The following weekend we had a wedding to go to in St. George, UT so we decided to use the time in between for a quick trip to California to visit Mike's mission. Here are a few pictures from our trip and from the wedding reception after.
After staying part of Sunday and that evening at my roommate Jenni's house in Beaver, UT we started to make our way towards California.
We started out the trip wanting to take pictures of all of the states that we drove through but as you'll see by the end of this post this is the only state sign that we have a picture of. We forgot about about the Utah sign crossing in from Idaho and the other states didn't have one on the roads we were traveling on. So - welcome to Arizona, Feiks!
Is this real life? Our first stop to stretch our legs was in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mike had been when he was younger with his family but it was the first time for me. We stopped by M&M world and walked through 4 floors of M&M madness. One of the floors had an entire wall devoted to any flavor of M&M that you could think of. Tempting, oh so tempting.
Next we went to visit New York New York. Right when we walked in there was a HUGE sculpture of the Statue of Liberty made out of Jelly Beans. Someone has way too much time on their hands...
Walking through the MGM we were quite surprised to see Lions right next to the slot machines! Craziness. We walked through one of the tunnels and two of the females were laying on the glass right above us. I think that is the closest that I'll ever want to be to a Lion.
Across from the Lions we found the Rain Forest Cafe. I'd never been so we decided to stop for lunch. It was pretty exciting eating lunch in a room that looked like a jungle and had thunderstorms every half hour. I'm not so sure that I'd go again for the food, but definitely the drinks! We had some kind of strawberry lemonade freeze. It was absolutely delicious! These were the bar stools that they had at the bar. They made me laugh.
Continuing our trip we stopped in Baker, CA at the world's largest thermometer. I don't remember what the temperature was but it was definitely HOT! Being the Gateway to Death Valley I don't know why I would've expected anything different ...
First Mission Stop: Hesperia, California!
The place where it's a million degrees and no one has a lawn. I was quite appalled! It wasn't that the grass was dead or that they were waiting to plant sod, they just merely didn't have grass - AT ALL! This is one of the roads in a neighborhood in Mike's area. (I think I can call it a neighborhood anyways) There were roads and houses but some of the houses were abandoned and some of the roads didn't have names! It was all quite confusing. Mike said that they had to get pretty good and using the map and counting turns instead of using street names (I'm sure that the 7 1/2 months he spent here gave him lots of practice :) It was here in Hesperia that we were able to visit one of the ladies that Mike helped to reactivate. Gina and her three girls (Tateum, Natalie, and Mia) made us feel right at home and cooked us a wonderful meal of corn on the cob, carne asada, and seveche (crab, shrimp, carrots, lemon juice, lime juice, and probably some other ingredients that I don't remember.) Served on a tostada with mayo and hot sauce! YUM!
This would be a Joshua Tree. They are all over southern California! Mike tells me that they are extremely finicky. Too much water - they die. Not enough water - they die. There is a $5,000 fine for harming one and you have to get a special permit to move or cut one down because they are only found in very few areas. Kind of ugly looking - right?
Second Mission Stop: Lake Arrowhead and Surrounding AreasAfter spending Monday night and Tuesday morning with Gina and the girls we headed out on the road again towards the higher elevations. We drove along some of the windiest, sharpest, steepest, craziest mountain roads I've ever been on. (I was quite surprised when I found myself feeling a little carsick) We drove along the Rim of the World on our way up the mountain. We could look out over Hesperia and the cities below. Or at least that was the idea of it. There was so much smog that you could hardly see a thing! I thought that since we were going to be spending some time there that I would get the opportunity for another picture. Needless to say, the smog only got worse during our stay and so I never did get a picture.
Mike also served in the Lake Arrowhead/Running Springs area for 7 1/2 months. We were able to drive around and see the remaining damage from the fires that swept the area while he was there and we also spent time visiting with a few of Mike's old mission families; the Crisps, Williams, and Lewis' and also the Ward Mission leader and his wife as well. We had a great time visiting with these families and hearing old mission stories and getting caught up with the latest news.
We were able to spend both Tuesday and Wednesday night at "Auten Manor," the home of one of Mike's mission families before meeting up with them in San Clemente at the beach on Wednesday. On our way to the beach we drove through San Bernardino and showed me where his old apartment and church building was. Mike also served 7 1/2 months in this area.
Mike and I at the beach! WAY SO MUCH FUN! It was the first time in a California ocean for me and we had lots of fun on the boogie boards. Sister Auten even taught me how to dig for sand crabs, we were able to catch a few of them and hold them in our hands. They tickle when they run around (so of course I'd scream - I couldn't help it) which of course made everyone laugh. Later that evening after a scrumptious dinner made by Sister Auten, we went to the pier to watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! (We have pictures somewhere but I don't think Mike's put them on the computer yet.) While we were on the pier we witnessed the catching of two fish. The first being a Mackerel (or a trout according to the Auten's daughter Katie :) and a Shovel Nose Shark! The shark was about two or three feet long - so not exactly the Jaws type. :)
In and Out Burger:On our way out of town on Thursday we decided to stop by In and Out in Hesperia for lunch. I'd never been and so many people rave about it. After experiencing it for myself I'm not exactly sure why. There are endless ways in which you can customize your order of burgers and fries but we decided to play it safe and made ours "animal style" which essentially just means that they put fry/special sauce on it and chopped up carmelized onions. The burger was great, but the fries weren't as fantastic as I'd thought. But everything is made fresh at the restaurant and never frozen, we watched one of the cooks slice a potato for the fries, I wish I had a fry maker like that!
Just outside of Vegas on our way back to Beaver for Jenni's wedding we saw this sign. How in the world do you say that? I almost wanted to take the exit just to ask but we were going to be getting in pretty late as it was so we decided just to take a picture instead :)
Yay for Jenni and Ryan!My roommate Jenni Carter and old FHE brother Ryan Lundgren were sealed for time and all eternity in the St. George, UT temple on Friday August 6. 2010. We were able to attend their wonderful sealing ceremony along with their family and friends that morning. We were also able to attend a reception in their honor at Jenni's home in Beaver that evening. The entire day was absolutely magnificent and we are so happy for the both of them and can't wait to see them again in Rexburg this fall. (from left to right: Meagan Stewart (soon to be Meagan Garcia! :), Ryan Lundgren, Jenni Lundgren, Lara Feik, Becca Taylor, and Alyssa Taylor)
So that is pretty much it for our trip! We came home on Saturday and went to look at a basement apartment here in Rexburg beneath our friend's apartment. We called and talked to the owner and went ahead to put an application in. We should be hearing back from them sometime in this next week, so I guess we might be moving :) keep your fingers crossed! :)
With love,
The Feiks
