Destination: California

We should have let Sinclair wear the water buffalo hat.

          It is hard to believe that 24 hours ago we were in Utah.  We woke up early enough for the free breakfast again, which means not much sleep.  The change in weather brought me a surprise nose bleed while I was eating.  D has witnessed one before so he jumped into action grabbing me napkins.

Colorful Utah mountains.

          We met a green long necked dinosaur named Sinclair as we gassed up the car.  Then we saw a sign for dinosaur footprints and we had to follow it.  We spent an hour and a half exploring the museum of dino tracks before we got back on the road.  I love Utah and its many colored hillsides.

These tracks really bring dinosaurs to life.  You can imagine them walking.

This print has impressions on it.

          Arizona starts out with some interesting hills of its own as we descend into the valley.  Driving through those mountains is so much fun.  Once the mountains are behind us, Nevada desert lies ahead.  The shrubs aren't as interesting and after Utah, Nevada can't compare.  We pass Las Vegas with its own version of a Space Needle.  D and I marvel at the three large mirrored solar farms.  We stop for gas and dinner one last time before finally arriving at the hotel.

The ground is so orange, red, and yellow.

My favorite part of Arizona so far.

Ed is sad to see the mountains go.

Nevada covered up its own sign with another sign.

Las Vegas Space Needle with rides on top.

Solar farm.

          The night is still young, however, and after printing out our tickets we're off for Hollywood's Halloween Horror Night at Universal Studios.  Exterminators are trying to wipe out the human pests as we enter the park.  We take the terror tram to a Purge party that lets us walk through the back lot scenery (super cool).  We barely survived the purge with our class 2 weapons.  Another shuttle takes us to another Purge zone plus The Crimson Peak maze and an Alien vs. Predator haunted maze.

Mr. Bates knows how to give a close shave!

          Universal knows how to haunt!  Each of the mazes get me at least once and the entire time I have an unsettled feeling as we explore.  That takes some doing!  Zombies from The Walking Dead try to eat our brains in a third maze; they do not care about personal space.  D is amazed how well they get an inch from our noses without touching us, and they aren't slow about it, either!  It's startling to turn and find a monstrous hand in your face.

Even if your face looks like this!

          It's after midnight now so we head to the short line at This is the End 3D.  Woah, talk about trippy!  They use neon paint in every room, on parts of costumes, and lots of neon wall art that pop at you so much.  The whole thing is like a cereal box exploding in your face and around the next fruit loop is Lucifer!  Once our eyes readjust to the normal world we have time for one last maze: Insidious.  Here people with oxygen-type masks come at you from above along with all the usuals popping out of holes, doors, and walls.  The last room has many figures standing around and there isn't enough time to determine which ones are alive before another one is in your face and gone.  Bravo, Universal Studios!  These are definitely the best haunts I've ever explored.  They make the sore feet and half price very worth it!

Merry Christmas from Krampus!