12 days in review

So, we haven't posted in 12 days. So what? That means that this post will be extra juicy.

Two weeks in (photographic) review:

Scottsdale

I did not take any photographs in Scottsdale, because it was A) Hot, B) 117 degreec C) Aunt Paula documents these things way more thoroughly then I do. I'm confident that most readers of this blog received an email from her with photos from our visit. If not, drop me a line and I'll send it along. That said, we had and were shown a great time with Paula and Shel. One of our favorites was the new art museum which had some incredible exhibits. We also managed to meet up with two of my friends from school who P and Shel sort of adopted for the weekend, which was a huge treat to them.

The Grand Canyon. It's big. We took a hike in the late afternoon when we arrived. What's interesting about hiking there is that all hikes start out with a steep downhill, and end with a steep uphill, so it's easy to get fooled and think you haven't gone that far.






Zion National Park- Possibly the most beautiful place we've visited. The morning after we camped there, we were treated to rainbows across the canyon and waterfalls that only exist in the hour after it rains hard.

We also did a hike up to angels landing, which involves climbing over a thousand feet through some tight areas. Often, you are on a rock ridge looking down a sheer cliff on both sides.






Moab, UT - We camped at a strange hostel and then paid a quick morning visit to Arches NP.


Ridgeway, CO - We camped out at the famous Orvis Hot Springs, and had 48 hours of clothing-optional fun. No cameras allowed outside of the lobby. However, on our drive to Boulder, we saw some incredible rainbows. One of them was literally moving alongside of the car.


Boulder, CO- We couchsurfed for 3 nights through an amazing network of friends. Threw a party, drank Bosnian coffee, had numerous jam sessions, and contemplated tubing down Boulder creek. No photographs were taken by me, however some of our new friends should be sending some along.

Omaha, NE - Again, no pictures taken. Not too much to say about Omaha itself. It has a vibrant music scene, and Jesse and I saw a good concert at a very swanky local venue. We couchsurfed in a house called "Hotel Frank". This is a 100-year-old mansion with about 20-25 people living in it. I'll say this- the downstairs bathroom was possibly the dirtiest/foulest/most unsanitary place I've ever seen in the course of my life.

We drove from Omaha to Madison, WI this afternoon. Here we are, all caught up

Bruser Bonanza

Way overdue:

I'm just putting this out there -- we love the Bruser family. Though our visit to their home in San Diego was slightly shorter than planned, it really felt like we were stopping at home.

To all our dedicated readers who also happen to be Jewish mothers: We ate in SD. Yes, we ate and ate well, thanks to Cheryl and Tony:

1) home-smoked brisket, delicious beans with bacon and cilantro, home made cole slaw, sweet corn.
2) Payeyeya with a multitude of land and sea life, including clams, sausage, chicken, shrimp... etc...
3) Mexican style mac and cheese (tortilla chips and jalepenos baked in).

We did some cool stuff too with kyle and ally and their friends, as shown in the pictures below.


Adventures at the tidepools. Unfortunately, it was high tide when we showed up, but it was cool anyway.

Allie gets a sweet new (used) bike that I found for her on eBay.

Kyle left abruptly for a backpacking trip, so we journeyed on to Scottsdale...

Oh yeah, we did other stuff that hasn't been posted

P.S. On our way to LA from Santa Cruz, we went backpacking in Big Sur, Ca. 22 miles round trip to a campsite with natural hotsprings built into the rock cliffs above the river.

LA: Expensive, Expansive, Exhausting

Dear Readers,

Please accept my apologies for the lapse in posting once again. Jesse and I were in LA for nearly a week, staying with Jesse's friend EB at her parents place in Studio City. They were wonderful hosts. However, I have resolved that LA is a worthless excuse for a city and I never want to go back there ever again. For one, you have to drive everywhere, no matter where you are going. And you also must expect traffic- it doesn't matter when. There WILL be traffic. LA is expensive. Jesse and I have been able to find cheap and decent eats in other cities. In LA, everything on the menu is at least $10- Sandwiches, pancakes, burritos, all $10. Theres also that whole smog thing.

So anyhow, we still managed to have a great time while we were there. Here's a few selected photos.

Venice Beach is a very unique place to people-watch. There were a number of (talentless) street musicians, except for this guy. As you can see, he has one of those one-man-band rigs that he made himself. He did an incredible rendition of My Generation for us.

Jesse and Jeromy (EB's BF) ate some tasty crapes at the LA farmers market.

Jesse and Ethan 'Wollman' - Art Enthusiasts / Internet Celebrities

Remember that political art display I told you about (maybe)? Well, Jesse and I happened to be interviewed by the SF Chronicle and we have turned up on their culture blog. Watch the (2-min) video to the end to see our interviews.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=3&entry_id=18300

SanFrancisco

Jesse and I have spent the last week and a half in the wonderful Bay Area. We headed straight to Sonoma where Jesse's friends are staying for the summer. Jumping into a reservoir ensued, along with home-cooked meals at Calla's dad's house and good times in general. Kyle and Calla had to work during the day, so we headed to Berkeley where we stayed with our friend Lindsey.

Berkeley is an amazing area. We ate great food (purchased from the greatest grocery store in the world, the Berkeley Bowl), explored a cool student co-op, and played lots of music. We saw several museums in the area, botanical gardens, and other places of interest in the Bay Area. In the evenings, the group embarked on various culinary odysseys, utilizing fresh plums and apricots that grew in the front garden.

After a few fun-filled days in Berkely, Jesse and I spent the weekend in Sonoma with Kyle and Calla, when they were finally off from work. We accompanied them to Petco (our second visit on this journey) where Calla bought a tree-frog. Grubbs Maylou Lacidar now lives in a mason jar on their bed-side table. We also took a drive out to the coast, where we spent a few hours hanging out at Russian Gulch- which is where the Russian River meets the Pacific.

Finally, we headed to San Fransisco to stay with Helen, another friend from the Israel trip. Helen lives in the Hayes Valley neighborhood in an old San Francisco Victorian (Edwardian). Our first day in SF happened to be a free museum day...so we went to more museums! Helen cooked a feast of shrimp, couscous, and raspberry creme-brulee.

Today (July 4) was also packed with activity. Helen, Jesse and I took a walking tour of the Alamo Park area, focusing on Victorian styles of homes. We are now experts in identifying the architectural nuances which differentiate Victorian homes from the 1860's through the 1920's. Helen is taking an organic chemistry class that is ruining her summer, so she was unable to accompany us on our next adventures as she needed to study uncatalyzed ionic reactions where only the anti-Markovnikov product is observed. Jesse and I visited a local art exhibit called "Propaganda III World Tour". It was a display of political artwork (posters) expressing many different viewpoints on an array of national and international issues. It was really amazing stuff.

Jesse and I took the public transportation (MUNI) over to Haight and Ashbury, where the hippie movement started in 1967. It was gentrified and touristy, but there was lots of good food around that we didnt eat, as well as gaunt, aging hipsters to look at.

We headed back to the pad for another Helen-prepared feast, which included home-made yerba mate (green tea) ice-cream, and raspberry buttercream merengue. And beet salad. And sangria with lots of fresh fruit. And burgers. I'm so full.

Finally, we headed up to Bernal Hill to watch not one, but multiple fireworks displays across the city. We could see all the backyard fireworks as well. I've never been in a city for fireworks, and it was really cool to see them exploding over San Francisco from a distance. Now I'm here. Here is now, and there is nothing more to report, except that I must carry a futon mattress through the labyrinthian apartment to my final resting place in the living room.

I think we might start posting at the end of each day so that we can post more of what we did and not get behind like this.



The reservoir and Kyle flying into it.

Cool mural (this particular alley in the Mission has over 30 murals)

Cool garbage-art at a closed landfill in the SF bay.