Vacation!!! Days 1-7

So, this hasn't really been a vacation at all...it's kind of depressing. I haven't really done any relaxing. Alan and I flew into Vegas early Friday morning, and from the time we landed, my feet never stopped moving. I shopped for maybe an hour and ended up at the pool for an hour, but that's all the relaxing I got. It was 110 degrees and WAY too hot to sit at the pool any longer than that! I was at the airport three times that day and by the time I picked up Stefani, I was BEAT! We had a relaxing dinner at Chilli's and it was great to get to visit with her!! We went back to the hotel and tried to get some sleep, although I didn't sleep well at all. I woke up super early and made Stefani go running with me. Despite what she says, 6:30 wasn't early. It was already close to 100 degrees and I about croacked the way it was. I was NOT warned about how the dry weather would set my lungs on fire. After we made it back to the hotel, it was time to get ready and run a few errands before meeting the rest of the crew at the airport. So after I got my Starbucks, it was on. 10 minutes before we had to leave for the wedding, I started to get Brady ready and asked where his suitcase was. And where do you think it was? At the airport. This is why I have to do everything regarding Brady. I was already loosing my mind and finding that out as we were ready to leave DIDN'T help. So, dad and Craig made a run back to the airport. We made it to the wedding with about 5 minutes to spare. It was a NIGHTMARE. Atleast I was smart enough to wear my Teva's and hold my stupid heels. Those things were more of a nightmare than anything. I had a total of 5 different kinds of insoles and gel thingys in those stupid shoes. The wedding was good minus a few "issues", but I made a huge sigh of relief when it was over. The dinner was at Casesar's Palace at the Planet Hollywood Restaurant and it was INCREDIBLE. I had the rack of ribs and the meat just fell off the bone...just the way it's supposed to!! After dinner, we were all so exhausted that we just hung out at the hotel...but of course I shopped at my favorite store, the Bass Pro Shop, until they closed. Sunday morning, 16 of us got up and went to meet Brian, Rachel, and the kids for church. Brian had a great sermon! After church, Craig, Justin, and Niko went to the airport and the rest of us drove across Death Valley and headed to Lone Pine. We just hung out Sunday evening and tried to recover from the weekend. We got up Monday and still had more recovering to do than we had expected. I couldn't believe how much energy had been sucked out me in the past few weeks preparing for this vacation. Nick, Fabby, and I did some walking around and Nick and I did some last minute shopping to prepare for our big hike on Tuesday. We were glad to take it easy on Monday since we knew Tuesday was going to take whatever energy I had just recovered. After getting all our gear packed, I finally made it to bed around 10pm and had to get up at 3:45 and left at 4:15am. The morning came WAY too early but I was super excited. We were all stoked and rearing to go! We drove to the portal and got all geared up. It was Nick, Fabby, Mom, Dad, Aaron, Anastasiya, Aunt Vickie, Dave, and me. It was the most gorgeous creation I had ever seen. The pictures didn't even do it justice. We had to gain over 6,000+ feet in elevation and i was just praying I didn't get altitude sickness. Welp, that didn't work, about 2 hours into the hike it hit me like a brick. We made only a few stops as we didn't want to get behind schedule. It was a grueling hike going up, as most of it was rock, not sand/dirt trails. Imagine climbing stairs for 8 hours, and instead of stairs, it's incredibly uneven, and in some spots, slick, rocks. There were times I really thought I wasn't going to make it, but I did. My feet were THROBBING and I didn't want to see the horror of things developing in my boots....aka BLISTERS. I had on my polypro socks, hiking socks, and not just moleskin...but molefoam which is much thicker. And somehow, it just wasn't enough. The hike down was easier in some parts and it did seem to move faster, but it wasn't fast enough. We had run out of water by the time we got to the top, so once we started back down, it was at least 2 hours before we could get to a place where the water didn't have to be flitered. If a water runs over a rock, it purifies it because of the minerals in the rock. Interesting fact :) We started climbing in the pitch black with flashlights (which didn't last long because the sun rose early) and ended with headlamps because the last 3-4 hours were pitch black again. We were in 3 groups going down, but 2 of the groups ended at about the same time. So, 18 hours later, we were at the bottom. There were times I didn't think I was going to make it down, but I just tried to keep moving. We stopped at Lone Pine Lake and I fell asleep on the ground....which is a good reason why I didn't want to stop. I didn't much have a choice though, my legs were shaking so bad. I ate the entire way up AND down, but once I popped my energy jelly beans, I took off...which was actually kind of funny. I had been listening to my ipod in one year for 11 hours, put the last two hours I blared it and sang. Couldn't sing on the way up because I had to focus on my breathing. I took my boots off as soon as I got to the van and about died when I saw them! Needless to say, they still hurt and I won't be wearing shoes for awhile!! Wednesday we went to the hot springs and tried soaking to sooth some muscles. I didn't think I hurt until I sat still for a period of time and tried to get up. The later it got during the day, the worse I felt. We've been eating VERY well...between all the cooks in the house!!! It's been a BLAST spending time with Nick & Fabby...and Brady loved it, too!! They went home this morning. I ended up working most of the day today (as I have worked every single day but Tuesday). I never get away from it, but I'm use to it now. I wish I had time to just sit and read my books. I haven't even got to sit outside and relax yet. It's been VERY hectic with 12 people here. The house isn't THAT big! But, it's been a blast visiting with family. Tomorrow we're off to Redondo Beach for a couple of days and going back to Disneyland. I'll blog more then! Goodnight everyone!