Tuolumne Meadows Yosemite Bro-cation Part II

This is a continuation of another post found here.

At this point we had made it to Lower Young Lake and had taken about an hour to rest, swim in the icy cold lake and lay in the sun.  We hiked up to Middle Young Lake and found a good camping spot.  There was no wildlife anywhere... just a few birds, trees and shrubs among the boulders.  In hindsight, we should have gone up one more level to Upper Young Lake, but more on that later.

Ragged Peak at sunset on Lower Young Lake

We walked around the middle lake, took another swim and refilled our water as we waited for the sun to go down.  At an elevation close to 10,000 feet, small inclines could still take your breath away.  Pat started to feel sick from the altitude and turned in early.  That left the rest of us to crack open our small bottles of whiskey and have our dehydrated dinners.  Even though we were much higher than the night before, the evening wasn't as cool as the previous night.  We were exhausted and without a fire to huddle around, we all turned in around 9 pm and got a better nights sleep since it wasn't so cold.

We woke up the next morning and decided to go up to Upper Young Lake. We kicked ourselves for not taking the extra half hour the day before to camp at this lake.  It was wedged right into the slope of the mountains and provided an amazing 360 degree view.

Panorama of Upper Young Lake

We walked around and took some pictures - it was a pretty amazing sight.  We toyed with the idea of climbing up the steep slopes of one of the mountains but with a big day ahead of us to get back to the trailhead, we finally decided against it.

One of the most spectacular views I have ever seen appeared on our descent to the campsite.  You could walk out on the edge of a rock outcropping to look down on the middle lake and see the lower lake below it, with the mountains and forest spread out over the rest of the scene.

Middle and Lower Young Lake from above

We broke down our campsite and made the long hike back toward the car.  Along the way we debated where we would go for our last night.  We could stay somewhere near our first night's site but we all wanted to see something new.  The important thing was that we had flights to catch in San Francisco around midday.  With a 4 hour drive and gear to pack up before we left, that means we'd have to be pretty close to the car so that we could get an early start.  We all agreed that we would just hop in our cars and find a new campsite near a parking lot so we could hop in and leave quickly in the morning.

One of the domes along the trail

The hike out wasn't nearly as strenuous, I think because we had a better idea of the difficulty and the time it would take.  The entire weekend had been perfect - sunny but not so hot that we were guzzling our water.  By the time we reached our cars we were covered in dust from the trail and pretty tired again.  We didn't have a lake for a refreshing swim so we were stuck being dirty, tired an hungry.

Since I was one of the least experienced hikers among us, I threw out a suggestion.  "Do you all want to forget the last night of camping, drive to San Francisco and get a hotel room with my reward points?  We'll be close to the airport and we can even go out in the city for a drink."

The other guys looked at each other and quickly agreed.  Tim and Pat headed back down to toward San Diego since they weren't flying and the other four of us hit the road for San Fran.  We stopped along the way for food at a Burger King and I took a sink bath to get all of the dirt off of my legs and arms.  We were all so grimy and I'm sure it was a sight to see when we rolled up the W Hotel. They always have hip, young crowds down in the hotel bars and restaurants, and here we roll up all dirty with backpacks strapped to our backs.

We checked in and all took showers - one of the best I've ever had.  We got a few drinks at a bar in Union Square but were all so tired that we again turned in early.

A few of the guys hadn't done sightseeing in San Francisco and we had about 4 hours to waste until the first of us flew out.  I took them to my favorite spot (from blog posts past) to hike and see the bridge at Baker's Beach but it was so foggy that you couldn't even see the span even from directly underneath it.  We cruised through the Presidio, Russian Hill and got lunch at a random taco cafe in the middle of the city.  I love doing things like that in the city... if it were warmer with better beaches, I'd probably move there.

With all of our time spent and flights coming up, we got in the car and headed to the airport.  The weekend ended perfectly for me because I'm not as seasoned in camping and 3 nights in a tent would've been a little much (I know that I sound like a diva).

I hadn't seen Jon in about 5 years.  Nick came out to California back in May, but before that it had been 3 or 4 years.  I'm hoping to go on the next trip and that we can all get together again.

Tuolumne Meadows Yosemite Bro-cation

Nick, one of my friends and roommates from college at Kentucky, plans some kind of outdoorsy 'bro-cation' hiking trip every year.  For one reason or another, I have never been able to join him.  About six months ago he started tossing the idea around about a Yosemite National Park trip over Labor Day.  Since I was already in California, I knew that I had to commit.  I invited my friend Tim along since he recently moved to the west coast, which ended up being a fortuitous decision.

The crew at the trailhead

Tim's roommate, Pat, was keen to go and he is a rep for North Face.  We were able to get a 'wilderness pass' to Tuolumne Meadows through his contacts in the industry.  Apparently there is a lottery and no guarantee that you will get a pass to the area you want.  It's how the park limits the amount of traffic and abuse the park receives every year since the tourism demand is so high.

Along with Nick and one of his friends from DC, we also had my old UK club soccer friend Jon on the trip.  Tim and Pat drove up from San Diego County while the rest of us flew into San Francisco.  We stocked up at REI for food and odd items we were going to need for the next 3 days.  I've never used dehydrated meals so I relied on the other guys' advice to get what I needed... GU, Powerbars, etc.

The trip into the park took about 4 hours, starting off on interstates and slowly winding down to small country roads until you get into the park.  I think it was $20 per car (but make sure you save your receipt to prove you paid as you leave!).  We had to pick up our wilderness pass and bear proof food canister at the main ranger station.  That area is packed with people because Half Dome and El Capitan, the two most famous features of the park, are nearby.  It would've been cool to stick around and take some pictures, but we were on a tight schedule.  It was an hour to our trail head and the sun was starting to go down.

I won't get too detailed on the directions for the trail - you can find those here.  So we set off from the Dog Lake Trailhead which was already above 8,000 feet.  It was dark when we got going (see pic above) and starting to get cold.  It took us about an hour to hike the mostly uphill trail to Dog Lake where we decided to camp for the night.  I have done some hiking, but not a lot with a pack on my back.  And doing it all with just a headlamp to guide my feet was a new experience.

We found out that fires were strictly prohibited at 9,600 feet... and although our campsite wasn't that high up, there was a severe forest fire warning and NO fires were allowed in the park that weekend.  So we pitched our tents and I put on all of my clothes that night.  It was still August but the temps dipped below freezing (our water bottles were solid in the morning).  I had an appropriate sleeping bag for the weather thanks to Pat and North Face and had it cinched so only my face was exposed.  Throughout the night my nose would get cold and I would tuck into the bag.  Then it would feel suffocating and I would have to come up for fresh air.  Repeat that all night and it didn't exactly make for a fitful rest.

Dog Lake

The morning was crisp but as soon as the sun came over the trees we were in shorts and on the trail.  Here's the sight we woke up to at Dog Lake.  We went from there up some pretty steep trails.  Within the first mile or so I realized that my cotton socks were starting to give me blisters.  Big mistake.  Luckily, one of the other guys had an extra pair of moisture wicking socks that I could use.

We had a water pump purifier that saved us from having to lug around too much water at one time.  The trail had some pretty steep uphill climbs but they were always followed by sloping downhills and creeks, so we were able to refill our water and rest.  By mid-afternoon we made it to our destination - Young Lakes.  They're a series of three tiered lakes (Upper, Middle and Lower) nestled right into Ragged Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Tim swimming in Lower Young Lake

We were all pretty exhausted and although it wasn't hot we were sweaty and in need of a shower.  Without those kinds of amenities, the next best thing is taking a dip in the lake.  The only problem was that these lakes are filled with snow melt and we guessed around 45 degrees.  Refreshing, but quickly too cold for comfort.  See the next post for details on the rest of the trip.

Hiking the Hollywood Sign

I had always thought that hiking near the Hollywood sign was illegal, but luckily that isn't the case.  I found this website with a really detailed description of how to get up to the sign.  Tim and I decided to make the trek and I used this as my guide.  I won't try to replicate the directions because that site has a lot of detail that I don't have the patience to go into.  I'll just mention that I didn't get a chance to see the Bat Cave that it mentions.

This is a fairly long but not too strenuous hike.  You need to bring along some water as it takes 3 hours round trip, but you don't have to be in peak shape to make it to the top.

Here are some pics...

On the way up the trail

Griffith Observatory in the foreground

Downtown LA

Panorama looking through the sign onto Hollywood and LA

Road Trip Across the US

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Once the decision was made to move all of my belongings in storage and in my parents' basement, I had to figure out how to get it all out to California. I looked at a few moving companies, but those ran anywhere from $1,600 to $4,000. I decided to rent a U-Haul for around $900 and did my best to recruit people to go with me. After a few days of trying it was pretty clear that I was going to be on my own. I almost got Lindsay to meet me near the halfway point in Oklahoma City (since she gets free flights from her mom, a Delta employee) but no one was able (or willing) to take the time off for the grueling trek.

I did the trip once before, driving from Bowling Green, KY, to Los Angeles with a former girlfriend. On that trip in early 2005, we got on I-40 in Nashville and didn't make an exit until that highway merged with another in California. We stopped in Shamrock, TX, on the first night and Las Vegas on the second night before rolling into LA after another half day of driving.

This would be a challenge because instead of a Honda Civic I was driving a 14 foot van. When I went to pick it up the night before I left I got another nice surprise - no CD player or tape deck. Listening to my own music (or books on tape as I had planned) was out of the question (the next morning I found that the cigarette lighter didn't work, so I couldn't even use my phone without draining the battery in a few hours). I packed up everything with a little room to spare and headed out around 7 am. My goal was to try to make it to each of the stopping points from my first trip since I would again hit I-40 and take it all of the way across.

Day 1

Fairly quickly into the trip I realized the challenge I was up against. After only a few hundred miles of driving I had to fill up the 30 gallon tank. That means I was getting 6-7 miles per gallon... with gas prices in the $3.40 range that means I was going to drop around $100 per fill up for the 2,100 mile trip, totaling around $1,000 extra. Yikes.

After a full 13 hour day of boring and uneventful AL, tip of TN, AK and OK, I made it to Oklahoma City and called it a night. I was a few hours behind my original timetable, but I also started further to the east. The van only made it up to 75 miles per hour, so I didn't have much of a choice unless I logged more hours. I still made time to do my Insanity workout that night to stretch my legs and get some restlessness out of my body.

Day 2

I got up the next morning and went through some significant changes in scenery over the next day. The plains of OK and TX quickly changed to the arid landscape of NM, with its red dirt, tumbleweeds and rock formations jutting out of the ground. Throughout the day I could see the remnants of Route 66 - it was sometimes used as an access road to the highway or local road as an alternate, but other times it was overgrown with lone standing old telephone poles. About halfway through the day I hit a brutal headwind of 30 mph with gusts even higher. I initially thought that the van was losing engine power since I dropped from 75 to 65 average mph, but the wind blew my door shut when I got out for gas.

I randomly stopped at one of the exact gas stations from my first trip. The only reason I remember is because a really large and tacky/creepy gift shop and Dairy Queen were attached. I got Lindsay a purple raccoon tail key chain to mark the occasion. After a round of snow flurries as I crossed into AZ, I kept climbing, climbing, finally calling it a night after 14 hours in Flagstaff at 7,000 elevation. There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature had dropped to around freezing. I definitely wasn't dressed for that weather, so I went into the hotel, hit the Insanity DVDs again and went to bed.

Day 3

I got up early one last time, ready to knock out the last 8 hours of the drive. I hoped to get out of the snow and put my toes in the sand ASAP. It was mostly downhill after Flagstaff and without the detour into Las Vegas I had in the last trip, I powered into California. The temperature quickly rose as I entered the Inland Empire and after a SHORT 7 hour drive I made it "home."

My roommates helped me unpack and find room for most of my furniture. My roommate's girlfriend needed a table and chairs along with a coffee table, so I'm temporarily storing things there. Lindsay took my sofa and chair (I tried to sell them in Atlanta but had no luck). I'm slowly selling a few things off here and there (my road bike, for one) and finding room for the rest. It feels good to be living mono-coastal for the first time in a year, but I'm about to start traveling for work again. Le sigh.

Why Are People Drawn To The Ocean?

After 2.5 years on my project with Ingram Micro, it finally wrapped up this month.  The bulk of my professional experience with BackOffice and the majority of my international travel opportunities happened while I was on this project.  I lived in Santiago, Chile, for a few months and got to go to Argentina while I was there.  I then skipped over to Belgium and made multiple trips up to Holland to visit friends.  Then came my amazing 10 months in Australia plus a short trip to Fiji before I 'temporarily' moved to California a year ago.

Choices, choices...

Since the client would no longer pay for my rent in California and I still had a Georgia license, I had to make a choice: move back to Atlanta (I just rented out my house there so I would have to find a new place), stay in California or go back overseas.  The early leaders were returning to Australia or staying in California, but it all depended on where my next project would be located.

I did some initial investigation on my options in Australia and Singapore, but I was told that I would need to give a 2 year commitment for visa purposes if I were to go back.  I loved my time there, but putting that long of a time frame without making it permanent made me anxious.  I mean, if I decided that I was going to live in Australia forever then I would be willing to make the move. As great as it was, I don't know if I could do that.  I started exclusively focusing on west coast US projects and planned to 'settle' in California for now.

As I was making these plans, my company highlighted two projects where they wanted me to be staffed.  The first was a short term gig in New Jersey where I would be the lead.  The cross-country travel would be unfortunate but bearable.  The next project was long term (3 years) and was located in Connecticut.  It provided me with a lot of opportunities professionally, but crossing the country every week?  I must be crazy.

Wave 2 by Jessica Harms

I could always just live in Atlanta, NYC or somewhere else on the east coast to ease the travel.  There is something about living on the beach that draws me in.  It goes without saying that surfing is the #1 passion in my life, but it's not just that.  I bought one of Jessica's paintings back in 2008 - a couple of years before I ever got hooked on the sport.  I have always been drawn to water - maybe we all are.  Think about all of the big cities that are in harbors or bodies of water.  Yes, part of that is because they were transportation hubs.  But there is something else... the balance between awesome power and serenity is amazing.

After living by the ocean for the past few years, I don't think I can leave it.  I've had this conversation multiple times with different people that feel the same way - it's something that is hard to explain unless you've experienced it yourself.  Plus there's this girl out here...

On to Catalina

There's a small diving shop around the corner from my house called Beach Cities Scuba - I bought my underwater camera housing as I mentioned a few months ago. When I was in the shop back in April they had a white board displaying all of their dive trips. The next one went to Catalina Island on June 18th. You might say that Catalina is well known as a good dive spot. People also take day and weekend trips to explore the island but we weren't going to make landfall.

 

If you've ever heard of Catalina, it might be from the song Pasadena by a great band called Modern Skirts. I can play that song on repeat for days.

Anyway, Catalina is also known for its kelp forests and cold water marine life. I'd never done any cold water diving and I heard it was really different than all of the reef diving I did in Australia. I signed up for the trip but was nervous about the water temperature. They rented me a 7 mm wetsuit with hood, gloves and boots but I was still skeptical. All of that plus three meals and a full day on the boat with three dives came out to about $250, so overall it was a pretty good price.

I got up at about 5 am on Saturday morning and drove for 45 minutes up to the marina at San Pedro. The day started off kind of gloomy and uninviting until we shoved off and cruised through a pod of dolphins.



I had forgotten to even worry about sea sickness pills and I was pretty tired from the early morning wake up. I found a spot in the middle of the boat to minimize the rocking and dozed on and off for the 2.5 hour ride. I felt it coming on at one point but managed to keep my breakfast where it belonged. On a day with rougher water, I'm not sure I would've held out.

The dive master paired me up with another solo diver named Alex and they let us all do our own thing. Every other time I've gone diving, it's been with a small group that sticks with the lead. We were really just left to wander on our own. Neither of us had any idea of where to go and I think we probably missed out on the best parts of the dives. Lesson learned - even if you don't have to stick with the dive master, do it. You'll probably get more out of it.

That being said, it was still a pretty cool trip. The wetsuit kept me surprisingly warm and I got a few good pictures. The fish weren't as varied or colorful (except the bright orange Garibaldi pictured below), but I did see a horned shark... not as scary as it sounds. A few of the others saw a 4 foot eagle ray which would've been cool. Again... stick with the dive master.

So here are the pictures. I'm considering another trip to make full use of my camera before the water temperature drops. A day trip to explore the island itself is probably in order as well.

Garibaldi, the California state fish

 

Weaving in and out of the kelp forest

 

Horn shark - they have stingers like rays

 

Sea hare - the size of a small cat

 

Spotted this rock fish for Alex

PCH from LA to San Francisco

One of the best drives in the land

After my solo two week odyssey through Panama, I still had two weeks of (forced) vacation from work. I spent an entire week chilling out in Atlanta with some friends and Zabba, then made my way back to Newport. My girl Daya just so happened to be going to a wedding reception in San Francisco that weekend and invited me along. I had been looking for an excuse to drive up the California coast on the scenic PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), California State Route 1.  It's on every website's top 10 drives in America, so you should, too.

My first time in SF was a whirlwind visit two years ago after a wedding. This time I was hoping to catch a few of the things I missed the last time around, plus soak up the view on the drive north.  I packed a bag for the weekend and took off early on Friday morning to face the LA traffic.

The PCH actually goes right into Newport Beach just a few blocks from my house.  It cuts through all of the beach cities - Huntington, Seal, Hermosa, Redondo, Manhattan... it would've taken me 3 or 4 hours to get through all of the surface street traffic (plus it's not scenic). I skipped it and hopped on the 405 and cut over to the coast on the 101 until it met up with the PCH in San Luis Obispo - a cool little town where I just had enough time to grab lunch. If you're in a hurry you can take the 5 all of the way up to San Francisco in 6 hours but you sacrifice the view.

Up close and personal with a mangy squirrel

From the beginning of the scenic section as I hit the coast, I was quickly reminded of my drive with Nat along the Great Ocean Road on the coast of Victoria, Australia.  No wild koalas or helicopter rides this time though. :(  I stopped pretty frequently along the way to take pictures of the windy route and mostly empty beaches.  I saw a few good surf spots but I had a long way to go and a short time to get there (thanks Jerry Reed).  I wasn't listening to that though... XM was having a Death Cab for Cutie weekend, playing all of the songs off of their upcoming album called Codes and Keys.

I was making pretty good time despite my stops when I started seeing signs for Hearst Castle. I vaguely remembered that William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper tycoon from the early 1900s. When I got home I researched him a bit and found out that he was the inspiration for the lead character in Citizen Kane. Also, his legacy company now owns Cosmopolitan Magazine, Esquire part of ESPN, a dozen or so newspapers and a really cool building in New York City (a modern skyscraper built on top of the original stone structure).  But I digress... the mansion was now a state park and they gave tours so I went to check it out.

Water colors reminded me of Whitsunday Beach

There were packs of old people and Asian tourists everywhere as I pulled up to the visitor's center.  I spotted an employee that told me tickets were $25-35 depending on which part of the house you visited.  The shortest took 2.5 hours.  I didn't have that kind of time so I took a few uninspiring pictures of the mansion from a distance, looked at a few pictures, read some factoids and I was on my way.  Before I left I got a good tip - there had been a landslide a few weeks ago that totally blocked the PCH.  I would actually need to backtrack a few miles and take some switchbacks to get around it.

 I stopped at a gas station to make sure my directions were correct because there were hardly any road signs and my GPS was trying to take me back to the PCH. I had the right route and drove through a military base called Fort Hunter-Liggett. Their training ground had littered shells of tanks and old cars. It looked like I was driving through a firing range... gulp.

The winding road narrowed down to through the foothills of the Sierras to almost one lane at some points. I passed the infrequent cars going surely taking the PCH south and then accelerated like a rally car around the next corner.  The road actually gave some hilltop views that wouldn't have been seen down on the PCH so it wasn't so bad of a detour.  It did take a 2.5 hour chunk from my timeline because I was going 25 mph or less for a lot of it.

Bixby Bridge, built in 1932

With the detour over I got back on the PCH and was going the speed limit (plus) again, but every now and then I would hit construction.  I recommend checking the highway warnings before starting this drive so you know of any road closures.  It looked like there had been more landslides over the past few years that required them to totally rebuild some barriers and sections of road.

One of the coolest parts of the drive had to be the Bixby Bridge near Big Sur that has become a regional landmark. It's supposedly been featured on car commercials and is coincidentally in the name of a song by Death Cab.  The arch spans the steep valley and displays a great blend of nature and engineering.

A long way down

By that time it was starting to get late so my roadside stops became more infrequent. The projected 9 hour drive ended up taking closer to 12 with my stops and the detour.  Yes, I-5 will get you there in under 6 hours, but who wants to drive inland?  I had brought my new camera tripod along but never got it out.  And yes, it would've been nice to have a passenger for conversation, but I had gotten used to the solitude over the past few weeks of traveling.  I also knew that it would be short lived once I got to San Francisco.

I soaked it all in because this would be my last vacation of the year.  By the time I got near Monterey I was starting to get impatient.  I could've taken the PCH all of the way into San Francisco but I decided to hop on the 101 for the rest of the route.  It probably saved me another hour.  This is definitely one of the best road trips and scenic drives I have ever seen.  It's something you must do and will definitely make my Best of California list.

I finally pulled into downtown San Francisco to be greeted by Daya - a fun weekend was in store.  Stay tuned for the rest of the trip!

OC Living

The past few weeks have been great - I'm surfing after work pretty much every day. I see dolphins about every other day when I'm out in the water. I'm not catching the big waves yet, but I am getting better. The water is cold enough that I had to buy neoprene boots to keep them warm, but I'm still enjoying it.

I have a friend from high school named Anna that moved to Orange County after we graduated. Every time I've come through LA over the past year I've tried to stop and have dinner with her and Eric (her once boyfriend, fiance and now husband). I got a text on Sunday afternoon from her asking me if I was interested in some Lakers tickets. I was just sitting around on the couch, so I was in.

I dropped everything and drove 15 minutes over to Anna's house. Eric and I left almost immediately and drove to Staples Center. One of Eric's friends had a vendor that had a connection to Lakers owner Jerry Buss' assistant.  Our tickets got us seats at a table in the restaurant on the mid-level baseline.  We had a waitress and didn't have to get up at all.  The Lakers were down for the whole game until Kobe pulled through in the clutch in the last minute for a 4 point win.

After the game our tickets also got us access to a bar underneath Staples Center.  When you see cameras following players through the concrete block lined passageways - that's where we were.  The guy that got us the tickets said that the bar was right in between the locker room and player exit, so if we stood outside we would see them all walk by.  He had also seen players and Khloe Kardashian (Lamar Odom's wife).  We decided to go inside and hang out as well as thank Buss' assistant for the tickets instead of standing around with cameras like groupies.  We did see Buss' ex-wife and an assistant coach, but that was it.

It was a very unplanned event, but lots of fun - especially because the tickets were free!

Frankfort Comes to the Beach

Meghan and I - Halloween 2002

As soon as I started telling people I was leaving Australia for California the the reservations started pouring in to visit. The first was from Meghan and her twin sister, Danielle. I had known the twins since middle school and had a major crush on Meghan through most of my early teens. We went to separate high schools and only saw each other every now and then. When I went away to UK and eventually Atlanta, we still kept in contact. There had been a point when we were in college where we met up for dinner and I thought something might be getting started, but it never ended up happening - I don't remember why. Every other time it seemed like she was dating someone or I was dating someone and the timing was never right. Regardless, I hadn't seen them since 2004, so it was going to be a fun reunion.

The got in on Thursday night and we had excitement first thing on Friday. The earthquake in Japan put us on a tsunami advisory that closed the beach and my streak of surfing before work ended only a few days after it started. The girls are into running so we ran down the boardwalk to find a bunch of people standing around, waiting for the waves to hit. They were only expecting 2-3 foot waves... to put it in perspective, when storms come in the waves get 4-6 feet and really big storms 6+. But they still closed the beach. I delayed going to work hoping to see SOMETHING, but you couldn't even tell.

Our first night in Newport was quiet. One of my roommates cooked us dinner and we stopped by The Blue Beet for a little while before turning in. The next few days were going to be busy.

Moses stays at the...

On Saturday morning I drove the girls into the heart of Hollywood to Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Since the golden age of Hollywood stars have been immortalized by putting their hand and footprints into squares of the sidewalk out front. We walked around the Walk of Fame for a little while and then went into Madame Tussards Wax Museum. It cost $25 (unless you have a student ID) but was worth the price. There were all kinds of props you could use to pose with the figures and they didn't care if you touched them - just not the face.

After that the girls wanted to go to Robertson Boulevard for some star searching. Lots of paparazzi swarm the area's boutiques and cafes because so many stars go there. We also drove through parts of Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive just to say we did. Every time we saw a car with tinted windows or a woman with extremely large sunglasses the twins would whisper, "Is that someone?" "Who is that?" etc.

We got a star homes map from a street vendor and started circling houses we wanted to visit. I've heard that these maps were highly unreliable and even if the celebrity did live there, most had 10 ft. walls or ivy to prevent you from seeing anything. The best chance I guess would be to catch them as they're coming or going from the gated driveway. I liked driving up into the Hollywood Hills on Mulholland and getting a view of the city. There are a lot of scenic pullover spots to take pictures and admire the smog.

I took them for lunch to In-N-Out Burger, a southern California must, and then we went to Venice Beach. Venice is a cool spot because of the characters you see there. You have hippies, gypsies, street performers, beggars, weirdos, freaks, stoners and of course tourists. You've also got 'Muscle Beach' where there is outdoor workout equipment if you want to get pumped up. There are a bunch of basketball courts (where they filmed a lot of White Men Can't Jump). It's a mandatory item on the list of places to see in LA.

We caught the sunset over the water and then went to get cleaned up for the evening at our hotel for the night, the JW Marriott in the LA Live district. It had only been open a month or two and was right next to the Staples Center. It includes bars, restaurants, hotels, museums and event space to try to lure people into the city instead of the suburbs.

I made a friend, Lindsay, through Rameen a while back that went to UK and moved to Santa Monica after college. We had never met in person, but had spoken via Facebook several times. She gave me suggestions on places to live and things to do. Since we were up closer to her we met for dinner and drinks that night.

Sippin' on bubbly

Lindsay got our names on the list at the rooftop bar of the Standard Hotel (it's good to know someone with connections!). I found out later that it is partly owned by Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz. It had a great view of downtown LA. Lindsay said hi to the manager and he brought us a bottle of champagne on the house. How about that? Four Kentuckians sipping champagne on a rooftop bar in LA. Big thanks to Lindsay for setting that all up!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel still without a celebrity sighting.  I heard from the concierge that some active celebrities hike in Runyon Canyon Park right at the edge of Hollywood.  The weather was perfect so we decided to start our day there (parking was really tough, good luck if you want to go there).  I didn't know until we got there that most of the park was dogs off the leash friendly.  When I say park I don't mean flat grassland with shade and benches.  This was all hills, foothills, dirt paths and switchbacks.  As we hiked up the hills you would see a dog either running in front of or trailing behind their master.  The view was as good or better than Mulholland Drive.  We didn't see anyone famous but there were some decent views of the Hollywood sign.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Santa Monica, shopping and walking around the 3rd Street Promenade that sat just a few blocks from the ocean. We finished at the Santa Monica Pier and watched a few more performers and artists. The girls left on Monday morning, and although they were unfulfilled on the celebrity sightings I still think they had a good time.  Meghan and I didn't rekindle any romance, but I did get her to promise that she would be my backup wife if we were both single at 35.  That's on the record.

I hadn't done any of these touristy things in LA since Matt and I were here for Spring Break 2003. It was good to get reacquainted with the city. So anyone else that wants to come to the west coast, I'm ready for you!

Moving to Cali

I'm on the next phase of my project in Santa Ana and have been flying back and forth from ATL to SNA twice a week.  The company is trying to cut costs so they asked me if I could find an apartment near work.  Taking the flights down to once a month and getting a long term rental car would really help on the budget.  I asked around on the best places to live and it looks like Newport Beach is the best.

I searched around on Craigslist and found a few cool places on Balboa Island.  They're not near the beach like I was in Sydney.  They're ON the beach.  I sent a bunch of emails and ended up interviewing with three different places.  I narrowed it down to two places with people that seemed cool.  I ended up choosing a place with two girls around my age, with a place that was walking distance to the bars, and most importantly - a 30 second walk on the beach.  I bought a bed and the rest of the room was furnished.  I'm all set up within earshot of the waves crashing and the best part is it's less then 20 minutes from my front doorstep to sitting at my desk.  I technically still live in Atlanta, but this is home for at least the next 6 months.


See a bigger map

California, here I come.

My friend Rachel, from high school, got married in Placerville, California a few weekends ago. I flew into Sacramento and drove there, about half an hour east. If you ever get a chance to go to Placerville… don’t. It’s not very exciting. It’s an old gold mining town that hasn’t changed much since then. The one bar downtown was tended by a girl that was pregnant… as in 2 weeks from her due date pregnant.

The wedding was cool and the surrounding countryside was beautiful. We were less than an hour from Lake Tahoe, although we didn’t get to go. Napa Valley was also fairly close, but again no time.

Rather than sit around in an old gold mining town that looked like it hadn’t changed since 1849, Josh and I decided to go to San Francisco to see the sights. We both had an extra day to waste, so we figured why not? I could hook us up with a free hotel room through my Marriott points, so it was pretty much a no brainer. Neither of us had been there, and we only had 12 hours or so to explore.

We got into the city after noon, and went right to the wharf. We walked around to the different piers and had lunch at a little hole in the wall – crab salad sandwiches. The most interesting thing down there, besides the view of the bay, were the street performers. There were a few guys acting like robots, a few acting (or being) crazy, break dancers, a violinist, a steel drum band, among others.

After getting our fill down there, we drove up the hills into Golden Gate Park. Contrary to logic, the bridge isn’t there. It was a really cool park though, and a lot different from Piedmont in Atlanta. There weren’t a lot of wide open spaces, and a road cut right through the middle. We didn’t get out to explore, but it looked as if there were a lot of walking trails.

We made our way to the bridge via Baker Beach. The wind was gusty but the view was great. We hiked a short trail down to the beach and were surprised by two nude sunbathers. Don’t get too excited, they were both old and male. Josh got to touch the Pacific for the first time and we took a bunch of pictures down by the rocks with the bridge in the background.

From there we went to Haight Ashbury per Josh’s request. I had never even heard of it, but apparently this is where the hippy movement started. It was definitely a unique area in the city. Tie dye – everywhere.

By that time it was after 6:00 and we were both hungry, so we went downtown to check into the hotel and get something to eat. Luckily we were close to Chinatown, and ate at a place called R&G Lounge, as recommended by Yelp. It seemed very like a few of the restaurants I ate at in Chinatown, NY.

After that we hit up the bars. We found out that the Mission District is a cool and up and coming area, so we went there. After a going into a few random places, we met a few other out-of-towners and tagged along with them to places in the area. Each bar only took cash, which was different, but they were all smoke free – that made me very happy.

We got home around 2 am and had to be up early to drive back to Sacramento for our flights back east. All in all, I had a good time. There is definitely more to do in the city though. I didn’t even look into the museums, but I assume there are some good ones. We didn’t go up to Coit Tower, visit the parks, cross the bridge into Saulsalito, do anything in Oakland, visit Castro (though it’s the gay part of town, I think it would still be worth seeing).

Take me back, and soon!

Pics from the trip.