oh travels!

anniversary camping!

2011-10-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

since i was away for our first anniversary, i surprised josh this past weekend with an anniversary camping trip!

we drove down the coast on the beautiful coastal highway, winding up, down, and around the sheer cliffs overlooking the magnificent pacific ocean. we randomly found a camping spot at the quaint san simeon creek campground, a little bit south of hearst castle. our campsite was nestled in the trees, nice and private on the first night with a vacant site on our left and a site housing ghost campers (gone all evening!) to our right.

because we love food so much, we prepped some tasty meals for this trip.

night one: grilled pork chops accompanied by parmesan basil orzo.
night two: fresh pasta topped with chicken and a sun-dried tomato basil cream sauce.

delicioso!

our secrets to gourmet camp cooking:

plan a grill night (burgers, pork chops, chicken) -- something easy to throw on the grate and go
pick easy to prep sides -- pasta and rice are easy. potatoes, less so. we did orzo cooked in chicken broth and water. the chicken broth added a lot of flavor with no extra work. topped with fresh grated parm and fresh sliced basil, it was delicious!
prep at home -- for our fresh pasta night, we cubed and cooked the chicken ahead of time. we also chopped the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and ziplocked them together with the red pepper flakes our recipe called for. lastly, we made sure we had grated up a bunch o' parmesan for our orzo and to top the pasta.
make something with wine/beer -- there are a lot of good recipes that call for wine or beer. it adds a lot of flavor and then you get to drink the leftovers!

our recipe is an adaptation of this one.

happy camp cooking! :)

niagara falls disco, part 2

2011-08-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

we embarked bright and early for our nine hour drive to boston. i made quick evenly spaced stops on the clean well-maintained new york state turnpike. we arrived on time.

my group wasn’t feeling group dinner so i let them loose on the city. i gave them a quick overview of sites and prepped them for their free day. told them i would meet those of them tomorrow without baseball tickets for dinner/drinks across from the ballpark. i ate dinner with harry and chris at a thai place around the corner from our hostel. the food was tasty but spicier than expected. drops of sweat dabbed my cheeks as i sipped my first beer in two weeks.

when we met up again, the group again split off to a table away from myself so i conversed with lindsey and her group. i had an expensive whiskey on the rocks and a half-price burger.

then, the weather changed. furious phone calls made - me to dan, dan to lindsey, dan to me, lindsey to dan. a hurricane was coming up the coast. and was headed right towards us. with a departure for nyc in the future and the whole east coast on tornado watch, we were forced to make changes to our original plans. plans and rumors filled the ears of our passengers. another game of telephone carried the news to our hostel where, unknown to me, my pax started panicking.

a missed phone call. another. and another. all in the span of five minutes. when i called the mystery number back, it was rachel, almost in tears. her, paul, lydia and charlotte were worried about reservations, hotels, flights and money. i rushed back to the hostel. in a flutter of conversation, tears and split second decisions, the four decided to leave the trip. they signed some forms, packed their bags and departed on a late night bus trip into the city in order to beat the storm. i let them go with apprehension. i slept poorly.

in the morning, we scrambled with reservations, rearranged rooms and tried to rebook flights. we drove inland toward a small town in massachusetts. the group spent the day in an outlet mall -- movies, internet, shopping. the evening was pizza, beer and weather channel. the group was loud. i was sober. when they finally left our room, i slept soundly.

we gathered late in the morning, ate, and decided to head into the city. the early driving was wet and windy. gas stops were met with frustration - power outages, no bathrooms, empty gas stations. but finally, we were back! i left them in a strong wind on the streets of ny. they left me with garbage, crumbs and thank you cards.

tonight, i sleep at the motel six trying to recover from a trip gone on too long.
tomorrow, i start it all over again.

niagara falls disco, part 1

2011-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

my niagara falls tour was quick out of the gate. we met up at 8am in the lobby of the columbus circle hostel, my pax filtering in slowly, mingling in and out of the mix of hostellers and fellow trek passengers. after a flutter of papers and introductions, we drove off to philly for a lunch stop to sample the famous local cheesesteak. i followed directions i was unsure of. i scanned worriedly for parking. and after dropping aimless wanderers, i settled on lunch myself at an unsuspecting pizza place. surprisingly, almost everyone was there. i ordered a hot slice and inserted myself awkwardly into the group. conversation was short, answers curt. in a crowd of early 20-somethings, i felt like i was back in high school; unsure, uncomfortable, starving for acceptance. i ate quickly and excused myself, claiming to look for my last 2 passengers - an older couple from australia already on their 30-something-th year of traveling the globe. my stomach in knots, i wandered the streets of philly until it was time again to pick them up.

we pulled into washington dc early evening and i circled the one-way streets to find the best drop off place for my people. they scattered before i could address them. i telephone-passed a message to meet back at 6 for dinner. at 6, we met up with our paralleling group in the lobby and, with a 24-strong group, we crowded the sidewalk and bus to make our way to georgetown. stuck at the end of a long 12-person table, i conversed with harry and chris as they regaled me of their years of travel. i strained to listen to talk farther down the table to make connections with the rest of my group.. to no avail. i nodded and laughed appropriately.

i announced a meeting at 9am in the morning to hopefully get more of a hold over the group. they agreed and split up after the meal was over -- lindsey’s group still chatting, drinking and generally getting to know each other. i met up with austin and summer, having a beer or two on the second floor of an open air bar. we chatted about where we’d all been in the last few years -- surprised at how much time had passed between our last meetings.

in the morning, i awoke as lindsey (occupying the bunk below me) was getting ready to meet her passengers. “oh,” she remarked offhand. “a few of your passengers are coming with me since i was actually able to get more spots on the capitol tour this morning.” i inquired as to how many but she didn’t know. i asked if everyone knew about it and if everyone had the opportunity to go on the tour. again, she didn’t know. i hopped quickly and bleary-eyed out of bed and went on a mad hunt for everyone. i tried knocking on room doors and scouring the kitchen. i did this for close to a half hour. in the end, it turned out everyone was going on the tour. by now, i hadn’t brushed my teeth nor eaten and it was time to head to the capitol. i grabbed my bag, wallet and maps, and piggybacked on lindsey’s walk/tour of dc. as she spouted amazing knowledge and tidbits, my self-consciousness squeezed at my insides and i felt inadequate.

after dropping them off and leaving lindsey to eat with her friends, i sat down and cried on the capitol steps. the washington monument mocked me in the distance.

i wandered through a random sculpture garden and dried my tears. i spent the rest of the day trying to put together a shopping list that would satisfy my random group of travelers -- trying to appease their tastes, trying to stay within their tight budgets. i napped for ten minutes and woke up exhausted.

in the morning, my copilot - rachel - helped collect our $20 food kitty and opted out herself. i adjusted the list last minute to accommodate the fact that people just wanted to do group dinners.. not all meals. i split up the remaining items and handed out slips of paper for each of us to buy. unbeknownst to me, a slip or two fell under my feet. our drive was long -- longer than expected -- and we reached the finger lakes around 4:30 in the evening. the group was tired and weary. as was i. they split up immediately as the van doors unlocked, leaving harry, chris and myself to unload the van, the cooking equipment and our gear. they headed for the water and to tan in the sun. i sat atop a picnic table and talked with harry as he sipped his whiskey. we stared out at the calm lake cayuga. in front of us, chris curled up on the shore and stared at the slowly lapping water.

that night, i slept alone in a cabin for two as outside a party raged. i was awoken by the drunken laughter of the cabin next to mine. i tried to roll over and rest up for my long drive the next day. 6:30 came too fast.

the next day brought: a short drive to niagara, getting soaked under the magnificent horseshoe falls and making phone calls in the hot hot heat of my sun-baked van. that evening, at the koa camp, we cooked out - none of them knowing how to simply cut up veggies and boil noodles. the girls sneered at every turn. scowled at the final result. in the end, they went back for seconds. i snuck in on a game of cards, semi-feeling included, semi-feeling pitied. we retired when the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. i slept in the back of the van, the wind and rain beating hard on the metal roof. the sky lighting up and the thunder rumbling.

into the fire.

2011-08-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

tour number one began with circles around the 2-block radius of union square scouring for parking or loading zones to accommodate my 15-pax van. my first passengers stood, side by side, behind large luggage in front of the hotel stratford, eyes scanning for their pickup. the woman - shoulder-length blonde hair, short stature, aging but vibrant good looks - recognized the logo on my vehicle and motioned to the main next to her. he - shorter in statue and donning a black cowboy hat, cigarette in hand - acknowledged and nodded in my direction. as i wrapped up their paperwork, a third joined - young, long blonde hair, full makeup and amply breasted. and lastly, our final straggler - thin, long face and tired eyes - arrived. we exchanged 'hello's, loaded up their many (heavy) bags and quickly headed out of the city.

my speeches were short, the car rides awkward; i worried they could see how green i was. dropping them off at the santa cruz beach boardwalk, i made a mad dash downtown for a mission impossible-style bank errand. complications arose, tempers flared and i panicked. tears. on a rescue mission later in the day, my pax roamed downtown SC while i attempted to finally accomplish my goal. an hour later -- success!

two hours down california's pacific highway, we stopped at monterey's cannery row and split up. lisa (the young german au pair) and i hit up the expensive but nice aquarium. together we stood inside a giant wave, pet sting rays and stared amazed at the glowing neon orange jellyfish. for dinner, we all dined randomly at the boar's head in carmel, a restaurant owned by none other than clint eastwood. lisa, penny (the aging beauty) and i all tried the dirty harry special. frances (tired eyes) perused the menu for something she could eat -- no eggs, no meat, no fish, no cheese -- and finally settled on locally farmed artichoke soup and salad. roger (our own personal cowboy) removed his teeth and gnawed on his pork chop dinner, washing it down with 5 cold budweisers.

at night, i stayed up later than planned arranging details for the next day. my eyes closed to the comforting sounds of my long lost food network.

day two started with a $2 banana and an equally priced hot chocolate. after multiple photo stops on the picturesque big sur portion of the CA-1, we turned down the long, one-lane road to our picnic lunch stop. the van bumped uncomfortably and we stopped often (and treacherously) to make way for oncoming traffic. our destination was a wonderful pocketed beach area surrounded by sharp volcanic expanses of large rock. the waves splashed forcefully through the large openings in the rocks as we admired the vast pacific ocean behind them. the group vetoed lunch on the beach so we ate in the parking lot - our cooler as the prep-kitchen, our laps as our table.

another long silent van ride. lisa slept in the passenger seat as the radio station she had selected faded more and more into static. we arrived in san luis obispo in only enough time to barely walk the main street before the sun set. we suppered at a local thai place with a multitude of vegan fare and a never-ending supply of buds for roger. as we left, he lovingly kissed our waitress on the cheek. surprised and with both hands full of food, she ducked, squirmed and shut her eyes. the restaurant watched our group as we walked past the window to our hotel.

again, the soothing sound of ted allen lulled me to sleep.

day last, i ate a well priced $3 cheesy egg plate to kick-start my energy. we hit the road in order to arrive in santa barbara at the perfect lunch hour. the day was sunny, hot.

for lunch, we ate leftovers out of the side of the van. our cooler prep area spilling into the sidewalk. by the time we left, it was 2PM. as we approached the timesuck that is LA, we were met with slow crawling traffic in malibu. towering multi-million dollar houses and vast ocean views pacified the pax. worried about time, i bit my nails and nervously drummed on the steering wheel. once we hit the highway near hollywood, traffic was a standstill. frances called her airport shuttle to reschedule but we denied. we inched down sunset boulevard. 0.7 miles away from the shuttle, we were still 10 minutes too far. they graciously deigned to wait. by now, it was 7PM and we had just sat through 3-4 hours traffic.

i cringed on the inside at the disappointed looks of my left pax while i told them we wouldn't be able to finish our hollywood tour. over promised. under delivered. i left them with a plethora of apologies. i left them alone with their luggage in front of the motel 6.

more traffic to my hotel. tired, i entered my room to a non-talkative roommate who was glued to her smartphone. i ate my cold leftover thai food in silence and worried that my pax hated their tour. more work. more papers. at 12:15 i set my alarm for 5:30AM.

red walls, aching muscles.

2011-07-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

my legs ache slow in the memory of yesterday's 12 mile hike.

i started the day apprehensive -- i've never been good at uphill. and, as we walked down the side of the canyon, the sun rising fast over the reds and purples of arizona's most famous tourist attraction, i worriedly cast backward glances at the steep slope we were descending.

the day grew warmer.

we stopped in the green grove of indian gardens - 4.5 miles from our initial outset, 3000 feet lower than where we first began. despite my protests, i was convinced to hike the last 1.5 miles to plateau point. as i trudged, barely lifting one foot in front of the other, i regretted not turning back when i could. even when i saw the barred barriers marking the edge of the trail, i felt underwhelmed.. and almost gypped.

but oh! to look over the edge of the grand canyon, already a half a mile into the center and to see the beauty, the expanse and the depth of what lay below in the same vantage! words nor photographs cannot describe this breathtaking site!

the return trip, however, was a different matter. all former concerns proved true and i struggled immensely with the steep incline. my breaths short, my breaks often. and today (a testament to my eventual triumph over the cursed/beautiful canyon) my body cries in protest of the exercise it was subjected to.

----

this morning in short phrases: early, fast, accounting and swervy driving.

this evening: spectacular.

we pulled into monument valley just in time for our 6:30 open-air truck tour. as we settled in and got to know our tour guide, willie, i finally began to put images to the words i'd been reading for days. this, yes, was just old (REALLY old) sediment carried by wind from the rockies, built up in layers and broken down by erosion. but to actually experience the reds, the oranges and the layers of great expanse. the randomness of the formations spread across the desert like haphazard artwork. such was unbelievable. (i wish you were here.)

the 10 of us laid in a row, our backs to the soft orange rock, looking up through the formation shaped like an eagle's eye as willie sang native songs, drummed and played the flute. (you'd love it here.) eating homemade navajo tacos with the red-walled cliffs and the company of great friends and laughter. (maybe you'll do this with me soon some time.)

and then, exhaustion.

hits hard, fast and suddenly. ready to close my eyes for another 6-hour blink of an eye.

training.

2011-07-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

last night i spent the evening in the company of eight strangers at a plethora of locales in the 3-block radius of a small hotel on the corner or mission and 7th streets. we congregated around the long tall table at the heart of the good hotel's bar, hailing from utah, southern cali, new jersey, tennessee and florida. i was the local contribution. we exchanged the common garden variety conversations - where are you from, where have you traveled, what is your go-to drink at a bar.

later - at a stylish hole-in-the-wall brazilian restaurant, we toasted caipirinhas to emily's birthday. she smiled and clinked, sharing the tale of her year-long on and off romance with trekamerica. for this is why we were here -- trekamerica. a business making a living showing adventurous travelers the good ol' u. s. of a.

after another pitcher and palate-teaser of delicious spicy skewers, we paid up and headed across market to a small empty taqueria. david proceeded to order and converse in perfect(ly accented) español. my carne asada taco was filled so full i had to separate it to form 2 smaller ones. christine busted in the door with her quick wit and sarcasm just before we all headed back in the direction of the hotel.

quick stop at the liquor shop and now i had in my possession a tall-boy pbr in a classy brown bag. at the hotel, we talked, drank and played the getting-to-know-you game. as i was about to leave, i instead followed the flow as we wandered across the street to the best western. lost from the group, christine, kale and i ended up on the roof with a nighttime skyline view of my beloved city. i snapped a photo for posterity. in my room, i texted my love and slept awaiting the inevitable alarm not even 6 hours away.

----

the first day of training started early and with a multitude of yawns. we studied cdl questions as we crammed into the 15-passenger van with our new bosses - jen and jd. two hours later, we arrived in santa rosa - our training grounds. the morning was filled with papers, reading and slideshows. the afternoon, full of gear, setup and cleaning in the bleary hot california sun. i set up an assembly line with christine and matt as the dishes crew - a job in the shade with the sweet cool of water.

the long day concluded with a drive to our new home-away-from-home -- an old boy scout camp in the woods of occidental, complete with 5-bunk cabins, fire pit, shared bathrooms and outdoor kitchen. a walk in the evening with rick revealed old boarded-up cabins, dilapidated mess halls, a strange fenced in circle pit with nothing in its center (my guess: for the alien landings) and the remains of a church altar - almost hidden in the woods, the stones engulfed in moss, the embedded cross covered in vines.

i write now from the bottom bunk. outside, the crackle of fire. the voices of leaders. of trainees. stories of good food. and bad. random travel. and things yet to come.

oh canada!

2010-06-05T17:27:00.002-07:00

spending time with your family should happen more than once every four years.

doug, jeanne and the boys played our most gracious hosts this past weekend in the beautiful city of vancouver. i had been only once before as a baby but this time was thoroughly more memorable.

got to hang out with the fam, eat some delicious homemade food (bagel!?! mozarella cheese!?!), see some of the olympic sites, get lost in downtown vancouver, and watch some hockey while grabbing some grub on the way to the airport.

with a family so spread out, it would really beneficial for someone to invent a teleporter. is someone on that?

what happens in vegas..

2010-05-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

a couple weeks ago, i ended up vacationing in vegas with a few lovely women and men on the same weekend that josh was going to vegas for a bachlor's party.

my friends and i stayed at the monte carlo but spent most of our time elsewhere -- much time sunbathing at the paris' lovely pool.

a few things of note about the paris:
1) with the ceiling painted sky blue with fluffy white clouds, it seems like the middle of the day when it's actually 5 in the morning. ..
2) whoever designed the place really enjoyed adding "le" to the beginning of every shop or attraction. the guy who was in charge of renaming the car rental station was just plain lazy.

i have to admit, it was good to finally make it to vegas. however, the flashiness and the gambling are not really up my alley. . i did, though, very much enjoy the cirque du soleil show, the endless buffets, lazing by the pool and the great company.

i also liked that in one city you got to see the eiffel tower, the venice canals, the statue of liberty, ceasar's palace and more!

adventures in foodland.

2010-04-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

we all know it's true that i love to eat.
but, if you know me well enough (or, probably, even a little), you'll also know that i only rarely eat fish and will only eat vegetables when my life is threatened.

however.. lately, i have been trying to sneak in those colorful loathsome veggies into my diet. slowly.. and still infrequently.. i am trying to integrate the least offensive offenders into my diet. in stir fries.. in sauces.
it's like baby steps towards bettering myself.

last night, josh and i ventured into fish territories with some baked tilapia parmesan. (recipe via: recipezaar) we served it with a side of olive oil parm capellini.

delizioso!

long time, no update

2010-03-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

yesterday was another beautiful example of why i love living in this city.

started the day off visiting fort point with vanessa. it's one of those random places that you wouldn't normally think of visiting.. but is really nice to check out once you're there. also, as a random bonus, there was a band dressed up in old military uniforms playing music in the middle of the fort.

the weather was sunny and pleasant all day.

saturday was also the brides of march. a conglomerate of men and women dressed in bridal attire hitting up stores and bars.

"BEWARE THE BRIDES OF MARCH!"

delicious pictures of food.

2010-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

i love living in a neighborhood where you can stop by the turo turo, eat adobo and rice and watch filipino game shows.
where, on your way home, you can buy fresh pasta just two blocks away.
where, just a few feet from your door, you can grab some sun-dried tomatoes and basil to top everything off.

in other news, saw the movie legion in theaters last night. not worth the money. rent or don't watch it at all. my favorite parts were in the previews.

last night we also got to see: point break LIVE! (http://www.pointbreaklivesf.com) it's this cooky play that reenacts the classic keanu reeves, gary busey, patrick swayze movie about surfer bank robbers. AND they pick the guy who stars as keanu's role right from the audience! :)

hilarity ensued.

we also had to wear ponchos. (protection from: suntan lotion, fake blood, "waves," and other unmentionables..)

out-to-brunch food in the comfort of our living room!

2010-01-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

last weekend, josh and i discovered how to make eggs benedict in the comfort of our own home!
while poaching eggs and making hollandaise had always scared me away from the idea of making this delicious out-to-brunch weekend treat, josh convinced me otherwise and boy was i glad!

we grabbed the recipe from the foodnetwork.com and substituted the canadian bacon with thick-sliced boar's head ham from the grocery store next door. link here.

the results: amazing!

in other news..
2010 is the year lily finally joined the gym. a climbing gym to be exact!

in january, the initiation fees at our local rock climbing gym (mission cliffs) were waived for new year's resolutioners, so josh and i jumped on the bandwagon and took advantage of this money-saving opportunity. we have been going twice a week since the beginning of the year and i have been really enjoying it. i'd already successfully climbed a few 5.10c's!! my next goal is to try easier routes with overhangs . .. scary!

mashed potato mountains.

2009-11-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

said my goodbyes to the loving cup this past week. starting "full time" (read: 40 hours minus benefits) at healthline next monday.

going to miss the lc crew and all the loyal regulars (yes, i'm talking about you -- "chocolate chocolate chips").

going up to portland for the thanksgiving weekend. it's been a year and a half since i've seen liz. it will good to see her after so long. we're planning another amazing thanksgiving feast of the things we like the most: mashed potatoes and stuffing.. and possibly some kind of cake.
and, of course, good friends and good wine.

nothing else to report really.

moved to the mission recently. have been loving the location and our new place.
will post pictures some day.

out, loyal readers.

tropical weather.

2009-10-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

the cold winds of winter are coming.
the city is cloaked in a layer of grey fog.

i miss the warmth of a tropical breeze.
i miss the sand between my toes.

traveling.

2009-09-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

so how do you go about getting a job as a tour guide?
do you have to be a certain age?
do you have to have certain experience?
do you have to have certain qualifications?

can you walk right up to your favorite travel agency and say, "i want to be a tour guide here." ..?

i've been thinking if it would be possible, i would love to be a tour guide.
if i could make a living traveling and hanging out with people that love to travel, how is that not a win/win?!

so..
how do i do it?

camping night! and .. .

2009-09-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

a couple of weekends ago, we took a trip up to clear lake to spend a little time outside our little fog cloud and out in the sun.

although i was still rather sick with a cough and cold, we managed to make a really good mini-weekend together. we made a delicious meal over the fire of pork chops and cheesy egg noodles. we sat around, joked, and told stories over some tasty shock top beer.

in the morning, we wandered around the state park, through some crazy veiled trees, out by the "beach" and around the grounds. we came back early in the afternoon to nap and recuperate.

on the drive home, we stopped at this random energy conservation place that for some reason happened to house the large worshiping figures from burning man a few years ago (see: http://chokeholdtightens.blogspot.com/2007/09/week-in-desert.html).

that night, josh and i got fancied up and went out to dinner at a really great italian place downtown. on the way back down to our place, josh drove us in the opposite direction a ways until we ended up in front of the palace of fine arts. let me tell you, if you have not seen this place at night, you should definitely check it out some time. the dome that during the day sparkles gold in the sun, is illuminated beautifully in the darkness highlighting the earthy reds and golds of the structure.

as i spun appreciatively around in the middle of the dome, i stopped to find josh on one knee with a ring in hand. .. !

and i of course said 'yes!'

we have not set a date nor have we really started planning at all, but i am so excited to call him my fiancé!

hiking.

2009-08-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

hiking involves a lot of walking uphill.

i always think that i really want to go go hiking but, upon reflection, what really i want is a scenic walk in the woods. i mistake those a lot.

that being said, i had a really good time hiking up at mount diablo. the park wasn't as green as i expected but it was a really nice park and a beautiful day so i was really happy to get out and enjoy the scenery.

on the way home, it was really cool to see the fog centered immediately over the city. there was this one cloud that looked like it was a wave folding in upon itself, crashing over and enveloping this one emerald green hill. the fold was almost frozen in time, so as we drove closer, we could see the inside of the "wave."

on the bridge heading back into town, i played tourist: camera out the window, taking pictures of us re-entering the fog.

crispy gooey mac n' cheese!

2009-08-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

the other day i was jonesing for some homemade mac n' cheese but was feelin' too lazy to cook dinner.

the next day when i came home between jobs, i was pleasantly surprised by the aroma of melting cheese. what followed was a delicious lunch of ooey-gooey-on-the-inside crispy-crunchy-on-the-top penne and cheese.

josh's original recipe

3 cups milk
12 oz cheddar
5 oz gruyere
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt + extra for boiling water
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
breadcrumbs
12 oz penne

Warm milk in a saucepan. Boil water (and salt) for the noodles. Prepare a 9x9 pyrex baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a saute pan. When bubbling, add flour slowly while whisking. Slowly whisk in warmed milk. Let the mixture heat until bubbles form and sauce thickens. Whisk occasionally.

While mixture is thickening, start to cook the noodles.

After sauce thickens, turn off the heat and add the mustard, nutmeg, cayenne, pepper and salt. Add the cheeses in small handfuls while stirring. Once fully integrated, set aside.

When noodles are done cooking, drain and add them to the cheese sauce. Stir and let the cheese seep into the noodles. Pour cheese mixture and noodles into the baking dish. Add a thin layer of breadcrumbs to the top of the dish. (Optionally, you can brush the breadcrumbs with melted butter for a more golden look).

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Eat and enjoy!

i love to eat.

2009-07-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

less words, more food.

animals.

2009-07-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

the zoo's a pretty cool place.

.. self timer fail.

josh and lily take on the city.

2009-07-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

during pride weekend, josh and i happened to both have the same day off (amazing!). we traveled around random places downtown with our roommate navid while he and his friends we're doing this crazy drunk photo scavenger hunt.

we breakfasted at this nice diner near powell and met up with the gang at embarcadero where they were dancing in the streets with a band jamming on the corner. we took the muni to the castro, got a bunch of random people to look at the sky, had a 7$ beer at a way-to-fancy bar with an empty dance cage and met up with the crowds at dolores park celebrating pride weekend and the beautiful weather.

josh and brenden took on the slides. i chilled in the refreshing shade.

it's nice to get out once in a while.

life.. .

2009-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

life is weird sometimes.

first, we get here and i'm bored and jobless.
now i have two jobs, have no free time and i never see josh.

josh and i both had off sunday afternoon last week so we went to north beach to check out one of the many summer street festivals. nice crowd, good italian food, wonderful weather.

it's hard to juggle working, relaxing and taking in the city but we're taking it one day at a time.

hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather!

just sliiiide.

2009-06-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

seward street slides! :)

satay!

2009-05-30T09:53:00.001-07:00

josh and i love to cook.

the other day we made chicken satay in reminiscence of our trip to thailand. we followed this recipe we found through foodgawker: chicken satay. the peanut sauce was delicious and the chicken itself was flavored perfectly!

it's amazing how much good or bad food can really affect my mood.

last night josh came home late from nerdy gaming with nate and fed me leftover rosemary garlic mashed potatoes in bed.

i was sad previously from being sick and alone all night but delicious potatoes left me falling asleep with a smile on my face. :)

by the bay...

2009-05-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

josh met up with me downtown this week after an early interview and we headed to embarcadero to check out the ferry building and some random sculpture i'd always driven by but never explored.

the city is so full of random things to see and do and i wonder why so many people that have lived here all their lives never take advantage of it.

what is the word for when you live somewhere so long that you take it for granted?
i wanted to say 'complacency' .. but that doesn't mean what i thought it meant.

i really hope to take this city in to its fullest.
and i hope that if i end up living here for a long time, i don't forget that.

we went to the golden gate bridge with a friend from madison after hitting up the embarcadero and he remarked quite a few times,
"it's a beautiful city."

and all i could do was just smile and agree.

adventures in the east bay.

2009-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

one sunny saturday afternoon, beth and i decided to take a trip to the east bay to attend an event where we got to be the judges for a cupcake bake off! we visited this lovely place called rock, paper, scissors and ate some delicious cupcakes (my favorite -- the vegan lemon strawberry one -- ended up winning too!).

after, we decided to make most of our day on the other side of the bridge, so we had lunch in berkely as this vegetarian chinese place (the fake-chicken sesame was decidedly good). in addition, we went to this converted landfill which is now a lovely park with old art sculptures littered around the many random pathways. beth and her old band, acne attack!, actually played a show there a year or so ago and i was amazed that they lugged all their equipment on the long narrow rocky paths. we found a weird castle, some cool sculptures and even their old graffiti!

from here, across the water we could see these massive kites and we went on a mission to find out what they were. dodging traffic and navigating only by the tails of these kites, we finally made it to the marina where we got to witness the large squid kites up close and personal. the weather was perfect, sunny and very conducive to a lawnfull of kite flyers. we sat and watched before it was time to head home.

all in all, an afternoon well spent.

easter in dolores park!

2009-04-12T21:46:00.001-07:00

a big thank you to the sisters of perpetual indulgence for hosting a wonderful gathering this easter sunday on the lawns of dolores park!

gerry, betsy, anna, rob and i met up today to hang out with some amazing people in celebration of the holiday. there was a band, lawn to sun in and plenty of people watching to do.

to round out the day, there was a "hunky jesus" competition where we voted by applause for the hunkiest jesus impersonator in the park.

what a glorious way to spend the beautiful afternoon. :)

cross-country.

2009-04-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

so i left the midwest (again.. eep) and arrived in lovely san francisco last night. hoping to figure things out, get a job and settle down here for a while. ::fingers crossed::

on the way, i stopped in omaha, nebraska which was a pretty decent little town. not much to it, but i did get to drive on saddle creek drive and happy hollow ave which amused me much. (fans of bright eyes, the faint, cursive, etc will get these references.. ) the downtown was pretty small and easily navigable (minus the random construction) and there seemed to be a lot of chill intimate venues for popular saddle creek acts which i am envious of.

i also briefly rested in salt lake city after a long 13-hour drive which i found very nice as well. during my first visit to slc i found myself confused and a little put off, but this time i drove in with the backdrop of the sun setting on the mountains and decided to give it a second chance. it is apparently a good spot for those who love the outdoors, camping, rock climbing, and hiking so someday maybe i will check it out more thoroughly than overnight. mormonism has placed some strict laws on alcohol but i have met a few home brewers which i think allows for a lot of cool variety on beers and wine.

finally, after another long day of driving (11 hours!) i made it to san francisco. california immediately greeted me with green grass and clear skies. i drove with the windows down and the stereo up. even stuck in traffic, i was so elated to be back in this beautiful city.

josh is coming out here in a few weeks too so i'm excited to see him again.
in the process of apartment and job hunting so wish me luck! :)

donsol!

2009-03-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

the last part of our trip involved a 13 hour bus ride down the coast of luzon, dropping us off in the small town of legaspi in the dark at 3 in the morning. cold and tired, we waited half-sleeping in a jeepney for the first run of the day while the driver dozed across the front seat of the vehicle. at 4 or 5 (who knows, really? time was a blur at that point) we took off and ended up in donsol. the main attraction of donsol is the migration of the whale shark (wiki entry) through their waters. these huge animals travel through the ocean near donsol to eat the plankton that is plentiful there. and, because we are so lucky, we get to swim alongside the gentle giants!

i don't have pictures of our actual swim (these were procured from google images), but we got to swim literally feet from 4 different sharks that day.. some appearing out of nowhere in the dark waters just to come swimming right at me! as the day wore on, i got cold and cranky but when our boatman called out at the sight of a whale dorsol, we all jumped in eagerly. it just so happened that the sky opened and rays of light poured into the water just in time for us to swim alongside the whaleshark and the crisp clearness of the amazing animal leaves me at a loss for words.

thusly, however, our journey through the philippine islands comes to an end. today, we are back in manila, doing the internet thing and watching movies. we took a trip to see the very first house i lived in as a child so that was kind of neat.

in two days, we fly back to the cold of madison and then get ready for our new adventure: hiking the appalachian!! :)

island hopping through the visayas.. .

2009-03-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

from puerto princesa, josh and i caught a flight over to the visayas and deplaned in dumaguete -- the main port on the island of negros. we spent quite a few days there, relaxing, reading, surfing the net -- things we long to indulgde in. :) we also got around to the surrounding areas to check out the sights of negros.

one day, we went up to the national park to do some trekking. to get there, we had to ride this habal habal (a motorcycle with an attached uncomfortable seat on the rear for extra seating) on a long gravel road that had me terrified the whole ride up and back down the mountain. once we reached the park, we found that due to high waters, trekking wasn't possible so instead we kayaked around the twin lakes and hung out and enjoyed the scenary.

as another side adventure, we went caving in mabinay! we met our caving guide, jeffrey early in the morning and he prepared us for the experience. although i had brought a swimsuit and extra clothes, we had been apparently misinformed that flip flops would be sufficient for caving. jeffrey frowned at our choice of footwear but took us to a cave called baliw which was listed in the "difficult" category on our list of caves from the tourist agency. the cave itself was so much fun. we squeezed through small crevices, sunk in mud and guano, belly crawled through parts impassable otherwise, and in the end had to take off our helmets to swim through the small slit leading us out of the cave.

after dumaguete, we took a LONG few bus rides to the other side of the island and stayed on a beautiful secluded beach called sugar beach (or, langub beach). we met a lot of nice people at the neighboring driftwood resort and hung out there and went snorkeling at the marine reserve. we again saw a lot of cool marine life and corals -- but still nothing compares to the colors and expanse of coral we saw at port barton.

after saying goodbye to our pseudo family at driftwood (they stood waving on the shoreline and shouting goodbyes as our boat sailed away), we bused and boated to ilo ilo in hopes of being about to do some rock climbing at the national park. however, once we arrived, the climbing gym we were supposed to seek information at was closed (the owner had moved to the u.s. apparently) and the park was off limits due to the rebel inhabitants.

instead of climbing, we took a trip to guimeras where we checked out a waterfall where local kids went to swim and a mango research farm (which wasn't as cool as it was made out to be). bummed out, we bought some mangoes and prepared to go back to manila and to donsol, our last stop before going home.

back to the beach..

2009-02-18T21:12:00.001-08:00

and, happily, it was back to the beach.

josh and i caught a plane to puerto princesa on the island of palawan and settled there for a night. the next day, we took a jeepney up to sabang, the home of the famous underground river (a navigable river that flows through a cave formation). aside from the long wait and the 2-hour hike to get there (we opted for the 20-min boat ride on the way back), the tour itself were really nice. the actual boat ride seemed a little short in comparison to the wait.. but it was okay. the town of sabang was a small beach town with waterfalls and charm. plus, our hostel had a water buffalo-drawn cart!

next, we headed up to the town of port barton and ended up at a wonderful friendly place called elsa's (josh met a guy that worked there on top of the jeepney that took us there). we were seaside with breathtaking sunsets and our own personal beach. we took a bangka boat out one day with a belgian couple and went snorkeling (the coral! wow!) and island hopping.

from there, we went to el nido, the top tip of palawan. another nice town perfect for hopping between the small white sand beach islands. we stayed there a few nights (among the barking puppies in the middle of the night and the chorus of roosters crowing to wake us up) and did more island hopping with an amiable guide named kalui and his friend (whose name we never got). we got to see a both big and small lagoons as well as "secret" lagoon, which was accessible only by crawling through a small crevice. we did a bunch more snorkeling (here the coral was less impressive, and a lot of it was dead) and swimming. they even made a nice fish lunch on the beach!

we spent the last of our time on palawan eating comfort food and vegging out (josh hurt his neck on the bus one day) in puerto before heading off to cebu.

in the mountains.

2009-02-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

once we came back from southern luzon, it was time to head up north. we got off a bus in manila, settled down at a hostel and soon learned that the buses to banaue left at 10PM. we quickly bundled up our stuff again and boarded another bus for a 10 hour ride to banaue. sick and tired, the bumpy bus ride was not extremely pleasant, but when we disembarked early in the morning to the view of the mountains through the morning fog, it was quite worth it.

the next day, we did the long hike to batad, a small town with magnificent rice terraces housed in the valley of the mountains and only accessable by hiking. it was a hard hot hike for me, but we made it and it was definitely worth it.

we left for sagada (another mountain town) a day or so later to see the hanging coffins of the ifugao tribe and the caves. we arrived in the midst of the town's annual fiesta and were treated to a parade of the different zones of sagada, complete with traditional music and costume. one night, we even got to see the town's beauty pageant (which was, if nothing else, extremely long -- starting at 9PM and lasting 'til past midnight).

we went caving one day and it was one of the highlights of my trip so far (minus the complete submersion in cold cave water while wearing blue jeans). it was so much fun squeezing into tiny crevices, holding on to the sides of dropoffs and, sometimes, being plunged into complete darkness when our guide's lantern would go ahead a little too far. :) we got to see a bunch of fun formations, including a dinousaur's footprint!! hehe

another day, we took a short hike to echo valley and saw some hanging coffins up close. we met some funny tourists there that thought the chairs hung along with the coffins were for people to meditate on.

from there, we headed back to manila to plan our trip to the island of palawan!

returning home. ..

2009-01-27T02:19:00.001-08:00

on the 21st, josh and i flew out of thailand, spent a night in malaysia and landed in the philippines -- the first time my feet have been on the soil of my birthland since i was 12 years old. we spent a relaxing night in malate and randomly looked up an old friend of the family, tita patis (famous for her fashion designs: patistesoro.com), who whisked us away to southern luzon for the long weekend. we stayed in her lovely home near the town of san pablo, sleeping in the open air bamboo house and being treated to traditional filipino cuisine (conveniently, her downstairs has been converted into a restaurant!).

on day one, we took a long drive to see an 100-year old house she purchased, passing through small towns and a national park. it was refreshing to be out of the city and in the provinces, away from fast food and buildings and modern american-icities.

the next day we visited an old botanical gardens. we got to explore the place which must have been beautiful when it was upkept and bustling. even now, it was amazing to see -- wonderfully organized, beautifully arranged and housing exquisite plants. there was even a playground -- now old and kind of creepy -- that had giraffe and elephant slides!

finally, we took a trip to this new land that patis and a bunch of other people are cooperatively developing. they are working on planning a road and are currently in the middle of constructing a bridge. we hiked up the mountain on the top of the land and the view was breathtaking. we saw a few of the villages, a lake and the sacred mount banahaw.

we are now back in manila and are headed up to northern luzon (hopefully) tomorrow. i am excited to see the rice terraces!

miss you all!

heaven.. i'm in heaven...

2009-01-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

ah, yes, i sit here in an internet cafe on the east side of railay beach where the song "heaven, i'm in heaven" is playing.. and yes, i feel so much like it is.

we have been back on tonsai in our qaint bungalow at the lovely andaman resort since our side trips to phi phi and lanta and have been loving it.

we spent a nice christmas evening at a beach bar watching fireworks and the obligatory fireshow with some people from california. we even went to this one place where they had a guy who can twirl poi and the firestick WHILE being on the slackrope. amazing! spent a quiet christmas day relaxing and going out for a nice dinner.

since then, we have been climbing and hanging out with bruce and smithy again (yay! they came back to tonsai for the holidays too!). i have been doing well and liking it. and i even did my first lead climb today! :) one day, we took a steep hike to the lagoon in the middle of railay. we also went to the viewpoint where you could see both beaches and, in the distance, tonsai as well!

for new year's we hung out with the boys and a swedish couple we met at wee's climbing shop and ended up on the beach where this really good semi-reggae band played the night away. we ended up seeing everyone we knew and it was a lovely way to ring in the new year.

we are thinking about headed back to koh phangan for a while to run out our visas and then heading on to laos or malaysia... or maybe to the phillipines.

side tripping...

2009-01-03T01:27:00.001-08:00

after tonsai, we took a few side trips to koh phi phi and koh lanta. koh phi phi wasn't very interesting to either of us but we stayed there overnight to take advantage of the snorkeling there. we took a longboat in the morning to phi phi ley (the smaller of the phi phi islands) and snorkeled at the infamous "the beach" beach (from the film about the secluded beautiful stretch of beach -- you know the movie; the one with the guy from titanic.. . :) ). we saw some really beautiful fishes, coral and a moray eel! we also tried to go looking for sharks, but due to poor visibility in the water (it was a bit choppy that day), we didn't get to see any.

at night, we checked out the nightlife and found it was a bit reminiscent of a fraternity party. :-/ one highlight was the bar where they give a free bucket (see: picture below) to anyone who will "muay thai" fight in the ring. i use the word "muay thai" in quotes since it was more like drunken bouts.

after phi phi, we spent a few days on koh lanta. this was a nice big island with a long stretch of beach for relaxing and reading (oh, we have read SO many books!). we also went elephant trekking which was a tad kitschy but fun. we got to feed him bananas and pineapples whole!

as the holidays approached, we found that we wanted to spend them where we felt the most comfortable so back to tonsai we headed. :)

climber's paradise.. .

2008-12-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

from koh phangan, we caught a 3-hour boat ride to surat thani and a 2-hour bus ride to ao nang - a nice little shoreline town on the andaman sea. then, we caught a longtail boat with a few other couples to haad tonsai, a nice quiet beach next to the popular railay beach.

here, we found an amazing place to stay, nice restaurants, and pleasant people. we called the andaman nature resort our home for almost a week -- cheap bungalows with an amazing restaurant (it got very popular at night, showing movies 'til 10, and having seating and cushions to lay out on the viewing floor). also, during low tide, we could walk over to railay, a pretty stretch of white sand beach, full of very pricey resorts.

haad tonsai is a climber's paradise. surrounding the waters are large steep cliffs that fall either to the beach below or straight into the ocean. one day, we rented kayaks and navigated through the cliffs and into caves.

one day when playing cribbage at a local restaurant by the shore, we met two other fellows playing as well. we met them (smitty and bruce), and their reading friend val, and spent the rest of the day playing cards and conversing. they were all from brighton in the u.k. and regaled us of tales of beach raves with fatboy slim and their random hatred of beckham. we met up again with them at night to play crib under the waning full moon.

leaving, we still felt like we wanted to return. and, even now, we're trying to figure out a way to get back and are hoping that andaman still has a bungalow for us even thought it's so close to christmas.

island living. .

2008-12-15T01:01:00.000-08:00

after bangkok, josh and i headed for koh tao in search of some island life.
after a long train ride and an EXTREMELY rocky boat ride, we arrived tired and travel-weary on koh tao.
the island was quaint and small, with nice beaches -- but it turned out it was mainly devoted to scuba diving, which we, it turns out, cannot participate in.
after staying a night at a scuba resort, we traveled north to haad sanrei where we found a cheap bungalow close to two of the shore towns. the bungalows were nice and clean and were owned by a lovely motherly lady. we beach bummed a few days, reading and relaxing, and also took a long very steep hike up a mountain to two view (where you can see both shores of the island at once).

also of note in koh tao, i had the most delicious pad si yew i have had since i've come to thailand -- so far, nothing can beat it. (also pictured: josh's american breakfast)

after koh tao, we took a much more pleasant boat ride to koh phangan, where we ended up staying for about a week. koh phangan is a much larger island with more to offer than just scuba diving so we made it our home for a while. we stayed at the awesome haad rin thai resort, where we made friends with the front desk lady, mam. (we even took her out to dinner one night which made for a fun adventure since she spoke little english and we spoke even less thai.) haad rin, the beach we were staying at, was full of restaurants playing illegally copied movies all day long and random party buses cruising the town. we frequented a local bar/restaurant most days and also took a few trips on motorbike to other parts of the island to see other beaches and to check out waterfalls.

overall, it was a little more touristy than we would like, so we packed up and left for krabi.

floating downstream.. .

2008-11-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

sawasdee ka.

we are now in ko tao -- a lovely diving island in southern thailand.
we just left bangkok a few days ago. there are protests going on there now and the airport is apparently closed down .. so i'm glad we got out of there.

in bangkok, we stayed on the famed khoa san road:

we took many a tuk tuk ride around town to various sites and temples -- as well as random tux and jewelry shops. :) (tuk tuk rides are basically free when you agree to stop and browse random stores they bring you to.)

our favorite driver, sinhka, was our first tuk tuk ride.

also, when we were there, we took a day trip to the floating market!
it was crazy! so many boats, knocking sides, pulling you over, trying to sell you souveniers, food, and fruit!

all in all, we had a busy few days in the capital city.
we were all tired, but happy travel cat remained oh so happy!!

tokyo!

2008-11-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

quick blog update since i only have 6 minutes left on my computer here..

made it to bangkok and currently residing on khoa san road for a few days. off to the islands on the 25th.

we spent a few days in tokyo. was blow away by the sheer size of it. i was told the heart of the city itself was 8 million people. and the greater tokyo area, engulfing so many other cities -- so close together it was impossible to tell them apart -- is 36 million!

the train system was a maze to navigate. so many lines to choose from, so many ways to go. with the signs all in japanese, it was quite an endeavor!
shinjuku station at rush hour was a sight to see!

we also went to the 45th floor of the tokyo government building and saw the extending skyline. it was hard to know if it ever ended. .. .

later, now, we are waiting to catch a train from bangkok to chumphon. from there, to koh tao where hopefully we'll learn how to scuba dive! :)

it's been fun in bangkok. we have taken many a ride in tuk tuks! seen a bunch of beautiful temples. talked to many nice people. eaten a lot of noodles and rice!

hope everyone is doing well.
we miss you!

maui.

2008-11-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

it's been over a year since i've updated this blog.
i find it harder to update it when i'm "settled" somewhere for a long time.

i left my heart in san francisco a little less than a year ago.
i drove 3 days straight cross country to surprise my mother for christmas and spent a long freezing cold month back in wisconsin.
from there, i caught a plane to sunny maui where i spent three months living on the north shore at a spiritual retreat and farm working in exchange for room and board.

each experience i chronicle here in this blog i feel like is life-changing. .. but i guess that's what i'm going for.

i lived in huelo, maui in a small bamboo hut which i shared with my gorgeous magnetic amazing roommate, emily. both she and i arrived around the same time as yves -- the adventurous swiss-frenchman on leave from school for a few months to explore the states.

over the months, we blossomed from a group of beautiful strangers clothed in rain gear in a new, scary, exhilarating environment

... . to close friends, exploring new places, sleeping on each other's shoulders, camping on beaches, sharing, and learning and living.

looking back, it's already been six months since i've left the islands.
the way of life, the attitude, the sunsets, the beauty. .. . it's been so hard to leave it all behind.

.. but on to new adventures!

to be continued.

sigh.

2007-10-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

i have been feeling rather down lately.
lonely.
etc.

but i got mail today!
it was from truen.
it was a letter and a bunch of comics -- from both her and matt.

truly inspiring!
it turned my day around.

i then started to collage.
this:

(inspired by truen's big city)

thanks both of you!!
much love.

224.

2007-09-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

i just finished reading this book called the every boy.
i looked it up online to see what the reviews of it were like.
i noticed that the hardcover version has 224 pages.
i thought that was a weird coincidence.

i bought two other books at the half price book store today to read on the bart as i go to and from work:
i) saints and strangers: short stories by angela carter
ii) happiness: a novel will ferguson

i hope they are good.

also, i saw this when i was walking to the bart from aaron's the other day when the sun was rising:

a week in the desert.

2007-09-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

on a whim, the night before my friend eric took off for the desert, i decided to accompany him to the craziness known as burning man. without really being prepared and not knowing much about the event at all, i followed my companions into the desert.

i cannot really describe the experience fully.

it was a community. it was a party. it was an art exhibition.
it was a celebration.
it was harsh living conditions.
it was a task.
it was a joy.

i barely got to take pictures because i was constantly in awe of everything.
those that i did hardly gave justice to it.

in addition, i also got to experience/see ridiculous dust storms (lasting for hours), extreme heat and cold, a double rainbow, and a meteor shower.

the final burning of the man and the burning of the oil derrick was just amazing.
there are videos of the oil derrick burning that barely begin to touch on what it was like. look 'em up though. the mushroom cloud alone is worth it to see.

more pictures here.

the waters of santa fe

2007-09-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

after taking off from colorado, i made my way south to santa fe.
i met up with my friend eric and hung out at his pad for a few days.

his friend paul took me to abiquiu lake, where we ate lunch to some pretty scenery and went cliff jumping.

we also went to some nifty mineral infused hot springs called ojo caliente. that was relaxing and soothing on my dry skin.

the next day, i crashed a wedding with eric.
i also helped him prepare to go to something called burning man.

i didn't know what that was so i watched a documentary on it and found it to be very intriguing.
eric offered me room in his camp if i wanted to come with..

.. so i agreed.

more about that to come.

pictures of santa fe, here.

rocky mountain high.

2007-09-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

i am so behind on this travel journal.
i am now currently in a coffee shop in santa cruz, ca.
i will tell you about colorado, however, instead.

i spent a week in estes park, co with my relatives reg and judy guy.
they were amazing hosts and i had an amazing time.

we were located right next to rocky mountain national park so i got to go on some really beautiful hikes and see some great views.

reg also took me to a few random museums and to see the stanley hotel (the hotel that inspired stephen king's the shining and where they actually filmed some of the tv miniseries). judy also took me up trail ridge road and to the continental divide so that was sweet too.

also, having a week of home-cooked meals was divine.
judy and i dined on leftover gourmet manicotti for lunch a few days which was delicious. :)

more pictures here.

later.

yellowstone

2007-08-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

so i'm actually now in santa fe, but i have still yet to tell you about yellowstone.

oh! yellowstone was amazing!
just driving into the park took my breath away.

i arrived a lot later than expected since the east entrance was closed (due to forest fire) so instead of planning out my next day, i retired in a private room and passed out almost as soon as i arrived (although it was already pretty much 11pm).

when i awoke, i transferred to a shared room, where i met dianna. she was a nice lady -- but she was an interrupter.
very interesting.

i headed into the park early and did the big loop -- stopping quite often for a good view or two.

i saw all the sites including old faithful, tower falls, the canyon area and mammoth hot springs.

after a long day, i went back to the hostel and fell quickly to sleep.
i awoke the next morning with what i assumed were mosquito bites all over my arms. it was horrible. and itchy.

i went into the park again and took a few short hikes, drove to see the tetons,

felt ill due to lack of water and spent the rest of the day back at the hostel reading and hanging out.

i met kristen (another girl in the shared room) that night and we had dinner together, talked about our experiences in hawaii and traveling by ourselves (she's 25 and traveling solo!), and had gigantic ice cream cones!

i left early (6:15) the next morning to get to estes park in time for gourmet italian dinner. i left in time to see the sun rise over yellowstone and to see the geyser steam at its fullest.

all in all, yellowstone was an awesome experience.

more pictures here.

strange things are afoot at the circle k.

2007-08-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

i find myself disappointed that cameras cannot capture the beauty of a bright half moon and a vast array of stars against the backdrop of the rocky mountains.

.. so disappointed.

in other news,
i went to a circle k today and thought of bill and ted's excellent adventure.

rapid city, south dakota

2007-08-17T09:19:00.001-07:00

well, i'm in colorado right now.. but i have so much to update you with so i'm going to do this in chunks.

i left madison on the 10th of august and drove 11 hours to rapid city, south dakota.
it was a long drive (especially through south dakota. that state gets very boring in the middle there) but i made it safe and sound. and early too!

my kind host, bill, took me for a hike on the first day around sylvan lake. we then checked out some native american art and chilled out at a coffee shop.

on my second day, anna and emma joined us on our adventures. we went to see mount rushmore,

crazy horse (this is awesome. the scope of this is just amazing.),

custer state park (we saw sweet rocks, mountain goats, buffalo, antelope and a ga-jillion prairie dogs),

and wind cave (the fourth longest cave in the world!).

eventually, i will upload all my pictures on webshots..
but i have stuff to do today so you, patient readers, will have to wait.

until then, i bid you adieu.

more pictures: here

i just found

2007-07-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

this site: http://www.asofterworld.com/

i think i like it.

fourth of july weekend

2007-07-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

i had the opportunity to attend the annual fourth of july celebration in the finger lakes this year.
i was awesome to be able to go back to canandaigua after so many years of not.

it was great to see everyone (minus zach -- although the cayman islands are hard to beat)!

we did a lot of tanning, riding in the boating, reading and relaxing.

as always, i had an amazing time.
i look forward to being able to go again next year! :)

more pictures here

i ♥ ny

2007-06-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

so here i am in new york city.
chillin on e. 100th street and lexington on the upper east side of manhattan.

i have been here since the 18th -- couch jumping between here and brooklyn.
i haven't been doing much sight-seeing. .. but i've been doing a lot of walking around and taking the city in.
also, i got invited to a weekend in the catskills with this awesome kid sam i just met the other day through garrett.

it was a amazing weekend.
we hiked, laid out on a raft in the pond, built and hung out by the fire pit, played bocce ball, had jam sessions, played wiffle ball (or, in my case, watched wiffle ball), and all sorts of awesome things.
thank you, sam, for inviting me. and for deciding that i'm not a raging bitch. :)

also, garrett has been showing me around his little niche in brooklyn.

all in all, it's been pretty swell.

i'm looking forward to seeing some museums and stuff with truen tomorrow.
and to spend some time with my dear friend austen this weekend. what a coincidence we are both here at the same time. :)

later, friends.

more pictures here

pre-traveling.

2007-05-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

i am packing now.

i am packing everything i own into boxes. some will stay. few will come with me.
most will go to goodwill.

i am feeling pretty scared at this point.
but also excited.

my plans are falling apart.
but that just leaves room for new unexpected adventure.

next stop:
new york, new york!