my dad and his charlie brown christmas tree, taken by my mom. less than a week and I’ll be home! (stalkers please note that my apartment has new bars on all the windows and anyway, my roommate will be home.)
Archives for category: photos
I am in the cookie puss variety hour gallery on flickr. please please, hold your applause.
…something really wrong about the one with the candles stuck in the eyes, though.
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Steve and Kirk picked up Cameron and I then we picked up Li-Wei. We stopped for donuts and atm, then were off to Oak Glen. We met Letia and Matt at the apple orchard, which was SUPER FOGGY and mysterious and wonderful-feeling. We had lunch at the restaurant – pulled pork and tri-tip sandwiches and cider and blackberry lemonade. We picked up some fun candy at the little general store next door, then bought our apple bags. We spent the next few hours wandering around the fog-shrouded fields, finding apples and walking through the corn maze. Every once in in awhile the fog would roll back and reveal the mountains towering over us, then we’d be surrounded again, like something out of ‘Brigadoon’.
We got a lot of apples from different kinds of trees, and once we had all we could carry, we drove down the road to Oak Glen Village. We got huge slices of hot apple pie with ice cream, and I got a giant cinnamon bun and an apple turnover to tide me over until Cameron turns all those apples into pies and crisps.
A completely delightful and idyllic and magical day!
Riley’s apple farm at Los Rios Rancho
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Saturday morning, Elaine, Tammy and Jula met up at my place. We packed up Elaine’s car and drove up to Big Bear. We walked around the village and got some old fashioned candy, then had lunch at a great little italian place with a big outdoor seating area. We checked into the hotel and spent awhile sitting in the sun on the patio by the lake, eating Swiss and German chocolate and relaxing. We all took naps then got ready and, after a no-show taxi, went to Oktoberfest.
We ate a lot of the good sauerkraut, drank a mini keg, and had apple strudel. Jula made friends with the band and requested some German songs – the band was loving that she knew all the words – and danced for hours.
Sunday we checked out of the hotel then had a nice picnic brunch by the lake. We loaded the car then went on a nice two-hour hike through the boulder-strewn woods. We saw some great views of the lake and the town. A good relaxing weekend.
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Started our day in Melbourne with the Healesville Sanctuary, where we saw more kangaroos, ibises, koalas and trout. I fed a kangaroo and almost fainted from delight when it reached up with its incredibly sharp, nimble little claws and held my hand closer to its mouth. Bought some souvenirs then went on to the Rochford Winery. Drank some pinot noir and had a really delicious lunch. I had the pumpkin lasagna with pine nuts and tried some of Uncle Denny’s kangaroo ragout (which I felt extremely guilty about tasting, but when else would I get a chance to eat a kangaroo? It was yummy.).
We had a few minutes to enjoy the sunshine, then drove back into the city by way of Nellie Melba’s property. We boarded our boat and took a sight-seeing cruise down the Yarra River. Saw a lot of public art, bridges, and people out on break from work.
We headed back to port and saw our sister ship, the Dawn Princess, pulled abreast of the Diamond Princess. On board, we went to Uncle Denny and Aunt Pat’s for pre-dinner snacks, then went to dinner (had a dessert called the ménage à trois). Afterwards, so the ‘Words & Music’ music show.
The next day we spent at sea, getting ready for the end of the cruise and the beginning of our side tour to Cairns. We had a Cairns meeting in the morning, then hit the breakfast buffet. Uncle Denny and I did ‘On Deck for the Cure’, the breast cancer walk/run. They had a huge dessert buffet set out for lunch, which I throughly enjoyed.
I spent the afternoon by the pool, and played a few games (our side of the ship won!). Got some ice cream, packed, then had our last dinner together as a big family. We said our goodbyes to Aunt Linnea, then took a last look at the shops and official photos.
and it only happened yesterday.
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I had a month off between semesters, Eric had a whole week off for a Japanese holiday (he works for a Japanese company). So – last-minute camping trip! Eric found an available campsite at Patrick’s Point State Park, just south of Redwood National Park, and it was a done deal.
I drove up to San Francisco on Sunday, and fought terrible traffic the whole way. The light at the end of the tunnel was the promise delicious pizza and lasagne at Piccino. Afterwards, Eric and I got supplies at Whole Foods to make dessert – gourmet pearl sugar waffles, ice cream, fresh berries. INSANELY good. Watched some anime and made shopping lists.
Monday we packed up my car and got supplies at REI and the grocery store. Had lunch at the Counter, then drove up to Sonoma. Checked into our cabin, named ‘Make’, at the Andiron seaside inn. The cabin was adorable – filled with old craft kits, patterns, a paint-by-numbers wall, paint and crayons. We drove up to Fort Bragg and explored the glass beach – the remains of a bottle factory and had dinner at a really good little Thai place.
Tuesday we hiked a bit at Russian Gulch, then had lunch at the North Coast Brewing Co. restaurant. Dessert was Cowlicks ice cream, a much-celebrated local brand – and for good reason! Probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Drove to Eureka for groceries, continued on to Humboldt County, and got our first look at California’s giant prehistoric trees. They. Are. Huge.
Made camp at Patrick’s Point and cooked dinner and made s’mores. As we were cleaning up we found a little slug on our picnic table; s/he was after some hot chocolate that had spilled and soaked into the boards. Read in my sleeping bag for awhile and finally got to sleep after having some quiet mini-freak-outs about some suspicious noises that sounded like someone being bludgeoned to death.
Wednesday morning – no police, no suspicious activity, so I assumed no one had actually been murdered. Had breakfast at camp, then drove up to Redwood National Park. Got some maps and guide books then hiked a few hours through old-growth redwood forests. Hiked around another campground too, tried to view the Klamath River from an overlook, but the pervasive fog was too thick.
We returned to Patrick’s Point in time to hike down to the tide pools at Palmer’s point, at the south end of the park. Eric and I spent hours exploring the tide pools – a vast expanse of flat, rocky beach, shrouded in fog. Even with a family exploring nearby, it was eerily quiet and bleak – like an alien landscape. We saw a lot of kelp, snails and anemone, some barnacles and several starfish. After the tide pools we made dinner at camp (fajitas!) then had some s’mores and retired to our tent.
Broke camp on Thursday morning, drove down the coast to Humboldt Redwood State Park, and did some more hiking. Made it back to SF without incident, and arrived just in time to see the fog roll in.
humboldt redwood state park