11:35PM - 12/08/2010 --- First Entry
in Eastern Time
Now officially relocated to the sparkling state of North Carolina - and
here's a recounting of my five-day journey here!
| Day
1, Dec 4 - Los Angeles, CA to
Flagstaff, AZ |
| Our grand plan was to wake up at 8AM
and head out by 9AM. However...Friday night I received a txt from one
of the CCEs from SMMC (for the Patient Assessment Initiative I had been
working on). I ended up spending my Saturday morning (from 7AM to
10AM!) coordinating a shift for that project. Ahhhh... major
transitions come with quite a variety
of troubleshooting issues. But now... it's time to travel 2700
miles! |
|
|
We ended up
heading out ~11AM,
grabbed a quick
breakfast at McD's, and drove the 450
miles to Flagstaff, Arizona.
There wasn't much to see on the drive there besides sand, rock, and
desert chaparral...but the sunset was gorgeous. Very different from the
coastal sunsets of PV!
We didn't go to the Flagstaff Pub (back from the TX
trip), but we did go to a yummy family restaurant named "Pasto
Cucina Italiano."
|
 |
| Mom enjoyed a tiger shrimp pesto, while dad |
Arizona Desert Sunset
|
| and I had a meat
lasagna. We stayed at an Econo lodge and were pretty
satisfied - it was cold and the heater did a pretty good job (except
for being really loud). Sleep! |
|
|
| Day
2, Dec 5 - Flagstaff, AZ to Amarillo,
TX |
 |
It was a cold, cold morning! We all bundled up right
away and were out on the road by 8AM. We also fast-forwarded our clocks
1 hour because we had passed out of the Pacific time zone.
Along the way we saw some of Arizona and New Mexico's
famous red rocks. The desert weather was also very unique; we even saw
a darkly haloed mountain!
|
| GPS told us we had about 2000
miles left until we
arrived at our final destination: North Carolina. As we like to say:
"Tzu chue wan leh!"
And as you can see, it's almost all on the I-40... our next "turn" was
in 787 miles!
|
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 |
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| AZ
Red Rock Formations |
Haloed
Mountain
|
| There were a lot of rock and
chaparral, just like on the
first day. There were also a lot of trucks. Lots and lots. Almost all
were heading to California - Guess our consumer market isn't doing too
bad after all! We figured projected Christmas sales were looking good
(especially after Black Friday) and stores were happily stocking up
again for the Christmas season! |
 |
| We made our customary McD's stop for lunch. McD's is
awesomely reliable at traveler's rest stops. Chicken nuggets may be
mystery meat, but they're still delicious! New Mexico had a lot of very
cool geological formations. It was also very cold - cold enough to
snow!
|
 |
 |
 |
| NM
Round Redrock |
Snow
by the road
|
| We landed in Amarillo, TX after 600 miles and 10 hours.
After checking in at the Quality Inn ~7PM, we headed straight to the
local steakhouse - "The Big Texan."
It should be renamed "The Big Cow."
There was one right outside the restaurant! This place is known for
serving 72 oz steaks. Individuals who can finish it within an hour eat
for free - or else they gotta cough up $72 (and probably throw up a
large portion of their steak).
|
|
| Best finish time: 8 mins, 53s!
Earned by a former hot-dog eating champion.
There was also a complimentary limo
service. The limos had horns! Once inside, the interior was pure Texan
Cowboy style, with Christmas accents. Fantastically festive =)
|
| Mom, Dad, and I shared two orders of 18 oz ribeyes ($21
each). I ordered mine medium rare; Dad ordered his medium. Let me say
this, though: Texan medium rare is so lightly fired, I can almost see
the tiny capillaries pulsating blood. This meat sure ain't cauterized!
I doubt it would pass CA Health
Department minimums. The ribeye was deliciously tender, though, even
after we had the chef fire it up to medium-well quality. The corn-bread
triangles were gritty with style and the steak soup was savory. And the
yeast rolls... wow.
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They were so good, it's scary.
Wonder how many sticks of butter they took! After our very heavy dinner
(mom ate almost 12 oz of steak by herself! She probably went from 125
lbs to 137 in one sitting) we took a walk around the restaurant. That's
when we found... the Throne of the 72 oz steak!
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| After that we rolled our full
tummies back to the Inn and slept like fluffly lil puppies.
|
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|
About
(Quality ≥ Quantity)⊂(efficiency=#1)
Presentation matters.
Impact one moment at a time. Create joy, one smile at a time. Enhance
every day, for every one you can. Live life.
 |
<3
|
| Basic
Facts
|
| Name |
Adeline T. Yang
|
| Birthplace |
Monterey Park, CA
|
| HS |
PV Peninsula
|
| College |
UCLA
|
| Major |
Chemical Engineering
|
| Minor |
English
|
| Pastimes |
TENNIS, family, |
| |
subsistence gardening, cichlids, sketching,
construction, fishing
|
| Music
|
| Fav Song |
Beth Water, Spun Sugar
|
| Artists |
Alicia Keys, Katy Perry,
|
| |
Gin Blossoms, Good Charlotte, Goo Goo Dolls, Hootie
& the Blowfish, Linkin Park, Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow,
Three Days Grace, The Veronicas, Alanis
|
| Television
|
| Fav Show |
Dr. G, Medical Examiner
|
| Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer
|
| Guilty
Pleasures
|
| Ocean sunsets (I took this site's
picture over a lake, though)
|
| BR31's Brownie a la mode cake
|
| Bravo'sThe
Real Housewives
|
| CivIII
|
| Home Depot
|
| Trout fishing
|
| Creative writing (short stories,
illustrated novels)
|
| Mangoes
|
