California Dreaming

Nevada City

After such a fun time in Tahoe, we drove into the sunset, through some beautiful woodlands until we reached Nevada City, CA.  Nevada City is a cute town that used to be one of the largest Gold Rush towns.  The main street is lined with little shops and restaurants.   At the Thai restaurant, we dined in a multi-level garden with candle lights hanging over head in the trees.  Afterwards, we ate ice cream at the local parlor (of course) and headed back on the road.  

About 2 hours later, we were driving down a curvy country road through farms, forests and valleys. We had no idea where we were and if we should turn around or keep venturing on! 

We finally made it to our destination, a small campsite in the middle of nowhere.  Since it was pitch black out, we quickly set up camp, not knowing exactly what our surroundings were.  The next morning, we awoke to Geese honking and splashing in water.  They were having a good ole time, partying it up at DAWN.  We unzipped the tent to the site of a immense, blue lake in the horizon and tall trees peering over us.

After breakfast, we drove down side roads, through Palo Alto into San Francisco. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, where Brock took this amazing photo.  

 

isn't he cute?!

We didn't feel like touring the city so we spent the day in Sausalito, a small island near the city. This coastal town has an eclectic variety of galleries, shops, and restaurants.  We bummed around, enjoying the sunshine and laziness of the day.  

Sausalito via homepage

We then drove up the Pacific Coast Highway, along the coast of California.  As you drive, you look over the cliffs onto the ocean and completely melt with relaxation. We stopped at a few spots, taking in the sites.  The stillness and the majestic view was incredible and breathtaking.

We stopped into a small town on the coast and ate at the Sand Dollar Restaurant.  All fresh ingredients, we enjoyed a tuna tar-tare with avocado and a seafood pasta, with scallops, shrimp, and lobster. We cheers our brews and set off to find a place to stay.

 

With the sun beginning to set, we decided we didn't want to miss an inch of this view so we needed to find a spot quickly!  This time, we found a spot in a forest lined with Redwoods, but we weren't in the Redwood Forrest (yet).  The large trees canopied the sky, causing it to become dark much faster. 

The next day, we woke up early and hit the road for Napa and Sonoma -Wine Country!  What's the first thing we did? Yep, we wine tasted around the square. The first wine tasting we went to, we went in depth in trying to find what kind of wines we were both looking for.  We found that Brock likes very earthy, full bodied Reds, while I like the medium bodied, mild Reds and buttery Whites.  This was all opposite to what we thought we liked.

creepy baby doll in store window

Next we went to a cheese shop where we tried all different infused cheeses, such as peppercorn, jalapeno, garlic and Lavender.  We enjoyed some wine with our garlic cheese, while waiting for the Farmer's Market on the Square to begin!

Once our bellies were full, we drove to our rented Cabin in Cobb, Mountain.... quite possibly one of the best things we did all trip.  Until next time!

We're going back to Cali...

Brock here checking in and providing the next installment of our blog. After jumping out of a plane we made our way to Goblin Valley State Park in Utah where we did some hiking around and exploring the unique landscape that the desert has created.

Next we drove through Capitol Reef National Forest and were awestruck by the huge canyon walls and the fertile valley floors. Once we had driven through Capitol Reef we made our way to a camp spot to crash for the night before continuing on. 

On our way, we caught a glimpse of these metal pieces in front of a motel.

In the morning we drove outside of Beaver, UT to an old mining town called Frisco. We explored the terrain of the mine and took some pictures.

This massive lizard decided it was going to waltz right up to us and check us out. This guy had been living large on desert bugs for sure!

We continued our way into Nevada on the US 50 which is called the “Loneliest Road in America”. 

We soon found out why... as Kayce ended up fast asleep in the passenger seat while I looked ahead at the straight road that seemed to disappear in the horizon. We drove through a few small towns that started as mining towns and now were just trying to survive. 

While driving we came upon a random cottonwood tree in the middle of know where with thousands of shoes thrown in the tree branches. It was crazy to see shoes of all sizes and we had to stop for pictures.

 After a few more hours on the loneliest road we found ourselves arriving in Truckee, CA just outside of Tahoe where we linked up with my good friend and homie Greg Terziev for a brew. 

We made plans for the next day and called it a night as we crashed at my other good friend, Dave Brumm’s house. Next morning we got up and made our way to Tahoe City where Greg and his buddy Earl had the horse shoe pits raked and the charcoal firing for the ultimate BBQ on the beach. The lake had all sorts of different blue and green colors that are pretty amazing. We grilled and threw shoes till it got dark. We heard a house party was happening just down the road so we headed over to see what was going on. After a long night of meeting new people, an intense bad mitten game and laughing around the campfire, we headed back to Greg’s to sleep for the night. Greg has a pretty interesting dog who doesn’t like it when people look at him so we entered the house looking at the walls and paying no attention to “Inky”. All was well and “Inky” was ok with us so we made our beds and hit the hay.

Not Inky

 In the morning I got up to go snowboarding at Alpine Meadows with a handful of my Tahoe friends. Everyone pitched in and gave me random assortments of gear to ride since I didn’t bring anything. With one 9.5 boot and one 10 boot I strapped in at the top and bombed the mountain with a posse of about 10 dudes. It was fast slushy snow and we rode till closing. 

Later that evening we met up with Dave at his work and he hooked us up with sushi and drinks. My buddy Chris Galvin, Andrew Irwin and Jeremy Tidwell all joined us for dinner and we caught up on snowboarding and summer plans.

Best Bloody Mary Ever

Chocolate Martini

The next day we met with our friends for breakfast before heading to the beach on the Nevada side with Dave, Christy and their black lab Jake who loves to play catch. We laid out on the nice beach and threw the ball out in the water for Jake until our arms were sore. Dave and I decided to jump in the lake and soon jumped out with a serious case of “ice balls”. The water was still pretty cold in May!

After the lake we said our good-byes and hit the road heading for more exploration and adventure in California.

Let's start this adventure off with a bang!

Another Road Trip Another Adventure! 

 

Kayce here.  We left SLC at 3pm... only an hour later than planned...I'm getting better people!  

We drove down through the Red Rock to Moab, UT.  We got into town late and found a hideaway camp spot. Brock cooked some freshly caught Idaho Perch in a lemon butter. We cheered our beers to another great trip together and went to bed... excited for tomorrow!

The next morning, we rose and made breakfast.  I couldn't eat due to the nerves rumbling through my stomach.  I was pretty quiet, anxious for the long-awaited feat we were about to experience.  Brock, as usual, was calm, sipping on his coffee and enjoying the sunshine. No biggie... just another day.

After we packed up camp, we jumped into our car and headed to the airport.  My heart was thumping, my palms were sweating and I just nervously talked about anything and everything.  

But then something changed. The air was arid and warm, the sun was smiling overhead, telling me it was the perfect day to jump out of a plane. 

THE PLANE!!!

I purchased the vouchers for Skydive Canyonlands on Living Social (www.livingsocial.com) a few months before. Living Social is a wonderful site, like Groupon (www.groupon.com) that allows you to buy things at 50-90% off the original price.  Brock and I have had many experiences through these sites (food, skydiving, yoga, fitness classes, art, crafts, goods, gardening, vacations, etc) on a very tight budget. 

My instructor was Jimmy, a 22 year old who has been skydiving for over 4 years.  He was completely awesome.  Jimmy talked me through all the steps, turning my fears into sheer excitement. He truly loved his job and couldn't wait for me to experience the joy of Skydiving!

Brock, his instructor, Paul, Jimmy and I loaded in the plane.  This was it... there was no turning back!

The plane took off, my claws digging into Jimmy's legs.  If you don't know, I am petrified of heights and planes.  Skydiving makes perfect sense right?!  Jimmy kept laughing repeating to trust him.  Something clicked and once we were in the air for a few minutes, I fully trusted this person... with my life!

Just then, the door swung open and a rush of wind filled the airplane cabin.  I have never felt a power like that before and my body panicked. Although there was air rushing all around me, I felt like I couldn't breathe.  I looked over to Brock and Paul and all of a sudden, I see Paul pull Brock's head back and whew! They were gone! 

Thank goodness no one could see me because I was completely panic stricken.  Nope.. let's turn around. It was a fun ride! Jimmy scooted me closer and closer to the door.  This was it.  This. Was. It.

"Shift your legs outside and let them dangle out the door." Dangle?! Nothing should be "dangling" out of a plane.  My legs went dead.  Seriously... they were each 300 lbs.  I pulled on them and it took me what seemed like minutes to pull them outside.  

3...

2...

1!

And before I know it, I was doing a back-flip in the air!  The feeling was indescribable! I was floating in the air and I loved it.  After 45 seconds of free-fall, the parachute opened.  The scenic view over the Canyons and Red Rock was beautiful and picturesque.  The silence and peace I felt in the air was something I had never experienced before in my life.  I was filled with joy and happiness.  We laughed and had fun in the sky...twisting and turning in the sky.  It was one of the best moments of my life.

Jimmy!!

We hit the ground! Jimmy's coworker detached us and I immediately ran over to Brock!   This was one of the best experiences of my life and I am so glad the love of my life and best friend was there with me every step of the way!

We did it!

 I can't think of a better first day to start another road trip together.

Heres to Summer 2012 and here's til next time!