California Part II: Twentynine Palms

After my conference ended last Friday afternoon I picked up my rental car and started the drive out to Twentynine Palms. I booked the car through E-Z Rental Car, which doesn't sound like the most legit company to begin with, plus I picked the cheapest option they had so I was a bit surprised when they pulled this around for me...
Not too shabby. Too bad it was 95 degrees and I was driving through the middle of the desert so I wasn't about to put the top down.

By the time I got on the road it was 2:30 and my GPS told me that I would arrive at my destination at 5:03 pm. But it was Friday afternoon in LA traffic. The longer I spent on the freeway, the further out my arrival time got. Not to mention it was telling me to take freeways that had never come up in any conversations I'd had with people who had actually heard of Twentynine Palms. Of course I didn't bring a map (that's what my GPS is for!) so after several calls to Lindsay to make sure I was on the correct route, I rolled onto the marine base at 6:45pm. It took me 4 hours to drive what should have taken me 2.5. But although traffic was heavy and I was tired, hungry and still wearing heels and skirt it was nice to have that time to myself.

About an hour before getting there I drove through fields of windmills. The creepiest freaking windmills I've ever seen. I don't know what it is about them, but they seriously give me the chills.

Come on! Try and tell me those aren't creepy.

When I finally made it this little bug was one of the first things I saw. So adorable!

I was only there for less than 48 hours, but it was a lot of fun to see Brandi and her little Cecilia. She's my oldest friend and spending time with her always feels like a little bit of home.

We reminisced about all of the stuff we used to do - like pouring buckets of water on my patio to make ice so we could slide around or playing hotel (we named it "56 Hotel") with homemade checks.
They're a brave family. Her husband has been in Afghanistan since a few months BEFORE Cecilia was born. So not only has he not met his daughter yet, but Brandi has had to get through these first three months with a new baby alone. I couldn't do it!
I can't get over this picture. She's too cute.

It only took me 2.5 hours to get back to LA on Sunday so I ended up getting to the airport 4 hours early. Again, kind of a bummer to have to sit there for so long, but also nice to have the time to myself.

I may not have felt rested after the weekend I was in much better spirits!