SO MUCH has been going on lately. I went up to Reno with my Momma for about a week, then we came home for about half a day, did some laundry and re-packing, and then drove to California for a nice lil’ vacation. It was wonderful to get away but being away from home for that long had us both worn out by the time we got back home. But, we both had a great time. Momma went up to Reno on business (she’s a lead investigator/boss in her unit so she’s been going up to the capital (Carson City) and Reno quite a bit lately. I think this was her 4th trip this year. Anywho, I decided to tag along since I’ve never been there before and she said she’d love to have some company for a change. We ended up staying at The Summit at the Grand Sierra Resot. We had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL suite, and the best part is, the state paid for it! Haha. Gotta love a Mom who has state authori-tah! Hahah.

Reno itself reminds me of a much, much smaller version of Vegas. We did some sight-seeing while we were there. Well, Momma was more of my tour guide since she’s been there so many times before. She showed me the Governor’s “mansion” (which, to be honest, is not that impressive ;x), some incredible state official buildings (and by incredible, I mean the architecture!), and we even went up to Lake Tahoe. Oh man. Talk about an incredible, beautiful place and town. I was in LOVE! The lake and scenery surrounding it is absolutely breath-taking, and the city itself is so…cute and…”quaint”. Ew. Martha word. Sorry. HAH. I can’t wait to go back again..!

Fast forward about a day and then we were on our way to California (Newport Beach to be exact). The drive down was fantastic because we headed out around 3 PM. Normally when we go to California we always get on the road no later than around 9 or 10-ish. But, it was nice to get a later start and to be able to see the sunset and Cajon Pass at night. Plus the moon was absolutely HUGE because of the eclipse coming up. It was incredible! I’m a NASA/space junkie so anything that has to do with lunar patterns, eclipses, etc. absolutely fascinates me. We spent the majority of our days doin’ our usual stuff. Went to Disneyland and California Adventure twice, did some shopping and dinin’ in Downtown Disney, hit up our favorite spots like Laguna, Heisler Park, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Newport Business district, Fashion Island, Balboa Island, Dana Point…ah, it was fantastic.

Momma and I are taking our usual trip to Disney around Christmas time (since, of course, that’s the best time to visit!), and my Aunt’s been talking about going down for a few days in mid-October. I might drive down and meet her for a day or two. She hasn’t been to Disney in…oh lord, at least 8+ years. She’ll frickin’ DIE when she sees California Adventure, haha. I’m excited for her — so much has changed since the last time she was there so she’s certainly in for a treat!

I’ve got a TON of pictures that I’ll Flickr either later tonight or tomorrow, along with a video or two that I’ll add to my YouTube page, so when I finish uploading those I’ll yet ya’ll know. Ciao!