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First Adventure=Epic Win

I had the kind of trip that made me hate where I live. Everything about my week was amazing from start to finish. I've been living and loving Los Angeles County for 3+ years and for the first time since I have moved here, I was not looking forward to coming home. I think that means the first adventure was a success.

First of all, let me say that driving up the 5 loses its charm after the 50th winery/artichoke farm, etcetera. I started getting a little bit loopy after 2.5 hours because the road was eerily similar to driving on the 90 in Ohio. The difference is there are no rest stops in California, so I can't stop and play Crazy Taxi when I start getting road weary. Mr. Governor, please take note of this blog and make it happen somehow. I would really appreciate it!



I got to my girl Liz's house and ventured out to Luka's to meet some friends of hers. We walked in and I was immediately thrilled because of the quality reggae the DJ was playing. I don't have much to say about the bar itself, but it was a nice place with good food and a really calm vibe. The crowd was really diverse which is not something you really see in LA. There was no attitude or pretension and I had a great time. That was a nice first night out in Oakland.

The next day Liz and I went to brunch in a cute little neighborhood near Liz's house. We ended up at Lakeshore Cafe in their cute little back patio. I am a sucker for being able to eat outside so I was instantly happy. The neighborhood itself is too precious for words. Restaurants of every cuisine imaginable, bookstores, clothing stores and cafes. I could have spent hours walking around but we had something really stupid to do so we hit the road.

Years ago I used to do Phish tour for reasons I will not even get into right now. It was a great experience though because I met a lot of truly amazing people in every part of the country, including Liz. We hadn't been to a show in a long time and weren't really looking forward to it. We were both excited to hang out with old friends, but have never been huge fans of the music. So we went to the show because the tickets are free and we like our friends and that is basically all we will say about that. Shoreline is a cool venue when it doesn't smell like hippies, and fanny packs with sequins are fucking awesome. Moving on.



The next few days in Oakland consisted of exploring, shopping and friends. I fell in love with The Town in a major way. There are so many cute little neighborhoods and so much culture. We saw Goapele and Souls Of Mischief in a park where there was live art going on, all for free. I ate the most delicious vegan pizza I have ever had in my life even though I wasn't hungry. Everything is affordable, including rent, and adorable. I loved it.



The San Fransisco portion of the trip lasted a few hours on Thursday night. We went to the most insane neighborhood to see my cousin Mark DJ at a tiki lounge called The Bamboo Hut. The neighborhood had dozens of bright neon signs for strip clubs, but was also the Italian neighborhood. I don't get it either. I saw my cousin and his lady friend, and my friend Byron I hadn't seen in 10+ years. Byron and I were friends when I lived in Louisiana and he happened to be in the neighborhood for work. After some quality time with some good people, we left to meet some of Liz's friends at a speakeasy to be fancy. It was a really nice place that we probably sucked all the class out of because we can't have nice things. The drinks were delicious and the conversation was confusingly hilarious.

By the time I left Oakland I had no desire to be anywhere else. It pained me to think I was going back to Los Angeles. If it weren't for the fact that I had a ton of fun still ahead of me before I went home, I would probably still be there. I'd be sitting on Liz's couch yelling at her dog and looking for an apartment.



Next up, roller derby, camping, hot springs and disappointing beach communities.

First Adventure!

Tomorrow I drive up to San Francisco all by my lonesome to see some old friends. I head to Oakland after running a few errands and won't come back until Monday evening. On my itinerary:

Seeing a lot of old friends and my cousin Mark

My last roller derby bout. I've spent the last 3-ish years playing roller derby for the Angel City Derby Girls, but need to stop to focus on school. I'll still help out when I can and may skate again once I graduate, but my priority is school until I'm done.

Camping in Big Sur


Midnight hot springs


A Phish show?? Yep. I used to "tour" with Phish and had the most fun years of my life traveling and meeting people. I never thought I would see them again, mostly due to lack of desire, but I am actually excited about this show. I'll hang out with some of my favorites and its at a pretty awesome venue
I had tickets to see them at this venue YEARS ago, but the tickets got stolen while my boyfriend and I were moving out of our apartment. This is a show that is about 8 years in the making so it better be good!

There will be a lot of other fun things happening and I'm pretty excited. I'll try to take a lot of pictures and write up a detailed account of my trip.

Adios, internet!

New Blog

I like adventures. California Adventure is not just an awesome amusement park, it is a way of life because I said it is.

Here in this here dagum blog I will document adventures I go on because my memory is bad but maybe the internet will be around til I'm 90 so that I can reminisce on fun things via Blogger.com

Adventures don't always go as planned, so I try to avoid planning. California is full of wonderment and whimsy and I will see as much of it as possible whilst living in this lovely state.

I will go on adventures alone sometimes and readers will probably be jealous. To you I say: come next time and stop whining! Check the calendar. Sometimes I will go on adventures not on the calendar because oooh look how spontaneous I am!

Adventures begin NOW