Tuesday, October 26, 2010

mikey b the flea

day 12.
sunny.



this was officially our final night of camping.
i made snoqualamie pancakes and potatoes for breakfast...and sliced oranges.

our last morning at pismo beach...



i hit up a cafe called amor ami to do a bit of writing and rekindle my relationship with coffee. the owner, after learning i was in the photojournalism biz, brought me this.....perk after perk at this estab.



la bound.
my lala cherry was about to be popped and i was chomping at the bit.
the sun was out, in the 80's.
we rolled in at the perfect time, just beating traffic.
first stop-forests great aunt and uncle...
newell and rosemary alexander.
these two are in their 70's. but i would say teenagers at heart.
they have this great place in burbank, just over the hollywood hills.
their place is immaculate...
their bumper sticker says legalize...
their daughter, kelly was there. she went to school with anthony kiedis and flea from red hot chili peppers and said they were antisocial and total outcasts. mikey b the flea.
show business is their thing and they have appeared in numerous movies, commercials, radio shows...
it was pretty exciting, a far cry from my humble abode.
indian food on sunset paired with taj mahal beer.
after dinner, rosemary showed us forest's first audition tape...
oh, starry eyed forest. i totally get it now.



next stop, pasadena.
my girlfriend marissa was just finishing her school day and we were passing through, so naturally we were bound to meet up.
she suggested this place...which took us an hour to find...and was right around the corner.



and my ridiculously fabulous friend marissa...



this girl is totally amazing. she lives in long beach and started a homeless shelter, without a degree. after she plateaued here, she decided to go to school, get her degree in health and human development. now she is in the masters program in pasadena and was just approved on some 12 million dollar grant for some energy saving ideas for low income people. so, confident she didn't bite off more than she can chew, she is in the process of delegating, hiring, molding, and shaping this whole operation.....
i just love her.

stop 3 for the evening, san bernardino.
we stopped to see my baby cousin, leah.
she is so freakin adorable. albeit 24, i still remember her little divaliscious self with a head full of dreadies, disguised by an outer layer of brushed hair.
always the entertainer, leah.

i am so proud of her... just finished school with a bachelors in chemistry and ready for med school.

we showed up late, i met her little fluff ball dogs, and we stayed up and played the catch up game over a bottle of savignon blanc til 4 a.m.

good morning LEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!



love you little girl.





pismo beach x 2

day 11.
photos say it all...





forest spotted this...







check the guy out on the right..













rexasaurus...



doesn't like.



aaaand this sums up rex and i's ridiculously human like relationship. both pulling.



sweet camping spot right next to the beach...plum bbq sauce marinated shish ka bobs (thanks to forest's sister ANGIE!!!!) thank YOU ang, plum sauce was money...

pismo beach

day 10.
we had been in a northern CA rainstorm for the past two days, so we were eager to see the coastline on a clear blue sunny day.

pismo beach. surfing town.
its coastline is LARGE and super clean. the rolling hills are seductive in their voluptuousness, dressed only in a clean line of colorful homes.



those simple pleasures that we take for granted (indoor heating, a bed, hot shower, etc) beckoned us loud and clear that night...so we stayed in edgewater motel and bypassed camping.

the town is cute.
lotta fish n chips joints.
lotta surfers.
lotta character.

we watched the vikings and packers square off that night in a local pub called hoagies. i had an asian salad, forest had a philly. plump grapes.

we soaked outside in a tub of hot water...turned into california raisens.

golden gate

day 9.
highlights: golden gate bridge...
even tho the weather was all discombobulated.







we drove a long long long way, hugging close to the central califorian coastline.
found a nice camping spot....albeit in the rain...
and slept.

janny bear & co.

day 8.

today was a day i had been anticipating.
my janny bear!
my godmother.

one of my mom's good highschool sacramento friends.
i named my first stuffed animal after this woman for goodness sake.

its strange because since i was a little girl, i have only seen jan 2 times. and each time it feels like we haven't skipped a beat.

the trip that morning had great scenery...
to my left...



and to my right...





and even one of these babies...



with the sun finally peeking out, we found our way to Wilton, which is a little town just south of sacramento.

we pulled up that morning and waited at the gate at the front of her driveway. it was so nice to be here. the sun was out despite the clouds best efforts.

jan has a swagger. she's in her fifties, but has a swagger. long silver and black hair falls just past her mid back. adorned in homeade jewelry. and always a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

the next 12 or so hours was a buzz... 6 years of catch up. she introduced me to her 7 dogs; fancy, pepper, stormie rose, shane, shasta, cody, and... there was one more... and they all had full names, which i wrote down and apparently misplaced.

she spoke of sour diesel and silver haze.

how she doesn't like feeling 'wangy.'

she spoke of pam mann, the self-righteous, pierced, tattoed, tarot card dealing, human female bull dog, who apparently was debuting as a thorn in her side.

of mary youngblood.

of indian flutes, her jewelry...



dreams of red-tailed hawks, eagles, and white owls.

i was able to see her husband, Jim. Jim and Jan seem to be polar opposites, so their magnetism is right on. :) Jim may be one of the stronger willed people i have ever met, recovering from a long winded battle with cancer. after months of medical treatment (chemo, stem cell transplants, every side effect imagineable), he is recovering so beautifully. putting on weight, growing out his hair, and taking care of himself.

jim and jan


jeremy, jan's son came by for a bit. very much like family to me.

me, jere, jan


jan made us mouthwatering teriyaki chicken and mandarin salad that night...shared a peace pipe and i drank the ever lovin goodness out of several stoli screwdrivers...

oh, jan can talk too. i thought i was a chatty kathy. nope.
so we talked late into the night, which resumed early in the a.m., not skipping a beat.

we were sent off smiling after a pot of coffee, ham and hashbrowns....

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Poppy-Ay

day 7.
refreshed from the good night sleep, we threw back and forth the idea of staying in the redwoods for the morning or heading south. we decided to stay in the park and do some hiking.

Ah ~ Pah Interpretive Trail was our first stop, what seemed to be a nice long hike turned out to be overgrown...



so we took 'ossagon trail' to the coast, a nice 4 mile crescendo of a hike.



theres something about a crazy good hike that is completely rejuvenating. we took off down california 101, sippin hot cocoa, takin it all in.

the weather was not what we had hoped for, rainy and overcast. ahead of schedule, we decided to veer of 101 to highway 1, which continued down the coastline. we rode the edges of the pacific ocean for hours, hypothetically talking about what prime pieces of real estate we would buy...

night fell.
just north of sanfransisco, we took the windiest road i've ever been on. 45 miles at 20 miles an hour. we passed through too many wineries to count, the moist air brought out the smells of the thousands upon thousands of vines of grapes. i am pretty sure i daydreamed, or nightdreamed of being a winery heiress for a solid 2 hours.

forest drove the entire day, we were pretty spent. bedtime was upon us.
papier (poppy-ay) was what i called grape juice as a young child...

forests

day 6.
we woke up early, grabbed a handful or so of granola for the road, and kept south on 101.
forest nabbed this one of southern oregon...



forest was SO excited to see the redwood forest, it was the topic of conversation for weeks prior, so the fact that we were getting close was kind of a big deal.

we drove through the forests, dwarfed by sequoias and redwoods, some 2000 years old.
guilty as charged for succumbing to the tourist traps...





we did alot of driving through the park for the next hour or two... and looked for campsites half-heartedly but as the night fell, we decided a motel was the ticket. we stopped, i cooked what was left of our vegetable beef concoction and paired it with fat turkey franks wrapped in grilled bread and topped with grilled onions and cherry tomatoes.

the showers were money. the food was money. but the t-v and half the lights fizzled out within the first hour. which was fine, cuz we were sleepy lil fat-bellied bugs.

oregon

day 5.
before leaving our camp in southern washington, we took one last look at the beach only to find a rescue training session in full force.





we jumped on 101 South, feeling good. cape disappointment turned out to be a cathartic experience. rad.
we stopped in seaside oregon and both fell in love with the town and the beach...



cannon beach, our second favorite



there is those smiles.



next stop...tillamook...



as the sun set, we found ourselves near central oregon, in newport. we stopped and played.














101 is windy. thats so an understatement. it took us a very long time to travel short distances. we decided to drive on after sunset and made it to oregon dunes national recreation area 'ish'.
it was cold.
we were tired.
and so we starfished it. and slept well.