Last week the government took a week hiatus and I decided to take a trip to LA and Las Vegas with my former teammate from UNCG Arsel. My cousin Miles has a condo out in Irvine, CA which gave us a free place to stay for the week.
Tuesday: We left Atlanta early Tuesday morning and arrived in LA that same morning around 9am. We immediately got our rental car and went to my cousins condo in UC Irvine which is 40 min south of LA. Once settled in we knew the beach was where we needed to be and we headed straight to Laguna Beach right off the Pacific Coast Highway or the 1. Laguna Beach is a pretty cool place considering how it is situated in the hills and then drops right into the ocean, very similar to Malibu except that Malibu is just a little more badass mainly because of the shear beauty and size of the mountains in Malibu. That same day we drove all down the 1 and hit Huntington Beach which is another LA staple point and great atmosphere. Huntington Beach is massive and so many young people were out there enjoying themselves so it presented a great people watching spot as well as a solid marketplace where you could buy anything from clothes to farm fresh fruits/vegetables. Basically the 1 highway is the place to cruise when your in LA especially on a nice day, you go through almost every major beach you would ever want to see and you can pretty much pull off at anytime and be on the sand in seconds. We ate dinner near Huntington at this southwestern restaurant called Habana, the food was really solid and I think the bill including drinks was less than $30 so not bad at all.
Wednesday: We headed straight for Malibu and Pepperdine. Malibu was so amazing and it honestly got me pissed off that I never even thought about working my ass off in school to go to Pepperdine which was a big mistake considering its sick location. We hiked all over the mountains there and ended up at a 75 foot waterfall that was breathtaking. Malibu is so unique because it literally sits right on the Pacific and right behind the small town are massive mountains that provide immense opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts like my self.
Thursday: This was the beginning of our trip to Vegas which was a four hour drive from Mile's condo. We decided that since we were driving through the Mojave National Preserve we would definitely find a solid hiking trail and experience the desert. We did just that and climbed to the top of Teutonia Peak, this climb was 4 miles round trip and on that day we were experiencing 30-40mph winds with gusts well over 50mph at the summit. This climb was one of the sickest experiences of my trip and going into it I had no clue what we would encounter, the only advice I would give is that its not too smart taking a brand new 2011 Toyota Corolla off-roading through the Mojave. After our hike we rolled into Las Vegas, check into the Rio, and kicked off our Vegas experience with a bang by losing $300 between my friend and I in the first couple of hours playing roulette and black jack. We had a friend in Vegas who hooked it up big time by getting us a table with the owner of Tao at the Venetian.....I survived to see daylight on Friday morning.
Friday: I was woken up with a call from the same friend who had a $400 tab at Tao Beach for us to eat and drink on. My friends and I stuffed our faces with fresh sushi and about seven different pitchers of mixed frozen drinks...one thing lead to another and I knew I had to book a hotel for Friday night, did that and continued partying. Staying Friday was the best decision I made on the entire trip because it allowed me to win all my money back and then some. I walked into the Luxor with two $5 chips, put them on RED 23...boom $340 right there! Then I continued to play 1st and 2nd 12 and got up to $700 before ending my gambling stint in Vegas up $300...not bad, very, very lucky overall.
Saturday: We both struggled to recover from our two nights in Vegas, Arsel was completely done after his seven hour marathon on black jack from the previous day. We limped back into LA to meet up with my cousin and continue our tour of Cali. We went to San Clemente and hit up a pizza/micro brewery with great food and enjoyed a solid double IPA that won an award at the Great American Beer Festival.
Sunday: We went to the mountains once again for about an 8-9 mile round trip with some amazing views of LA county. We found mint all over the peaks of these mountains so I thought we could use it to make mojitos...later that night we attempted to make the mojitos and they were terrible, I mean disgusting...worth a try though. We had a pretty chill weekend and flew back to Atl from Lax on Monday morning.
California is an amazing place and Vegas is party. We had a badass trip and met some amazing people, the biggest take away from this trip is that I now know that all I want at this point in my life is to travel, travel, travel as much as I can and develop new relationships. It's much easier said then done, but at least I know what I want to put my money into for the time being...next move is leaving the United States.
Cheers
Tuesday: We left Atlanta early Tuesday morning and arrived in LA that same morning around 9am. We immediately got our rental car and went to my cousins condo in UC Irvine which is 40 min south of LA. Once settled in we knew the beach was where we needed to be and we headed straight to Laguna Beach right off the Pacific Coast Highway or the 1. Laguna Beach is a pretty cool place considering how it is situated in the hills and then drops right into the ocean, very similar to Malibu except that Malibu is just a little more badass mainly because of the shear beauty and size of the mountains in Malibu. That same day we drove all down the 1 and hit Huntington Beach which is another LA staple point and great atmosphere. Huntington Beach is massive and so many young people were out there enjoying themselves so it presented a great people watching spot as well as a solid marketplace where you could buy anything from clothes to farm fresh fruits/vegetables. Basically the 1 highway is the place to cruise when your in LA especially on a nice day, you go through almost every major beach you would ever want to see and you can pretty much pull off at anytime and be on the sand in seconds. We ate dinner near Huntington at this southwestern restaurant called Habana, the food was really solid and I think the bill including drinks was less than $30 so not bad at all.
Wednesday: We headed straight for Malibu and Pepperdine. Malibu was so amazing and it honestly got me pissed off that I never even thought about working my ass off in school to go to Pepperdine which was a big mistake considering its sick location. We hiked all over the mountains there and ended up at a 75 foot waterfall that was breathtaking. Malibu is so unique because it literally sits right on the Pacific and right behind the small town are massive mountains that provide immense opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts like my self.
Thursday: This was the beginning of our trip to Vegas which was a four hour drive from Mile's condo. We decided that since we were driving through the Mojave National Preserve we would definitely find a solid hiking trail and experience the desert. We did just that and climbed to the top of Teutonia Peak, this climb was 4 miles round trip and on that day we were experiencing 30-40mph winds with gusts well over 50mph at the summit. This climb was one of the sickest experiences of my trip and going into it I had no clue what we would encounter, the only advice I would give is that its not too smart taking a brand new 2011 Toyota Corolla off-roading through the Mojave. After our hike we rolled into Las Vegas, check into the Rio, and kicked off our Vegas experience with a bang by losing $300 between my friend and I in the first couple of hours playing roulette and black jack. We had a friend in Vegas who hooked it up big time by getting us a table with the owner of Tao at the Venetian.....I survived to see daylight on Friday morning.
Friday: I was woken up with a call from the same friend who had a $400 tab at Tao Beach for us to eat and drink on. My friends and I stuffed our faces with fresh sushi and about seven different pitchers of mixed frozen drinks...one thing lead to another and I knew I had to book a hotel for Friday night, did that and continued partying. Staying Friday was the best decision I made on the entire trip because it allowed me to win all my money back and then some. I walked into the Luxor with two $5 chips, put them on RED 23...boom $340 right there! Then I continued to play 1st and 2nd 12 and got up to $700 before ending my gambling stint in Vegas up $300...not bad, very, very lucky overall.
Saturday: We both struggled to recover from our two nights in Vegas, Arsel was completely done after his seven hour marathon on black jack from the previous day. We limped back into LA to meet up with my cousin and continue our tour of Cali. We went to San Clemente and hit up a pizza/micro brewery with great food and enjoyed a solid double IPA that won an award at the Great American Beer Festival.
Sunday: We went to the mountains once again for about an 8-9 mile round trip with some amazing views of LA county. We found mint all over the peaks of these mountains so I thought we could use it to make mojitos...later that night we attempted to make the mojitos and they were terrible, I mean disgusting...worth a try though. We had a pretty chill weekend and flew back to Atl from Lax on Monday morning.
California is an amazing place and Vegas is party. We had a badass trip and met some amazing people, the biggest take away from this trip is that I now know that all I want at this point in my life is to travel, travel, travel as much as I can and develop new relationships. It's much easier said then done, but at least I know what I want to put my money into for the time being...next move is leaving the United States.
Cheers
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