Monday, December 24, 2007

The Golden Gate from the Marin Headlands

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Bay Bridge to Treasure Island

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The Shadow of the Golden Gate

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Defend the Bridge!

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The fog had already floated in, but next time, I'll get up earlier!

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Where I parked to walk the bridge before. How was I so close to this view and never came up here?

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December 23, 2007
10am

The Courtney Janes, Marin Coffee Roasters, San Anselmo, CA

The Courtney Janes

The Courtney Janes

Denis & Ben
December 22, 2007
www.thecourtneyjanes.com

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Highway 1 North - Where'd the ocean go?

I'm driving...driving...and all of a sudden...hundreds and hundreds of ducks and this weird marshy place...and more freaking windy roads...

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Highway 1 North - Random Turn

What a beautiful state I live in.

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Who drives to the middle of no where to tag?!

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I think this is "the Others" camp! ;) I wanna camp there!!

Look, I found the Others!

Highway 1 - Stinson Beach

Where does this path go...

Stinson Beach

...to this beautiful wide open sky and long stretch of sand.

Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach

I like that the lifeguards are food...

Stinson Beach

...but the birds preferred crab!

Stinson Beach

Highway 1 North - Golden Gate National Rec. Area

Where does the path lead...

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

...Straight into the blue.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

There were pieces that made me feel small in time...

Golden Gate National Recreation Area Golden Gate National Recreation Area

...and small in my space in the world.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

I want to live down there...

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Horoscope from the SF Guardian

Horoscope 12/22

This made my day.
It sounds like my grandma wrote it and I love it.
I sat and listened to music and read the newspaper and this gem appeared.
By the seat of my pants and unscathed indeed.
Gemini Power!

Pictures From The Long Commute Home

Cement Ship, Aptos

Sunset in Aptos

Capitola Wharf

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Project 30: Spice Girls in Las Vegas

Task 3/30: See a show in Las Vegas.
Complete: December 8, 2007

Absolut Ad, Luxor, Las Vegas

Yay! Vegas! It was off to Vegas for 36 hours of fun highlighted by the Spice Girls reunion concert. It was truly one of the most amusing and terrifying flights ever as we thought the plane was going to fall apart and the couple in front of us got into it with the flight attendant and almost had the air marshall called. I was so happy to just be off the plane and in Vegas, but was full of amusing stories much funnier in hind sight. When we got there, it turns out it was fight weekend, rodeo weekend and then for some undiagnosed reason, full of singing rugby players. It was such a strange mix as the casinos played 50% country music and cowboy hats and wranglers were easily spotted within arms distance everywhere you went. Cute boys with accents sung out from every corner of every casino and everyone was shoving boxing shirts down your throat.

The Red Square, Mandalay Bay First Night in Vegas Baby!

We grabbed some food and freshened up in our room to get a true Vegas post-midnight start. The highlight of the evening was my only true Vegas must, cocktails at the Red Square in Mandalay Bay, the fault of my vodka obsession and a beautiful room to relax in elegance. I got to taste the Pomegranate Van Gogh I had been lusting after, and tried a delicious Raspberry lemon drop martini, and we stylishly took in the people around us. We roamed around some more, but bad shoe choices and long work days had us off to our rooms at 3am to recharge for the next night and our true mission.

On the Strip, Las Vegas New York, New York, Las Vegas

Bellagio Water Show, Las Vegas

After we slept and prepped, we headed out of our temporary home at the New York, New York to get some food and go shopping before the big show. I got to eat at my very first luxury buffett at the Mandalay Bay and then we strolled past the Bellagio water show where I got to see a whole one, rather than the tail end seconds in all my previous trips. The water gets so high and it's just amazing to gather around with tons of other people and enjoy it. We pondered what qualifications it takes to be the designer of such shows and what a sweet job it would be. I just want to push the on button once.

M&M World Las Vegas M&M World Las Vegas

We went to M&M World! Now really, there should be more rides in there it is so big. At 4 floors, it blew us all away and we tromped through gazing at the collections of things that it was a marvel that people found need for. There was even a neat dizzy tunnel, and a 3d movie. It was all a bit much for me, and children everywhere, but neat none the less. We did some shopping at Caesar's and the mall at Planet Hollywood and got dressed up in all our new goodies and headed out to the show. The crowd control aspect was unspeakable and I tried to breathe and not punch someone that was invading my space. I had left my camera behind because I was told too on the tickets and ended up being crushed that I had no pictures of my own to show. The girls in front of us passed the time prior to the start of the show by taking camera phone pictures of their bloody new nape piercings and sending them to their friends. I was really grossed out. People watching was it's own adventure as little tiny spice girl clones ran about everywhere screeching and bouncing to the music, including an adorable set of of drag queens.

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When the 5 ladies took the stage, the house came down and it was a great show complete with handfuls of set and costume changes, ten male dancers and glitter exploding from the ceiling at the end. I had so much fun after 90 minutes of pop fabulousness, I felt satisfied with my adventure. They rocked their solos and the old hits and flew around the stage with flair. I did not leave disappointed. (...and heir final screen left me amused!) See all my Vegas pictures here. Yay Vegas!

2100449481_4be972dc72 3 down...27 to go!

Project 30: Whale Watching on Monterey Bay

Task 2/30: Whale Watching from Moss Landing
Complete: December 1, 2007

Sanctuary Cruises Boat Whale Watching Crew!

I've wanted to go Whale Watching on the Monterey Bay for a while. I have grown up around boats my whole life, though admittedly not a huge fan, but have serious family roots in the whole nautical culture and think whales are cool. I can't remember the last time I was on a boat, when my parents went fishing, I road my bike but I had been whale watching once before on a ship in the 6th grade and we saw whales breach and it was amazing. I was eagerly wanting to take advantage of the access I had so easily living on this coast and there was no point in putting it off any longer. A ton of people also thought this was a great idea and we ended up with a pretty nice sized group to venture out on to the open ocean. But well, it was a boat. A small boat. Probably big to most people, but yeah, way smaller than I was expecting. Our group of 5 was half of the tourists on the boat, and then there was the captain and his deck hand. The boat supposedly could have held way more, but I was pretty pleased that we didn't feel like we had to step over people most of the time. (Since I stayed on the back of the boat the whole time, I rarely saw anyone else but my friends, since the other people stayed up front.)

Moss Landing Harbor

Moss Landing Harbor

The harbor part was actually really neat. We could have maybe just tooled around the harbor and looked at otters and birds and I would have been happy. I loved all the old fishing boats and trawlers. They have so much charm to me, even if it is all smelly. There were hundreds of birds of dozens of kinds. It was beautiful to see even though I usually strongly dislike birds. It sort of felt like an eerie horror movie as well, feeling that at any point, the birds could swarm and attack. There were otters playing and it was cute to see them just floating around on their backs. What a nice life that must be.

Monterey Bay

Once we got out onto the open sea, I started realizing I hadn't really thought through all that this was going to take out of me. I hate the ocean, I can't swim well, and I hate boats and now it was RAINING ON US. WHY the hell am I doing this again? Yeah, DUMB. I wasn't the only one who thought this was sort of a dumb idea after a while, and I started to beg everyone to still be my friend after. I hadn't done it from the start, but I wish I had, and quickly tracked down the crew lady to buy myself a relief band to shock the sickness out of me. It was beautiful. I cranked that sucker to 5 and my stomach eased itself away in time to enjoy the bulk of the sights, including a really awesome full double rainbow. It was really amazing and I was happy. I sat back and did some quiet thinking about mother nature and the world and respecting this great body that was carrying me safely. I thought about sailors who worship the waves, and who live for the floating feeling beneath them. It felt nice and I once again was happy that I was there.

Rainbow on Monterey Bay 52 Weeks: Week 3: Whale Watching

We continued on and my focus point on the shore was merely a tiny speck. We got radio calls that there were some orcas and you could see the many boats circling about. All of us expressed some concern about harassing the whales but the other boats quickly gave up while it was only us that continued on. We truly benefitted too because we ended up finding the tricky little things and following along with the same pod for quite a while. I love orcas, they are so beautiful and such an amazing unexpected treat. We thought we were heading towards the orcas but ended up finding a group of Risso's dolphins, a rare type of dolphin you can only see in the ocean, as they do not survive in captivity. They look like they are glowing under the water because they are a shiny silver and reflect the green of the water.

Orcas

Risso's Dolphins

We headed back in, and the ride in was much smoother as we went with the waves but it still seemed to take forever. On the docks, I walked quickly over the planks to the parking lot, just so grateful for ground under me that wasn't moving. Between the freezing cold and wind to the rocking of the waves, your body is wiped after and I still had a bit of a drive to crawl back into bed. I was pleased with the trip, but I bet you it will be quite a while before I get myself on a boat again! This gal is a land lover for sure, but Mission Accomplished!

2 down...28 to go!