Epic California Exploration

 We just got back from a whirlwind trip to California. It was so much more outstanding than I imagined. We knew we wanted to start by exploring San Francisco and seeing Devo at the Mosswood Meltdown music fest. From there I wanted to get as far away from civilization as we could in a week. It was a push but worth it to be in the high desert of the Eastern Sierra Nevadas with nothing but sky and views that had no business being that magical. 

Big city San Francisco:

We stayed in China Town and Bowie loved the bakeries and dim sum. We also went to the Japan Mall, the Presidio for great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf to see the sea lions and of course Oakland for Mosswood Meltdown where we ran into Jimi and Alison!

Then we went through Sacramento to Truckee, CA. Truckee was adorable. We planned to spend time at Lake Tahoe but honestly it was way too crowded to fully enjoy. We were able to hike around Emerald Bay and swim in a little waterfall, but other than that we preferred to swim in Donner Lake. Fun fact: Donner Lake has public docks all around it so you can easily park and have a picnic dock and mountain swim for free!

Here’s where I think things got really good. We next went to Bridgeport and stayed in a strange little cabin. We went to Buckeye Hotsprings and the ghost town of Bodie. Buckeye Hotsprings is next to a river and the thermal water drips over a rock formation to form little caves. We loved hopping back and forth between the hot and cold water. Thanks to my friend Liese for telling us about it because it was so special. 

From Bridgeport we drove further south to stay at Benton Hot Springs. It was the sweetest bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere (Benton population is 13.5- we never learned how there is a half). The hot springs at Benton are pumped into all the plumbing and man made pools across the property. On the way we stopped at Mono Lake to see tufas. I had never heard of a tufa. Mono Lake has 4 times the salt content of the ocean and tufas are calcium deposits formations along the shore. Bowie got a cup from the park ranger to fish brine shrimp from the lake. Josh was fascinated by the alkaline flies which attract all sorts of migratory birds to the area.

From Benton we day tripped to Mammoth Lakes in the mountains and stopped at Wild Willy’s Hotsprings on the way. This was the best hot springs I’ve ever been to. We had the place to ourselves and had 360 views of the mountains. Outstanding. 

Our last day was a big push to drive over the Sonora Pass back to San Francisco. This was an amazing and winding drive way up to almost 10k elevation through the mountains. Each twist seemed to offer a better view. Our trip was not without challenges. We had lots of driving and were far away from people and gas and amenities for much of it, but I think ultimately that’s what made it so special. This area of the world stole our hearts. I’m so thankful to Josh and Bowie for being good travel companions and following me to the ends of the earth to find a good hot springs (or three!)

The 15th anniversary of Jersey Shore and us!

 Josh and I celebrated 15 years by going to Milwaukee to stay in the leopard print hotel room of my dreams. 

The St Kate Arts Hotel has lots of free champagne and art galleries throughout the hotel. 

Our main event was visiting the Botanical Domes. This was inspired by my favorite episode of Joe Pera Talks With You. There are three different domes; a desert dome, a jungle dome  and a show dome that was showing tulips and herb gardens. They smelled so good and the whole place was a vibe and looked like the inside of my soul. 

We celebrated our anniversary with dinner at Dons TV Repair. The martinis were 10 cents and delicious and Josh told them in our reservation note that it was our snake anniversary and the sweet server had prepared snake jokes for us all night. 

We also got a hot tip to have lunch at Barnacle Buds and it didn’t seem real until we got there and then it still didn’t seem real and it was awesome.