Dear Blogosphere: california

Showing posts with label california. Show all posts

20100630

Emily and Taylor Visit!

Dear Blogosphere,

My sister Emily and brother-in-law Taylor just left. We had a blast and saw a lot of Northern California while they were here. Here's where we went and what we did!

Day 1: Walked around Downtown Davis; went to the amazing Wednesday Farmer's Market -- complete with munching on local, organic cherries, blackberries, and kettle corn; walked through UC Davis' arboretum.
Day 2: Wine Country: Drove along the Silverado Trail taking in the gorgeous Napa Valley; stopped in Calistoga to visit Sam Brannan's cottage and learn a bit more about California's first millionaire... and Mormon with a serious sense of humor; had lunch and window shopped in St. Helena; missed the last tour at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield but bought Belly Flops anyway; returned to little Davis.
Day 3: Drove to Sarah Winchester's curious home in San Jose with a brief stop in Fremont to eat at In-n-Out in its home state; stopped at our hotel in Campbell before heading down to Santa Cruz for dinner and beachy fun; returned to Campbell tuckered out!
Day 4: Hiked to Sempervirens Falls in Big Basin Redwoods State Park amongst the HUGE redwoods!
Day 5: Made our way to Half Moon Bay; drove through the cute little town and hung out on the beach to take some photographs; got stuck in San Francisco traffic for an hour or two due to a Giants game and the Pride Parade; couldn't get to Emily and Taylor's hotel so we took the Bay Bride to Berkeley and did a little shopping; said "sayonara" to Emily and Taylor, and boarded the Amtrak to Davis.
Day 7: Emily and Taylor spent their last night in the Golden State.

It was lots of fun to finally have my sister and bro-in-law out to visit! But it's a sad day now that they have left. :-(

-Natalie

Sister Road Trip: April Fools Edition

Dearest Blogosphere,

This past weekend, Ali and I went on an incredibly fun road trip! Here are the details:

*Rented a cute red Chevy Cobalt, left Davis around 9:45 AM.
*First stop: Fairfield for a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. Ali was just as humored by the ridiculous amount of Ronald Reagan memorabilia and portraits in the factory store. We just couldn't get enough of the apple pie and honey flavored beans!
*Second stop: Ali's first In-N-Out Burger in Fremont! Very tasty as usual!
*Third stop: San Jose to visit Sarah Winchester's wacky house! The flowers were all blooming and we had a great time!
*Fourth stop: Santa Cruz boardwalk! Absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately it had rained that day, so the rollercoasters were closed, but we still enjoyed the boardwalk, beach, and downtown. We also drove up the hill to UC Santa Cruz. It was dark but man, it looks like a cool campus!
*Fifth stop: San Francisco! We stayed at the Hotel Stratford right in Union Square. It was great! We did some shopping (H&M, Tiffany's, and a couple others). We also drove around the Presidio and found a great little hike to some fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge and bay. We checked out the Walt Disney Family Museum - SO COOL! - and hung out on Pier 39 with the Sea Lions.
*Sixth stop: It took us a record 1 hour to get from San Francisco to Davis! And we spent the rest of her time here kicking it around town and in my apartment.

It was so much fun and I cannot wait to check out some of the places again when my sister, Emily, brother-in-law, Taylor, and Ali come to visit me in June! Yay!

Where in the World is Davis, CA?

Dear Blogosphere,

Darling Jenn made an inquiry on my last post as to where Davis is in relation to San Francisco! I decided to snag a map off of Google to give you an idea! So, Davis is about 20 minutes outside of Sacramento. The Amtrak train follows I-80, down all the way to Emeryville (not labeled, but just south of Berkeley and north of Oakland). It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get to Emeryville, then about a half-hour to get across the Oakland Bridge and into the city by bus.

I consider that to be quite close! Indeed, many UC Davis students go home to San Francisco on the weekend. UC Davis was originally an extension of UC Berkeley (the University Farm). I think it's a bit far to commute, but hey, it's California! Someone probably does it!

So, while this map is up, I might as well tell you about some other spots I want to visit/have visited. Walnut Creek is a gorgeous town! I would love to live there. There is an $8 bus to UC Berkeley on the weekdays, so in the future, if I decide to go to San Francisco on a weekday, I might take it and then take BART into the city. But I also want to check out Berkeley, so that will probably be my next trip.

I've heard great things about Suisun, so I want to go check that out and take a tour of the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. I also want to go kick it in amongst some redwoods. And, of course, I want to go see some tasty wine country!

So there you have it!

Writing from Davis,

-Natalie

San Francisco!

Dear Blogosphere,

Here are my favorite pictures of my trip to San Francisco! They are in reverse chronological order... so, keep that in mind. :-)

Above: Me at Pier 39. A storm was starting to blow in!

Above: The sea lions! Arrgk! Arrgk!

Above: Me kicking it on the pier.

Above: The boats!

Above: The Historical 'F' cable car! This goes along the wharf, through the shopping district, and apparently up to Castro (famous for good old Milk)!

Above: Ding ding ding!

Above: Shopping district/Union Square-ish area.

San Francisco is my favorite city. I love the architecture, the hills (get those thighs burnin'!), the bay, the seagulls, the sea lions, the smell of sourdough, the shopping, the people! I plan to visit often!

Thanks for readin'!

-Natalie

If you haven't seen The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, get your hands on it as soon as possible! I decided to watch it because it was on Netflix online, I am in love with San Francisco, and I am fascinated by birds. But I forgot that it is a sobfest! So I spent a good twenty minutes of the film crying! If you watch it, you will know why. But it's just one of those few films that is inspirational, through and through.

So, after watching it, I decided to read up on when and where to visit the parrots on my next trip to San Francisco. The babies take flight in September, so I'm thinking that it's not too late.

So news! I will be coming home for one of my two favorite holidays! Halloween! I'll also be in town for Ben and my mom's birthday! I'm so excited. I am starting to get homesick so I definitely need some sister and mom time! Yay!

Well, I am going to put together a San Francisco post. So... look above! Haha!

-Natalie

A Bunch of Random Davisy Pictures!

My first visitors!

Me with my bike!

New saddle baskets!

New bottle, bell, and headlight.

Cherry, pear, and grape tomatoes from the farmers market.

Purple bell peppers!

The crowd at the farmers market on Wednesday.

Orange tree!

My campus home!

Chester, Ben's younger sibling, selling a bike.

Me in two weeks.

Gluten-free restaurant and store!

California produce.

Lime tree.

Sign for the farmers market.

Palm trees in front of the Union.

Dear Blogosphere,

Davis is great! I'm loving the California sun!

-Natalie

The Coolest Apartment Ever.

Dear Blogosphere,

As promised, here are the pictures of my apartment! I love it! The town is great and the weather is nice. The humidity is doing wonderful things to my hair. Haha. Anyway, will update you more later!

-Natalie

Peace Out!

Goodbye Salt Lake. I love your mountains, your residents, and your plain old awesomeness. But, alas, it is time for me to move to California and its green pastures, fine men, and that little thing called graduate school!

I am about to completely pass out. Because it is 4:30... and I will be leaving at about 8 AM. But I felt like I should post once more in Utah. I will certainly post here again (I'll be back for Mithras' birthday celebration) but it will be a while.

Get excited blog-readers, for I will be posting pictures of my apartment when it is all decorated. That will be in a few days, though, so hang tight!

I love you all! And apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors that are probably in this text but I am too tired to even give it a second read through.

:-)

Write again in Davis, CA!

-Natalie

I promised...

to bore the Blogosphere with the details of my life, so, voila! a shopping list.

-Carbon monoxide alarm
-TV stand
-Hand tool set
-Pyrex prepware set
-Cookie sheets, cake pan, etc
-Various vegetable peelers
-Wall clock
-Desk lamp
-All-in-one printer
-First aid kit
-Nifty flashlight that turns into lantern, more flashlights
-Iron and ironing board
-Blender
-Electric kettle
-Hangers
-Toilet brush and plunger
-Broom and dustpan
-Serving tray
-Jars
-Pitcher
-Coat rack?
-Dry-erase board
-Step stool
-Tape
-Pins
-Desk
-Bookshelf
-Chair
-Butter dish
-DVD/VCR
-TV

Hmm... not as bad as I thought it would be! T-20 days, my friends!!

-Natalie

Lake Tahoe

Dear Blogosphere,

Here are pictures from Lake Tahoe, where I was about a week ago. It was one of the prettiest places I have ever been... possibly the prettiest. Unfortunately, the pictures just don't do it justice.

-Natalie

Disneyland 2009!

We had such a great time in Disneyland! The whole trip was fun but the best part (dare I say) was the gluten-free food!

I ate:

-Pepperoni pizza with a delicious crust.
-A hamburger complete with bun and fries (fried in a dedicated fryer).
-A grilled chicken sandwich with bun and fries.
-Ratatouille with a savory corn cake.
-Cheese enchiladas with carne asada.
-Mocha almond fudge ice cream.
-Pineapple whip.

So, if you are gluten-intolerant, a Celiac-sufferer, or have a wheat allergy, I HIGHLY recommend kicking it at Disneyland! I'm not a breakfast eater but several places offered gluten-free pancakes and waffles! All of the food service workers knew exactly what was gluten-free and what wasn't and had the protocol down. It was fantastic. My pizza and ice cream was served to me directly by the chef which made me feel ultra-special.

We drove down through St. George where we had lunch at Chili's (they have a GF menu). Then we stopped in Barstow and ate at Baja Fresh where I ordered the chicken fajitas with no tortillas. When we drove up to Davis we ate at Wendy's twice. They have a gluten-free menu on their website. Some salads and the potatoes are safe. The morning we came home, we got smoothies at a Jamba Juice where all smoothies are GF if you stay clear of the boosts. On the way home, I ate all junk food including Lay's Stax, Starbursts, and Sour Patch Watermelons.

I didn't get sick once.

So, fellow gluten-freers, it is possible to go on a road trip!!

-Natalie