One of my Favorites: Shelldance Orchid Gardens
Archives For April 2012
Who else dances around in their underwear on their bed listening to this song and screams the lyrics at the top of their lungs?
…. just me?
P.S. These were obviously the Lohan years for Ms. Duff.
I got to connect with one of the most beautiful women in the world yesterday. What an honor.
I love this girl.
Photo Credit to Whitney Legge
I’ve had the itch to go camping for a long time. The last time I camped, I was in the middle of the desert during Burning Man. I may seem like a city boy, but part of my roots are from deep in the country.
I heard from a friend about this amazeballs campsite in Point Reyes, CA. I’ve traversed through this small town in Marin County many times, but this was the first time I was planning on camping there. I was excited, and I was looking to share that excitement. I poled a few cronies, and my buddy Ben took to the idea, and decided to go with me.
It’s the morning of our camping adventure, and I start running around for supplies needed for the perfect coast-side camping excursion. Hot dogs with baked beans is on the menu. We packed up the car and headed north. Stopping in Fairfax, we ran into Owen at A Good Earth. We picked up some waffles and condiments for hot dogs, then went off to the The Hummingbird (where I’ve been knows to peruse) for some lunch.
Fast forward, we get to the Bear Valley Visitor’s Center to pick up our permits and to get our camp on. The receptionist asks me which hike I want to go on and I answer the shortest once, since we’d be carrying gear and supplies. I loathe this woman. We get to the trailhead for the hike and there is this look of uncertainty on our faces. How are we going to carry this shit on a 2 mile hike? We MacGyver this plethora of shit on our backs and shoulders and we head off onto the trail. Immediately, I know this isn’t going to go well. Ben is carrying the chairs and two bags. I’m carrying two bags, the tent and dragging the cooler behind me. I hate this cooler. If this hike were flat the whole way, it would have been fine. If we had gone on this crazy hike filled with mud, peaks, and valleys without any of this stuff; it also would have been fine. The combination of crazy ass hike with crazy ass stuff equals one of the most miserable experiences of my life. I won’t go into much detail, but just know that I was one very unhappy camper.
Eventually, after what seemed like ages (hours) we make it to the site. Jumping for joy once we arrived, we were going off of adrenaline and mental unclarity and started setting up camp surprisingly fast.
Let’s recap:
- Great Lunch
- Awful Hike
- Quick Camp Set-up
Beers in hand, we head down to the beach to catch the sunset. This was by far one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. This campsite was so desolate; it was untouched by mankind. We could have been anywhere in the world. Ben thought we were in Asia; I thought Ireland because of how lush the green was on the mountains around us.
I almost can’t believe it was real.
There was this sense that we were in a very special place, and witnessing mother nature in all her glory. It’s an experience I will never forget.
We headed back to our site, which was a short 1 minute walk from the water and took a breather/cooked dinner. As the baked beans were warming up on the grill, we were treated to more miraculous sites. The fog was rolling over the mountains adjacent to us and was backlit by the light of dusk. Photos don’t do it justice.
Poor Ben suffered through the night in the tent after having to hear me snore. The next morning we awoke and had some warmed up waffles and were packing up camp. Ben suffered a tic incident (which I discovered later I had also been a victim), so I helped perform minor surgery. 
We had to set back on the awful hike again. While this time, we didn’t have as much shit, it was probably a lot harder. A combination of the heat, the mostly uphill climb, and leftover exhaustion from before warranted another unpleasant experience.
The immense satisfaction I felt upon getting back to my vehicle after the treacherous hike was overwhelming. I can’t being to describe the elation. This moment had to be highlighted by the perfect song and I put on the live concert version of “Shelter from the Storm” by Mr. Dylan.
(It turns out that the alternate way to get to the campsite was a 3 mile hike, rather than a 2 mile hike. This 3 mile hike was on a wide open dirt road on flat land the whole way. Can you see why I loathe this receptionist?)
You’d think we were home free… and we pretty much were until we hit some intense traffic in the city. Then it dawned on me that the day was 4/20. We were in a traffic jam of stoners trying to find haven in Golden Gate Park to get their mary jane fix. This was hell. We are hungry, worn out, dirty and have insects on us. The last thing either of us wanted to do was sit in traffic with a bunch of crazy stoned 16 year olds walking around in ponchos and short shorts.
This experience resulted in emotions on polar opposites of the spectrum; thankfully I had a friend with me to experience and understand the pleasure/pain.
Would I go back? Hell yes; with less gear or more people.
Last time on Weird Tchotchkes I Live With we exposed Lizzy for her harsh judgements of the tenants of my building and their lack of royal decorum. Well, Lizzy doesn’t like many in these parts, but she has a tender fondness for a pink pig donning a skirt and some pink lip gloss. Meet Shirley.
She is Lizzy’s right hand hoover that does all her bidding. (Can you tell Lizzy and I are enemies?!) Shirley may look sweet and innocent with those big eyes she has, but she is a cutting bitch. Those heels are to stomp on people’s throats. If you head up to my little abode, look out for Lizzy and Shirley.
{ lonely palm holds up strong horizon mt tam mt tam }
first i suppose i shall introduce myself. i’ve been known to be known as “owen.” this is what you can call me. my dear friend david { and must i say i am so glad you have finally found a pair of moccasins david! } has invited me to say a couple things now and then. here. but you know i must admit i knew david before he was a hipster. we were yogis together. it was quite wonderful. that was when i lived in the glorious and forgiving / unforgiving san francisco. we had a lurid philz love affair. and it was beautiful. since then i have moved to marin where i am guaranteed an acceptable amount of trees eucalyptus winding roads country air, and some other things in which i did not bargain for. while i do miss san francisco her undeniable luster, i am happy to be here. there is space. but she still calls to me. i fused with her streets my pedals pushing all over experiences and occurrences faces she was my home. now my home is different and i feel like i am still getting to know her. today i climbed a bit a skyline embraced strong everlasting. there are more skylines they call to me. there is something about the horizon which sings cries and stands to me, in me. so many horizons but still existing the same underlying truth. so many horizons i have seen and they all each bring embark a feeling. horizons are special.
Happy Friday the 13th, y’all!
I love the rain. Part of the reason I moved to SF is that I was hoping it would rain more often than in sunny Southern California. I guess I’ll just have to move to Portland to get my rain fix.
Well, before I go full on PDX hipster, this SF based hipster needs to be caffeinated. Here is what I might need:
1. My Mocassins – This Nava-ho is going to travel and what better footwear is there for the slippery slopes ahead.
2. A Favorite Flannel – This doesn’t even need an explanation. A cozy collared clothe makes it.
3. A Hat – I might tread out in my usual Goorin Brothers Fedora but to keep it a little more ironic, I went with the sports team hat this is not the athletic juggernaut that mainstreamers follow and love.
With the help of my hipster kit, I’ve come to my holy grail, Philz Coffee. (Castro Store, duh!)
I love you rain/Philz. Peace out, babes. It’s a “cuddle-with-Netflix-streaming” day.
In honor of her birthday, and to celebrate a beautiful Sunday, my lovely Jen and I decided to take a day trip. I felt like getting my Alfred Hitchcock on so we headed to Bodega Bay. Along with Jen and I was Oscar, her trusty canine companion. He is probably the coolest dog that ever existed.
We stopped along the way and played on the beach a bit. Dear Oscar found a stick, that one would assume, was entirely too big for him. He will prive y’all wrong. Czech out little buddy.
Photo by Jen
Photo by Jen
Photo by Jen
This beach had an awesome rock straight out of the Little Mermaid. So, of course, I had to belt out “Part of Your World” with Jen. Walking around on those – what do you call ‘em? Oh – feet!
Photo by Jen
Long-armed it!
Next up was to grub. We sauntered up Highway 1 stumbled upon the Smoke Shack. Let me introduce you.
This guy (selling his smoked salmon out of a trailer) was a piece of work. Super nice and friendly, he was willing to answer all of our questions. One particular question was how he would suggest we eat the smoked salmon that he was selling. He suggested we enjoy it with some crackers, cream cheese, capers, lemon, champagne, and a joint.
We headed out to find only some of the accoutrement that he suggested. We’re good ex-Catholic kids after all. We fell upon a local market/deli that also served chicken curry and na’an. That sounds like heaven to me.
We gathered up the cream cheese and crackers and added some lemon and avocado to the mix. This was probably one of the most delicious combination of flavors that I have ever had in my life. (Maybe I was just really hungry.)
Jen is happy for snack time.
I mean, come on… that looks absolutely delicious.
Clearly, she’s stoked.
After snack time it was time to drive back down the coast and towards SF.
Luckily, Jen has a keen eye and a nose for seafood. We happend upon the Hog Island Oyster Co. and enjoyed some half shells. I’m pretty sure the other couples thought Jen and I were a couple and I was getting a kick out of it.
Moseying onward, we had a couple more stops for some scenic photo ops and headed back to SF.
Aren’t they cute?!
Thank you Jen and Oscar for a wonderful day, and thanks to the Bay for being so gosh darn beautiful.
We’ve all heard it, that age old expression “life’s about the journey, not the destination”.
The people who have discovered the key to living this life have solved what is quite the conundrum for me. Well, as much as I make an effort to live by this mantra, I usually fail. I’m always looking to the next destination. I don’t mean the final destination (whatever that means) so maybe I should refer to this as the next junction.
To jump ahead, the purpose of this rant is there are few things that actually clear my head and make me feel as if I’m truly living in the moment and not trying to reach that next destination, junction if you will. On that list, cleaning (we’ll get to this another day). Another, and probably my favorite, is to get in a car or on my feet and drive or walk with no destination, no purpose.
You can’t get lost, there are no preconceived expectations and therefore no way to be disappointed. The only essentials: the right mind-set, a camera (for me, often my iPhone), and great music.
Tonight I ended up in the Marin Headlands right at sunset. A spot I’ve been wanting to czech out (thanks for the addition to my vocabulary David) and at one of the most beautiful times of the day.
Some things you cannot choose, some days you cannot lose (thanks Geographer).
Sunrises and sunsets always offer the most beautiful array of pure, natural color. They are always refreshing because they are both the start and end to something and never look the same.
I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this city. One of my favorite things about it is still finding new neighborhoods that look totally unique offering a completely fresh perspective. This also applies to the views from outside of the city. I’ve never seen it from this perspective and it was, as it usually is, refreshingly beautiful.
I unintentionally stumbled upon this quaint little hillside town of Sausalito (here is where I wish I had a better camera). Czech it out, another new perspective of San Francisco overshadowing this little hillside town.
No wrong turns…
Another obsession of mine, breakfasty dinners. Something about having breakfast for dinner, sticking something where it doesn’t belong, has a certain thrill to it (but really I just love breakfast food) and everything else becomes seemingly (Ir)relevent (thanks again David). Let’s just call it a therapeutic ending to a therapeutic evening.
Until next time…
There is this magical place down the California Coast. Morro Bay is a sleepy beach town that my family and I have been going to for years.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer who was famous for navigating the West Coast of North America for Spain. He named the famous landmark in the city, Morro Rock, because it resembled the head of a Moor. Another interesting piece of history is that the first recorded immigrant from the Philippines arrived in Morro Bay. (Shout out to Vee and Tipay!) Morro Bay is also a famous bird sanctuary, so you’ll see many avid bird watchers come far and wide to czech out all the lovelies in flight.
I remember coming up with my parents and extended family a few times a year. We would stat at The Inn at Morro Bay or camp. When we stayed at the inn, the employees would turn down the beds at night and would place a stuffed otter and a mint on the pillow. I looked forward to that every single time and collected many of those stuffed otters. The silence is soothing of this place is soothing and I’ve increased my love and respect for this area exponentially as I’ve gotten older.
This past weekend, Ruby and I took a little trip down to this wonderful place. I got to catch up on some Savage Love on the road down and introduce Ruby to one of my biggest mentors that I’ve never met, the handsome Dan Savage. In no time, we got to our hotel and strolled into our room and were greeted by the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen in my life.
Eventually we wandered down to dinner on the water and I enjoyed some bivalve molluscs. They were delicious.
We also took photos at the sunset. It was windy.
Photo by Ruby
Oh yeah, and this super cool starfish dude was hanging out with us at dinner, also.
Instead of getting crazy in this town of population 10, 234, Ruby and I decided we should stay in and watch some Straight Talk, get attacked by the spa in our room, and try and find delivery in a sleepy town. (Love you, Dolly.)
Upon waking, we decided to eat (of course), and head out to Morro Rock.
I didn’t know the ABSOLUTE JOY I was about to experience.
Meet Héctor.
This little guy was a fearless squirrel who was obviously attracted to Ruby and I.
I mean, do you see how happy I am?!
The rest of our time in Morro Bay consisted of buying wolf and cat shirts, a penguin hat, a brass unicorn, a flask and some coffee. Seriously, Morro Bay is the coolest.
So thanks to Ruby, Héctor, Morro Rock, and Dolly Parton. This weekend wouldn’t have been the same without you.
