Happy Birffday, Steve

Oh, hai! Today I am blogging cuz Megan is trapped somewhere she said it is called "paper hell" but I don't know what she is talking about because she likes papers it always seemed to us, she has so many of them all over the floor.

Anyway, we wanted to make a birffday cake with some ingredients we were thinking about. Maybe tuna and treats, which are our favorite flavors. But then Not-Andy made the plan get messed up because he found this box and I said no, but he said yes, let's not make the cake anymore, let's play in the box.

This is what he sounds like all the time with his little cat noises. I told him if you don't bake this birffday cake with me, I will show the world your little voice. And, ok, he said fine I don't care. But I also didn't tell him I was going to say this: THIS IS WHAT HE SOUNDS LIKE IN THE BAFFROOM. LIKE WHEN HE IS USING THE LITTER BOX! HAHAHA what a nerd!

Anyway, this post is dedicated to Steve, a guy we hear about, I think he has cats so he is a V-I-P is how I would put it. It's his birffday. Like I said, about the cake, it's all Not-Andy's fault. Bai!

Cannot stop taking photographs of cats.

"Oh, hai!"

Andy battles a toy bug, momentarily appearing to be in outer space. (Outer space, however, soon reveals itself to be a black futon...)

It appears Andy is victorious. He kangaroo kicks Not-Andy off the couch to celebrate.

Not-Andy is a man of letters. He is a big reader. Oh, I mean - he is a wee big reader.

Not-Andy has been chosen

He is pet of the week in the newspaper. (Here is Andy's pet of the week feature.)

We must attend to his toilette. He is so fuzzy; there is much to attend to.

I am giggling uncontrollably in the background that "He looks like Martin Van Buren..."

Which he did. A little.

Andy's Shenanigans...

Andy declares that this glass is empty. EMPTY.

I question Andy's choice of armor...

Andy and Not-Andy... are adorable

Andy is the tabby (about 7 wks old); Not-Andy is his sidekick (5 wks old)... I'm their foster mommy for a little while....

I think I am in love...

Andy (he came with the name "Andy")

... Not-Andy (he came with the name "Fluffy-bum"...)

Not-Andy attacks the dire threat that is... The Paper Bag.

At the end of the day, being so very fluffy, Not-Andy is... a lover, not a fighter.

Nnnooo.... to think. Pastina could have ROCKED this sport. One more wee trophy on her wee mantle. * tear

Aw, a training regimen, to prep for the big day. ...But, what?! Just cardio? No weight-training?

PETS! I WANT PETS!

I miss Pastina :( What a good ham she was.

Visited a pet store the other day to soothe my pet-withdrawal.

I feel very bad for you, hermit crabs. They have given you the most undignified shells ever! Especially you in the back, with the word "Rad!" painted on. And the "Go USA!" with little squiggles is just weird.

(Hm. Even NOT on a crab it would make me feel weird... Unless we are at the Olympics. Which we're not. Ok, sorry, sorry, I'm done.)

This hamster has a problem. "Seeds! Kernels! Must get me some seeds! Kernels!"

A day in LA

Began at the LACMA... (Above is a funny, hangy-down sculpture installation thing that little kids like a lot. I liked it a lot, too. You just have to be careful and look out for the big concrete post in the middle if you are running through it at high speed. We noticed they padded the post, though. Maybe there had been a mishap...)

"Immortal with Toad"

This is one of Raquel's favorite exhibits at the LACMA. All of these mini carvings are kimono accessories. Some are made of ivory; some are made of NARWHAL TUSK!

Here is a pet-related photo I could not resist adding.... It's a billboard I saw near Echo Park. Pet-related, but with an LA twist.

Peter is a great cook. He made us candied kumquat mojitos and then paella for dinner. NOM!

Oh, p.s. - I tried to find a recipe for the mojitos (they were really, really tasty) and here is one from the LA Times.

Last day at Olympic National Park...

Last day in the Olympic National Park... Having done the mountains (and survived -cough- ) we decided to check out the rainforest and the coast...

First sign you see, upon entering the Hoh Rainforest.... BIG SPRUCE TREE, this-a-way.... Okayyy....

Yep, that's pretty big... (over 270 ft. high, 12.5 ft. diameter, 550 years old)

This is the phone Frodo uses...

(I couldn't help including it, if only to illustrate just how lush and green everything is in the rainforest here...)

Along the Hoh River... We took a hike along the Hoh, amid rain showers, no surprise...

And saw this guy!!!! Eeeeek!

SO GREEN! This is club moss, which is actually more related to the fern family than to the moss family. It hangs on all the trees here...

Crescent Lake, carved by glaciers... The clouds are truly a part of the landscape here.

Mist and clouds...

Second beach (I think) at the La Push region... Great driftwood, empty beaches, and a healthy, powerful coastline.

Hurricane Ridge

Day 2 in the Olympic National Park: took possibly the ugliest rental car ever (see pic above) up to Hurricane Ridge for a hike in the mountains...

Lots of deer in this park...

We hiked up Elk Mountain (6,773 feet).... The views were spectacular. It is just you, the wind, the occasional call of a bird... It makes you feel so very wee...

See? Wee...

Gabe notes that we can see both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker in the distance. We were extremely lucky to have a clear day for the hike. Actually, we both got a bit of a sun burn - pretty good work for a trip to the Pacific NW :)

Mount Olympus... It was very shortly after this that I discovered... that I have a brutal fear of heights.

No. Seriously.

This became apparent as we began a length of exposed ridge hiking down the face of Elk Mountain. "I'M GOING TO DIE! EEEEEE!!!!"

I don't know how, but somehow, Gabe managed to coax me, clinging to the side of the mountain, across the exposed face to a copse of pine trees where I huddled in a fetal position until I was good.

It was then that we also discovered.... that we had left our trail map in the car. :| There was a short, hungry debate (our lunches were also left behind in the car) about whether to push on or double back and retrace our steps. It is very uncomfortable to find out that you are afraid of heights and do not know where you are, while you are on the side of a 6,773 foot mountain. In the end, I lived. Which is good. But I looked like this for some time afterward (ok, until I got a beer in the nearest town):

Post-wedding random Olympic National Park trip

The wedding was fantastic. It was held at a lovely farm and was really a special event. I was having such a great time I actually didn't take any pictures, myself, but believe me... there were plenty taken :) Mazel tov, Steve and Sarah!

After the wedding - zooooom! -- quick camping trip...

...in the Olympic National Park. Ohhh yeaahh...

Is it... a pheasant? .... a funky, tiny turkey? A GEODUCK?? (Gabe: "No, no... not a geoduck. I already told you - geoducks AREN'T ducks...")

We set up camp and then took a hike along the Elwha River to "Goblin's Gate," a narrow part of the river right before it shoots into the canyon. Look how wee Gabe is next to that tree, hehe...

The Olympic National Park is really special because it contains so much diversity: mountains, a beautiful and rugged coastline, old-growth forests, and TEMPERATE RAIN FORESTS (I'm verrry excited to see that. Tomorrow, perhaps.)

Know what else it has? BANANA SLUGS. (lick, lick)

Seattle!

Flew into Sea-Tac yesterday (Was it yesterday? Time is still a little blurry for me right now...) in order to go to Steve and Sarah's wedding on an island just off of Seattle.

Neat-o. I'm in Seattle.

Wandered around Pike Place Market for a bit. This is at the fish market. People stand around and wait for the famed Pike Place Fish Mongers to do their thing, which, as far as I can gather, is tossing really, really big fish through the air to each other.

I got to experience the niftiness that is the car ferry for the first time ever. "You just drive right into it? Get. Out.) Waiting in a line of parked cars for an hour and a half was not so cool... but the ride was!

Maybe I don't get out much, but I was exceedingly excited about this car ferry (I took an embarrassingly large number of photos in the ferry, of the ferry, around the ferry... Ferry ferry ferry.) And about seeing this stuff - the clouds, water, dark pine trees. Very, very beautiful.

I should organize and pack for my trip tomorrow...

...but instead I think I'll go to the beach again. (mwhahaha...)

The rocks rolling over one another make a neat sound. (And, yeah, that is me realizing I am being video-taped...).

I am looking for some nice rocks. At some beaches here, there are signs that say: PROTECTED AREA - NO COLLECTING (and a small but belligerent and bad voice in me goes: "No collecting? ...YES collecting!") so when collecting is allowed, I look for things. Like rocks. And shells.

This is what I collected! The little rock on top is my new pet rock. And the big one is a rock I found that looks like a bear. All he will need are some painted eyes and maybe some ear outlines.

(He may end up a doorstop, though. Just to be upfront about it...)

Good-bye, beach...

... and hello, In-N-Out Burger :)

Eleeza tipped us off to order our burgers "Animal Style" (per the In-N-Out "secret menu"), so we did (actually, we ordered one "Animal Style," and one not, so that we could compare and figure out what "Animal Style" actually is...) Delish.

Oh, and I'm not telling what "Animal Style" is if you don't know... click the link or come to visit me on the west coast to find out... (preferably the latter)

This video has a lovely surprise at the end...

I can't believe I live here...

Laguna Beach this time. I can't believe I can wake up and think, hm, what should I do today, I guess I will go to Laguna Beach for a bit before lunch.

This is at Crescent Cove, in Laguna Beach. There are a number of coves of varying sizes that belong to the Laguna Beach area. This one was Grrrrreat! The water was so clear you could be standing chest high and look down and see seashells and rocks. (Gabe stared for a good while at one rock which he at first mistook for a fish: "Look a fish!!! ...oh, no, it's a rock. ....Wait, no! ...oh, yeah, it's a rock.")

But we did see this little guy scampering around in a tide pool. Also, lots of anemones and hermit crabs and mussels... and, yes... a fish. For real this time.

On the way back from Laguna, stopped at the SHAKE SHACK! I was feeling a bit peckish.

NOM NOM NOM NOM! A date milkshake! Thanks (once again!!) Eleeza for the tip ;)

Warm roast beef sliders on potato rolls with creamy horseradish and grilled onions. Ate at a little look-out over Crystal Cove...

We go to Target and then eat crawfish

A trip to Target, to get stuff for the new place... Got distracted by this guy, though... He was in "T-Rex mode." I wanted to see him do "Herbivore," but the "Herbivore" button did not work :(

Some seashells I collected at Newport Beach :)

In the afternoon, Raquel and Peter came down from L.A. and we went to a water park to scamper around and have fun. Afterward, we went to a little restaurant to eat crawfish, which apparently is becoming a trend here. They were so spicy and so wee. And they were served in a big, steaming plastic bag. NOM!

John Marullo is here!

Crazy... but John Marullo is in town (!!!), touring with his band! Hearing his stories about traveling cross-country made our trip suddenly look verrrrry tame :) (He did sort of get stranded in Sioux City, though... Oh, John...)

We went to Apple Pan, an awesome, old-school burger joint in West L.A. (click that link, it is pretty spot-on)

Took a little walk down Venice Beach at night...

Moving in and exploring

Slowly figuring out where things are... Apartment is off Anteater Drive, for instance... :)

Took a morning jog at Crystal Cove State Park. Really beautiful place - clear green-blue water, clean beaches, and interesting rock formations...

This is at one of the tide pool areas...

Gabe: "Maybe you'll make a beach-lover out of me after all..."

Will, Alyssa, and James - for you! To entice you to come visit :) (There was a small exhibit at the Crystal Cove visitor center, which had a corner devoted to mountain biking in the region...)

Day 13: THE FINISH LINE!

It is time to get to where we are going... Vegas to Irvine is about 4.5 hours. Vrrrooom.... Arrived around 3:30 p.m.

OMG.

You know, we sort of wondered whether the packages would arrive ok... aaaaand, the answer is YES. Fed Ex, you are awesome.

Apparently, our packages arrived and assembled at the door... for about a week. Just waiting. Twiddling their thumbs... My neighbors probably think I am curious :|

SPACE! There is SO MUCH SPACE!

First meal in the new apartment... Thanks, Eleeza, for the recommendation!! Delivery pizza from Gina's! .... on a milk crate table. No chairs, none needed. :)

Day 12: Las Vegas

Arrived in Sin City and checked in at the Golden Nugget (I admit that I chose the hotel based on its name alone (NUGGET!!!)... Upon further investigation, the hotel is part of hotelier Steve Wynn's '90s re-vamp of Las Vegas... Sort of interesting...

Weird pic of me in the desert heat....

Gabe is expressing the way both of us felt about Vegas, generally... Ok, I'll just say it: Vegas was totally Pastina's idea... poor 'tina...

The Bellagio.... I saw a duck in the lake. It was the highlight.

The famed fountains of the Bellagio!