Vacation

Oh hai, I was on vacation all last week! Could you tell? Northern California is cold but it's really pretty. And I always like to see the ocean.

The other half of the week's pictures got captured on film, since someone forgot to bring her digital camera charger, but there was more Big Sur and camping and San Fransisco (oh my), too.

Tuesday Vacation Report

I'm back from the beach and, while it was a little chilly and I was fighting a head cold, it was nice to be by the ocean.

It was especially nice to hear it at night. One of my favorite chapters of The Gastronomical Me describes MFK Fisher's visit to the coast of Mexico, and she has this to say about the ocean:
"I slept like a cat all night, dreaming good dreams in my well-being, but hearing the waves when I wanted to through the dreams."

(I brought some vacation knitting, so I'll put up a Project Roundup tomorrow.)

Where You Folks From?

So I was in Las Vegas most of last week (which you may not have realized due to the magic of scheduled posts) but it just wasn't how I thought it would be: I've been twice in the last ten years and I guess enough time lapses between trips that I think it's a glamorous, exciting place complete with Elvis and Danny Ocean, when in reality it's a glorified miniature golf course.

There wasn't a lot of sunshine, I don't gamble, vast seas of humanity are not my idea of a good time, I missed Toby...I could go on and on (and on. Ask me about the cleanliness of the rooms in the Monte Carlo sometime.). But instead, I will choose to look at it as my oldest friend suggested: I got out of my comfort zone and pushed my limits, so really it was a trip of growth and self-discovery.

And I will remember this discovery when Vegas starts sounding exciting again in about five years.

The Best Bar Ever

It was here:And this is why it was awesome:

I'm Back. And Kind Of Speechless.

I really don't know where to start with this trip recap....should I mention the fact that, despite not eating meat for a decade, my diet is apparently still something to talk me out of? That my relatives are convinced about the Biblical age of the earth? That I realized my puny efforts to buy local and organic aren't going to do anything to change the farming system as we know it? No, I think I'd better mention the fact that a gin and tonic in the bar in the nearest town was $2.00. Because that was my happy place.

(Pictures coming tomorrow, if Blogger behaves.)

Tuesday Camping Roundup

We made it back from camping but I was too busy getting the campfire smell out of all the gear yesterday to post these.

Thankfully, it was only like this the first afternoon:

But the clouds didn't keep us from going up on Topaz Mountain and looking for topaz--there are some in that bag. (The beer was a way of keeping warm. As was the gin and the whiskey later.)

There was even a good sunny photo op:

But I was glad to be back home with Toby, who couldn't stop smelling our shoes.