Shiny Red Hat

Take that sucka

(August/Sept Entry-bored in SF)
Okay, my job has obviously gotten tedious if I'm playing around with a finger puppet monster. I also picked up a stray red hat that was being kicked around a thrift shop in the mission, it just seemed so sad and no one would pick it up. So I rescued it. I thought :hey, why not, I need an ugly red hat that my guests can find me in.

Sure enough I tried it out and it worked, my group immediately had their eyes on me for the hike through the sequoia grove and I had a sun shade! Win win!

The last few weeks have been full of many random things, finger puppets, red hats, Mr Bean, doppelganger of Jeffrey Donovan and a bicycle ride. 

I'm now currently counting the weeks until I'm done with camping trips! I just received an email about my travel itinerary to Bolivia in November. Two weeks of scouting a location for a hostel and checking out the beautiful Bolivian countryside. Should be interesting. Now to fill the few weeks in October leading up to that time...hmmm

Earthships, Tarantulas and Adobe!

Every car needs bling?!

(October Entry-Road trip to UTCOAZNM)
Alas, I didn't get any photos of the earthships! I was already being a reckless driver by snapping the scenery as it was. No one is really aware of how many times I pull a U-y in the road to get that shot I see. Most of the time its better to look at than it is in the photo I worked so hard to get.
When I was headed to Taos this past Tuesday I came across all sorts of fun and amazing things!

First stop was the gas station at Tiera Amarilla, no cc slot, went in to pay and he said pump was on. Oh my gosh, just like the old days! I literally had forgotten that was teh way it used to be! Remember those days? When you drove up and paid and went inside and had a quick chat to the person at the counter. Wow. Simple times. That reminds me, I pulled out a recycle shopping tote to put my groceries in in Chama and it was much to the amazement of the people standing around there, like the concept of reuseable bags hadn't quite made it there yet. Ha!

So a little bit later and a bunch of beautiful scenery I came across tarantulas...squish, walk squish, snap. That is how the episode went. I wanted to see tarantulas while Iw as in the south and hadn't seen any yet. So when I finally realize that a spider is crossing the road, I'm too late and drive over it. SQUISH!  Then I see another one and pull over and WALK up to the it to take its photo and a speeding car comes along just as I get there and SQUISH They were migrating across the road. I finally got stopped and found a live one and no cars coming this time so I got to snap a photo of it. Pretty cool!! They are different looking that I thought. Just as I was busy walking around trying to get the front view of the giant guy a truck pulls up behind me and exclaimed "there are thousands of them, they are everywhere!" he was so excited to see someone else as amazed as I was about them. It was really funny.

I survived Taos, which is a busy crowded place, basically a town split by a busy highway, ugh. the mountains you ski there are not close by so I skipped that and kept going. I had a lot to see.

I met satan's dog in Truchas NM. What a cool place, you are driving down a narrow windy road and you come to a T intersection, you can either turn right and keep on your way down the road or you follow a sign that says "local businesses" its curious they don't want to direct you through the town...

Going through there is like going back in time, way back!! Back to the dog though it was a little scary, it had red eyes and was as big as my car. The general store was opened and guarded by the devil dog. It appeared to be the only thing open besides the galleries. One gas station across from the general store had a sign on it blaming the government and its fees and taxes for its closing. I stopped and took a picture (not of the dog or the sign) and kept going.

I made it to Chimayo to go visit the Santuario de Chimayo which is a religious sanctuary that people do pilgrimages to throughout the year, its a neat place, very old and very popular. I met up with a motorcoach full of people, which was really annoying but that's the way it goes.

Annual Autumn Review

Sometimes we just need to stand on our heads

It's funny as I'm sitting here reviewing my blogs etc, that at this time of year each year I sit and start thinking about my next step. Ha! So I won't repeat the same message again here. Because you all know it will be the same.

This year I did do something a little different. I got out my old hand written journals and reread them. More like skimmed because I blabbed a lot and it was usually the same message. Each book I picked up had the same thing in it. Men I dated, what thing I was really excited about, usually a new location and place and that I also wished I knew what I wanted to "be when I grew up" ha! Pretty funny stuff. My friend Tyce brought over the letters I wrote him 15 years ago and I said the same things to him too. Wow.

Some day soon the message will be exciting again. I'm in a holding pattern I guess. Winter at the ski hill, summer working as a tour guide...i know, tough life. But it doesn't make for very interesting stories for my blog. I'm looking for ways to make it interesting while I'm here waiting for the snow to fly.

I went into Boise downtown today for the first time in a long time. It's really a pretty city. Lots of character and the leaves are changing now, people were out and about taking in the last of the sun for this week. It's nice.

Well, he's in costume here, ha!

Last week I went to a Halloween party for the first time in a long time! It was great fun. Met a lot of new people. I went with my friend Tyce. He's someone I'm enjoying spending time with a lot these days! My new challenge this winter will be creating new adventures for someone who is comfortable being a hermit...Can I do it?!

Keith Stone, smooth!

I'm also going to be working a lot more this winter so I'll stay a bit more occupied.

So for now, until I think of something thrilling and hilarious to share I'll just say goodbye for now. I will be posting the blogs I've got sitting in limbo too. There are quite a few drafts waiting to be uploaded, why I didn't do that at the time I don't know. Bad habit!

Utah Arizona Colorado

Having a hard time with internet access as I'm crossing the desert, found a weak connection at the Mesa Verde Campground today. Will upload what I've got to stay caught up. I've been typing each night so at least it was fresh in my mind.
9-28

School at Archview Resort Moab

Started off early this morning, I wanted to drive as far as Monticello Utah which to my estimation was about 101/2 hours away from Boise. Hmmm I’m sitting in a camp ground ten miles from Moab Utah (60) miles from Monticello in my tent (set it up in the dark, oh yeah!) settling in for the night. It got dark so I thought I better find a place quick. Archview Resort. Only one other couple camping near me tonight, so far. The highway is really noisy though. Good thing I travel with ear plugs!! J

I stood on a pile of red ants today at a view point on I-70. I wasn't aware of it at first then I looked down and on my gosh, my feet were covered in them. My feet must have been so dirty by that point they didn't even bite. I was wearing my flip flops and Capri pants too…ouch. No ants in my pants I can report!

Tomorrow I head to Mesa Verde via the four corners. Which was rebuilt and now run by the Native Americans which means an entrance fee. I’m anxious to see how they set it up. I can’t wait. I love being back here again. I love the desert. I love this part of Utah, its just so amazing. Colors and shapes and plants and open highways. It’s great! It makes me happy to be alive when I’m here.

9-29

Day two, internet found finally!! Had such a great day traveling through the desert. It’s so hard to be a person who wants to dawdle and take it all in when you’re supposed to be driving down the highway at 65 miles an hour.

Ooh wind gust. So glad I’m tucked away in bed right now, it’s really really windy here tonight. The big storm that brewed in the distance all day didn’t hit us but the wind that accompanied it did. I set my tent up between gusts.

I’m in Mesa Verde right now. The National park. It’s fantastic. Once again like no other park I’ve seen. And the bonus is that right now the “mesa verde” isn’t verde at all it’s the color of the rainbow…all the bushes are changing colors for fall. Its gorgeous! They had a big fire here years ago that burned 80% of the park so there are just a bunch of dead sticks everywhere surrounded by those bushes. Its really quite interesting looking. The dead trees add a certain feeling to the place. 

Four Corners Monument

Going back in time to earlier today...this morning I woke up to sunrise in Moab, it was great! The colors were amazing! Oh man I love it. That campground has everything, its very nice I liked it a lot but the HIGHWAY…how can cars and truck thunder down the road like that? What is it even echoing off of? My goodness! It was hard to sleep but I was comfortable at least.

I got a quick breakfast and headed out towards the 4 corners monument, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico all meet there. The Navajo have taken ownership of the new place and they built it to suit them for sure! The 4 corners are completely surrounded by stalls for the Indians to sell their goods. The whole place is amazing though, they did a good job. 3 bucks to get in is worth it I thought. But then, I love turquoise. J

After all my dilly dally-ing I headed on into Cortez (blech) the women are hairy faced there. Many of them. Maybe just the ones eating at Wendy’s??

I’m glad I ate before I got to the park by the way, the facilities are scarce in the park. Eat before you get here or come with enough time to hit the stores or café.

I got to the visitor center way later than I’d hoped but the ranger still had tickets to the big attractions available so off I went. I saw Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Those two are ranger led only. Why you ask? Well, besides the information you get from a ranger you should see the entrance/exits from these dwellings! Wow! Great wooden ladders you climb up to get out. It’s fantastic!!

So I did first one and then the other. I got stuck in the tunnel in the second one. Oops. Child bearing hips I guess.

At about the exit point I knew it would be way too late to head to Durango to find camping and so I went to the Park campground, they still had sites which is nice and cheap too. Still more than I budgeted 24 bucks but I went without dinner tonight so it’s all a wash.

All the facilities closed around here and the town nearest aren’t that near. The main reason to go without dinner is that the wind is really really blowing, I have no way of staking my tent down and I worried it would blow away in the drive between here and food so there you have it. I ate some yogurt and a handful of chips and that was enough to satisfy me. Tomorrow the café will be open for breakfast, though I’m not in a hurry tomorrow so I can make my own food at camp! Yeah! Good coffee!!

Exit the dwelling: UP!

It’s a funny thing about these National Parks. Mesa Verde has a unique look, as do they all and it’s got a very unique problem too. The cliff dwellings are falling apart and they can’t figure out how to repair them. I mean, the Indians built these amazing structures and we go and tramp on them hmmm why not just put a gate up and let us get near them. Just seeing them on the ground level is enough; you don’t need to look in the hole. And did you know there are thousands of Indians buried among these places?! Now that I wasn’t comfortable with at all. Indians take their burial grounds very seriously what must they think of us goobs there tramping on the place. I guess Park Service appointed by a president trumps Indian lands set aside, notice on a map their “lands” border this park…makes you think.

Cliff Palace

Tomorrow I’ll do a hike to some petroglyphs and then head on to Durango. Oh! It turns out Durango shuts down pretty early, the lady at the camp office said, I wouldn’t have had much luck going there in the evening as it was, so that is good. I feel better about being here. Plus I saw the sunset here and will likely see the sunrise again. 

Slept through sunrise. But the stars were out by the millions last night. What an amazing sky!!

Desert Escape

The past two days found me leisurely driving along the quiet desert highways of Southern Idaho, Southeast Oregon and Nevada. Its quite a trip to drive from Boise to San Francisco. No easy way to go, no choice but to drive through desert (basically in any direction except north).

I've driven this road many times and last year you may remember I took an alternate route into Northern California to visit the DMV at Alturas CA. That route is equally as desert scape...and smaller sage brush makes for harder potty stops too if you'll remember that story!

I decided that I'd make this journey a practice run for my future road trip across America. I got the video camera set up (soon got too hot to have it on the dash) and my tunes plugged in and off I went.

I drove through deserts most of last summer and it turns out I really like them. I've said that before when I've made journeys to Portland or Seattle. There is something about being out there in the middle of nothing, nowhere, nobody that just pushes some kind of reset button for me. Its like a clean slate or something? I've never been able to describe it very well.
I think it really boils down to the fact that you have hours and miles of nothing to do but think.

I passed through McDermitt and stopped at the Ideal Market for gas and snacks and I noticed the "Snack Stop" was open so I parked by the building and as I was putting stuff away to get out of the car I looked into the window of the restaurant and saw the ladies inside armed with fly swatters...it kind of put me off my lunch so I just kept moving. (Now I understand "fly's happen" but seeing it like that was a bit too real at the moment)

I was headed towards Carson City NV. I wanted to go see it since I'd never been off of Interstate 80 at Reno before. And from there I planned to detour to Virginia City. I didn't realize what a climb it was to get there but it is a beautiful place! Lovely scenery. It parallels Highway 395 which is one of my favorite routes along the eastern Sierra's. (Carson City is on 395).

Virginia City had already rolled up the sidewalks for the day so I decided to come back another time. I went on into Carson City, found a hotel and then found some dinner. I of course looked up BBQ places. There was one that stood out so I went there. It was called Red's Old 395 Grill. I ordered the BBQ Beef Brisket. As the waitress was about to walk away I asked if that came with any sides or choices or anything and she says "bean, coleslaw, cornbread and onions come with it, is there something else you'd want as well?" oof! That will be plenty thank you. No joke, it was a platter. American sized! But ooh soo good!

The next day I got up early and headed up to Virginia City again. It isn't far, about 25 minutes drive to get there. It was still early though so the townsfolk were just coming around. I love it that way! No one around, streets quiet, sun coming up. I had the whole place to myself for a couple of hours! I wandered everywhere, took pictures of everything said good morning to all the locals as they unlocked their store fronts. It was great. I was there around 8:30am they came around 9 ish and 10 ish so I wasn't THAT early :)

Friendly folks there for sure. There was even a sheriff all dressed up with his badge on, just like old times. I didn't get his photo come to think of it.
Virginia City sits up on a hill, well about middle hill, so there is a slope that comes down directly behind it...into the buildings it seemed and then a hill dropped below it out into a valley. I tried to take a photo of it but its hard to tell until you see it in its entirety!

From here I drove back down to Carson City and visited the Capitol Building. Kinda boring I will say, probably won't go back there again :) but still, now I've seen it.

I fueled up and drove on towards Lake Tahoe. I'd never really done that route before either and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

having grown up in a town situated on a lake I can say except for its sheer size its really not that big a deal. Same set up along the shores (except in Idaho public access to beaches is free) houses above the road private access and docks on the waters edge. The air is fresh there though and the locals are really nice so I'll give it another go, maybe camp there once and spend some time.

Dusk on the Bay Bridge

It was hard to leave the area though, I knew that coming up I'd have to get back onto Interstate 80 and make my way through Sacramento to San Francisco. What a disappointment after such a nice day! I mean fog etc not so much a disappointment.

Dorcus Adventure Club

Last week I had probably the best group I’ve had all summer. 

Now, right off the bat I wasn’t sure what I’d gotten myself into when I did my morning pick ups at the Hilton.  Much to my surprise a group of children comes walking around the corner. No one in the office, the management, nobody mentioned that they’d be children from Japan who didn’t speak English. So, needless to say I was a little upset with the office for that because I’d bought the wrong groceries for children and didn’t have any games or toys packed ( I have them you see and would have brought them…hello, communicate people!!)

So I put my best "I'm actually NOT surprised" smile on and greeted the kids. 

I meet the coordinator Yuki and his boss (the owner of Dorcus Adventure Club-Dorcus is the name of a beetle) Masa we called him. They speak English and will translate for me for the remainder of the trip! Wow!

So we head out of town and I get to know Yuki and Masa a little bit. At one point I picked up the microphone, realized I didn’t have much of an audience as they wouldn’t understand me and proceeded to hand it back to Masato, one of the kids sitting behind me. Well! He was thrilled and a natural at public speaking, so that became a hilarious thing to speak into the microphone. Masato would  pass it back and they’d pretend to interview each other, I nicknamed one of the boys Mr. DJ because he sang and talked like a professional, he even had spiked hair, I learned his name was Ryo (pronounced Rio) which seemed appropriate for a DJ :)

We went into Yosemite on Highway 120 through Oakdale and up to the Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias. We had some lunch and they introduced themselves to me. They were wearing name tags so I could get their names and then we had a fun time trying to come up with nicknames for each of them so I could call Masato Masa or Hyuga Huey or something, they thought that was funny. 

I led the hike down to the trees and we played around in the fallen tree, you can crawl through it to a hole near its middle which they all did and then they climbed on top and took photos and had a great time.

Stream crossing 

I do this hike the first afternoon to gauge their ability to handle other hikes and then change plans accordingly. Since these were young boys I wasn't sure what they could do. Kids can handle hikes but don’t hike well if its too strenuous etc and it's no fun for us adults either. You want them to have some fun!

So it was a long walk up out of the trees. Its all downhill there so its the journey back to the car that is the telling walk. They did alright but Masa and Yuki said "let's plan on doing lesser hikes tomorrow" 

Usually after that hike I take them to the valley for photos from Tunnel View and Bridal Veil falls etc but they were tired and I knew we had to set up camp under difficult circumstances this time. So we headed to El Portal to see what we could figure out. It also allows them time to swim at the pool (next door to our campground) while I set up the kitchen and start dinner.

Because this was a parallel trip (2- 3 day camping trips running simultaneously) the campground staff had reserved our usual spots but didn’t have two more spots together. That was going to be for my group. One camp spot was across the road from the other at least so my kids didn't have to walk down a busy road!! I would have thrown a big fit about that! Baby kids trying to find their tents etc in the dark in a busy campground, I don’t think so!

Camp Set Up

With some discussion between me and the Trek America guide (what a jerk) we set up tents in one site and the kitchen in the other and that worked out just fine. I mean, the tents are really for sleeping and bag storage nothing else, the social center of a camp is the kitchen and fire pit anyways! These kids didn't mind! What a gracious group I had, I couldn't have had a better bunch for this trip!

The boys went swimming and I worked to get camp set up. With a new kitchen, new stove, new lanterns etc and a cook box that was hit or miss it was a small challenge but I managed it alright. The boys were great at camp! They wanted to do everything. The set up all the tents for me and they did dishes and they cut vegetables. They’d fetch water when I needed it. It was so fun. I enjoy having people help but I do try to keep the process simple so they can relax a bit too. They got a swim in and they played cards, they built a fire which was fun and then we all ate dinner! They were hungry! I had my Mexican stew that night and they really liked it a lot (either that or they were hungry!) I was surprised because it was different than anything they’d had before but they all had seconds and thirds, we didn’t throw anything out that night!

Feed me! Pancakes!

The funniest meal we had was Monday morning, I make pancakes and bacon on that day so they have a hot meal to start the day with. And because I only have one skillet that can fit about 3 pancakes on it then I make them, plate them, serve them and repeat. So the boys put a couple of plates on the table in front of them, armed themselves with silverware and waited like vultures for the next round of pancakes. I'd come over with a stack on my spatula and they all dive in, it was so funny! So they did a great job cleaning up and got ready for the big day to come!

Always getting the shot!

Oh no! haha

Monday (our second full day) I decided to take them up to the high country of Yosemite. I wanted to do a hike to Lembert Dome but we decided they weren't quite up for that. We stopped at Olmsted Point which is where you can see the back side of Half Dome and the group took photos and played on the rocks, it was fun, we ended up being there for an hour! From there I took them to the visitors center at Tuolumne Meadows and that turned out to be a great stop. One of the boys, Masato had been honored in Japan for his presentation on early tools of man. They had rocks on display at the Visitors Center that were for early tools! Who knew!

From there I walked them out into the meadow for a small hike and we got sidetracked at the river and never made it any further. As long as they were having fun it didn’t matter to me! I got in first (bad influence J ) and they followed of course, they love water. They knew they were being taken to a lake later that day but this river is crystal clear and great for skipping rocks so in we went.

Ryota all wet!

The water was freezing! Like painfully cold! Little Ryota fell in and got drenched (it was knee deep for most of us) but he hit a deep part and that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, it still makes me laugh! He was laughing really hard and yelling because the water was so cold and he stood in the shallow bit and just laughed and laughed oh my gosh it was funny!

We had to get him out of the river and warm him up while the others played. About that time a big buck came up and the boys got to walk up to a deer. That was pretty neat. This buck is a regular in the meadow so he’s used to being photographed. Masato got a great shot of him looking up.

Masa and Yuki decided it was time to head to the lake so off we went. We took our lunches and our gear and the games I’d bought in Oakdale and off we went to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach. It was great! They swam and played and buried each other in the sand and ate food and buried each other again. We were there for almost 4 hours. Fine by me too, I love it there, it’s a beautiful place. The clouds came over for a while and that cooled things off but it didn’t bother them. I finally had to go get my sweatshirt from the van.

Buried Boys

After all that play they were pretty tired out so we headed back to camp from there. I got dinner going and I thought they’d go swim but they’d had enough. Mr Dealer pulled out the cards and they played cards till it was time to eat. Oh! I almost forgot, on our way back to camp we stopped at the El Portal market and Masa bought everyone an Its It ice cream sandwich. The best! They are from San Francisco, sooo good!

Its It!! Ice Cream Sandwiches

They weren’t very hungry for dinner that night, though it could be they didn’t like it either, they wouldn’t really say. I made Chicken Adobo. We had tons of veggies left over and chicken and rice which we saved, I’d find out why the next morning…

We made a fire and I taught them about S’mores. They’d had all the elements of s’mores but not put together. That turned out to be funny too as they were loosing marshmallows in the fire and burning them and the usual challenges of a first time s'more maker. I tried to explain the name too, which isn't easy. They are so good you want s'more. Get it? 

The next morning we got up and got some packing done and I attempted to feed them cereal and hot instant oatmeal, turns out they didn't like that. Which is fine, that stuff isn't for everyone. They got out the left over rice (rice is something they have for breakfast, its not sweet though its savory for them) they travel with this flavoring that turns out to be tea, like green tea or black tea. Its salty ( i tried it!) So I didn't care for it either, we Americans like a sweet breakfast. 

Half Dome

We got all packed up and headed into the Yosemite Valley for what turned out to be an epic journey around the valley to get to all the sights Masa wanted to see. I wanted to be sure we got everywhere and there was quite a list! 

We drove up to Glacier Point where they could see Half Dome well and shop for souvenirs. Then we drove back down to Yosemite Lodge and I dropped them off to do a quick walk up to the lower Yosemite Falls which was good. Then I scooped them back up and we drove out to the parking lot closest to the El Capitan Nose (Jon, another guide, calls that parking lot the Devils Elbow...more because of pedestrians than anything) 

They attempted to walk up to the rock while I guarded the van, I was double parked with my trailer. 

They returned having failed in their mission to get there because it was too tough a climb up. I was bummed, I didn't remember it being that hard but I'd done it in the snow before. 

El Capitan meadows

Next we went to El Capitan Meadows and found some rock climbers to watch for a bit before we had to head out. It was a fast day to be sure. I think I'd know better next time how to set up the trip so they see exactly what they want without rushing. 

On our way home we stopped and had dinner in Turlock. I took my usual route from the 99 to the 132 exit at Modesto when the van broke down. Luckily I'd come to a stop at the stoplight and there was no danger so we got off the road and parked the van. 

Bucket game!

So now the adventure began. I arranged for a tow truck, a rescue vehicle and we got our stuff out and set the boys to play. Once again I was the luckiest tour guide in California on this evening because this group handled this event really well. It was unfortunate that it had to happen but like I said these kids were great. Masa and Yuki were infinitely patient too. I appreciate that! 

Betty being towed

I dropped them off late that night and gave them all a group hug. That was hilarious! And as they walked away they waved, then I'd wave, they'd wave, then I'd wave. Oh, I missed them already! 

Fantastic Five defeat the Unreal Housewives of Philadelphia

It was a battle to be sure, total domination of the campground and the Yosemite Valley and its surrounds. The fantastic five had to deflect all sorts of seriously ridiculous crap and maintain a good vibe and great group dynamic, it wasn't easy. I played referee and general peace keeper as best I could. The battle began in the city when the entire group arrived at the hotel and part of them were in a rental van, I took the fantastic five and raced to the campsite for a quick undoing of their evil plan to drive that car around behind me for 2 more days.

Yosemite Falls in Black & White

I gracefully said, "park it and pile in." which did not make them happy as the trip was completely booked so there were 14 people climbing into my van.

The Unreal Housewives were just that. UNREAL. I've never had people ask questions where I had to bite my tongue and resist the urge to say "did you seriously just ask me that?" it was REALLY hard to do that. I also had to remember when I turned away and rolled my eyes or slapped my forehead in exasperation that I'd have to check that the Five weren't standing there watching me do that. Though I'm sure they were doing the same thing.
The unreal housewives, there were 2, had children and husbands so they were a group of 8 altogether. Now, you're wondering why I say 14 people in the van when I've only spoken about 13 so far but the 14th person was playing both sides. He enjoyed the family and their beautiful young daughters quite alot, he also seemed to enjoy the housewives as well, maybe he missed his mama.

The final victory came when 6 of the 8 left early on the morning of the third day. The 5 then had to deal with the Unreals and the player for the rest of the day but they managed alright in the end.
Most of them took off as fast as they could from the drop off point. They were very excited to hear me say "free day in Yosemite Valley" I didn't even see a few of them leave they were that fast!
On the long journey home one of the unreals asked me "if that little trailer thingy was still attached to the van, you know the one I put my bag in this morning?" I wasn't sure if I should just point to the large white trailer being towed behind me or ask her for clarification on the silliest question I'd had so far, I mean, how did she expect all that stuff to get back to San Francisco? Teleport? She walked around the trailer 3 times when I picked her up. Amazing!
Phew!

Adventure Recap

Flavio, Angie, Jake, Mattia

Well though my bags and packed and I've no where to go I haven't let that MINOR detail stop me from enjoying my week off work. Not really sure how that ended up being my schedule but I'll take it! I did manage to fill up most days with fun things at least.
I had my usually 3 day camping trip last Thursday which ended Saturday night. Sunday I did a wine country tour with a bunch of weirdos and one really cool Aussie guy who's on a whirlwind tour of the US before he heads back to Oz, so I gave him all the advise I could think of (poor guy) but that was to be the highlight, my group was really quiet and not in the mood to drink wine so much as learn about the wine...hmmm nothing wrong with that but it changes the mood in my van.

Cannoli's at Mara's

Monday I had arranged to meet up with 4 people from my camping trip (this group got along so well! They hung out Sunday together and had great adventures and made silly movies about speaking each others languages. They were a Taiwanese couple and 2 Italians.

Oh so delicious!

Monday I met them in Union Square and then took over the tour guiding again and walked them along my favorite route through SF. Jake the guy from Taiwan had found a place to have as close to authentic Chinese food as there is and so that was our only objective. Otherwise I walked them through tourist Chinatown and then up to Stockton where the Chinese people live and work and shop, we wandered up to my favorite pastry shop Mara's and had a cannoli. A Sicilian pastry it turns out. The Italians were from Milan.
That was fun at any rate. We walked back to Chinatown and had our Chinese lunch. Jake and Angie made us each learn a dish in Chinese and order it from the waiter, it was really fun. The food was really good too!
After that I took them to Belden Place, the alley I found in the financial district. I have always wanted to try it out and so we went there and had a coffee and relaxed for a bit.

From there I took them back through North Beach, we took a snooze in Washington Square and then continued on to Fishermans Wharf. That place was insanely busy as usual, I about lost it by that point. I was hungry and had turned into grouchy "feed me now" Karen. She's never fun. :)

The group wanted to try sourdough so we went to Boudins for a chowder bowl and then I coaxed them into the Musee Mecanique. They were all reluctant at first, its hard to describe the antique arcade idea to people. Once I got them in there and they got some quarters into some games they all perked up and we ended up spending at least an hour in there. It was hilarious!

Dueling Robots

We ended our day by having seafood at a restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf. Its a tough choice when there are so many places there!! We found one that had everything we wanted on the menu and ate a good meal.
It was late by this time and  time to find our way back over the hill to where they were all staying. After much wandering and debate about paying for a cable car and trying to find a non existent taxi (why on earth are there no taxi's in Fisherman's??)
We finally caught the #30 bus through Chinatown to Union Square where we parted ways. I walked Mattia and Flavio to their hostel since they were turned around by then. And we discussed my going with them on their next leg of the journey. They were headed to Monterrey and I suggested Santa Cruz and Carmel too, they took me with them! Tuesday they came and picked me up in their rental car and drove me to the beach! It was the first time I wasn't driving! It was really nice to just hang out and take in the scenery!

We laid on the beach for a while and walked around and then drove to Carmel. The beach there was so cold! It was foggy and windy, not like sunny Santa Cruz! We didn't stay long and then went to Monterrey to find the hotel and go get dinner. I got a room in Monterrey (thank goodness for internet on my phone) and we all went to dinner on Cannery Row.
The whole trip was a lot of fun. I took a shuttle van back to SFO and caught BART back to the city. I miss those guys already, they were so fun!

Oh the places I'll go....again

Once again I find my bags packed and I'm sitting here thinking, where to next?! Not so much in a grand way but my next few weeks or months will be up in the air (where I like it?!!)
My sublet is over now, Charlotte comes home this week. I have back to back camping trips so I'll at least know where I'm going to be sleeping for a few days :) then its anyones guess. For the time being I've booked a hostel bed so I know I have some where to go at least.
My plan as it stands right now is to sleep on the office floor the night before my camping trip (don't feel too bad, I sleep really good there for some reason) 2 nights camping in Yosemite then another night on the office floor and then a hostel for 3 nights. Why not?! It can be done!! And if I can manage it for about 6 weeks then I'll be home free because my time will be up and I can move on.
The thing about staying, when people ask, is that I have to set so many things in motion to make it happen and I'm not really in love with this place. I'd rather get moving and maybe find that place I'd like to make an effort to settle on down the road.
In order to stay I'll be signing a lease which is scary when I have a mortgage back home to potentially cover should my renter move out. I would need to start looking for a second job to supplement the guide work if I had that through the winter and then there is actually finding a place! That is the hardest part and the rents in SF went up. Weird how that works. Rooms and sublets got 1/3 more expensive since I looked in May/June. Why on earth!?
So all those things swirling around my brain makes me want to just pack light and keep it simple and try out my money saving scheme for a while. What have I got to lose anyways?! Well besides sanity but who needs that! Ha!
I am really going to miss my roommates right now though. They are such a great bunch of people and I get along well with them for sure. It will be harder to see them once I go because we all have different schedules. I hope to come over for the occasional game night and things, that will be fun!

Looking forward, my list of things I'd like to be doing this fall is ever growing. Really when do I NOT have a list of places I'd like to be visiting?! Thailand, USA, Europe (UK, Mallorca and now Italy) Oz, New Zealand.

Well, I want to recap some adventures I've had this week but I'll put that into another blog. This one got long and is my usually rambling.

How to impress visitors!

Being the amazing tour guide that I am...after my last 3 day tour a few of the younger people wanted to go out on the town, they wanted me to show them where! Ha! Me! A person who is usually sleepy by 9pm because I work early in the mornings and 6 days a week! I wish I knew how to help them. I didn't really say any of that. I just told them I'd drop off the van and get caught up with them as soon as I could.

2 hours later I finally made it into the city. The neighborhood where I live is so up and coming (yeah right) you have to call a cab and hope it doesn't get stolen before it gets to you. Then on a Saturday night trains headed into downtown are 20-40 minutes apart. So my journey was a bit frustrating. At CalTrain where the T line takes a long slow turn (its always slow...) I decided to try my luck, jump off the train and run up to catch the #30 bus that heads past Union Square. So I see the bus coming (as per my usual) and have to run as fast as I can to get to it because at that time of night the drivers could care less.
Needless to say I make it into town, pull myself together and find my group. What I hadn't realized in all that time was that they had invited one of the younger kids along with them. He was 20 and he looked younger. They (all being Europeans/ Aussies) thought he could go everywhere and just not drink, since that is the way of it outside the US. But they had discovered that is not the case. So we had to figure out where to go where he could come in. Yeah right, on a Saturday night in San Francisco.
I didn't know where to go. They didn't seem to understand I never go out at night. I've never been to a nightclub (yet) and I usually like dive bars and I make my own party so its never that the place is really "happening" so they are not with the greatest bar guide in the world at this point.

I took them into dark empty Chinatown to the Buddha bar and we were the only ones in there oops, it was hilarious. So we had one drink and chatted up a storm and then moved on. They really wanted to go dancing and it was getting late. The bars close at 2 am, I knew there had to be after hours places in the city so I got on the phone to some of the people I know and we were sent a couple of suggestions.
One person said Ruby Skye and the other said "oh no, don't go there its douche-y" so he suggested The Endup in SOMA. Sure, why not. Supposed to be good dancing, open really late/early. We hopped into a cab and went down to see what was up at the Endup.
This is where it gets good.

The cab driver knew right where it was because everybody ends up at the Endup. We pull up and there are no white people at all. Only African American people. Lots of them. So I say "huh?" maybe that's how it is, lets go check it out anyways. So out we go to get in line for the security pat down and ID check. We still have the young guy with us don't forget. So one by one we get nearer the door, get ourselves searched, our purses and pockets searched and then make it to the cover charge lady. We did it. All of us ended up inside. I couldn't believe it!

We were the only white people there. It was a huge place and totally packed with people. No joke, you couldn't even walk around in there. I texted my friend and asked him if the club being for black people only was normal, he said "no way!" ha! So we'd just walked into an event that was not designed for us, music is universal so who can really say its not for one type of person versus another, I know that!
But what the heck! In we went! It was absolutely the most entertaining night. I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

We got a drink and decided to go have a look. It was so packed you couldn't get through the crowd without full body contact. Once we got further into the place we got seperated and Michael and I were standing near the dance floor taking it all in when I suddenly got thrown against him and the wall. There had been a huge bar fight brewing right behind me and I hadn't heard it. So Michael catches me and we move out of the way best we can and watch the drama unfold.
By the time I could turn around and get further away from the fists of fury the security guards were on top of the scene. The man attacked the woman and she was fighting back with some serious energy and the security guards had to work pretty hard to get them out. It was really something! Michael and I just looked at each other and started laughing. Oh my gosh! It was so funny. Not sure why it was but we just couldn't help laughing about this place we'd walked in to!

We managed to gather the whole group again and made our way to the dance floor and the outside patio area which was really cool. I had to go to the bathroom and I'd seen the line on my way by, it wasn't short. I knew I'd better get into that line before I really had to go so off I wandered to fight my way back to that side of the place.

Wow! This was the next funniest thing I've ever seen at a bar. The women in line for the bathroom were absolutely hilarious and we all had to go really bad and we were all trying the broken stall door, just in case and then as we got really close the ladies just started undoing their clothes to be totally ready to go. The gal behind me says "just don't even flush, just run out" it was great!

So we danced the night away and watch the scene unfold and had a bunch of laughs. Oh what a night! My poor young English lad Felix was completely out of his element the whole time. It was really funny. Michael was from Australia and pretty much up for anything so he and I were really enjoying ourselves.

The whole night was great. These poor folks had no idea what a night out with their trusty tour guide Karen would be! Goes to show, you never know what will happen, the party is where you make it and never turn down new things! And just see how that turned out! :)

The Fables Equivalency

Its important to chain up your chair. 

Well I hate to say it but I can now see why people who read comic books do end up with active imaginations, seeing their favorite characters in their every day lives. Yes, that has happened to me. I've been reading a comic called Fables. I think I mentioned that I've been visiting this fantastic shop called Amazing Fantasy at 8th and Irving. So I'm about 5 books in and I found my last tour group to be full of characters! It was so funny.
Every time this one guy would start spinning a tale, I'd be calling him by the characters' name! Ha!

One of the kids in the group was having a hilarious fight with her brother and she said "haha deal with my pinwheel of pain"! It was so funny, I had to write it down, her mother said "don't encourage her" it was such a crack up. And about that time the Sullen Soldier comes up "pirouette of punishment"

On this tour I had the Sullen Soldier and his captive Min, a Klingon, the family fueders (Kiwi's vs. Aussies) and Jack of the Tales.

I just noticed how long its been since I've blogged. I can look back throughout the blog history and see my up and down times. I finally got a couple of days off and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be taking a break before my next set of characters appear for this weeks tour.

Follow the Bread Crumbs?!

Iron Door Debacle

Bridal Veil Falls

The doors slammed shut on my three day camping trip thanks to the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland CA.
Not really, it was a strange trip from the beginning. I had only 4 passengers and they were all so different they didn't really get together. 2 girls were traveling together and then I had a young guy (really young) and an older woman. She was my favorite though, she traveled alot, usually camping and was really with the program.

Squirrel!

This was the first group I ever had where I finally had to show them how to use the door to the van because I wasn't going to do it for them all the time. They would just sit in the van. It was funny. This was also the first group where I had people who could care less about the scenery. Turns out I don't like that very much. I mean, you're in YOSEMITE?! I pulled up to Tunnel View which is usually where I get the Oohs and Awws, and after I parked and three of them got out I asked the last girl if she was getting out and she said "no, I can see it from here" she's in the back of the van!! I mean, seriously?? They didn't care about anything I took them to see. I finally started pulling over and taking photos myself. If they aren't going to tour I will.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

On the last day we went to a new place for me, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and that was totally amazing! I really like it there alot! We hiked to the Wapama Waterfall which was totally massive and splashing right onto the walk way!! I loved it! My group didn't even finish the hike. I told them we didn't have to do it but they seemed to shrug and say, no we'll go. They didn't even stop to take a photo or look around. I did, they didn't even wait up for me. I had to catch them up back at the van. Sheesh. Fun.

Wapama Falls splashdown

Needless to say the combination of stupid idiots in Yosemite sometimes, the lack of caring by the rangers to control those idiots and my group of uninterested people it was a LONG 3 day trip. I couldn't wait to get them home. Which is saying something because I usually dread going to the city and dropping them off.

Playing Ketchup and Flogging Molly

catch up really but its funnier that way....

So much to blog about and now it’s a week later. As usual, when I fall behind a ton of stuff has gone on. I didn’t have paper and pen to write it down so that I could just type it when I got back from the 1^st camping trip. Then I did the same thing again on the second camping trip.

Now I’ve had a day of work and a day off and am back in Yosemite for a 1 day tour. Phew! Try to keep up!

Lets start at the very beginning.

Thursday I met Tom and Kim at…wait a minute. Wednesday night I crashed the finale party of powwow at city hall. I almost forgot. It paled in comparison to the Academy party. I’ll put a picture on so you can see it.

I had gotten done with work at 9pm and gone upstairs to change and generally make a mess and then left for th party. When I got to the party Brian A says, by the way Gussy is sleeping at the office too! I told him he better call her and let her know my stuff is everywhere in there! It was pretty funny. So I went back to the office after the party and Gussy and I chatted until the wee hours and then off to bed we went. Which was hilarious because there isn’t much room on the floor in the office for two sleeping bags. Ha!

The next day Thursday I met Tom and Kim for our first camping trip of the year! Joe had already packed the trailer and Tom went through it a bit and then off we went. It was a training trip for Kim and myself but Tom wasn’t in much of a mood to train for some reason. Anyways, we shopped at Food Co. and then picked up our guests. All 12 of them. Making that 14 on Tom’s manifest. It was a lot and he was really stressed out about it but we will take 14 by ourselves usually and he had 2 other guides to help him.

The group was really great. A lot of Aussies and all young and we had a great time the first day. We got camp unpacked and realized we didn’t have any silverware or utensils of any kind in the trailer. Whoops! After a big fuss on my part really, Tom ran up to the store and bought some plastic knives forks spoons and we made do just fine. It was great fun. The group was really good about the whole thing!

We hiked to the upper grove in the Mariposa Grove which I’d never done. That was really beautiful. Worth the walk. That night we partied at the bar a little bit which was fun and then headed to bed. Saturday we went into the valley for a little bit. Kim and I and Simon one of our guests did part of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. Once you get up high you have a great view.

We were supposed to meet Brian A in the park and both of us ride out with him but he had a full van too so Kim went with him and I stayed with my group. I call them mine because Tom had checked out and wouldn’t tell them what we were doing, where we were going, what to do next. It sounds weird but people like to know what’s going on and they do like to be told what to do. It’s the strangest thing. So I stepped in and took over.

We got them dropped off and I went back to the office with Tom to help clean up and put away and ended up doing all of that too. It was a little annoying. It was his trip but he wasn’t really present for it. I’ve never seen Tom like that before. I don’t know if it was me or the group or what!

I slept at the office that night and then turned around and did the whole thing again on my own. Which was WAY more fun! I obviously like being in charge! J

I had a group of 8 and they were mostly Aussies as well. All great people. It was so much fun!

Really nothing out of the ordinary happened. We had insane Memorial Day traffic in the park. They basically closed down the valley and turned cars around because traffic was backed up for hours and miles. I got stuck once in that traffic Sunday afternoon but we were right along the river and the group thought that was awesome so they were happy to get out and walk around while I waited.

I returned Tuesday night and Wednesday I talked Brian into helping me with moving some things from Jolie’s house to my new place and that was really awesome! I had forgotten how much room is in Charlottes room! Its going to be great! I worked Weds afternoon until 9pm (10pm, as I had quite a night with reservations etc) then “home” to my bed and a pillow!! Oh boy, what a great nights sleep I had especially as I got to sleep in!!

I did laundry and unpacked my stuff and walked to the office to get the rest of it out of the “closet” there. I had to sweet talk Joe into driving me back over to the house because my big bag was there. He was nice enough to do that if I offered to buy him a beneigh ( I don’t know how to spell that!)

Once I got all my stuff in one place, which was nice feeling! I went to Just for You for a celebratory breakfast and had huevos rancheros. Oh man they were good!! Really really good!!

I went up to Trader joes to buy some mangos and then Adam (Joe’s computer graphic lackey) called to see if I’d help him move so I said why not! That turned out to be good fun. Adam is a bit all over the place but it was fun to help him. We went to Amoeba Music in upper Haight and watched a free Flogging Molly concert in there. That was really cool! They are terrific! Irish punk band! They have a new CD out now, which they were promoting.

One of Adams friends Jeff joined us there and then we all went back to Adams house to have some food. Another jeff showed up too and so it was man time in the the bachelor pad. J Jeff R and I ended up cooking which was fun. We had good kitchen rhythm together and good laughs.

Once dinner was done I went back home to where Olivia, a roommate of mine, was having her 30^th birthday party! So they were eating dinner and I got in on cake (gluten free chocolate cake) and ice cream (salted caramel!) then off to bed. Phew!

Now I’m getting ready to nap in the van until its time to pick up my peeps.

 Phew two solid hours of sleeping...man that was a rough wake up! I had a great group though, they were all stoked to have seen what they did in Yosemite. Now I'm back at "home" in my new room about to go to sleep on my BED with a PILLOW!! Yeah!

Tomorrow is Muir Woods Wine Country. Pictures to come. Its getting late for me and my nap was not enough. 

Camping Trips are Fun!

Two back to back camping trips and a night in the office in between makes Karen a zombie girl today!!
I really want to blog about the whole thing but will wait until I get properly woken up and in the mood. Coming back to the city after 6 days camping in Yosemite is harsh!!

I will share one thing though, last night I got on the train to come back to Jolie's house and the crazy homeless man sitting behind me told himself to shut the f up. It was hilarious. At least no one else had to do it. Welcome back to SF.

Party Crashing at the Academy of Sciences

To follow up my post from yesterday. I did manage to get all dressed up and head to the Golden Gate Park. Brian Brian Zach and Jessa were all there already. It was an absolute scene when I walked up. The entire place was lit up, giant spotlights to the sky tons of entertainment outside to greet the guests. I didn't know it until much later but there were oyster bars set up outside. Dang it! I missed it!! Chris would be so mad at me!!

Caviar Dreams

This party was one of those you hear about or see in magazines. San Francisco put its party hat on and went to town. I mean, we are hosting the worlds travel companies, showcasing the city is their job but wow!! They had lights on everything, tables chairs of all shapes and sizes, themed rooms and themed tents. Tables full of food and drink everywhere. It was great. Jessa and Zach got split up from Brian A and I so we just wandered around and had a look. Brian really wanted to show me the table with the lamb (he really wanted some) but we walked into a tent with the Caviar instead. Ooh yummy!! That stuff is so good! The men service were so professional and then they'd pour you a vodka shot to chase it down. I didn't have any of that. The tent next to that one was set up as the middle eastern tent, with the kebabs and belly dancers. Really amazing setting!

From there we wandered downstairs to the aquarium. You are surrounded by these glass windows full of huge fish. Its really cool! One little room you crawl into and stand up with an entire bubble overhead and fish looking down on you! Its great.
Back upstairs we kept making our way around the rooms and found the tent with the lamb finally. Brian was pretty thrilled. They had a live band in there (they had many) but at that time it was disco so they were wearing hilarious wigs and outfits. It was great!
They had hired performers to walk around in amazing costumes and makeup. Some were on stilts, some were on those bouncy feet you see. Some had claws, plumes of feathers. Wow. Unbelievable sights!!
We finally found all the others and carried on together. We met the man in charge of PR and marketing for Sonoma County. What a great guy he is. Very nice and hilarious too. Brian D our owner knows a ton of people so it was fun to follow him around and be introduced.

Handsome bunch of coworkers!

We made a few more frequent visits to the caviar tent and called it a night. We grabbed a shuttle bus back to the Moscone and headed to the Bart/Muni station and parted ways.
Josh had invited me to a concert but by the time I'd have gotten there from where I was it would have long been over. So I went home and went to bed!
Today I've packed and gotten ready for the long haul. I do back to back camping trips for the next 6 days. If the second trip doesn't confirm then I'll have a mini break before I do Yosemite on Monday but we'll see.
It will be good to finally do a camping trip and see what I think of it, since I volunteered to do alot of them this summer. :)
I also will not have internet for that entire time so stay tuned...