Thanksgiving at Hever - Days 1 and 2

• 12:30 – We left the house at about 11:30 – not bad considering our planned departure time was 10:30. We were only an hour off. We’ve been on the road fro about an hour – Hank is handling it fairly well, barking only when we’re stopped. He had a bit of a panic attack when we started off, but has since calmed down. I haven’t settled on something yet to pass the time – usually I’ll spend the first few hours just staring out the window. Helps me get my thoughts in order, and in this case I think it helps Hank to have someone pay attention to him when he gets upset. I’m functioning on about 4 hours of extremely interrupted sleep, so napping will most likely be my first course of action.
  
• 2:30 – Jalapeno Poppers. Had one for the first time in Azusa the other day – Jalapeno, some sort of processed chedder cheese, fried in batter… not exactly something I’d pay money for with only description to go by. The only reason I had one to begin with was because it was offered to me. They’re surprisingly good, which is why I just bought some more.
  

We’re in Bakersfield now – picked up my issue of People @ a gas station. (mmm… Zac Efron)

Nap hasn’t happened yet.

• 6:04 – and it doesn’t feel like it. I’ve had to revert to writing on my laptop because I can’t see a bloody thing…. It’s that dark. AT SIX O’CLOCK! I will NEVER get used to this – thank goodness it’ll be over by December and normal days will start coming back. I’ve had a bit of time to think about things – mostly because I fell asleep listening to Fall Out Boy a bit ago. I figured sleep was going to happen, but I actually hate doing it on a trip because I wake up not knowing where I am. I had a conversation with my mom when I woke up. We stopped at a Valero, and I had no clue where we were.
  

ME: Where are we?
MOM: Barstow.
ME: Maybe we should eat here – if we wait till Mojave it’ll be too--
MOM: We already went through Mojave.
ME: What? Damn… where the hell are we?

I get EXTREMELY disoriented when I sleep on trips, and I think I slept for a good couple of hours. It was fine though, I needed it. I didn’t go to bed last night till about 4 and got up at eight so I could finish packing and what not. It’s been a rather uneventful trip – not a lot of fighting. There were a few harsh words between people but it was quickly resolved… and presently, though the temperature OUTSIDE the car is rather low, it’s fairly hot IN the car. Hank’s been doing really well, freaking out only when we stop, because he decided that he has to pee every time the car ceases forward motion. We’re about an hour and a half to 2 hours out of Laughlin. It’s too dark to do much of anything, so I’ll probably go back to sleep and risk another momentary disorientation.

Oh – I’ve been informed that the New Kids are performing on the AMA’s… and I just realized I’m missing the AMA’s. I NEVER miss the AMA’s… but I guess it’s a year of firsts – I missed the CMA’s, too. *sigh* so I’ll have to look that up when I get home…

As promised – and mentioned earlier – I picked up my issue of People’s Sexiest Man Alive. I haven’t had time to give it a proper look through, but some of the hotties in there are absolutely to die for… while others just DON’T belong on the list. I’ll give you a list of all 129 (or is it 130?) of them when I have light enough to read, and time enough to go through and list all of them. New Kids made it, though… so our e-mails were not ignored girls! J The few things I will point out is – I’m miffed that Javier Bardem gets half a page when Mark Wahlberg only gets a little thumbnail, that should DEFINITELY be the other way around. Shia LaBeouf only received a thumbnail, as well – and let’s face it… whether you like his acting or not doesn’t matter, he’s sexier than Javier Bardem and deserves more than a little thumbnail. As does Mark. Who decided Bardem was sexy, anyway?? Probably the same people who decided No Country deserved every award this year. *shakes head*

OH! While I remember! HBO is FINALLY making another Band of Brother’s series. Don’t think it’ll focus on Easy Company, which is a shame, because I LOVE the Easy Boys (Yes, I realize how that sounded, NO, I didn’t mean it that way – it’s a Band of Brothers thing. You’d understand if you’d seen it). I’m a bit iffy about this one, but chances are I’ll love it. I’m pretty much a sucker for anything war-related, and anything holocaust related. Band of Brothers had both the first time around and I couldn’t help but fall in love with each and every one of the soldiers. (Having Donnie Wahlberg in it didn’t hurt – and Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston CERTAINLY didn’t hurt it… lol) I’m sure I’ll fall just as in love with the boys of whatever company they choose to focus on… and if Tom Hanks is still involved, it should be awesome. J So it’s something to look forward to.

And, speaking of Donnie Wahlberg – I’ve decided that I straight up just like Toby Mac (it’s related, I promise). We were listening to him today – I’ve expressed an interest in him before, and have a few of his CD’s… but I didn’t realize how much I genuinely LIKED his music until we listened to Portable Sounds today and I realized I knew all the words to Boomin. I was thinking about it, and I think he’s my favorite rapper outside the Wahlberg bros. (See?) And he’s Christian, but not condemning Christian. He’s more uplifting than anything and that’s always good, and his music is fun without sacrificing it’s message. I miss DC Talk… I laughed when Daniel Kimmie brought up the fact that most girls in junior high and high school are too young to know who DC Talk is – she had to call them “the band Toby Mac was in before.” Haha! Oh, what these kids are missing out on! But Toby has done alright with himself since the DC Talk split – and he has a few DC Talk-esque songs on each of his albums, so you get a small taste of what once was.

I just realized I got EXTREMELY side tracked from my PSMA topic. The other thing that I’m going to point out is – and it’s something my mom commented on – Zac Efron seriously gets hotter the older he gets. That boy is absolutely scrumptious now. He’s in a movie with Matthew Perry and it’s like… wow… he’s come a long way from High School Musical… if Donnie hadn’t scored a spot in that issue, I’d have to say Zac is the hottest guy in there… and I mean that. Don’t judge me!

Both boys are asleep now, and it’s getting hotter in here… I think my lap top may have something to do with that, so I may just power down and get some more sleep myself now… It’s amazing how much easier it is to blog when you have a computer in front of you and you don’t have to write anything. Biggest problem in life is that my hands can’t keep up with my brain… it’s easier when I’m typing but even then it’s a problem… I can’t believe it’s only 6:30 and it’s THIS dark out… I think even Hank is asleep so I’m going to follow suit. I’ll update you all when we get to Laughlin! Colorado Belle, here we come!!! J

• 8:00 – We hit the Nevada state line. My brother and I have been watching Brian Regan (funny, FUNNY guy), and when we hit the line, I finally looked out the window and was reminded of why I love this drive. Lights – everywhere. It’s pitch black, and dotted with lights. It looks like a giant lite brite board. You can see some of the lights reflecting off the river – even the reflectors on the road are 3 diff colors. The drive to this point was fun – there were more dips in the road than I remembered… there were a LOT more when I was little, but they fixed the roads as we grew up and took out most of the really good ones. Still – there were some fun ones. J This is by far the most fun trip I’ve had with my family in a long time – I think it has something to do with the fact that we don’t have to be home in T-minus so many hours. We’re on VACATION… I’m relaxed just saying it. You can see everything off in the distance, the lights are beautiful.
  

Ah – I miss Nevada.

• 9:00 – I’m sitting in the hotel room. The family decided to go to Walmart – I think it’s in Bullhead city a few miles away, but I decided to stay in the room. You kidding me?? We just got here, I’m in no hurry to leave! It was amazing pulling up and seeing all the lights. A lot has changed since I was here last – a few of the hotels changed… the Ramada Express is now the Tropicana Express, and it looks like the Flamingo is now the Aquarius. The Edgewater is still standing strong – it’s right outside my window. The view from the rooms isn’t fantastic – it’s of the parking lot, but you can see the other hotel/casinos all around us, and you can watch the cars drive by. I’m not sure I’ve ever been here in the winter, so I’ve got the window cracked open and I’m pretty much just chillin’, glancing out every once in a while as I type this. I still can’t believe I’m here – it’s been so long and everything inside the Belle is the same – the smells, the river, the rooms, the sounds – even the fish at the front! The room has a painting of the belle on the wall like it always has… it doesn’t look like a lot has changed, and I’m perfectly fine with that. We aren’t in the Belle itself – our rooms are in the Bourbon Tower, just to the left of the Belle… this is where I spent most of my summers out here. New Orleans, or Bourbon… I’m not sure if we’ve ever had a room in the Belle itself except maybe once, but that’s fine. I like the Bourbon tower. Memories. That’s what it comes down to. There are more memories here than there. J
  

Walking down the hall was a trip – I remember the ceiling being much higher… it took me a bit to realize that it was because I grew and the building didn’t. Even though a lot has changed, so much hasn’t. I can still look out my window and see the Free Parking sign on the parking lot across the street – We still use the same elevators we were so familiar with before – even the walk from the back of the building to the parking lot is the same. I’m so excited to finally be back – and now I’m anticipating dinner.

The reasons are 2 fold – 1. I didn’t eat anything substantial all day. Like stated earlier, I only got a few hours of sleep, and immediately finished packing and getting ready to leave – right up to the second we walked out the door. So – no breakfast. When I don’t eat breakfast, I’ve found my eating patterns are whack… we stopped and had some chicken nuggets but my body was still mad at me for not having breakfast – I had about 6 of those, a few chips, some jalapeno poppers, and some beef jerky. Not exactly a square meal… lol. And it was scattered eating, just something to keep my stomach at bay – but now I’m really hungry.

2. We’re eating at the Paddle Wheel – it’s a restaurant inside the Belle and I remember loving it as a kid. I’m really excited to go back – it was great, we almost didn’t have to talk about it. My mom asked where we wanted to eat – Paddle Wheel or Captain’s Food Fair, and we all agreed, Paddle Wheel was for dinner, and Captain’s Food Fair was breakfast. That’s how it’s always been. I’ll probably wander around a bit, too. As I type this, my mind is trying to remember where everything is… it really is exciting to be back. I’ll try to get as many pics as possible. J

DAY 2

• 12:30 - We're sitting in the parking lot of the Aquarius, waiting for my dad. We've got about an 8 hour drive ahead of us... I'm mildly disoriented - I keep trying to buckle my seat belt when it's already buckled.
  Hank is mad at me. I took him running/walking this morning, and he got in trouble because he broke the boundaries and almost got hit by 2 cars. Now he won't "kiss" me because I yelled at him - he's such a brat.
  It's trippy - we were just in Nevada, but because of Laughlin's lovation, we crossed the river and were immediately in Arizona. Trippy.
• ????? - I'm not entirely sure what time it is. I think we went through about 4 time changes. My phone doesn't get service - but surprisingly I don't feel as isolated as one would think. It's real refreshing - it's pitch black outside, and the air feels clean - it's about 23 degrees. Not a biting cold, but an inignorable one.
  Hank's excited to be here - he's sniffing everything and talking to all the dogs. He's happy to see his sister - they always act like it hasn't ben forever since they've seen eachother. He's sniffing around a lot... seems so excited he won't eat. (Just checked, it's 10:30 XD)
  It's relaxing just being here. I have things to occupy my time, but I won't be shoved into a car tomorrow - I have books to read, lines to memorize, and stuff to mildly stres about... and Thanksgiving is in a few days. More family is coming out soon - tomorrow I think. That'll be fun, too.
  I can't focus at all - I have Donnie Wahlberg in all shapes and forms on the mind - Band of Brothers, New Kids, Boomtown, and Dreamcatcher. I've also got Ron Livingston and Damian Lewis on the mind. Means I'm tired, (honestly, I just said flair, an dit made me think of Ron Livingston, which in turn made me think of Nix, Lipton, and Winters XD) so I'm gonna read a bit and get some sleep.
  For those that are wondering, Mary Boleyn went to Hever and returned a wicked, wicked person - not as wicked as Anne, but wicked enough to give her a run for her money. Character development is fascinating.