Road Trip 2014: Day 3

After we left the Grand Canyon we drove until we got to Seligman, AZ. It was a huge influence for the movie Cars. We saw A LOT of Cars stuff on Route 66. We stayed the night there in a super cute little Route 66 kitschy motel that was actually really nice compared to some of the really old run down ones we'd seen. We got up early the next day and headed out for LA! We were pretty stoked about getting to California and hitting up the beach. 

I didn't get to take too many photos in Seligman because it was raining. It was a super neat little town thought with a lot of old Route 66 signs and places that had been well kept up. 

From Seligman to Barstow, CA it was all desert. Nothing but sand and cacti. It seemed like a really long drive but that could have been because we were so excited to get to the beach plus we were waiting to eat until we found an In-N-Out. Fletcher had been so excited to eat there. We've had it before in Texas but he wanted an actual California In-N-Out burger so we waited. We stopped in Barstow to eat but it being the first town you come to after a ton of desert it was extremely packed. So, we headed to the next town, Victorville, and it was so much less crowded and we finally got to eat. It was well worth the wait. So delicious!

Our first stop in LA was the Manhattan Beach Creamery. We'd heard about them because my best friend and her husband had visited and brought us back a cupcake from there. That's true friendship. Carrying back a delicious chocolate cupcake on an airplane for your best friend. I love her. Anyway, we stopped in and got a caramel macaron (best macaron I've ever had) and ice cream. I got Heath Bar Coffee and Fletcher got Maple Bacon Crunch. We enjoyed our treats on the beach rather quickly because it was freezing and it started raining! Yeah! Drive all day to go to the beach and get there and it's freezing and raining! I had to go buy a hoodie it was that chilly! Needless to say, Fletcher was not pleased. So we left Manhattan Beach and hoped that by the time we got to Santa Monica Pier it would stop raining. 

On our way to Santa Monica we drove down Ocean Avenue. We are both HUGE fans of Yellowcard. Especially the album Ocean Avenue. So that was a pretty fun little excursion for us. Plus this awesome succulent covered Ocean Avenue sign was pretty amazing. 

The sun was setting by the time we got to the beach so we skipped the pier and just walked down to the water and hung out for a bit. I thought Oklahoma had nice sunsets...oh man! They got nothin' on beach sunsets. So magical. Next time we go to the coast we are definitely staying put in one place for more than a day so we can relax and enjoy each sunset. Most days we were in a rush to get to the next place so we'd have to leave the beach early. This day we were rushing to get back to Fletcher's cousins house which was about 45 minutes inland and she was waiting on us to eat dinner. We had In-N-Out again. Fletcher was a very happy fella. 

Road Trip 2014: Day 2 // part 1

Day 2 we got up pretty early and left Albuquerque, NM and headed for Arizona. Albuquerque is known for their hot air balloons and their hot air balloon festival in October so it was pretty cool seeing a bunch of hot air balloons in the sky at the same time. I couldn't get them all in one photo but there were 7 total flying around us that we could see. I'd love to go back sometime during the festival. I bet it's amazing!

First stop that day was the continental divide. It was a pretty random little roadside stop. We had fun taking pictures with the tripod though. It also had some amazing views. 

I made Fletcher do this jumping picture. haha!

The first stop we made once we got into Arizona I saw a lizard! Yes, we have lizards all over in Oklahoma but something about being in the desert and seeing a lizard running around just really excited me. So I chased it around taking it's picture. We actually saw lizards at the first two places we stopped in Arizona. Needless to say, I was stoked. haha!

So, we knew we'd come across a ton of dinosaurs in Arizona but we didn't really think about these being the first ones. When we saw them we got super excited and had to stop to check it out. Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool just because they are semi-famous Route 66 dinosaurs but this place was super sketchy. 

This sign is not a lie. Those ostriches were mean. I mean I know that ostriches are mean normally but these ones were terrible. We were probably 2-3 feet from the fence and they were still trying to bite us from the other side and spitting water at us which i've never seen an ostrich do before. It was very weird. 

As soon as we left the sketchy dinosaurs we saw some on the other side of the highway that were super awesome looking but we couldn't find a place to turn around to get to them so we kept going and headed to our next planned stop at the Rock Shop in Holbrook, Arizona. These dinosaurs were pretty dang cool and there were a bunch.

Also in Holbrook we stopped by the WigWam Motel. We were hoping it would time out right for us to stay the night in one but we got there around noon so we decided to keep driving and get a bit further that day. This motel inspired the Cozy Cones on Cars. We walked around and took some photos and Fletcher went in one that was open for cleaning. I didn't venture inside since the lady was right next door at another one. He said they were really awesome and cute so I'm sure we will end up back there to stay in one sometime. 

A little further down the road we stopped in Winslow, Arizona to visit the "Standin' on the Corner" park. It is a tribute to the Eagles song "Take It Easy."

We crammed a lot into day 2 and took a lot of pictures so I will split this up into 2 posts. Part 2 coming tomorrow!