Arrived to Joel’s apartment – showered up then went to In & Out Burgers for Aly’s first experience. Tatenda joined us which was fun and the burgers and fries tasted as I remembered - animal style. We took it east that night and just hung out at Joel’s apartment with him, Bree and Tatenda just catching up and relaxing. I got about 3 hours of sleep once my alarm went off at 3:45am. And the adventure to the Price is Right began. We got down to the studio around 4:45 and got in line with a bunch of other people – we were surprised how few people were there in comparison to other stories we had heard. But we got out our blanket and continued our epic game of war that had been going on for about a week and a half. We made friends with a couple who was on the same roadtrip as us just in the opposite direction. We traded stories, gave each other tips about upcoming stops and wound up spending the whole day with them – Andy and Maddy. They were great. Eventually we made it into the gates around 8am. We were told by friends who had gone in the past that once you get your actual ticket, then they give you about two hours until you have to be back in the studio – giving you time to get breakfast, etc. Well apparently this process had been changed and we were in there for good.
Needless to say it was another 4 hours of sitting and waiting – getting our nametags written, checking our IDs, taking our photos, etc. My nervous really started getting the best of me when it was time to get interviewed. The producer took groups of about 12 and went down the line and asked each of us a question. Well our group’s question was “what do you do?” how boring. And of course I blew it. Instead of saying something crazy and out there I did say that I was a student. I stuck in a bit about traveling and such, but the 10 seconds of opportunity didn’t really go my way. Oh well, we were convinced our friend, Melvin, that we had met would get on because he killed it.
But once we got into the studio – OH MY GOD. Magical – everything that I had imagined and more. So bright, so loud, people everywhere on stage scouting out the crowd. It was literally a party in there – everyone was up and dancing and singing. The crew seemed awesome – so energetic and George was out talking to us and telling us all of the rules and the layout of the show. The next 90 minutes flew by. It was so loud in there, and there were so many cameras swooping above the audience and around stage that it was difficult to even follow what was going on. Drew was awesome – he talked to the audience during every commercial break and was hilarious and personable. AND SO SKINNY! Needless to say, when we walked out of the studio around 230 I was exhausted. Barely had a voice after yelling and cheering and shouting out numbers. Hadn’t eaten a thing since In & Out the previous night – and was running on 3 hours of sleep. But I would have done it again the next day in a heartbeat. I cannot wait to go back.
After grabbing lunch with Joel, we hit the road to Newport.
It was so great getting to see Jeannie and spend time with her and see her new place. It was been a few years since the last time I was out to Cali to see her. We relaxed and showered and caught up for a bit. Then headed to Café Rio for Taco Tuesday! The tacos were awesome and I got to meet a lot of her friends that I have been hearing about for years. So that was fun – then we moved on to Blue Beet – a bar where they play 80s music on Tuesdays. Did lots of dancing and mingling with friends. It was an interesting feeling being out at the bars with a whole group of people who are in AA – quite a different scene than I’m used to but it was fun! Jeannie said that AA is taking over the bar scene in Newport which is pretty funny considering.
When Jeannie left for work the next morning, we headed to the train station to pick up Meg! She has been in San Diego for about a week – she’s in the process of moving out there for grad school. Her annual family vacation with her Dad & Stepmom was in Dana Point this year, which is right by Newport! Dates worked out perfectly since a lot of the family wasn’t coming out for a few more days – they were gracious enough to invite us to their rented house for a night! While we waited for her family to get to the house from the airport, the three of us went to the beach for a few hours heard about her past week in SD – starting work and apartment hunting. So fun seeing friends from home on the other side of the country!
When we pulled up to the house we were so excited – IT WAS HUGE! And absolutely gorgeous – everything you would ever need. We had our own bedroom since some of the family wasn’t arriving for a few days – pool and hottub, great kitchen, bar, pool table. Now this, was a vacation house. We spent the next 24 hours with the Kennedy’s doing everything from grocery shopping, drinks at the house, an awesome dinner out, hottubbing, and beach time. Jeannie joined us after she got out of work on Wednesday night – and we are all so thankful and appreciative to Meg’s family for having us! It was great seeing you guys and being a small part of your family vacation!!
Next Stop: VEGAS! We were so excited, but the stop turned out to be rather anticlimactic and low key for us due to logistical dilemmas. We were supposed to stay with my friend, Chris, from Semester at Sea. Although we did meet up with him after work – it turns out that he lived about 25 minutes from the strip and had to work at 6am the next morning (none of which I was aware of). So by this time it is about 9pm and we are deciding whether to just sleep in LilMoos for the night or get a hotel. Since it was still 102 degrees at this hour, we decided a hotel would be the best option. We did walk around for awhile – saw the Bellagio Fountains, walked through a few casinos and had been having some drinks since we got there. Finding a hotel proved more difficult than we imagined, but eventually we landed a room at Circus Circus around 1230am. A place that I realllllly wouldn’t recommend to anyone, haha. But it was cheap and we went forth with the decision. Sadly, we crashed when we got to the room. We were still salty/sandy from the beach and were really just exhausted. Vegas = Fail.
We did get up pretty early the next morning and saw/did what we wanted to see. Went to the Venetian, got some breakfast, and hit a few casinos. Good News:::: I hit in Roulette! #24 comes through!!! So all in all, I think I spent about $10 in Vegas – covering hotel, food, drinks, etc. Not too shabby. I know I’ll be back to Vegas again in the future – with a good crew and with proper planning. So I was OK with this stop. I’ll do it big next time!
So basically, this was a vacation during our vacation. Price is Right (which I’ve been waiting to go on for about a decade), beach time, more awesome food, family time, etc. It was awesome. But – we were ready to hit the road from Cali when it was all said and done. Thank you Joel, Bree, Tatenda, Jeannie and Megan for being awesome hosts. It was great seeing you guys in your new places and areas – glad to see you are all loving life in Cali!
GLORIOUS MOMENTS:::
-In & Out with JoelyStrombole and seeing his life in LA – can’t believe you’re out on the left coast Roomie!
-Someone getting called down right in front of us – and behind us during the show so we definitely got some face time.
-Meeting some awesome, some wacky people on line and seeing the wide mix that the Price is Right draws in. Andy and Maddy were great. Swapping tripping stories with them was super fun.
-The whole time I was there I could not stop thinking about my grandfather – the one who introduced me to the Price is Right when I was a little girl – and watching it with him every morning down at the shore. He would have been so proud that I actually made it to a recording!
-Café Rio and Blue Beet with Jeannie and friends for a solid Tuesday night out. And having to take birthday shots FOR the birthday boy since he’s sober and convinced me that SOMEONE had to do them since he couldn’t. Can’t say no to that!
-Beach time at Dana Point and Laguna Beach – finally got some good sun!
-Drinks at a rooftop bar followed by dinner at a Tapas bar with the Kennedy’s – Jeannie, Timmy, Jim (Meg’s brother and stepbrother) and I shared all of our dishes and it was so delicious.
-Late night drinks and hottub session back at the vacation house.
-Seeing Vegas for what it’s worth and knowing that I’ll be back for an epic time in the near future (hopefully with Jeannie!)
-HITTING #24 ON ROULETTE. THAT ONE’S FOR YOU DARREN!! We always play it, and it finally PAID off! -The weather was pretty awesome. A little overcast, but totally great – sunshine, warmth, yessss.
NOT SO GLORIOUS MOMENTS:::
-Actually having tickets to the afternoon recording of the Price is Right – but convinced the guy checking tickets that we were only in LA for the morning and HAD to go to this taping (nonetheless we had been standing in line for 3 and a half hours already). He was great and let us in! phew!
-Blowing my 10 seconds with the producer to make a claim for myself.
-Not hearing “Arianne Templeton – come on down! You’re the next contestant on the PRICE IS RIGHT!!” I’ve been waiting to hear that for years – it’ll happen one day!
-No cameras allowed in CBS studios, so couldn't get any documentation. bummer.
-Tolls and traffic in California – not a fan.
-The HEAT driving to Vegas – hit 112 in the desert and then it was about 104 in Vegas. Thankfully it was dry heat, but still – DAMN.
-Getting kind of stood up by Chris – or rather just misinformed I guess. But if we had that info/realization earlier we could have planned more accordingly. Ohhhh wellll.
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