Memories in the making

Although I have said this blog is more about memories than current events, occasionally memories are being made, and I do need to post some photos.

Last week I was in the U.S. getting Hannah settled in at her new school in Aurora, Colorado.  On January 1st and 2nd we made an epic road trip from Simi Valley, California all the way to Castle Rock, Colorado.  Driving through Pasadena, I wondered why there was so much traffic, and then I remembered the Rose Bowl.  If we had thought about it earlier, we might have planned to stop and see the parade.

Side note: for years we had the tradition of watching an old video tape of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade until it finally wore out.  Hannah has never seen a real parade unless you count the funeral processions with the live music here in Mexico.  Oh well, maybe next time....

Interesting sign along the highway, at exit 23 to be exact, we saw Zzyzx Road.  No kidding!  We also passed a fun-sounding place called Rockahoola Water Park.  We even sped right past a Tanger Outlet Mall.  (Then we found out there is an outlet mall about five minutes from Hannah's house in Colorado, so it's all good.)

We did stop in Las Vegas briefly just to see what the big hoop-la is.  We each gambled and lost one dollar.  I wasn't impressed.  A whole smokey room full of lonely looking people trying to make a quick buck.   Ick.  The highlight of that excursion was finding an In-N-Out (greasy hamburger joint) for a quick lunch. 

Our hopes were dashed when we finally located Trader Joe's (the last one between Simi Valley and Denver) only to see the Happy Holiday sign with the fine print that they were closed for New Year's.  Drat.  Jim will have to pick up a few non-essentials for me when he visits his mom in Ohio later this month.

The scenery driving through Nevada and Utah, and just a tiny stretch of Arizona was gorgeous!  We must have been on the back side of the Grand Canyon from the looks of it.  As you can see from the photos, Hannah was thrilled at first to see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.  Later she pulled the car over so she could play in the first tiny patch of real snow.  The next day we were surrounded by snow.  In the ski district of Colorado we even followed a snow plow for a ways, getting the windshield smeared with snow and muck.

A week later, she is getting her fill of cold and snow.  The predictions for today were temperatures well below zero.  Soon she will be laughing at these photos of the first bit of snow.  Personally I am thankful to be back in sunny Mexico, not complaining (much) about the cool breeze today.

Our dessert photo

Las Vegas Trader Joe's

(Closed)

I should tell a funny on Hannah.  She was half-starved and semi-incoherent by the time we finally stopped for our first meal of the day, mid-afternoon.  She went through the drive-through and ordered a double-double, asking for it "hamburger style" - meaning animal style. (You have to be familiar with IN-N-OUT to get the humor.)  Once we clarified that for the confused employee, he asked politely, "Will you be eating that in your car?"  (Again, regular customers get this.  They put it in a bag if you are taking it home.  Otherwise it comes in a carton ready to be eaten.)  Hannah replied, "No, I'll just pay cash."  What?  In my own state of low blood sugar, it struck me as hilarious. Reading it now it's not that funny at all.  Never mind.  Here's a link for the uninformed:  IN-N-OUT with a photo to make you salivate.

This is where I blew the diet.

One billboard we saw in Las Vegas advertised something saying "Just the right amount of wrong."  WHAT?  Another sign we saw may have been significant.  It said The Church at Las Vegas.  THE church?  Well, there you have it.  That's one messed up place. 

Chris's old car packed with everything Hannah owns

I wasn't kidding about the muck on the windshield