Tuesday, May 24, 2016

La Femme in....California

In March of 2016, K and I and our two dogs travelled from Seattle WA to Alexandria VA.  I will be chronicling our two week trip across the US in a three part series on this blog.  This first part will be impressions and stories from the first part of our trip to Palm Springs, CA.  We stopped in Ashland, Oregon, Carmel and Santa Barbara, CA.  This is our story.

Mt. Shasta
Monday, February 29, 2016

We left bright and early Sunday morning with a destination of Ashland, Oregon.  This was no ordinary Sunday, it was Oscar Sunday, which is practically a holy day in our household.  So we booked it through nearly all of Oregon and arrived at our hotel mere moments before the show.

The morning is the part of the day I neglect the most but also sometimes the most precious. Usually, I sleep in and miss any semblance of the sunrise.  Not this morning, soon after the sun rose we were on the road.  Road trips are apparently not for sleeping in.   Leaving Ashland, we quickly found ourselves in the Siskiyou Mountains.  Of course, I made K stop at the first view point and took silly selfies in the early morning haze.  Mt. Shasta was looming overhead and the air was so crisp and the morning sun so ethereal.  Driving through the mountains was bittersweet, I know we won't be seeing any like this for quite some time.  And leaving Oregon means goodbye PNW, for now at least.





Carmel.  Carmel.  Man, is this paradise for bougie people like me or what?  We took the dogs to the beach and they loved it so much.  Snooker was like a puppy again, frolicking and so desperately wanting to be off leash like all the other native dogs.  Rufus ran into the water and was shocked by the waves, he got so wet and got tossed a bit by the strength.  But the next one he was right back in the water!  We walked and walked and it was so gorgeous.  Writing about nature is hard, it's like the right words are so cliche but so true and too small to explain the overwhelming beauty.  This town though, everything in it is so perfect, the building and the shops are so quaint, and the beach is stunning. I mean they have a Tiffany in this town!  Manhattan's outside for happy hour and later we had dinner on an adorable patio. In February!   K rolled his pants up because he got wet on the beach and he looked so relaxed and cute with his ankles showing and his red boat shoes.  I wish we had one more night in this town. Definitely want to come back and explore this area more.

Carmel, CA

 K and I went in the pool of our hotel after dinner.  We were the only ones there and I love the quiet of floating in a pool and looking up at the stars.  K laughed at my Facebook post about it but I was just so happy I wanted to share (after wine (and those Manhattan's), don't Facebook).  But as I lay floating in the quiet, looking at those west coast skies, I said to myself, "Don't forget these moments.  There is magic in them".

Tuesday, March 1, 2016


Route 1.
Ragged Point


Highway 1 from Carmel to Ragged Point! What a drive, I will just say I am glad I had K at the wheel!  Those views, I think I am slowly falling for this state.  The cliffs were so high and there were times you would see the road up ahead and be like how are we going to make it???? But it was amazing. What a feat of engineering.  As soon as we drove it, I wished we had stopped more at every viewpoint to take photos because the three or four times we stopped didn't seem like enough! And down by Big Sur?  In the woods?  So magical.  Stopping at Ragged Point, the last stop before the road evens out and you just drive by the coast, we stopped for a bit and saw a family traveling the road in vintage cars!  This is another place I can't wait to revisit.

Solvang

Of course, we had to stop in Solvang for lunch, everyone's favorite fake Scandinavian town.  This place is no Leavenworth but still pretty cute.  And I got an awesome tomte!  Traveling with the dogs is both the best and worst, its great because they get excited seeing different things but it's also kind of a drag.  We had wanted to stop at Hearst Castle but couldn't leave them in the car because it's a beautiful day and much too warm.  At Solvang, we found a dog friendly place to eat but they shoved us in the side patio all by ourselves.  Only one of us can go into stores at a time which is great for me because I just say, "look what I got!", but not so much for K waiting outside with the beasties.


K, Rufus and Snooker on the pier in Santa Barbara. 

We spent the afternoon in Santa Barbara, drinking margaritas at a Mexican restaurant on State Street.  The dogs were happy in the air conditioned hotel room so we could wander down the street, do some shopping and stop for drinks. My first disappointment in California.  Santa Barbara is charming but not everything I hoped it to be, the downtown area has become such a big mall.  Only chain stores to be found and lots of dirty college kids smoking weed (oh god, I sound so old!).  I did have the quintessential California moment though: a busker with white boy dreads singing Sublime.  And the produce at that farmer's market, insane!  Dogs loved the pier though but after Carmel I think we are spoiled for beaches.  

Wednesday, March 2 to Friday March 4, 2016

The Saguaro Hotel

Finally my Palm Springs dreams have come true!  I have been dreaming of this mid century paradise for years and am so excited to finally be here!  Our hotel, the Saguaro is a candy colored dream.  As I sat out by the pool on the day we arrived (of course, K was at the gym!), I couldn't stop laughing at the fellow guests.  Of course, there were couples old and young, groups with their friends, etc.  There were also blogger girls, a very strange breed.  They asked for the prettiest drinks (which they weren't planning on drinking) and posed for photos for each other for two hours.  It was so funny to watch them and watch the other guests ask them what the heck they were doing!  It made sitting by the pool alone a lot more fun.

Bougainvillea for days.

At night here, it is so easy to forget we are outside, it is so warm out but so temperate.  It is the perfect temperature at night.  We went to drinks at a place that used to be Cary Grant's, Copley's,  home and then to dinner at Birba for pizza.  K made fun of me because I ordered a side car at Copley's but the poor bartender didn't know it.  I thought that was an ok drink to order in a fancy place, oops.  Palm Springs is definitely a martini town but I'm not ready for that!  Driving home from the restaurant we opened the sun roof and listed to Lana Del Rey.  I will just say, this is the most appropriate time to listen to her and I feel like Palm Springs is making me like her more (don't tell K).
Frank Sinatra's House!

This time in Palm Springs has been so necessary before we hit the road for the next week or so.  It's hot here, super hot, so we haven't been doing too much.  Pool time, walking in downtown Palm Springs with poor Rufus trailing behind because he is so hot!  We bring water everywhere and give him plenty of chances to drink and rest but he is such a baby and he hates the heat.   By early afternoon we are ready for lunch and to be done walking around.  The shops here are so cute, so much mid century goodness, it is so my aesthetic.  We drove around and looked at the amazing mid century architecture, but mostly we have shopped, ate and drank and went for a spa day together at our hotel.  We also went inadvertently to a gay bar, oops.




TIKI!  In the last three days we have been to two amazing tiki places.  First was Bootlegger Tiki, a tiki revival tiny hole in the wall.  My Mai Tai was awesome but K loved his drink so much, calling it the best cocktail he has ever had! And it had rum!  So basically, my life is complete. On our last night, we visited Tonga Hut, an old school place.  Our waitress was no nonsense but super friendly and K had a drink in a pineapple.  Two totally different places but both doing the work of spreading the tiki gospel.


Saturday, March 5, 2016

Off to Vegas!  On the way we skirted the edge of Joshua Tree.  What  a landscape, I can't wait to come back and explore more.  This short trip has brought that California Dreaming to the forefront of my mind.  What an incredibly varied and beautiful state it is.  Also, Palm Springs is pretty much my dream.  Now...Viva Las Vegas!

Julie