CALIFORNIA!!!!!!! (LA, SB, Big Sur)

Can you tell by the title I'm excited to be back??  I LOVE California in October.  Maybe I just get supremely lucky, but this month is good luck for me.  Cali+Lauren+October = fantastic weather, time and friends! :)

Pier near LA

I also flew standby this time thanks to a friend who is a flight attendant for US Air.  This saved me a ton of money, though did make things slightly difficult on the way out.  I tried to catch a 9:50 nonstop from Charlotte to LA, but it was full, so I flew to Philly then was able to get on a 2:05 to LA.  I arrived in LA at 5:20 p.m. and my bag (which had made it on the original flight) was waiting for me in a little baggage claim room.  This was actually rather nice, since I didn't have to wait for my bags to come out on the turnstile.

My friend Erika (who I met through my life group back in 2009 and who moved out to LA in Aug. of 2010), picked me up from the airport.  We drove straight to a lovely pier with restaurants and a great view of the receding sun.  After taking some photos on the pier, we had dinner at a place with awesome fish tacos.  We ended the evening back at her place in Torrance, Ca. (a suburb of LA), and both went to bed at 10 p.m. (of course my body thought it was 1 a.m.).

Erika and me before our killer hike

The next morning we woke a little before 8 and decided to go hiking at Palos Verdes (which translates to green sticks).  We started at the top of a high hill at Del Cerro Park which is at least several hundred feet in elevation.  Standing at the top with a cool breeze hitting us and looking out at the shimmering water in the distance, we decided to hike to the water.  It couldn't be that bad....right?  Well, the hike down wasn't terrible.  Dusty and dry with little shade, but not bad.  When we made it to the cliffs along the water, we were amazed by the view.  We saw below us a secluded beach with sand and big rocks.  The water was turquoise and cobalt blue.  At the other side of the little cove, there was a cave.  We decided to go exploring, and took a steep trail to the water's edge.  We were the only two people in sight.  We skipped rocks, took photos and really enjoyed watching all the wildlife in the tide-pools.  We saw starfish, crabs, purple and blue sea anemones and more. Then we realized there were two seals on a rock a little way into the water.  We got as close as we could and took photos.  They were so cute - one kept petting the other with his flipper (so he was either saying "I love you" or "get off, this is my rock").  We made it to the cave, which was actually more like an arch, for the water rushed through from the other side and swelled up in a big rush.  It was really cool.

As we made our way back to the other side of the beach, we saw a man splashing water on himself at the water's edge - and he was naked!  Finally, he must have seen us, because he went and put a towel on and sat over by the base of the cliff while we passed.  Haha - welcome to California!

We decided to hike all the way to the sea

The little cove we made it down to.

It was on the way back to our car that we realized we should have parked closer to our destination.  The trek back up was uphill the whole way, and the last half mile was practically straight up.  Add to that 85 degree heat, no moisture in the air, and only one bottle of water (Erika forgot to bring one).  We started rationing the water by the beginning of the hike back, and by the end, we both had dehydration headaches, we didn't have to pee anymore, and we were practically falling over.  We seriously thought the vultures may find our dessicated bodies on the mountainside the next day.  But, at last, we made it - four hours after starting out.  I can't tell you how many miles it was - but I know it was a lot.  Upon attaining the car, we drove straight to the nearest shopping center and got glasses of water at Whole Foods while they made us smoothies.  I gulped about 20 oz. in 2 minutes, then drank a 16 oz. smoothie.  I can't remember anything tasting better.

We were pretty much done for the rest of the day.  We came home, showered, and watched a movie before getting ingredients at the grocery store for dinner and picking up another movie.  We made an amazing black bean, corn, feta dip that Aunt Coleen taught me, and my (now famous) sopapilla cheesecake. Add in some fruit, and that was our dinner. lol

Resting after the first half of the hike.

We got up at 7:30 on Saturday and Erika attempted to drive me to meet up with Eric in Oxnard (partway between LA and Santa Barbara).  However, right when we reached Malibu on Hwy 1, traffic came to a standstill.  A bus of kids told us out the window that there was a 3 car pileup and we should turn around.  So we did, and got on the 405 which also had a lot of traffic, but no accident.  We were then supposed to get off on the 101 heading North/West, but we missed it and ended up on the 5 which heads into the Ca. hills in the east. By the time we realized, it was too far to backtrack, so we took a random state road to cut back over and ended up meeting Eric in Ventura 2 hours later than originally planned.

Down by the water in Palos Verdes.

Eric (who I met originally on the Utah trip July '11) and I set off immediately (he had a full day of sightseeing planned).  We went Rinton Beach first and sat on some big rocks and just enjoyed the lovely day.  Next we  stopped by the beach in Summerland, picked up lunch and drove about 45 minutes to the top of the highest peak around - La Cumbre Peak (4,000 ft elevation). We ate our lunches up there and watched a ton of hand gliders all around.  One flew right over us, and we could hear him whistling. It was about this time that I decided I really needed to use the bathroom - of which the closest was at least 30 min away. Luckily, it was a very secluded area with lots of large boulders - so I had to pee behind a rock.  Probably my second time ever that I had to pee outside.  It totally grossed me out, but at least I could enjoy the view better after that.

The seals we saw.

Partway down the mountains, we stopped at some ruins from a huge lodge that used to sit on the edge of this mountain in the late 1800s.  I have no idea how horse and buggies made it up there, but they did.  Now it's known as Knapp's Castle and it's ruins are really pretty with fantastic views of the Santa Ynez Mountains and Lake Cachuma that serves as Santa Barbara's water supply.  One part of the wall that is still standing was quite wide and I walked along it and Eric got some pictures that look really terrifying/cool.  It looks like, if I fell, I'd kill myself.  But really I'd probably just break an arm.  However, I was careful and crawled whenever I got a little spooked.  Eric wouldn't stand at all - he just crawled and sat. lol  

The "cave"

From there we drove back down into Santa Barbara and went to the UCSB college campus.  It was really pretty, and as Eric pointed out, not a lot of homework gets done with the beach literally in front of the dorms and nature/hiking so nearby.  We watched people skin board, surf, paddle board and swim.  It was a gorgeous evening and we got some great shots of the sunset from a huge rock that jutted into the water.

With Eric at the top of a very high mountain near SB.

Knapp's Castle

Eric at Knapp's

right by the UCSB campus

Finally we went back to Eric's parents' house and I took a much needed shower.  His mom made us a yummy stir-fry dinner with tofu (I pretended it was chicken) and then we went through our pictures from the day. I showed his mother a bunch of the photos we'd taken that day, and some from home.  She's very sweet and really enjoyed seeing my pictures.  Then Eric got his guitar and he started playing song and I sang along for about two hours.  His mom said she enjoyed it so much and that we sounded really good.  I'm not sure we'd be a very successful band, but it was fun. lol

Sunset from UCSB

The next day we started the drive up Hwy 1 toward Monterrey.  We stopped at a bunch of different overlooks and cool places - the views were to die for.  One of our first stops was at Morro Rock (located in Morro Bay) where a huge rock comes up out of the water.  It's like a mini Gibraltar.  Standing on the breakers next to Morro Rock, you could watch the waves come in and often get unexpectedly splashed (as I did).  

At another vista point stop, this squirrel came right up to us, and we realized it must be used to getting fed.  We pulled some nuts out of the car and got some great photos of Eric and me feeding him.  Another stop gave us a view of a huge beach covered in elephant seals.  At Ragged Point, we ate subway lunches and looked out over a stunning vista.  Basically, everywhere we stopped was breathtaking. One of our favorite spots was McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. There was a waterfall off the cliff hitting the beach right by a cove with waves of turquoise rushing in.  It's really indescribable.  We also stopped and saw elephant seals (hundreds of them) on this one spot of coastline where they all gather.

watching the sun set in the Pacific

We finally made it to Monterrey in a sea of clouds (it had been pretty clear all day) around 7 p.m.  We'd originally planned to camp, but Eric was getting over a cold and it was cold/wet in Monterrey, so we stayed at a cheap hotel.  I'm quite glad, because it was way colder out than I was anticipating. We ate dinner on Cannery Row (a famous street in Monterrey) at a place called Buccaneers and listened as the restaurant erupted in cheers when the SF Giants won the World Series. This morning, we finished the drive to Berkeley where we met  Lieselotte and Mike for lunch at an outdoor cafe.  After making introductions and chatting for about an hour, Lies went back to her work in the lab and Eric drove Mike and me back to Mike's place.  When Lies gets off, Mike will drive me to her house.

Elephant seals, Ragged Point, Julia Burns State Park

McWay Falls

Right now, we're in a coffee shop while he works on some stuff and I do this blog.  It's hard to find time to keep up with my blog when I'm having such a great time living. :)