February 2012 Mammoth Lakes, CA

      One day at work, I randomly decided we needed to make a skiing/snowboarding trip happen. We kept talking about going to Lake Tahoe but that trip needs proper planning. I found a cheap hotel in Mammoth in a good location relative to the mountain and booked a room at the Shilo Inn. Our friends Cole and Gina decided to come along for the weekend to enjoy some skiing and to explore NorCal. We met at my work in Rancho Bernardo, CA and hit the road around 3pm on Friday. We were very excited to go on a yet another new road trip and to play in the West Coast snow.

We stopped at a lovely burger king for dinner and also stopped at this really strange convenience store along the way. They had a gloriously large room full of toys, knickknacks (cats everywhere), clocks and a Brandy CD from 1999 for $10 (tempting…). To Cole’s utter surprise, Colin walked out of the store with a Smirnoff Ice for him to enjoy all to himself.

We made it to Mammoth Lakes, CA around 11PM, had a couple of beers, and went to bed after a tiresome Friday drive.  We woke up bright and early the next day to enjoy the modest continental breakfast and to head to the mountain.

Cole and Colin went on their way to enjoy the mountain at their expert pace while Gina and I tested our snowboarding legs on the easier slopes. This mountain is so big and has so many different trails for everyone at any level to enjoy. I met back up with the boys later and had one last long run from the top of the mountain. Not really sure if I was experienced enough to do this, but it was fun regardless and I’m glad Colin took me up there!

We were the last people there enjoying beers outside at a picnic table with the mountain in view. When we got back to the hotel we decided to jump in the indoor pool and sit in the Jacuzzi to relax our worked muscles. We all showered and got dressed to hit the downtown area for the night.  I put on my winter coat and my knitted hat and was ready to go. I really miss bundling up and getting cozy to go outside to a warm bar during the winter time!

We ate dinner at Burgers which was very delicious and went out to a bar close by. We really didn’t like the vibe in there so we decided to head out to a dive bar up the street called Clocktower Cellar Pub. I couldn’t be happier with this choice. We had such a fun time hanging out here and drank until they flickered the lights.

The next morning we said goodbye to Mammoth Lakes, CA and took the 8 hour journey home. We ended up stopping at Convict Lakes for a pretty awesome photo opp before hitting the road to get back down to San Diego.

Nov 2011 San Francisco

It’s so hard to travel back home to the east coast during the holidays.  Jenn came up with a great idea that we should travel somewhere within driving distance since we have the four day weekend with no other obligations.  I had to bypass the greatest meal of the year (mmm stuffing), but she promised Chinese food upon arrival so I was willing to make this sacrifice.

We left first thing T-day morning and drove up the CA-1 along the Cali coast line and through Big Sur.  This route offered such a dramatic landscape; nestled by giant trees on a mountain road one minute to edging a cliff hundreds of feet over the Pacific Ocean the next.  There was an eerie mist while we were in Big Sur and it was impossible to see the how high the mountains went.

We arrived in San Fran around 6PM.  After checking in to the Westin on Market Street we ordered a gluttonous amount of Chinese food and caught the end of the Thanksgiving Day football game.

After passing out fairly early from a good wine and MSG infused buzz, we headed out early to Alcatraz.  We loved this place.  I couldn’t stop saying “Welcome to the Rock” in a poor Sean Connery accent.  The views on the ferry ride over to the island are amazing.  Once you arrive, it feels like a movie set.  It’s crazy to imagine gangsters like Al Capone were locked up here once.  Not that I needed one, but this prison was a good reminder to not start a racket or buy a Tommy Gun.  The awesomely touristy audio tour was also great and we highly recommend a visit there.

The whole Alcatraz trip took around 4 hours.  We snagged some lunch at the Hard Rock to give us some energy for a bike ride that would prove to be an expert level ride!  We rode from the Fisherman’s Wharf over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and then ferried it back to the Wharf in order to return our rental bikes.  Sausalito was a rad little town and apparently that’s where Otis Redding wrote “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.”

Our friends from San Diego, Gina and Kelsey, were up in SF visiting their friend Russel and his boyfriend Jeremy.  They picked us up from our hotel and we went to a few bars in and around the Castro area.  This area sure knew how to party and all of our friends were excellent hosts.

Next morning we headed north out of the city, crossing over the GG bridge once again, to Muir Woods.  The legendary California Redwoods did not disappoint.  There was some kind of marathon going on there and parking was a bit of a catastrophe.  We lucked out big time with a spot close to the entrance because of someone leaving.  Walking through these woods dwarfed by these stupidly tall trees is other worldly.  The trees age from 500-800 years old and it was pretty cool to touch a living thing that old.

We capped off this trip with a nice meal at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion a few blocks away from the hotel.  The scallops Jenn had were great and the steak I got was one of the best I’ve ever had.  We had a relaxing night in our room and then headed back to SD in the morning.  SF is a wonderful city and we can’t wait to return one day. 

Bonus picture:  We stopped at the famous surf spot Maverick’s.  Hard to imagine but waves crest at over 25 feet when the swell is pumping.

APR 2011 Coachella, man.

The drug of choice is Music.  This would be my second go at Coachella and Jenn’s first.  We were joined by multiple friends including our good pals Steve, Cole, Gina, Katy, and Alex.  My parents also decided to join during their year long “Living in a Van” trip.

We left late in the afternoon on Thursday in the Jeep Liberty followed by my parents’ van and two other cars of friends and friends of friends.   We hit traffic getting into the festival well after dark and still a ways from our 10’ X 30’ camping spot.  The line getting into the festival takes forever and is fairly unorganized.  They have to search everyone’s car for weapons and dangerous things.  Knowing this would take a couple of hours we all cracked a beer and celebrated the beginning of the weekend’s shenanigans.  We arrived in our camping spot at 3am and set up our new tent in the dark for first time ever.  Luckily Jenn is a pro at pitching a tent, hehe.

As the sun rose, we were all awoken by the heat. It gets so hot in the tent with the sun beaming down that you feel like Ace Ventura climbing out of that fake rhino when you finally shake off the lazy and exit.  My parents brought an Easy-up that provided much needed shade and without this the sun may have fried us like bacon.  The first shows started at noon everyday so there was a solid 4-5 hours of waiting to go in the venue which was about a half mile from our camping spot.  This time was filled with making breakfast, playing cornhole, showering, and mostly, starting to drink slightly chilled beer way too early.

It baffles me why anyone thought it’d be a good idea to have a camping festival in the desert at the end of April.  The heat at times is overwhelming and it’s a constant battle for shade or water.  Although, these kind of treacherous conditions make for better story telling and it feels like an accomplishment to leave there alive after 3 days.  Maybe, it’s the alcohol, but sometimes is so horribly awesome it just makes you laugh.  OK, I’m done bitching about the heat.

Instead of saying what shows we saw on each day, I’ll just talk about the highlight shows alittle.  Arcade Fire was the best show we’ve ever seen.  They did an encore and played “Wake Up” while thousands of glowing beach balls dropped from the top of the stage and bounced around the crowd.  Easily the best concert moment of our lives.  Kanye and his Ego killed it.  He rapped for what seemed like 3 hours almost non-stop.  Ratatat was awesome, but unfortunately cut alittle short.  Cole insisted we go see Two Door Cinema Club and I’ve been a megafan of them ever since.  Other highlights were Good Old War, The Chemical Brothers, The Black Keys, Freelance Whales, Mumford and Sons, and Duran Duran.

Monday morning came and our sweaty bodies piled back in the cars like a dozen glazed donuts into a box. It was a long, smelly drive home and the sight of our own bed and bathroom was heavenly. You wouldn’t think it, but a with little hot water and soap that Coachella washes right off. It feels nice to be clean and relax inside on your couch and it’s within those first few moments of doing just that …that you can’t wait to go back.