Los Angeles, CA - February 8-9, 2014

I can say with 100% confidence that this, our first trip to Los Angeles, will not be our last in 2014. I predict 3 more, at least. This trip was college basketball-centric, as USC was hosting UCLA. After going to the PAC-12 Tournament last year, it became a goal of ours to make it to each of the PAC-12 basketball arenas. 1 down, 11 more to go!! One of Robbie's coworkers, Hilary, went to college at USC, so we asked her to come along for the weekend, and she was in. It was a quick trip to LA (leave Vegas on Saturday morning, and get back on Sunday afternoon), but as always, it was really fun. After picking up our car rental and Hilary on Saturday morning, we were on our way. As we got closer to L.A., the fog was lifting in the valley, which made for a very picturesque drive!!!

It's inevitable that we run into some type of traffic in LA, and this time was no different. We had just hit the eastern suburbs of LA with our destination being Long Beach, and traffic was at a stand-still, at 2:30pm mind you! But with map skills like a wizard, Robbie came through yet again, and got us to Long Beach without taking one freeway after we left the 605.

We stayed in Long Beach because Hilary had some college friends who lived there. So we decided to stay aboard the Queen Mary, and old ship that was restored into a hotel. We had seen the Queen Mary on our honeymoon, and we always thought it would be fun to stay in. Before the basketball game, we quickly checked in, and were off. Although I wasn't able to get any pictures at that time, I did get a few that night when we returned, and the next morning, so I'll just talk about our experience now. We knew the Queen Mary was restored into a hotel, so we stayed there for the experience. Neither of us had ever been on a ship of that size; the only other large vessel of that sort was a ferry boat, and the only thing we could think of to compare it to in our heads was the Titanic ship, from the movie. When we got there, it was very much like the Titanic, but on a smaller scale. We checked in, and were given directions to our room. We had a center "stateside" room, so there were no windows, which was weird, but it proved to be a blessing come sun-up!! That night, we noticed the air-conditioning was outdated, and when inquiring about it, we were told that it needed to be turned on from a "control room." Ha! We had never heard of such a thing! We eventually had to have 2 maintenance guys come in at 11pm and fidget with the air ducts in the room. Oh man. In the morning, we noticed that the bathtub water knobs were also outdated. It would either spray scalding hot water, or freezing cold. We were finally able to to get it to a luke warm setting. All in all, it wasn't a terrible stay, just some things to get used to. The bed, on the other hand, was extremely comfy!! Sunday morning, we were able to walk around the ship for some photo opportunities before we left. For anyone looking for an historic stay, the Queen Mary would be the place for you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the reason we went to LA in the first place, the USC/UCLA basketball game!! After we checked in, me, Robbie, Hilary, and 2 of her college friends were off to the USC campus! Time allowed us to walk around the USC campus for a little bit. Robbie really wanted to see Heritage Hall, which paid homage to all the USC greats who went on to bigger and better things, sports-wise. We spent a bunch of time in there, and on our way to the basketball arena, we crossed the quad and stopped for pizza.

 

 

 

The Galen Center is the venue for home USC games, so that's where we were for the evening. After getting to our seats, we had a few minutes to watch warm-ups and listen to some tunes!

 

 

The game itself was very action-filled, in the first half anyway for USC! UCLA was the favorite, but USC took an early lead, and then pretty much dropped the ball (ha-ha) in the second half. All in all, it was an entertaining game!!

Before we went back to the Queen Mary, one of Hilary's friends who was riding with us took us over a few bridges that overlooked the Long Beach Harbor. All the pictures I took of the harbor turned out blurry, but I did get a pretty good one of the bridge itself, and a cool shot of a bunch of overpasses, and I think they turned out pretty great!

 

 

The next day before we left LA, we went to the best breakfast spot, the Original House of Pancakes!!! The best thing about it was that it was located right along the Pacific Coast Highway!!

 

 

The weekend went by really quick, but it was really fun!! As we were driving out of the valley and making a steady incline, we drove through the fog, which was pretty neat! Now onto planning our next trip to LA!!!

 

"It is very hard to generalize. Everyone's adventure is original." -Bernard Pivot

A Daniels Family Christmas, 2013

How Christmas snuck up on us this year is beyond me, but Christmas was here, and we were busy! I always get nostalgic at Christmastime, and this season was going to be extra special because we were going back to the Midwest to visit family over the weekend, and meet our new nephew for the first time!!

We celebrated Christmas Eve here in Vegas. It was originally going to be just Robbie and I, but we opened our doors to 2 of Robbie's coworkers who were elated to be spending the evening with us. Ever since Robbie and I's first Christmas as a married couple, we established a tradition of fondueing steak and chicken, making for a very laid back dinner, and lots of conversation around the table. We had tons of food, even for last minute additions! Meat, cheese, crackers, Jell-O salad, chips, wine, champagne, and lots of laughs! My favorite thing we do for dessert is deep fry candy bars. We take mini-chocolate bars, wrap them in croissants, put them in the fondue oil, and let them fry! Then you are left with a calorific Christmas!! Our Christmas Eve was a lot of fun!!

 

 

On Christmas Day, we were headed to the airport to visit family in the Midwest. We made our way east, and landed in MSP around 5pm. That evening, we had reservations at a hotel right by the airport, which allowed us to shave a day off of a car rental!! I also realized that our view from our room looked directly at the building that I did my Travel Agent studies in! Cool!

 

 

After we got settled, I called my brother Johnny and Sister-in-Law Marua to see when we could meet our nephew! They were on their way back to the cities from Wisconsin, so they were able to swing by our hotel to show their son off for us. I was literally speechless when I met him, and he already had me wrapped around his little finger. I practically scooped him right out of his car seat as I couldn't wait any longer to hold him. The moment was so special; when I had him in my arms, he looked up at me, smiled, and let out a little giggle. I was hooked! He is such a well-behaved baby, it's unreal! Another special thing about him is that he shares the name of my dad and my brother, making my nephew John Gregory Kasper III! My dad would have been proud! It was originally planned that we wouldn't get to meet him until Saturday due to scheduling conflicts, but I was sooooo thankful they took time out of what had to be a busy day for the new family to swing by so we could meet him!! What a great ending to Christmas Day!

 

 

 

While we were in the Midwest, we had a pretty set schedule of what family we would see and when. There were a few other things we wanted to do while we were there, and our first priority on our first full day in Minnesota was to visit Ft. Snelling National Cemetery where my dad is laid to rest. After getting our rental car for the weekend, we met my step-mom and step-sister at the cemetery. This visit was our first since the funeral, and it was just so nice to visit his plot. It was an emotional time for me, but it was also really reflective. Before my dad had passed away, people kept saying how they were able to receive clear signs from their deceased loved ones from time to time, and I couldn't really relate. After dad's passing, I realized what those other people meant, and what happened at the cemetery was probably the clearest sign of all. Right when we got to dad's headstone, the sun peeked out of the clouds that had been covering Minneapolis all morning. It was then that I knew that dad knew we were there. The sun only stayed out as long as we visited. I will never forget that special moment!

After a few other errands in and around the cities, and after a stop at our old favorite MSP pizza place, Solo's (pictured below), we headed up to Princeton, MN to visit with Robbie's dad, step-mom Terri, and our niece, Gemma. The more I spend time watching Robbie and his dad interact, the more I see the similarities between them, and in their sense of humor. It's also fun for me to learn more about Robbie through childhood stories from his dad. For the Christmas visit with Robbie's dad, we met at a restaurant, and we practically closed the place down. It was a great first visit with family!

Friday, we had a Christmas visit with my mom. My Aunt Mary-Ann, Uncle Bill, cousin Christopher, a surprise visit from Aunt Suzanne, and Grandma were also going to come by as well. On our way out to Wisconsin, we stopped into my high school and college friend's work so we could spend time with her while she was on her lunch break! It was so great to catch up with you, Angela!!

We got to my mom's early in the day so we could spend time with just her, before everyone else came. I hadn't been to Barron since before we moved to Vegas, so I guess we were due! :) After everyone else arrived, we ordered Uptown Pizza, on my request. Uptown is the best pizza in the county, and I had been craving it for at least a year! We then exchanged a few gifts, and I couldn't get away without spending time with my cat, Slugger! Slugger is going on 17 years old, and she is still kicking it old school! She was born a farm-cat, so I'm pretty sure she has a few more than 9 lives! Spending time with the family was wonderful, and my Uncle Bill brought his signature laugh, which always makes for a great time!

 

 

 

 

Saturday, we headed back to the cities in a winter wonderland to have our "Sibling Christmas" at my step-moms. This is the time where we get to catch up with my half- and adopted sisters, and my other nephews as well. Unfortunately, my half-sister and her family couldn't make it due to a case of the whooping cough! Hope they feel better! During our Sibling Christmas, we always play the White Elephant dice game, which is always a good time! This year, our White Elephant gifts that we wrapped were socks. In Vegas, there is a Sock Market with hundreds of designs for hundreds of pairs of socks for men, women, and kids. We gave 2 pairs of men's (a bacon and eggs design, and a taxi cab design) and 2 pairs of women's socks (a taxi cab design, and a puzzle piece design). It always brings out the best of us when we start stealing the presents!! My brother and sister-in-law were also there with my nephew, so I got to love JGIII up even more! He was also working out on the floor as we were playing the dice game, as you will see below!

 

 

After the Sibling Christmas, Robbie and I headed over to my brother's house to continue the visit! I wanted as much time with my nephew as possible before we left again! It was there that I got to feed him from the bottle for the first time! He eats well, and he grows so much so fast!! Johnny and Maura have aspirations for him to be a left-handed pitcher in the MLB!! He showed signs of that as we were leaving; when I was saying good-bye to JGIII, he fist-bumped me with his left hand! He will be throwing a ball in no time! I'm so proud of the Kasper family!!!

Sunday was our last day in Minneapolis, and we were set to head back to Vegas at around 4:30pm. Being we had plenty of time before our flight left, we got together with a few of our friends at a sports bar/restaurant to spend time together. My good friend and Maid of Honor in our wedding, Kaela came by, and so did Troy, who is married to my longest friend Ellen. Ellen couldn't make it because she was at the last Minnesota Vikings game ever to be played in the Metrodome! Glad you got a win out of the game, Ellen! Robbie's brother Brandon also came out, and it was really good to see him, being he couldn't make it when we were with Robbie's dad a few days earlier. It is so nice when we can take the time to catch up with friends in our busy time with family.

After we got to the airport to come back to Vegas, we were advised that our flight was delayed about an hour, but it worked out well because during the time we were at the airport, the Packers were playing their last game of the regular season, and it happened to be the game that decided the NFC North Division, vs. the Chicago Bears. We were able to watch all but the last 8 minutes at the airport, and at that time, the score was 28-27 in favor of the Bears. When we were on the plane, we made the flight attendant find out who won, and we were overly excited when the flight attendant relayed the message over the plane's PA system that the Packers had won the division!! We later saw highlights that the Packers won the game on an Aaron Rodgers roll-out touchdown pass on 4th and 8. It's my favorite thing when Rodgers rolls out and passes down the field like he did on that play, so I was suuuper excited!!And with it being Rodgers's first game back after 8 weeks and a broken collarbone, it just made it more special! Not to mention, he got redemption on the same team that broke his collarbone in the first meeting of the season! Needless to say, it was a great flight back! And to add to it, our suitcase was the first to come onto the baggage claim conveyor belt in Vegas!

 

 

Although our weekend in the Midwest flew by, there are a lot of memories I will cherish. As I am writing this on the first day of 2014, I know that the year ahead will be a great one, with so many more memories to be made with my family, as we already have plans to go back out there in July!

Until then, I will leave everyone with this....!!

"Actually, the moment of victory is wonderful, but also sad. It means that your trip has ended." -Bill Toomey