Thursday, April 21, 2011

Stockton, California

Chris and Heather left Rexburg last week and arrived in Stockton, California one week ago. So far the weather is absolutely AMAZING! Love waking up to the sunny weather in the morning and not worried about it snowing or doing something weird like Rexburg, Idaho. On the way to Cali we stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho for a little break and picture time at the canyon, it was extremely windy and we even walked out on the ledge over the canyon.


We also stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, that was Chris's first time going there and we had a ton of fries before hitting the road again. In Twin Falls we also passed a large elk ranch on the side of the road while heading towards Nevada.

On the way to Nevada we saw a lot of really cool rocks. I think that was our main source of entertainment with the landscape because the rest of it was pretty barren with sagebrush. We also seen a herd of deer that was crossing the road while going through Nevada. We saw them and luckily Chris had time to slow down before coming to them. When passing the deer the rest of them were standing on the side of the road, it was pretty cool to see and luckily we didn't have any jump in front of us. Here are some pictures that we thought were pretty cool while going through Nevada.

































Thursday night we stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada and spent the night so we wouldn't have to drive straight through and would finish our trip to California the next day to make the long ride enjoyable. We stopped at a cute little motel that the family we are staying with during the summer recommended. We also fulfilled our need for Chinese food which is severely lacking in Rexburg.

On the second day of the trip we continued on our way to Cali. It was really neat to go through that last part of Nevada because of different writing that people did with rocks on the side of the road. During this day we also entered into Reno and Cali, it was definitely a big change from little old Rexburg, which all started with people tail gating, cutting us off, and just being crazy drivers in general which started a little in Reno and escalated tremendously once we crossed the California boarder, and we were even in the slow lane and people were doing that to us; it was at that time that we KNEW we were in Cali. We missed the chance to be able to get a picture of the California sign mainly because we were surrounded by crazy drivers and it came rather quickly with no warning, but we got some pictures along the pass that we were traveling on while we entered Cali.

After battling the crazy drivers we finally made it to Stockton. It was a great drive from Sacramento to Stockton, we loved the agriculture that surrounded us. In Stockton we live in a great community that is safe. Stockton really isn't that bad of a place just as long as you don't go to the Southern areas. Here is a picture of our back yard of the family we are staying with, which is on a golf course. The levee is also near by and walking distance. It is so weird because Stockton has a canal that ocean vessels come in, it is crazy to see them here because it is in the middle of the state. Here are some pictures of the agriculture and our backyard.




















Kia also likes sunny California where she can enjoy the sun and not worry about being an icebox.


So this is life in California so far. Chris is liking his internship, just a little overwhelmed with everything, but it is going good. This weekend we have a three day weekend so it will be exciting to go have an adventure in California and see lots of things while we are here .

Sunday, April 3, 2011

What is going on with the Patterson's?

Well I thought I would get into this blog thing, why?... because everyone else is and I guess I fell to peer pressure. I would have to say that I am pretty proud of myself in putting this whole thing together, took me a little bit because I am technology challenged... but I got it figured out. We are currently having finals week this next week and so life as you know it is hectic. Getting excited to have a break and change things up a bit. Chris got an internship with Cargill for the summer in the business management area of things, and we will be moving to Stockton, California. Excited to go somewhere new for the summer, however it will interesting adjusting to life in Cali. We have finally found a place and will be staying with a retired couple for the time that we are there. We were having some issues finding an apartment because of the short duration, but found a nice couple to take us in. We will then be making our way back to Rexburg in August. Other than that not a whole lot going on, just ready to be done with the semester and move somewhere new. One thing that will be nice is to enjoy the nice California sun and know that their will be no snow.