Heaven knows I have some subconscious obligation to post at least 5% of the pictures I take... here's 17 out of 264 from this fantastic week!!
My friend Alana (who, to remind frequent CarterBlog flyers, is my friend I met in Belgium. She's a regular guest star on this blog!) invited me to spend New Years with her family in Pasadena, California. I thought about it for about 2 seconds before purchasing my plane ticket! My dear Daddy woke up at a bright 2:30 am to give me a ride to the airport to catch my 6 am flight... yuck. :)
Alana met me at LAX a few short hours later and we immediately started playing! We went to Santa Monica and had breakfast on the pier after walking along the beach for a little bit. It was a beautiful morning!
After breakfast and an adventurous stop at Venice to see the canals, we headed to the Getty Museum. It is an amazing museum filled with sculptures, gardens, paintings, photographs, etc. We spent a few hours there before the big rush came. If you ever have a chance to go see the Getty, GO! It's free. You don't need a better excuse!
That evening we headed to Disneyland... where we got in free. It's a fun story, really, but we owe it all to Ian, Alana's older brother. He did some talking, played the "I have a friend from Utah" card, and we were able to ride a few attractions in California adventure. SO FUN!
Waiting in line for the Screamer:
Sitting on the Maliboomer:
Alana and I snuck into the Disney store in Downtown Disney only to find the dresses of our favorite princesses, Sleeping Beauty and Belle!
Here's some of our crew in front of California Adventures: Me with some of Alana's family: Alana, sister Megan, nephew Gavin, and brother Evan.
The next day we went to see some of the floats for the Rose Parade up close. I had NO idea how intricate these floats could be! This is a close up shot of one of the faces on the Alaska float. If you look closely, you'll see beans, seed, and baby pinecones. In order to be in the parade, every single exposed spot of the float has to be covered in organic material. The detail blew me away!
New Years Eve was spent on the parade route. It was NUTS, but SO much fun! Any car driving down the street is an open target for marshmallows, tortillas, etc. We saw a kid almost get arrested. It was quite the entertaining altercation! The Finlays quickly taught me a few tricks about the art of the parade route... and I had a ball!
If you smear shaving cream on the tortillas, they stick much better!
Throwing the tortilla... (I only threw one the whole night... I promise! :) )
A toast to ring in the new year! Pictured is me, Evan, Alana, Ian's friend Kristen, and Ian.
The whole point of this adventure was to sleep ON the parade route. This is us. Sleeping on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. That's right, folks, ON the road. Not the sidewalk. The ROAD.
This is our "We survived sleeping on the parade route!" picture... It rocks. :)
Later on New Years morning, Ian, Alana, Kristen, and I went to the VIP tailgate party for the Rose Bowl. Don't ask me how they got tickets... I just went! And it was great. Free food. No complaints... :) It was DELICIOUS!
In front of the stadium... We didn't go to the game, just the tailgate party. And in this picture, we were staring at the sun. I'm still seeing spots...
Our last morning, Alana and I went down to the Santa Anita racetrack and had breakfast at Clockers Corner. Part of the movie Seabiscuit was filmed here. It was a foggy morning, but I had fun walking around and chatting with some of the jockeys.
At the racetrack:
All in all, it was SUCH a fun week! Alana's family was so good to me and they showed me a great time! Wahoo for celebrating 2009 in sunny California!
My friend Alana (who, to remind frequent CarterBlog flyers, is my friend I met in Belgium. She's a regular guest star on this blog!) invited me to spend New Years with her family in Pasadena, California. I thought about it for about 2 seconds before purchasing my plane ticket! My dear Daddy woke up at a bright 2:30 am to give me a ride to the airport to catch my 6 am flight... yuck. :)
Alana met me at LAX a few short hours later and we immediately started playing! We went to Santa Monica and had breakfast on the pier after walking along the beach for a little bit. It was a beautiful morning!
After breakfast and an adventurous stop at Venice to see the canals, we headed to the Getty Museum. It is an amazing museum filled with sculptures, gardens, paintings, photographs, etc. We spent a few hours there before the big rush came. If you ever have a chance to go see the Getty, GO! It's free. You don't need a better excuse!
That evening we headed to Disneyland... where we got in free. It's a fun story, really, but we owe it all to Ian, Alana's older brother. He did some talking, played the "I have a friend from Utah" card, and we were able to ride a few attractions in California adventure. SO FUN!
Waiting in line for the Screamer:
Sitting on the Maliboomer:
Alana and I snuck into the Disney store in Downtown Disney only to find the dresses of our favorite princesses, Sleeping Beauty and Belle!
Here's some of our crew in front of California Adventures: Me with some of Alana's family: Alana, sister Megan, nephew Gavin, and brother Evan.
The next day we went to see some of the floats for the Rose Parade up close. I had NO idea how intricate these floats could be! This is a close up shot of one of the faces on the Alaska float. If you look closely, you'll see beans, seed, and baby pinecones. In order to be in the parade, every single exposed spot of the float has to be covered in organic material. The detail blew me away!
New Years Eve was spent on the parade route. It was NUTS, but SO much fun! Any car driving down the street is an open target for marshmallows, tortillas, etc. We saw a kid almost get arrested. It was quite the entertaining altercation! The Finlays quickly taught me a few tricks about the art of the parade route... and I had a ball!
If you smear shaving cream on the tortillas, they stick much better!
Throwing the tortilla... (I only threw one the whole night... I promise! :) )
A toast to ring in the new year! Pictured is me, Evan, Alana, Ian's friend Kristen, and Ian.
The whole point of this adventure was to sleep ON the parade route. This is us. Sleeping on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. That's right, folks, ON the road. Not the sidewalk. The ROAD.
This is our "We survived sleeping on the parade route!" picture... It rocks. :)
Later on New Years morning, Ian, Alana, Kristen, and I went to the VIP tailgate party for the Rose Bowl. Don't ask me how they got tickets... I just went! And it was great. Free food. No complaints... :) It was DELICIOUS!
In front of the stadium... We didn't go to the game, just the tailgate party. And in this picture, we were staring at the sun. I'm still seeing spots...
Our last morning, Alana and I went down to the Santa Anita racetrack and had breakfast at Clockers Corner. Part of the movie Seabiscuit was filmed here. It was a foggy morning, but I had fun walking around and chatting with some of the jockeys.
At the racetrack:
All in all, it was SUCH a fun week! Alana's family was so good to me and they showed me a great time! Wahoo for celebrating 2009 in sunny California!
1 comment:
Fun!!! loved that you had such a great time. a little humor about Santa Anita Race Track. Your grandfather and I went once with friends. I was sent to place a bet on the Exacta. I was in line. This little mafia looking man, fedora and all was in front of me. I ask him in "all knowing" verse, "do you have any scoop or hot tips?" He tipped his hat and said, "yes", told me who was going to win. I went ahead and bet on the selection of Bill and our friends. Guess what? His horses won!!!! I can still see him standing there about 5 feet, tailored suit, starched shirt and tie and that fedora cocked sideways.
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