Chapter 29 _ Vamos al Valle De La Muerte?
Since Hope’s arrival Juliana and Valentina had begun to hang out with the twins and Penelope more often. Things on campus had smoothed out and no one looked at Juliana like the odd one out any longer. She had more than proven herself with each project and each assignment going above and beyond everyone’s expectations. Spring Break was around the corner and Juliana was given the week off from work with paid vacation.
One evening before the official beginning of Spring Break for either girls, Valentina was laying down on Juliana’s bed as Juliana sketched on her bedroom desk. They spent many evenings like this, simply being in each other’s presence as they each did their own thing. This particular evening Valentina was observing her girlfriend who was lost in her own world.
“Hey, Juls?” Valentina said not moving from her position on the bed.
“Hmm?” Juliana responded without looking up from her drawing.
Valentina smiled and continued, “do you wanna go to Death Valley for spring break? We can go with Pen and co. I think it’d be fun, our first official road trip together.”
That caught Juliana’s attention. “A road trip huh? Okay. What would be doing on this road trip?”
Valentina sat up with an excited grin knowing that Juliana was on board. “Well, we can take the RV and start with the Amargosa Opera House you always talk about. Stay there for three days, explore around the valley, then head to Vegas and figure it out from there?”
“Vegas? What are we gonna do in Vegas? We’re not even 21 yet.” Juliana asked with a slight giggle.
“We don’t need to be 21 to enjoy the city. Sure there’s clubs and casinos and whatnot but we can still go sight seeing. We can go to that Dinning In The Sky thing. On our way home we can stop wherever the girls want or anywhere else you want to go. If we leave tomorrow we’ll have about 11 days to do whatever.” Valentina said like if this hadn’t been a last minute idea.
Juliana threw herself on the bed next to her girlfriend pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Okay. Call Hope, I’ll call Penelope and they can call the twins.” Looking up quickly and changing her mind Juliana said, “Actually, no. Let’s tell them to meet us up at Maya’s Kitchen, tell them we have a proposition for them.”
Once they were all together they ordered their food and started planning their trip. Lizzie and Penelope wanted to stop by Warner Brother’s to go on the studio tour. The studio was holding the Pretty Little Liars exhibit once again and that show was the one thing, aside from Josie, that they bonded over. Josie and Hope on the other hand wanted to go to Universal Studios to go to Harry Potter world.
They decided they would leave the following morning at 5am to arrive at the opera house by 1pm. They would take turns driving so by the time they arrived they could rest and watch the evening show.
The rest of the girls lived in the city so they went home to pack, Valentina on the other hand who lived further away decided to just get clothes from the loft and what she had at Juliana’s apartment. Valentina called her father to ask for the RV and tell him their plan, without much explaining he agreed.
By 9pm They all met up at Juliana’s apartment to help load everything in the RV. They decided spend the night at Juliana’s in order to leave from her place in the morning on schedule.
The following morning the girls were off on their trip. On the drive to Death Valley, Valentina and Julian took turns driving. The first few hours were quiet since most of the girls were asleep. Juliana was playing Valentina’s favorite playlist as they hummed along to the songs. Around 10am Hope pulled out her guitar and the entire group took turns singing while Juliana drove. Valentina sang a few originals for Juliana. They spent the remainder of the trip singing and telling silly jokes.
By the time they arrived at the Armargosa Opera House & Hotel they checked in and settled into their respective rooms. They took two hours to rest and by 3pm they went out to the main lobby and asked the woman in charge if they could organize a tour for the six of them. The tour was an hour and a half. By the time the girls were done with the tour more than half of them had shed a few tears. They fell in love with the story of the place and wished they could’ve met Mrs. Martha but they were glad her art, passion, and love lived on.
The girls went to bed soon after the show ended. Valentina took beautiful pictures of the place and the show, she decided that once they arrived back home she would edit them and turn them into a book for the Opera House. Juliana was so happy she got to finally see the Opera House she’d been wanting to see for about three years. She thanked Valentina for making one of her dreams come true. Valentina smiled tenderly and responded saying it would be the first of many.
Valentina and the girls left very early the following day to see the sunrise at the Racetrack Playa to see the sliding rocks. That was something Valentina had always wanted to see and capture with her camera. The sunrise was pretty but in that moment Juliana thought there was nothing more beautiful than the genuinely happy smile Valentina held on her face.
By noon the girls returned to the hotel and decided to check out and head to Las Vegas. Hope drove the two hours it took to arrive. The Mikaelson family has a residence in the city and Hope insisted they stay there so they didn’t have to get a hotel. They stopped by a grocery store and bought food to cook for dinner. They took the rest of the day to relax and watch a few movies, all agreeing to explore the city on Sunday morning and do another sight seeing run once the sun went down and the lights came on.
As planned they went exploring for a bit by foot, had lunch at one of Hope’s favorite restaurants and went home to relax while the heat settled. They ended up going to the Dinner In The Sky as Valentina had mentioned and went sight seeing for the rest of the night. Valentina took a lot of picture once again and couldn’t help but capture her beautiful girlfriend on their mini adventure. Juliana had never been to Vegas and was amazed by the night life and all replica towers.
They spent another night in Vegas and by Monday morning made their way to LA. Penelope and Lizzie being the ones most excited about their first Buena Park stop slept most of the way there so by the time they arrived they would be well rested and ready to enjoy the tour.
Once in Buena Park the girls went to their hotel before getting their rental car to head to Warner Brother Studios for the tour. The tour was something they all enjoyed for different reasons. They learned all about the makeshift town of Rosewood and learned it was the exact same town and houses used for shows such as Gilmore Girls and Friends. They got to see Spencer’s famous barn. They got to see Radley Sanitarium turned into a hotel for a movie being shot.
Juliana was most excited to see the Wonder Woman outfit from the DC Universe exhibit. The man giving them the tour explained that the Supergirl show moved locations to Vancouver because it was much cheaper to shoot there than in LA. They got to see all of the Batmobiles and the pink Lamborghini used in Suicide Squad. Valentina and Juliana being the car lovers they are, loved that tour stop. The tour ended at the gift shop where the girls all got souvenirs. Juliana bought a Bugs Bunny key chain for her father and a Friends mug for her mother. In that same building they held the Pretty Little Liar’s costumes and Valentina made sure to snap pictures for Lizzie and Penelope as well as a few candid shots throughout the tour. Being the fans they were Penelope and Lizzie each bought a mug with the signature Pretty Little Liars “-A” written on it as well as other merch. After the tour, they headed to the hotel and spent the evening at the spa getting pampered.
The following day they made their way to their final stop, universal studios. They spent the entire day at the amusement park making sure they covered as much ground as they could. By the time the park was closing the girls were exhausted yet satisfied with the rides they rode and everything they experienced. Juliana drove the girls to the hotel for their final night before finally making their way home the next morning.
This had been the best spring break Juliana had ever had and she still couldn’t comprehend how she got so lucky with a girl like Valentina. She didn’t think she’d ever get to see the opera house yet here she was at the end of their trip with one dream checked off.
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Here is a video of the Amargosa Opera House that I think everyone should definitely see: