Destination Anywhere & Everywhere

A Blog about travel & the crazy adventures of a wanderer

Archive for the tag “Things to do in California”

05 Feb 2012
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Destination: Black’s (Nude) Beach- San Diego, CA

If I never stepped foot on a nude beach again I could careless; I could even say that I would be relieved. I had my first nude beach experience at Black’s Beach in San Diego in June of 2011 before I left California as it was one of my must do bucket list items; and I’ll just say I had my fill to last me a lifetime.

If you’re anything like me and expect to see decent looking young bodies on the beach… you are wrong! No girls playfully kicking water at one another topless, no sexy guys with six packs and huge biceps throwing the football back and forth, no toned, tanned, naked bodies walking around laughing and having a good time, instead what you see is your grandpa completely naked with all his saggy wrinkly skin hanging out for all to see. And my feelings can be summarized in two words – Not Pretty!

I had wanted to check out a nude beach for quite sometime, the freedom of being able to layout and tan without getting harsh white lines was a dream come true for me. I had tried several times in my youth to eliminate those lines but each attempt ended unsuccessfully. The worst would have to be the time I was laying out topless in my backyard and my dad came home and saw me- yeah embarrassing. It ended with him screaming from inside the house ”Jesus Andrea, the neighbors can see you, what the hell are you thinking, get your top back on!”

Putting my past embarrassment behind me I decided that I would once again attempt to layout topless, but instead of in my backyard this time at a place that actually encouraged it- the nude beach. So one gloomy June day Devin and I jumped in the car and headed to San Diego from our place in Huntington Beach.

I will say this right now- Devin is always such a trooper, since none of my girlfriends were around that weekend he volunteered to come along with me so I didn’t have to go it alone. Not all guys would voluntarily go to the nude beach where there is nothing but gay men walking around naked, but Devin is something special. I’m sure that he thought he would see a few naked chicks down there and not just all men- boy was he wrong! Always down for the cause he allows me to pursue my dreams- not that the nude beach was a huge dream of mine, just something I wanted needed to do.

Black’s Beach is located in the La Jolla area of San Diego. The best way to get there is to follow directions like you are going to the Torrey Pines Gliderport.You park your car at the top of the bluff and then start your decent down the man-made stairway built into the cliff side. The steps are steep and hell, which is why the beach remains quite secluded- climbing up and down is not for amateurs. By the time we were at the bottom of the steps my knees were aching from the impact of climbing down, they had buckled underneath me and made me fall a few times, but I was still determined.

I should have know what to expect when I saw an old man wearing see-through mesh shorts walking up the stairs, but I still carried on. Devin and I found a place to lay out that was away from the other people down there, even at a nude beach a girl needs some privacy, and spread our towels out. First we were both apprehensive about removing our clothing, I was tanning my back so I untied my top strings but that was as far as I could go. I couldn’t bring myself to remove my bottoms especially after what I witnessed next.

There are two types of guys down on the beach- the older (50′s – 60′s) gay guy that is respectfully nude sitting in the sand doing his own thing, and then the younger (20′s – 30′s) creepy mexican guys that walk around with binoculars. I couldn’t help but think about my old coworker Juan Carlos who would be the creepy guy with binoculars and his partner Greg who would be the older guy on the beach- did they meet here? My guess would be yes! Anyway, the guys with the binoculars were really making me feel uncomfortable, I didn’t like the fact they were in the bushes fully clothed looking at everyone else on the beach. To add to the uncomfort as I mentioned earlier to get to Black’s you park at the gliderport and walk down the stairs, so there are people hovering in the air on these big kite things right over all the nudist laying out. I find it a bit ironic, jumping off the cliff to hover above the beautiful beach oh and the naked old men.

So you got the people hovering in the air above you, the guys with binoculars, and then a few of the older gentlemen strutting their stuff back and forth on the beach for someone to notice and call them over. I couldn’t help but feel that I was in one of those places that the guys go to meet each other and rendezvous in the bushes. Throw in a few surfers in the water (the waves are supposed to be really good here) and that is the scene at Blacks.

Needless to say, I don’t feel the need to go back; but then I figured if you can’t beat them then you gotta join them. The rest of the story can be left up to your imagination…

That’s my story….

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Posted in Beach, Day Trips, Girls Trip!, Weekend Getaway and tagged , , , , , , , ,
18 Jan 2012
5 Comments

Destination: Palm Desert, CA – A Bachelorette Weekend

Everyone’s been there before, one of you besties is getting married and you are left with the responsibility of providing her with the most fabulous last weekend as a single lady.  There are so many choices to make, are you the classy girls wine tasting, the wild girls on a pub crawl, the attention grabbing Vegas group.. or maybe somewhere in between… like Palm Springs, CA? Well that’s exactly where I found myself when one of my besties, Lorenn, was getting married.

The Bachelorette

While reluctant to give up on Vegas, where I desperately wanted to go with my first BFF tying the knot, Palm Springs, much to my surprise, was the perfect place for “Lorenn’s Last Fling Before The Ring.” I would recommend Palm Springs to any other bachelorette party, or just girls looking for a good ‘ole fashion girl’s weekend getaway.

The Hotel

In total there were 10 girls that came out to celebrate, split between the two days, which is part of the reason we opted for the closer destination of Palm Springs over Vegas. The other reason simply put, Kristi scored a huge deal on the hotel rooms, as a Marriott employee she was able to reserve the JW Marriott in Palm Desert for less than half of the listing price.

The hotel was super nice; it had 3 sparkling pools, an amazing golf course, a Japanese Steakhouse, well-manicured landscaping, and one of the hottest clubs in the area. Note I did say for the area, not a hot club by LA or New York standards; but it did have a line of people waiting to get in. Being with a bachelorette party meant two things, we needed a pool to layout by with cold drinks, and a place to go dancing; this hotel had both so we were completely content.

Landscaping at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert

I loved the idea of identifying ourselves as part of a bachelorette as we walked around the resort and if the penis straws, beads, and garters weren’t enough we each wore a customized t-shirt. The shirts read “I’m the ____ one!” and Lorenn got to fill in the blanks. Naturally she was the bride, I was the loud one, and then we had a mix of feisty, fun, behaved, sassy, married, sister, naughty and flirty.

Cheers!

I’m the ___ One!

Each girl got a gift bag with their t-shirt and accessories for the weekend (tattoos, beads, buttons, garters, penis straws, and commemorative lip gloss to always remember when “Lorenn Kissed the Single Life Good-bye”. It was a fun moment for each girl to open her bag and see what the bride really thought of her, if only she could be so honest. :)

Who says goodie bags are just for kiddie parties!

Lorenn Kisses the Single Life Good-Bye

Our weekend extravaganza took place in the middle of July which is just about the worst possible time ever to be in the Palm Springs/ Palm Desert area. The temperatures rise into the triple digits making it downright unbearable to be anywhere other than the pool or an air-conditioned room. So that’s right where we were – inside the pool all day long!

We eventually had to get out so that we could have some food, drinking margaritas all day with no food always has bad results, ours were really just silly. Sitting on stranger’s laps and sticking out butts out while someone photographed us from behind are just a few events that happened on our way back up to the room.

And the fun continued in the rooms. Eight girls all getting ready together is really an amazing feat, I mean surviving the fumes from all the hairspray and the heat from the blow-dryers is enough to make you wish you were a man that didn’t have to deal with any of that; let alone the hundred wardrobe changes and swaps that each girl must do before she is officially ready to go out for the night.  Two hours later we were all finally ready to go eat.

We went to dinner at Mikado, a Japanese Steakhouse inside of the hotel. If you go within the right hours you can take a gondola ride from the lobby to the restaurant, but we of course missed it. Also our rooms were right above the restaurant so it wouldn’t have made sense to walk all the way back to the lobby to get a ride from where we just were. This was the perfect spot for dinner with our large group. The restaurant had a loud atmosphere with a chef who cooked on the grill right in front of you creating an entertaining dining experience. Our chef threw little pieces of shrimps that we each had to catch in our mouths, created steaming volcanoes and made lots of fire. The food was decent, a bit pricey for what you get, but the martinis were amazing… need I say more!

The rest of the night went a little something like this- walking into Costas (the night club) one girl gets bent over by a big black guy who thrust his pelvis at her ass, drinks, girls sneak into the VIP table area and begin dancing on other people’s tables, more drinks, a few girls go back to bed, more drinks, old guy sucks for a buck, more drinks, girl gets motorboated by bachelor party, more girls go to leave as others stay out even longer, girls begin making themselves vomit on the way back to bed, finally everyone passes out. – It was seriously a great night!

The next morning we bid farewell to some of the girls who had to leave as we happily welcomed the newest batch and we started all over again.  Another day out by the pool sipping on frozen margaritas; it was a bit more crowded than before because it was Saturday so we made tons of friends and let the groups of guys buy us drinks. We even got invited on stage by the band to sing along to the song they were playing – Tom Petty’s American Girl- and I was the only one who knew some of the lyrics.

Singing with the Band

We had planned to do the same thing at night, go back to Costas, so we again began the two hour process of getting ready. While we were getting ready we started playing some bachelorette games the first being shaping a penis out of play dough… and of course I was the winner!

Can you guess which one is mine?

The next game was definitely the funniest and still has me smiling to this day. It was called “Who’s the Biggest Slut” which we turned into a drinking game, so if you had done whatever the card said you had to take a drink. As you can imagine the drinks were going down quite fast for everyone in the room. And while I can’t go into exact detail (girl weekend code) I will give you a snippet of our conversations: “You’ve done what! Really? How did you like it”, “Of course! Who hasn’t?!  I did in middle school”, “No I would never! That is seriously disgusting! How could all of you do that?!”, “I would maybe, and I mean maybe do that as a present on our wedding night”, “Can someone Google that?”, “Did it hurt?” and “I hated doing that, I thought they all smelled like that, yeah now I realize it was just him!” We all learned a bit about each other that night, even friends who had known each other for 10 years still didn’t know everything about one another.

We ended our night at Costas drinking and dancing the night away and once the “mom’s” went to bed a few of us shared a joint out by the lake. Eventually after eating all the snacks we had in the room we passed out for the night. The next morning everyone woke up and the girls got ready to go for massages while I drove back home to Murrieta for the last time; I was leaving for New Jersey that night.

It was the perfect way to spend Lorenn’s Bachelorette and my last weekend in California. I had a great time and so did the bride, which is all that matters. Her last* single weekend (she wasn’t getting married for two more months) was a success and I had created the best memories with my girlfriends to keep me going through the cold winters without them.

That’s my story…

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Posted in Girls Trip!, Travel, Vacations, Wedding, Weekend Getaway and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
10 Jan 2012

Destination: Rodeo Drive- Beverly Hills, California

I don’t know what I was hoping for when I put this on my bucket list, maybe it was my love for Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and I was thinking it would be a uber fabulous day full of glitz and glam, but it was a bore. A total waste of my coveted four-day weekend away from work (it was Memorial Day so per company holiday policy we get the day off)

Most of the stores were closed for the holiday so we -Devin and I- couldn’t even go in them (which was my fault for not thinking of that before driving an hour to get there) but more importantly these stores are now located everywhere! Not to sound like a snob but between South Coast Plaza in Orange County, San Diego, and traveling to New York and Chicago I have seen several Tiffany’s and Louis Vuitton’s. I guess I was expecting a feel of old Hollywood glam, but that was clearly lacking; all the stores had window displays that could be found in any part of the world, nothing special.

Devin and I wandered a bit but with most places being closed and my desire to buy something not being met we ditched old Rodeo to go the Glendale Galleria (A huge mall 30 minutes down the road). It was there that my shopping need was fixed with the purchase of a beautiful Burberry watch for Devin as a celebration to our eight year anniversary (which was the next day).

Overall I’m glad I went just to say I’ve been to Rodeo Drive but in reality it was nothing significant or special to me. With all the high-end designers being so commercially available in most malls in bigger cities I wouldn’t suggest visitors/tourist spend their day here. You would be better served walking up to the Hollywood sign. Regardless it was one more thing I did in California before I made the transition to New Jersey.

That’s my story…

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Posted in Day Trips, Girls Trip!, Shopping, Vacations and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
17 Aug 2011
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Snowboarding and the Beach in the Same Day- Destination: California

Finally another drop in my bucket! With only one day left before Mountain High closed for the season Devin and I decided to cross off my desire to go snowboarding and to the beach within the same day.

This all started years ago while on a business trip in Connecticut. As I was sitting at the bar I struck up a conversation with a couple from Boston; eventually our conversation lead to a debate about where the better place to live was, Boston or California; and I eventually won by concluding, “Tell me where else in the world you can drive less than two hours to go snowboarding and to the beach within the same day,  and not your cold, no wave beach- but your Southern California girls in bikinis, guys riding the waves beach” as they dumbfoundedly looked towards one another for the answer, I smirked knowing once again I won. (ps- I never lose)

Like usual we were down to the wire, only one mountain was still open* for the spring season, and I say “open” meaning two lifts and  4 runs total. There was actually more dirt than snow on the mountain which was why it would be closing for the season the next day.

The status of Mountain High on April 23, 2011

The status of Mountain High on April 23, 2011

It had been about three years since the last time I laced up my snow boots and let me tell you this was not an easy feat. I don’t know if my boots had just been unbroken into- if that can even happen, or if my feet grew, but I could barely get my foot in. If that was my Cinderella moment, prince charming would have given up; I was totally the evil stepsister trying to squeeze my oversized foot into somewhere it didn’t belong.

It’s said  that  you never forget how to ride a bike, and while that may be true, you can forget how to ride a snowboard, or at least I did. At one time early in my “career” I had a season’s pass to the mountain and would go snowboarding on a weekly basis. I wasn’t the best, but I did once ride a box. This experience for me was by far one of my most embarrassing- well the time I ran into the ski instructor’s chair was worse, but at least that was my first time ever- this time I couldn’t ride toe side, so I spent the whole way down the mountain riding heel side zigzagging back and forth. I used to hate people who snowboarded like this, their unpredictable pattern down the mountain made it nearly impossible to pass, and when you tried to they would spastically fall right in front of you causing you to nearly fall also. Well today I was one of them, complete with the falling on my ass over and over again- and did I mention I was wearing jeans? As we were pulling out all of our gear the night before I noticed that my pants weren’t with everything else, with all the stores being closed I said F it I’ll be okay, I’m not going to fall… boy was I wrong!

Wearing my snazzy snow gear

Wearing my snazzy snow gear

After two runs I was exhausted and done snowboarding. I sat on a bench at the bottom of the mountain drinking a Coors Light sulking over my wet jeans, ache feet, and sore thighs. I couldn’t wait to get to the beach, but had to wait for Devin to go on a few more runs.

Ski Lifts at Mountain High

Devin Snowboarding

Andrea Snowboarding

 

Once Devin finally had his fill of snowboarding we threw our boards into the backseat of his car and headed towards the beach. Less than two hours later we laying in the sand listening to the seagulls crowing and children screaming as the cold waves crashed onto them (because the beach on a warm spring afternoon never has the peaceful waves crashing into the sand sound).

I have become somewhat of a wimp in my later years; the girl who used to bodyboard and hang in the water with all the guys was replaced by the girl who would rather lay out and bronze her body, and today was no exception. I really did want to try to surf with Devin to make my story more complete- snowboarding and surfing in the same day- but I couldn’t make it past dipping my feet into the cold water.

Andrea Beach

Devin Beach

Devin Surfing

 

As Devin swam out with his surfboard I sat in my chair reading the latest Nicholas Sparks novel still amused with the fact that only in Southern California could a person go to the snow and to the beach in the same day- and I was now someone who had done it.

Footprints in the Sand

 

That’s my story…

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Posted in Beach, Day Trips, Travel, Weekend Getaway and tagged , , , , , , , ,
01 Apr 2011
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Destination: Hollywood sign

 Each country has its own nationally renowned landmark/monument, something that visitors from all over the world travel to see; the Eiffel tower in Paris, the pyramids in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, and in the United States the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Hollywood sign in California. While the United States has several other natural wonders like the Grand Canyon or Niagara falls, I feel that both Hollywood and the Statue of Liberty represent more of the “American Dream”- freedom and the chance to make it big. Millions of people flock to Hollywood each year to see the handprints outside Grauman’s Theater, their favorite star’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the mansions where the celebs live, and the 45 foot tall letters of the Hollywood sign.

Living in Southern California all my life I have driven by the Hollywood sign many of times on my way somewhere else and never ventured to see it up close; that is until I was moving.

A mere day after putting the finishing touches on my bucket list Devin and I were already crossing something off. It had been raining all week-long, but when I woke up Saturday morning the sun was peeking through the clouds, so I decided it was time to get out and get some fresh air. An hour after forcing myself to get out of bed I was at the base of Mt. Lee in Hollywood strapping on my backpack, getting ready for the hike.

Where the hike started

Devin holding Hollywood in the palm of his hand

The hike started off easy enough, uphill but on a smooth, hard packed trail; after ¼ mile the trail leveled off and was flat, gradually increasing in elevation. Somehow Devin and I missed the turn off to get to the Hollywood sign and ended up going east towards the Griffith Observatory; to get back on track we began cutting through the mountain side. The ground was all muddy, there were steep rocks to climb down and huge bushes to crawl under; the hike had suddenly become very difficult, not what we had been expecting.

We don’t do trails, we create our own path

We only had our one water bottle (after Zion you would think we would learn our lesson), because everything we read about the hike said it was a quick 30 minute hike, uphill, but reasonable; little did we know we were detouring through the mountains. We honestly could have been those people who show up on the news that get lost going on some easy hike and end up dying. Luckily we found our way to the road and got back on track.

Finally we found our way back!

Yeah I said road, after walking on the hard packed dirt for a while it runs into an old service road, so you continue up to the sign on paved asphalt, why we were climbing through the mountains instead of on the asphalt…. I don’t know.

The clouds were rolling in as we were on the final ascent to the top of the mountain (which had become very steep at this point), so we knew we had limited time.

The clouds were rolling in

 The closest that you can get to the sign is 20 feet behind a metal chain link fence, but you still get the feel for how grand it is. Even better is the view of the Silver Lake reservoir and the city of Los Angeles.

The City of Angels

The view from the top of the Hollywood Sign

We took a few photos but began feeling rain drops so quickly began heading back down and all of a sudden out of no where gum ball sized hail drops were coming down on us. So we started running down the hill trying to get to our car faster, it didn’t take too long to get there but we were drenched! Afterwards we stopped at Earth Cafe (the guys of Entourage aways went there) to grab a quick bite before heading back to our place in Huntington Beach.

The hike was a great one, very easy as long as you stay on the trail; and provides phenomenal views of the City of Angeles. I am really glad I climbed to the top of the Hollywood sign and don’t have to worry about telling people I never did it while I lived in California. I would recommend it for anyone that lives in California or even for people who are just visiting.

Devin’s Hollywood Head Shot

My Hollywood Glamour Sho

My Advice:

  • Check out this guy’s site before you try and go and read it all the way through, he gives you step by step directions so you don’t get lost like I did :) http://hollywoodsigntrip.com/
  • Look for the trail to split left, while you are walking you will pass a part where the trail cuts back behind you, uphill- this is where you want to go

  • If you go in the summer wear sunscreen, bring more than one water bottle, and put on a big floppy hat – there is no shade on the trail.
  • If possible go in the early morning or evening

That’s my story…

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Posted in Day Trips, Hiking, Travel, Weekend Getaway and tagged , , , , , ,
25 Feb 2011

My California Bucket List

Well we’re movin on up, to the east side- literally. Devin and I have been offered the opportunity to help our company expand it’s operation to the East Coast; which means we will be packing our bags and heading to New York/ New Jersey.

Ever since the first time I visited New York I knew I would want to someday live there, if only for a few years. California will always be my home; I’m a laid back beach bum at heart, but something about high rises, subways, and corporate America has always turned me on. It may sound crazy but I love hearing all the noise of the big city (honking horns and all); it reminds me of growing up in a house with three siblings- never a quite moment (and if you know my family, you know what I am talking about- we are loud!) And while I look forward to all the new adventures in store for Devin and I, there is still so much left to do in California.

We have four months before the big move and within that time I have to knock off everything that I’ve been wanting/meaning to do, as it will be several years until I am back on a permanent basis. I just can’t be asked about “cool things” to do in California from some New Yorker and answer back- “well I never did it”. My goal is to cross off as many things as I can within the next four months…. and I’ll be sure to write all about them :)

My California Bucket List:

  • Snowboard and go to the beach within the same day

 I distinctly remember on a work trip to Connecticut arguing with a couple in the bar that California was way better than Boston because you could snowboard and go to the beach within the same day (a perfect weather beach at that). And they agreed because where else in the world can you do that- I still never have, but for argument’s sake I need to.

  • Ride my first wave, after all I do live in “Surf City USA”
  • Go beach camping one last time (I don’t care where- Carlsbad, Leo Carrillo, Pismo… I love them all)
  • Go to Blacks Beach in San Diego tanning all the areas where the sun normally doesn’t shine (it’s a nude beach)
  • See/feed the animals at the Wild Animal Park up close and personal, aka “San Diego Zoo Safari Park” (what a lame re-name), after all it is where Devin made our relationship official :)
  • Go to Yosemite and take Ansel Adams style pics- of course mine would be way better

I have been to Yosemite once before, on a crazy family vacation when I was 11. All six of us piled into my dad’s truck, which only seats six, and spent three weeks of the precious summer touring California Ghost Towns, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Reno Nevada. Oh and did I mention my brother was three years old sitting in his car-seat screaming the whole entire way. To say we bonded as a family is a complete understatement- it was torture! Needless to say I didn’t really look at Yosemite with all the amazement it deserves- come on I was 11 and actually had friends to hang out with. So now I would like to go back, really admire it, and put Ansel to shame!

  • Wine taste in Napa/Sonoma, Paso Robles, and Temecula Valleys
  • Hike to the Hollywood sign,  to see it up close and personal
  •  Ride the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier and walk the Venice Beach Boardwalk
  • Shop on Rodeo Drive… and maybe even buy something
  • Go clubbing in LA
  • Go to California Adventure- Disneyland… I’ve been there done that

There are probably others that are missing from my list, but these coupled with the things that I have already done should give me a good base. Once everything is checked off my list I will be a California expert, and will never have to answer “I never tried it”.  It will be a busy four months, but in the end so worth it!

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26 Jan 2011

Day Trip to the Getty Museum

Though I’ve only been once, the Getty Museum tops my list of things to do in Southern California. It has a little something for everyone: art, landscaping, scenic views; and isn’t your typical boring museum. Whether you live in Southern California or you’re visiting for the first time this should definitely be on your list of things to do.

Devin and I headed up to the Getty on a Saturday afternoon. I had never been before, but Devin had on a school field trip (believe it or not, in college you still go on field trips like you did when you were 5 years old), so he showed me around. Everything about the museum’s architecture was deliberate; it is one of those places where everything down to the smallest rock is placed exactly where is should be to create a greater overall appearance.  The travertine used to shape the buildings was shipped directly from Italy and the construction took years, that alone warrants admiration. I’ve never been big on architecture but this is a beautiful building!

The exhibits inside are on constant rotation, so each time you go there is something new to look at. The art ranges from the Middle Ages to current day contemporary pieces. I am in no way an art expert or connoisseur, but I enjoyed many of the items. Seeing the creative process of other individuals that were willing to just go for it and put themselves out there is really inspiring. We didn’t even get through half of the exhibits; there are just so many things to look at.

At the time of our visit I was really into nature photography, so we spent a lot of our time wandering the gardens and snapping photos of all the beautiful springtime flowers. The colors were so vibrant and there were so many different textures, in my opinion a beautiful floral arrangement. I wish I was able to get my garden to look like this! Sadly despite my best efforts it never will.

I even caught a picture of a bee pollinating a flower

We ate a picnic lunch on the grass while taking in the breathtaking views. Even if you don’t pack your own lunch the Getty has carts selling food, so you can still sit on the grass and eat- which I highly recommend! Overall we had a great experience at the Getty, it wasn’t too crowded to enjoy ourselves, and it was relatively cheap (free admission with $15 parking). I would love to go again since there are new exhibits on display, not that it really matters since I didn’t see them all the first time- and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t remember them, but I haven’t made the time. But now that springtime is coming its the perfect time to go… I think I know what I’m doing next weekend :)

My advice:

  • Get to the Getty early so that you have time to see everything (it opens at 10 am)
  • But make sure to time your arrival/departure right so that you don’t have to sit in crazy traffic on the 405 (traffic is bad on the 405N from 7 AM – 9AM, and bad on the 405S from 5PM-8PM Monday-Friday, weekends are usually pretty easy)
  • Pack a lunch and have a picnic on the grass
  • Bring a camera to take pictures of the scenic views  and of the permanent exhibits (these are the only ones that you are allowed to take pictures of)
  • Make it a date- it is actually a very romantic place and you can buy beer and wine from the carts while you sit outside  to watch the sunset.

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

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08 Jan 2011

Destination: Colorado (A Road Trip from California)

My Story:

 It all began one weekend in the summer of July 2007, it was a normal Friday just like any other and after a long daunting day at work what better to do than start a fourteen hour drive to Colorado… Well that’s exactly what Devin, my long time boyfriend, and I decided to do. Now I don’t know how many people are familiar with four o’clock traffic on a Friday afternoon heading from California to Vegas, but let me describe it in one word, horrendous. Yep that about sums it up- stop and go (mostly stop) for four hours straight on the most deserted two lane highway through the “who the hell chooses to live here” area in California. And so it began…

One of my dearest friends, Alissa, had moved to Colorado to live with her boyfriend at the time while he finished up school; she had been living there for about a year and was due to move back to California in a few weeks. The timing of it was quite odd, I mean I finally chose to visit and she was moving back in two weeks! But what better excuse to go out and explore. The decision to go was so spontaneous that Devin and I didn’t really have time to shop and pack for a road trip (you know, buy bags upon bags of salty snacks and sugary candy, or make the perfect road trip mix for my iPod); it was Thursday night, we were sitting in our one bedroom apartment in Long Beach and just decided “let’s go tomorrow after work”. We hurriedly packed a few clothes, blankets, and whatever snacks we had in our bare kitchen cabinets and called it good to go.

So there we were, stuck in traffic for three hours on the 15 headed North, and only an hour and a half away from home; not even a dent into the thousand plus miles we are about to be driving. In my head I was thinking “Should we turn back now, if this is what the drive is going to be like it’s not worth it… But on the other hand we have already invested three hours, what’s the point of turning back;”so we turned up the radio a little louder, ate a few more sour patch kids, and continued on. The longest part of the car ride was the ride to Vegas; after we passed the strip the freeway opened right up and we drove on through the night on the empty highway through the desert.

It was about 8 am when we finally arrived in Colorado, and we were exhausted. We didn’t stop and stay the night anywhere, we just switched off driving, each getting about two hours sleep until the one driving couldn’t bear to  keep their heavy eyelids open any longer. 

 Devin often has a hard time sleeping when I am driving, I guess after three accidents (that may be a bit modest) and numerous traffic tickets, I am not the world’s safest or greatest driver. At one point in the night he had finally closed his eyes to get some sleep after hours of me insisting that he do so; but at that point I could barely hold my eyes open, I mean I was trying so hard. I would close them for a few seconds and then be jolted awake by the sound of my tires rubbing the bumps of the center divider, so I pulled off to the shoulder and put the car in park while we both took a little nap. (by little I mean 30 minutes max). Needless to say it was a long night! 

After giving our hugs and kisses we took a quick nap, about two hours, and got up to go explore Colorado. We didn’t drive over 17 hours from California to sleep the day away, like Devin always says “you can sleep when your dead”! Our first stop was in the downtown area of Bolder Colorado. We walked around the shops and had lunch at a little restaurant. I can’t remember the name now, but the food was delicious seeing as all I had to eat the day before was candy, chips, and Sonic slushies. You could definitely tell that we weren’t in California anymore- there were several stores dedicated to selling crocs (the newest fad in the midwest) and we were probably the only people on the street not wearing them. But what we did next was the highlight of the trip. We went camping in the Rockies.

After buying beer- Coors of course,  (I mean can you really drink any other beer when going camping in the Rockies) a few hotdogs, and ingredients for  smores we drove up the mountain and found ourselves a camping spot. We stayed up listening to music and drinking beers in front of the campfire. The next morning we went on a day hike to a gorgeous lake with the mountains in the backdrop, and while I’m no professional the pictures I took could be turned into a postcard.

A scenic view from inside the park

Sunday afternoon we drove down the mountain back to their apartment, packed up our stuff, and got back on the road. It was still early so we got to see all of Colorado and Utah during the daylight, not like the darkness that we had seen when we were driving through at dark-thrity. I made us pull to the side of the road  and pose for pictures as we were “now leaving ” and “now entering ” every state along the way until we got to the Nevada/California state line. By that time it was about 10 pm and it was too dark/ I was too tired. (from Colorado to California you drive through Utah, Arizona, and Nevada)

The drive home was pretty good until we got to the horrid place I mentioned earlier; again we were on our way to Vegas, but this time it was from the opposite direction. There was an accident; a semi had rolled into the center ditch and basically shutdown the highway. It had already been such a long weekend with all the driving, but this just extended the yearning to get home, to stretch out on my own bed. We finally made it back around 1 in the morning. Exhausted, we jumped into bed to catch a few hours of sleep before we had to wake up again for work in the morning.

Till this day I love telling the story about the adventure Devin and I took to Colorado over the weekend. I love seeing the reaction on everyone’s face when I explain that we drove 17 hours one way on Friday and 17 back on Sunday. Most people cannot stand  driving to the next city over to run an errand let alone drive 1,000 miles to hang out. But that’s what Devin and I do, we don’t think twice about going on an adventure.  

That’s my story….

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

My Advice:

  • If your road trip is scheduled to depart on a Friday, take off as early as possible (really no later than noon). This is especially true if you will be driving through a popular weekend spot like Vegas.
  • Have a gps, or internet capable phone handy at all times. It can direct you to an alternate route if you hit a road block, or lead you to an interesting spot to have lunch.
  • If you have more time during your road trip you can make a few stops along the way to Colorado. First, you can stop at Zion National Park in Utah which is off the I-15 North. There are a lot of hiking trails and scenic views (Look for my post about Zion for more details). If you have time for another stop you can go the Arches National Park in Utah, just 26 miles South of the I-70. (I have never been there, but hope to soon). And lastly pull off and spend the day in Grand Junction instead of just passing through. They have about 18 wineries with beautiful scenic views and a lot of outdoor activities including hiking, fishing and white water rafting. (http://www.visitgrandjunction.com)
  • When in Colorado try an Elk burger. (I was too wimpy to try it and have a pretty weak stomach for anything other than chicken or steak, but I have heard that it is actually quite good.) As they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do – to clarify not all people in Colorado eat Elk, but as you approach the mountainous areas, you will see Elk on every menu.
Posted in Camping, Hiking, Road Trip, Travel, Vacations, Weekend Getaway and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

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