Two Kelly's to Cali, Day 5

By our last day, day 5, of the long trek westward, we were more than ready to be in California. At one point we had considered extending our stay at the Grand Canyon to do some hiking. Then, we thought about spending one more day in car. Day five was probably our most boring day. We drove through the second half of Arizona and then got into California. Let me tell you, the eastern part of the state {at least on I-40}, there is NOTHING!!! We drove through the Mojave Desert, crossed over the mountains, and got to L.A. before the traffic got bad.

Because there was nothing, our bathroom breaks became "interesting." We saw a sign that said there was a rest area 10 miles ahead so we trekked on to it, expecting to be able to stretch our legs in just a few minutes. Well, the rest area was closed!!! Hubs couldn't wait until the next town {which was 30+ miles away} so we had to create our own rest area {if you catch my drift}.

Mike stretching his legs in the Mojave Desert

Throughout the trip, we kept letting ourselves get WAY too hungry for meals. Hubs and I are like the guys on the Snicker's commercials when we get hungry. Needless to say, it doesn't create a friendly car environment. We resorted to eating some "interesting" snacks {we had already eaten all the good stuff}. Thanks again, mom, for packing away all of that food for us on the road! Anyway, it was almost 2pm before we had lunch at In-N-Out, but it was deee-lish. In-N-Out Burger is to California what Chick-Fil-A is to Georgia.

The most "interesting" snack during the roadtrip.

We arrive at my sister-in-law's place in Los Angeles at about 4pm. It was SO very nice to get our car unpacked. As I mentioned before, we stayed with them for about 5 days before our cube arrived with all of our stuff. Thanks, K&G, for being such gracious hosts and so generous with your home.

That's it folks - our whole trip to California. Sure hope you enjoyed following us along. If you missed a post, click on the link for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, or Day 4.

Two Kelly's to Cali, Day 4

Finally, I’m updating the finale of our cross-country move. By and large, day four of our travels was my favorite! We stayed at a KOA Kampsite {again} in Holbrook, AZ. This was my favorite campsite of the three we went to – definitely had that Mom & Pop feel. The man that ran the Kampsite cooked breakfast every morning: only $2 for all you can eat pancakes.

Then, we spent the entire day site seeing {WARNING: there will be lots of pictures}. This was our only day of just being a tourist. After our pancake breakfast, we packed up camp and headed to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. We drove through these amazing landscapes and enjoyed breath-taking view after view. In the Painted Desert there is this old inn and restaurant that is now just part of the National Park. The architectural features and detail-work in the Painted Desert Inn were definitely my favorite.











Once we made our way through these two parks, we had a short 2 hour drive to the GRAND CANYON!! We were both super excited about going to the Canyon – neither one of us had ever been. A-MAZING!! Really, we drove from look-out point to look-out, and at each point we couldn’t believe how awe-inspiring the view was. Breath-taking. {Okay, I’m going to stop trying to describe it since I can’t get away from every cliché imaginable}. It’s good for me to be in places where I realize this world is so much bigger than my little place in it. We stayed through sunset to watch the light play on the rocks in the canyon. While we’re out here in California, we plan on going to the Grand Canyon again to spend more time exploring and to hike down into the Canyon.

Home Sweet Home

We've already been in California for 3 weeks now, so it's well past time to show you pictures of our new place! In a later post, I will share some of our home projects. We have lots we want to do to make the apartment a bit more like home sweet home. Let me just say, though, that I'm proud of hubs and myself for getting all of our boxes unpacked {at least all of the ones we could do}.

Here's the living room {and our new couch from IKEA!}

{Please ignore the Goodwill box right next to the TV}

Here's the small dining room with our patio furniture. :) We sold our dining room table & chairs before the move because we didn't think they'd fit in our smaller place. One day soon we'll get a more fitting dining set {still nothing fancy, but something that looks better in the space}:


The kitchen. I have been surprised by how much storage that little space has. I'm going to need to figure out a couple of creative ways to increase my counter space, though.


This, my friends, is "Minty" the bathroom. I did my best with the space. That's all I have to say about it...


Finally, this is our bedroom. These aren't the greatest shots. I'll probably update them with better ones soon.

There were a couple of "spaces" we left out. We also have a little study nook with a desk in the far corner of the living room. Just off of the dining room/living room combo, we have a balcony. I'm excited to get out there and make it something really enjoyable {future project}. Right now, it's super boring.

I sure hope you enjoyed the tour! :)

California Living

It's really, really hard to believe that we've been living in Pasadena for over 2 weeks. Since being here, we've managed to slip in few fun things, but mostly we've just been doing the usual stuff of getting settled into a new home and town. We have an incredible "So Cal" view of the mountains. Hopefully sometime soon we'll get the chance to hike in 'em {our friends told us there are over 100 trails through them}.

The view from our patio.

Before our lease began, we spent a few days staying with my sister-in-law and her sweet family in Los Angeles. We are so thankful to have family close by! The favorite part of our stay was the time we got to spend with our niece. She is 8 months old and has so much personality now; she's a lot of fun! The first Saturday in town, we got to babysit her for the entire day.

We are almost completely unpacked, even with our pictures on the walls! {There is a laundry list of additional things we want to do to our new place - maybe I'll share in a later post}. Our new place is approximately half the size of our our place in Athens, but there still seems to be plenty of room here. Good thing we sold, donated, or stored some things at our parents' houses. I promise to post pictures soon.

Last Sunday, we were invited by some new friends to a free concert at Levitt Pavilion. Every Wednesday - Sunday, there are free concerts during the summer there. It's definitely a place we'll be checking out again! AND...we're looking forward to hanging out with these friends again soon.

Tomorrow morning we are going to another new church. I'm hoping & praying that we find the right church pronto. We're only going to give ourselves 2 months to find our new place of worship.