too far forward and face plant into the wave.  If I did catch the wave I was so excited and having so much fun that I would forget that I should try to stand, and at that time once I got up the wave was over or I would just fall.  Chris did an awesome job standing several times!  I do have to admit, I was super sore afterwards!  I had so much fun and can't wait to try it again!

Chris at our favorite beach, Shaw's Cove in Luguna Beach.  We went to the beach every day in southern Calinfornia!  It was wonderful!

After seeing a couple of Chris's old houses in Fountain Valley and Santa Ana we took the Pacific Coast Highway and watched the sun set in Huntington Beach.  Spectacular!

This is at Chris's family's weenie roast.  All of his cousins came to join us in Dana Point (I think).  Unfortunately I didn't get very good pics.

And another sunset picture

On our flight up north we stopped at Van Nuys airport and had breakfast with my aunt and uncle.  It was great to see them, even if it was only for breakfast.

Chris's Dad and Linda in Capitola near Santa Cruz.  They had never seen so many pelicans!  It was surprising how much cooler it was up there, I was actually cold a couple of the days.  Jeremy was able to meet us there also which was so much fun!  The boys had a wonderful time playing World of WarCraft.  I was hoping it would've been a little warmer so I could spend more time at the beach while they were playing games.

We also had a wonderful time with the sweetest Grandma ever up in Paradise, CA.  Here's a picture of us playing pool.  They both kicked my butt!  We also did some shopping in Chico and Chris fixed some odds and ends around the house.

Our last stop was in Reno to visit Jeremy.  I was quite impressed by Reno and Jer's super nice apartment.  They have quite the bachelor pad!

The flight home wasn't quite as good as the flight out.  We had been having alternator problems and had seen two mechanics and spent over $400 and were still having the problems.  The only problems we had  were because the battery was about to die which would've killed the radios.  So we had our radios turned off the whole way home.  It wasn't quite as fun having to yell at each other and not hear what else is going on in the air.  Chris was so cute, I slept part of the way which I tend to do in the plane so he was singing to keep himself company.  It was adorable!

We were only about an hour and a half from our home and were grounded in Cheyenne, WY due to thunderstorms.  We didn't anticipate that happening.  We were hoping they would blow over like they usually do in Colorado, but it was the biggest front of the summer.  We had to stay the night and rent a car the next day to drive home to make it to work that afternoon.  He then had to drive the car back on Sunday once the thunderstorms passed and fly home.  It wasn't what we had expected, but it made our trip longer!  :o)