CALIFORNIA!!!! Week 1, 2/17-24/12

I FINALLY MADE IT TO CALIFORNIA!!!!!

My first night in LA was VERY stressful. It was kinda my fault tho. LA is such a huge place that I had no idea where to start. A friend of mine from Miami put me in touch with a friend of his that moved out here about 9 months ago from Miami, so I figured it would be a good stop to get my bearings. It actually ended up being more of a distraction, and since I had a lot of things in my car and hadn't yet settled in it caused me some stress. Lesson learned, settle in first before going out to meet new people! I ended up getting a hotel for the night, and crashing.

My second day (Saturday 2/18/12) was uneventful, switched hotels to a slightly cheaper one, really began my search for a room. Went to go see a place in Riverside. It seems good location-wise on a map, but in reality it is WAY out there. Besides that though it is a very nice room, in a very nice house, in a very nice neighborhood. Only nowhere to eat nearby, and likely TOO FAR from any real job opportunities. The guy was pretty strict too in his screenings, so I was very pleased to hear that I passed his strict requirements.

On Sunday I finally got in touch with some extended family that lives out here, and we met for lunch in Orange City and later visited Laguna Beach. Again, I didn't take too many pictures... sorry.

 The hotels in LA are pretty expensive compared to Vegas and Flagstaff, so this created a sense of urgency when it came to finding a place to stay. Ultimately tho, I had to find a balance between what was immediately available and what was a best fit for me. I actually passed on the first two places that I was accepted at, one due to location, and the other because it was a lil expensive, not that nice, and the lady was starting to act sketchy. I finally settled in Whittier on Wednesday, where I got a nice room for a nice price, with decent, friendly people, after prolonging my search for two nights AFTER my first two acceptances. In total, I spent 5 nights in hotels.


This whole crazy ordeal was why I hadn't posted in a while.

Las Vegas, 2/16/12

Sorry, haven't posted in a long time, things have been pretty hectic for last week and a half or so. I'm ready to get caught up now, so I will start with Vegas.

Now this may sound stupid, but when I got to Vegas and saw a million people taking a picture of the same thing, I decided to leave my camera put away and just enjoy the scenery in person. I realize this isn't too good for my blog, but honestly people, just Google Vegas and you will see a million pictures, I doubt the lighting changed much while I was there :)

That being said, I will also not state what casinos I visited. Vegas is a tourist trap. It's like a polite highway robber. I'm not just saying this because I lost some $, but because i really feel that way about it. My advice to you is this: Go to Vegas, enjoy the sights, the shows, whatever for a day. Then (if you want to gamble), take whatever money you are willing to LOSE, and place ALL OF IT on black/red/even/odd/etc on the roulette wheel, and let it ride. You have about a 48% chance of doubling your money, that's about as good of odds as you can get out there...

Overall though I had a good experience. I played in three poker tourneys, the first of which I placed 9 of 24, which is not bad for my first tourney ever! On the others I didn't do as well, but there were definitely less players to begin with and I did take a few people out on those tables. Other than that I played roulette, which is where I lost the least money, and slots where I lost the most. I'm glad I went to Vegas and tried my luck! :D Better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all!

The Grand Canyon!!! 2/14/12

 

 

NM to AZ, 2/13/12

Now it's time to leave NM. I will definitely remember it, it is a great place. EXTREMELY under-rated. I am, however, very excited about the next leg of my journey Arizona- the GRAND CANYON state!!!

Last day in Albuquerque, 2/12/12

My final day in Albuquerque started off with a surprise... it was SNOWING when I woke up!

I spent the morning helping my hosts dad move furniture from one office to another.

 Weather was cloudy all day, with intermittent snow. Looked like it was snowing on the peaks all day.

Later on, we got a little bit of shopping done, and then went over to my host's dad's (Chris') place for some ribs :D 

 I had a lot of fun, and seems like everyone else did too, especially the dogs. 

Rex fell in love <3

watch the video here.

 

Snowboarding!!! Santa Fe, NM, 2/11/12

Today I finally went snowboarding!!! We went to Santa Fe Ski Area which is in the Santa Fe National Forest. I also bought a new camera on the way so I could take pictures again :)

The road leading up to the ski area.

 

 Riding on the ski lift is an incredible experience... no safety bars.

 

After snowboarding we went to Taco Bueno for a bite to eat, then we headed home to get ready for the Hispano Chamber of Commerce event  called "La Noche Encantada"

It was a really great event where I got the opportunity to network with many Hispanic Professionals in Albuquerque.

 I had a really great time :)

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Also, for those of you who noticed, I didn't do a post for Friday... I basically just went out to look for my camera, didn't find it, did a TON of HW (since it was my last day of classes!!!!!), then at night we hit up the Marble Brewery and Nexus Brewery. It was cool, the bars out here have board games for people to play while they drink. We played Jenga. I don't know who won, but Cory lost :)

Sandia Peaks, 2/8/12

So today I went to Sandia Peaks, and rode the world's largest tram. I had been planning on snowboarding, but we decided it would be better to do that in Santa Fe on Saturday, so that's the new plan. I still went up to the peaks and the ski area to do some sightseeing. I actually took some really amazing pics, with snow blowing around, all bundled up. Unfortunately on the way home I stopped at some national park recreation area to do some hiking, and at some point during my exploring I misplaced my camera! I spent at least an hour looking for it but couldn't find it... it was a large area. There was nobody out there so I'll prolly go back in the morning and look some more. I know I had it. NEways, other than that had a great day.  Sorry no pics (from top of mountain), would've been some epic ones too :(

Puye Cliff Dwellings, 2/7/12

So after having made it to Albuquerque, and sampling New Mexican cuisine, I was ready for some adventuring! My host Elizabeth and her bf Cory told me about the Puye Cliff Dwellings, and that they had some friends who worked out there. It definitely sounded like the type of thing I could not pass up, and just what I was looking for. I feel like Jim Carrey in Yes Man. You wanna do this? YES! How about that? YES!!!

This picture was taken at scenic stop on way in to Puye, looking west, the Jemez Mountains.

...looks can be deceiving.

This is the view looking east from the south side of the cliff, while climbing (above)

I've heard of this before, and seen pictures in textbooks, but nothing in a textbook, or even blog for that matter can describe what it's like to go there and see it... feel it.

So there is pottery everywhere. These things feel to me like they should be in a museum, but the tribe believes these things should remain undisturbed, so they don't excavate them.

I was also very fortunate that I went during the off season, and got a personal tour of the cliffs from a very smart, knowledgable descendant of the Puye.  She told me all about their history, and how their people have adapted into modern society. It's a really great story.

So far I have got to say that this has been the most incredible part of my trip. California's gonna have to work hard to top this!

Superbowl Sunday, 2/5/12

I finally found a good outfit to keep Rex warm :)

Saturday, 2/4/12, Dallas Cowboys Stadium