Last summer was arguably the best summer of my life. My mom's side of the family is from Oregon and so every summer and winter ever since I was a baby has been spent in Oregon. It is because of all those summers and winters that every time I go to Oregon, I get this feeling of "going home". So, of course, at the end of June 2009, my grandpa and I started our 3 day trip to Fossil, Oregon. We decided to go through Nevada, mainly because I wanted to stay the night in Las Vegas. So we leave Blythe at around 7ish at night and get to Vegas at around 11. We stayed at the Golden Nugget, and when we checked in, was I in for a surprise. Our room was INSANE!! Oh Lordy that room was amazing! It was basically this huge suite. There was a master bedroom, that connected to a living room (each had a huge flat screen TV), each room had its own bathroom (mine had a TV in it, too) and there was a little bar area in the living room. I stayed in the living room on a bed the hotel people brought up for me, but boy was I in heaven. Also, I am a total night owl, so Vegas is awesome for me. After we checked in, checked out our room, got our stuff unloaded, relaxed, all that jazz, it was about midnight. Anywhere else, everything would be closed. But no, not in Vegas. We ate a full course dinner in a busy restaurant then went to go watch the light show
and have some Starbucks while we were at it, also. All night long the city was alive and I was loving it. So our hotel had this nightclub called the Golddiggers. My grandpa, being my grandpa, decided to go in there. I got away with it for about 20 minutes until my grandpa decides to ask me what I want to drink, of course he means soda or something, but then the bar tender always looks at me for about an entire minute then asks how old I am. (You don't know how many bars I was kicked out of because of this). So yes, I was in a nightclub at 15 years old in Vegas with my grandpa. I have a picture haha
Ok, so we end up going back to the room at about 3 AM, and I fall asleep after nothing is on TV (Nevada doesn't have TV. At all. It sucks.) We wake up in the morning and decide to go to the stratosphere before we hit the road. After about an hour of my grandpa trying to find the stratosphere (dude, it's the big pointy tower in the middle of the city. Not hard to miss), and him driving on this sidewalk next to the strip that said DO NOT ENTER on it, we finally get inside the stratosphere and we go up to the top and I go on rides and all that. It was all good fun.
Then... we drive...and we drive...and we...wait for it...yes, drive.
Let me just say, other than Vegas, Nevada isn't interesting. Whatsoever. It is all desert and every 8 hours there is a truck stop and a casino. This is what we saw for about a day and a half straight:
So basically we drove until we got to Fossil, Oregon.
Fossil is about two hours out of Bend, Oregon. Fossil is where my grandpa grew up. It's where my great-grandpa lives, and basically the center of our family on that side. No matter what, my great-grandpa always pulls us together.
Here's my great grandpa:
Anyway, we stay at my great grandpa's house
for a couple weeks and I get to see my cousin, Whitney, who is pretty much my sister.
We hang out and it's fun, and then we take off to go to Lehman, a hot spring camp place right between La Grande and Pendleton. This place definitely makes me feel at home. The cabin, the smell of the forest, everything is so peaceful and amazing.
So we stayed in a little cabin and swam, ate, and hiked for about a week. It was awesome, it always is. Around the area, there are tons of forests and places like this:
So, basically, that's what happened in Oregon. I hung out with my cousins, swam, hiked, went on crazy adventures with my grandpa, made inside jokes, and loved life. So, let's talk about the trip home. We decided to go the California route. California is a long state. BUT it is interesting. We stopped and visited my uncle and cousin in San Fransisco
Ferry around the Bay
Golden Gate Bridge
Cable Cars!!!!
Alcatraz(This always makes me think of the movie Shutter Island)
My grandpa and I on the ferry
mmmm shrimp and crab =]So, we have fun, eat overpriced pizzas and go on our way. The next day we got lost in LA, in Chinatown...and Grandpa declared me the worst map reader ever. I declared him the worst sign reader ever. We got frustrated with each other, but it was mostly because we are too much alike and too stubborn. Seriously, once we got in a fight over the difference between "strong willed" and "stubborn". He was basically fighting with me about how he isn't stubborn he's strong willed. At least I admitted that I was stubborn...but I didn't give up haha. My poor grandma that day, she was stuck in between us during our fight at a dinner table in public. That was another time... flashback, okay, so we get out of Chinatown, finally, and make our way home.
So I think I have talked enough about my summer vaccation...even though I could talk about how two days later my friends and I all went to Corona Del Mar and then I stayed with my aunt in Laguna Beach for a month. Well, Laguna Beach is my ultimate happy place, but I talked about Oregon. I learned a lot about my grandpa on this trip. I learned that Nevada is boring, except for Vegas. I learned that my grandpa cannot read signs, but I can't read maps, and that even if there is just a gas station in the middle of nowhere in Nevada, there is a casino there. Most of all I learned that my grandpa and I are more similar than I would have ever thought to be possible.
