Snowy Mountains and Sandy Deserts

WARNING: Boring picture dump ahead...

But there's a story about a bidet...so that's not something you see everyday...whose idea was that anyway?? Ryan and I did the trip from Denver to Thousand Oaks, CA in three legs. Our first day we drove from Denver to Moab, UT. How beautiful that drive was. First, we started out in the snowy mountains where the temps were in the 40s. 

Then, as we slowly made our way to the west side of the mountains the snow disappeared and the temps rose. The landscapes were so vastly different but so beautiful in their own ways. I just can't believe that if Ryan and I would've chickened out that day 4 years ago we could've missed this. We would've spent our yearly vacations on a beach somewhere and completely missed it. Moab is the cutest little ol' town. There are a few national parks nearby with loads of hiking, biking, and ATV-ing, a river for rafting, and there's tons of stuff to do in town. We DROVE through Arches, stopped here and there to take pictures and it took us about 2 hours! It was great! It would be super easy and relatively cheap to go back for a quick 4 day weekend or something and just hike all the trails.

Our day in Vegas started out with our Airbnb guy driving us to the convention center to snag cheap Toms. Ha! Legit Toms! Apparently he had been the day before and raved about it so he took us and we both got a pair for over half off. Then we headed downtown and ate at our favorite restaurant, Le Thai. If you're ever on Fremont in Vegas definitely head there for dinner. Gambled our (specified amount of) money away at the Golden Nugget and finished our night people watching in front of Planet Hollywood. We did that a lot when we lived there because it was relatively cheap entertainment. Unfortunately for us, the Bellagio fountains weren't on that night because it was too windy. Whomp, whomp. BUT, that left us plenty of time to meet up with my UMC buddy, Donna! It was so great getting to catch up with her, it's crazy I hadn't seen her in four years. 

The next morning we packed up and headed out for our last leg. Move in day and orientation week were pretty uneventful. My PICU wasn't even open yet at that point. But I made some new friends and we've already gone on an outing to LA! We started out at our old stomping grounds the Grove and SUR, had a drink or two at the Abbey, and went to a Dodger's baseball game.

Had to drive through those to get to the other side. See ya later, Denver!
West side of the Rockies
West of the Rockies, they look so smooooooth.
Arches National Park
Snow capped mountain in the desert! Arches Nat'l Park
So stinkin' beautiful
The famous Delicate Arch - turns out it a pretty strenuous 3 mile hike to get to it...so that's why my picture is so small, haha! That thing is 60 feet tall!

Our motel in Moab still had real keys! I'm a little embarrassed about how excited I was about those.
Our night in Vegas! Reliving our very first assignment was so fun. We've had so many great adventures. And we even got to see and old buddy and catch up!
Welp, we lost our money but it lasted a whole lot longer than it used to!
June was done. D.O.N.E. She can be so emo sometimes.
Our new apartment has a bidet. Really?! Ryan spent the first 30 minutes of our move in spraying it in the shower and giggling. I'm pretty sure it has better water pressure than our shower. Just. Whoa. The only thing we're cleaning with that thing is the tub! Haha!
Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu beach 
Marisol is our new buddy, she works with me in the PICU!
My first pro baseball game - It was a neat experience and I'm super glad we went, but if I'm being completely honest I won't cry if I never go to one again...or pay 15 bucks for a Bud Light again. Hard pass.

***

Four years ago, Ryan and I actually spit shook and committed to travel nursing. In the next couple of days we'll commit to our next big adventure and spit shake again (No, no babies...I'm just gonna nip that in the bud before you guys go cray on me). So stay tuned! 

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