MagFest 2013

On 2 January 2013 Carlos and I took a shuttle out to National Harbor, MD to check in at the ultra-fancy Gaylord National Hotel for MagFest 2013! MagFest is an annual music and gaming festival and lasted from 3-6 January this year. There are concerts, video games (console and arcade), panels, and tons of other things to do during the convention/festival. Every day was so much fun and Carlos and I spent lots of time in the arcade playing (for free) all of the games that were there. I made a little collage of the signs from some of our favorites (at the top of this post). There was also an entire room full of TVs and every console known to man, which were open to play. The arcade and console rooms were open 24 hours a day for the entirety of MagFest and we went down one night (around 2 am) and played in our pajamas -- it was so much fun!

We went to some concerts (my favorite was the Triforce Quartet -- a string quartet that plays songs from all the Zelda games). It was so much fun to be surrounded by my people and Carlos, even though he really isn't a video game nerd like me, had a lot of fun too! If we are still in DC during January of next year (which we probably won't be), I would love to go to MagFest again!

Whew, and with this post I am FINALLY caught up on everything fun that I did over the holidays. Next I have some things to post about from here in Costa Rica!

Meteorite hunting in Lancaster, CA

Well, this post will conclude our adventure in California over the holidays. Next I will need to catch up on MagFest (which we went to in National Harbor, MD after returning to DC) and some of the adventures I have had so far in Costa Rica (where I am currently).

Carlos, BJ, and I spent a gorgeous sunny day outside visiting the landscape and later hunting for meteorites off the beaten path. First, we drove to the nearby Prime Desert Woodland Preserve where we walked the well-maintained trails and saw plenty of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia). We even saw a couple of black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus), which we were very excited about.

After touring the preserve, we drove around trying to find a good place to hunt for meteorites. We tried visiting one dry lake bed, but it was inaccessible on the Edwards Air Force Base. BJ took us to an area where he and his friends ride dirt bikes and as we stopped (after driving off road for a while), we saw a Greater Road Runner (Geococcyx californianus) run into a bush right in front of us!

We had brought two hand-made (by Carlos and BJ) push/pull contraptions with industrial-strength magnets to locate small meteorites. We didn't end up finding anything huge, but we did collect a lot of small magnetic rocks (and metal debris bycatch) with these devices! We also found some pretty rocks for Shannon and BJ's yard, which we brought home.

After combing the desert, we stopped at In-n-Out for a late lunch, hunting for meteorites in the desert really works up your appetite!

We had so much fun visiting Shannon and BJ in their natural environment -- Carlos and I can't wait to go back to visit. Maybe we will be able to overlap with the Antelope Valley Poppy Festival!

LA and La Brea Tar Pits

 

On 26 December, Mom, Dad, Carlos, BJ, and I (Shannon had to go back to work that day, boo-urns) drove to LA and enjoyed our day before Mom and Dad had to go to the airport to fly back home (Carlos and I stayed in Lancaster for three more days).

We planned to visit the LA Farmers' Market and the La Brea Tar Pits (their flight didn't leave until the evening so we basically had an entire day to play). We parked at the Grove shopping center and it was extremely busy (it was the day after Christmas after all!) and wandered over to the Market. We walked though all of the stalls, stores, and restaurants before deciding to eat a tasty lunch at a Greek restaurant (I had some really delicious sweet red pepper spread, garlic potato spread, and tzatziki with pitas for my lunch). We looked around a great big French gourmet food store (and bought some home-made marshmallows) before deciding to go to the La Brea Tar Pits before it got too late.

I had been to the tar pits before when I was really little and I still remembered most of the outside tar pits and museum. It was really fun to see the huge tar pits (with their bubbling gaseous bacteria) and play in some small tar puddles that seeped under the fencing. We looked through the exhibits inside the museum and it was really well-done. By this time Mom and Dad had to get to the airport so we said our goodbyes. Carlos, BJ, and I continued touring the museum and took more time to look at all the excavations outside before it got too dark. We made our way to a modern art museum nearby (where we saw a giant, yet artistic, rock). We soon called it a night and drove back to Lancaster to eat dinner and play with Shannon and the kitties!

 

 

 

 

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Back on the 23rd of December, while Carlos and I were visiting all of our family in California, Shannon, Dad, and I decided to take a day trip to Universal Studios in Hollywood. I hadn't been back there since 1999 when I visited with my Dad (looking at potential colleges) and Arnold Schwarzenegger was there for the opening of Terminator 2:3D. It is funny that during this trip, that same ride was only days away from closing!

We drove to Hollywood from Lancaster (about an hour trip), parked in the huge parking garage and made our way through CityWalk to the entrance of Universal Studios. We got there right when it opened and headed straight for the Tram Ride -- we actually made it onto the first tram of the day! The Tram Ride was just as I remembered it and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed seeing the Back to the Future clock tower (and other props), King Kong, Earthquake, and Jaws!

 

After riding the tram, we went on the Simpsons Ride (which used to be the Back to the Future ride) and it was fun, but quite jerky. From there, we took the gigantic escalators down to the lower level of the park where we rode Transformers (very fun!) followed by the Mummy (fast and dark).

 

Next, we rode the Jurassic Park ride. I really love this ride (the scenery and dinosaurs look amazing), but I do not like getting soaked. We were in the front row of the boat, so we were thoroughly drenched by the final fall! We dried off a bit and snacked on some Dippin Dots before heading back to the upper level of the park. Next we visited a special effects show (meh) and finally the Terminator 2:3D ride. I really liked it and am glad that I got to ride it again before it closed a couple of days later. After saying goodbye to the Terminator, we decided to call it a day and headed back to Lancaster!