Out of town adventures 2010...and the year isn't close to being over!

I'm pretty sure this stage of my life is my favorite so far. Yeah things are sometimes more complicated (or at least I make them complicated) and I'm expected to work and pay bills but I'm fairly confident I'm living the dream. I work three nights a week at a job I enjoy and come home to a couple of very cute and drama-free roommates (pictures to follow). I've learned the art of scheduling myself at work so I never have to take a day off and I still get to leave town for some fun vacations. Here is a recap of a few this year so far starting with the most recent.

Big Bear Cabin in Colorado:

One of my best friends in high school, Angie Johnson, has a cabin right outside Durango, Colorado. I just spent the last four days four wheeling, learning to fly fish, lounging in hot springs, discovering very small towns in the mountains and eating at their diners, going on nature hikes, playing croquet, cutting down trees, cuddling up in blankets next to a real fireplace (no gas involved), window shopping in Durango, and just enjoyed every second.

This was the view we had whenever we drove anywhere. Absolutely beautiful!

When we were at Walmart buying the food for the cabin we came across these little gems and decided it was a must to have nightgowns. This is next to the real fireplace mentioned above.

I have a bigger respect for life pre-chainsaw. I was just about spent after a few swings and it took a couple of big guys an hour to get the tree down. It's fun to say that I helped chop it down.
We took a 20 minute fourwheel ride up this mountain and had a picnic at the top. Some of the people rode in this ranger but I prefered the four wheeler. By the time we got home I was caked with dirt, it was totally worth it:)

I couldn't believe this! There was a pipe coming out of the mountain and it had the coldest, freshest tasting water ever. I think by the end of the trip people were annoyed by me because I made them stop every time we passed it. It's not my fault that it was right on the way to everything!

Huntington Beach:
My roommate Bekah had to go to a wedding in California so we decided to make a weekend excursion out of it and go with her. We left at 3am Saturday morning and arrived just in time for breakfast in Huntington. We all fell asleep laying on the beach and some of the girls are still recovering from their sunburns to this day. We shopped the main street in Huntington and was able to walk on the beach at sunset. That was a good day!

Here are my two roommates! Sarah Steiner on the left and Bekah Parker on the right. I love these girls and I love how we all have coordinating towels:)

This picture was taken pre-sunburn when everyone is still so happy. The two other girls in the picture is Amy and Angela Lindford.

San Francisco:

Three things that were on my bucket list was to 1) Go to San Francisco 2) Eat french toast at Sear's Fine Restaraunt and 3) Take a picture by the bridge. It just so happens that Andrew's family lives in the bay area and his nephew was being baptized so an incredibly fun trip just seemed logical. I loved spending the weekend with his family but my favorite day was definately the day just he and I went to the city. We rode the trolley everywhere, shopped downtown, ate clam chowder and Fisherman's Warf, shared a Ghiradelli chocolate sundae at the factory and ,of course, took pictures by the bridge and ate French Toast. It will be a day that I can't imagine forgetting.

Just a picture hanging off a trolley, loved this place!

The guy that took this picture was pretty funny. I think he was Indian (from India) and after we asked how it looked, he said "Really good, but (as he looked at Andrew) your shoes are burning." We laughed pretty hard and come to think of it, this is probably only funny to us:)

A trip to Idaho and another trip to California can be added to this list. I'm hoping to take advantage of this time of my life and continue to plan some fun vacations.