Monday, February 7, 2011

Ally: Road trip.


Thanks Nancy for the great topic.

My best road trip ever? Easy peasy.

I was living with my fabulous cousin/BFF Kristen. It was Martin Luther King Day weekend and she said, "Let's go to California!"

"What, now?"

"Yes! Now!"

You don't say no to California! So I started packing my bag. And I thought, "oh what the heck, I'll text that boy I like and ask him if he wants to come."

I texted, "Pack your bags, we're going to Disneyland. Now."

He thought I was joking. Then he said we were crazy. Then he showed up on our doorstep with his bag. And off we went!

We went to Disneyland the next day and it was one of the best days of my life. We rode all the fun rides and had a blast (personal favorite: Indiana Jones of course.) And, after Space Mountain made me feel a little queasy at the end of the day, the boy I liked suggested we go on "It's a Small World". Once we were in the tunnel listening to the obnoxious song, he put his arm around me for the first time. Boooooom baby! The night ended with fireworks.


After that, I married that boy. (Well, not RIGHT after.)

Best. trip. ever.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

My road trip


Nancy here. I get to guest post. Woohoo! The power

Ok, guys, I know the slacking is happening, but I'm on this cute little road trip with my cute little choir, and I came to two realizations. The first is that for all the singing I've done in my life, I've never been on a choir tour before. You see, our high school choir was a mess I never wanted to reckon with and by the time I got very good in college I was practically graduating and couldn't get into the good choirs that tour. So here I am, 34 years old, and finally doing the road trip thing. Hotel rooms and meals paid for, riding on a but, finally getting to know the people I've been rehearsing with for so long, and singing in, well, basically its an arena. Its the college arena here, but its about the size of my high school's hockey rink. Big for a high school (especially one with only 700 students grades 7-12) but tiny for a college. Like I said, my high school was not someplace to be reckoned with.
My second realization is that I've never been this far south before. With the exception of an occasional layover in Texas or vegas, the
farthest south I've travelled is maybe San Francisco or Santaquin, or kansas? whichever is farther south. I've got the north half of the US covered, but my southern excursions are sorely limited.

But how can I complain, really, since I actually have been on the best road trip of all time. Let me tell you a little about it while I wait for these tech-y guys to hook up a giant organ.

See, I served my mission in Paris. The Paris. No Idaho jokes here. And after I got home, the salt lake olympics happened and my roommates and I discovered that a ticket to leave slc at the beginning of the 2 weeks and return at the end was really cheap. Like $300 to Paris cheap. And so armed with a few contacts and a good guide (me) :) we went to paris for 10 days and about $500 each. That's including hotel and food and souvenirs. We saw the opera at the famous phantom of the opera opera garnier for $3 a ticket, because I knew where to get student passes. And we went to the museums and saw degas and van gough and seraut and renoir for a few dollars because I knew how to get the universal pass for all the museums rarer than paying at each spot. We went to a late night movie and tried to figure it out in French and then we went to a crepe shop at 2 am and mingled with the cool people and we ate pastries and cheese and rode trains and caught pickpockets and yelled at drunk people and walked in parks and took our pictures in front of the Eiffel tower. Then when we came home and asked people what they did with the or time off from school they would tell us they slept for two weeks or volunteered to pick up trash after the opening ceremonies or something we just said "me? I went to Paris."

Totally the best road trip ever.

Until this summer, when I go on tour again, then the jury will be out. Maybe my cute little choir can top Paris.



But how about you? What was your best road trip ever? And what road trips do you still dream of? I know technically we did go on an airplane, I won't discriminate if you have to fly to your destination road trip. I just count it as a road trip if it is with friends, unplanned, and fly by the seat of your pants amazing.

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Location:St George!