California

Jared and I traveled to California for the BCS National Championship. We stayed in Pasadena because that's where the game was, but we also visited the surrounding area while we were there: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, etc. I had never been to Los Angeles before and I've always wanted to go just to see what there is to see and say that I went there. I am glad that we had the opportunity to visit LA so I can check it off my travel list, but let's just say that I will probably never go back. It's just not my cup of tea.

Being pregnant during this trip was not that bad, except for the flying part. Since I was pregnant, I opted to not go through the scanner at the airport which meant that I was not subjected to a full body molestation by the TSA agent in the middle of security. It wasn't really that bad, but let me just say that they are very thorough when they do those "pat downs" as they call them. I've been feeling great for the past month of my pregnancy, but all that went out the window when there was a lot of motion on the plane. I was seriously on the verge of puking during take-off, landing and any turbulence we experienced in flight. We flew the red-eye back home at the end of our trip and I was so miserable. My feet and hands became super swollen during the 5 hour flight from LA which kept me awake and so uncomfortable. So word to the wise, don't fly during your pregnancy unless it is absolutely necessary. You have no idea how it will make you feel ahead of time and then it's too late once you're trapped on that plane. Never again.

Sunday, January 5 

We landed in LAX, got our rental car, and I was starving of course. So we decided to have our first experience at In-N-Out Burger since everyone told me that I just had to go there while we were in California. The place was a mad house, but everything still moved quickly and it was so delicious. They put Thousand Island dressing on their burgers instead of ketchup, which sounds really weird, but it is super yummy.

On our way from the airport to Pasadena, we decided to stop in Santa Monica to see the Pacific Ocean and watch the sunset.  

The weather was a little chilly for Southern California, but there were still crazy people going in the ocean of course. Ugh, tourists.

We walked down onto the Santa Monica pier to watch the sunset. 

The amusement park out on the pier was pretty cool, even though it looked as if the entire thing was about to fall into the ocean at any moment. 

Monday, January 6

We attended the BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl...but that's a whole other blog post.

Tuesday, January 7

I wanted to fly home on the red-eye so that we could have an entire day of sightseeing without having to pay for an extra night in the hotel. Pretty smart, huh? We spent the day exploring Los Angeles and the surrounding areas before boarding our flight home late that night.    

First stop, Hollywood. I was pretty surprised (well not really because one of my sorority sister forewarned me) at how un-glamorous Hollywood really is. It's actually pretty dirty and ghetto. There is one tiny section of Hollywood Blvd. where the touristy stuff is and then the rest of it is just sketchy.

So we saw the stars on the Walk of Fame, the hand-prints in front of the Chinese Theater, and then made a quick exit from the tourist trap. Check it off the list.

I really wanted to see the Hollywood sign and downtown LA from up above so I convinced Jared that we should hike up to the top of the Griffith Observatory. I think he was worried about pregnant me hiking uphill in an altitude above what I'm used to (aka: sea level), but I made it!

The view was awesome and I got to see the Hollywood sign. Check that off the list. I do love how you can see ocean and mountains all in one place in California. Us Floridians are not used to seeing mountains next to the beach.

We drove through Beverly Hills and Bel-Air, admiring the beautiful mansions, on our way out to the beach. We took the long way back to the airport (since we had plenty of time) driving along the ocean, and made a stop at the beach in Pacific Palisades to watch one final California sunset. Of course we had to make one last stop at In-N-Out Burger again before getting on our flight back home. Overall, we had a very nice trip out to the West Coast.