Walnut Creek

Kelly took some amazing photos on a recent visit to Walnut Creek park just 10 minutes north of our house. Please go to my flickr page to share an afternoon in the park with Snoops:
www.flickr.com/photos/oliviaohare/sets/72157625476639603/

Leaving LA

This post is long over due. Maybe I waited so long because I couldn't fully admit that I had really moved away. Until just recently it kept feeling like I was just on a long vacation and any day I would return to Silverlake and Bodyscape and Gold's Gym Downtown and all the cool places I had gotten accustomed to spending time with friends. Moving back to Texas was definitely the right thing to do and it has been amazing to reconnect with family and friends but knowing that has not made it easier. I miss all my LA friends terribly. In fact, the only thing I don't miss about LA is our awful, broken down apartment (though I do miss our neighbors and the neighborhood).

Please have a look at my flickr page to see a retrospective of photos from our last month in La La Land: www.flickr.com/photos/oliviaohare/sets/72157624541244006/with/4810569909/
Many of these photos have been published on FB already but there is something particularly affecting about seeing all the little thumbnails on one page. I just teared up looking at them and thinking of everyone. It was an amazing last month and I am so thankful for all the going away dinners and parties. Okay, now I'm crying...

April 2010

April was an eventful month. Check out my Flickr page to see what I've been up to (couldn't figure out how to combine them so there are two albums worth):
www.flickr.com/photos/oliviaohare/sets/72157623897812719/
www.flickr.com/photos/oliviaohare/sets/72157623879253457/

Road Trip: Ladies Only

Beth and I recently went on a road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was one of those whirlwind trips where we took no breaks. It was the opposite of rest and relaxation. It was exactly fun and exciting! We saw European antiquities, lounging elephant seals, sat in a hot tub on a cliff at 1 am, walked around outdoors, saw a waterfall, climbed a big hill in search of Italian food, visited with family, saw a movie, rode in a cable car, shopped for chotskies, drank hot chocolate, watched hippies dance, had an anxiety attack, visited with friends, went to prison, and watched a prison movie. The perfect trip for two thirty-something ladies who are more likely to over eat sour patch kids then drink too much. You can see all our photos on Flickr.
I finally set up a Flickr page!
www.flickr.com/photos/oliviaohare/sets/72157623704935133/

Day One

Neptune's Pool:
waiting for our second tour:
We left LA Wednesday night around 6:30 pm and arrived in San Simeon at 11:30 pm where we stayed at a cheapy cheap Motel 6 with a bunch of Russian tourists (some of whom like to hover a little too close in the lobby - ugh). The next morning we woke up early and headed over to Hearst Castle. We did tours 1 and 2. Tour 1 was packed. It is the tour the website recommends for people who have never been before and takes you through one of the guest houses, some of the gardens, the main hall, dining room, and both pools. Tour 2 was just us and a family of four. This tour takes you through the main bedrooms, Hearst's office, library, the kitchen, and many other smaller rooms in the main house. Because it was such a small group we got to go off the tour carpet and see things up close - super cool! We also got to ask as many questions as we wanted. The docent had an answer for every question. She must really love Hearst Castle. There is also a movie that is not very informative and glosses over any potentially negative aspects of Hearst's life. Needless to say I found the film boring and problematic. Everything else was super impressive and ridiculously lavish. After all the decorative artifacts and antiquities, the kitchen turned out to be my favorite. It was a little kid's dream complete with fake food.
After our Hearst Castle extravaganza, we moved on up to Big Sur. After checking in to our very cute, little cabin we went to eat at Nepenthe, a restaurant with an amazing view of the Pacific. We then headed back to our cabin where we ate candy and watched Disney's Princess and the Frog. At 12:30 am we left the cozy cabin to go to Esalen Retreat. Esalen is a new age resort that has spring fed baths built into the side of a cliff. The baths are only open to people not staying at the resort from 1-3 am. So, we went from 1 until around 2:30 am. It was fabulous sitting in the hot tub in the moonlight listening to the ocean. Then sleepy time.

Day Two
hike to Pfeiffer Falls:
After a quick breakfast in the cabin, we made our way to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. There we discovered a lovely hike to a waterfall and then made our way up and up and up to a scenic overlook of the valley. Hiking up a steep hill is hard!
Around 2 pm it started to drizzle so we decided to drive on to San Francisco and see if we could beat the Friday afternoon traffic. The traffic was bad and finding our hotel in Union Square was an adventure. Our only option upon arrival was to valet with a man who didn't speak very good english and managed to be very confusing. In the end, I gave him my keys and we agreed to avoid any more driving until it was time to go back to LA. We checked into our tiny box of a room with two televisions and a strangely palatial bathroom (almost as big as half the main room). We got changed and began our walk to meet Debbie, Sean, Heather, and Fati for dinner at a highly recommended Italian restaurant. Heather had told us we might want to take a cab because it was kind of hilley. Bah! Hills don't frighten us. We just hiked up a big hill a few hours earlier without much difficulty why should we be intimidated by the hills of San Francisco. Ugh. Beth wore heels cause she wanted to look cute for dinner. Bad idea. The hill was one of the steepest I've ever encountered. Like one of those water slides that plunges straight down. We made it over the hill. It wasn't that bad after all but walking up hill in heels was pretty awful so we agreed to catch a ride back after dinner. To finish the evening we went to see Alice In Wonderland at a theatre near our hotel.

Day Three
Hippie Hill:
Alcatraz Night Tour:

This was our day to explore San Francisco. We took the bus over to Haight-Ashbury where we ate crepes for breakfast in one of the many crepe places in the area. Then we went browsing in the shops on Haight Street where I bought a Misfits t-shirt and a cool, black sweater with sequined ribbons on it. Once we had our fill of tie dye, believe me I was tempted to buy some tie dyed pants, we headed over to Golden Gate Park where we sat for a few hours on Hippie Hill. There we watched the hippie boys drum in their drum circle while the hippie girls danced in their long, broomstick skirts, tu tus, and lace tights. Next we took the tram over to Fisherman's Wharf where we met my best friend from elementary school, Carolyn, and her wife, Becca. We ate dinner with them at Boudin Sourdough Bakery and Cafe where I had the fabulously, over-sized, clam chowder in a bread bowl. After stuffing ourselves silly, we ran over to the Alcatraz tour boat and rode over to Alcatraz Island for the night tour - very cool. We even got to see the hospital wing in the main building - super creepy. I highly recommend it. One would think we would be done with being out for the day, but no. We walked a long way and finally caught a bus to the Castro where we ate a late night snack and walked amongst the locals. Finally, at around midnight we made it back to our hotel and watched Bronson until 2:30 am. The next day we got up and had breakfast with Debbie and Sean. Then we took the loonnnnggggg drive home.

So Sassy!

I stole this from GayestEver.com because I love it:

Yosemite Trip - February 2010

What a fantastic trip! If you have not been to Yosemite in the winter you should put it on your to do list for a long weekend holiday. Kelly and I went with our good friends Monte and Roberto and stayed three nights in a private, three story cabin in West Yosemite. For the last night, we stayed in a Yosemite Valley in a room with a waterfall view at the Lodge and Roberto and Monte stayed in the Boys Town section of Curry Village. Each night we made fabulous, healthy meals which we balanced out with plenty of wine, chosen by Kelly, and homemade brownies, courtesy of Monte. When we weren't snowshoeing or looking at waterfalls we were relaxing in the cabin, doing as little as possible. We all agreed we could have stayed a few days longer. Below I have included some of my favorite photos - mostly silly ones. I hope you will also visit Monte's Flicker page to see more beautiful scenery/cabin photos: www.flickr.com/photos/theslayer/sets/72157623420568797/

Ready to snowshoe - we rented our "shoes" in Badger Pass and followed one of the cross-country trails up toward an open meadow:
Funny shoes:
Doesn't our walking look authentic and not at all posed:
Making friends with a smiley bear in the Valley store:
Time for hugs:
Stretching and reading - our before dinner ritual:
At Tunnel View:
O'Shaugnessy Dam at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir:
The boys - what is Kelly doing back there?:
Waterfall!:
Our cabin - it snowed starting Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon:
Yosemite Falls:
Dinner at the Mountain Room at Yosemite Lodge - Roberto got the chicken:
Monte got the meatloaf:
I got the pasta with cheese sauce, portobello mushroom and English peas:
Kelly got the arctic char:
So much good food, relaxing hikes, and happy times.

I heart Johnny Weir.