Road Trip with the Roomates

Mid Summer, my friend Chris Domenick and I were already bored of taking summer classes while fun in the sun was being had outside, not in the classroom. With only 2 weeks between the end of our summer term until we started right back up again in the fall, we decided to take the initiative to plan a road trip to California. Our other roommate Bryan Daino also joined the charge as we set off in Bryan's Subaru Outback from Vail, CO.

Our first leg of the trip lead us to the Avenues of Salt Lake City where we stayed with Chris's mother Marilyn. Nicest lady in the world by the way!

The Capitol Building in Salt Lake

The next morning we headed out early for Sin City. We stayed at the MGM Grand as they had some good deals going for August and it was also the only hotel on the strip that will let you check in if you are under 21. After a night on the town and Bryan $12 poorer, (I told him if he threw up on the roller coaster I would pay for him....but to no avail he couldn't quite let it all go), we took the morning to relax by the hotel pool and make our way to Saint Diego.

Virgin Valley, AZ

Arid Desert

The view from the room

Stuck in traffic in this heat

Bridge in western CA

We then stayed with our friend Ashley Trenkle who lives about 20 min outside the city. She gave us a nice tour of Downtown and Coronado Island at night and of La Jolla the next day.

Downtown San Diego (Phone pic panorama)

Hotel Coronado (Phone pic, Stage 4 demons in here)

La Jolla Cove (Phone pic)

We then made our way up the golden coast to Encinitas where we stayed with Bryan's friend Lindsey Jacobellis and her only child/dog Gidget. She had an awesome pad on the hill and just a minute from the beach. She graciously let us stay for 3 days where we enjoyed multiple beaches, vollyball, and some surfing.

Moonlight Beach (Phone pic)

Chris enjoying Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA

Leaning board

Lindsey slayin some small waves

Bryan and Chris entering the surf

From there we took the 9hr trek to Hollister, CA where Chris's aunt and uncle live on a amazing golfcourse. Forging the LA traffic, we saw Bryan's Sunset Bvld and hopefully Chris's future office at Capitol Records haha. We decided to take HWY 1 up the coast eventhough it took much long (which Chris wasn't too thrilled about). Well it was well worth the extra time as it is easily the coolest road I have EVER driven. The fog and cold temperatures was so surreal. Chris's aunt made us an amazing lasagna when we poured into her house well after dark.

Curvy HWY 1

Footsteps up the Golden Coast

Windy along the water

Lighthouse (reminded me of Shutter Island)

The next morning we headed for the pier at Santa Cruz for some touristy rides and food. We then drove our way up to San Fransisco to stay with my Uncle Tom for the night. We drove the Golden Gate Bridge and the entire triangle around the bay area. Tom has an amazing apartment on the 38th floor in downtown SF. He took us out to a street pub for dinner and gave us a tour of downtown via foot. The following morning we headed to the water where we drove Lombard Street (Bryan's Favorite) and hung out by the water.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Bryan's fried Twinkie on the Boardwalk

Sea Lions getting intimate

Fish market on the boardwalk

Kayaks for rent

Seagull perched in Santa Cruz

Beautiful San Fransisco

Ominous Alcatraz

The Golden Gate

Curvy Lombard Street

The Trans America Pyramid

Alcatraz

SF ferry pier (phone panorama)

The view from my uncle's living room!

Street Time Lapse

Rooftop Panarama (Bay Bridge on left and Giant's Stadium in the middle)

Rooftop Panarama (Downtown San Fran)

The streets below (My favorite photo I took all trip!)

We then hopped into the car and continued driving to Lake Tahoe where my buddy Ty Dayberry calls home. We went to such an awesome Mexican restaurant and then saw the worst movie ever, The Expendables. We packed up early morning when it was freezing and began the all too long drive back to Salt Lake.

Aug, 15th and its cold!

Oh Nevada roads, you are SO boring.

The wrong Beverly Hills? haha: Beverly Hills, NV

The Great Salt Lake

Arriving in the late afternoon, Chris's dad took us out to dinner in Park City and after went for a car tour of Main Street in PC and the Utah Olmpic Park. We planned on staying with Marilyn again but for some crazy reason, Bryan and I decided to head for Vail at 1AM as Chris was staying in SLC with his mom. We traded off driving 1.5 hrs and sleeping 1.5hrs and we eventually made it to Bryan's house at 7AM. Haha you can sure drive faster when there are no cars on the road.

Sunrise driving home

The road trip was a great experience to see some new sights, meet some new people, and revisit old friends and family. I know all of us had a great time as my photos hopefully reflect it. As for the blog itself this is going to be the longest post I will ever bore you with but hopefully my photos will keep your eyes off my writing.
I will have some more photos and stories up here later this week!

Kj