Tag Archives: California

Part 2 Of Catalina (or Outdoor Adventuring)

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 comment

The second (and last) full day we had in Catalina was another day of exploring the island. The original plan was to take a jeep tour that was going to take us around the island and we were hopefully going to see some of the wildlife that lives there. We also were going to get to the airport and the isthmus. Even though it wasn’t a private tour, since we filled one jeep it was going to be just us on the tour.

But because of all the rain that they have been getting recently, we had been warned that the tour might not go exactly as planned. First, some of the roads have been closed due to the mud. They were hoping some might reopen by the time we got there, but there was a chance that we wouldn’t be able to make it out to the isthmus. Also, we might not see any animals on the tour. Normally, they hang out by the water reservoirs because that is the main source of water for them. But the rain made the entire island an opportunity for them to find water, so they might not be in their normal hangouts. Even with those possible issues with the tour, we were all excited to get to drive around and see what we could.

We started with going up the hill on the side of the island that we were staying on. When we got to the top, we had an amazing view of Avalon.

When we got down, we drove through Avalon to get toward the other side of the island. The beginning of that side was sections of the hillside that we saw in our tour the day before. But when we were on that tour we saw a road and the guide told us that it was a restricted area. But we had access to get up there and we continued up the hillside to get toward the airport.

Even though the rain was restricting some of what we could do on this tour, it did make the entire island look really green and lush. We all were saying how much this felt like we were in Hawaii.

We got to another hilltop where we could see toward the airport and where we were heading. And it was so clear out as well so the mainland was in view.

We got to the airport which is at the top of a hill and we were informed there that the road to get to the isthmus was not going to open that day. They were just so overwhelmed by the rain and the mud was more than the roads could handle. We already had a plan to stop at the airport and it gave us a good chance to warm up. It was already cold out, but being in an open air jeep made us even colder.

One thing that I was hoping to get to do on this trip was to recreate a photo that I have from my 16th birthday. My friends and I posed on a bench while on that trip and it’s one of the few photos I have from my birthday. It’s one of my favorite photos and I was hoping to find the same bench. But it was on the side of the island that we couldn’t get to, so I had to use a bench at the airport and do the best I could without the exact same bench (and missing my friends).

Since we couldn’t go as far on the tour as we expected, we were back at our rental house mid-day. We had the entire afternoon before we were going to get dinner and because the sun was finally out we went on a glass bottom boat to see the fish.

We were hoping the sun would be out so we could do the boat because when it’s cloudy you can’t see as much. The boat was pretty empty with just 2 other small groups besides us. It was nice not to be packed in there and it was a relaxing boat ride as we got out to where the protected area where most the fish would be.

The driver of the boat fed the fish and then the boat went over the area where he threw the food. Whenever he did that, the windows below us were filled with fish. It was so fun to see it and we definitely saw a lot of fish while we were out there.

The driver also told us once before he threw the food so we could watch outside the boat for all the fish jumping around. I tried my best to capture that in a photo, but it doesn’t do it justice. As soon as the food was in the water, it was really a feeding frenzy!

We were out in the protected area for about 30 minutes before the ride back to the dock. I spent some of the time watching the windows to see if we could see anything fun. But I also kept kneeling up on the seat to look at the view outside because it really was just so gorgeous outside and we all have had so much rain lately.

That evening we relaxed at the house and went out to dinner. And the next morning, we had another morning of sun while we got packed up and ready to head back to the boat back to the mainland.

We knew that it was supposed to start raining again that day, but we were hoping to not have to deal with it too much. And the timing of the rain was almost perfect because it started just as we boarded the boat to go home.

The drive back to LA was easy since it was the middle of the day between morning and afternoon rush hour. Everyone else had a much longer drive home than I did and they did encounter some rain and crazy storms. But I think we all agreed that it was so much better to have the storm happen then than when we were trying to enjoy our vacation.

I love this tradition of our trips when my dad and brother do their skiing adventure. They will probably go on another trip next year so hopefully we will do one as well. It’s one of the few trips I do each year since I can’t really afford to travel. We did talk about a few ideas of where we could travel to next year. We’ve got some that would be very extravagant, but maybe we could do it. Since my mom pays for me to travel with her on these weekends, I know that it’s up to her where we are going to go. But wherever we go next year, I know it will be another amazing trip that I will have the best memories from!

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The First Half Of Our Catalina Adventure (or Exploring And Touring)

Posted on March 7, 2019 | 2 comments

Earlier this week, I spent a few days in Catalina with my mom, aunt, and sister-in-law. Having a trip this time of year is becoming a tradition because we do the trip when my dad and brother go on a big skiing adventure. My mom figures since they get to have a fun trip we get to have one as well. This year, they went heliskiing in Canada and my mom and I decided we wanted to go to Catalina Island.

My mom grew up going to Catalina all the time. My grandparents had a boat and they would said from LA to Catalina and spend weekends there. My parents took me and my brother there when we were little, but I don’t remember that trip at all. The last time we were there was for my sweet 16 party. My mom and grandma took me and 3 friends to Catalina for a weekend. It was the best trip and I loved it. It’s crazy to think that was almost 20 years ago and I hadn’t been back since. It’s not that far to go since there is a boat that takes you there from Long Beach. The boat is only about 45 minutes from me and the boat ride is only an hour. But for some reason I just hadn’t been back and I was so excited to get to be there again!

We took the boat over to the island after I was done with work. It had been raining on and off and we were worried that it would be raining our entire trip as well. It was raining on the boat, but fortunately when we got to Catalina it was cloudy but dry. We rented a house right in front of the water next to the main street of Avalon (the main town of the island). Our view was amazing and we loved people watching since it was right next to the boat dock where everyone was arriving and leaving.

The day we arrived, we didn’t have too much planned. We got to the house and unpacked and then walked to the grocery store to get things for the few days we were going to be there. They used to not have a regular grocery store on the island so it was a big deal when they got a Vons, We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was just like grocery stores on the mainland so we were able to get everything we needed for breakfast and snacks. We went out for a casual dinner and relaxed at the house before going to bed. It was the perfect first day of our trip.

The next day we had two different tours scheduled. The first tour was a tour of Avalon and it was a van tour. We were driven around and got to learn a lot of history about the island and the different aspects of life there. We also got to see some incredible views of the town from up in the hills.

The one stop that the tour had was at the country club which is famous because the island used to be the training location for the Chicago Cubs and the country club had their locker room and clubhouse. It was a really cute place and even though it started to rain while we were there it was still so nice out!

The tour was about an hour long and it was the perfect introduction to the island. Next we had a backstage tour of the Casino, which is probably the most famous building on the island. It is not a gambling casino nor has it ever been. But instead it is a theater and ballroom. In the past, famous bands would come and perform there. The ballroom is used for various events now and the theater shows movies there daily. I don’t think I had ever seen the inside of the Casino before, so I was so excited to go on the tour.

We had a really great tour guide and he knew so much about the Casino and the island in general. He was full of lots of information, but to be honest I was in awe with how gorgeous the inside was that I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have.

Our first stop was the theater on the first floor. Everything in the entire building is original from almost 100 years ago with the exception of the carpet (which was replaced with the same pattern as the original). And even though the theater isn’t new, it was one of the most spectacular theaters I’ve ever seen.

There are murals all around depicting the history of the island. And the murals were even more incredible when the lights were dimmed and the artwork was lit up.

We watched a little movie about the history of the island, and then we had the opportunity to go up on the stage. I love seeing the view from the stage since that means so much to me. And standing on that stage and getting the view of everything was so special and I was so happy we got to do it.

Next we walked around the various backstage areas of the theater. We got to see different dressing rooms and green rooms before going into the projection room. They had the current projector set up (since they screen movies every day), but they also had the different old projectors that they used to use. I love learning about the history of filmmaking and this was exactly what I enjoy learning about.

The last stop on the Casino tour was the ballroom. It is on the top of the building and it has almost 360 degree views from the windows.

They recently had their Oscar party there, so there were some tables and chairs around the room. But it was close to empty so we had the chance to walk around and explore. I loved seeing the views of the island from the huge windows.

We also got to walk around the balcony outside of the ballroom. Not only did we have the view of the town, but when we walked around to the other side it was so clear out that we could see the mainland!

It’s tiny and not super easy to see in my photo, but trust me we could see it. Considering the rain that we had earlier in the day, we were so lucky that it had cleared up enough that we could see that far out.

Of course, we also had the take advantage of the view and get a group photo because I knew that we probably wouldn’t do another one that trip.

After walking around outside, the tour of the Casino was over. It was a really informative and full tour and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting Catalina and wants to learn a lot about the island history as well as Hollywood history.

The rest of that day was nice and relaxing. We walked around a bit more and we had a nice dinner that evening. It was so much fun getting to spend that time with family that I don’t always get to see and there was no pressure to get a lot done or to rush around. It was the perfect first full day of our vacation.

Tomorrow’s post will be about the rest of the trip, but I think you all can tell from this post how much fun I had the entire time!

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A Day In Joshua Tree (or The End Of My Trip To Palm Springs)

Posted on March 2, 2018 | 1 comment

My trip to Palm Springs was 4 days (although the first day was really just getting there in the evening and having dinner) and for the first 3 days we were pretty much just in Palm Springs. But for the last day, my mom really wanted us to go to Joshua Tree and I’m always happy to follow her plans and was excited to end my trip on a fun adventure.

According to my mom, I was at Joshua Tree when I was 7 and when I was 10 but I really don’t remember those trips (and my mom had limited memories and stories from those trips). So in some way, this felt like the first time that I was there. It was about 45 minutes to drive there and after stopping at the visitor center to get a parking pass we were on our way to our first stop.

We wanted to go to a lookout point to see a nice view of the area. And it happened to rain the night before so it was so clear out!

And it was freezing out! It was about 38 degrees outside and while it felt nice in the sun, whenever the wind kicked up it was pretty cold! But my mom and I still took an opportunity to take a photo together since I realized we didn’t have any photos together yet on the trip.

When we were in the car to drive to our next stop, I realized that the photo of my mom and I reminded me of another photo of us. So I found that photo in the cloud and put them together.

The top photo was from when my mom and I were in Paris in January 2005 to celebrate my college graduation. It’s so crazy to think that the top photo is 13 years older than the bottom photo! And I don’t think that we look 13 years older either.

Our next stop was to do a hike around Skull Rock. The hike was about 2 miles and it started at a campground. We were walking to the hike and we already were seeing amazing views of the Joshua Trees all over.

Once we were off the paved road and onto the sand/dirt trail, I’ll admit the hike got tough for me. There was a lot of going up and down which is tough on my hips. But being on an unstable ground was even worse and I was hurting a lot. I tried to limit how many breaks I took but fortunately my mom and her friend were understanding and they didn’t mind stopping when I needed to. But even when we were stopped, we always had something amazing to look at.

We noticed a rainstorm and some ominous looking clouds while we were hiking, but they never reached us. So having those clouds just made the view look even better!

When we got back to the car, we drove to a picnic area to have a quick snack before heading to our final stop in Joshua Tree. My mom was so excited to see the Cholla Garden and once we were there I was so impressed by it!

It was crazy to see these fuzzy looking cacti all over when we didn’t really see them that many other places. They do look like they are teddy bears and would be soft to touch. I’m guessing a lot of people have tried to touch them because there was a first aid kit in the parking lot of the garden in case someone got stuck. I was just careful since there wasn’t that much separation from the cacti and the path we walked on. And there were little broken off pieces very close to the trail and I don’t think my shoes would have protected me much if I accidentally stepped on one.

After that stop, we got back into the car and did the drive back to Palm Springs to go back to the rental house. We had a little time to rest before we all headed out to downtown Palm Springs for dinner. It was getting colder out, but the place we went to had a heated patio so we were able to eat outside and enjoy the people watching on the main street of the downtown area.

After dinner, I quickly got my stuff packed up so I could head home. Originally I wasn’t going to head back until the next day, but I realized that I could avoid traffic (and not miss another day of work) if I went home that night. I think my mom preferred to know I wasn’t going to deal with traffic, plus she still had her friend with her so I didn’t feel like I was ditching her. I said goodbye and thanks to my mom and headed back to LA.

I’m so glad that my mom invites me to travel with her. I really couldn’t afford it without her right now and she really is one of my best travel buddies. We are already talking about a potential trip for next year (we are thinking maybe a spa vacation) so I’m getting excited to start the planning for that!

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A Weekend With My Mom (or An Adventure In Palm Springs)

Posted on February 28, 2018 | 3 comments

I don’t get to take vacations that often. And when I do, more often than not they are for me to go somewhere to Thanksgiving or San Diego for my grandma (now I’ll be visiting her in Northern CA when I get a chance). While those are vacations, they don’t necessarily feel like one because they are usually for a family event or to help with family in some way. I also don’t really have the money to go on vacation, so when I get the chance to take one I jump at it!

My dad and brother were going on a ski trip together and my mom asked me if I wanted to go on a trip with her (she invited my sister-in-law but she ended up having to stay home). Of course I said yes! I’m not sure if everyone is the same, but I love traveling with my mom. Part of this is because she pays for the trip (which allows me to go), but she really is a great travel companion. We have similar taste in traveling and she’s great at planning. And for this trip, she wanted us to go to Palm Springs.

I had been to Palm Springs when I was a kid, but I don’t remember that trip. And the last time I was in Palm Springs was when I was a college freshman and we were actually outside of Palm Springs. So I was happy to get to go back since it’s not that far from LA and I haven’t been in forever.

I drove down after work and a workout on Saturday. I didn’t really think about other people going out-of-town in the afternoon, but I dealt with more traffic than expected. And by the time I got to Palm Springs, it was already dark so I couldn’t see too much. My mom had gotten there a few hours earlier and once I arrived we did a quick run to the grocery store for some stuff for the week and we  spent the night relaxing at the house. Even though I didn’t go outside, I was already loving the house and the pool looked amazing in the dark!

The next morning when I woke up, the pool looked just as amazing in the daytime.

But we had no time to be lazy by the pool in the morning because we had plans to go to The Living Desert. The Living Desert is a zoo and garden that is all about the animals and plants of the deserts in North America and Africa. I had never been there before and I love going to zoos so I was excited to check it out. And fortunately, it was colder than normal in Palm Springs so we weren’t too hot while we walked around. And since it wasn’t too hot, the animals were out too. The giraffes were enjoying their breakfast when we got to their area.

And the warthogs were all spooning together in the sun (although one was spooning the wrong way).

And we were able to be at the cheetahs when they were doing their run demonstration and feeding.

We did a lot of walking around and we managed to cover the entire place. It’s a nice sized zoo that has a lot of offer. But it’s not too big that you can’t see everything in a day, especially on a day that isn’t unbearably hot like we had.

After The Living Desert, my mom and I headed back to the vacation house so we could relax by the pool and be lazy. The rental house also had a small putting area and I discovered that I totally suck at that! I haven’t played mini-golf in forever so I guess I couldn’t expect to be good at it.

The next day, my mom and I started the day with a walk around the neighborhood. We were checking out all the mid-century modern houses and how gorgeous the view of the mountains was.

Then my mom and I headed to the airport because one of my mom’s friends was flying in. My mom was going to be in Palm Springs for a week and I wasn’t going to be there for the last half. So my mom invited a friend to join her for the second half of the trip and we had a little bit of an overlay.

After the airport, we headed to the Palm Springs tram. It had been cold near where we were staying, but we knew it was going to be much colder at the top of the tram. So we bundled up and got on the tram headed up the mountain. I had been on the tram when I was little, but since I didn’t remember that I was excited to check this out. And since the last time I was on the tram (or my mom was on the tram), they had changed up the tram cars and now they are round and rotate while you are going up. So you will get to see all around as you are going up and can enjoy all the views.

Because there hasn’t been a lot of rain or snow, there wasn’t much snow on the top of the mountain. But it did smell like snow (or Tahoe) to me and it was freezing cold! While I was in the sun I felt fine, but in the shade or when the wind kicked up I was wishing I had gloves or hand heat warmers with me.

I didn’t end up doing the hike around (it was a very steep incline and my hips were a bit sore), so I just sat in the sun while my mom and her friend went on a mile and a half adventure that they enjoyed. But I was happy sitting in the sun and just looking at the view.

When they returned, we checked out the various movies and displays inside the mountain top building and then took one more look at the view before heading back down.

And we got to enjoy another lazy afternoon/evening at the rental house which was perfectly fine with me. I love going on adventures on vacation but also having time to relax too. And we did just that.

There’s still one more day of my Palm Springs vacation, but since that was a trip outside of Palm Springs that will come later!

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Southern California Fires (or Some Ways To Help)

Posted on December 8, 2017 | Comments Off on Southern California Fires (or Some Ways To Help)

Even if you don’t live in Southern California, you’ve probably heard on the news that we have multiple fires happening right now. While wildfires are something that we get from time to time, this time it seems different. Having multiple fires at one time isn’t the norm. But also they seem to be surrounding us.

There is a combination of things that are happening that make things worse. We had a good rain season this past winter so there is more plant life around than there was when the drought was at its worst. But since our summer was hotter than normal the plants all died which left dried plants everywhere to catch on fire. The humidity in the air is lower than normal so the fire risk is higher. And we currently have the Santa Ana winds which are very strong and are blowing the fires and embers into new areas. All of that combined means that the fires are big, tough to fight, and keep moving.

There is a fire up in Ventura County near where my brother and sister-in-law live. My brother was working at his hospital the first day of the fire and things were getting pretty bad then. He hasn’t worked since that day, but the fire continues to get worse and more out of control. Their home should hopefully be fine, but it’s still scary to see the fires getting closer to them.

I have a lot of friends in the valley who are on evacuation watch. Hopefully those fires won’t get into their neighborhoods, but even without there being a fire it is still difficult to breathe. The smoke is pretty thick and the wind doesn’t seem to be clearing it. The smoke and wind are the problems that I’ve been encountering. There is a fire near my gym and that smoke has come over to me. I’ve been trying to stay inside but since my house doesn’t have the best insulation it smelled smokey inside my house.

And I’ve had some family that was evacuated because the fires are in their neighborhood. We are all very hopeful that their house will be fine. There was a fire in that neighborhood about 70 years ago and their house was still standing because it was built out of stucco and not wood. We don’t know when they will be able to go back home to check on their house, but I hope that it is soon so we can find out what their next step is. And we all just want all of the fires to be out so more homes aren’t lost.

But the sad reality of these fires is that there has been loss of property, animals, and some people. And help will be needed because not everyone will be able to rebuild on their own. I read one news story about a family that just closed on the purchase of their house last week and it burned down this week. Hopefully they had some sort of insurance, but insurance doesn’t always cover everything.

There are a couple of ways to help. If you live near an affected area, there may be volunteer opportunities but it seems like a lot of those are filling up quickly. I’ve seen people who are buying bottled water and leaving them near where the firetrucks are so that the firemen fighting the fires have water. But with many disasters the best way to help is with money. Organizations that are set up to help with disaster relief need funds and they will know where to put that money toward.

The Salvation Army is a good place to donate. They’ve been setting up shelters around Southern California and many people in the shelters have no idea when they can go home or if they will even have a home to go back to. And there are so many animals that have needed to be evacuated. Many of these are larger animals like horses that need to be transported to a safe area and that is not cheap. So the Humane Society is accepting donations to help animals affected by the fire. There is also the Southern California Wildfire Relief page through the California Community Foundation. That page has a lot of different places that are providing help and offering information to those looking to find out what is going on.

I don’t know how much longer the fires will be burning, but the relief efforts are going to take a while. There is no quick way to rebuild someone’s life after a fire has taken everything. If you have the ability to donate, please do. I know that is what I will be doing it when I figure out how much extra money I have in my budget this month. I know that there have been so many natural disasters lately and it can seem overwhelming. But hopefully the links that I’ve provided can help you find where to donate so that you can help those affected by the fires happening all around Southern California.

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Girls Weekend (or Hanging Out With My Mom And Aunt)

Posted on February 24, 2016 | 2 comments

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I think you know that I’m pretty close to my mom and to my Aunt Cindy. I love getting to hang out with them and we had a really great girls weekend 3 years ago when they came to LA to hang out with me for a few days. And this past weekend we got to have another amazing weekend hangout!

After dealing with a bunch of flight delays for my trip with my mom and sister-in-law last year, I got some credit to use on Southwest for a future trip. I thought maybe I’d use it for a trip to Tahoe or something else, but I realized that the one year mark of getting that credit was coming up and I was going to lose the credit. So my mom and I decided that we would go to Sacramento (I flew she drove) where my Aunt Cindy lives to hang out with her! I haven’t really spent a ton of time in the Sacramento area except when I’m there for Thanksgiving. But then I’m usually hanging out at my aunt and uncle’s house and not really exploring the area too much. So I was super excited for this trip!

I flew out after work on Saturday. This was my first time flying while taking Vyvanse and I was so nervous that I would have a horrible panic attack on the plane. But I’m happy to share that just like at the dentist, I did surprisingly well on the plane! I even got to enjoy the view a bit. It was awesome seeing snow out the window since we’ve been dealing with such a horrible drought the past few years.

Snow From The Sky

Once I landed, my mom picked me up and we went to check into our hotel. All we did there was drop off our bags and then we headed straight to my aunt and uncle’s house. It was so awesome to be there again, it had been several years since we had Thanksgiving there. My uncle was spending time with a friend of his while my mom and I were there, so we all went out to dinner to work on planning out our next day. Dinner was fun (we went out for Chinese food), but I was excited for our full day the next day.

On Sunday, my aunt came over to our hotel and we were off on our adventure. Our first stop was the Folsom Zoo. My aunt is a volunteer there so she led us on an amazing tour!

Folsom Zoo

I know some people don’t love zoos and I’ve had some thoughts about them after seeing the movie “Blackfish”. But the Folsom Zoo is actually an animal sanctuary. The animals there were illegal pets, animals that were hurt and couldn’t go back into the wild, or donated after someone could no longer care for them. They don’t buy or sell animals and they don’t have a breeding program to increase their animal population. So I had no concerns with seeing the animals there.

We saw a ton of different animals at the zoo including monkeys, bears, tigers, wolves, horses, pigs, snakes, birds, and chickens.

Monkeys Bear Chicken

The animal we saw the most were peacocks. They were all over the zoo and since they technically aren’t zoo animals, they run free all over the property.

Peacock

The zoo is pretty small, so we were there for about an hour before heading out to our next adventure: the Folsom Prison Museum.

This might seem like a weird adventure to go on (especially since it’s located right next to the prison), but it was a really good little museum. The man working there was a guard at the prison and he had a lot of interesting stories to share. We got to see a video about how the prison was built and the architectural history behind it. The museum also had some artifacts from the early days of the prison and a section dedicated to Johnny Cash.

We had a minor moment of panic when we were inside the museum and heard a siren go off, but it was a signal that it was noon and not anything scary. As we left we saw people heading into the prison for visiting hours, but it was cool to see it after learning so much about its construction.

Folsom Prison

Our next stop was downtown Folsom. We got a quick lunch at a pizza place and then walked a few blocks to the old Folsom Powerhouse. The Powerhouse is a state historic park and there was a very nice museum that we walked through first that explained the history of the powerhouse and the history of having electrical power in the state.

After the museum we headed down a short path to see the old powerhouse.

Folsom Powerhouse

There was a really knowledgeable guide inside the powerhouse who told us all about how it worked, showed us some historic pictures, and even showed us a beaver that was living under the powerhouse that you could see through a grate in the floor. We were also able to walk down to the lower powerhouse (it’s not always open). While walking around, we were so grateful that we lucked out on the weather and it was a gorgeous day!

Gorgeous Day

Our next stop was supposed to be the Folsom Museum, but they were closing early that day and we only had a few minutes to walk quickly through everything before they closed.

Since we weren’t spending time at the Folsom Museum, we decided to do some walking around and checking out the stores. My mom found something really cool to get my grandma for Mother’s Day and I found something that I’m going to give Rayshell for her wedding (I can’t post it on here yet because I know she reads my blog!). There was also a store that had some really cool decorative things made out of old silverware. I really liked them, but they were a bit pricy. I have no idea if I could do it myself, but I think if I found some awesome cheap silverware I might try it.

Crafty

After all that walking around and exploring, we headed back to the hotel to rest a little bit and then headed out for a quick casual dinner to end our girls weekend. It was a super full day and I had a great time, but I wish that I had a bit more time to spend with my aunt. But overall, it was an awesome Sacramento adventure.

On Monday, my mom and I were originally going to try to go to the Walt Disney Museum (my brother and sister-in-law gave me tickets for Hanukkah), but timing things out with rush hours and my flight home (which was out of San Jose) wasn’t going to work out. So we just drove straight to Saratoga so I could hang out with my dog and my dad.

We didn’t do anything too fancy when I was hanging out in Saratoga. I hadn’t been home in 2 years (since the first time I met Tucker), so there were a bunch of cool new things my parents wanted to show me in the house. We also took Tucker to the dog park (his favorite place!) and for a couple of walks. He’s gotten bigger since I saw him at Thanksgiving and he’s calmed down a bit too!

Tucker

Before I knew it, it was time to go to the airport to fly back home. I had another relatively calm flight and was home in time to get a good night sleep to get ready for the week.

I really had the best weekend with my mom and aunt. We’ve joked that in 3 years we’ll have to figure out another adventure to do together, but I really hope that we are able to do something together as a group sooner than that. We do such fun adventures/trips together and I can’t wait to see what we plan on doing next!

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Hello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!)

Posted on August 20, 2013 | Comments Off on Hello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!)

As I mentioned before, I spent this past weekend hanging out with my parents (and dog) in Lake Tahoe. I’ve been going to Tahoe since I was a baby to go skiing in the winter and do some hiking in the summer. Several years ago, my parents got a place in Tahoe (we rented a cabin before then), so now there are more chances in a year for me to get up there.

Somehow, with all the craziness of work and life, I hadn’t been to Tahoe in a couple of years. So I was more than excited to make it up there and get some nice outdoors time in.

As soon as I go there on Friday, my parents and I had to do some errands. We had some things to figure out on our family cell phone plan, and since I was listed as the primary account holder, I had to be with my parents when they changed things. So most of the afternoon was spent at the Verizon store doing not so fun stuff.

That evening, we went out for dinner. Since we were technically celebrating my 30th birthday, I got to pick the restaurant. For me, there has only been one place that has been my go-to restaurant in Truckee (the town in Tahoe where we stay): Cottonwood. Honestly, I cannot remember a time when we didn’t go to Cottonwood when we were in Tahoe.

We had to sit inside because there were about a million bees out on their deck, but we sat near the windows so we still got to enjoy the view of historic downtown Truckee (and of course, I forgot to take a picture of the view).

The menu had some great specials, so I decided to get the chicken dish (it sounded relatively healthy).

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For a starter, my parents and I split something that we always get every time we go to Cottonwood. The whole leaf Cesar salad.

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This is seriously the best thing in the world! It used to say on the menu that it is traditionally eaten with your fingers, so that’s how we eat it (except my mom who goes against tradition by using a knife and fork). This salad is so wonderfully garlicky. I love it! You do smell like garlic for a few days after, but to me, that’s totally worth it!

After we got through most of the salad (it was pretty huge for 3 people), our entrees arrived.

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The chicken was delicious and the mashed potatoes were great (although they didn’t seem too garlicky after having the salad).

We didn’t have dessert since we were so full on salad and our entrees, so we headed back to the condo my parents’ own to take Dante (the dog) for a walk.

Near Tahoe there is a fire, and that made the sunset pretty gorgeous.

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Although the smell of smoke in the air was pretty strong.

So that was day one of my Tahoe trip. More to come in the next few days including our off-roading adventure and going out on Donner Lake in our inflatable boat!

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