Las Vegas

Well, we are pit-stopped in Grand Junction, Colorado for the night after a two day excursion in Las Vegas and a 600 mile drive today. We left San Diego Tuesday afternoon and made the 400 some mile drive to Vegas, taking the long way through the Mojave National Preserve. The scenery was never-ending desert and scattered mountains, but it was a decent drive.
We stayed at the Imperial Palace, which was pretty much in the middle of the strip, across from Treasure Island and next to Harrah's. The first thing we did once we got checked in to our hotel was to go walk up and down the strip and "experience" Vegas in all its glory. Our first stop was at O'Shea's Irish Casino where we both had a Guiness and played the slots. Then we decided to go back to our hotel and start gambling in the casino. After losing many hours at slot machines, poker tables, and roulette, we decided to call it a night. Ben got up early the next morning and got us tickets to Cirque du Soleil Mystere. Then, he got an early start on the gambling while I (of course) slept in until at least 10 am. After I finally got downstairs to the casino, Ben taught me how to play Roulette (with several coffee and Baileys to start the day)! I got hooked pretty quick and it has now become my favorite game to play. We, again, lost many hours in the casino hall before we realized it was past lunch and we were quite hungry. We went down the street to 'Margaritaville' and sat outside overlooking the strip.




Needless to say, after drinking all morning/afternoon and with our margaritas and fruity drinks at lunch, we were ready for a NAP by 3pm. We went back to our hotel for a nap, and got up just in time to get to our show at the Treasure Island hotel and casino. I would say that the Cirque du Soleil was the BEST thing we did in Vegas and was worth every penny we spent on it....it was amazing! After the show was over, we walked down to the Bellagio to watch the fountains for a bit, then, returned to our hotel casino to spend the rest of the night gambling. Ben ended up winning $300 that night at the roulette table so we decided to stop there and cash in the winnings while we were "ahead." I think we walked away from 2 nights of gambling only losing about $100 which isn't too bad, in our opinion. We got to bed around 3 or 4am, and left Vegas early Thursday morning around 9:30.



The drive through Nevada was the never-ending desert terrain. Then we drove through Arizona for about 20 miles before coming to Utah. The drive through Utah was absolutely gorgeous. Everytime you looked around, you would see something different whether it was snow-capped mountains or canyons, or red rocks. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch and continued on towards Moab, Utah where we stopped to see the Arches National Forest.

This was our favorite part of the day, mainly because of the scenery but also because we took a 1.1 mile walk around the park to stretch our legs and take some pictures. We left the park just as the sun was setting, and headed on to Grand Junction, Colorado which is where we are now. We found a Quality Inn to stay in the for the night, and then went to the nearest Safeway to get some food for dinner and a 6 pack. We had a semi-picnic in our hotel room of salad, sushi and vegetables and now we are EXHAUSTED! We leave for Boulder in the morning, and plan on having a picnic halfway through the Rockies (it should be a 5-6 hour drive total). We're staying with my child-hood best friend, Maggie, in Boulder, whom I haven't seen in about 10 years so I am really looking forward to seeing her and we are excited about seeing Boulder. Good night for now! :-)
-Amy

San Diego, Day 2: Lions and tigers and beers, Oh My!

Our second day in San Diego, we spent the majority of our time at the San Diego Zoo. We stopped at a place called "Wahoo's Fish Tacos" for breakfast/lunch for some more seafood and then made our way to the zoo. This zoo is known world-wide for being one of the best and it was definitely worth seeing. We saw everything from the little meerkats to the grizzlies and polar bears. My favorite part of the day wasn't even an exhibit, but as we were leaving the Panda viewing, we saw 2 trainers, one walking a dog and the other walking a North American timber wolf. He looked like a big lanky akward dog, but very much like a wolf as well. The trainers were saying how he trusts his "master" and his "dog" and they were taking him for a walk. He was even taking treats out of his trainers hand, and sat on command. I was a little scared to walk too close to them, but it was amazing to see!


In addition to checking out all the exhibits in the zoo, we saw a sea lion show and also took an aerial tram from one end to the other. It was so much fun and we definitely enjoyed our day there.

After the zoo, we went to Ocean Beach for dinner and a walk on the "West Coasts Longest Pier." We had dinner at Hodad's, which is a burger joint with a lot of character. We sat at a bar that overlooked the street, which was really neat. We were again hoping to see a sunset but it was too cloudy, yet again.




We left Ocean Beach and headed back to La Jolla, closer to our hotel. On the way, we decided to stop at the Rock Bottom Brewery for a few more beers (now that Ben has finally got me off "the Miller Lite" I'm much more excited to try new beers). Well, luckily enough the dessert menu was on the back of the beer menu, so we decided that the Triple Chocolate Stout Cheesecake would go along great with a Nut Brown and a Stout. :-) It was sooooooo delicious. A great ending to a great day in San Diego. Now we are re-packing White Lightning (I shouldn't say "we"...Ben is re-packing), and heading to Las Vegas in a few!

San Diego, Day 1

We left Tucson around 6am yesterday morning. Our car was packed FULL, but Ben somehow managed to get everything we own in it, even without using the roof bag.
Even though I miss Ali, I'm so glad we don't have her this time because this road trip would have been torture for her (not to mention she gets carsick pretty easily). We made pretty good time getting to California, but had to stop THREE different times at border patrol stations, where they were searching for illegal immigrants. Obviously they did not search our car because there was hardly any room to breathe in it, much less hide a Mexican. It almost seemed like it got more brown and desert like, once we got into California.

You could see the Mexico border from Interstate-8 that we were driving along. Luckily, we were able to check into our hotel early and unload the valuables out of car (also, clear out the backseat so we could actually see out of the back window). Then we went to Torrey Pines National Park and walked along the beach for a few miles. It was a beautiful day, partly sunny and mid 60s. As we were walking along the beach we saw this sign that said "Nudity Prohibited." I thought it was funny so I took a picture of it and we continued walking down the beach. HOWEVER, we quickly found out why the sign was there. Apparently we had crossed over onto a nude beach and were no longer in the State Park because we saw quite a few old men taking the "clothing optional" route and walking along the beach.


It did not take much convincing for us to turn around and make our way back to better scenery. :-) We then decided to hike our way back to our car, which was probably 3 miles total. As we made the climb, the view of the ocean was more and more beautiful.
I can't believe how clean San Diego is, for such a big city. After our day on the beach we went to Pacific Beach to get some fresh seafood (and cold beers) for dinner. A local reccomended we go to Nick's, which is a block back from the water. We got there during Happy Hour and started out with 2 pints of beer from a local brewery (Karl Strauss) and 2 oyster shooters. We sat out on the patio, hoping to watch the sun set into the ocean, but it was too cloudy to see it. For dinner we both got fresh Mahi Mahi, which was so delicious. After dinner we walked on the beach again, and then got some ice cream (no day is complete without dessert)!

We got back to our hotel just in time for me to watch Desperate Housewives, and we opened a bottle of wine we got in Sedona a few weeks ago. Our plan was to go down to the pool/hot tub afterwards. However, after being up since 5am, we both fell asleep during the show (Ben says it's because it was "so exciting it put us to sleep"). Now we are getting ready to go see the San Diego Zoo, and whatever else our day might bring (hopefully no more naked people).

Heart Attack Grill

So today, Ben, Lindsay, and I went to the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, AZ. We get there, and the waitress (dressed like a "nurse") tells us to sit anywhere we like so of course we sit at the bar. The drink options were either coke, water, or beer. No diet coke.


The fries were, according to the sign, "deep fried in pure lard" and were all you can eat from a buffet in the back. There were 4 burgers to choose from: anywhere from a single bypass burger to a quadruple bypass. Lindsay and I both had a single and Ben had a double bypass. They were so greasy that you could see the butter dripping off the bun. And they were SO delicious!

You had the option of wearing a hospital gown while you ate (I guess in case you weren't wearing elastic), and could also be wheeled to your car in a wheelchair if need be. We saw a few people take the waitresses up on that offer. The only problem was that I was trying to show off and say that I could have eaten a burger as big as Ben's was, so I finished my burger off and then ate the rest of Lindsay's that she couldn't finish. All that grease did not sit well on the 2 hour drive back to Tucson...so I have a bit of a stomach ache now. :-)

D-O-N-E

Well, we officially worked our last shift at UMC Wednesday night. Like most good-byes, it was bittersweet. It seems like our second contract went by much quicker than the first one and it's hard to believe that we've been here since October. The fact that it has been a high of 97 degrees the past few days makes it pretty easy to leave Tucson. We have already started packing (leisurely), but today we are taking a little trip to Chandler, AZ to have lunch at the "Heart Attack Grill" which I must say will be my last meal for a few days. You can look it up online at www.heartattackgrill.com. Apparently, if you weigh over 350 lbs you eat for free. I think I have taken care of lots of patients that would definitely qualify for a free meal. :-)

-Amy

Coast to Coast

As many of you already know, Ben and I are moving back to North Carolina in May after almost a year of living like nomads as travel nurses. When we decided to start travel nursing, we didn't really set a time limit, we just said we would know when we were ready to settle down and move back to NC. When we were in Canada back in February, we realized that it was time. Because of the economy, hospitals across the country are cutting out their expensive staff, and the travelers are the first to go. With nursing, job security has never really been an issue, but its a scary feeling when your recruiter tells you that there is "one job" available in the whole state of California. On top of the economy, I have realized day by day how much I have missed my job at Duke MICU. I'm the type of person that gets "set in my ways" very easily and I don't really like to change it up. Traveling was a huge leap for me and it has definitely taught me to be more flexible, but I am looking forward to getting back into my element. And with the job factor aside, it has been hard being away from my family and my wonderful friends back home. I must say that Ben and I have become a lot closer this past year, because we have had to rely on eachother and spend almost 24 hours a day together. We have become best friends and have learned a lot about eachother. However, it will be nice to have "girl time" again (no offense to Ben). :-)

So, with all that said, we will be leaving Tucson early Sunday April 26th and heading to San Diego for two nights. I'm so excited to see the West Coast for the first time! I figured I would put this blog together so that family and friends can keep up with our adventures as we make our way back to North Carolina.