There and Back (Day 1)

There are so many great stories, I cannot put them all into one post. Therefore, I have decided to spread them out over the next couple of days/week to give it more suspense. I hope you enjoy.

Yes. It is true that recently, I visited the western coast of our continent for the first time. It was the first time for such an adventure without parental units. Yep, you heard it here first, I am 21, nearly 22, and have never been on a trip without some sort of family figure with me. I guess you could say that I was raised in a cage, but I would say, I was raised with very protective and loving parents. Alright, time for the huge long story. I suppose it would be beneficial for those of you who are just tuning in to hear the story from the very beginning.

Rewind...

I had never been to California, but always since I was a small child wanted to go. My parents disliked crowds and therefore, we were never able to go to the greatly crowded, so called "normal" vacation spots. Often Yellowstone entertained, along with Minnesota, but don't get me wrong, they were a lot of fun!

Fast forward...

December the idea was presented to me to go to California for my birthday. Heck, California, lets do Disneyland. January, plane tickets bought, WICKED tickets purchased. The trip was planned. Four girls would be crashing a weekend together.

Fast forward...day of departure...

Starting at 3:30 a.m... plane to vacation land leaves at 6:05 a.m. Must be to the airport at 4:30 a.m. to check baggage and make it through security. I always get anxiety going through those stupid metal detectors. I am a good person, but they (the guards) don't know that. I am pretty sure they can check out your record dating back to Kindergarten and if that's the case then they would know that I, Sara, cutout a star for talking to my neighbor. That would be the reason for the stares into my deepest, darkest parts of my heart...dare I say the cockles. Okay. Shoes off, no socks, disgusting, I don't know how many people have touched that exact floor with their bare feet except, I don't have fungus.

On the airplane, I begin getting excited, it is finally starting to feel real. I am fulfilling a childhood dream of going to the greatest place on Earth. Subtract the nausea feeling, and perfect. Stay calm...we aren't there yet. Landing, palm trees, wild flowers, ocean and cloudy sky. Not exactly what I had expected, but a cloudy sky will be okay.

Once in California, given it is now only the wee hours of the morning, we find a place of nourishment in Huntington Beach, Sugar Shack. It was magical. For the next 12 hours of my life, I spent them shopping in outrageously priced stores. For example, a tank top, 89 dollars. But Aly and I thought it would be great fun to get our make-up done for the WICKED Broadway show. Sarah and Holly got their's done and it was "free" or so we thought. Finished with our new looks (which you will see shortly), the brick was dropped on our toes, a minimum five product purchase was required. Now understand that the cheapest make-up container was 18 dollars. Crap, now I have to spend money on make-up...and yes I did, $150.00 smack-a-roo's. That was hilarious. We ended up driving to the next mall and returning it all...ha-ha. on you stupid make-up place. Fried Mac-n-cheese balls from Cheesecake Factory=heaven.

Day gone, WICKED awaited us in LA. We headed to the hotel, thinking we would be able to shower and get ready there, only to be informed that we needed to leave right away. Quickly, we checked in to the hotel, did a quick strip and change. (I have never in my life...life...life...changed in front of anyone besides myself and the mirror, but there was no where else and well, we were going to be late.) And in all honesty, it happened twice more in various parking lots. Make-up and hair done in the car on the way there, we only got lost once...thank you nice grocery shopping center in downtown LA for the directions.

Holly, Sarah, Me, and Aly just before entering the theater to watch WICKED!

Thank You nice person behind us in line.

WICKED!! The most amazing show on this green earth. We often caught ourselves mouths open, gawking. We after all fifth row seats after a mistake on the ticket people part. Sudden urges of dancalitis were thrust upon us, but resisting, we enjoyed silently. We enjoyed this portion of the trip immensely. So much in fact that we listened to the entire soundtrack on the way to SLC and back; our own short Broadway show, staring us.

This was the greatest show on earth!

TO BE CONTINUED...