N.Y.C-You there!

I should be more concerned with planning Cody’s 30^th birthday {but I have already purchased the majority of his decoration and I will be posting about all of that VERY soon}; but we’re super UBER stoked, about our trip to NYC!
 

We were originally going to drive and bring the doggies {you know how I have separation anxiety when away from them… plus, I think everything is more fun & cute when they’re there} but the places to rent with an actual outdoor space {which I was able to find quite a few in the city, believe it or not} were a tad more $Cha-Ching$, so this trip shall be an airplane ride away and my first experience with the X-ray machine, which I’ve decided is my arch nemesis!

*Side Note: I had to use spell check to correct the word “experience” but not “nemesis”… I wonder what that says about me since I think I’ve said, let alone spelt, that word MAYBE 100 times in my life.

This post is similar to what I did for our California trip; it’s all the pre-planning preparations, sharing our tools in the hopes of helping someone {which is the purpose of a blog, right?}.  Recently I started using Google Airfare and it is AMAZING!  If you read our blog you know that I’m in a relationship with Google {he just gets me}, so I was shocked that I’d hadn’t used this nifty tool before.  Basically, if you think, “I’m going to go to {insert destination here} on these dates!” but then wonder if you left a day earlier or later it possibly could’ve been cheaper?  Well, this Google function eliminates that wondering… BEHOLD the best way to see flight fares!!!

First put in the date range you’re looking to travel within, then click the bar graph icon to see when the lowest fare is:

Here you can see if you left the 6^th or 7^th OR the 12^th-24^th {instead of the 11^th} your fare would go from $288 to $258

Then you’d just click on the price you like, at the time you want it, and you can either book from Google or the airline’s website {the fares are the same price, that’s where Google is pulling it from}.

*Side Note: I know there are a lot of Expedia, Travelocity, etc… people out there BUT they don’t discount the flight cost, you only get a deal on hotel rooms if you book together*

Since we like to stay where the locals do versus the tourist areas {even though we participate in those activities}, we don’t recommend hotels due to them either being SUPER expensive since they are in a sought after location or there aren’t any to be found in our desired area.  {Sometimes I’ve noticed it’s actually cheaper to rent through Home Away or VRBO since you can “haggle” on the price or sometimes they give you a deal.  We originally were only going for 3 nights but the owner gave us the 4^th night for only $50 since there was a day gap between reservations!

Our flights were only $210 per person & our accommodations, for 4 nights, in the Meatpacking District {which is where the cool kids are going these days} for $150 a night.  I am aware that we possibly could’ve found a hotel for cheaper BUT it wouldn’t have been located near Greenwich Village {which is my favorite area}.  This is where we’ll be staying: http://www.vacationrentals.com/reviews/listReviews.htm?listingId=71415

And yes… I have a spreadsheet itinerary, price list, etc… but I barrowed a few books from a friend & I have friends going in July so I’m waiting to get feedback before posting that.

ROADTRiP! Days 10-11: Traveling Home

June 14th: Our last day

We packed up the truck, cleaned the rental house, and waved good bye to our temporary home {which we would permanently live in} and drove away. 

Again, we started the day with food by eating Fatburger for lunch

Diesel decided it was his turn to ride shotgun

Cody made a quick stop at SPROUTS To get a few more snacks for the road & a few California Avocados, Lashes waited anxiously for his return

While deciding whether or not we wanted to go to a dog park or not, I received an interesting phone call from the management company that takes care of the rental house.  The agent told me that the maids said the house was trashed.  “There are pee stains on the couch & bed, there is dirt everywhere, it’s completely trashed!”  so he was on his way to the rental to take photos and he wanted us to know that we might be charged more money on top of our pet deposit!  I told him that we were only 14 min away so we’d meet him there because I Knew it was not trashed.  When we were 3 minutes away he called us back and stated he didn’t know why the maids claimed what they did.  There was a normal amount of pet hair on the floor {but that’s why we pay a pet deposit} and it was a drool stain on the comforter {which can be washed} and the stain on the couch had been there the entire time, so everything is okay, no need to stop by.  Well, I was pissed!  What if we weren’t driving, but flying… I felt like this was a total scam to try and get more money!  After that fiasco, we decided to drive home & not stop at a dog park since we needed to make up for lost time. 

See, perfect & CLEAN!

Every vacation we go on we buy sun glasses, this is what we collect.  Cody already had his {thanks to Ian!}

but I was in dire need, yes DiRE!  So the 1^st gas station we stopped at, Cody bought me a cute pair

I was surprised at how close we actually were to Mexico's border

Once we made it through the check point in Arizona {yes, another check point, because that makes sense!} we let the dogs have their first potty break, but they did NOT want to get out of the truck, why?  BECAUSE IT WAS A DRY 104 DEGREES!

Diesel jumped out & jumped right back in, where Lashes just laid straight down on the sand/dirt, like she was pretend fainting.  After we laughed for about 5 min I got to take a close up shot of the giant windmills I’ve been obsessing over

Still in Arizona we started driving by HUGE cacti, and no, Houston does NOT have theses

So naturally, we stopped and shot a few photos

Be careful though, this was in Cody’s flip flop, OUCH!

Once back on the road we saw this {lets just say if you were playing the alphabet game, this strip of road would end it in less than 5 minutes, haha}

Once the sun set we knew we had to think of something to stay awake and motivated

and my old high school friend told us we HAD to go to Eegee's and get their slushy, which we did, here is proof:

And that thing was SHUUU-GAAA-REEE!  And it did just the trick! 

*Tip:  If your driving partner is sleeping and you start to get bored, listen to the comedy channel on Pandora, it helps A LOT!

June 15th: Home Stretch!

We barely made any stops, just for gas, potty breaks, & to feed the dogs, we were on a mission to get home!  We actually got home 2 hours earlier than expected.  Smelly & starving we drove straight to Gringo’s Mexican restaurant to pick up to-go {neither of us was going to lift a finger to prepare a meal}.  We ate dinner, slept, woke up, unload the truck, downloaded the lovely photos you’ve seen throughout these post, and slept some more!

When all was said and done, we had driven a total of 3800.6 miles and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

This trip was by far my all-time favorite vacation, the only thing I would have done differently was include a few more days in each city, but that’s about the ONLY thing I would have done differently.  We are definitely Californians at heart and there will be more trips made to the sunny city for sure, but I would like to say a special thank you to my wonderful husband:

"Cody, thank you for driving the majority of the way, thank you for trusting me to plan this trip, & thank you for being you.  You made this trip amazing, and I wouldn’t have wanted to make this journey with anyone else, I love you very much."

~Love,

Jeannie.

Enough with the sappy stuff!  If you’re interested in checking our maps, here you go:

Our Actual Route to California:

 https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=216583424838974774130.0004c509cf3373e9a35f8&msa=0&ll=35.924645,-107.006836&spn=26.853428,39.331055

Our Actual Route Home:

{Coming soon, sorry!}

ROADTRiP! Day 9: La Jolla & Friends

June 13^th:

I see a trend, every post starts with where we ate at, so why change it up now?  We had a quick bite to eat at Rubio’s, an all-natural organic “Taco Cabana” type Mexican restaurant.  Then we went to La Jolla Cove

where the dogs did fantastic!  They again, made us look good

After snapping a few family photos we had to put them in the truck so we could visit the sea lions sun bathing at “Children’s Pool,” that was REALLY cool.

SAFE! 

As long as you were a minimum of 20 feet, you could take as many photos as possible

And again, I brought my tripod so we wouldn’t have to rely on others for the “perfect” shot

It's gorgeous there, if we could afford it, we'd live here

I asked him to please look up, and he did!  I didn't know they knew english! 

From there we went to Del Mar Dog Beach where there was a female Mastiff named Bentley

and a male Puggle there, so our dogs had dates, it was ADORABLE!

They had so much fun!

They were the leader of the pack

I love their paw prints!

It was actually really chilly

She was having such an amazing time, so cute!

"What is this stuff?!"

I wish we could go back and visit now *sigh*

After tiring out the pups we spruced ourselves up

and met up with our two friends, Ian

& Ann

for dinner at Las Olas in Cardiff by the Sea which has an amazing view of the ocean that you can gaze at while sipping your margaritas.

{One thing you should know if you’re a Texan going to California is their Mexican food is different than ours & their chip baskets are MUCH smaller, & they don’t refill it unless you ask.  Silly Californians, carbs are delicious}!  

Afterwards Ian & Ann took us to Encinitas Ale House

Ian is currently enlisted in their 80 Beers in 80 Days Club.  Which is “A very exclusive club.  Drink 80 beers in 80 days and be entered to win a brewery tour destination trip!  Previous trips: Belgium, Ireland, Colorado, Munich Oktoberfest, Austria & Mammoth.  Come in and start your "80 beers" card today!”  the great thing about this “club,” is your name is NEVER taken out of the “hat” To win the trip, so you could win in a month, a year, or 10 years later which is really cool!

The hospitable Ann & Ian then took us to their gorgeous apartment where we hung out for many hours {thanks Ian for being a trooper and staying up}!  They made it really hard to leave San Diego but they made our last night there awesome!