Crosscountry Saga
As I was telling Tony in the car on the way to the airport last night, one of the reasons I love vacations is because they have a way of giving you a new perspective on your normal (mundane) life. It's easy to get sucked into the routine and lose sight of what inspired you in the first place. I've been California dreamin since I was little. Three of my most inspiring friends are out there (Tony, Katya, and Kelsey) so this trip was just destined to be fantastic.
Kat and I arrived in LA last Thursday night after a long and arduous series of flights and connections. We were both exhausted and grumpy, but those feelings dispelled immediately and we saw Tony and palm trees! The next morning required us to be up early for the start of our Cali Road Trip All Capital Letters. We awoke and started towards Santa Barbara after a frappacino breakfast.
Let's talk about how Santa Barbara is magical. It has the great weather of Southern California and the vibrant feel of a college town. Not to mention it is just a gorgeous place. With a Teavana. My boss, who went to school in Santa Barbara, recommended that we go to the Marina for brunch to this place called Brophy's brothers. The food was pretty good, but it was the view and the weather (and the company) that really made the place special.
Way behind schedule, we started our journey to San Francisco. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with roadtrips in my life, but this one just has to have been one of the best roadtrips ever. The ocean was on our left and the mountains were on our right. The sun kept us warm as the wind and fresh air from outside swirled in and out of the car. A few hours in, I spotted a pod of dolphins in the ocean--amazing! The road gradually transformed into a windy path on a cliff and next thing I knew, I had to pee. We stopped at what looked like a resort and when we stopped we realized it was the most beautiful time of day--sunset! After getting ourselves situated with coffee and snacks we went out to a scenic cliff for the most amazing view you could ask for. Glorious...peaceful...majestic....all words that describe it. We spent a good hour there admiring this gem in the mountains before forcing ourselves back into the car to continue our journey.
After the resort, the road got REALLY windy. The kind you see in a car commercial....or the kind you see in a horror movie where the car flies off the cliff. I can't describe the part in very accurate detail because I fell asleep (kind of on purpose).
We arrived in San Fran at 1 am on Friday night and were greeted by a jubilant Kelsey. She made us [Teavana] tea and ordered us pizza. Her San Fran apartment was huge and in an amazing location! Saturday we went for a walking/bus tour of the entire city and then the Giants/ Padres game. Great game, but it definitely rained. The cool part is it stopped raining after not too long and a whole rainbow appeared in the sky above the scoreboard.
That night, after exhaustion, and not-so-sober yoga (in hopes of finding a second wind), and then finding a second wind, we gave the bars on North Beach a try. It was there that I realized my obsession with live cover bands.
Sunday was our chance to experience Napa Valley. We stopped by a vineyard that produces sparkling wine on the way in Sonoma and had some fantastic bubbly/ pinot noir whilst overlooking the fields of grapes. The entire day was like that; sitting outside drinking delicious wine with great views and great company.
Upon our return from Napa, we were all quite hungry and quite excited to try some real burritos. I honestly don't like burritos so I wasn't that excited. However I ordered one and now I am changed. Never have had anything like it in my life! We ate our food in silence which represents just how good it was, and then I went to see Chad from WU who lives on North Beach. Great to see him--we shared a bottle of the best dessert wine I've ever had. A white from Napa that had the smoothest, most delicious texture and flavor!
Monday morning we left quite early for LA. Experiencing life in San Francisco couldn't have come at a better time. The pace, people, and culture is so different there as compared with NYC. Taking a break from the NYC way of being was really refreshing. We all reflected on this as we took the 5 down through the Central Valley. The Central Valley is blanketed with strawberry fields and walnut trees and so many other varieties of fruits. We took a few rest breaks to stop and sample the fresh fruit; so glad we did!
That night in LA we had a date with the Hollywood Bowl for an Incubus concert. I had never been to a concert like this in my life. It was an outdoor amphitheater with woods and mountains encircling the entire venue. Vines coated the few walls there were and the seats were wooden benches. We could see the Hollywood sign behind the stage on the distant mountain. The concert reignited my love of Incubus. Hearing Aqueous Transmission under the stars with thousands of other people who are also just enjoying themselves was really something. Every song was just so good. In Kat's drunken jubilance she made friends with an Irish guy just because she heard him say "For fock's sake." The whole night was kind of downhill from there. We befriended Jesus who gave us a word or two of wisdom, and Chuckie attacked all three of us. This is all before running into Michael Jackson's flower-laden star on the boardwalk. The night culminated in In-N-Out...yum.
Tuesday was so relaxed. We met up with Katya (!) at Venice Beach. Beautiful day...love Katya.
I have to go yoga now...possibly more later!
J
Kat and I arrived in LA last Thursday night after a long and arduous series of flights and connections. We were both exhausted and grumpy, but those feelings dispelled immediately and we saw Tony and palm trees! The next morning required us to be up early for the start of our Cali Road Trip All Capital Letters. We awoke and started towards Santa Barbara after a frappacino breakfast.
Let's talk about how Santa Barbara is magical. It has the great weather of Southern California and the vibrant feel of a college town. Not to mention it is just a gorgeous place. With a Teavana. My boss, who went to school in Santa Barbara, recommended that we go to the Marina for brunch to this place called Brophy's brothers. The food was pretty good, but it was the view and the weather (and the company) that really made the place special.
Way behind schedule, we started our journey to San Francisco. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with roadtrips in my life, but this one just has to have been one of the best roadtrips ever. The ocean was on our left and the mountains were on our right. The sun kept us warm as the wind and fresh air from outside swirled in and out of the car. A few hours in, I spotted a pod of dolphins in the ocean--amazing! The road gradually transformed into a windy path on a cliff and next thing I knew, I had to pee. We stopped at what looked like a resort and when we stopped we realized it was the most beautiful time of day--sunset! After getting ourselves situated with coffee and snacks we went out to a scenic cliff for the most amazing view you could ask for. Glorious...peaceful...majestic....all words that describe it. We spent a good hour there admiring this gem in the mountains before forcing ourselves back into the car to continue our journey.
After the resort, the road got REALLY windy. The kind you see in a car commercial....or the kind you see in a horror movie where the car flies off the cliff. I can't describe the part in very accurate detail because I fell asleep (kind of on purpose).
We arrived in San Fran at 1 am on Friday night and were greeted by a jubilant Kelsey. She made us [Teavana] tea and ordered us pizza. Her San Fran apartment was huge and in an amazing location! Saturday we went for a walking/bus tour of the entire city and then the Giants/ Padres game. Great game, but it definitely rained. The cool part is it stopped raining after not too long and a whole rainbow appeared in the sky above the scoreboard.
That night, after exhaustion, and not-so-sober yoga (in hopes of finding a second wind), and then finding a second wind, we gave the bars on North Beach a try. It was there that I realized my obsession with live cover bands.
Sunday was our chance to experience Napa Valley. We stopped by a vineyard that produces sparkling wine on the way in Sonoma and had some fantastic bubbly/ pinot noir whilst overlooking the fields of grapes. The entire day was like that; sitting outside drinking delicious wine with great views and great company.
Upon our return from Napa, we were all quite hungry and quite excited to try some real burritos. I honestly don't like burritos so I wasn't that excited. However I ordered one and now I am changed. Never have had anything like it in my life! We ate our food in silence which represents just how good it was, and then I went to see Chad from WU who lives on North Beach. Great to see him--we shared a bottle of the best dessert wine I've ever had. A white from Napa that had the smoothest, most delicious texture and flavor!
Monday morning we left quite early for LA. Experiencing life in San Francisco couldn't have come at a better time. The pace, people, and culture is so different there as compared with NYC. Taking a break from the NYC way of being was really refreshing. We all reflected on this as we took the 5 down through the Central Valley. The Central Valley is blanketed with strawberry fields and walnut trees and so many other varieties of fruits. We took a few rest breaks to stop and sample the fresh fruit; so glad we did!
That night in LA we had a date with the Hollywood Bowl for an Incubus concert. I had never been to a concert like this in my life. It was an outdoor amphitheater with woods and mountains encircling the entire venue. Vines coated the few walls there were and the seats were wooden benches. We could see the Hollywood sign behind the stage on the distant mountain. The concert reignited my love of Incubus. Hearing Aqueous Transmission under the stars with thousands of other people who are also just enjoying themselves was really something. Every song was just so good. In Kat's drunken jubilance she made friends with an Irish guy just because she heard him say "For fock's sake." The whole night was kind of downhill from there. We befriended Jesus who gave us a word or two of wisdom, and Chuckie attacked all three of us. This is all before running into Michael Jackson's flower-laden star on the boardwalk. The night culminated in In-N-Out...yum.
Tuesday was so relaxed. We met up with Katya (!) at Venice Beach. Beautiful day...love Katya.
I have to go yoga now...possibly more later!
J