Road Trip Cali Sept 2015 (I40 west)
September 15th was a beautiful travel day. Left home at 6:50 am, got to freeway by 7:07. Took 40 minutes to get thru Nashville to Bellevue. Ton of traffic. The rest of the trip was much smoother.
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| Cracked windshield |
Mississippi River very low as we crossed it into Arkansas. Shortly thereafter either a truck threw a rock or someone shot a pellet gun and cracked windshield. We think pellet gun because it hit drivers side and trucks were on our right or a rock could have ricochetted off the cement barrier in center of road. We lucked out and although the crack spread on the windshield, it held for the entire trip. We had it replaced upon our return home.
There is an interesting church we pass every trip west near Little Rock, I finally got a good picture of it.
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| Lake Eufaula |
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| Church near Little Rock |
We traveled 655 miles (10 1/2 hours) this first day on the road. We spent the night in Shawnee OK at a Comfort Inn and Suites, exit 186 $80. We had dinner that evening at DeGraff's Restaurant & Tavern. We have eaten here before on previous trips and it is really good and right down the road from the hotel. Gas in Shawnee was $1.93/gallon.
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| Shawnee dinner - very good |
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| Sunset our 1st night in Shawnee |
September 16th we departed Shawnee OK at 8:30 am (wanted to miss rush hour in OKC).
Uneventful morning. Another beautiful, sunny day. Changed drivers in Amarillo where we got lunch at Schlotzky's Deli. It's been a long time since I have had Schlotzky's, the sandwiches are very good. Used to have them in Nashville but they all closed, not sure why they are good. Gas in Amarillo was $1.95/gallon.
Some beautiful scenery driving through New Mexico.
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| Scenery along the way |
We gained an hour today. It will still be a 9 hour day of driving. Going to spend the night in Albuquerque NM.
Exit 160 Holiday Inn Express midtown $94/night - OK, not great. Won't stay here again. Ate at Applebee's right next door.
September 17th we departed Albuquerque at 8:20 am. Should only be a 7 hour day today.
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| Formations at rest stop in AZ |
Gas at USA gas $2.36/gallon. Crack in windshield appears to be spreading. Beautiful scenery driving thru this part of NM and AZ. Very windy.
Rest areas: none in OK. Only 1 in TX, but it was very nice. There were a few in NM but they were all closed. AZ had great rest areas. Very clean. They also had beautiful rock formations.
Gas in Bellemont AZ was $2.55/gallon. AZ had lots of construction slow downs.
We ate at a really cool Mexican restaurant that the clerk at the museum recommended. The food was very good.
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| Restaurant |
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| Inside cantina |
September 18th we departed Kingman AZ at 8:30 am, arrived at the Marriott Beverly Hills at 2:30 pm. Another beautiful day for a drive. Gas in Kingman was $2.79/gallon. Gas in Barstow CA I40 was $3.99 and this was the cheapest. Next exit in Barstow on I15 were cheaper. Rest areas crossing the Mojave were closed despite signs indicating they were open. Crossing the Mojave is amazing. It is really beautiful. Route 66 loops throughout the Mojave and connects with I40 in several locations. One of these times, we're going to have to wander off to check it out.
Coming in on I15 we could see what we thought was smoke from the fires but later found out was just everyday smog.
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| Man with pumpkin |
After checking in at hotel Scott (Big Cat) picked us up to get something to eat. We went to Cheesecake Factory at the Grove. Walked around for a bit after eating. Then Scott took us to the Santa Monica Pier because I had never been and wanted to check it out. We stopped at a little coffee shop so Scott could get some iced coffee. There was an older gentlemen (looked like he could be homeless) sitting at a table working on a laptop. He was bundled up like it was winter. He was holding what appeared to be a baby, also bundled up. On closer inspection, we realized it was a pumpkin dressed like a baby. He sat and talked to it the whole time in soothing tones.
Got to the Pier in time for sunset which was beautiful. The pier was just what I imagined. We then walked to the Third Street Promenade. Tons of shops, some music and dancing and all the people. It was great. Checked out a few stores, Scott was looking for something.
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| Santa Monica Pier |
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| Sunset |
Our hotel is beautiful. Just opened a few months ago after being renovated into a Marriott. The rooms while beautiful are very small. Have a distant view of downtown LA. The hotel gave us a great bottle of wine to thank us for being reward members and booking with them. We enjoyed the wine during out stay. Terri and Andy didn't get in until very late.
September 19th the day of Rob and Bryianna's wedding. We are very excited about attending. Woke up early and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise over LA. Met Terri and Andy in the lobby and had breakfast at the hotel. Scott picked us up and we did a little more sightseeing before it was time to get ready for the wedding.
The wedding was held at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. The ceremony itself was held in the outside courtyard. The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor wedding.
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| Candles decorating each row of seating |
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| Wedding diaz |
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| Bride being escorted by her father down the aisle |
After the ceremony everyone mingled in the courtyard, having drinks and hors devours while the wedding party took photos.
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| Terri and Steelo Brim enjoying a laugh |
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| Rusty and Scott (Big Cat) |
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| Rusty and Christopher (Drama) |
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| Rusty and Terri |
After a short time we were ushered into the ballroom for a sit-down dinner reception. Our table was located near one of the bars set up for the reception. Our dining companions were some of Rusty's cousins and some cousins from Gene's side of the family. We had a wonderful evening with pleasant conversation all around.
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| Wedding invitation |
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| Dinner menu and table assignment |
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| Rob dancing with his mom; Bryianna dancing with her dad |
Instead of a special bride and groom dance, Rob and his father-in-law danced to Uptown Funk. It was pretty amazing (can't get the video to upload, but this is a screenshot of them).
The decorations around the ballroom were beautiful.
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| Proclamation from Mayor of LA |
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| Our table |
They had a photo booth set up for all the guests. It was a lot of fun, but here is a photo of Rusty and I.
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| Sheryl and Rusty at Rob and Bryianna's wedding |
I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Rob Dyrdek, the beautiful bride and groom (Rusty's cousin).
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| Bryianna and Rob Dyrdek |
Sunday after the wedding we spent the day sightseeing with Scott as our guide again. This time Terri and Andy went along too. First we took Uber to Scott's apartment.
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| This was in Uber car and we couldn't resist |
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| Scott's view |
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| Scott's courtyard |
We headed to Malibu from Scott's
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| Malibu Pier |
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| Rusty enjoying pier and water |
apartment because Rusty and I had never been there. It was a beautiful day as we walked along the streets and the pier at Malibu.
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| Scott, Rusty and Andy on pier |
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| Terri, Rusty, me, Andy, Scott at pier |
The flowers in Malibu were gorgeous.
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| Beautiful flowers |
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| Beautiful flowers |
After we left Malibu Scott took us to Philippes, The Original for lunch. It was in downtown LA somewhere but he took us round about so I never knew for sure where we were. On our way there we drove through skid row where the majority of LA homeless live. It was quite eye opening after staying in Beverly Hills.
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| Philippe Original Deli |
After lunch Scott took us to Christopher's new home to spend the afternoon with him. Christopher has a gorgeous house with a wonderful view and beautiful property.
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| Rusty and Scott chillaxing at Christopher's |
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| Pool with pink swan |
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| View from rooftop deck |
That evening the boys, along with their friend Frog took us to their favorite pizza place, Pizza Real, for a yummy dinner.
On Monday Rusty and I were headed out. Before we left Scott came over and we all walked to breakfast right around the corner from the hotel to Factor's Deli. It was a delicious breakfast.
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| Factor's Deli |
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| Factor's Deli |
We decided that since we were this far we would stop at Yosemite NP for a couple of days. After breakfast Rusty and I hit the road. More to follow.
