(Yeah i know we suck at photoshop)
Phoenix - 16 April 2011
How about this for a weekend? Handheld Shotguns, Full size Shotguns, 9mm Handguns, 22mm Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Quads, beers, and some old friends. That’s pretty hard to beat in my book. Let your true redneck shine. Enjoy!
Bubblegum Alley - 11 April 2011
What can I say about this place? It’s pretty much the grossest thing I have ever seen but, also one of the coolest. I have wanted to go here ever since I watched an episode of the girls of the playboy mansion where they stopped here. It seemed so weird that I just had to see if for myself. We woke up early Monday morning to hit the long road back home to San Diego. When I found out Bubblegum Alley was on the way home we had to stop there. It took us a minute to find the alley but, once you find it you realize you can’t really miss it. It was so weird; you can smell the different kinds of gum on the walls. Nobody really knows how it all started but, it’s something that won’t disappear any time soon. After staring at it a few minutes there was nothing else to do but add our gum. Which I’m proud to say my gum is now part of Bubblegum Alley. If you are ever in the San Luis Obispo area you have to at least go have a look at it once.
San Fransisco - 10 April 2011
I’ve always wanted to go to San Francisco and today was the day. Strap on your walking shoes this is going to be a long day. We started off for a quick breakfast at the Oakland Grill. We then headed back to Jack London Square to catch the Ferry from Oakland to San Francisco. We docked around Pier 0 and since I’m a skateboarder I HAD to check out Pier 7. BUMMER! The spot was knobbed and shut down. Well we ended up checking out the pier anyways. From there we headed to North Beach which was a few hills away. We had to make a little pit stop at Rogue. We enjoyed a beer sampler and rested our legs for a bit. These hills were definitely steeper than I imagined. We took to the roads again and headed to the famous Lombard Street. On the way we got lured in by an interesting looking sidewalk garage sale where we scored a copper hand and a new ring. We eventually made it to Lombard St. but, not without breaking a sweat. Wow that is one really crooked St! We stood there a bit watching all the cars drive down and we even got to see a go-cart go down which looked so much fun. From there we walked to the Hyatt apparently the Hyatt has the best view of the city and it sure did. Going up 35 floors and being able to see the bay so clearly was breathtaking. We ended up grabbing a cocktail and enjoyed the view. From here you can see everything: Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, Oakland, Berkley, and even parts of wine country. Ever since watching the Dave Chappelle standup and hearing him talk about the Tenderloin we had to go and see what the fuss was about. It couldn’t be that bad? We got there and wow there is definitely nothing tender about that place. There are no photos of this part mainly due to the fear we all felt. In those 4 blocks we saw a guy smoking crack, a gay crack head that wanted to sleep with me, guys posted up with $1000’s of dollars in there hand flapping it openly, 100’s of drugged out tweakers, and a lot of intimidating looks. Wow babe sorry for that one. Go shopping and clear your head. So while she went shopping Burke and I grabbed a few drinks. After calming down we gathered the troops and drove to go check out the famous Haight and Ashbury. It would be a shame to come here and not see it. We walked around the area and checked things out and we finally felt like we had seen enough. We stopped at a tappas place called Cha Cha Cha in the Mission and enjoyed a yummy meal and called it a night.
Wine Tasting in Sonoma - 9 April 2011
Sonoma is part of the beautiful Napa Valley wine district. With it only being 45 minute drive away it was a must do. We had to see if California wine country can compare with the South African wineries back home that I’m use to. The drive there is absolutely gorgeous. With the redwood surrounding the wineries it felt like we where in a different world. Our fist stop was at the Balletto Winery. It was a good place to start off. With the wines being reasonably price and the employees was really helpful in telling us all about the wines. One trick we learned was that if you owned a Visa Signature card most wine tastings are free which is a huge plus. Here we purchased our first bottle for the day the 2008 Vintage Gewurztraminer. Our next stop was Hook & Ladder. It was started by a retired firefighter. That was also the theme of the place. Firefighting memorabilia was all over the place. After the tasting we stopped at the old fire truck to take some fun photos. Our 3rd stop was at Korbel for some sparkling wine. This one was my favorite stop of the day. With huge redwood trees surrounding the brick building it was the perfect place to have a little picnic. We ate some food and enjoyed a bottle of bubbly. With time running out we had to packed up and continue to our 4th stop the Hop Kiln. This place was one of the fancier wineries with samples of mustard & vinegars to enjoy with the wines. After taking some quick photos of the pretty lake we took to the road again for our last stop at the Dutcher Crossing. The wine here was pretty good and the scenery was stunning. After doing our last tasting we had to head back to Oakland, but couldn’t resist stopping at the Dry Creek Pub just a block away first. The bar was so cute with loads of interesting décor everywhere. We enjoyed a beer there and headed home. Most wineries are open from 10am – 5pm so be sure to plan a route ahead so you can see everything. Our day ended enjoying some yummy steaks at a local restaurant in Oakland.
Oakland - 8 April 2011
Three day weekend? Let’s make it a four day weekend and drive to Northern California. Ok let’s do it!!!! We drove up after work the Thursday night to get there early Friday morning. After some well deserved sleep. We spend our first day in Oakland due to neither of us being there before. We started our first day off with some breakfast to fuel up for the day at the Oakland grill. The food was great and the mimosa’s were cheap. Then we decided to check out Jack London Square but first stopped at a historical bar called Merchants. Merchants has been around since 1916 and still had some of the original furniture in there along with a built in urinal at the base of the bar. Apparently back in the day women were not aloud in the bars (talk about a sausage fest) so, the men would just urinate right at the bar. At Jack London Square we stumbled across Jack London’s actually log cabin and another very historic bar called Heinold’s. This bar not only was completely slanted at 30 degrees from a previous earthquake, but was also the first place to get a drink when getting off the boats, and the last place to get a drink before heading out to sea. Therefore the slogan "First and Last Chance" came about. This place was great. A must see if you are in the Oakland area. A little bit later that day we went on a scenic drive to the top of a hill overlooking the whole bay. I honestly can’t remember the name of the hill we went to but, it had an incredible view and very pretty scenery. Apparently this was the inspiration for the song “When the lights go down in the city”. Our lovely guests decided to treat us to a romance duet of the song as we watched the sunset.
Welcome to Oakland BITCH!!!
Tecate, Mexico - 2 April 2011
It was a day of high spirits, after all we were venturing into Mexico. To Tecate, Mexico for the brewery tour that is. This trip has been attempted before, but poor planning resulted in a closed factory. This time we were getting in for sure. Wrong, well not exactly we missed the tour, but we were still able to make the beer garden and receive some free drinks. Then came our birthday pal with another round of free drinks. This lasted until the beer garden closed, which wasn't very long again due to poor planning. We decided to head back to an outdoor restaurant located near the main market square. This resulted in 34 cervezas and 2 margaritas. This was when the crew of 12 decided to go get some authentic (and delicious) tacos. After the tacos we staggered around and wound up in another bar where the drinks kept flowing. Then came the tequila shots. Then came more drinks. It was time to leave Mexico and regroup back on the US side, but not before catching one last drink at a shady dive bar near the border. From here we stumbled back across to the US side basically carrying each other for moral (and physical) support. Alas, America, We had made it. Well some Passport issues kept or British friend for a bit, but that got solved. We greeted America by climbing a rock to celebrate (for some reason my pants fell down). Then it started to go downhill. While climbing down the rock that moments before had seemed victorious, one member sprained his ankle. Then another member fell flat on her face resulting in a huge gash and LOTS of blood loss. We managed to get everyone in the van and began traveling home. According to the sober driver (who was paying more attention than I) we got pulled to the side by a border check point a few miles up the road. They opened the back and saw the blood and let us go agreeing we would go to the hospital. Slight detour to the hospital resulted with a refusal to enter the building. No choice now, but to head home and get some rest.
VIVA LA MEXICO!!!
Anza Borrego Wild Flowers - 27 March 2011
We have been planning this trip to see the Wild Flowers in Anza Borrego for a few weeks now, but the weather simply did'nt want to play along. It finally warmed up for a day and that meant our flower mission was a GO The flowers were unfortunately not as good as they were the previous year due to the cold weather we have been experiencing. But we still had a great time walking around and enjoying our desert surroundings. We ended our day by enjoying some of Julian's own Hard Apple Cider (that we picked up along the way) at a picnic table overlooking the valley.
For updates on the Wild Flowers you can go to http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_abdsp.html
Roller Derby - 26 March 2011
What can i say about the Roller Derby?... AWESOME!! After watching the movie "WHiP IT" i have always wanted to go watch real live Roller Derby, and after seeing the flyer in a window, i had to go. We gathered up the troops and headed to Del Mar Fairground where the Derby took place. It was a full 2 hours of excitement. It took us a while to figure out the rules, but after that we where hooked. Although the San Diego Wildfires lost in the end against the Colorado Rockies, it was a game well played.
Be sure to look out for a Roller Derby near you!
