Avant Paris

Preparing for Paris is quite exciting for me and as I continue to prepare the reality that I'm actually going to be there in 11 days is sinking in further and further. Getting to where I am now has been quite a journey from driving through the desert to swimming in the Pacific. To apply for my visa I traveled with my girlfriend Alex (whom is also going to Paris with me) to Los Angeles to the consulate of France. We decided to make it a small vacation as well (why not?) and stopped in Vegas after our drive through the desert. We saw Le Reve which was an amazing show that was the best entertainment I've ever experienced. We also got to experience the 2010 World Series of Poker and we saw Scotty Nguyen (if you know poker players) at a feature table. 

It was very interesting to discover that the event was being filmed with actual rolls of film. After melting away in Vegas we continued our journey to LA which was new to me considering I had never been to California. After the traffic and Consulate visit we walked around Rodeo drive jammed with the common car, Bentley's. Next, we decided to head west because we figured we would hit the ocean eventually and ended up at Santa Monica Pier. After swimming in the waves and relaxing on the beach we headed back to Vegas and then the next day back to Colorado. 

Oh and don't forget to fill up your gas tank every chance you get in Utah which is like twice. If you forget and you're lucky enough to find the smallest gas station sign a mile off the interstate you'll be okay 10 miles later at a tiny "gas station" that sells t-shirts that say, "Ran out of gas in Utah". I got a laugh out of that... after trying to stay calm for 40 miles.