Whirlwind Trip to SoCal

As I mentioned this morning, my friend Kelsey and I spent Veteran's Day weekend in Southern California because I was presenting a paper at a conference and she was kind enough to keep me company so I wouldn't have to drive there are back on my own. We decided to make the most of our time in SoCal so we hit up Hollywood on Saturday afternoon and spend Sunday at Disneyland.

Hollywood wasn't quite what we expected. It certainly isn't as glamorous as it looks on TV or in movies, but it was still fun! We decided to visit the wax museum and since it was a combo ticket, we went to the Guinness World Record Museum as well.

Captain Jack Sparrow greeted us as we entered and I so I snapped this photo for my sister and co-blogger, Ashton. She loves Johnny Depp!

I love Gwyneth Paltrow, so I just had to take a photo with her. It was amazing how life-like the wax statues were...not that I recognized that many of them, but I suppose that comes of growing up without watching many movies.

Ah, the entrance to Disneyland.

Kelsey insisted we go on the It's a Small World ride and though I was dreading it, it actually was really awesome! The song did not get stuck in my head because they change it for the holidays.

The decorations inside were amazing. This is as simple as they got.

Since I went on It's a Small World, Kelsey humored me and we rode the carousel together (I don't know what it is about them, but I ride carousels whenever I get the chance).

Here we are together in the lower left hand corner of the mirror.

The mast of the pirate ship we set sail on.

Mike Fink, King of the River's cabin. Davy Crockett was visiting! I had to snap this photo because I have way too many good memories of singing "Daaavy, Daaavy Crocket, King of the Wild Frontier" with my siblings.

Ah, the haunted mansion. It was awesome!

Before dinner, we watched the parade. The chimney sweeps were our favorite part. These guys were super talented!

We ended the evening with a trip on the Disneyland railroad followed by the holiday magic fireworks show.

Overall, we had a great time in SoCal, though we were both very glad to return to the land of tree-canopied cities and rarely-glimpsed skyscrapers.

Photo of the Week

A friend and I drove down to Southern California for Veteran's Day weekend. On the way down, we saw a lot of cotton bales along I-5, something neither of us had ever seen before, but knew instantly when we did. When we got to our hotel room, I wrote a Haiku about it:

Driving to SoCal
Cotton bales fresh harvested
Lining the highway

Check back this afternoon for more pictures from our trip!

My Brother's College

As you may remember, I went to Prescott, Arizona a few weeks ago to keep my mom and brother company during the second half of orientation week. My brother is attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and I was really impressed with with the campus, town, and above all, the intelligence and character of the students I met. Here are some pictures from that trip:

I love the high desert! It is so beautiful!

This is a plane that just stays here all the time. I think there's something special about it, but I don't remember what it is!

Mom and Joe in one of the campus outdoor areas.

Pathway along the side of the library.

View of the student center from the university library.

The hallway in the library mimics the look of a runway at night.

The library also has to-scale replicas of nearly every plane ever created. It was cool to see them all next to each other!

Even the dumpster-hiding-walls look good at this university!

My brother and me during our last errand together, which involved a trip to Costco to purchase a rain jacket. Rain comes sudden and heavy in the high desert, something us Nor Cal'ers are not used to! We didn't even think to pack a raincoat for him.

Sunset behind the dorms.

Path leading from the dorms to the student center.

ERAU is very supportive of the military. This tree is a memorial to all the fallen service men and women who are ERAU alums. The Army and Air Force cadets stop every time they pass this statue and salute in their honor.

Point Reyes Backpacking Trip

This past weekend the hubs and I went backpacking at Point Reyes with two of our best friends from college (who are also married to each other :). We were all friends before any of us started dating - and I think it's especially cool that we ended up dating and falling in love (there was actually a group of about 10-12 of us who all ended up pairing up into serious relationships with each other by the end of college).

It was foggy when we arrived. We hiked in along Limantour beach to Coast camp - only about a 1.8 mile hike, but a nice starter backpacking trip since it was our friend's first time going on this kind of adventure.

The guys were walking together - nerding it up most likely - when Samantha and I spotted an odd piece of driftwood....

that ended up being a seal! I've been to Point Reyes numerous times, and this was the first time I'd seen one (well, an alive one that is - once there was a seal carcass that washed ashore).

The hubs and I have a tradition of taking his picture with wild animals. So far the tally is baby owl, lion cub, baby alligator, and now a seal. Too bad it wasn't a seal pup so we could continue the baby animal tradition :)

It didn't really want it's picture taken, so as soon as I started to take the picture it began waddling toward the water. But at least they are in the same frame!

Once we set up camp, the hubs took us on a day hike - which ended up being a grueling 9 miles round trip!

The fog had lifted, and it was gorgeous! This is toward the beginning of the hike while we were all still feeling peppy.

The adorable couple. Seriously they are so sweet! Still practically newlyweds :) We had such a fun time hanging out with them - there is nothing better than spending time with friends you've known forever! We have seen each other through so much of life's ups and downs. An added bonus? All of us are equally good friends with each other - so there were no awkward trying-to-get-to-know-you moments. We could all totally be ourselves without worrying what the others would think, which is so nice :)

some gorgeous scenery along the coast trail.

hiking along the side of the trail - too muddy to actually walk ON the trail - it only got muddier from here!

exhausted at the end - we arrived back at camp as the sun set - just in time to make a beach fire to cook and enjoy a dinner of hot dogs and s'mores :)

The next morning we awoke sore, but pleased with our previous days' accomplishments. It was freezing though!

The fog was thick

So glad we could get away with such good friends! Here's to more trips in the future (but we promise we won't hike them to death next time :)

Beer & Burgers at the Cascade Lakes Brewery

Since the racers had a criterium in downtown Bend late Saturday afternoon, we decided to go out to eat afterward at the Cascade Lakes Brewing Company. Nano and I had eaten there the year before with a different group of friends and I had really good memories of how great the buffalo burgers & beers were. Actually, I had a great memory of how one of the beers was, because I only tried one last year, the 20" Brown, and I had purchased a 6-pack that I stretched out until the end of May.

So when we went back to Bend this year, one of my priorities was getting another buffalo burger from this restaurant and getting the taster tray of all their beers so I could purchase a few to take home.

 

One side of the menu listed all the food dishes that were available. Although there was a lot to choose from, everyone in our group ordered a burger, and most of us paid the extra $2 to get the buffalo patty. It was worth it! Buffalo meat is amazing.

I am a woman of very plain tastes, so I always order my burgers "just the meat and the bun." If it comes with vegetables, I get them on the side and eat them separate from the main dish. The buffalo burger was delicious! I highly recommend getting a buffalo burger whenever you can - they can be hard to find and might cost a little more, but they are oh-so-tender and very tasty.

I tend to put a lot of ketchup on my hamburgers and hotdogs! Also, you can't eat fries without some ketchup for dipping!

The flip side of the menu listed all the drinks offered by the brewery. Since I was planning to buy a lot of beer after dinner, I decided to get the taster tray so I could have a clear idea of which beers I like and which I don't.

Since I don't like IPAs, I substituted the Riverside Red. Clockwise from 11 O'Clock, the beers in the tray are Blonde Bombshell, Pine Marten Pale Ale, Rooster Tail Ale, 20" Brown, Monkey Face Porter, and Riverside Red.

These two were my favorite of the bunch - 20" Brown and Rooster Tail Ale. I'm not a fan of really light ales, but I did enjoy the Blonde Bombshell and I thought it would be great on a really hot summer evening. I couldn't detect any distinctive differences between the Pine Marten and Rooster Tail ales, but the Rooster Tail seemed slightly more mellow and less "sharp" to me than the Pine Marten, though it was still quite enjoyable. 20" Brown was just as malty & tasty as I'd remembered and I once again decided to buy it. I'm not a fan of porters, but the Monkey Face Porter was by far the best one I've ever had and I considered buying it, but since I couldn't think of any occasion where I would choose to drink the Monkey Face over any of the others, I decided against it.

I really liked the Riverside Red, the first red beer I'd ever had, but alas! Cascade Lakes Brewing Company does not sell 6-packs of the seasonal brews! Sad face.

 

These were the notes I made to myself while tasting the beers. As you can see, I am quite the beer connoisseur - not! The numbers next to the beers indicate how many I intended to purchase. A 6-pack costs $7, and since my beer budget was $50, I planned to purchase seven 6-packs (which would have come to $49). However, when I got to the counter, I saw that a case was $25, so for only $50, I was able to get a total of eight 6-packs instead of just seven.

The taster tray came with this nifty little information sheet on the various beers. It was nice to be able to taste the beers and try to distinguish their characteristics, then read about them to see if I was right.

I brought two of those bad boys home - enough to last for a year with some to share! I asked if they could mix & match the cases for me, and sure enough, they could! So I got three 6-packs of the 20" Brown (still a favorite), two of the Rooster Tail Ale, two of the Pine Marten Ale, and one of the Blonde Bombshell. Cheers!

(In case I didn't make it clear, I highly recommend visiting this restaurant if you're ever in Bend. Here is a link to their website.)

A Vacation of B's

A week and a half ago, my four younger siblings and I, along with three friends, went to Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Cycling Classic, an annual stage race that takes place across three days (for the non-pros). This was definitely a vacation full of things that start with the letter "B":

- Bend (obviously!)
- Bicycling
- Burgers
- Beer

And some things that do not start with the letter "B":

- Shopping
- Music
- Movie watching
- Sleeping

The first day we were there we just got to relax. The racers (Nano, Jason, Andrew, and Jon) went on a ride to loosen up their legs for the next day while the rest of us slept in. It was so nice to have a break from getting up to go to work!

The road race took place on Friday. It was a difficult course with a LOT of climbing packed into the first and last few miles of a 71-mile route. Joe, Abba, our friend Kate, and I drove to the feedzone at mile 50 to hand off water bottles to our racers. Joe took the above picture of us girls while we waited for the cyclists to come by. I'm sporting the scarf I picked up from AE the day before - I love that scarf!

There was a great little spot by the road overlooking a creek. Joe and Abba took advantage the opportunity to sit in the shade and relax.

Here's Joe preparing for a water bottle hand-off. The day couldn't have been more beautiful, it was sunny and warm without being too warm - a little miracle considering we were on/near Mt. Bachelor. In fact, the race ended at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort but it was so warm that no one need any layers even though there was still snow on the ground. I think I just don't understand how Oregonian weather works.

Here are some other pictures from the day:

My youngest brother, Jon, was in the Category 3 group. The rest of the racers were in Cat 2, so after the 3s went by and we had given Jon his bottle, we followed the pack to the finish.

 

This was the view for a good portion of the course. Jon did great and held a good position in the peloton until 10K to go, when he was dropped on a hill.

This is my post-race "paparazzi" shot of Nano - doesn't he have a great look on his face? I think it says "Get those annoying cameras out of my face" perfectly!

Nano and Jason (teammate from Down Under!) debriefing after the race.

Waiting for Jon to come into the finish. We had passed him on the road but he arrived only about 20 minutes after we did.

And there he is!

Stay tuned for Thursday when I'll be reviewing the brewery we ate at on Saturday, along with the beers I purchased!