California knows how to Party!

This is the Pier at Huntington Beach at night. So cool!

This is Huntington Beach during the day ;) So pretty!

This is shortly after I sat on the side of the cliff. At this point I'm kind of bitter that they are taking a picture because it means I have to stay on the side of a cliff longer. Freak me out!

California was WAY fun. We slept in St George on Wednesday night. Thursday morning we got up at a fairly decent hour and went repelling. I am absolutely terrified of heights, so I'm sure you could imagine how it went, but you'd probably be only a little wrong... so I'll tell you how it went. We took a short drive to a cliff that has stakes in the top for repelling. I didn't look over the edge at all. I watched a couple people disappear off the side of the cliff, and when I say a couple, I mean everyone except for 2 people (there were 2 cars of people with us). Then it was my turn. I was nervous but way too stubborn to chicken out. So I strapped on the harness that makes you feel more like a man than a woman, attached the rope with a little bit of difficulty, received a bit of instruction, tried to pump myself up as much as I could, and then started walking backwards towards the edge of the cliff. (Now I should mention that I have been rock climbing, but only indoors and it's only like 10 feet high. This was a 100 foot cliff out in the desert in St George). I couldn't let myself look down or I would never go, so I decided just going backwards would work out pretty well. I was wrong. Once I got somewhat vertical to the cliff I started freaking out because I didn't know what was under or behind me and let the rope slip a little... enough to make me nearly wet myself that is, and my legs gave out, so I found myself "sitting" on the side of the cliff. I almost had an anxiety attack and was shaking like a leaf (as if that's out of the ordinary...hahaha). Finally, after like 5 minutes and my friends trying to tell me what to do I was able to calm myself down, push back onto my feet and go the rest of the way down the cliff. Mind you, I had only gone like 3 feet at that point. Once I was at the bottom I probably spent like 20 minutes getting my feet back under me before I hiked back up to the top where the rest of my friends were. I'm not so sure I would say that it was fun. I'm pretty sure it's the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire life. If I had another opportunity to repel off of a 100 foot cliff would I do it? Goood question.

After we repelled we headed for Sunny California. Our first stop was Tommy's Burgers. Don't ask me why they are called burgers, because everything there is covered in chili. I didn't try it cause I was pretty sure it would make the rest of the drive very smelly for my passengers. I'm just too nice to do that.

Our next stop was Irvine to stay with some friends of Carrie and Beth. The house was beautiful! Irvine is quite a beautiful little city, at least the part that I was in. It was very clean and nice. That night we went to Huntington Beach and walked around on the pier and took a few pictures. It was dark by then, so there wasn't much to do, but it was fun! I had never been on a pier before. It was a little odd to be out in the "middle" of the ocean. It was really pretty with all the lights shining on the ocean. Candace and I ran on the sand by the shore and discussed how the only things we were missing were two horses and a man for each of us. After our good times at the pier we went back to Irvine to catch some zzzzzz's.

Friday morning we got up and ate breakfast and headed back to Huntington Beach to spend a day on the sand. I caked myself with SPF 70, which turned out to be a success because I am exactly the same color as when I left; and I laid on the beach for many many hours. I boogie boarded a little. I only caught one wave, but it was fun. I swam around in the ocean. It felt really good! I got a little too much water up my nose. Can I just say that salt water is the most disgusting taste in the whole wide world? It tastes like you are eating fish buggars. Gross. LOL. I walked around on the pier and saw dolphins jumping in the water. I played sand volleyball and shared the gospel with some strangers that were Southern Baptists from Oklahoma, which was a great experience for me. They asked me questions and I answered them and they thought everything was really "cool". That night we ate at BJ's just off the Pier. YUMMY! I had a really good Calzone with pepperoni and italian sausage. That night we stayed at Cynthia's house in Duarte. It was a tiny house. I felt a little like we were imposing and so I couldn't really get comfortable, but her family was very nice and hospitable.

Saturday we went to Venice Beach. I have one word for you. Hippies!!!! It reminded me so much of the Saturday Market in Eugene. The beach wasn't nearly as nice as Huntington was, but I was so tired I didn't really care much. I spent the whole day laying on Betty the Beach Towel and soaking up rays. I did walk around the shops a little, but after encountering an argument where cops on horses came to break it up, I decided it was best to stick with Betty.

Sunday we went to church in Irvine. I loved the ward we went to! Everyone was excited to be there, friendly, and genuinely happy. The talks were wonderful in Sacrament meeting. Then we went to visit more of Carrie and Beth's friends. They are all super nice people. After we were done visiting we went back to Duarte and had a barbeque with Cynthia's family for her and her brother's birthdays. It was good food, but by that time the authentic Mexican food was beggining to be smelly. I was glad they had burgers and watermelon.

Then our trip was over and we spent Monday driving back to Provo. It was a fun trip. I'm really glad I went. The only mishap was that my phone got wet while we were at church. I accidentally left it on the coffee table and someone spilled water on it. Too bad no one thought to move it. So it's sitting in a bag of rice right now trying to revive. It was fun and worth it, but I am definitely glad to be back at home with my own space and my own bed.