Summer Holiday Merriment....

Not so long ago my dearest love got on a jet plane and flew back to England, but before that we had a 2-week vacation of a lifetime, a few memories of which I shall share here.

Pete flew into L.A. at the end of last May. We had a good week of taking in the sights of my city (I had fun playing the tourist again, and remembering that there are actually some pretty darn cool things to do here) before heading to Vegas to get hitched (just kidding, haha. He'd never been there, and we were meeting up with my family). Pete had a simple list of things he wanted to see when he got to America, the ocean, the Getty museum, Hollywood, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, and the La Brea Tar Pits (anyone whose ever been there will know they are not as exciting as they seem on film, lol). I did my best to make my man happy, and even though we didn't make it to the Grand Canyon, we did have a GRAND time. Here are some snaps of us on our tour of Los Angeles.

Me and Pete on the Santa Monica Pier

Pete and I at Pacific Palisades' Park

Pete at Grauman's Chinese Theater with the original Terminator's hand print (Arnie Schwarzenegger)

Me with the new Terminator Poster, trying to look dangeroooouuuus!!!

Us at the Getty museum, which looks more like an engagement photo pose, lol.
After the L.A. chapter of our trip we got in the car and headed for Nevada, which was a blast! Pete is the perfect road trip companion because he's sexy, hilarious, a great conversationalist, and can make any activity fun and interesting really (that and he's got the most dashing cleft chin and dimpled smile that makes a girl swoon. No complaints here!) Pete even had his first driving lesson of driving on the opposite side of the road in America...

Pete behind the wheel. From his expression he almost looks drunk, which, of course, he wasn't!
Don't worry, it was legal. (letting my boyfriend drive I mean, haha). It was a long drive and I needed a break so Pete took the wheel. I must admit that my student won his driving test with flying colors and I couldn't help but reward him with a kiss, or two, or three-thousand ; P

A view driving along Interstate 15, before a rain shower. The desert has a lonesome beauty to it doesn't it?
Right before Vegas we came upon a sign that was very appropriate...

We felt so privileged that the city of Primm, Nevada would take such personal measures to make Pete feel so welcome (even if he doesn't like whiskey!)
Vegas was more than Pete expected, a place wilder than his wildest dreams. He said he'd never seen anything like it, and I daresay, he never shall since because its that spellbinding (LOL!). We checked in at the Luxor, and after getting some grub, washing up, and meeting up with some of my family we went out on the town.

Happy and smiling couple, little did we know that a couple hours later we'd really have somethin' to smile about...
Let's suspend the suspense...It was not but 10 minutes after we'd entered a casino that first night when Pete and I sat down to a slot machine and won $255 (on a $10 bill!!!) We were shocked! Amazed! Flabbergasted! Especially since my sister Kim had just won a $265 jackpot on a machine a few slots down just a few minutes earlier! It was certainly a lucky night for all of us (and we kept the majority of our winnings, which is also a pretty remarkable feat). Pete had never experienced anything like it as he'd never gambled and was very skeptical about the practice. He had so much fun he said he could understand now why people get hooked on gambling, haha.

More snaps from our adventure....

Tally ho! Me, in front of the Luxor, commanding the statue goats (or were they camels?) to march! Attempted feat was unsuccessful.


Rockin' the shades, Luxor style
Some other highlights of Vegas: I took Pete to "Cafe Rio" in Las Vegas for dinner with my big family. (Anyone who knows of Cafe Rio, knows this is a BIG deal cause the food and house dressing are delish!) He absolutely loved it and said he'd never been so full in his life after eating an entire chicken salad in one sitting, haha. I felt proud that I had converted my British boyfriend to the American way of eating (bigger portions, better food, haha).

Pete was also a hit with my family, especially my niece and nephews who enjoyed his funny voice impressions of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. My 10-year old nephew Isaiah couldn't stop bombarding him with questions about video games like, "Hey Pete, do you have Halo in England? If you have Halo we can play on the internet! Do you have a PS2? You don't? You need a PS2!" While my 5-year old niece Rissa proclaimed things like, "Hey Pete, I asked Aunt Jessie if she was going to marry you someday and she said yes!", and "EW, why are you two kissing so much?! That's gross!". Those little rascals leave no mystery for me to pretend that my family isn't loud, wild, and outspoken, haha. But luckily, Pete passed the family test as he loved them anyway and they loved him, and so he'll be moving on to another level up next time he comes to America and meets more of my huge extended family. Should be fun! (I am now trying to mentally prepare him due to my family's large and intimidating size and personalities, haha).

Whilst in Vegas we also had a chance to sample the lunch buffet at the Luxor. Pete was eager to try it since he'd had many referrals from his British comrades that if you go to Vegas, you eat Vegas style a-la the buffets. The Luxor food wasn't spectacular (but their desserts were, so we couldn't complain).

After 2 nights in Vegas of gamblin' winnin', buffet fillin', family embarassin' fun we headed back to L.A. It was a sad time as this was the last leg of the trip before Pete would go back to England. Our last day together we went took a drive to Malibu and watched the sun go down at the beach. A sad day of reminiscing, and we were prone to fits of laughter interspersed with bursts of tears. It was an emotional time, but what can I say, we were feeling sentimental, and who can blame us?

Mushy, I know, but I don't care :)