So, I Meant to Post This Fourteen Months Ago...

Pin It Such is what happens when one is delving into the contents of their external hard drive and notices that they had never posted about their trip to the Redwood Forest from the previous year. Well, I mean, I had posted a few photos of the trip that I had forgotten about, but I never told anything about my adventures or misadventures.

Well, it so happened that I was looking for something else and found that I needed to post a few video clips to warm you up for my adventure...

I will post a few of my photos in a few days - you know, sometime next week. Until then, enjoy the exploits. However, should you choose not to watch the videos, I will not be offended...after all, they are just of me. I can only be so awesome without an entourage.



Meanwhile, miles away (and a day or two later) I hiked out to the middle of nowhere in search of a cave that turned out to be pretty cool...but suddenly while out there I remembered that episode of The X Files; you know the one where Mulder and Scully get trapped by those swarming bugs that suck people's juices out?

Yeah, it got kind of freaky there for a bit...



Now, while on my way out to Willow Creek and The Redwood forest, my TomTom decides that I need to take the scenic route. I guess I deserve it for having originally bought the cheap version instead of the deluxe.









This is probably one of my favorite parts of finally arriving at the coast (well, besides the Bigfoot museum in Willow Creek).

California - Day 3: The Streets

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Can you take a guess where a few of these streets were used?

Awesome...



And I even listened to the song...

Oh, and I'll be at Disneyland Friday and Saturday if you're going to be in the area; I'd love too meet you!

California - Day 2: Sailing

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The splay of salt air and the waves was amazing as the wind whipped through our hair...until it swept over the deck to where I was sitting...

California - Day 1: Big Burger & Little Towns

Pin It It had been nearly 11 hours of driving. We’d slowly watched as the telltale remnants of winter vanished as we crossed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, letting spring take full throttle. The signs we’d seen indicating we were passing Donner’s Summit – and the rumbling in my stomach – reminded me that we’d not eaten in quite some time.

After a dozen or so songs from an iPod playlist, I reached over to my trusty TomTom, whom I’d earlier christened as ‘Vicky’, and typed in a desire for victuals along our route. As per usual, Vicky gave us a plethora of options, one of which that stood out was simply because of its name: Big Burger.

Janelle and I discussed the list of choices, but Big Burger was the one we both settled on. After a few miles we pulled off the Corcord exit as Vicky directed us, and were led toward the destination she had locked away in her memory chips. As we circled over the freeway and drove the slope of road down the hill, this particular urban development we ventured into was sketchy at best; a ramshackle remnant that time seemed to have missed when it was dropping elderly towns into the recycle bin.

Yo, Yo, Yo…Gurt

Pin It Most people seem to love frozen yogurt—in fact, I’ve been with people who get a bit crazy when presented with the idea of going to get this frozen delight (in the case of some girls, this consists of hand flapping, a general air of excitement akin to Christmas morning, and shrieks which reach a level which can only be heard by cats and dogs. I myself am not grouped into this category of thrillation, but I do dabble in the yogurt arena from time to time—usually when there’s no other option left.

Perhaps this aversion was the result of being placated with frozen yogurt as a child when my parents would drive to Spokane with my siblings and I. I guess they figured that frozen yogurt was a ‘healthy alternative’ to ice cream. Unfortunately, this old school yogurt more often than not tasted like frozen, shredded cardboard—especially when the toppings they offered consisted of items such as diced coconut and walnuts.

Fast-forward to the here and now.

My friends and I are currently in California; one of the girls brought up the idea of running out for a frozen yogurt (see above reaction). As we drove the sweltering distance across town, I found myself becoming more and more disappointed. This feeling dropped to an all time low as we pulled outside an establishment named, “Yogurtland.”

Yogurt? I’d rather eat spoonfuls of lard. Generally speaking, it would have about the same consistency, and would most likely have had a much better flavor. As we walked through the double doors I braced myself and brought to mind the lowest of expectations—still fully expecting to still find myself grossly disappointed.

I was a bit surprised as I saw an entire bank of yogurt dispensers with flavors like Cookies and Crème, praline, and New York cheesecake. Basically ranging from mouth-watering to pure awesomeness.

This was clearly not my mother’s yogurt.

I was a bit overwhelmed as we moved to the rear of the building and grabbed the self-serve cups furnished in two convenient sizes: large and larger. I tried a dozen different flavors and ended up with three or four different kinds in my container. As I moved to the toppings, I gasped. Reese’s, Kit Kat, cookie dough, brownie, a plethora of cereals and fruit toppings—a veritable smorgasbord of garnishing goodness and a celebration of diversity. Several times I found myself pushing down the yogurt to allow for another scoop of peanut butter cup or fresh strawberries and caramel sauce to sift down through all the cracks, cementing it into a cylinderish brick of pure unadulterated awesome.

We paid for our desert—a deal at $ .30 per ounce and moved to one of the tables to enjoy.

Halfway through this blissful experience, I felt nauseous and my overpowered taste buds were screaming for me to surrender. Naturally, I didn’t—it was simply all so delicious that I couldn’t help but eat the whole thing. Spoonful after spoonful were consumed and brought me further and further toward the edge of diminishing return.

Frozen yogurt? At a Disney-esque playground for your mouth? I find myself giving a voluntary interior shriek and a proverbial flapping of the hands. Yogurt, my friends, is the bomb.

The California Experience - Day 4

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There is so much to tell about the trip to Alcatraz. Too much. I will (for the last time in a while) let the images speak for themselves...

A photoshoot in Alcatraz? Yeah, kind of demented, I know...

Going in...

Solitary confinement…it's a lot darker with the door closed and the camera shutter speed not decreased so much on my camera.

My pathetic prophecy from Zambini in Goonies.

This portion of the trip to Haight and Ashbury was pretty cool, however, you'll need to head to Four Perspectives tomorrow in order to read about it...