Friday - Sunday in AZ

On Friday morning I headed out to Tucson to visit Mindy. It was a long drive but I made it in time for dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Charro's) and meeting up with some friends of hers.

windmills on the drive to arizona

I stayed with her at her parent's house Friday and Saturday night. It was good catching up with her and meeting her Tucson crowd. I was able to take care of some errands (such as shipping back some purchases and souveniers) while in Tucson since it was a less crowded schedule.


katie and mindy!

On Saturday morning Mindy had to work, so I went up to Mesa to see Jon, Lisa and Aislyn Boggs. Aislyn is such a little doll! They had a wedding to go to, so I headed back out to Tucson just in time to catch another beautiful desert sunset


sunset

Saturday night we went out to dinner with her mom to a nice restaurant called Elle in Tucson.

Sunday morning I packed up the car and my things, had a liesurely breakfast at Mindy's. As I was getting ready to drive away from Mindy's two little quails chased each other across the road! Finally, I headed off to Vegas for my flight home, again amazed by the scenery. It was a long drive (including passing the Hoover Dam) and I was nervous I would miss my flight, but it was delayed for over an hour. I sat watching the Olympics and planned to do this blog, but my computer battery was dead! Finally made it on the plane (a Song flight which I love for their tvs at each seat).


neat clouds

All in all I drove over 2000 miles!

Thursday - Mexico!

On Thursday I awoke early again to get down to Ensanada, Mexico. First I hopped on the San Diego Trolley (light rail) for a 45 minute ride to the border. Then a quick walk across a footbridge, and I was in Tijuana.


The Border

Then I hopped on a coach bus for the ~2 hour ride to Ensanada. It is further south down the coast of Baja California. They are known for being near wine country, as a stop for cruise ships, and for the blow hole ("la bufadora") which I had hoped to see, but didn't make it to. I arrived during the siesta hour, so walked around for awhile just seeing the sights (including these mariachis).



Then I stopped into one local winery located in town rather than in the hills. I bought some real vanilla and a bottle of wine before heading on my way.


Winery

I happened past a fabric store, so had to check it out. I ended buying some typical mexican woven fabrics and some others that I thought were unique. The exchange rate is about 10 pesos to 1 dollar, and the dollar is pretty strong in Mexico now.


fabric store sign

At this point I was famished, and the restaurants had reopened. I went over to a wine bar to get some lunch/dinner and to sample wines from up in the mountains. While sitting at the bar I struck up a conversation with an American businessman who does his manufacturing (of traffic lights) in Mexico. It was nice to have someone to chat with and he even picked up the tab for my dinner before heading out! I wrapped up the night with a quick stop at Hussong's, where the margarita was supposedly invented.

Wednesday - Going to San Diego

On Wednesday morning I headed out of LA, stopping at the La Brea Tar Pits. It was interesting to see (and smell!) the pits, and see all the reassembled skeletons of mastadons, wooly mammoths, birds of prey and big cats. There were many school groups there so I tagged along with some of their tours to pick up little tidbits offered by the guides.


The La Brea Tar pits

Afterwards, I headed out to The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. I toured the library (including an illuminated Cantebury Tales and Gutenberg Bible) and the art museum before having high tea in the tea room.

Then it was off to San Diego... another beatiful ride. I stopped to take pictures (my digital camera was acting up, so they are on film) and a little chipmunk or something came right up to me to say hi!

I checked into the 500 West Hotel, which was formerly a YMCA but now is an inexpensive, European style modern botique hotel (simple, nice furnishings, shared private bathrooms). I relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner at a veggie-friendly Mexican place called Pocquez. It was ridiculously inexpensive, and I enjoyed the tofu options on the menu!

Tucked in early that night, pooped from several days of hard traveling.

Tuesday - Back in LA!

Tuesday morning I woke up at the hostel around 5am and headed back to LA to get there by 8am for The Price is Right. The sunrise was beautiful, and at one point I came around a bend and the view (of a bay and mountains) was like a Monet painting, all pink and blue and green.

I met my sorority sister Cristina there. We had some time to kill so we sat at a cafe in the mall next to the CBS studios. Finally at about 2pm we got called in for the pre-show interviews (used to decide who gets on the show) apparantly you need to be bonkers to get called on. Then the taping started. It was a lot of fun, although NOBODY won anything! (71st time in the show's history). Bob Barker was funny, and as he left the stage I got to shake his hand! The show airs(ed) Thursday, Feb 23rd , and I am sure you will see me as 2 people in my section were called and I high-fived them as they ran to contestants' row.

After the taping Christina and I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I did a little shopping and then Jody came and met me for dinner (he ate, I was stuffed from lunch still) and we had some wine. We had to sit at the bar in the restaurant though, since it was packed for Valentine's Day.


random duck at the mall

Monday - Santa Barbara Wine Country

On Monday I woke up early to head up to Santa Barbara wine country. I started out in Santa Maria, about three hours north of Los Angeles and worked my way down the Foxen Canyon wine trail, visiting several of the locations featured in Sideways (including the winery where he drank from the spit bucket and the restaurant where she orders the "fucking merlot").


one of the wineries

I found out early on that mentioning I work at a wine bar ("in the industry") got me free tastings and a 10-33% discount on wines. I tried to buy a bottle everywhere I stopped if I found something I liked. I didn't buy anything at Firestone (or tire and "The Bachelor" fame) because their wines were pretty disappointing.

Driving through wine country was really peaceful, and everyone I met at the wineries (mostly couples touring together) was really nice. The wineries all close by 6, so afterwards I had dinner in Los Olives. Since I was tired and had spent the day wine tasting I decided to stay at a hostel in Santa Barbara rather than drive all the way back to LA. It was a decent spot and at $21 was a bargain.


bucolic roadside scenery

Sunday - Vegas to LA

Sunday morning I picked up my rental car... a hunter green Chrysler Sebring convertible with a GPS navigation system. Because I was traveling alone, I knew the GPS would save me the hassle of trying to read a map while driving, plus I could be spontaneous and go anywhere without having to plan a route.


my license plate

With the top down, I set out for LA. The weather that day (and for most of the trip) was in the high 60s/low 70s and sunny!) - a little cool for a convertible, but with the heater on, enjoyable. As you can see, even the gateway to Death Valley was temperate.



Once in LA, I heaaded straight for the LA County Museum of Art in Hollywood. It is a beautiful building with a large outdoor courtyard and several galleries surrounding it. Jody came to meet me and we went to have dinner at Toi, a funky Thai restaurant with an East Village vibe. Jody lives nearby, in Hollywood, and was nice enough to let me stay at his house.

Friday - Sunday - Las Vegas

I landed in Vegas on friday for Jenn's bachelorette party. We spent the weekend celebrating -- dancing, walking the strip, eating and drinking! There were nine girls - one is not pictured here, and I don't know why I was grabbing my butt in this picture (taken with a singer in a restaurant we thought was good)

January/February Bought/Read List

Books Bought
Here is New York by E.B. White

Books Read
Here is New York by E.B. White
One Man's Meat by E.B. White
The WPA Guide to New York CIty

So I was watching Sex and the City one night, and Carrie quoted E.B. White, who wrote "No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky." I thought that was a great quote, so looked up where is came from, which brought me to the fabulous tribute to the city called "Here is New York." It was listed by the New York Times as one of the ten best books written about the city, so I went ahead and checked it out from the library, along with other E.B. White books and some other top books about New York City. I am enjoying reading about the city in the 30s and 40s, so much and so little has changed.