glorious holds

Ahoy,

This past weekend we went to Horse Flats for the first time. Of course we went to go climbing. It's just an hour outside the city. I had been in this direction before. E and I went to Switzer Falls, which we passed on the way up to Horse Flats. We parked right at a camp site and after a short hike, we had reached all the climbs we could get our hands on. Really short hike, super luxurious climbing trip if there ever was one. There were even bathrooms at the camp site. It looked like everybody had cleared out from camping, which was a little eerie because the weather was really nice and crisp, it was still Sunday morning, and super close to the city. Where did everyone go? There's always suspicions in my mind if a place is deserted that by all logic and reasoning shouldn't be. What does everyone else know that I don't?

Climbing was great that day and everybody got to do stuff or hang around. We didn't spend a ton of time wandering around looking for climbs like at Black Mountain, which is always appreciated.

We zipped down to the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese food and boba. Everybody ate really fast. I always get concerned about A's rate of consumption in these settings because he eats really slow. I wasn't  really certain how one acquired that "skill" from being in a family of 6 (if you don't eat fast, you don't eat, right?). But then I had dinner with them, and it became clear.

Whenever he has dinner with my family - my mom is always telling him to stop talking and to focus on eating his food. Meanwhile, he's trying to talk to my family and asking silly questions out of formality/politeness, which (if we're being honest here) my family couldn't care less about. And, my dad doesn't speak English and my mom has a really thick accent, so it's not like they can even communicate. Also, my family is unfamiliar with the typical American niceties and mores I have found in his house (read: to any outsider, my family members are unabashedly rude Chinese people and his pestering them will not merit their thinking any higher of him). However, the amount of food he eats will correlate positively with how impressed they are and worthy of their daughter he is.

linguistically aloof,
jt

moon cake day!

Ahoy,

Last week was moon cake day. My mom called me to alert me of the news. Did yours? She goes by the lunar calendar still. It's a bit of trouble getting her birthday right every year. Saturday night, we boarded the LA Metro for a ride into Chinatown for the moon cake festival. I've never seen so many people in Chinatown here. All the other times I'd been there, it was practically deserted. There are many things unimpressive about LA Chinatown, but the proximity of the train stop is not bad.

Like any other Chinese celebration, there was lots of noise and lights and crackling/exploding things. We settled in front of the food stage to watch a guy carve fancy things out of fruits and vegetables and the moon cake demo. This was kind of disappointing because they had the fillings premade and were just showing us how to use the molds. They passed around moon cake samples that we watched the volunteers furiously cutting into pieces earlier. Fun fact: A and I both like the lotus paste with no egg the best. I don't like yolks of eggs, I used to "gift" them to my brother. Unfortunately, A does not fulfill the food finisher role quite as adeptly as my brother. No one will ever compare.

We ended with dinner at the only restaurant I've ever been to in Chinatown because that is the only place A's family goes to when they visit. Everybody was so excited to have Chinese food; it was really excellent. And no trip is complete without boba so we all migrated to Little Tokyo and walked through Grand Park to catch the train back home.

poppingly pasted,
jt

fire season

Ahoy,

The weather was super perfect this weekend on Black Mountain. We got a ride with our friend up a dusty, bumpy dirt road. His car got a nice healthy coat of dirt. We had been to Black Mountain more than 2 years ago. The last time we camped overnight and it was colder, more overcast and wetter. This time, due to our perpetual lack of preparedness, it was just a day trip.

There were lots of people camping, some people were even camping right next to the boulders. We began at a cluster of boulders we started at last time. Due to my perpetual lack of tallness, I had to get creative on this climb everybody else seemed to be able to just stand up to reach. Like many climbing trips, I spent a good amount of time hanging around. Unlike many climbing trips, there were other females to hang around with.

It seemed like an endless hike trotting around looking for this climb we were at last time. Like many other situations, we found ourselves leading a group of disgruntled companions. The nearly blind leading the blind, you might say. Sometimes it seems like the RRS is so doggedly determined to get somewhere, while the rest of the group simply is just unaware of what they have signed up for. The remainder of the day consisted of scouting trips in search of something specific that we may or may not have found. We scouted up to a watch tower on top of the mountain, which was really cool because I just read a book about a guy in New Mexico who watches for fires from a tower.

We came across a climb that had a super sketchy fall and downclimb. And here is where everybody lost years off their life from watching G climb it, while A went on a scouting trip. I'm so glad he wasn't there to watch it because he would have been more terrified than me, or he might have tried it too - which would have been worse!). We hightailed it out of there before any of the other boys got too close and moved onto another climb with a much less harrowing fall.

During our long hikes, we stopped to gaze upon the majesty of the wilderness because we were really high up in the air and there are mountains everywhere and it was glorious. I always enjoy when it's scenic while we embark on quests of things we will never find.

doggedly pursuant,
jt

about time

Ahoy,

For once in ever we awoke without a plan. So I thought it was about time I took the rocket scientist to go see a rocket. We went on a train adventure to the USC campus to visit the space shuttle at the California Science Center. Before even going in, we got suckered for an ice cream treat from the mago man. We had had ice cream not even 12 hours ago so clearly we needed some more. He said the rose gardens there blew all the rose gardens he had ever seen in his life out of the water. I pointed out the Bones stock shots of the Jeffersonian from either view from the gardens, and he took pictures of flowers. There were kids swimming in the water feature, and I was so tempted, but we had a space shuttle to see so we forged on.


We got tickets for the Imax Hubble movie and Endeavor viewing. There were screaming, whiny children everywhere but we did our best to not step on any. We saw bits of the museum here and there. There's a wall of ice that is really useful for sore climbing fingers (I'm sure that's a problem we all have, not being able to find an icy hole to fit our fingers in). After a good while oohing and aahing at the space shuttle, we went on a search for pizza because I always want pizza. We got to watch a quidditch practice session while we ate on campus. It was great. If there's any sport you need to watch, it's quidditch.

ultravioletly relieved,
jt

we were tricked

Ahoy,

This weekend we got the wool pulled over our eyes. Our friends proposed a nice shaded hike, and we fell for it. The weather had been unusually toasty the past week, but we still wanted to go outside. Certain activities get discounted when the temps go up. Among them are walking through the desert, going out during high noon, rock climbing, etc. We made mistake after mistake in electing our day's activity.

The plan was Leo Carillo, which we had been told was a shaded hike up for a bit flattening out onto a tree lined plateau and ending with a lake at the top. There would be birds wading, and us invading their habitat for a dip. The perfect treat for our hike up. Alas, this is a hike best reserved for winter. As we inquired further on the way up, it soon became clear to me and probably everyone else was thinking the same - a lake without a source of water and only visited during the winter would be no lake on this blistering summer day.

After what seemed like an endless trail we arrived at the lake that once was. Once again, the RRS and I had not brought enough water. This I will account to our wrongful anticipation of a leisurely hike. It's like we never learn. Good thing everyone else is better prepared than us or else we would have never made it off that mountain. After clambering around on the rocks by the lake and sitting under the lone tree, we made a break back to the bottom. It seemed as though the way down was even worse than the way up. Occasionally we'd get pounded with these blasts of heat like when you open your oven that is hot, hot, hot enough to bake a pizza (really hot, but without the satisfaction of a baked pizza). I imagine this is what an ant feels like under a magnifying glass.

Finally, we reached our oasis at the bottom, probably where we should have stayed to begin with because we parked right at the beach and for some reason walked inland and up a mountain to only get closer to the sun - like California close enough to begin with. All four of us alive, we vowed to never again (like we ever learn). We stepped in the ocean after we had recovered from the brink of death at the bottom of the mountain. It was low tide, perfect for tide-pooling, and people were engaging in all varieties of surfing. Never have I relished the touch, taste, satisfaction of water more than on this day.  I guess you could say the best adventures begin out of bravado, ignorance and trickery. Boy, did we have those in spades this day.

toastily brined,
jt

we weren't sure if this would be fun

Ahoy,













After our plans were dashed for going climbing at Tram on Labor Day, we were on board to go climbing at Purple Stones. We'd never been here before, and hadn't heard a lot about it. The RRS was not so sure about what we'd find there, but after I read him some stuff I googled he was more than psyched about it. Me - I'll believe it when I see it. This is one of the cooler outdoor climbing places he's taken me to in SoCal. The winding road leading up to the site is something the RRS probably dreams about driving his car on. We pretend we're like the TMNT and duck walk down this drainage pipe onto this forested riverside path. We crawl around and over all these boulders to get around and to and from climbs. It's pretty neat that you're never too far from a babbling brook or water sounds of some sort. There are a lot of trees and shade which is always appreciated on a hot day. The rocks are all sort of cool shades of purples and pinks. They're pretty prominent, and this place holds some solid picture worthy vistas. It's pretty secluded because we did not see anybody except when we were on our way out, and you usually see tons of people climbing anywhere else.

Purple Stones is something like an oasis in the desert. It would have been too blisteringly hot to climb anywhere else so close to the city. The privacy, lushness and flowing water of this place at a moment's descent from the desert is an adventure I gladly welcome. This place was right off the PCH, and we easily stopped at the beach to dip our toes after climbing.

Life is good when there are beaches and climbing.

aridly humid,
jt

we thought it'd be fun

Ahoy,

After his final on Saturday we got to celebrating with some ice cream at Mateo's and a stop at the grocery to get food to cook for our night before half marathon dinner. Even though he said our bedtime was 8, we probably didn't crawl into bed until 10 or 11. This is what happens when he is in charge of the clock. Our wake-up time was 3am. And we were out of there by 3:30am. It takes little to no time to get to Disneyland at 3:30am, if anyone is wondering. That is an excellent time to go. The race starts at 5:30am, and we have to wait around in our corrals for everyone ahead of us to get out. We didn't end up crossing the start line until an hour into the race. The RRS drank tons of liquids and kept having to pee before we started. There were tons of people in costume, which made for really interesting people watching while we waited.

We were off right when the sun was coming up so we were running through Disneyland and California Adventure in the daylight. The route led us through some back entrances so we saw some behind the scene stuff, which is really not as fun as in front of the scene stuff. Most of the route was in Anaheim and they had entertainment along the way - cheerleaders, Mexican music and dancing, etc. Every so often, there would be Disney characters and a set on the roadside for you to take pictures with. My favorite were the streets lined with 300 classic cars. We ran past the Honda center, and ran on a trail for a bit. We got to run through Angels stadium with people watching from the stands. That was pretty neat. Daisy and Donald were waiting at the finish line. It was such a hot day, I'm really glad we finished when we did and not a moment later.

We wandered around downtown Disney for a bit. We ate some beignets and a breakfast burrito. I was so tempted to jump in any and all water fountains I saw. We left to check out some Labor Day sales at a nearby mall because we are fiscally responsible, and the RRS bought a whole bunch of things. He wanted to go shopping. Not my idea, but we knew there'd be sales this weekend, and he'd been shopping online so much I had to give in. We ran over to Irvine for boba and Vietnamese sandwiches, and headed back home to shower and lounge around. We spent our time with the air conditioning on and watching the IFSC competition videos until it was time to leave for dinner.

I'm so glad our friend E was willing to drive us. Not sure that we would have made it otherwise. We caught the last night of the 626 Night Market. There was so much good food to eat and not nearly enough space in my belly. The weather was just really the perfect summer night, warm and a little breezy. I really couldn't have expected a better day.

mildly winded,
jt

I thought it'd be fun

Ahoy,

Another weekend of jam packed fun has passed. A finished his final on Saturday so we could begin to do stuff again.

I made the long and arduous journey on Friday to go pick up our stuff for the Disneyland half marathon on Sunday. He dropped me off at the airport so I could board a shuttle to Disneyland. There were others that were in the same boat. We boarded this sketchy van. I think this company must just make the rounds ahead of the official Disney Shuttle so he can collect suckers like us first. It's one of those Asian shuttles with drivers that are just really appeasing and a little sleazy, but you don't really know if he is actually agreeing or just trying to finagle business. After getting dropped off, I left our negotiation feeling incredibly unsure of my arrangements with him to get a ride back. Maybe you can understand what happened.

Me: So how do I pay you for a round-trip?
Driver: Yes...
Me: Do I pay you one way now and the rest later?
Driver: Yes...
Me: [hand him cash] Where do I find you again?
Driver: [running away] Right here...
Me: Do you have a card or phone number I can call?
Driver: [running away and jumping back into van, and driving away] Right here... what time?
Me: 11:30?
Driver: [driving away] Yes...

I waited in line for packet pick-up and ran into the expo for the gear pick-up before the door person had time to yell at me. There was an extremely long line also for the expo that I "by-passed," claiming the "I'm a runner and I need to get my stuff" card, along with everyone else who had just picked up their packets. And also, it was hot and sunny outside so I wasn't about to get in line again if I could avoid it. I picked up everything and walked across downtown Disney to the other side of the park because I was not about to wait around for ambiguous driver. I boarded an LA Metro bus to downtown LA. And continued all the way into the Valley to meet some friends that had come in from NYC. And at the end of the day, it was still hot. I finally made it back to Culver City around 10pm.

I'll forever remember this day as the day I took the bus/train all over LA. It's like I was walking around in the desert all day. Because I was. But the RRS took me to get ice cream at the end.

dangerously over-sized,
jt