I've been to Las Vegas. Quite a few times. The land where... there's gambling? Hangovers? Also known as "Sin City"? Despite the reasons why I would avoid Las Vegas, I was pretty determined to make my Vegas experience everything good, sober and without gambling. And I have a fun and memorable time every time. ;)

Thus, The Sober Guide to Las Vegas*:

• The "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign
• The Neon Museum (day and night tours available)
• The Mob Museum
• Walking through the hotels including the Bellagio (just look at the air-blown glass ceiling and be amazed) and Caesar's Palace
• Dancing fountains at the Bellagio
• Roller coaster at New York, New York
• Rides at the Stratosphere
• M&M Store
• Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity 
• In-N-Out
• CSI Experience
• Zombie Apocalypse Store
• Fremont Street Experience

Bonus (places that are more of a drive):

• The Hoover Dam
• Lion Habitat Ranch
• Valley of Fire State Park

*This is a list I'll continue to add onto. I mean, the shows in Las Vegas alone some people travel to see specifically (Beatles Love show is definitely on my list...and Blue Man Group). We also tried to go to the aquarium one visit but the line was too long, among other places — including food. Food is everywhere. Just watch out for the price of everything. It seems exponentially greater in Las Vegas.

Read more for further information and photos about my experiences in Vegas...

Back in the good old days... 

haha JUST KIDDING. They're still young and fresh in my mind. Before my friend Kana (birthday shout-out to her! Happy Birthday!!) moved to Japan, we went on a four day road trip up the coast of California and back.

This state is "SO BIG" as Kana would say time and again (and she's right!) that we decided it was a good time to really explore it.

To plan the trip, we primarily used a website/app called "Roadtrippers," and it was extremely helpful and made it so much easier to find great, quirky, and fun places to go to! 

Read more to see the entire trip! 

Above is me. In probably my happiest captured form: open road, blue skies, friends, adventuring, and just being completely in love with where I am.

I love road trips. Maybe because I'm from LA and having a car symbolizes freedom a bit more than in other cities. There really is something freeing to me about being able to take your car and go to some place new. Even more so than flying. Sometimes flying doesn't feel as far away — it feels more about the destination: you're in one place, and then all of a sudden you're in the next.

With a road trip, there's a journey. There are stops, there are things to look at, to observe. There are long hours, lots of snacks, and "are we there yet?" moments, but it's all part of this random journey. You know that eventually you'll get to your destination, but might as well be flexible, take the time to explore and have fun along the way.

And the road trip I'm highlighting today is one of many that I've taken from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and back.

Our stops included:

• Bottle Tree Ranch
• World's Tallest Thermometer
• Alien Beef Jerky
• Las Vegas (which was semi our destination too so I'm not counting this)

and back

• through the Mojave desert — attempted to look for a cave that we didn't find
• Cross-eyed Cow Pizza

READ ON FOR ALL THE RANDOM DETAILS...