Hey Hunter! Long Time No See!

Hello!

We're back from San Diego and what a day it was! We made the 2.5 hour trek down to SD so we could visit our good friend, Hunter. Let me tell you, everyone needs to know Hunter because he just an overall incredible person. The drive down was quite the adventure because the route went straight through the mountains. Let's just say that Kenzie was no fan of the numerous twist and turns throughout the journey. Although we went at a snails pace, we made it to SD safe and sound.

We were super excited when we arrived because Hunter has been hyping up the city and his amazing tour guide skills for weeks. It was also made clear to him that we needed to find some amazing guac so our trip would be worth it ;) The day in SD started at a breakfast spot called Breakfast Republic and 10/10 would recommend to anyone visiting SD, it was amazing. Kenzie had chilaquilles, I had mac n cheese with 3 eggs and Hunter had a potato omelette, yum! Oh, and I had an Oreo Latte, yep, you definitely read that right and it was superb. After brunch was complete we took a stroll down the main drag and walked out on the pier. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bland and visibility was low so we couldn't see out too far. After we waked off brunch we headed over to Hunter's place to see his adorable Golden Retriever, Sam. She was super friendly and a big fan of belly rubs!

When the belly rub session was complete, we headed to downtown SD to check out some of the most popular spots. First up was the Gaslamp Quarter which is a hip area with tons of restaurants and bars, it was pretty sweet. Next up was Seaport Village which had a ton of little shops and a decommissioned navy boat that you could tour around. Even though it was a bit chilly (like 60ish degrees) the views were great and lots of people were out and about. Hunter told us that San Diegans don't handle the "cold" very well and will break out winter jackets and Uggs when the temp drops below 70! Haha. Once we finished up at Seaport Village we jumped in the car and headed across the giant bridge to Coronado Island. The houses not he island were pretty spectacular and you could see all of San Diego from the shoreline, 10/10 recommend visiting!

Now, with all of our sightseeing activities in San Diego complete, we had just one thing left to do.....find some amazing Mexican food! Well, we can attest that Hunter definitely pulled through and brought us to an amazing taco joint in North Park. Not the North Park I graduated from haha, but a neighborhood in San Diego. Hunter told me that I needed to get a "California Burrito" because it's what all the locals get. Caving to peer pressure, I followed through with Hunter's demand and order this local favorite, it was the best decision I made all day! Look it up and you'll be blown away by how much is stuffed inside it, yum yum yum. With lunch complete we headed back to Hunter's house so we could drop him off and hit the road back to Palm Desert. It was a great trip to San Diego and we were so happy to see Hunter, hadn't seen him since graduation last May. Catching up with old friends is what it is all about and we're so glad we made the 2.5 hour trek down to San Diego. Always cherish great friendships because they are priceless.

Until tomorrow friends.....

-Andrew

Hello SoCal

After a very long, cold winter, Andrew and I are grateful to be in Palm Springs for the week.

On Friday, we flew into LAX and spent most of the day driving through the mountains to Coachella Valley. There is a country music festival - Stagecoach - going on this weekend so traffic was awful and everything is very busy. After getting to the hotel and relaxing, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant - Fresh Agave. The food was delicious, and of course we got guacamole. It looked like typical guac but it had a slightly sweet flavor; it was interesting but Andrew and I both really enjoyed it. After dinner we picked up some groceries and had a laid back night after a long day of traveling.

This morning, we got up and went to the Street Fair. We enjoyed walking around in the sun and checking out all of the little shops. We found a local coffee grower and bought some unique flavored coffee for the week. After the street fair, we drove to downtown Palm Springs to explore and do a little more shopping. We stopped at a Starbucks where I was finally able to try the affogato - I highly recommend it!

Once we were done shopping, we went to the airport to pick up Josh and then headed back to the hotel. After he unpacked, we went to the pool to get lunch and hang out. Andrew and Josh ordered the asian wrap - they were both surprised when the food came to the table and the "wrap" was a lettuce wrap! The pool was more crowded than I've ever seen it with all of the people in town for Stagecoach. After eating and relaxing by the pool, we went to go play mini golf at the hotel. Thankfully we didn't keep score because none of us had a very successful game.

After we got back to our hotel, we played some cards and watched hockey. We had In-n-Out for dinner - it was delicious. The sun got the best of us during the day, so we just had a low-key night. Tomorrow will be a busy day picking up Caitlyn and Cole. It's also supposed to be the warmest day, so in between airport runs we will have plenty of time to relax by the pool!

#shiplap

Chip and Jo 2.0

Day three in Austin was by far my favorite! Our day started bright and early with a quick road trip to Waco, Texas. For those of you who haven't already concluded from the title of this post, we spent our morning at the Magnolia complex. Both being avid fans of Fixer Upper (and Chip and Jo) I'm not sure who was more excited - Andrew or me.

Pulling into Waco, we quickly realized we were not the only people with the brilliant idea of visiting Magnolia today. After finding a parking spot a few blocks away, we walked up to see a never-ending line of people snaking across the property. There was also a yard with lawn games, covered picnic tables, and food trucks lining the perimeter. After getting a drink from one of the food trucks, we took our spot in line. Thankfully it moved pretty quickly and about a half hour later we were entering into the famed Magnolia Market.

Magnolia Market

This place was filled with anything and everything you could imagine Jo putting into one of her houses. Beyond all of the cute items, Andrew and I both noticed that every employee was extremely friendly and welcoming - the overall vibe was super enjoyable, even in the sweltering 100 degree heat. We spent quite a bit of time shopping and just walking around the complex.

After Magnolia, we decided to visit downtown Waco. Unfortunately, being the day before Independence Day, most places were closed. Our walk ended pretty shortly and we decided to head to In-N-Out for lunch. I did not realize that In-N-Out was in Texas, so this was a fun surprise for lunch.

The view from Mt. Bonnell

Later in the day, after getting back to Austin, we decided to go visit Mt. Bonnell. This is a lookout over the river at the highest point in Austin. Though it wasn't much of a hike, 100 steps in the heat was definitely exhausting. In the end, the view was worth it! After a little bit of sightseeing (including checking out mega-mansions lining the river) we ended the "hike" with some snow cones to cool off.

For dinner, we finally strayed from our Tex-Mex streak and went to BBQ. Even though I don't eat red meat, I am willing to suffer the consequences for a good pulled pork sandwich, so I was really excited to be going to one of the top BBQ places in Austin. Unfortunately, when we got there they were out of both pulled pork and chicken, so I had a disappointing turkey sandwich. Thankfully, Andrew really enjoyed his brisket.

Colorado River

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. Between the long line at Magnolia and the workout at Mt. Bonnell, the sun did a number on both of us today. Besides, strolling through downtown, we decided to take it easy for the night.

We have one more (half) day in Austin tomorrow before we fly back to Chicago tomorrow evening. Both Andrew and I hope you all have a safe and happy fourth of July tomorrow!

Best,
Kenzie

With Liberty And Justice For All

Today was our second day in Austin and we had a lot planned. When we were in Denver, we decided to visit the Colorado History Center and go to Voodoo donuts. Well, we decided to replicate that trip in a sense and started our day with a trip to The Bullock Texas State History Museum. As luck would have it, the first Sunday of every month is free admission day (we got the date right in Denver too when it was free admission) and we explored the museum. Now, we like history and the museum was massive, well designed and clean, but it wasn't very interactive. We loved Colorado's history museum because it was interactive and engaging throughout. Long story short, we breezed through the museum because there was too much to read and headed to Voodoo donuts. We figured some good donuts could salvage the start to our day.

The real event planned for the day however was a kayaking trip down the Colorado River. However, Austin is kind of weird and they refer to the river as a lake. There's a cool little spot down by the river where you can rent kayaks and paddle boards so we got ourselves a double-seater kayak and set on our way. Why we decided to get a double-seater I'll never know, but we someone managed to not flip it over. Even though Kenzie didn't get the memo that I was ready to hone my kayaking skills for the next summer Olympics, we didn't end up just going in circles. We were in the water for over an hour and then decided the heat (it's been 95+ with humidity each day) was too much and headed back to shore. My craving for food may or may not have also influenced our decision to prematurely end our kayak extravaganza.

With our kayaking trip behind us, we headed back to our hotel (Hyatt Place if you need a good hotel in Austin) and escaped the heat. Per the usual, we chose another Mexican restaurant for dinner and it was yet again another great choice. Each restaurant we've visited has had superb guacamole (we're gonna pitch a TV idea to producers so we can have a guacamole tasting show).

Now, if you've ever visited Austin or researched about the city, you would know that bats make this place famous!
No joke, there's a bridge on Congress Avenue where millions (so the locals say) of bats live and then come out for feeding at sunset. Hoards of people line the top of the bridge and more fuel in along the trail beneath it. Then out of nowhere, all these bats start dropping out of the bridge and flying out over the river and buildings in unison. Unfortunately, I don't have a super fancy camera, so my iPhone quality pictures don't do this spectacle any justice (there is a pic on the left though). If you're ever in Austin, definitely go to the Congress Avenue bridge at sunset to see this!

Tomorrow is the day we are most looking forward to though! Almost daily we watch Fixer Upper on HGTV because it's our favorite TV show. If you haven't watched it, I'm sorry for you and you need to ASAP. Anyways, we are going to Chip and Joanna's property tomorrow! Check back tomorrow for some awesome pictures from their property!

-Andrew

Holy Guacamole!

We're in Austin!!! Texas' capital has been on our travel wishlist for awhile. We are finally crossing it off during our 4-day weekend.

Delicious guacamole! 

Our trip started off pretty rough Friday night when Andrew lost his wallet. Thankfully, he had is passport and we were able to board our flight bright and early Saturday morning. After a quick flight and Lyft ride to our hotel, we were ready to set out and explore. The weather was 95 degrees, but felt like 105. It was unbelievably hot and muggy.

Our hotel is right downtown, near Lady Bird Lake (aka the Colorado River). We walked around near our hotel, did some shopping and ate lunch at a tex-mex restaurant. Not being too hungry, we decided to share guac, chilaquiles and dulce de leche pudding. The guac was easily top 3 of our all-time favorite.

Andrew enjoying the scenery at lunch. 

After shopping for a while we decided to head to 6th street. The street was lined with bars, almost all of which had live music. We walked by a bar selling 'Gino's East Chicago Pizza' and stopped in another for a drink and to listen to country music.

For dinner we walked from 6th street almost an hour to another Mexican restaurant south of the river. There were quite a few things on our to-do list in this area so we wanted to check it out. Of course, we ordered guac again. This guacamole was a little different - it had sunflower seeds and smoked chipotle cream in it. I was hesitant, but yet again, it was delicious. After these two meals, I am determined that Austin should be dubbed the Guacamole capital of the world.

One of the holes at Peter Pan mini golf

After dinner, we went to the locally famous Peter Pan mini golf. This was probably the most fun mini golf course (well, there are two courses) that I've seen. Even though Andrew kicked my butt (weirdly, the rules kept changing in his favor...?!)  it was still a blast!

By the time we got home it was nearly 10 p.m. and we were going on five hours of sleep, so we decided to call it a day. Andrew will fill you in on Day 2 in Austin!

Best!
Kenzie

Descending Back Home

Sadly, I am writing this post from the Denver airport (no, I haven't seen any Illuminati) as Andrew and I head back home. I have to say, Denver is an amazing city. It was a great long weekend and I definitely plan to come back.

Andrew and I started our morning dining on our Voodoo donuts, and man, were they good! I had the Diablos Rex - a chocolate cake donut with chocolate chips and an icing pentagram - and it was fantastic. Andrew had the Arnold Palmer - a plain cake donut with vanilla frosting and lemonade/iced tea dust with fruit loops in the middle - which he described as "interesting". We also had an old fashioned for comparison, but I still like Doughnut Vault in Chicago best.

After our breakfast, we headed to the Jeep to take a drive into the mountains and go hiking. Sadly, our expectations for the Jeep were not met, but the hike made up for it. We went to the Bear Creek Trail - it had amazing views was an easy 2 miles for us low-altitude, city slickers. It was great to be outside and explore; definitely not something we can do every day in Chicago.

On our drive back into the city, we decided to stop and explore the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The place was extremely crowded with people working out on the steps and tourists getting pictures. There really isn't much I can say to do justice to the view, so I will just have to let you look at our pictures.

By the time we got back into Denver, it was time to grab lunch and head to the airport. We walked along the mall one last time to Union Station, and hung out in the station (it is really pretty) a bit before we jumped on a train to the airport. I slept the whole ride, so I don't have much to say about that except its a lot comfier and cleaner than the el!

Andrew and I do not have our next trip planned - yet! Leave a comment if you have any suggestions on where we should visit. Thanks for following along on our trip! - Kenzie

Biscuits, Baseball and Bizarre Donuts

Hello!

Today was another great one here in Denver. We decided to hit up one of the most popular brunch spots in the city before going to the Diamondbacks vs Rockies baseball game in the afternoon. After conducting some research, we settled on a place called Denver Biscuit Company. It would have taken us almost an hour to walk there, so like any millennial, we relied on Uber. Now, considering this is one of the most popular places in Denver, we should have anticipated a huge wait, but that didn't really cross our minds right away. When we arrived, the wait time was between 60-75 minutes, but we decided to tough it out and see if this place was really worth all the rave. Let me tell you, IT WAS! This place was incredible and we got an enormous amount of food all for $22. I had biscuits & gravy while Kenzie had a gigantic cinnamon roll. Both meals were delicious and well worth the hour long wait we endured. If you are ever in Denver, his up the Denver Biscuit Company, you won't regret it!

After brunch we walked down the street a little bit to a famous donut shop called VooDoo Donuts. This quirky place creates some extremely interesting donuts with some not so PG names. If you're dying to know what I'm talking about, just Google their menu haha. We haven't had the donuts yet because we are saving them for breakfast tomorrow along with our leftovers from brunch today. Considering we waited forever for our brunch, we were a little crunched for time because the Rockies game started at 2:10PM. We once again relied on Uber and took it back to our AirBnb so we could quickly change and head out to the game. It only took us about 15 minutes to talk over to Coors Field. Our seats were located out in left field, so we had a perfect view of the entire field. The sun also had a perfect view of us in our seats and beat down on us the entire game. There was also like a 15 minute phase of light rain followed by gusty winds, but it was pretty cool to see it all happen. The Rockies made a valiant comeback in the bottom of the 9th, but unfortunately couldn't pull it off and lost 8-5.

Even though we were exhausted and ready to go rest, we made one last trip to the Taste of Colorado. You see, I found this super cool company called 1876 by Smirk that makes awesome Colorado themed shirts, hats and hoodies. I was initially hesitant on whether or not to buy stuff, so I decided to sleep on it. Well, the sleep paid off and we made a return trip and I walked away with a shirt and a hat. The entire Taste of Colorado is really cool and spread out over a large section of Downtown Denver. There are tons of different food options as well as shopping ones too.


Today was also the 2nd straight day that we saw someone with a pet rat out in public. There was man standing outside the Taste and he had 2 rats crawling on his shoulders (see pic on the above right). I'm not sure why they like their rats here, but it sure is interesting. We both really love Denver and all that it has to offer. Tomorrow we are renting a ZipCar and taking it to some hiking trails to fully experience Colorado before we head home. Yes, we did decide to go with the Jeep instead of a tiny little Honda, because who wants to go through the mountains in a small Honda? If you have a Honda, that is perfectly okay, but we went with the Jeep. All in all, the trip has been a huge success and we have loved this city.

Until tomorrow.....

Thanks!

Andrew