in Joshua Tree

October 2009- Hot. Desert. Cactus. Dry.

Somewhere in our marriage Brad has managed to turn me into a bit of a hippie. I never thought the day would come, that I'd actually WANT to go CAMPING, but low & behold it's happened. Even better, my mother got wind of our new found hobby & for Christmas this year "Santa" surprised us with a new camping equipment.


Besides being one of the greatest albums in history, Joshua Tree is also a great camping spot. And if you're wondering, yes, we did listen to the album as we drove "In Gods Country." (we couldn't resist)!


Exhibit A: A Joshua Tree




Eat/Stay
We don't have any food recommendations to make since we cooked our food over an open fire (hot dogs & red wine if you're interested), but if you want to throw caution to the wind & try this new "camping thing" out, we recommend Black Rock Campground, it's one of the few sites you can actually make reservations, plus it's not far from the main park entrance and they have BATHROOMS, nice ones that look & smell CLEAN!

Hiking
If you like to hike (or pretend to like it) try the Ryan Mountain Trail. It's the perfect length (about 3 miles) & only takes about 2-3 hours round trip. It's a great climb & has a safe trail (little kids were doing it), plus when you get to the top of the Mountain you feel really accomplished all of the sudden & can see for miles.

Brad & I will hit up Joshua Tree again sometime, "With or Without You..."

in Yosemite

June 2009- Middle of Nowhere. Mountains. Brown Bears. Cascading Waterfalls. Roughing it.

Yosemite, or as an old co-worker unknowingly used to call it "Yo-sem-mite," is pretty cool. Nestled in a huge never-ending forest, it instantly makes you feel like a true mountain man (or woman). One general store, no restaurants, no street lights, and no fences (to protect you from REAL bears), it's a true wilderness experience.


Brad & I decided to stop in Yosemite on our way home from the wedding in Lake Tahoe, we also decided to camp last minute IN OUR CAR. Yes, while everyone had their little tents, cooking equipment, flashlights & mess kits, we were the yuppies sleeping in the back of our Ford Explorer. Who needs ghost stories by a campfire, when instead you can rig a DVD player in the back trunk of your car to play "The Godfather," (never leave home without it).


Not only did we not rough it outside, but we were the most ill-equipped campers you've ever seen. The only "flashlight" we had was actually a little book light/battery operated fan, truly pathetic. The only food we had was a leftover baby slice of cold pizza, that we rationed bite by bite. Our blankets? Not blankets at all, instead they were beach towels that were not big enough to share AND if a bear really did decided to mess with us, there was no knife to be had, other than a plastic knife we took from a rest stop earlier that morning. But like usual we had a great time & made the best of it.
Some of our highlights & recommendations include:

Wawona Campground
Pros: They take reservations, so you don't have to worry about rushing for first come first serve. It has the usual firepit, picnic table & has a nice creek throughout. Cons: The bathroom (if you can even call it that) is GROSS, it's basically an outhouse, I held my breath & tried my best to keep my visits to an absolute minimum. Then again for $20/night I guess I can't expect too much! Also, I felt like the surrounding sites were too close to us, but if you go during a peak month, I think you'll run into that at every campground.
Note: There's an entrance fee to Yosemite Park of $20 per car.
Bear Spotting
Can you see the baby brown bear? The best trick we learned when "bear spotting" is to actually not look for a bear at all, instead just look for the huge crowd of people on the side of the road taking pictures of the bear!
Half Dome
No we did not climb it, but we did go to a lookout point & I guess it's cool, as far as giant rocks are considered. One interesting thing I did learn is that it's the inspiration for the North Face logo, who knew?
Hint: It's the half round rock behind us... Doesn't it look familiar?


Upper Yosemite Falls
The toughest hike of my life. It's North America's tallest waterfall, and the 7th tallest in the world, it's 7.2 miles and 2,700 feet of pure StairMaster intensity. In fact, I just read it's the equivalent of climbing TWO Empire State Buildings, ok, seriously my calves are starting to cry in agony all over again just thinking about it. Let me preface my tale by saying, Brad & I had NO CLUE, what we were getting ourselves into. With only 2 water bottles & a flimsy backpack we bought last minute at the ONLY store in town, we thought we'd just do an "easy day-hike." After looking at the pretty pictures in the book, I haphazardly picked the Upper Falls Trail. 6 hours & several tears later, I was regretting my decision. But, truth be told, when we FINALLY reached the top of the falls, the view was unlike anything I've ever experienced. I know I look happy in these pictures...but I'm faking it.


Here's the BEAST! Here's us, (such amateurs) smiling with NO CLUE about what we were about to embark upon...
Here's us smiling because we think we're half way there...needless to say we weren't even close!
And for those of you who don't ever plan on trying to climb this thing (smart choice), here's a pic from the top of the falls...


Brad & I survived "Yos-sem-mite," I honestly feel like I deserve a t-shirt with the same sentiments! One day I'll be happy to send Brad & our future children back there again, & if anyone needs me, please tell them to check the Four Seasons!

in Lake Tahoe

June 2009- Crystal Clear Water. Snow-Capped Mountains in the Distance. Nature at it's Best.

 Isn't it great when close friends plan weddings out of town? At first, you get mad because you think about all the money you'll be spending, but then when you go, you realize its so much more fun Getting Lost in a new town. Such is how we found ourselves in Lake Tahoe.


First off, can I just say Tahoe is one of the most unbelievable places I've been to in the States. It's breathtaking, the water is literally crystal clear in some parts similar to the Caribbean, although much much MUCH colder. Rumor has it you can drink the water from a straw in the middle of the lake (no, we did NOT try). If you get the chance you must drive the continuous loop around the whole lake, it only takes about an hour & a half & it's completely worth it.


We have a great friend Jerry McNamara that lives in Tahoe & was gracious enough to let us stay at his home, lovingly referred to as "Spa Mac." Jerry is somewhat of an unofficial Mayor in the quaint town of Incline Village, everyone knows who he is, & EVERY cab driver knows where he lives! We were lucky enough to have Jerry as a tour guide to show us some of his favorite go-to spots for drinking and grubbing.
RookiesThe local watering hole in Incline Village, Rookies is the place to be for great pizza, yummy wings & Townie fun! it just so happened the night we went was "Reggae Night" so that meant the jukebox played Bob Marley & the cheese fries were half off...no joke!? Oh yeah & you can gamble at the bar. Easy on your wallet, open ALL night, & no dress code required, makes it an easy choice.
Yoshimi SushiBy far some of the best sushi we've had on the West coast & we've had some unbelievable sushi in our time (ahhh Vancouver). Clearly not Japanese or much older than 30, Head Sushi Chef & owner Brian is not what you might expect when you go for authentic sushi experience, but we promise Brian's no joke. His knack for surprising your taste buds with innovative sushi combinations make for a great meal. If you get the chance, sit at the sushi bar & chances are, you'll get to meet his dad, mom & sister (see below) who ALL work in the restaurant. It's truly a family experience, it's fun, intimate, very casual (jeans are more than ok), & by the end of the night we really felt like part of the family.
I LOVED Tahoe in the summer, now if we can just get back to "Spa Mac" for the winter...

in Australia

June 2009- Harbor Towns. Koala Bears. Kangaroos. Meat Pies.

Having just spent 2 weeks in Fiji, we were just too close to Australia to not hop the pond & have a go. Having spent most of our budget in Fiji, we decided to do Australia on the cheap & with a good friend to help us out, we had a fantastic time.


You may or may not be aware but about 10 yrs. ago Brad lived in Australia for a year. He was a young cub looking for his place in the world & Got Lost in Auz soon after college. Little did he know he'd be bringing his wife back to the very same spots he loved, nearly 10 years later. When Brad lived in the land of Auz he met a guy named Jordie & to this day he's a great friend in our lives.


Lucky for us, he has a great little apt. in Bondi Beach, Sydney & was gracious enough to let us crash his place. Jordi was the perfect host & even treated us to an amazing Italian dinner as a wedding gift. If you're in Bondi & want a great restaurant, check out:

North Bondi Italian
It's hip, cool, great wine list, funky bathrooms, & indoor/outdoor seating, simply suberb. I recommend the Speghetti Arrabbiata with crab cooked in a paper bag.

Hotel Bondi

Grab a pint of Toohey's New at the oldie, but goodie landmark right at the beach












Part 2
RV-ing

in Fiji

May/June 2009- Blue Lagoon. Kava. Snorkeling. Happy Happy People.

Picking a honeymoon destination can be a bit overwhelming, it's pretty much the one shot you have to go wherever the heck you want & blow the budget. With so many places & so little time Brad & I just couldn't decide. Brad & I knew we wanted something exotic, something chill & something beautiful. For a while we were thinking Bora Bora, but when our travel agent told us it was Boring Boring, Fiji shot to #1.

And off we went on our "Moon Trip." Not long after you land, you'll start to feel the island time,

Bula Bula, that's what the Fijians say, morning & night & also what you'll find yourself saying only hours after you've arrived. Everyone that goes to Fiji must first fly to the city of Nadi on the big island Vitu Levu, then from there hop a small plane to whatever island you've chosen. You could vacation on the main island, but we don't really recommend it. The city of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) is pretty dead & kinda rundown, nice place for a day, but not for a week. But if you must, a great hotel for a stopover, is Tanoa International. We had a layover for a night & this hotel is really close to the airport, it's clean, they have a decent restaurant & they have a shuttle for the airport. If you want to go out to dinner, we also recommend RJ's Chinese, its bustling & quite yummy.

Qamea

Our first destination in Fiji was the island of Qamea. We literally had to take a small plane, a van & then a boat to get there. But boy was it worth it. Qamea is the 6th largest island in Fiji which doesn't say much because there are no roads, no stores, nothing other than a small gorgeously exclusive resort. This resort has more employees than guests, I think max capacity for resort is like 28 or 32? The nicest staff in the world, the freshest fruit & seafood, & a world renowned spa literally in jungle tree houses, we were in heaven. The snorkeling was awesome, going to a local church service was a spiritual experience we'll never forget & the people very well may be the nicest people on Earth. But beware, this is very much a honeymoon resort, everyone was a couple, & there were no kids in sight.

Ok, I realize I just said no kids & here's a photo of kids & they were sitting in church with us. They were locals from a neighboring town & not staying at the resort. They were all so polite & beautiful.

Kava anyone? Ok, so you have to clap 3 times & then 1 time to say thank you, it tastes like muddy water, but you MUST try it no matter what, otherwise it would be like going to Italy & not trying the pizza! Plus, it makes you feel kinda funny :)

Here we are at the INTERNATIONAL DATELINE, yep that's it. No real line or gift shop or anything fancy, it was pouring rain & we traveled to the back of a rugby field behind a HS to find it, it was thrilling, haha. Also, note my very sexy honeymoon outfit of a rain poncho & ugly crocs, hideous!

Here's a photo from our Boula Falls hike, luckily the weather was MUCH nicer & every photo we took looked like it came straight out of a travel guide.

Nadi

After spending a few days truly in the lap of luxury, we headed back to the main island for Brad to get his surfing fix. After arriving at the main airport we had our next resort pick us up in a van & drive us about 2 hours north, toward the shore near....

The next resort...... was well, truth be told, a giant leap leap down in luxury. Not quite looking like the pictures on the Internet, we found ourselves wondering do we stay or do we go? No more Bula Bula, instead they played middle-Eastern music & didn't even offer to take our bags to our room. Tired from the long drive, we decided to tough it out for a night (in the mosquito nets) & make a decision in the morning. Not only we were the only people at the resort, but the woman running the place (co-owner with her husband) was the one in charge of everything, check-in, waitress, housekeeper, you name it. It kinda felt like the twilight zone...there wasn't a restaurant, just a communal table where everyone had dinner together. So imagine, me, Brad, a crazy mother-in-law (wearing an eye patch), the owner, her stoner surfer brother & her 4 yr. daughter, having a big family dinner together (on our HONEYMOON!)...Let's just say thinking back upon it all, I'm happy I can laugh about it now...Bottom line, if the boyz want to go to Fiji for a surfing bachelor party, it's perfect. If your wife wants to go on a romantic honeymoon, not so much!



Overall, Fiji was amazing, if we go back I think we'd head to the Yasawa islands, we heard great things about them & supposedly the weathers a bit more reliable. But if you want a romantic honeymoon, Qamea can't be beat!