american road trip

as most of you know, tyler and i are back in the wonderful USA.  we flew in at 3:00am on friday and since then, have been traveling all over the southwestern US. we've been seeing awesome landmarks and meeting up with even more awesome friends. 

tyler's friend, christine, from the academy is stationed at the base we flew into so she let us come over and rest/shower/charge our phones while she worked and then we met her for a great lunch at panera. 

after saying farewell to christine, we headed down the road to napa and drove around wine country for awhile, which might still be my favorite scenic part of california.  we wanted to stop at a starbucks at 2:30 to get some free wifi and realized that at 3pm, they would start happy hour/selling 1/2 price frapps.  so we went to the car and slept for a half hour and then enjoyed some delicious beverages.  :) 

then we drove to san francisco and went straight to the golden gate bridge, which was incredible.  it was freezing so the trip was much shorter than we wanted, but totally worth it.  on our way to meet our friend, whitney, for supper, we (me) found an H&M in downtown SF, so clearly we detoured there.  after seeing whitney and enjoying a great supper and even better ice cream, we went to find our car and it was not where we parked it, instead there was a different car in it's place.  after making sure we were in the right spot, and after looking for glass, we called the police department and discovered that they towed it.  cool, huh?  

the next morning we met up with buddy and bryce and the strand family at fioli gardens for Jill's birthday and then moved along to have a great lunch and do some shopping.  then we followed them home and stayed there for the night.  it was seriously so good to see them and to have two home-cooked meals (we're still talking about your dad's pasta, buddy!)

we said our goodbyes and drove straight to vegas, where we got comped a...sweet suite... ceasar himself stayed there.  just kidding, but really.  the front desk guy said, "well because you're from texas, only staying one night, and you're in the air force, i'm going to give you a suite."  uhh.  okay.  he said it's one of the old style suites, but the ratpack used to stay there.  and it was awesome.  totally awesome.  with a view of the strip.  all for the price of a discount room from expedia.  we went to jimmy buffet's margaritaville for supper and then walked around for the rest of the night.  we gambled a little (i had never been to a casino before) but any money i won, my dear husband lost.  :) 

yesterday (wow! that feels like weeks ago!) we drove to the hoover dam (and the new bridge) and then the grand canyon.  i can't even say how awe-inspiring both were, so i won't even try.  :)

and now we sit in phoenix.  we're meeting paula for brunch (and hopefully meeting her hubby!) and then moving along to tuscon to hang out with paul and courtney.  then tomorrow we'll drive to wichita falls and be there late tomorrow night.  we're having so much fun; driving and seeing a parts of america, and friends that mean so much to us.  our maycation is almost over, and we are so excited for the next part of our journey.  :)