Back in Sac-Town
I made it back to Sacramento yesterday evening, after a long day on the bus. Charlie was gracious enough to come pick me up, and we went to McDonald's for a quick bite and then went swing dancing! It was a ton of fun, and I was glad to be back. I definitely feel a difference in my comfort level at Midtown Stomp than I do even back at the Grad in SLO, line dancing. It was great seeing my friends again. Here are a couple pictures Charlie took last night... Tawny and I were having a lot of fun just doing the Charleston step around the perimeter of the dance floor. We also did suzy-q's and a side-step thing around the floor, and people joined in and we got a big train going for one of them. :D
Sadly, the ballroom is doing a country night tonight instead of their regular ballroom dancing on Saturday nights, cos the holidays messed things up. :( I really wanted to go and wear my cute new-to-me dress. Oh well.
I promised you guys a picture post a few days ago, and I finally have pictures to post... these are from last weekend when I went to Hearst Castle and Nitt Witt Ridge with essius and find_the_joy. :) Kristen took almost all of these photos.
Here are the three of us on the bus, on the way up the hill to the castle!
This was supposed to be of the three of us, but I knew I wouldn't make it into the picture. I guess my hair and part of my cheek did. :D
The three of us at the castle, goofing off of course.
Kristen got some nice shots of the castle.
The Neptune Pool, one of my favourite parts of the castle.
Me and Stephen... I look really short here, and I'm trying to remember if I was standing on a lower step than he was or what. Haha. I think I was also blinking.
Kristen, me and Stephen. We got someone else to take this for us, but Kristen was still in the shade.
A nice shot of the Neptune Pool from above.
I took a picture of Stephen and Kristen... too bad it turned out so dark.
Decorative stuff above a door... I liked this.
This is a bedroom we walked through. I really liked the bedsheets.
This is the view of the ocean from the castle. Kristen took this picture. :)
Christmas decorations made some parts of the castle more festive. I really liked the paintings hung on either side of the fireplace. They were beautiful!
After Hearst Castle... we headed over to Nitt Witt Ridge, which is like the poor man's Hearst Castle I guess. It was really interesting! Here are picture from there:
This is the front of the house, which you can see from the street. There I am walking up to it.
Tire towers? Yeah, this place is made out of a bunch of junk!
A closer view at part of the front of the house.
Since the tour wasn't for half an hour after we showed up there, we took a walk around the area... and saw some interesting things:
Kristen and I were laughing at this plant with the sign "Grow Dammit" stuck in it. Hehe.
I gave my best try at a menacing look towards the plant, hoping to scare it into growing more. I'm not sure it worked.
We met a fat cat named Albert on our walk. He was very friendly and followed us around, but the poor cat is probably neglected and left outdoors too much; he was very dirty. That's my hand petting him.
After our walk, it was time for the tour:
Kristen is 6' tall, so she had to get a picture under this sign. :)
Think your kitchen needs cleaning? You might feel better after seeing the kitchen at Nitt Witt Ridge!
Yeah... yummy.
This was the original house Art Beal lived in while he was building Nitt Witt Ridge... he ended up wasting most of it, though, which is kind of odd considering he was such a scavenger for junk and used so much of it.
This is a poem I guess Art Beal wrote, and carved into a ceramic plaque thing. I really liked it, and was glad Kristen took a photo of it. It says "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides". :)
After our Nitt Witt Ridge tour, we took a walk down by the beach, on the boardwalk. Here are a couple pictures from that:
That's all!
Now I need to make a to-do list for the days I have left in Sacramento before I go to Washington on Thursday...
• Do laundry. (like 2 or 3 loads of it)
• Clean Elijah's cage and give him more food.
• Clean in the bathroom.
• Mail Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas presents.
• Change sheets. (YAY I got new flannel penguin sheets from my mom!)
• Take recycling over to the recycle centre.
• Put up new calendars!
• Pay rent.
• Change filter in aquarium.
• Pack.
• Other things I'm not thinking of at the moment.
Okay... that done, I also should mention I got a plethora of Christmas cards in the mail while I was gone! I got ones from my mom (with a package), Aunt Susan and Uncle Perry, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ray, soulforophelia, Tracey Hockett (the principal of the school I used to work at), Aunt Katy and Uncle Don, Jessica, Grandma and Grandpa (they included a birthday card with $20 - too generous!), moototheshell (she included a cute picture of herself), and Uncle Tim and Aunt Linda. :) Thanks for the fun mail, you guys!
I think that's it for now. I should go figure out something useful to do.
Sadly, the ballroom is doing a country night tonight instead of their regular ballroom dancing on Saturday nights, cos the holidays messed things up. :( I really wanted to go and wear my cute new-to-me dress. Oh well.
I promised you guys a picture post a few days ago, and I finally have pictures to post... these are from last weekend when I went to Hearst Castle and Nitt Witt Ridge with essius and find_the_joy. :) Kristen took almost all of these photos.
Here are the three of us on the bus, on the way up the hill to the castle!
This was supposed to be of the three of us, but I knew I wouldn't make it into the picture. I guess my hair and part of my cheek did. :D
The three of us at the castle, goofing off of course.
Kristen got some nice shots of the castle.
The Neptune Pool, one of my favourite parts of the castle.
Me and Stephen... I look really short here, and I'm trying to remember if I was standing on a lower step than he was or what. Haha. I think I was also blinking.
Kristen, me and Stephen. We got someone else to take this for us, but Kristen was still in the shade.
A nice shot of the Neptune Pool from above.
I took a picture of Stephen and Kristen... too bad it turned out so dark.
Decorative stuff above a door... I liked this.
This is a bedroom we walked through. I really liked the bedsheets.
This is the view of the ocean from the castle. Kristen took this picture. :)
Christmas decorations made some parts of the castle more festive. I really liked the paintings hung on either side of the fireplace. They were beautiful!
After Hearst Castle... we headed over to Nitt Witt Ridge, which is like the poor man's Hearst Castle I guess. It was really interesting! Here are picture from there:
This is the front of the house, which you can see from the street. There I am walking up to it.
Tire towers? Yeah, this place is made out of a bunch of junk!
A closer view at part of the front of the house.
Since the tour wasn't for half an hour after we showed up there, we took a walk around the area... and saw some interesting things:
Kristen and I were laughing at this plant with the sign "Grow Dammit" stuck in it. Hehe.
I gave my best try at a menacing look towards the plant, hoping to scare it into growing more. I'm not sure it worked.
We met a fat cat named Albert on our walk. He was very friendly and followed us around, but the poor cat is probably neglected and left outdoors too much; he was very dirty. That's my hand petting him.
After our walk, it was time for the tour:
Kristen is 6' tall, so she had to get a picture under this sign. :)
Think your kitchen needs cleaning? You might feel better after seeing the kitchen at Nitt Witt Ridge!
Yeah... yummy.
This was the original house Art Beal lived in while he was building Nitt Witt Ridge... he ended up wasting most of it, though, which is kind of odd considering he was such a scavenger for junk and used so much of it.
This is a poem I guess Art Beal wrote, and carved into a ceramic plaque thing. I really liked it, and was glad Kristen took a photo of it. It says "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides". :)
After our Nitt Witt Ridge tour, we took a walk down by the beach, on the boardwalk. Here are a couple pictures from that:
That's all!
Now I need to make a to-do list for the days I have left in Sacramento before I go to Washington on Thursday...
• Do laundry. (like 2 or 3 loads of it)
• Clean Elijah's cage and give him more food.
• Clean in the bathroom.
• Mail Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas presents.
• Change sheets. (YAY I got new flannel penguin sheets from my mom!)
• Take recycling over to the recycle centre.
• Put up new calendars!
• Pay rent.
• Change filter in aquarium.
• Pack.
• Other things I'm not thinking of at the moment.
Okay... that done, I also should mention I got a plethora of Christmas cards in the mail while I was gone! I got ones from my mom (with a package), Aunt Susan and Uncle Perry, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ray, soulforophelia, Tracey Hockett (the principal of the school I used to work at), Aunt Katy and Uncle Don, Jessica, Grandma and Grandpa (they included a birthday card with $20 - too generous!), moototheshell (she included a cute picture of herself), and Uncle Tim and Aunt Linda. :) Thanks for the fun mail, you guys!
I think that's it for now. I should go figure out something useful to do.