Soviet

(My GF and I are reading through your thread)

She says next time you go to Disneyland go to downtown Disney to eat at Napa Rose. It's in the Grand California hotel (or something)

Trustd_1

thanks, when i got out to take this pic, i was really surprised how clean the car still was too. even though it's really hot and there's more traffic, it helps to drive in the daytime. there's too much moisture and especially bugs at night.

when i was in Albuquerque & Santa Fe, i actually washed the car THREE times in less than 24 hours. the first time was when the morning after i got to Santa Fe, so the car was covered in bugs and other grime. literally the minute after i finished wiping the car down, it started raining.

after i had lunch, i decided to drive out to Taos, about a couple hours away from Santa Fe. the highway runs along the Rio Grande River and Mexico border. it started raining again, and my car got covered in bugs and mud, so i had to wash it again when i got back to Santa Fe for dinner.

last wash came the next morning, as the trees i parked under at the hotel oozed sap all over the car. i wash my S maybe 3 times every 6-8 months when I'm home.

appreciate the kind words on my setup though. i had mixed emotions about my wheels. they're pretty heavy and being almost all black, they don't pop very much, but i like to keep my things clean and classy. they used to be all matte black, including the hardware. i had them completely refinished w/fresh matte centers & inner barrels, gloss black lips, and new, translucent gold hardware. it costed more than i planned, but the gloss black lips and gold hardware were subtle changes that seem to work well. i'm still on the hunt for a set of one piece, 17" VOLKS that i want to go a little bit more wild, color scheme wise.


thank you, glad you and others are enjoying my recaps. like rrounds mentioned, you can either wing it or plan it all out. I've yet to do a cross country roadtrip. it's on my bucketlist, but it's really difficult for me to take that much vacation time. my gf and i were going to do it a couple years ago. she's the planner and spent months researching, organizing, and mapping our trip. she had a whole spreadsheet with every stop detailed on it, including our meals and the clothes we were going to wear. unfortunately, our plans fell through, so we didn't take the trip. her computer crashed too, so she lost the spreadsheet.

Trustd_1

(My GF and I are reading through your thread)

She says next time you go to Disneyland go to downtown Disney to eat at Napa Rose. It's in the Grand California hotel (or something)
[/quote]

thanks for the recommendation. the Grand Californian is a really nice hotel. we want to stay there sometime in the future just for the experience, but it's about $400-500 a night. we'll check out Napa Rose on one of our next trips though. there are so many good places to eat down there that we usually head outside the Disney area to eat.

Trustd_1

meant to post previous pic in this thread. didn't take my S, but came up to Canada for a wedding. here are a few pics while i was killing time at the salon, while waiting for my gf & fam to get their hair & nails done.

picked up a matching ride for my S.... for the week, anyway. lol not bad for a rental, esp the ginormous moonroof! Canadians are pretty wacky though (no offense to you, wacky Canadians)



late night snack after we landed at Canada's finest, Tim Horton's. this was their Extreme Italian, which is like Subway's Spicy Italian. this tastes better though.



had to rep for The Bay & City w/my custom cap. done same way i did my Clazzio seat covers.



had a snack while waiting at the salon. nothing more Canadian than a burrito & rootbeer float.

Trustd_1

been a long day, but i'm trying to devour something i've been meaning to try for a while. more in that later, but here are few more snaps from today.

cruising to and from Downtown Edmonton. relatively undeveloped city, compared to Toronto & Vancouver, but like SF, there's a construction boom all arouns the city.



this was actually after takeoff from SFO last night.



quick shots of the rental without me clowning around in the pics. had our first bear sighting too! lol



now, THIS is what i've wanted ever since i got here! it's a donair, which is similar to a shawerma--sp? it's a carved meat wrap and was DELICIOUS. it's real big in the city. there are donair spots on almost every other corner, incl pizza/donair and burger/donair joints. i'm gonna open a wonton/donair place when i get home!




menu at the donair spot we tried



that's it for now.

hobbangr

Nice! That donair looks damn good and it's almost lunch time.
I used to drive up to Truly Mediterranean in the Mission from San Mateo for long lunches, them shawermas... Mmm mmmm.

M-Type

at quick glance the last pic of your rental looked like police car with the blue sign on top.

Trustd_1

Hectic trip w/the wedding prep, but had a couple hours to celebrate my gf's birthday. w/out cell service (not about to pay Int'l roaming fee$), we were at the mercy of the gps that we borrowed from my gf's cousin. we crisscrossed the city aimlessly, while trying to find a nice restaurant (at 10pm). finally, we settled on Cactus Cafe, which is right by our downtown hotel.

the name is deceiving because it's not a cafe at all. it's one of the swankiest places in Edmonton. there are always a bunch of exotic cars out front. i saw a Mclaren P1, Aventador, 458 Spyder, Phantom, R32 GTR, and several other sweet rides. sorry, no pics, as i was trying to devote my attention to my gf. speaking of which, for you single guys (and girls), this place is a must do. they have a lounge/club section too. we got into a lil argument at the end of dinner cuz our waitress was getting pretty aggressive, hustling for her tip. it actually made me a lil uncomfortable. i'll just leave it at that.

anyhow, here are a few dinner shots. started off w/some refreshments.


the ceviche was pretty good, lil salty and the chips were a bit stale though.




butternut squash ravioli w/prawns, truffle oil, & pinenuts for her. 12 oz New York steak for me. ravioli was delicious. steak was fair. mushroom sauce was a nice complement.


key lime pie was awesome, esp the CRUNCHY, graham cracker crust. i have a pet peeve about soggy crusts.

the peanut butter and chocolate thing, which our waitress rec'd, was ehhh. my gf esp hated it cuz the girl rec'd it. as mentioned, the staff is pretty "friendly" there. lol

Trustd_1

thanks, that donair was pretty dang good, esp late at night. finally got to see what all the was is about. the place we tried is supposed to be one of the best ones and has a line out the door all day. they aren't cheap either. if you look at the menu i posted, the super combo is like $13. the jumbo is $16. they are HUGE though.


haha, yeah it does look like it has a lightbar in that pic. i've seen Cherokee law enforcement vehicles here. this thing is actually pretty dang nice. i don't like the racist, slant eye headlights, but it drives pretty well. it has a a good amount of torque/power and is fully loaded too. it has a skytop moonroof, several drive modes, incl Sport, Snow, Mud, and Rock, and the sound system is pretty dang boomin. it turns quite a few heads. perfect rental!


well, gotta get ready for the wedding, so last two shots....

sunrise from our balcony in Downtown Edmonton



in the war room aka salon. lol stylists were nice, but they def have diff looks up here. my gf is hating what her girl did. she's actually washing her makeup off & gonna redo her hair too. couple bills down the drain. smh. #chicks (j/k, honey!)

Trustd_1

got back from Edmonton a few hours ago. here are a few more pics before i call it a night.

for those unfamiliar, there's not much to do in Edmonton. Downtown is pretty much the most happening spot. other than that, it's a blue collar city, as described by the groom, who married my gf's cousin.

Interestingly, the city is somewhat diverse. there are quite a few immigrants of African, Indian, and Asian descent, incl Filipinos, which are supposedly the fastest growing minority. Despite that, we noticed quite a bit of odd tension from the locals. at first, we thought it was just a couple isolated incidents, but we encountered it all over the city, including the airport. we finally asked our hosts, they said they weren't surprised and that much of Edmonton is filled w/"rednecks," for lack of a better word. The groom went on to say that life there is a bit different than in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, which are bigger, metroplitan cities and financial centers. i have not been to Toronto or Calgary, but I'd agree that Vancouver is a more "normal" city. i've always enjoyed my visits there.

Anyway, here are some pics...

West Edmonton Mall is their flagship shopping center. It's huge and caters to all demographics. They have a Sears, Dollar Store, Tiffany & Co, all kinds of stores. There's even a Chinatown inside, which is really just a few Asian stores, incl a large grocery store, tucked in one corner of the mall. lol The food was pretty awful. Best things at the mall are the skating rink, mini lake w/a suspension bridge and pirate ship, and Galaxyland, their indoor amusement park, complete w/a couple of rollercoasters and other rides. Oh, they also have a waterpark and indoor beach, which we didn't see.




the wedding was a pretty lowkey affair but was very nice. they had relatives come all the way from the Philippines and Australia. both the bride and groom's families are very close knit. we had a barbecue Sunday night, and hung around their outdoor fireplace until 2am or so. my gf and i brought some beer, which was a real task to acquire.

turns out, liquor is only allowed to be sold at stand alone liquor stores. grocery stores, Walmart, etc can't sell it. prices are at least double, and the liquor stores close at midnight too. we went on a beer run right around midnight and come up empty, despite going to several stores within a few miles. i'm not sure of the specifics, but the owner of the liquor store, where my gf and i bought our beer earlier, said something about all other areas in Alberta having only government owned liquor stores. +1 USA


here's the church....






the reception was held in the penthouse of a downtown hotel. it was pretty cool. i didn't have a chance to get any shots of the views of the city though.