Hit up Monterey w/Router. Him and his dad dropped me off downtown Carmel and I walked around for a few hours checking out the shops, art galleries (love Godard and Walfrido!), grabbed some fish & chips at A.W. Shucks Oyster & Cocktail Bar, and lounged at the beach. They picked me up and we went to one wine tasting room for a quick stop. Since all the other wineries were closed, we headed to Bernardus Lounge. I got a Muscado (my favorite wine these days) and Booker’s Bourbon on the rocks (my latest trend with whiskey). Afterward, we dropped off his dad at a restaurant to meet his friends and we headed back the bay area. It was a really nice, fun, and quick get away from the bay.

Sunday, 7/18:

Met up and hung out with Yosemite #1 downtown SF. We grabbed lunch and drinks at Palomino’s, hung around Yerba Buena gardens for music and dancing and caught the Cyrus movie in the evening. Afterward, we headed to the Mission to meet up with his Oakland friends for dinner at a Thai restaurant. After dinner we walked across the street to Kilowatt, grabbed drinks, played pool, and chatted up the night! Headed back home on the last BART. ‘Twas a fun Sunday night!

Tuesday, 7/20:

Short 6.5 mile hike at Sweeney Ridge trail with Yosemite #2 then to BF’s birthday dinner in Oakland and drinks thereafter. ‘Twas a mellow but fun, in-good-company night.

Thursday, 7/22:

Hit up Pinnacles National Monument with Yosemite #2. Hiked the High Peaks – Bear Gulch loop. This took us from 10-5 or so. We stopped quite frequently as it was nearly 100 degrees, 1,400 elevation gain and 6.7 miles. Got lots of sun. The caves were cool, literally — and it’s fairly family friendly with rails and steps the whole way through.

Sunday, 7/25:

Hit up Big Sur with Yosemite #2 and hiked the Valley View and Pfeiffer Falls trails at 450 ft elevation gain and 2.4 miles. It was a short, easy and relaxing hike. Thereafter, we visited the Mcway Falls which is a waterfall that hits the beach. It was neat, but there were so many people there. Y#2 said he wanted to climb down to the beach. I said I’m afraid of heights! Grabbed dinner at Little Napoli Bistro Italiano in Carmel. Wouldn’t really recommend it, but decent atmosphere nonetheless. Headed to our lodging in Salinas (Courtyard Marriott) and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday, 7/26:

Hit up Pinnacles again and hiked Old Pinnacles Trail to Balconies Cave (6.3 miles). It was a slow paced, easy hike with minimal elevation gain. The caves were much more fascinating than the Bear Gulch, for the sole fact that there are no railings or steps (non-family friendly). Also, traversing through them without a guide and just a flashlight makes anyone feel like an explorer! We took some photos along the Balconies Cliffs trail and caught sight of some rock climbers. It was fascinating to watch! We left the park around 5 and returned to the bay area.

A few of my photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pipsyrules/sets/72157624517618188/

Though LL took some amazing photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wheezy/Yosemite2010#

Tuesday, 7/13:

• Bridalveil Falls

• Mirror Lake

Wednesday, 7/14:

• Woke up around 5:45am, grabbed breakfast at 6am, left for the park at 6:30am, and arrived around 7:45am.
• Walked from Parking lot C to Camp 4.
• Hiked from the base of Camp 4 to Upper Yosemite Falls. We started around 9:30am and didn’t make it to the top until 2pm. MP was feeling nauseous from the elevation gain, so we stopped several times. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel affected (though it wasn’t until we were descending that it actually started making me feel dizzy!). MP has said for us to continue going on to the top without her and we’d catch up with her on our way down. Halfway through the hike I had ran out of water, and then LL did too. Luckily we ran into someone (from Foster City!) that had a filtration system. What a lifesaver! When we got to the top, we were stunned by the beauty of the running stream that flows over the edge of the mountain and becomes the waterfall! I had told LL we should cross the stream to get to the other side (since there was no real way to climb down the rocks onto the side where there few people). She crossed immediately, but then I started to have doubts as the rock was slippery! A guy from the side that I wanted to get to actually came out and helped me across! There were 3 guys that we ended up talking to, all from Israel. One of them goes to school in San Diego for Architecture now. He lent me his towel so I could change into my bathing suit. How nice! The 3 guys said they had actually walked all the way around the water to get to that side but what we had done was much easier and faster.  MP came up and crossed to our side and LL and MP went further up the stream to sit in the water. I hung out and laid flat on my back in the icy, cold water and also dunked my face in first. It was soooo refreshing! Lot’s of other people started to cross the water once we had done so…we tend to start trends!  :) We hung out around the top for a good hour and a half. Too bad we didn’t have more time, like half a day left…  We crossed back through the water, and the guy who originally lent me his hand, assisted again. Then his friend, who goes to San Diego ends up crossing too and asks me for my number! Anyway, LL and I check out the overlook point and then the three of us girls head down the mountain. When we got to the ground floor, we were relieved and overjoyed. Nothing like good ‘ole flat land! We walked to the market to pick up drinks and relax for a bit. While we were relaxing on the bench outside the market, we noticed the same dog we walked passed (while walking to the market) waiting for it’s owner outside. We wanted to know what it was, so once the owner came out, I sprang up and asked him. From there, we got into a conversation of his dog, a Napoleon Mastiff, where he’s from, rock climbing, where we’re staying/where he’s living, what we do for a living, and national parks. The girls left me by myself to converse with the dude. Lot’s of people came up to ask to pet his dog, in which they did. While that happened, I grabbed my phone, quickly trying to think of how to ask him for his contact info. When I got back to him, he turns around and says, “Oh, and I should give you my contact information in case you’re in the area again.” That SAVED ME from asking him!  Whew!  I would have sounded all blubbery! Anyway, it was quite surreal. I was all scrubby, sweaty, dirt dirty with an orange bandanna in my hair, hiked up socks, wallet items bulging out of my breast pocket. God, I was a mess! But strangely, he was okay with that! Anyway, it was a good day! Two phone numbers without trying! Ohhh, keep the outdoorsy guys coming!

Thursday, 7/15:

• Picked up breakfast at the lodge, headed out of Oakhurst and made stops in Merced (3 boutique shops), Turlock (Sonic), and the Tracy (outlets — absolutely nothing there). It was kind of an uneventful day, but relaxing. I dropped off the girls at their houses around 2pm and was exhausted when I got home. Ended up going to sleep around 8pm!

I can’t wait to go back to Yosemite…I really want to do the four mile trail, nevada trail, and vernal falls trail!

Quick mini-vacation. First “real” time vineyard hopping! See photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pipsyrules/sets/72157624507375138/

Went with MP and CI and stayed at the Renaissance Lodge at Sonoma. We had a fun and relaxing time. Somehow my schedule and planning was successful!

Things that were amazing:

• Sonoma — being what it is, a gem! So close to SF, just a quick hour-drive away!
• We didn’t have to rush nor felt rushed and the day went by surprisingly, quick.
• We beat the crowd wherever we went.
• All our tasting room attendants were super nice and held entertaining conversations (esp. Joe @ Cline!)

The one thing that I learned this trip is that I really like white wine…perhaps even more so than red. So most of my trip consisted of tasting white wines while CI tried a mix and MP stuck w/her reds.

Below is a recap of our successful schedule:

10:00am - MP and I met up with CI and began complimentary wine tasting any 4 that we wanted from Jacuzzi. My favorite was the Moscato Bianco – Alexander Valley, 2009. “Also known as Muscat Canelli, the wine offers delicate floral and peach aromas with lovely citrus notes.” Afterward, we walked a few feet to the free olive oil tasting where we seriously tried ~10 different olive oils! Gulping them down, our palettes were just getting warmed up! We explored the beautiful, picturesque estate thereafter and randomly decided to hit up Viansa.

11:00am – Went to Viansa and had more complimentary olive oil, balsamic, and honey tastings. We then went to the counter to create our own flight of 4 wines for $5. Our tasting room attendant happened to be from Chico State, so he and I ::high fived:: Small world! Older gentleman though, he says Whitney Hall was just being built when he was there! Anyway, my favorites were the Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (vino bianco), “100% stainless steel fermented, prominent notes of nectarine and citrus. 13.8% abv,” and Frescolina Tocai Friulano 2007 (vino dolce), “93% Tocai Friulano, 7% Moscato. Aromas of honeysuckle, tropical fruit, apricot, wildflower honey and ripe peaches.” See picture of bottle: http://store.viansa.com/2007Frescolina It’s quite beautiful. I ended up purchasing it too!

12:30pm – Headed to Cline (across the street from Jacuzzi). While most people were wine tasting inside the house, we got pretty awesome timing and serving from Joe who served a large group outside and just finished up! He ended up pouring us 4 or 5 wines (can’t remember) and we took our last red wine to the 1pm tour. The tour was interesting and a great way to really get the history on the estate. Of course, by this time we were quite giddy and happy, so it seemed interesting! What was absolutely shocking was meeting two North Carolina folks that just climbed Half Dome the day before, and it only took them 3 hours going up!!! I’m still speechless. The husband is training for his second Ironman triathlon and the wife runs pretty regularly — so guess what they did? Yes, they ran up! Ahhh — crazy! Anyway, after we took the estate tour we grabbed the lunch I prepared and picnicked out in the sun. We had turkey, smoked gouda, brie, swiss, water crackers, seedless organic red and green grapes, organic roma tomatoes, dijon mustard, and Ghirardelli dark chocolate. CI also brought artichoke hearts and bread! We scarfed everything down pretty well. We were sooo hungry!

3:30pm(?) – I think this is about the time we left and checked into our hotel. We lounged around for about a half an hour and then headed to Roche winery via complimentary shuttle from our hotel.

4:00pm – Complimentary tasting of 3 wines at Roche (also went there last year as part of the Russian wedding!). Our server has retired from the CEO life and “works” at the winery 2 days a week, boats around the bay area, Australia, and New Zealand, and travels to countries such as Kenya and Tanzania for 2 full months. Quite the life to aspire to! After the tasting we walked to the Sonoma Cheese Factory and tried about 8 different cheeses. The two memorable ones are the habanero and hot pepper. One tiny square sets your mouth on fire for a little while. Super addicting, might I add. Addicted to the pain! We kept walking around Sonoma Plaza and saw a sign for a complimentary tasting at Eric and James. We went in and had 4 red wines. They were not pleasant for my palette…

5:30pm – Hit up Sonoma Farmer’s Market and got the famous Uncle Bill’s corn dog. The batter was fresh and dipped solely mustard was heavenly. We also tasted many samples of different olives. We were sooo full by 6:15ish, we decided to cancel our 7:30 reservation at the Girl and the Fig.

We managed to flag down the shuttle to our hotel as we were walking…which was quite relieving after standing all day. We lounged around the pool, enjoyed the sun, and headed to our room when it started to get chilly. CI headed back to the bay around 7:30 and MP and I lounged more. We started getting hungry so we swiped another reservation at the Girl and the Fig at 9pm.

9:00pm - Waited maybe a few minutes after 9 to get a table, even with a reservation it was jam packed. Sat next to an older couple who wanted me to take photos of them. I also asked the gentleman whether his rock cod was good since I wanted to order it. He forced me to try a slice of his, so I did. And thank goodness because I decided against it (too dry and no flavor). He ended up sending his order back and got a salmon appetizer in replace. I ordered the duck confit (one leg) with a frisee salad and potato fingerlings. Everything was tasty except the frisee salad, as it lacked seasoning. MP ordered the scallops and seemed to enjoy everything but the scallops! The restaurant was reasonably priced compared to other French restaurants (less than $50 for the both of us).

We got back to the hotel at 10pm and ended up passing out before 1am. Luckily, I woke up with no hangover!

Wednesday we went to the Sunflower Caffe for breakfast. I think the alcohol from the prior day had residual effects. We were both relaxed and enjoyed just sitting out in the warm weather, dining, lounging, conversing, and sipping our coffee and latte’s for a good three hours! I ordered the herbed goat cheese and spinach omelet which came with a side of potatoes, toast, and orange slices. It’s a bit on the expensive side for breakfast (~$12), but it was hearty and delicious. The environment couldn’t be beat either. I was going to order a regular coffee, but the barista asked me twice, “You mean, latte?” and after twice of saying no and him just about to pour the coffee, I said, “Okay! Fine. A latte!” He then says, “It’s the best latte in the world…” and he rambles on and such. He then says he’ll charge me the coffee price instead. That was nice of him! He also said if I didn’t like the latte that he’d refund my money. Well, I don’t drink latte’s. In fact, I can probably count on one hand how many latte’s I’ve had in my entire life…but it was super smooth and tasty (with two packets of sugar!) He came by later and asked me how I liked it, and I just beamed! Now, I’m probably going to order latte’s and expect it to be something amazing. Way to set me up for failure, barista!

After lounging for a solid 3 hours, we walked around Sonoma plaza a bit more and then headed back home. Sonoma proved to be a great, simple, last minute, relaxing vacation!

The only things that caused me anxiety were the airplane rides and not being able to find lodging in Yellowstone…But everything turned out fine in the end, as it always does.

J’s dad is amazingly handy around the house. I have such a deep respect for him. He’s not your “stereotypical”  farmer. A side hobby of his is turning unique items into ordinary things like this lamp made from an old school fire extinguisher!

His nearest neighbor is around 3-5 miles away, but he is still very well connected to the world via Satellite Internet. It may be spotty, but at least it’s Internet! This “farmer” has high-tech machinery like a tractor w/GPS, air conditioning, and automatic driving (look, no hands!).

There are sprayers that can rotate 360 degrees or whatever you set it at to ensure that your crops are getting their water and nutrients, among other things. He also owns his own huge semi-trailer trucks. The thought never even crossed my mind that an individual would own one — or many.

Growing up in suburbia never really pushed me to learn where my gas came from except, “Where’s the nearest gas station?” Ever think about having gas brought to you every “once in awhile” and storing it until your next “fill up” — on your own land? You have to have your own pump for all the equipment you own.  You’re not gonna drive a tractor for miles on end on a two-lane, narrow road.

Growing up in suburbia never taught me the answers to, “What really happens to my sewage?” A designated area in the ground, a few hundred feet from the house. “What should I do with my garbage?” Burn it as needed. “Where does my water come from and how does it get purified?” Water well. “What happens if my water well is broken / something exploded?” Go outside, take a look and fix it.

Can you imagine what filling up a silo full of harvested crop is like? What about emptying it?

Can you imagine being inside one and shoveling the last bits of it out?

How about herding a neighbor’s loose cattle back into the field so they don’t run out onto the road? Or move a huge fallen tree that blocks your driveway — without professional help?

I really enjoyed my time spent on their farm. It’s definitely given me a new perspective at what a farmer’s life could be like — quite nice!

…Now onto the 10 days traveling around:

Thursday, 6/17:

SFO -> DEN (layover) -> SDY. Layover in Denver was delayed for over an hour. Met a nice couple from Arizona, but the husband is originally from Montana. They have a cute little baby boy who’s just learning to walk. He crawls as quick as lightning! Anyway, we took a small turbo prop jet that held about 30 folks. It was scary. I hate small planes!

I downed a benadryl to pass out for the ride though. When I arrived, I didn’t know I was in North Dakota, at the Dickinson airport. Apparently, there was a stop there. The flight crew of 3 announced that they had been flying with a broken weather radar and needed to get it fixed on the ground. They said they wouldn’t want to fly without it — going forward — since there was a storm coming in. So they let us inside the tiny, one building airport, with one waiting room. We waited…for four hours — until they finally said our flight was cancelled. In the meantime though, the couple and I were thinking about other modes of transportation since we had heard that if they got us a shuttle, it would come from Sidney…which we would then have to wait 2 1/2 hours for it to arrive. They called a relative to pick them up and asked if I wanted to come along. Everything was good to go until they said that their relative had brought a friend along and there wasn’t anymore room! They felt bad, but I said it was okay. I called J and asked him to pick me up. Long story short, they found a retired dude from around the area to shuttle 6 of us to the Sidney airport in Montana. So we didn’t have to wait for anyone else to come out and get us.

A 2 1/2 hour drive, as opposed to a 30 minute flight kind of sucked, but at least we finally got to Sidney around 7pm. We were supposed to arrive at 1pm! Word of advice: Never take the Great Lakes airline. They aren’t good at keeping on schedule and they have a bunch of problems — says a couple of other folks who’ve taken it as well. Anyway, J and I got dinner at a local (that’s all they really have out there anyway) restaurant in Sidney. They served a mean steak. It was unlike any kind I’ve ever tasted. It must be their cattle out there! We stopped by J’s grandma’s place to drop off her car and pick up his dad (since she lent him her car ’cause a tree blocked his driveway and he needed to pick me up). We drove to the farm, lazed around a bit, and slept early. I was beat!

Friday, 6/18:

Well, I thought I had seen about enough of North Dakota from the prior day, but nooooo! J wanted to take me to Fort Union in Wilkinson, North Dakota! So we drove back to ND and checked out the old trading post. We got lucky as they were re-enacting the past with real blacksmiths, a woman skinning a beaver, a guy demonstrating how to make an arrowhead, and the trading of furs with native americans — like the old days!

It was quite entertaining to watch. Afterward, we ate a Mexican restaurant and headed back to the farm. We lounged around for a bit and then headed to the rodeo! Unfortunately, it was raining and all wet so we did what most people were doing, park on a hill and watch from the vehicle. I don’t think I’m a big fan of rodeo’s when they are roping the calves or trying to mount the wild horse. But one of the wild horses gave quite a show when it dragged one cowboy through the entire arena, completely muddy! The bull riding was quite ferocious and scary. Those cowboys jump up and get on the fence so quickly after they fall off! Quite a sight! It was interesting to see such a small town come together. Everyone knows everyone and you end up seeing your family there. Bizarre…

Saturday, 6/19:

This was a pretty amazing day. J’s dad made a freakin’ awesome sausage, potatoes, and eggs breakfast. We then went to the visitor center with J’s other grandma to take a tour of the museum that she volunteers at. We got some good reading material for the national parks and then headed to the Frontier Parade. It was cool and unusual — horses and tractors best sums up what this parade was like. All people in the parade throw out candy onto the street and all the young kids pick them up. It’s like a fake Halloween without dressing up! They also gave out free root beer floats and I met more of J’s friends and family. We went into an old armory where they were having a sale. You basically pick up any items you like and pay what you can. It’s a kind of donation to the church or something. Great concept! J’s dad and I walked around the block and hit up a garage sale. All these places have such old old stuff! It’s crazy but cool to look at and touch! J and I went back to the farm and ATV’ed the farmland. We just scraped the outside of the 3,000 acres. It was very cool to stand somewhat in the middle of the crops and just look out for miles and see flat land and crops (durham and barley).

He also showed me the rest of the farm/house, machinery, and silos in which they keep the harvested crops. Really cool stuff.

We then packed up and drove about an hour and a half west to meet with his dad at their recently built “summer home” / “cabin.” It’s pretty much a house that has the look and feel of a modern, clean, cabin. It’s gorgeous! Best of all, it’s right on Fort Peck Lake!

We tried visiting the dinosaur museum (’cause they have so many dinosaur exhibits and such!), but it was closed.

We ended up having dinner at one of the only restaurants/diners in town and we all ordered chicken fried steak. God, I’m so dumb. I thought it was supposed to be chicken! Anyway, J and I played a round of shuffleboard and pool and then met up with his dad again back at the house to take the boat out on the lake. We boated around the lake for a bit and J ended up knee-boarding and inner-tubing. It was fun to watch since I’ve never really seen it done! His dad created some crazy waves for him and one time he actually fell from the inner tube! I got scared…I wanted to try it but didn’t want to fall off! So his dad said he’d make it nice for me. I ended up inner tubing and had a lot of fun. It was such an adrenaline rush…he even made some waves for me, but then I kept shaking my head to go slower! We took the truck out to the Milk Overlook above the dam and lake and just caught an amazing sunset and view. Depth perception was really intense! We went back to the cabin, lounged and drank some wine before hitting the hay. It was such a long but amazing day!

Sunday, 6/20:

J’s dad made breakfast and we headed out bright and early to start driving 6 hours to Glacier National Park! Our first stop was Running Eagle Falls at Two Medicine (East Glacier Park) which was a short hike to the two waterfalls colliding together. What a spectacle!

We then drove North to the St. Mary entrance and drove our way through to Logan Pass. Because it snowed heavily a few days before, Logan Pass was closed and we couldn’t drive through the entire park. So we stopped and took photos of the Jackson Glacier and other landscapes.

We also did a short hike up and around a mountain. Not really sure where we were, but it was nice.

We were told that a thunderstorm was coming in, so we tried to head out quickly. We got back to East Glacier and grabbed dinner at a restaurant close to our lodging. A couple that sat next to us came from Wisconsin and just so happened to be at the Frontier Parade when we were there a few days ago. Small world. On top of that, another couple that we saw at our lodging, we had seen at Fort Union a few days before as well. Crazy, crazy, crazy! Anyway, we finished our dinner, went back to the Mountain Pine Motel and called it a day!

Monday, 6/21:

We got breakfast at Glacier Village Cafe, on our way out of East Glacier. I had a tasty mountain man hash made w/bison. yum-o! We drove to the West Glacier entrance and walked the Cedar Trail. It reminded me of Muir Woods. The aroma of the trees, earth, and water were lovely. It was raining, so we got pretty soaked. Luckily, I was wearing my wet-wicking turtleneck and fleece and managed to stay warm too!

After our hike we drove through Flathead and down to Missoula where J lives. We got amazingly delicious and fresh pizza at Biga with his soon-to-be brother-in-law and got drinks and played pool at Red. The best way to describe Missoula is small, college town, in a valley. Anywhere you want to go, it’s only 15 minutes away, at the max — reminiscent of Chico. They’re big on putting letters on their mountains and creating hiking trails to get to the area and admire the view.

Tuesday, 6/22:

Because I wasn’t able to find lodging around West Yellowstone, we walked around University of Montana (interesting architecture),

watched Toy Story 3 (adorable), browsed a used bookstore (great prices) to get reading material for his friend in the Peace Corps (living in Czech Republic), and grabbed a sandwich at the Staggering Ox. They make their bread with a tin can molding. It’s quite unusual to look at but pretty easy to eat.

Wednesday, 6/23:

J said that we could look at lodging in Bozeman — approx 80 miles outside of Yellowstone. So I went and did my thing and got a Holiday Inn for $65/night when it usually goes for $140. We packed our bags and began driving south east that same day. We stopped at the Berkeley Pit copper mine in Butte along the way. It was quite a sight to see — they say it’s filled with heavy metals and chemicals that is equal to the acidity of lemon juice!

For dinner, we hit up Montana Aleworks. I got a bison tenderloin.

It was alright. The place reminds me of a Sierra Nevada with pool tables. Yes, we ended up playing a couple of games!

Thursday, 6/24:

We started off our day with a tasty breakfast at Nova Cafe where I ordered a turkey hash that came with eggs, hollandaise sauce, and toast. Their coffee was delicious too.

We struck up a conversation with the couple dining next to us which turned out to be very pleasant. I love conversations with random strangers! At least most of the time, anyway!

After our scrumptious meal, we headed to Yellowstone and entered through Gardiner. Yellowstone is a Figure 8, but we decided to drive in a big oval — which ended up working out very well. We first hit up Mammoth Hot Springs. Best way to describe it — you’ve landed on the moon!

We drove South to Norris which happened to be one of our favorite spots. They’ve got a nice walking platform trail that takes you through to hit all the geysers and mud pots. Such a sight!

We continued Southward through Madison and down to Old Faithful where we caught her erupting just in time! Lot’s of people and super touristy, but still cool to watch. We began driving East towards West Thumb and North through Lake Village. We continued North to Canyon Village where we stopped to check out Upper and Lower Falls, and then to Tower-Roosevelt for the Tower Falls. All were pretty spectacular…but maybe that’s just me liking the sound and sight of waterfalls!

Through Yellowstone we were able to catch sight of elk, bison, and deer. I didn’t realize how large these animals were! Quite magnificent!

We headed back to our lodging in Bozeman and J caught up with a couple of his college friends for dinner while I grabbed a salad from our restaurant. After they were done with dinner they came out to our hotel to grab drinks, where I met up and hung out with them. It was a nice, fun night!

Friday, 6/25:

We tried grabbing breakfast at Nova Cafe again (because it was soooo darned good!) but by the time we got there it was like 10am and completely packed…people waiting out the door and such. So we grabbed a bite from Great Harvest bread co. around the corner and ate breakfast on the road. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Three Forks and grabbed a 12pm tour. In order to get to the caves it’s about a 1.5(?) mile upward. It got everyone pretty hot and sweaty but offered beautiful scenery along the way. Our tour was cool — entertaining and temperature wise — compared to other cave tours I’ve been on. The cave is always at a moderate temperature of 50 degrees. There wasn’t anything that really caught my eye since all the other caves seemed to have the same things, but it was the way the cave trail was blasted through which made it an “adventure” going through it. Steep and slippery in many places. This cave actually has a slide where you have to sit on your butt and slide down a little bit (kind of like those old school kid playground slides).

After exploring the caves, we stopped off at Montana Wheat, where they grow and make their own breads. They also have a deli area where you can order sandwiches and such. Which is exactly what we did for lunch. We continued West and North to Missoula and ended up at Rock’n Rudy’s.

I wanted to buy a cowgirl hat, but didn’t find one that I really liked. I ended up spending much of my time in their “health and beauty” section that had a lot of organic stuff that I haven’t seen before. We grabbed Taco Johns (which is better than Taco Bell, I admit) for a late night snack and headed back to J’s house for drinks and unwinding.

Saturday, 6/26:

Hit up another early flight from MSO -> SEA -> SFO, but I managed to not look at the screens in the airport to double check my gate in SEA. I just figured what it said on my ticket was correct. So I sat in the gate area for like 2 1/2 hours to finally realize I was in the wrong area. By the time I ran all the way to the opposite end of the airport for the real gate, I saw my plane rolling out. I caught the next one at 12:20pm ish and got home in the late afternoon. It was such a long day of travel, but it was nice to be back home.

Now it’s almost two weeks later and I miss Montana. I miss the sights, the slow environment, and friendly people I met along the way. I absolutely love the flat, green (from all the rain), farm lands and the fact that we could drive around a total of 1,600 miles our entire trip and be the only car on the road. Okay, a little bit of an exaggeration, but at many times, we were the only car on the road for hours and hours at a time. Every time we were in a “populated” place, I noticed. Granted, a “populated” place may equate to 5-15 cars. It was just nice to be isolated and away from civilization. Nothing but me and mother nature. It might drive some people crazy, but it allowed me to feel relaxed and at peace. Such a surreal experience!

This is the first place I’ve traveled where I’ve felt unsafe walking around. I almost broke down on the second day, and started feeling like I should just stay in my hotel room…even though that’s far from what I would want to do. I was harassed and called mean things walking around San Pedro St. (bad area) the first day I arrived, which threw me a new perspective. Bums and crazy people in downtown LA are mean and racist. Regular, normal people are just unfriendly. Completely different than from walking around in SF. Mid-week (Wednesday), I hung out with Claire for 12 hours straight! This was by far, the best day of my entire trip. On Saturday, teh nerdery group and I attended Kris and Jay’s wedding day at Kris’ uncle’s house, right off PCH in Malibu. Just so happens that Kris’ uncle is Dick Clark. His “house” was an amazing venue with an expansive view of the pacific ocean. It was beautifully arranged with three different areas: hors d’oeuvre’s, ceremony, and reception. The night was filled with lots of alcohol, our hoot’n and hollar’n, rowdy, Crown memorial Beach table moving…and dancing! Oh, and the best man speech was amazing and funny! One cannot expect anything less from Warren! Sunday I woke up with a hangover and hopped my 3pm flight at LAX. I didn’t capture many photos, but here’s a link to my set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pipsyrules/sets/72157624270650518/ and a link to BF’s set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7416625@N04/sets/72157624282854780/

‘Twas a long day to a long week in SoCal (for better and for worse)!

6/7:

• Flight from SFO -> LAX.
• Taxi to Omni Hotel, downtown LA.
• Walked to Daikokuya for tasty Ramen in Little Tokyo.
• Walked around Little Tokyo and grabbed mochi at Mikawaya.
• Walked through the Flower Market to get to the Fashion District and Santee Alley.
• Harassed by bum/crazy person. Ran a few blocks.
• Headed back to the hotel for shower and sleep.

6/8:

• Woke early, checked out of Omni Hotel (love complimentary beverages and newspapers in the morning!)
• Walked to KPMG office building for a full day of training.
• Checked into Millennium Biltmore Hotel on Grand.
• Hopped the Metro to Wilshire/Vermont and walked Wilshire blvd to get to Han Bat Sul Lung Tang (korean, hole-in-the-wall restaurant) for dinner.
• Hopped the nearest Metro back to the hotel (Wilshire/Western to Pershing Square)

6/9:

• Picked up by Claire around 10:30am. Drove to 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
• Bought Sam Edelman sandles (at a reduce price) at Kitson outlet.
• Farmer’s market and tasted different foods.
• BOA steakhouse for sangrias and lunch!
• Santa Monica Pier and beach with lemonade in hand
• Watched guys work out on the rings.  ;)
• Swings!
• Drove to the Grove & walked around the farmer’s market. Split a hugggeeeee red velvet cupcake between the two of us! Walked through the shops and Nordstrom for more shoes!
• Dinner at Cheesecake Factory and people-watched the good lookin’ guys behind our table!
• Drove through Rodeo Drive, Miracle Mile, and Westwood/UCLA area.
• Returned to hotel around 11pm.

6/10:

• Chinatown for Phillipes’ pork sandwich, macaroni salad, and iced tea.
• Olvera Street
• Union Station to Old Pasadena (Del Mar station)
• Colorado Street and shopping
• Violet’s Cakes for red velvet cupcake
• Cafe Santorini for braised lamb shank
• Returned to hotel via Metro

6/11:

• Metro to Hollywood/Highland for Hollywood Blvd walk
• Walked to Sunset Blvd and grabbed a quick drink at the Coffee Bean.
• Walked down to Santa Monica Blvd and stopped around Robertson Blvd to get picked up by Amber and Router.



• Walked in and out of the shops at Rodeo Drive
• Dinner at Palermo in Westwood
• Frozen yogurt for dessert!
• Drinks and live music at the hotel – shot from the bassist, Ryan!

6/12:

• Dash store in Calabassas and tried on clothes at the store next door.

• Corner Bakery for breakfast across the the street. Saw Nikki Sixx.
• Wedding
• 4 glasses of red wine, 3 glasses of champagne, 2 shots of whiskey
• Table moving…
• Dancing…

6/13:

• Hungover, dehydrated, jittery.
• Continental breakfast!
• Lounge/nap by the pool
• Road Runner to LAX.