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7 STATES IN 10 DAYS!


FRIDAY.

 Our road trip started Friday morning with a 3 hour flight from FLL to Dallas at 7am, landing us in Dallas at 9am (1 hour time difference)! P.s. we flew AAL, the flight was very smooth and clean BUT there was no social distancing which was a little stressful but we made due. 

Our friend picked us up right from the airport and we were off to start our 10 day road trip,... but first coffee! If you've seen me without my morning coffee, bless your beautiful heart but imagine me in a car for 8+ hours without a coffee.. or don't cause it wouldn't be pretty...


Next stop ! MARFA PRADA, in Valentine, TX!!

This was an 8+ hour drive (including a few pee breaks) to see a sculptural art installation built back in October of 2005 in the middle of no mans land, literally the most boring drive (scenery wise) lol. Just land, land and a lot of bugs! But I would 10/10 recommend stopping to see it if you're ever out that way. It's real Prada merchandise but you cannot go inside, it's just for show. You have to see it during sunset, its amaaaazing. We got there around 5:45pm.





After our lonnnng day driving, we were ready to eat & get some rest because we were waking up super early. (P.S. there was no such thing as "sleep" on this trip. The only sleep we really had was in the car as long as you weren't the one driving lol.) So from Prada Marfa, we wanted to get to El Paso, TX because that was the next closest city with food. This was about 1 hour and 45 min drive, we found a little random drive thru Mexican restaurant, so we ordered everything on the menu, parked the jeep in a spot and started going in. The only thing we ate all day was whatever we could find at the tiny gas stations along the way so basically nothing nutritional hah, we were needing some real food! We then found a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in El Paso and knocked out.




SATURDAY.

Somehow I managed to always be the first one awake & ready. Saturday Morning, we were up around 5:00am and needed to be on the road no later than 5:30am for another 1 hour drive to the White Sands National Park, New Mexico. We wanted to see the sunrise so we had to be there by 6:45am. I cannot fully explain how fucking incredible this place was. I have NEVER seen something like this before. It's literally pure white soft sand for miles and miles, it's so white that it resembles snow in pictures. It was about 48 degrees out with wind so we were a little chilly. This is a spectacular spot for engagement photos ;)





After spending about 45 min there, we were on the road again. And this was going to be the LONGEST drive, 12 & a half hours :))))) to ASPEN, CO baby! This was more of a scenic route, thank gosh. A little more than half way there, we starting going up in elevation and my ears started hurting so luckily we had altitude pills (which I highly recommend these natural capsules). I took one and took a quick nap and next thing you know, I woke up and we were basically there!! I was so ready to see Aspen for the first time. We stayed in the "W hotel", got there around 5:30pm (because there was another time difference of 2 hours now). We checked in, they gave us free Rose & some recommendations on places to go eat/grab a drink. We ended up walking like 5 min to a speak easy underground bar called "hooch", awesome crafted cocktails and apps. And then we went to dinner at "White House Tavern" and I had the French dip (GET IT, YOU'LL THANK ME!!). Then we just walked around the town, but because of COVID, we ended up going back to the hotel since they had a curfew. The next morning we got up early, walked to a little coffee shop around the corner called "Local Coffee House", I got a hot latte and blueberry buckwheat pancakes. I figured hell, I'm in Aspen, lets get some boujee pancakes! Yes they actually were very good. Then we took the long way back to the hotel to check out, but of course I wanted to stop in a dispensary because what the heck, I've never been somewhere that allowed you to walk right in & buy a pre-rolled, so we did. I will say, Aspen I am coming back for you!









SUNDAY.

So after our morning coffee & breakfast in Aspen, we were off to a jeep trail called "Ophir pass" that was going to lead us to Telluride, CO...

Talk about anxiety!!! 11,700+ elevation on the side of a rocky mountain, one wrong turn and bye byeeee. If my mom even knew what I was doing she would have called the damn swat team to come bombard my vaca and take my ass home. Im not gonna lie, it was a little sketchy. But I'm also not a fan of heights especially on a small edge. There was an old crushed car when we looked over the edge (RIP), and at that very moment, me & Gal said NOPE! We got out and started walking the trail. If you love thrill and long bumpy trails then this is for you. If not, then choose a different route! There is a first & a last time for everything, and that will be the last time I go on that route :) I don't even what to show the pictures because they don't do it justice, plus I only got pics on the beginning which was smooth!! I couldn't even think about taking pictures during the scary part, I needed both hands on the door incase I needed to jump out lmao. This pass took like 2 hours to get all the way to another town. When we finally got into Telluride, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Gold Belt Bar & Grill, we all ordered Rueben's and then got back in the jeep and drove like another (1) hour to a hotel. All that anxiety knocked me and Gal out like a light! 


MONDAY. 

(On this day is when I stoped keeping track of the time difference because we kept going forward and backward an hour lol too confusing)

Another early morning for us. We woke up around 6:30am, packed up our bags and got back in the jeep (7am) to start heading back south to New Mexico. Another 3 1/2 hour drive to check out "Bisti Badlands".  (Got there around 11:00am) Think of a legit desert.. that's what this place was. Just miles of flat land with these random giant rocks all shaped so oddly but fascinating. If there was any sort of wild animal out there, you better hope there's a rock big enough to hide you, that's all. Of course mark was looking for specific rock lmaooo so we walked quite a ways until finally me & Gal said "Yeah, you're on your own buddy, we're going back". 9/10 recommend to visit, but don't be an idiot like us & bring water with you.. we started heading out around 12:30pm





Next stop, Moab, UT!! 
We were dying to get here. This place was epic! We drove another 4 hours straight to Arches National Park, UT. The hike to the Delicate Arch is 3 miles total, climbing 480 ft. Being this far into the trip, my body went into "get it" mode. Half way through the hike my friends slowed down but I couldn't stop. I was certain to cross this off my bucket list. So I kept going, my heart was pretty much beating out of my chest because of the incline and the cold temp was not helping lol but I finally got to the top and finally sat down and enjoyed the sunset while I waiting for them to make it up. This is a MUST DO. The view is sick, for someone who has not traveled much.. this was such an eye opener. Like I cannot believe shit like this exists. So yeah, we watched the sunset and then realized we still had to walk back but now in the pitch dark. Totally worth it, 12/10 recommend!! By the time we got back to the jeep, it was now 7pm. We were starving so we made reservations at the best Thai place called "Arches Thai" which was PHENOMENAL, and lucky enough our hotel was right across the street, called "Hoodoo", this hotel was absolutely beautiful. 







TUESDAY.

 I woke up around 7am, & walked over to a cute little coffee shop and picked up coffee for all of us, pretty much gave myself a 3rd degree burn holding the hot coffee walking back because they were out of cup holders, but it's all good. Then we went to the restaurant in the hotel and had breakfast at "Josie Wyatt's Grille". If you know me, you know I'm a sweets person so I got the frosted flakes french toast & everyone at the table drooled over it. It was fire. My future husband better learn how to make that, just saying.. Then we headed to Canyonlands National Park for more sight seeing. Got some giant ass crew looking thing in the tire, so we took a quick 30 min break to change the tire out, NBD. We made it into a little photoshoot lol Then we continued on our route up a steep side of a mountain, reminded me of that sketchy "jeep trail".. but such awesome views. At this point it was about 5:00pm ending the trail. Now to the fun part...









We now needed a place to sleep & decided to try a cool Airbnb out in the middle of freaking no where of Monument Valley, UT, which is where part of Forrest Gump was filmed. We found one that had 4 stars but we never actually read the reviews.. when we arrived to the Airbnb around 7:00pm (Yes another 2 hour drive) we realized the only thing around to eat was fast food and for some odd reason (or maybe because the only life out there were coyotes & rabbits) everything closed early so our last resort was a damn burger king so we ran there before going to the Airbnb. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Im pretty sure we all ordered the veggie burger at Burger King too, hahah. Then when we finally go to the Airbnb, we walked in and the lights didn't work :) P.S. its dark as heck out, I hear the coyotes coming for me & I felt like some Freddy v. Jason shit was about to go down. I was not ok. We then figured out the house was ran on solar panels & there was a generator that we needed to find somewhere outside. So long story short, we had no light till morning, we didn't even know what the house looked like, thank gosh for phone flash lights, but again, it's the little things like this that makes the trip that much more interesting. So we decided to build a fire outside, chill out and look at the stars. Finally in the morning, we saw how cool of a place we stayed at. We were able to actually see what the house looked like. I would recommend it but with the whole light situation, I'll give it a solid 6/10. 

WEDNESDAY. 

So after we got all packed up back into the jeep we decided to do a little horseback riding through Monument Valley. There was a place 5 min away from our Airbnb called "Roy Black's guided tours" so we called them up and told them we were going to grab a quick bite to eat and head over to them. I highly recommend going there. They were the nicest people, during the ride, the guide told us all about the history of Monument Valley and we told him all about Miami life and how different it is out here.




After our one & a half hour horseback riding tour, we were ready to start heading to the Grand Canyon! Another place I've never seen before. This was about a 3.5 hour drive to AZ. Our goal was to hit the sunset at the Grand Canyon but we weren't quite going to make it in time so we decided to just grab some Chick-fil-a & head to the nearest Fairfield Inn hotel. We were all exhausted so we decided to move the Grand Canyon to the following morning. 

THURSDAY.

We woke up extremely early, about 5:00am because we still had an hour drive to the Grand Canyon from where we were staying and we wanted to catch the sunrise. It was very chilly out, like 30s... So we packed up and headed out around 5:30am & got to the south rim around 7am. The second I saw this place I was like, "Holy shit, it really does make you feel so small". I was amazed by the views, I just don't understand how you could be driving this long straight road and then all of a sudden there this giant ass Valley that just drops thousands of feet, and I had no idea the Grand Canyon used to be all under water.. but I think going here for sunrise was the best idea! Next time I go back here I want to hike down to the bottom of the Canyon.





This next adventure was not planned what so ever... we were supposed to just head to LA, but me & Gal had never been to Vegas sooooooo we decided last minute to fit one night in Vegas into the itinerary. So Las Vegas, NV HERE WE COME!! Another 4 hour drive to Vegas, and of course we had to do it right so we stayed at the Cosmopolitian Hotel. We got there around 6:00pm, got to our room and immediately started getting ready for dinner, we were starving! We made reservations for "Catch", I've never even heard of this place till now... & OMG SO YUMMY, the food was fucking mouth watering!!! We ordered like every appetizer on the menu and there was not a single complaint! 100% recommend ordering the lobster mac & cheese or the rock shrimp uggghh. Craving it as I speak.. then we headed to the casino & of course we ended up running into friends from Florida that we had no idea were going to be in Vegas so that was cool. We just played a flew table games and had some drinks & next thing you know, it was like 2am, so me & Gal decided to go exploring the strip since we were only there for 1 night. Vegas was cool, but our style is more hiking, site seeing & mountains. 









FRIDAY.

To our final destination, Los Angeles, CA!
I have been dreaming of going here, and I wish I had more time but it's okay because I will most certainly be back! We left Vegas around 10:00am and had a 4 1/2 hour drive to our hotel in West Beverly Hills. We ended up staying at the W Hotel in West Beverly Hills. Very nice area. We got there around 3pm (LA traffic). We got in our room and started getting ready. I didn't care what the plan was, just as long as I tried in & out burger... so we drove around Beverly Hills a bit and checked out the houses/views, Mark showed us his old house out there and then we headed to IN & OUT!! And yes, it really is all it's cracked out to be lol. Then we headed to Soho House West Hollywood to get some drinks before dinner. You cannot get in here without a membership, sorry but if you do ever get the chance to go, please do, it was such a beautiful view! Then we went over to SugarFish for dinner to grab some sushi and then head back to the hotel. (Covid was still an issue here, so nothing stayed open late) but that was fine. We got some sleep, and spent our last day in LA.






SATURDAY.

CHEERS to our last day in California, and to an amazing trip !
We started the morning with a walk to the nearest coffee shop, then got ready to head to the Waldorf Astoria rooftop bar/lounge area called "The Rooftop by JG" for some brunch. The views were incredible & the service was great! We had some mimosas to start our day, then we headed out to Nobu Malibu for lunch, where I tried my first ever RAW FISH! I was so nervous to get sick but wow, probably the #1 place to try raw sushi for my first time. Then we went over to Point Dume to walk a little ways up and get a nice view of the ocean. I honestly fell in love with this city. So much to do, great food, fun vibes! We then walked around on Melrose Ave, grabbed a coffee, it was a little chilly out. Then we met a friend a restaurant called "Ysabel" and basically order every single item off the menu, between the steak, sushi, truffle fries, brussels sprouts, salmon & I'm pretty sure we order some type of pasta dish but either way everything we order was 10/10. The vibe was classy but also upbeat. Drinks were a huge thumbs up. Honestly nothing we had in California was bad. The only bad part was when it was time to fly home at 10:00 the next morning. We chose to fly Jetblue back to FLL and the flight was great. There was social distancing with the seating arrangements, snacks and good movies to choose from. 









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