The Misadventure of Uli and Abby

So today's blog post won't be your usual "get fit or die trying" (you know me), but I want to share my recent road trip that my boyfriend and I took for my 25th Birthday to Monterey and Yosemite -- and just what this story means to me... and I bet you can take away something from it too!

A lot of you have asked me, "how was your trip?!" And my reply was, "AMAZING, a lot went wrong, but a LOT went right!"

And of course, hearing that a lot of things went 'wrong' on a trip usually creates curiosity, so consider your appetite for curiosity satisfied, because you're probably going to chuckle quite a bit at this ridiculous story.


Short(er) version:

Mishap #1:

I have to pick up Ulises (boyfriend/bestfriend/swolemat/soulmate/partner in crime-- you get the idea) at 1pm at his work, and then straight from there we have to leave to head up to Monterey. Keep in mind we have to navigate LA traffic on Memorial Day weekend on a Friday around 3pm, sounds genius already right?

It gets better...

I'm leaving the parking lot of *gasp* Jack in the Box (not my usual pit stop, but have you tried those smoothies?!) trying to get into the turning lane, when BAM -- the front end of my car gets slammed by another car. No worries, everyone was ok and it was minor.


Not seeing this coming, (I mean, who really plans for an accident before a trip?!) I immediately think, "F@$#! Well, I'm going on this damn trip no matter what! Well have to just figure it out" I text Uli, let him know whats going on and I'll be there soon.

First, I would have NEVER had this RIDE OR DIE mentality if it weren't for Beachbody, that company has really taught me the power of persistence.

So I pull over, we exchange info and I call my insurance. I'm standing there looking at my bumper which is half off... thinking... how can I fix this... or is there another car we can take?

Uli and I take it down to his moms house, otherwise now known as "Contreras Autobody" because we (as in Uli and his dad-- aren't they HANDY?!) literally ZIP TIED my CAR together.

Besides cock roaches surviving the apocalypse, my money is also on zip ties. We decide its safe and start our road trip 2 hours later than we planned, and at the worst possible time for traffic. Awesome right? That's ok, nothing a watered down strawberry banana smoothie can't handle. We honestly had a blast singing, dancing, and just talking LIFE. I thank God for that man, and putting my best friend next to my side <3

Mishap #2

 We finally get to Monterey, and were all settled in, ready to pass out late at night and get up for breakfast. Day 2 went great, we had a BLAST at the Cali Roots Reggae Festival <3 Some of our favorite bands were there, so it only made sense to go!

I did not count on how many people would actually be there, I was surprised -- but the upside, plenty of food. I had about 7 cheat meals in a day, I consider that a new record!

The festival reminded me of the county fair-- families, kids, teens, adults, you name it! Mostly hippies and reggae fans (obviously).

So after the concert, we settle in for the night, to wake up early the next morning and get our butts to Yosemite so we can start hiking.

Day 3 went AMAZING -- we hiked Vernal falls and saw some of the most breath taking scenery in the USA

... until we realized that our NEXT day's adventure of white water rafting was in the opposite direction of that night's hotel reservation... about 2.5 hours away...

 So we decide to drive to where our white water rafting spot is and stay in the area for the night. Well turns out Sonora, CA isn't that big of a town... with just a few motels for out of towners. So we end up at this little motel in the woods, when we FINALLY get reception on our phones.

Oh thats right, I didn't mention that... we had ZERO reception almost the whole time in NorCal.

Well low and behold, the rafting tour meets BACK at Yosemite near the Merced River. We accidentally put in the address for their OFFICE, which is where we were... as in TWO HOURS away from where we NEEDED to be.

At this point, our only options are to either wake up early  and go for it, or skip it and handle the cards we've been dealt.

Well with our new ride or die attitudes and the rafting trip paid for, we put on our shoes and headed back out at 5am again, 2 hours in the direction we came from the night before.

Mishap #3

After our amazing rafting experience, we head to the heart of Yosemite park to get parked and ready for the day. I get service again and type in our original hotel's address to make sure that we have the directions right and can plan our day accordingly...

And thats when the final straw was pulled...

Before we booked our trip, we made SURE our hotel was within a 30 minute drive to Yosemite...

But when I went to type in the address in my phone again, it came up being 2.5 hours away.

I thought it had to be a joke... was 2.5 hours our magical number?! Was this REALLY happening?!

Neither of us could fathom driving back to our hotel 2.5 hours each way to come back the next day and do it again.. at this point we figured we should quit while we were ahead and count our blessings.

We came home a day early from our trip and decided a much needed stay cation was in order... and was it EVER.

But here's the thing.. while we had our fair share of misadventures, it was one of our funnest trips... here's why:

We had to navigate together and deal with some not so ideal situations, we laughed at our ill prepared trip, and our total faith in technology (ahem, don't do that) and lack of know how.

When we had nothing, yet we had each other and that was everything.

Sometimes its when you get lost, you find yourself... and you find the person you are with is the person who really is your best friend.

So while our trip may have fallen apart, we fell together, and we really learned the value in our relationship. 

To my love, this blog post is for you... you're my best friend, you make me laugh when things don't make sense, you're my biggest fan and supporter, and you have shown me that it's ok to fail -- getting lost with you made me find so much more... peace and security. 

P.S. No I will never be a travel agent.
P.P.S. YES, I will plan better next time.
PPPS. Always take a REAL map with you.

XO,
Abby