Thanksgiving and a Girl's Road Trip

The last couple of weeks have been a little crazy for me, but I was able to get a few pictures from our holiday feast! Classic festive comfort food that brings back all the memories of feasts past.

Bright and early the morning after Thanksgiving, Nick dropped me off in Buffalo so I could ride 3000 miles to California with my best friend! She is starting a travel job and needed a buddy to ride along so of course I said yes! I love a good adventure. 

St Louis, MO

We HAD to eat at the first Braums I saw in Missouri!!!!!! So delicious, I miss it. An Oklahoma fave for sure!

Our route took us directly thru OKC, so we were able to have dinner with my family and stay the night with my mom and stepdad! They all loved Jessica, and she is now my adopted sister.

My brother Shane had an unexpected admission to the hospital so I made that my first stop. As we were visiting the nurse came in and gave him discharge papers! Perfect timing thank the Lord.

After everyone was free that evening we all met at San Marcos for some delicious Mexican food and family time. We love our family dinners!

Unfortunately we had to hit the road early the next morning, but I was able to squeeze in breakfast with my dad before we continued west to Texas. This was somewhere along the interstate at a rest stop....

It didn't take long to get into New Mexico, but it all really looked the same! We watched the sunset as we got closer to our destination for the night.

We hit the road bright and early again eager to make it to LA! After driving thru Arizona we finally saw the signs for California!!! After stopping at the mandatory agricultural vehicle check....(insert eyeroll here) we continued west to LA.

The first town we stopped in was Victorville (where my Uncle lives) and we were greeted with California gas prices and soooo much smog.

Finally into LA!!!! Continuing on to Venice Beach to my friend's apartment by the beach.

We ordered dinner in and got some much needed rest! Thankfully we had a couple of days to play before I flew back home, so we put our beachy dresses on and explored the neighborhood and ocean. It was surprisingly foggy every morning, evidently that's a thing in that area? The beach was nice, but the water was COLD. We walked up and down the boardwalk for the shops and food as well.

The next day was our touristy day! We booked a celebrity and Beverly Hills tour, and I snagged us tickets to be in the audience for Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood! The weather was much better in LA. Warm and sunny!

Las Palmas Hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed

House where Celebrity Rehab is filmed

The smoggy Hollywood valley

Jim Henson Studios

One of Jim Carrey's houses

Former home of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd

The studio we were going to for the show was right down the Blvd from the tour, so we just walked up and down a bit checking out the stars then grabbed some food and pictures. Filming was in the El Capitan Theatre (which is all owned by Walt Disney) so we got in line. It took about 45 minutes to get cleared, checked in, and get our wristband then we were finally able to enter the studio! Unfortunately we had to turn our cameras off so no pics from inside!

Filming was completed around 6pm so it was dark and foggy once again when we got outside. We explored the Blvd a little bit more and enjoyed the NYC vibe before heading back to the car to go home.

Jessica had stocked her fridge with yummy food, so we had a nice home cooked dinner!

The next afternoon she dropped me off at LAX where I flew home. My layover was in Denver where I enjoyed some airport tamales. They were actually pretty good!

My connecting flight to Buffalo ran about 30 minutes late, so that added to my already late arrival time. I didn't get out of the airport with my luggage until after midnight, and then of course is the 1hr long drive home! We got home about 1:30am and slept a few hours before getting up bright and early with the boys for their school day! Back to reality :D