Quests/Bill and Ted's Circle K and Cabazon Dinosaurs

Recently, we went on a family trip to Phoenix for their Comic Con (read about it here, here, and here). It was a lot of fun, and my husband and I are hoping to go again next year (minus the kiddos though). While we didn't eat at a Waffle House (a newly acquired item on my life achievement list- what others would call a bucket list), we did get to visit the Circle K where Bill and Ted was filmed and those super huge Cabazon dinosaurs that I have been dying to see since every time we head that way lol. Its been years now, so that was exciting. 

So there are a million Circle Ks in Arizona. Fact. Or should be, since they're on every corner like Starbucks is here. We were gassing up at one before leaving, and with the Whoa, Keanu! panel still fresh in my head, I decided to see if we were anywhere near the Circle K where they filmed Bill and Ted. Guess what. We were like five minutes away! So we went to the Circle K and thought for sure that there would be some sort of Bill and Ted memorabilia. It would make total sense, right? Nope. Not one thing. We bought some snacks (and the nastiest Icee you will ever taste) and asked the cashier if lots of people come there because of Bill and Ted. She said" What? Nope." So we felt like weirdos and went outside to take pictures. Its at 1010 West Southern Avenue in Tempe if you're interested in visiting it yourself. 

Bill and Ted's Circle K!

So we drive a few hours........

And we're back in our home state! So we drive some more.....

Then we see signs for the Cabazon Dinosaurs! I didn't really think we'd stop and see them, because the drive home was feeling twice as long as the drive to Phoenix, but we stopped. And look at these bad boys.

They have some kind of museum or exhibit behind all this, but we didn't want to pay (and there aren't any large dinos that you don't get to see if you don't). The gift shop is located inside the Apato, which was cool but it was soooooo hot in there.

So those were our little side stops, and one day, I will eat at a Waffle House.....

It was right next to our hotel! So close, and yet, so far...

Have you visited any of these places? What did you think of them?

Quests/Los Angeles- Talking Dead filming

Yesterday my husband and I got to attend a filming of Talking Dead for Fear the Walking Dead. We have been trying what feels like literally forever (and I hate the misuse of literally, so you know its serious!) to get tickets for a taping of Talking Dead for The Walking Dead, so when these came up, we jumped on the opportunity.

The Talking Dead does its ticketing through a company called 1iota, and they seem to give you tickets based on attendance ratings to other shows that they ticket for, so it can be really tough to get into some of these tapings. And the Talking Dead's studio is super small, there are only forty fans allowed into a taping, so getting tickets is like the Hunger Games, may the odds be ever in your favor.

The experience itself was interesting, just because we have been to a couple of tapings of the Conan O'Brien show (once when he was with NBC and once with TBS), so we thought we knew what was going to happen. And for the most part, it was similar. There were a few big differences though, like you are absolutely not allowed to have your cell phone on you once you hit the lot, where at Conan they always said "if we see it, we take it." This information was printed on the ticket though, so my husband and I left ours in the car. Others did not head the ticket's advice though, and once we made it through the metal detectors, they were all asked to put their phones in a basket and they could retrieve them after everything was said and done. I understand why they do it though, you screen the episode before it even plays on the East Coast, so they don't want spoilers to find their way to the Internet. They also don't rely on electronic applause or other reaction signs that hang in front of the audience, instead, a producer told us when to clap, when to amp up the laughter, all that stuff. It was pretty cool, kinda old school really.

They also tell you how to dress, which was interesting considering you pretty much never see the audience in Talking Dead shows. You are told to dress like you're going on a movie date, so casually nice, no large logos allowed, except on fandom tees. They should really change that rule to no logos whatsoever allowed, My husband was chosen as a potential question asker, and he had a tiny logo on his polo shirt that was about the size of a dime (think- alligator polos from the 80's). The show brought out a sweatshirt for him to wear in case he was chosen because the logo wasn't allowed. Oh yeah, they also tell you to bring a light jacket or something because they studio gets cold. Totally listen to that one- it gets freezing in there! (and I had a light hoodie on)

The process goes pretty quickly once you get into the studio, but waiting beforehand (outside, on the sidewalk of a busy LA street with no trees) is boring. 1iota says you have to be there by four pm to make it in, but you really need to get there sooner to line up (if you're parking on the lot though, they won't let you park until three, and they are very to the minute with that time). You sit how you line up, and your position in line won't really change unless you're chosen to potentially ask a question (they choose four people to do this, but only one gets to actually ask a question), then you get to sit in the front row once its time to film the show. After the screening of the episode, there's about a half hour wait before you go into the studio. During that time they let you eat from the vending machine and go to the bathroom if you need to, and the people chosen as question askers get whisked away to sign a bunch of papers, get new questions (because their's aren't good enough, lol) and have headshots taken. I was very bored for that time, since I didn't get to go with my husband and the people around me weren't all that friendly. If I get to go again, I will most definitely bring a book. 

I got to sit in the second row since I was a person who had a person taken from me (that what they called it lol) by the cameras, which was fun. I was still alone, since my husband got to sit in the front row, so that kinda sucked. But I did get to learn about how they do the sets for the different Talking Deads, and all the random, minute details that they put into them, which was really interesting. And the show was dynamite, of course, and Chris Hardwick is well, Chris Hardwick *mild swoon* The guests (Tamera Mowry-Housely, Jim Gaffigan and Mercedes Mason) interacted a lot with the first row, which was lucky for them, not so lucky for the rest of us *shrug*. Once it came time to do the question asking, they chose one of the girls to go up there and not my husband. womp womp. The producers give the potential askers these questions, and then whatever question best fits the flow of the show or hasn't really been covered yet is the one that gets chosen. 

Overall, it was a really fun and interesting experience, and I hope we get to do it again. A lot of people in the audience were Talking Dead veterans, so that gives me hope that my name will come up a winner again in the ticket lottery :) 

Quests- Maui,Hawaii/Things To Do

Food and drinks were an important part of the trip to Maui, but what about things to do? Well, today I'll talk about a few places we visited that I guess are considered pretty touristy.

Surfing Goat Dairy:

This is a working goat farm that does tours and stuff, but we went when we were a bit pressed for time, so we didn't take one. The little goats are so cute, one came right up to my husband and started sucking his finger, and then a farm lady got mad at him and said that the goats weren't of sound immunity and people are nasty so the goats can't do that. They sell all kinds of goat milk products, including some of the best goat cheese ever! And these amazing truffles that were also sold at the vodka distillery I wrote about yesterday. They are right next door to each other, and they have a bit of a partnership (some of the truffles have alcohol in them).

Kula Botanical Garden:

This place was so pretty! It had all different kinds of flowers and trees, birds and some lizards. It was very well maintained, and there were signs along the paths so didn't get lost in there. Towards the end of our walk, we saw some guys up in one of the trees who were gathering macadamia nuts, then opening them on a rock with a rock right below it. My husband and in-laws tried it out, but I have horrible hand/eye coordination, and all I saw was a trip to the hospital for me! The fresh macadamia nuts were amazing though, and it was really cool of those guys to let us intrude (and really cool of the gardens staff to let them do that).

Haleakala National Park:

The drive to reach the top of this place is long (37 miles from sea level to the top of the summit)!! We thought we were going to run out of gas. But the view was amazing. You are above the clouds, its just.....amazing. I mean, there isn't another word for it. Its chilly up there, so dress accordingly. And there's a gift shop a little ways down, so if you have a National Parks Passport, that's where you get it stamped at.

Whale Watching:

That little black speck is a whale!

My husband and in-laws have been to Hawaii on more than one occasion, so they were tired of doing luaus. Instead of going to one this year, they chose whale watching as their "touristy" activity. Whale watching was fun, I was worried that I was going to get sick on the boat because motion sickness is sometimes an issue for me, but I did fine (my mother-in-law on the other hand...not so much). We saw a good amount of whales, but they were really hard to get a picture of because they were so fast. The only thing that made me go hmm was at one point our captain came back from a break (right, as we're sailing along) with two Mai Tais in his hands. Like, couldn't he have waited for our adventure to be over first? Or at least drank those were we couldn't see him doing it? But we didn't crash, so that was awesome. 

So that's it! Other than spending way too much time in ABC Stores (part convenience store, part souvenir shop, they're everywhere- like Starbucks!), the grocery store and Longs (yes- a Longs! Not CVS! That probably doesn't make sense to you East Coasters. They're like a Duane Reade, or whatever your drugstores are called, and there hasn't been a Longs here in a very long *lol* time.), we didn't do much else. Oh, we did go to the movies twice too. It was a total throwback theater. I mean, it was a Regal Cinemas (which are very modern), but the decor felt very early 90's. We saw Daddy's Home and The Hateful Eight. Both good movies for their respective genres, but not gonna lie, I fell asleep during part of The Hateful Eight. 

This is from the theater. They had lines of this stuff in the bathroom on the walls and floors. I thought it was really cool because it was sparkly (which my photo fails to capture) and a collage, and I love collages! This was next to me by the mirror, and I took a picture because Harriet the Spy is in there, and that's a favorite of  mine. 

If I ever visit Hawaii again, what are some places that I missed that I should definitely check out? 

*All photos in this post were taken by me. If you use them, please credit. Thank you!*

Quests- Maui,Hawaii/The Alcohol

While in Maui, we visited a brewery, a distillery and a winery. I'm not much of a drinker anymore (and I've never liked beer), so I was a little leery of these destinations. But they all turned out to be great experiences, and I found some wine and beer that didn't leave me gagging :)

Maui Brewing Company:

We toured the Maui Brewing Company as part of my father-in-law's birthday celebration. We missed our initial tour time, but they placed us into the next one with no problems. While we waited for our tour to being, we ordered drinks. As I mentioned above, I do not like beer! I never have. But I tried the Mana Wheat. As described on their site:

An unfiltered, freshly handcrafted American-style Wheat infused with Maui Gold Pineapple. Our crisp and refreshing wheat ale is lightly hopped to allow the fruity sweetness of the pineapple to shine. The yeast stays in suspension making the ale traditionally cloudy.

ABV 5.5 | IBU 18

It was pretty good, as far as beer goes. I couldn't finish though, so I had to pass it around the table. My husband and father-in-law got these things called flights (I think), so they got to sample six beers a piece. My sister-in-law tried their root beer (which is delicious!) and I can't remember what my mother-in-law got. 

The tour wasn't very long (the facility is really small), but it was fun and the tour guide was cool. At the end of it, you do a tasting and I drank all three without complaint (and one of them was really nasty!). You get to keep your tasting cup and they give you a token for a free drink. I used mine on a root beer. 

Ocean Vodka/Hawaii Sea Spirits Distillery:

We went here right after the brewery, so it might seem like we're alcoholics, but that's just how it worked out. This place was beautiful! They make Ocean Vodka and Deep Island Rum. Even though this facility was also small, the tour went a little longer because everything was spread out (and our tour guide talked a lot lol).They have a bunch of different types of sugar cane they use to make their products, and they're organic if that's a thing for you. There was a tasting at the end of this tour, but they hardly gave you anything to try! Now, I realize that this is more, uh, spirited than beer, but I can actually drink vodka and rum, so it was a little disappointing. You also got a cute shot glass at the end of the tour. 

This little kitty lives there. It made me miss my cat!

Maui Wines:

The winery was so pretty. It had at one time been a ranch, and even a vacation spot for the Hawaiian King way back in the day. At the start of the tour, they give you a taste of Lokelani Rose Wine, it was good. I don't know a darn thing about wine though, so it could be garbage (I don't think so though. My SIL drinks wine, and she liked it). Some people were swilling it around their glasses and stuff. I just drank it. That's how I roll. Anyway, this tour was the longest of the three, I think because everything was very spread out here. There was also a lot of history involved with the property, and they talked a lot about it. After this tour, we got to taste three wines of our choosing. I chose the Hula O Maui, Maui Splash and Framboise. All the wines I chose were flavored or dessert wines, and the Framboise was so sweet and good, it really felt like I was drinking a raspberry dessert. The other two were both pineapple wines, and they were good too. Added bonus, I had a tiny bottle of Stella Rosa Stella Pink in my fridge that I had tried once before and was a little on the fence about. I reopened it after coming home and had a new appreciation for it!

So those are my alcohol related tours. Tomorrow I'll be concluding my posts about Maui with some other things to do while there. Don't forget to check out yesterday's post all about food!

**All photos were taken by me. If you use them, please credit. Thank you!**

Quests- Maui,Hawaii/The Food

During Christmastime, I was in Maui. I had never been to Hawaii before (or on a plane), so it was pretty interesting. I have lots to share, so I'll be breaking it down into a couple of posts. The first post I wanted to do is on the food, because it was very good! (I'll also share a few that were meh and womp womp, just to be fair.)

One of the first things we did when we got there was go grocery shopping. Besides the price of food being way higher than here in CA, the variety of foods in the store were very different than what I'd expect to see at a grocery store here. One of the first foods I saw was this hot dog musubi. I didn't try it, but I was intrigued.

         

Spam is another huge deal over there. It goes back to WWII, and I have nothing against Spam. It was just strange to see it offered in restaurants and to have such huge end caps dedicated to the stuff. Here at home, its usually just shoved at one end of a dusty shelf, and nobody admits to eating it because its considered a poor man's food.

While we did cook in our timeshare sometimes, we also ate at a few restaurants. We ate at L & L Hawaiian BBQ twice because it was very good. They gave generous portions and the prices were so reasonable. I didn't take a picture of my food there, I think its one of the only places I didn't. I was just so hungry I forgot! They also have locations scattered throughout the mainland US and some overseas, check their website and see if they have a location near you. 

We also ate breakfast at a place called Slappy Cakes three times. Their food was soooooo good. I'm not usually a pancake person, but I really tore into theirs! I tried the Blueberry Tart pancakes that was served with house-made lemon curd and the Hawaiian pancakes. I also had the lavender lemonade and the hibiscus lemonade. All of it was tasty, but the lavender lemonade and Hawaiian pancakes were my favorites. There are also griddles in the middle of each table in case you choose the DIY pancake option. I thought about trying that, but I was also feeling lazy since I was on vacation, so that didn't happen. Slappy Cakes also has a restaurant in Portland, and a few overseas as well.

The first meh place we ate at was Sansei. My in-laws loved the food there, but my husband and I were left a little underwhelmed (and no, we're not foodies or anything). The food was really expensive, the portions were small, and it tasted like food we could get at home for half the price. I will say though, that the first thing I tried (which was a mango crab salad handroll), was really good.

There is a great little bakery called Sugar Beach Bake Shop that made the best macarons! I even brought some home with me!

The womp, womp place we ate at was Moose McGillycuddy's. The place was overcrowded, so we were put at a table that was too small for the five of us. The food was comparable to things you can buy premade at a grocery store, and the rest was just flavorless and blah. Not to mention that it made all of us sick. I don't recommend that place at all. 

Genki Sushi was a really fun place to eat. There are conveyor belts that have plates of variously priced sushi travel all through the restaurant. We ordered everything straight from the kitchen (because we don't trust people lol) and it was delicious. The plates are color coated and the waitress just counts up how many of each color you have and that's how they figure our your bill. It was really affordable and tasty. I also had to try some tamago Spam nigiri. You can't go to Hawaii and not eat Spam at least once :)

And to finish up this post (I know, its a long one!), I leave you with a Dole Whip. I never get these at Disneyland, so I figured I would try one where the pineapples are very fresh. It was delicious!

Tomorrow, I'll talk all about the alcohol related tours we took on the island!

**All photos (Except the L&L BBQ and Moose McGillycuddy's logos) were taken by me. If you use them, please credit. Thank you!**

Quests- Paso Robles,CA/Lindsey Stirling

I have decided to start a new series on the blog called Quests, and its basically a way for me to share my little road trips or adventures with you while keeping with my WoWish theme. For my first Quest, my husband and I went to see Lindsey Stirling at the Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles, CA on August 6th, 2015.

It was a very last minute decision to get tickets, but my mom was wanting to take the kids for that weekend anyway, so we just asked her if she'd take them for an extra night. Luckily, she agreed and we got to see one of the best concerts we've ever been to. On the Ticketmaster site, the time for the concert was listed as 7pm. We made it there about 7:15pm because of some traffic issues. Lindsey's first opening act, Olivia Somerlyn was almost done with her set when we arrived. Since my husband and I were super hungry, we ate the overpriced vineyard food (which was delicious) and sat behind the walls around the amphitheater seating (so the vineyard club members can't see into the amphitheater and get a free show lol). so we didn't get to see any of her performance. She sounded good though, and had a bit of a Taylor Swift vibe- very happy and grateful and loving of all of her fans.

The next act I was pretty excited to see, and that was Robert DeLong. They play Long Way Down on one of the local radio stations (the same one that has the creeper DJ that lusts after Meg Myers), which is a huge (and welcomed) departure from what they usually play. My husband had no idea who he was, but loved his show and was a fan by the end! Robert DeLong is the epitome of a one man band, but not in the cheesy, cymbals on the knees, monkey on the back kind. His show was visually stunning, and it was done in a video game type way. It felt very Ready Player One (for all of my fellow book lovers), and it was great. If you get a chance to see him perform, do it!

Robert DeLong 

And then....it was Lindsey's turn. I am a huge fan (one of my first Mixtape Monday's was dedicated to her), so I was very excited to see her! Her show was so amazing! It really made me regret not keeping up with my violin playing. Not that I was super spectacular when I did play, but seeing her play did make me miss it a whole bunch. The show was very visually stunning, which you'd sort of expect, since she's playing the violin and not singing. But everything was great, her dancing was terrific, and I loved her costumes. She even did a medley of video game songs for all the gamers out in the crowd. What was almost as interesting as her show were the people in the audience. There was such a mix of people, it was really incredible. Lots of kids, quite a few older people, and a lot of people in various stages of cosplay. 

My phone died pretty much right after her set started, so I don't have a lot of pictures, but that's okay. The experience was enough. Before one of her songs (Transcendence), she shared that she wrote it because she had gone through a period of time a couple years ago where she was really depressed. She said that she didn't like who she was at that time, almost didn't recognize herself. She shared that she had gone through all these things to make herself a happy person. She tried therapy and happiness exercises...basically had to train her brain to not be depressed anymore. And its not like she was minimizing anyone's struggle with depression, she said that she still has rituals that she does to keep herself in her current state, so that she doesn't slip back into that depressed person. Its not been a secret around here that I suffer from depression, and while I have yet to find a pill mix that works for me, or to see a therapist (because the one I was referred to seems to never have the time), hearing that she found a way out of her depression gives me a tiny sliver of hope that I can eventually find a way out of mine. And I wasn't expecting that from her concert at all. 

After the concert was over, we got some food from the slowest Taco Bell ever (and I never eat from there, but it was like the only thing still open) and then drove home. That was an experience in itself, because when we were close to town we almost hit this lady that ran into the street for no reason! My husband swerved to miss her, and she ran at the car again, and he swerved again, and then she disappeared back into the trees by the side of the road. I checked the news the next day, to see if she'd tried that with anyone else and they weren't so quick to miss her, but there was nothing in the papers, so I hope she got to wherever she was going okay.