New York

Went to New York earlier this month. We stayed in Brooklyn which ended up being our favorite borough.

Myra and Roxanna's first time flying!

Had to figure out the subway system.

Brooklyn

Museum of Modern Art

New York Bagel 

Yankees game! 

Costa Rica Day 1

Our first day was spent traveling. We left LAX right before midnight Saturday. 

We had a two hour layover in Atlanta where we got to stretch out and freshen up a little bit. 

We arrived in Costa Rica Sunday around 1pm. It was hot and humid but there was a breeze that makes it bearable. 

Since we couldn't check in to our room until 3, we ate at the buffet and had margaritas and Imperial beer. 

We checked out the black sand beach. 

And we tested out my lifeproof case underwater.

It was so nice to finally arrive and just relax! There are a ton of kids on their senior trip which makes for interesting people watching! 

Pura vida <3 p="">

Flagstaff 2011- Day Three- Part Two

Ok, time for me to sit down and finally finish writing about my trip.

So we met the guys for lunch at Galaxy Diner, a cute little 50s themed diner with yummy fries.



And after lunch, we had about an hour to kill before I had to be at the airport. Someone suggested that we go to a lookout point so off we went! What an amazing view!




Some man offered to take a group shot of us :)





After we took a few pictures, it was time for me to go :(

Rob drove us all to the airport. I thought it was really nice of them to not only drop me off (that would have been nice enough!) but they actually parked and walked in and waited with me. We sat at the bar for a few minutes, but then it was time for me to go through security. :(



I flew on that tiny little plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. It was 80 degrees in Phoenix which was such a big difference from the Flagstaff weather. I waited in Phoenix for a couple hours. While I waited, I uploaded pics on Facebook. Thank goodness for Facebook! It can entertain me for hours!

Then I flew from Phoenix to SLO. The guy sitting next to me took up more than his fair share of space. Also, he could have benefited from taking a shower. I finished my book just as we started to land. (Hilarious book and a fast read! Perfect for my needs this weekend!)

Flying at night always reminds me of my first nighttime flying experience when I was in the 8th grade and we flew into Washington D.C. It's so cool to look down and see all those orange and white clusters of light.



To be honest, arriving at SLO was kind of depressing. I think arriving at an airport with no one to pick you up is one of the saddest experiences. I lugged my own luggage through the thick fog into the dark and dusty parking lot and drove myself home. I felt a heaviness in my stomach, and I just felt sort of bummed to be back.

But I don't want to end my story on a depressing note! When I got home, my brother was still awake. We immediately started playing our newest Wii game, Just Dance 3. I mean, I had that Wii controller in my hand before I even set down my purse! At first I sucked, but that's because Myles had all day to practice. Ahahaha. :)

Flagstaff 2011- Day One

Hello friends!

I'm on my way to Flagstaff for the weekend :) Currently waiting for my first flight from slo to phx.

Since I'm flying out of SLO, I was able to go to work for 2.5 hours this morning (just enough time to eat the delicious breakfast my boss cooked for us!)

Yesterday, during lunch, I thought it would be a good idea to swing by the airport to check out the parking situation and the check-in area. For some reason I thought it would be complicated. When I drove by, I realized that this airport is even smaller than the SM airport! If I could navigate a huge international airport abroad, then I can definitely handle this airport!

I've never met TSA people as friendly as the ones here. When I went through security, the TSA guy was like, "Do you have any liquids or weapons?"
I was like, "No."
He was like, "Any aerosol cans?"
"Nope."
"Any chocolate chip cookies?"
"Uhh no."
"It was worth asking."
:)

I brought Ellen Degeneres's new book, "Seriously... I'm Kidding" to keep me busy while I spend most of my day waiting in airports.

Day 8

I shot up out of my bed at 3:00 a.m. after only 3 hours of sleep. I had been tossing and turning all night worried that I would sleep through my alarm clock. I tried to go back to sleep, but my heart was racing. I wanted to get started with my long journey home. I decided to go ahead and get going with my day.

I had arranged to have a taxi pick me up at 4:00 am to take me to the airport for my 7:00 am flight. But I was ready to go by 3:30 am. So I sat and waited in the dark lobby.


At 10 minutes til 4:00 am, the taxi driver dressed in a dark suit came into the lobby and loaded my things into the sleek Skoda car.

When we started driving away from the hotel, I told the driver "I'm so sad that I have to leave, I love it here." I don't think he understood what I said because he didn't respond at all.

I arrived at the airport a little early so I bought freshly squeezed orange juice and read my magazine. My first flight of the day was from Prague to Amsterdam. Our flight was 15 minutes delayed which sucked because I only had an hour between arriving in Amsterdam and departing to LA. I had a great seat next to the exit with lots of leg room. Unfortunately, this was only for my short flight.



When I landed in Amsterdam, I had to run from one end of the airport to the other. Luckily, I had printed out a map of the Amsterdam airport which I was able to study on the flight. I arrived at my departure gate just in time to board! Phew!

My flight was loooong. Ugh.

I was so happy to arrive in LA. It seemed like I couldn't get off the plane fast enough. JR picked me up. I was happy to have someone carry my luggage! We stopped in Ventura and Santa Barbara on our way home. I ended up at home around 5 p.m. and was happy to take a shower and relax for the evening.

Day 2 part 2

After I got my baggage, I had to figure out how to get to my hotel. It was about 1:30pm and the trip should have taken about 40 minutes. One option was to take a taxi. I decided not to waste like 40 euro on that so I took the bus/train/subway thing. Ok, let me just say that I suck with public transportation. Even in america. Even in Santa Barbara where there is only one bus system.

I finally found my hotel after 2.5 hours! Hahaha. When I walked into my hotel room, my roommate was there. I was on the verge of tears. It had been a crazy, long, tiring day.




I met with the tour group for an orientation that lasted about 2 hours (a little too long considering most of us had been traveling all day!). But we did get a lot of information on our trip and what to expect over the next few days.




After the meeting, I showered really fast and then we went on our bus to dinner in the city. Dinner was... okay. One thing I didn't realize was how cold it gets in the evening! I was freezing!





After dinner, I went back to the hotel where I chatted for a few minutes on skype, updated my blog, then quickly fell asleep.

Day 2

(I wrote this last night)



Ok this has been the longest day of my life... I've been awake since Friday 7 am pst. I was only able to sleep about 2 hours on the plane even though i took Tylenol PM!

So my flight to Amsterdam was about 9 hours... not bad. I watched Eat Pray Love, except I turned it off before it finished because it was boring. I watched HIMYM and Friends. I was happy because the guy I was seated next to was quiet. I don't think he spoke english. And I was happy that he wasn't one of those people that are all up in your personal space! They came by with food or snacks like every hour.





But... while we starting to land into the Amsterdam, the guy sitting next to me threw up! EWWWWWW!!!!

So, I got to Amsterdam and was totally lost. It was kinda scary not knowing where to go. Do I need to go through passport control? Security again? Do I have time to shop? Where is my gate? Am I going the right way? Am I on the right floor? I had so many questions, but I was too scared to ask for help!

I finally found my way to my gate (B18) and had enough time to use the free wi-fi and skype with JR for a bit and try to update this blog with photos.

Amsterdam to Berlin was an easy 1 hour flight. It was super nice because the flight wasn't even half way full so I got to sit by myself. (Thank God! That last guy I sat next to really grossed me out). The landing was super bumpy.

(To be continued... just wanted to post a little bit before I got too behind!)

Day 1

(I wrote this while waiting for my flight at LAX.)

Ahhhhhhhh... this is soooo stressful, I'm glad we came to the airport not 2 but 4 hours early!

OK, I hate myself! I left my debit card in the hotel we stayed at last night. I'm soooo dumb. I had a credit card, but decided to leave it at home. And I distinctly remember pulling my checkbook out of my suitcase and saying, "I never use this, why sould I pack it?!" I thought all I'd need was my debit card to get euro and then some cash to keep just in case. Ahhhhhh!!! I'm so mad. So before I found out that my debit card was at the hotel, JR came back to LAX and gave me his debit card and all the cash in his wallet. My stomach hurts and I feel like crying and throwing up. :(

Now, after converting my dollars to euro, I feel like I lost so much more money! Ughhhhhhh. This sucks! But what can I do now? I just gotta watch over what I do have and hope for a smooth trip from now on. This is one way to keep me on budget!




Other than that whole fiasco, things have been ok. I woke up before 7 and ran 3 miles on the treadmil at the hotel, then swam, then sat in the jacuzzi. I was trying to get tired so that I could sleep the whole way to Europe.
We left the hotel and drove to LAX which was also an adventure because our GPS turns off randomly about every 30 seconds.

Here's a picture of me with cry-face. I was scared hahaha.




I got my boarding tickets, checked in my luggage, said goodbye to JR, then went through security. It all went sooo smoothly. Then I decided I would splurge and buy wifi for my long wait. When I went to look for my debit card to pay for it, I realized it was missing. I called JR who was already on his way heading towards the 405. He checked my car for my debit card but couldn't find it. He drove back to LAX and gave me his debit card and cash. I had to go through security once more and here I am.


(I wrote this last night)

Next time I blog, it'll be Day 2 because of the long flight and time difference.

Vegas

Now is the time to travel! I'm going to Las Vegas next week because it's so cheap.

The flight each way was only $19 on Allegiant Air. With tax and other fees our round trip flight came out to about $75.

We found a deal online to stay at Excalibur for about $55 a night which is extremely reasonable when split between three people.

Our amazing deals for our flight and hotel leave us lots of extra spending money to enjoy the shops! I can't wait.