after seeing craig ferguson we walked down to the farmers market and the grove. we wandered up the street of the grove, which is basically a shopping area with the street closed off to pedestrians. aaron had a strong desire to find a hoodie or something, mostly because he was cold! we checked out a few places, and he eventually found a nice green one at gap. while walking around there we had our first real celebrity siting: chris kattan from 'saturday night live' walked buy us with his arms full of bags. not really exciting, but kind of cool...
at the grove
after seeing craig ferguson we walked down to the farmers market and the grove. we wandered up the street of the grove, which is basically a shopping area with the street closed off to pedestrians. aaron had a strong desire to find a hoodie or something, mostly because he was cold! we checked out a few places, and he eventually found a nice green one at gap. while walking around there we had our first real celebrity siting: chris kattan from 'saturday night live' walked buy us with his arms full of bags. not really exciting, but kind of cool...
contentment
the look of utter bliss after seeing 'the late late show with craig ferguson'. please note the strange purple shirt. thank you.(more pics)
my time with craig
yes, thats right, i went to go see a live taping of 'the late late show with craig ferguson'! and it was amazing!!! i wrote all about it in my 'scottish king' site, which you can find here, and a rundown of the episode, which is here and here.
nbc tours
monday i popped out of bed unable to focus- i was too excited, for today is the day that i meet get to see craig ferguson LIVE!!! i attempted to calm myself and act normal, which for the most part worked, but i know i got on jeffry lees nerves after a while...we drove adam to work (that way we could use his car for the day) and then came back and got ready for the day. we stopped by 'franks' for breakfast, but it was inexplicably closed. so we settled for subway.
our plan was to try and keep me as distracted as possible before it was craig time, so we headed over to nbc studios to take a little tour. the tour wasnt really anything special, granted, it would have been if i were a fan of the soap opera 'one life to live', but fortunately, i am not. we didnt even get to go check out the jay leno studio because our guide was too late and they needed to do rehearsals. now, im not saying the tour was bad, its just that my mind was a little preoccupied... (craig!).
after the tour we went back to pick up adam, and then we drove down to the cbs studio and found our line. after a short wait, we were filed in to become an audience member...
clothes, God, and dinner
we arrived home safely, and after a little down time, we headed back out! adam showed us a really cool used clothing store called 'its a wrap', which is a place that gets the clothing from film sets and studios, and then sells them second hand. it was a pretty cool place that has some unique and fun clothing. adam says he shops there regularly, and i certainly believe him. i found a few things: a purple shirt (which i love), a brown shirt (its got snaps!), and a button down long sleeve blue shirt.we then headed out to adams church. it was nice to be able to put an image now with his church so that when he talks about it i know where he means. the church was cool, the sanctuary was actually a round room, so the congregation sits on all three sides. the singing was great and the sermon was good. the most unexpected thing happened there: i saw someone i know!!! renee, who i went to college with, was there that night! we got to take a little time and catch up after the service. it was good to see her, but so strange! who expects to run into someone you know while on vacation?
after church we went out to eat at one of adam and als favorite spots: gordon biersch. it was a really good brewery that had amazingly fresh calamari, and delicious burgers. we hung out there for a couple hours, i finally got to step away and call diana (i was really missing her by this point...), and the rest of the guys turned up their charm with the waitress. we told her it was adams birthday (not technically true, but it was the reason for our visit, so i didnt feel to bad) and she brought us out a cake. a long day, but truly a blast!
running on empty
the next morning we packed up and headed out of there. we made one slight miscalculation and left before getting gas... oops. as we headed back it became apparent that adams car was in dire need of gas, so we stopped. unfortunately, the place we stopped was out of gas. and there was a desert wind so strong it almost blew me over when i got out of the car- which was super cool! a couple miles later we found another gas station that had some left, so we stopped and all got out and enjoyed the wind!(more pics)
flume!
after dinner we walked around a bit and discovered that the place had a water log ride! score! well, we werent going to miss out on that action, so we raced over to the ride and hopped into two logs. it was a really tight squeeze, but we made it work. for some reason they gave us light guns for the ride and we shot at different crazy stuff along the way, cowboy maniquinns and stuffed buzzards and the like. i was in a log with jeffry lee, kelley, and al. our one goal was to out shoot the guys in the other log, which we did soundly! for some reason the ride is called 'adventure canyon log flume' ride, so i took it upon myself to yell 'flume!!!' often as we were floating along. it became my mantra for the rest of the visit...
buffalo bills
and then we arrived. wow! buffalo bills was a ton cooler than the place we were staying! this place had some cool atmosphere, the lighting was dark and there was a huge fake tree coming out of the middle of the place that was strewn with lights and even had crazy cowboy mannequins chilling out in it. rad.we took a seat at the buffet. just as i was coming back from getting round one of food, there was a table a little ways away that just erupted! the couple sitting there got into a huge argument and it was quickly coming to blows. yikes! finally a security guard showed up and took care of it, but it was quite a fun little 'jerry springer' moment to witness...
now, to be honest, the food wasnt that great, but it was cheap and unlimited, so i didnt feel a need to complain. everyone was enjoying themselves chatting and being silly. the rest of the dinner went off without a hitch, well, except for the two chairs that kept following jeffry lee.
preparations
we headed up to als room to prepare for the night ahead. we were pretty excited for the night and started acting pretty goofy. i believe at some point adam was a window gargoyle, jeffry lee became known as an accountant, and something to do with a spanking line...there is another casino in primm called buffalo bills. we were told that the buffet over there was much better than what wiskey pete had to offer, so off we went in search of the perfect dinner selection. on the monorail we broke out into song (which was not an uncommon thing for us through out the whole trip...) and performed a seven part harmony of the much loved classic 'kit kat bar song'. i dont often toot my own horn, but i must admit, we were quite good. and, it would seem, the other people in the monorail with us seemed to agree, as we received a round of applause when we finished.
wandering around
across the highway, by way of the monorail, there is an outlet mall. after a quick visit to the pool, we decided to check it out. along the way we met a man who challenged adam to a burping contest after being dressed down for his poor attempt. we wandered around the stores for a while, at one of the places jeffry lee found a lovely hoodie and was begrudgingly convinced (by me) to buy it. i got a fun little tour of banana republic by amy and was informed of the chances of her wearing any of their clothing (the probability isnt very high...). adam and i performed a little song and dance routine for any onlookers in need of a show. after we were shopped out, we went back to meet up with aaron, who had decided sleep sounded better than browsing the shops.(more pics)
one armed bandits
after we got our room all organized and taken care of, a couple of us headed back down the check things out. im not a big gambler, by any means. last time i was in vegas i spent a grand total of five bucks gambling, but i kind of felt like hitting up one of the slot machines. i grabbed my good luck charm (amy) and found a nice nickel slot. i popped in a dollar and gave it a go.much to my surprise, i actually did pretty well! after about ten minutes of playing (on that same dollar, no less!) i hit a big one and actually won $18.30!!! i immediately cashed out and collected my winnings. i played a few more machines through out the night, but never found success again. oh well.
whiskey petes
after a surprisingly short drive, we arrived in the fabled land of primm (we never could decide if we were supposed to pronounce the extra 'm') which may have been the result of periodically traveling at 130 miles an hour...we had the honor of staying in the amazing hotel slash casino 'whiskey petes'. truly one of the most magnificent lodging establishments ever created. or not. adam and al had warned us about the shadiness of the place, and the low class joints we were in for, and im happy to say they did not steer us wrong! after a short wait we headed up to our room.
that picture to the left? well, that is our amazing view from the window of our room. like i said, classy...road trip
our plans for the day involved driving out to primm, nevada for the night. we all piled into adam and als cars. adam figured it would be a bit of fun if we all got the chance to spend some time together on the way. primm being a four hour drive, he thought the best way to do this was to set an alarm for every hour and when the alarm went off we would pull off at the closest exit and switch up the passengers! it was a fun little game, and it allowed us to get to know each other better. as we left we were joined by kelley, als friend, and amy; the seven of us had a fun time of musical car seats the whole way!the trip was very scenic, we drove through the city of la, we even got to drive past san dimas which i particularly enjoyed (it where bill and teds excellent adventure took place! most excellent!), we drove past the famed zzyzx road, we drove through mountains, and even through deserts, including death valley. one thing that i thought was strange and cool was all the abandoned gas stations that littered the highway. it felt like it was something out of a movie. one of the times the alarm went off we pulled into an exit with a gas station only to find it empty and boarded up. we pulled in anyway for our seat shuffle. as we were standing there an couple guys in a beat up truck pulled up and warned us to stay off the land. it was kinda creepy- those guys seemed like they came straight out of 'the hills have eyes'...
we chatted a lot and got to know each other better, al handed out rubber bands, and much music was rocked out to.
wake up
saturday morning came up quick on us. after about 5 hours of sleep we got back up and started getting ready for the big trip out to primm, nevada. as we took turns in the shower we picked up a bit from the party. jeffry lee was on dish duty, adam was in charge of living room clean up, aaron had the important task of watching cartoons, and i took the job of chef- i cooked up a dozen and a half eggs for breakfast, which were rather tasty i must say. once we washed away the groggy feelings, we hit the road!(more pics)
birthday bash
one of the great things about the timing of our trip out to california was that it just so happen to fall on adams birthday! so, needless to say, we celebrated! on friday when we arrived al and floyd picked us up from the bob hope airport and brought us back to adams place. when we got there there were about 10 people hanging out having a great time. adam had invited a ton of his buddies over for his birthday, and these were the ones who were still around at midnight. we missed the big swell of thirty or so people because our flight was late. argh.fortunately, angus was still there, and its always a pleasure to talk with him. we got to ask him a little about his show, 'the oblongs', and what he is currently working on. another party goer was a kid by the name of ren. he and jeffry lee got along real well and had some interesting conversations, to say the least... adam, for some reason, thought it would be a great idea to show off to all his guests the movie 'murder in a mansion'. it is a movie that we made back in middle school, and is rather embarrassing. although, i do a pretty good job of playing a woman...
the gangs all here
just to let you know who all was involved in this crazy fun trip, i figured it introduce the cast: in the back, wearing the green hoodie is aaron, our resident funny man. next to him is adam, the host with the most. jeffry lee is the last one in the back row, the man of many words. in the front on the left is al, adams cousin and roommate (his real name is aaron, but for the sake of keeping the two aarons separate, we just referred to him as al). the lone girl in our bunch is the multi-colored-hair beauty amy. and last, but least, is yours truly, the teller of this tale.
flying out
friday afternoon the guys headed over to my place. they arrived a little after 2pm. we packed up and headed over to matts. he then drove us to ohare for out flight out. things went fairly smoothly with tickets and security check. aaron and i almost got ourselves a free mac laptop in the whole process, but missed out (darn you, morals...).the flight out of chicago went well. jeffry lee and i were able to watch a little 'stargate sg1' on my laptop, at least until the battery totally died on us and we never got to see if the team was able to get out of its time bending black hole troubles. i sure hope they made it ok...
we had a layover in denver and raced to the gate so that we would make it onto our next flight. come to find out there was really no reason to rush. it seems that our pilots were still caught up in their last flight, so they hadnt arrived yet... after about a half hour they showed up. ten minutes later we hear over the intercom 'well folks, my copilot was making a safety check of the plane, and noticed a problem with one of the tires. its got some wear on it. i wouldnt say it has a hole in it... (it totally had a hole in it) but we are going to need to change it. its going to be another 40 minutes to take care of that.' argh! oh well, it seems like we are going to arrive an hour or so late. it was no biggy, and it gave me a chance to talk to the guy sitting next to me who really enjoyed swearing. lucky me.
the trip
0h, where to begin? i got back from california on wednesday, and had an amazing time! i really want to document and share all the great things that happened, and i have hundreds of pictures to share, so i will try my best to include as much as i can.
happy easter
today the church celebrates the most important day of the year: Christs resurrection! the story is amazing, and true.one of my favorite parts of the story is what happens after he returns. he appears to a couple men on their way home and reveals to them the truth behind everything and how God had been planning it since adams first sin. here it is, as told in luke 24:13-35. man, i wish i could have been there to hear him explain it all!
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
"What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
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