California - Day 3

Waking up to an unfamiliar sound in an unfamiliar house is not the most exciting of beginnings to any morning. My usual, melodic alarm that I had set for 6:30 was not what I was hearing, and I was jolted awake. I grabbed my phone and saw that I had received a text from American Airlines with a 2-hour reminder about my flight. I had somehow confused my departure times and had to leave to get to the airport quickly. But after this rushed start, the day fell into a more reasonable pace.

Flying along the coast of California is an incredible experience. The landscape passing by below is so unique and truly breathtaking. Taking the airbus from San Jose to LA was the method of transportation I was dreading the most before the trip began, but once I decided to really live the experience and look out the window for the entire length of the flight, I found myself completely changed. It was this short flight that inspired me to let go of the fear of flight and embrace the opportunity it gives us to see the world in an entirely unique way. Here is a view from up above:


After this incredible plane ride, I arrived in Los Angeles. Its was about 10am and I had until 7pm to see the city. Not knowing a THING about Los Angeles... I found some public transportation and followed the most touristy looking people I could find. (Before I forget, I'd like to plug California's excellent transportation system. I didn't have one bad experience while travel inside of CA. Every plane, train and bus was fast, cheap and clean.) About an hour and a half later (LA is HUGE!!!) I was in Hollywood. I walked up out of the Metro and found myself on the sidewalk with stars under my feet. I was obviously in the right place. After about 5 minutes walking around to see where I was, I realized how uncomfortable I was. I reminded myself about having packed light for this very reason. It was so so hot out and my back was already killing me. I had also not yet eaten anything. So I walked a bit further until I found a cluster of simple restaurants.

After a nice quick meal and a rest for my back, I went back out onto the street to get myself oriented. Within a few blocks I was able to see lots of stars (in the sidewalk... not the people, haha), the handprints in front of Gromin's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood sign (from a far distance). I also saw these two posing for pictures... which made me shake my head for so many reasons...


So it had only been about an hour, but I suddenly realized that I had 5 more hours in the city and I had already seen basically everything iconic that I knew of LA. It was at this point that I decided to really tourist it up and use the next few hours wisely. Knowing nothing at all about where to go and how to get there, I meandered over to the giant, red double decker tour buses. I usually stay away from these bad boys, but this seemed like a real good time to swallow my pride and hop on board.

Probably the best $30 I spent on the entire trip. I put down my bag, took out my camera and listened to the pre-recorded narration as I saw a good portion of the city. I passed incredibly expensive shops, the tar pits and a few studios. Here's a link to all of my pictures from LA:

L.A. Pictures

At this point, I transferred to another bus route and made my way west to Union Station to catch my train to Santa Barbara. With the extra time I had, I walked up and down a few side streets and enjoyed the courtyard at Union Station. When it was time to get on the train, I found a nice spot in the Business Class car. I had purchased the upgraded ticket to ensure that I would have a spot on the train leaving that evening (because I really didn't want to get stuck in LA for the night). Another great decision on my part. Here were some of the benefits that the extra $13 gave me:


Yep, that's right, that's a little bottle of wine back there. I had lots of leg room and a great window seat as I was now riding along the ground alongside all of the beautiful mountains I had seen from above a half a day earlier. What a fantastic way to finish a fantastic day! I say "fantastic," but let me be perfectly clear: I'm absolutely content with my visit to L.A., but I see no reason to ever return. Most of California... I could live in, but L.A. - I'm all set, thanks very much.

In my next post, you'll hear all about my time in Santa Barbara for day 4! Stay tuned!

California: Day 2

Today I saw San Francisco as it was meant to be seen. It is an incredible city, so different from any other one I know. I woke up at 8 (west coast time) and got myself ready. I knew that Andrew would be asleep for several more hours, so I thought this would be a good time to do all the touristy things that he wouldn’t be interested in. Not knowing anything at all about the city and its layout, I set out looking for some mass transportation. After a few blocks I ran into the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport). Both fast and inexpensive, I rode the BART uptown in search of some breakfast. At this point, I was feeling so jetlagged I knew that I had to eat soon or I would probably start to feel sick. I pulled out the map that Andrew had given me the night before and saw that I was relatively close to Café Gratitude. In the middle of the Mission District, this restaurant is known to me through Jason Mraz who references it in the song that’s fueling this trip. So I felt pulled towards this landmark. When I walked in, I was greeted by a young woman from Israel who handed me a menu and posed a question: “What has given you the most joy today?”. While I pondered all of the answers I could give, I perused the extensive menu. So many choices… “I Am Enlightened,” “I Am Committed,” “I Am Fiery”… In the end, I chose the Yo Soy Bonita for my meal, a shot of I Am Enlivened and the I Am Rejuvenated wheatgrass cocktail. About 3 minutes into the meal I felt like an entirely new person. I was beautiful, I was enlivened and I was certainly rejuvenated. Everything I needed. Here’s a picture of the perfect solution to jetlag:


At this point, I was ready for anything, so I walked to the next BART station, got onboard and went to the next station. When I got off, I found myself at the end of a cable car waiting line and thought it was a pretty good distraction for the moment. I watched them pull in, spin around and pick up passengers. I road up the steepest street in the country and took lots of pictures. I then disembarked and found myself (not so excitedly) in Fisherman’s Wharf. The apex of tourism in San Francisco, I was warned about coming here. But I was pulled in by all of the people there were to watch. Here are some pictures from my time with the cable cars and at Fisherman’s Wharf:






At this point, I found myself another old cable car to take back south to meet back up with Andrew and by 2pm I was back where I had started. Andrew met me at the BART station by his house with two bikes and we set off through the city to run errands. Bike riding in most cities is a pretty intense experience, but nothing compares to the extremes of San Francisco. This particular bike was a special one. It obviously didn’t belong to me, so clearly I had no idea what it was all about and what accommodations needed to be made for it. We quickly found that the handlebars and front wheel were so loose that they might as well have not been connected at all. A quick stop at a nearby bike shop solved that problem, but the bike was not about to give up that easily. It would continue to protest by not shifting into 1st or 3rd and squeaking incessantly as I broke down the many hills of the city. Not being able to shift out of second in a hilly city like San Francisco is cruel. The bike ultimately won, and I’m totally ok with saying that.

After our errand running, we called Andrew’s girlfriend Cassie to see if she would be interested in meeting us at Delores park for some sun and chatting, which she eagerly agreed to. The park was filled with the most eclectic people. People with dogs, parents and children, a young woman selling mushrooms and many more who probably can‘t be categorized. After playing with Andrew and Cassie for a while, Cassie announced her departure and we said goodbye. Incredibly, it was only a few moments after she left that we were approached by this beautiful woman:


Her entire posse joined soon after and we sat with them for several hours, talking about our lives and laughing together. It turned into the quintessential San Francisco afternoon, as if the entire day had been made with me and my trip in mind. What drew these wonderful people to our spot on the grass? How was it that I found myself in the perfect spots without even meaning to be? I see it as a gift, one I am unwrapping slowly and with closed eyes.

Have you opened any special gifts lately? What were they? Tell me all about it in the comments section below and enjoy this special gift from me to you (how I ended my night in San Francisco):

California - Day 1

So, after my first day of traveling I’m exhausted, but so many wonderful things have happened already that I really can’t put any sort of bad spin on the trip so far. I’m not a fan of flying, so for me, one of the biggest hurdles for this trip is the number of times I have to be airborne. All together, I will have gone through 4 take offs and 4 landings by the time I get back to Boston. But I think back to the narrator’s first encounter with Tyler Durden in Fight Club and I think “look at all the single-serving friends I’ll get to make.” My adopted philosophy was quickly affirmed when I boarded my first flight. I was seated next to a lovely Latina who was incidentally from the town right next to mine. At 65, she was a fiery, sweet woman. She told me about her children and grandchildren, how much she enjoys flying, her connecting flight to Hawaii and how her pace-maker once blew up (scar included). She put me at ease right away and kept me entertained the entire trip. By the end, I was sad to say goodbye, but so glad to have had the company. Interestingly, as we were gathering our things to exit the plane, I mentioned the name of a friend of mine who is very active politically in Lawrence, and of course she knows him very well. So it turned into a “Poppy moment” as my mother and her family would call it. My grandfather (who endearingly answered to Poppy in his later years), would always find a familiar face in strange places. And as I sat next to my friend in flight I thought of him and knew he had made that moment especially for me.

After taking a connecting flight up to San Jose, I met up with my cousin Charlene. We had some time to catch up as she drove me from the San Jose airport to San Francisco. I love how easily I fall into conversation with her. I’ve only seen her maybe a dozen times in my entire life, but we always manage to pick up where we left off, making her one of my favorite relatives. As we drove along the highway, we were witness to a wonderful bit of weather that seems to be fairly unique to this area of California. As you can see in the picture below, a fog bank was rolling in over the land to the west of where we were driving. This happens all along this section of California coast and makes for some spectacular views, especially in the city.


Once we got into San Francisco, we met up with Charlene’s son Andrew and his girlfriend Cassie. We drove down into The Mission, a Latin American district of the city. While we were there, we stopped by a wonderful coffee place, Phil’s. Inside, you order a cup of coffee and they brew it individually for you with whatever you would like. Their basic cup is a dark brew, with cream and a bit of mint. It was just what I needed at that point (since it was about 10pm east coast time and I still hadn’t had dinner). Check out the picture and video below for a peek into Phil’s.


The Bathroom in Phil's is not to be missed...

After Phil’s we went to a Thai restaurant and had the most delicious spring rolls I’ve ever tasted. They were fresh, so instead of the regular deep-fried style, they were steamed and filled with fresh veggies. Just perfect after all the traveling. After the Thai, we walked up to an ice cream place nearby that made the most incredibly decadent ice cream with farm fresh milk and fruit. I tried the coconut chocolate, which was made with coconut milk (incredible). Walking up to the top of a nearby park with our ice creams, we looked down over the darkened city and soaked in the moment. Soon after, I lost all of my steam and went back to Andrew’s apartment for some sleep. Here were my accommodations (I was so tired, this looked perfect):


So far so good! Hope you’re enjoying the reading just a fraction as much as I’m enjoying my trip! Be well.

(Andrew, Cassie and I at the top of a very large, very typical San Franciscan hill)

Here We Go...

And I'm off. I've got my bag weighing in at just under 20 pounds (see picture below for contents of said bag), I've got all my travel information, I've got tons of excitement and all of you lovely people to share it with.

The commuter rail is brimming with bleary-eyed, unwilling members of the American workforce. I feel like an impostor among them, or maybe a trator. For one week, I've gotten out of the routine. I've freed myself from the monotony of every other day. Along for the ride? Maybe. But certainly not in the same sense all of these people are.

Businesspeople, nurses, 20-something girls with those commically outrageous "hair bumps" (seriously, what is that about?). Traveling companions for the moment, soon to be replaced by a completely new world that I will have 7 days to explore.

More soon.

Something New, Something Old, and Someone From Another Time

New experiences await, that's for sure. But in the days leading up to my departure to the West Coast, two people from the history of my life have resurfaced. And just in time for my trip!

The first, and more recent, of the two stems back to October 6, 2001. That night, Seann William Scott hosted Saturday Night Live and Chris Kattan was thinking of me. I had forgotten all about this until a few days ago when the event popped into my mind. After a few minutes of Google searching (God bless the Internet), I found this picture:

Yes, there he is, Chris Kattan holding up a sign that, believe it or not, was directed at yours truly. A few weeks earlier I had written him a letter saying that for my 16th birthday I would love nothing more than a shout out from him on SNL and I gave an example in the letter using the phrase "Hey There Kiddo". And look at him, fulfilling the wishes of a 16-year-old. Bless him.

So anyway, my little moment with Chris Kattan has been recorded in the belly of the Internet by some insanely obsessive individuals who have screenshots and transcripts for an obscene amount of SNL episodes. You can see their handiwork here:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/01/01bgoodnights.phtml

So now that we're done with that silliness, here's the more important connection from my past. While I'm in San Diego, it looks like I'll get to visit with a friend who I haven't seen since the 6th grade, Bob Carroll! He moved away and I never saw him again. But there he is out in San Diego. 6th grade... I was 11! That was over 12 years ago. As much as I often hate the Internet for disconnecting people from the world around them, here it goes surprising me. Proving me wrong. Showing me that it can actually bring me back in touch with long lost friends.

Here are some other people from the past that facebook has helped me to rediscover:

Courtney Karamanol
Joe Daveau
Dan Myers
Minerva Lord
Warren Helms

So thanks Internet. Maybe you're not so bad after all. Except for Neopets... I'll never be able to forgive you for that.

An Adventure

With only ten vacation days a year, I have a tendency to hoard mine rather than taking small breaks here and there. As a result, this year I ended up with 7 days to use before September when they expire. My boyfriend does not have vacation time at his disposal because his vacation time accrues and he began his job recently. So rather than spend this extra time taking Fridays off for a few weeks or something similar, I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a very long time. I am leaving in a few days for California. I'm stopping in various cities to see a few friends and I'm hoping to blog the entire trip. My laptop has a slot for my camera's SD chip, so I can upload video and photos almost immediately. It will also give me something to do while traveling between cities since I'm taking this trip alone.

I've never gone anywhere entirely on my own before, and although I'll be visiting people along the way, there will be times when I'll be staying with people I've never met before or touring a city alone. The trip will be relatively quick, only 7 days all together, and with 5 cities to visit it will probably feel a little rushed. But I'm excited all the same and I hope you will enjoy following me along the way!

Check back often over the next week for updates. Thanks!

Let's just hope it's more like this (Theme song for this trip? Yeah, I think so):

Crazy Man's Ju-Ju PART NINE (Make It Mine UK Version)


And less like this (Sorry Rufus, but you don't give a very good review):

Watch more Yahoo! Music videos on AOL Video