Sequoia National Park

Yup.  That is a grove of some of the largest organisms on the earth.  If you look close at the base of the tree on the right, you'll notice my mom and myself posing together.  Mice: normal tree as I am: that sequoia.  Yup.  I did just pull out the SAT lingo in this post.  That is the only way I have to express the feeling of standing in that grove.  Let it blow your mind.

Sequoia National Park has all of the wonders of other national parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, etc) like wildlife, rivers, rock formations, mountains covered in pine trees... but it also has these redwoods.  There is way more to do and see than we could do in an afternoon, but it was well worth the trouble to go.

Dale and I also climbed the last 400 feet to stand at the top of a mountian the size of Mt. Whitney.

That was exhilarating.

We also saw a mother bear and two cubs playing in a tree and unbelievably huge boulders forming the path of a river. 

My first REAL rock concert

This is how excited we were.  The people in the picture from--right to left--are Dale, me, and my oldest sister. 

This is why we were excited:

This, my friends, is the Hollywood Bowl.  (I'd like to take a moment to highlight that we are seated only 6 rows behind the people who pay for private family booths).  A natural amphitheater, it began hosting musical performances in the 1940s.  My dedicated parents took me and my 5 siblings to performances at the Hollywood Bowl to hear such greats as John Williams, Julie Andrews, and anything patriotic on the 4th of July.  They also have lesser known classical/jazz performers like Kristen Chenoweth and lots of other people whose names I don't remember, but their symphony performances and fire work shows never fail to incite wonder.

Dale found out early that while I have been to tons of musicals and classical performances, I the extent of my experience with live rock is limited to dark basements and crowds of no more than 50 people.  This concert is what started my Husband's planning our whole 3rd anniversary trip.  It was awesome.

We saw Coldplay perform live.

WE SAW COLDPLAY PERFORM LIVE!!!!

COLDPLAY!!! Chris Martin!  In Hollywood!  We were there!  He walked 30 feet away from me!  I don't even have the words!  Or I have the words, but they babble so much that you would be annoyed by how much my mind was blown by Chris Martin's energy and the songs I've only ever half appreciated on the radio.

The show started with a really awkward man-hating 70's chick duet.  Then a good group came on, techno-ish, but they played at least one song that I would purchase if I could remember their name.  Then... the true rock stars appeared.

I wouldn't have been able to explain to myself before this experience how a musical performance can be choreographed to have such energy.  The words "animal magnetism" come to mind for the gutteral enjoyment of this event.  It delighted so many of my senses at once that I am immediately a die hard Chris Martin fan.  Do not speak ill of him around me. 

The Hollywood Bowl encourages people to come with a picnic before hand (to make waiting for the show more fun).  We went classy and brought hummus and pitas with chocolate chip cookies (taste).  The above picture shows one moment of the constantly changing laser show, as well as 2 of the 4 jumbo screens showing close ups of the performers (sight).  The music was suprizingly familiar so that I knew all of the words--Coldplay has a huge amount of successful singles (sound). I could feel the beat in my chest as well as the mass of bodies dancing around me (touch).  I don't remember any distinct smell, and that perhaps is the best thing I can say of a rock concert with 15,000 dancing bodies in such close quarters.  I credit it to the outside arena.

When it's all said and done, my husband gets me to try things that I otherwise would never try.  I'm lucky that he is such an adventurous, indulgent man.  I love you, baby.  Thanks for the memory of this night.

How to make the most out of your Disneyland trip

How long since you've been?  The last time Dale and I experienced the Land was the weekend he asked my father for my hand in marriage.  (sigh!)

I cannot go any farther into this post without thanking my sister: 

Nanette was INTENSELY GENEROUS enough to use her access as a Disney employee-spouse to get Dale and me in to a free day at the happiest place on earth.  Once inside, the three of us experienced

20 attractions in 10 hours!!!

She-yeah!  Star Tours, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro-blasters, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones ride, Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, The Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, The Blue Bayou (!!!!), Big thunder Mountain, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, Michael Jackson as Captain EO, Aladdin the Musical, the King Arthur Carousel, the Jedi Training Academy, California Screamin', Soarin' over California, the Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, and the Sorceror's Workshop.... that was more than 20 and there are still more things that we saw, did and LOVED!

How does one do this, you ask?

1. Go on a Monday (or any mid-week day).  On the weekends it is so crowded that you'll be lucky to get onto 4 rides and enjoy what my parents lovingly termed "the line ride" for 90% of your trip.

2. Get there RIGHT AT OPENING!  In the first hour of our trip we did 4 rides because we were waiting at the rope for the rides to open.  And these were 4 BIG rides.  Four of the most popular rides at Disneyland!

3.  Use fast passes.  Your ticket can be scanned at many of the biggest rides of the park to provide you with a line cutting card at a later mentioned time.  Once you pass that time, they work all day.  Study up on which of the rides have fast passes and plan how you will attack the day. Each ticket can hold up to two fast passes at a time, so you can have line-cutting privileges only 30 minutes apart from eachother!

4. Use single rider.  If you're all grown up enough to sit alone on a ride, ask if they have single rider spots.  You ask the attendant at the line entrance if they have single riders, then they let you go to the front of a line immediately (like a fast pass).  You are then used to fill the seats that are left empty by uneven groups who wait in line to sit together.  I think it's FANTASTIC.

5. Going with Adults makes it easier.  Before you judge me.  I acknowledge that children make Disneyland magical all on their own.  All I want to point out is that as 3 adults we were able to wait in line at one place while another adult ran to get updated fast passes and join us in line later.  You get some dirty looks sometimes for getting your sister/spouse in line with you, but no one stopped us from doing it.

6.  Study a map and show schedule before hand.  When we were on the way to our dinner reservations (30 min early), my sister noticed we were passing by the Golden Horseshoe Stage and knew that a Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show was starting in the next 3 minutes.  We grabbed a seat and laughed for 30 minutes straight.

7. Don't be afraid to try something silly.  As we were passing by things that were happening, I ended up dancing with the French Market Band, we walked into the animation studio in California Adventure and did some voice overs of Jaffar and Vazzini, and you're never too old to get excited to take a picture with Captain Hook.

That's all the secrets I have from this trip, but they were secrets that worked.  Follow them and you too can have a picturesque experience much like ours.

Ocean

When is the last time you saw something that beautiful?  When my Southern California friends come to visit me in Salt Lake City and experience the view of the Rocky mountains from my porch, they remind me that I have a pretty amazing natural wonder at my fingertips too, but the beach stands alone in it's awesomeness.  The waves and vastness of the beach can definitely compare to a soaring mountain peak, but where the beach leaves the mountains way behind is in the sound of roaring waves.

I hear that people are afraid of things like the ocean because of their power, their vastness, the fact that they are teaming with life, but I love them.  I thought that the feeling of being alive and blown away by something like this was something everyone would experience and want.  I'm coming to learn that my connection with and ability to love the beach and the ocean are not universal human traits.

I can't go to the ocean and not get in.  I love the feel of the sand exfoliating my feet in the crash and tow of the surf.  I love the warmth of the south west coast waters even in the beginning of the summer.  I love how there are hundreds of people there who love it as much as I do every time that I go.  I love, I love, I love.

What do you love about the ocean?  If not the ocean, what's your favorite natural wonder?

Hot spot

Recognize this place?  If you don't then I am letting you in on one of the most awesome hippy-beach-bum secrets of Southern California. 

Hidden Treasures is a retro-second hand store in the city of Topanga Canyon.  If you're going to go there, it includes a FREAKING SWEET drive through the Topanga Canyon from the Los Angeles Valley to the Malibu Beach.

Topanga Canyon city is a stop sign in between two other places, but this shop is on the north east corner of that stop sign.  That treasure chest to the right of my crazy face totem pole has any item for 75 cents!  To the far left of the shot, you see a rack of second hand Tutus!  Once you go inside you can find things like this:

And this!

EVERYTHING is authentic.  That hat was probably purchased in the 1920s and has just sat on some movie lot storage for almost a century in perfect condition.  I highly endorse going there and trying on every rediculous thing you see.  I actually did buy something, too.  But not nearly as much as I wanted to.

Vasquez Rocks

Yes.  Yes they do.

Do you recognize this silhouette?  It's featured on a recent car commercial that airs on prime time TV currently.  Sheldon Cooper would know it as the place where Captain Kirk defeated the Gorn.  I know it as I came, I saw, I CONQUERED! 



Doesn't look all that intimidating you say?  Well how about...

Yup!  Those folks down below are my dad and his wife Rita

NOW!!!!  Okay, maybe I just thought the whole experience was cool, but you can too!  Historically it's the hideout of this intense wild-west-era highway robber, Something-or-other Vasquez!  I could see how he could hide in the crags and crannies of these rock formations and it pick his pursuers off one by one as they searched this honey comb of a hideout.  The only thing is, Vasquez must have had a good stomach, cause climbing up an almost 45-degree angle is a little more intimidating than I thought at first glance.

Bottom line.  We had fun.  In general: a great date/double date spot for a Saturday afternoon.  I highly recommend it.

Are you ever too old?

Dale and I went to an adult singles dance two weekends ago.  Yup.  There's a picture of us trying to capture the moment in extremely poor picture lighting in a dance hall that also works as a basketball court.  My hair was frizzy, my make-up was sweating off.  In a nutshell: it was AWESOME.

Favorite quotes of the evening;

"That is a 40 year old man with a tucked in shirt and khakis and he is just going full out in this song.  I may never know what it feels like to be that free."

"This song makes me want to jump!"
"But jumping is for dumb kids."
"Aw... We may not have been friends growing up.  You would have thought I was dumb and I would have thought I was awesome."

There was a live band--eight guys who were really good together--and everyone who was there WANTED to be there.  Everyone danced whether they knew how to or not. 

The last dance I attended was in 2008.  It's been four years and I had some dance moves to get out of me.  I danced to every song.  I even did the electric slide.  Twice.

Dale danced with me the whole time.  Mostly to keep me from being asked to dance by other guys, but whatever got him out there made me happy.

Best of all, it was the first time I've danced with my Dad since my wedding day in 2009.  Here's to married couples going under cover in singles activities.