Use Your Words - Brick or Treat!

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once, and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.


My words are: 

Ugly cry ~ series of unfortunate events ~ spider web ~ magic ~ cat ~ hope

They were submitted by Climaxed - thanks, Jenniy

As you may know we were on a road trip earlier this month. We actually started out late in September in Denver where we explored the gorgeous downtown area. Note to self: must come back!



Can you believe the blue sky? When I was packing, word just got to me that there was some sudden snow coming down in Colorado, so this fantastic warm day was a pleasant surprise.


More than halfway on our way to Vail, CO I noticed that I must have left my credit card at one of the Starbucks stores on our way. 





This was one of a series of unfortunate events during our trip. The number of the Starbucks turned out to be a fax number, and in order to reach the correct person with my credit card company, I had to make a bunch of international phone calls. They were able to cancel it in time, though. Fortunately this girl has two credit cards. 

Jet-lagged we barely managed to stay awake during dinner in Vail, which is a pity because it's such a lovely village also during the off-season. 



Speaking of seasons, we had the most gorgeous day at Arches N.P. It definitely felt more like summer. Especially after a 45 minutes' hike up to Delicate Arch.




Bryce Canyon welcomed us with this gorgeous rainbow!



The next day somebody must have turned the switch over on us. We were lucky to see something at the first two vista points. 



After that? the thickest of fog! 



To add insult to injury, our car slowed down out of the blue and told us that it was time for an oil change. We were somewhere in the middle of nowhere. No clue, no phone reception.

A couple of miles later the "low tire pressure" symbol flashed up as well. What kind of rental company leaves a poorly maintained car to unsuspecting tourists? This is how I spent an hour in a forsaken muffler shop in Page, AZ.

A couple of days later, when I was just checking in at the hotel lobby in Tusayan (Grand Canyon Village), 



I heard an ugly cry, and as a Mom you know when it's your own child, so I dropped everything and raced toward the entrance where Colin came running in, screaming. He was holding his right hand in his left and wouldn't let me see. 

"I pinched my flip finger in the car door" he explained after a while, still wailing. 



Fortunately two days later he was able to bend it again. We'll see if the nail manages to stay on. It has become black.

As we were moving on toward Las Vegas we were driving on the I-40 which reminded me of the Disney Cars movie of which Colin was a huge fan when he was younger. We stopped in Seligman, AZ which is famous for being the birthplace of the historic Route 66. 




How cool! A Tow Mater knock-off, and a Sheriff, too! I was more excited than C. He seemed to have entered a pre-teenage phase and thought all those national parks and the Route 66 were boring.

Oh, and check out the other side of the road! The famous black cat cafe! Never heard of it, but guys, if it says it is famous, it is, right?



I had in mind that a small town called Peach Springs, AZ had been used as an inspiration for the fictional village "Radiator Springs" in the movie, so we made the little detour. Just as we arrived it began to rain. Also there was absolutely nothing to see. As I went back to the article I had read years ago, it turned out, that the only thing Peach Springs had in common with Radiator Springs was the distance between the Route 66 and the I-40. Duh.

Then Colin had to join us for yet another boring nature hike! Horseshoe Bay! isn't it gorgeous?



All was forgiven and forgotten when we arrived in fabulous Las Vegas, of course playing Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" at full blast! 




It had to be at full blast because there was competition! Pat Benator was playing at an outdoor concert.






Colin LOVED Las Vegas! "Next time" he announced "we may skip the road trip and fly to Vegas directly!"

Moving on we let him decide whether to visit Disneyland or Legoland. I was very happy with his choice. It wasn't too crowded, and they did a nice job decorating. So in-between the rides (which I was sitting out cause I am not a Magic Mountain person), 



I enjoyed the Halloween decoration. Spider webs and skeletons, boo! And the witch with the black cat!



My personal favourite was the miniland, though! LEGO replicas of the great American landmarks. So, so cute!


Lombard Street fits onto a picture much better in its LEGO version!


Of course I insisted on driving all the way down to San Diego. My second home did not disappoint. We managed to squeeze in some shopping (someone came prepared and brought a book...)



Spent some quality time at Shelter Island,


and of course La Jolla Cove.



A trip through Southern California wouldn't be complete without visiting sports stadiums. According to Colin, that is. #99 Wayne, the great one, Gretzky AND Magic Johnson at the same time? Major win! Even though, to me, Wayne belong to Edmonton. But that's gonna be for another trip...


After this we drove up all the way to San Francisco where the Weather Gods were gracious enough not to hide the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog as they have done before! Thank you!



I hope you've enjoyed traveling with me! 

This is what I look like after doing laundry. Twice. Cause somebody not only spilled maple syrup on their pants, they also sat on bird poo. After almost running out of gas and sitting in traffic jam due to a ballgame we knew nothing about, hubby's clam chowder bread bowl that he ordered, never arrived. Until on the check. Gotta drink to that day!






Now go find out what my friends' words were, and what they did with them:                                                                                                  



Baking In A Tornado 

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