Southern California: San Diego Days

Sean and I went to Southern California for a week after finals got out. It was so much fun! First stop? Primm, Nevada! (Random, right? We only wanted to go halfway the first day since we were leaving so late. It ended up being a really good idea.)

Filling up... on our way!

We got to Primm at 1am due to a rollover accident ahead of us on the freeway that stopped us for a good 2 hours. Sucky. But what do you do? 

Glorious hotel, and yes we did eat the $4 mini mega breakfast advertised.

We woke up the next morning, got ready, ate breakfast, and off we went!

We wanted to stop at Buffalo Bills across the street and ride the roller coaster, but it wasn't open. So the above picture is us, trying to be happy but really bummed that we couldn't ride it. Okay, we were probably more happy than I'm letting on. Freakin' excited is another way to put it.

We stopped at Sean's best friend's parents house in San Diego (got that straight? Cameron's parents) and picked up the keys to the condo they let us stay at. For free. They were so awesome! They also fed us lunch. Sean says Cameron's dad is the only person that can feed Sean until he is 110% stuffed. I have a long way to go... and need a bigger food budget. Kidding. Don't worry, Sean eats plenty!

So we got to the condo, and the entire place is decorated in jungle theme. At the beach? Awesome! We loved it. 

The best part? 

It overlooked the ocean! We could hear it from the bedroom. There is nothing better.

After getting everything set up, we headed down to the San Diego temple. Sean had been there before with Cameron, and I had been there for a couple of weddings when I was a kid, but I had never been inside. So we went!

Parking lot. Why we didn't turn like 45 degrees to get the temple behind us I will never know.

It was absolutely gorgeous! The celestial room is by far my favorite that I've seen. Oh, and Sean and I got to be the witness couple! That kept us awake for sure. (I mean, I never ever struggle staying awake in sessions, especially after driving all day for two days...)

A very nice man took this picture for us.

After the session, we walked around the grounds for a bit, and as we were heading back to the car, this couple was there and stopped us and started asking questions about the temple! Sean switched instantly into missionary mode and started bearing his testimony about the temple and how special a place it is, and gave them a pass-along card. So proud of my hubby! I just stood there and smiled... to scared to say anything. Maybe next time? Anyway, it was a cool experience.

I wish we'd had time to take a couple pictures before the session when it was still light outside. But we would have missed the session if we did.

Another temple off the list! Our goal is to visit as many temples as we can together.

After the session, we were starving. So we went back to the condo, changed, and found a beach grill to eat at. The first one on our list was closed, so we went to the second one on the list. Good thing I had looked at a couple...

We walk in and instantly realize that it is karaoke night... oh joy. A bunch of drunk college kids and old guys? We were so hungry we decided to stay and have a good laugh. The food was really good though, so that was a plus.

We snapped a picture right before we left. This is our "yum that was good but I can't hear anything anymore so lets get out of here" smiles.

We went back to the condo for a good night's rest. The next morning, we woke up and got ready for church and went to Sacrament meeting with Cameron's parents. Then we came back and decided to go for a walk! We walked on the beach together for the first time :)

I omitted the kissy picture to spare you. You're welcome.

"We're at the beeeeaaaach!!!"

Then we walked around the condo grounds for a little bit. They are really well kept!

Pretty flowers. 

The first few of many fish we saw on this trip... (Sea World is next)

The waterfall by the hot tub 

The waterfall minus us.

Can you spot the hummingbird?

The tree by the front balcony of our apartment

This cute little pond is to the right of our apartment. Also taken from the balcony. 

This is us on the bridge in the above picture. 

After walking around the condo grounds, we went to down to the harbor, which was about half a mile away.

Not sure what is growing on these trees, but they were seriously glowing. It was so weird.

The ocean!

Yeah, what's up. I'm at the beach. No biggy.

The ocean with my best friend. What could be better?

Boats!

Thank you to the bench that supported the camera.

Sea lion! I wonder how excited we would have been about this if we had already gone to Sea World.

More sea lions.

Heron. So cool! We saw lots of wildlife on this little walk to prepare us for the next day.

Another one. 

This was in front of the condo. I love this picture.

After our walk ended, we went back up to the condo, and looked up the shows that were going to be at Sea World, so we could decide which ones we wanted to see. We picked them, and took a little nap. Then we went down to Cameron's parents again because they invited us over for dinner. After dinner we went back to the condo and went down to the hot tub, then watched the second half of Bedtime Stories and ate some popcorn. By the end of the movie we were exhausted, so we went to bed and probably had a hard time sleeping out of excitement for the next day. Sea World!

Special shout out and MANY thanks to the Vongsawad's for letting us stay at the condo!