Nordoff

Hiked to the top of the mountain Nordoff this Sunday. It looms above the city of Ojai, about an hour outside Los Angeles. Seven hours, 10+ miles, and great friends makes for a perfect Sunday.

The mountain hike itself was a bit of a reunion hike for several of my friend who met each other at summer camp in Ojai and attended/served as camp counselors for years of their youth. They recalled beasty summer days on the trail to Nordoff. We recreated that experience mainly by consuming chocolate muffins given to us from staff at camp.

Another factoid: People hike Nordoff to train for Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the 48 states which sits in Sequoia Nat'l Park, California, about 4 hours from Los Angeles). While I am not training for Mt. Whitney (yet), I do hope to climb many summits near Los Angeles. There are "7 summits of Southern California" to mirror the idea of the 7 summits of the world, the tallest from each continent. Yes, I'm obsessing over mountain hiking. And loving it!

Today's weather hit a record 87 degrees. Ahh, heaven.

Confirmed

Dept of interior webpage says Los Angeles experienced a 4.4 moderate. Can't sleep. Only wishing I bought emergency supplies. I just ran out of peanut butter, too.

Earthshake?

I think I just felt my first earthquake. Weird. A few seconds of feeling like I'm in a car on a bumpy road.

Raw Food

Tonight I ate at my first raw food restaurant. The main dish was a pumpkinseed pesto linguini...which consists of raw rutabaga noodles, tossed with cashew riccota and pesto, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes. My friend swore that Joaquin Phoenix sat nex to us, but the waiter assured us the scruffy man did not identify as Joaquin. Close enough for us to call it a near star spoting. Sorry I forgot my camera because I would have loved to post some pics.

Swedes Sing

Tonight I attended the concert of Swedish singers Taken by Trees and El Perro Del Mar. Not going to lie, I felt it may be better staged at a 70s themed roller skating rink. That would only enhance an already groovy sound. Taller than Trees rolled film of nature behind them. The two female vocalists were clearly the center of the show, but the drummer also stole my heart.

In the past, I have seen Lykke Li, another Swedish indie/pop singer. She has recorded with El Perro Del Mar. That match was meant to be.

Merced, continued

As previously promised, here are more pictures from Merced, in central California. The pictures include the painting on the wall of the California visitor's center. Also, the famous old theater tower with the word "Merced" on it.







Nearby in Atwater, California, I toured the Castle Air Museum with a collection of mainly wartime airplanes to commemorate what used to be an Air Force Base (now a federal prison).



Lastly, on my drive back to Los Angeles, I stopped in Fredriksburg, California - a total Swedish town. They host a Swedish festival in the summer. All year round the Swedish flag flies from the light posts on the street, people sip coffees in the Swedish cafe, and these Swedish dalarna horses stand as a life-size reminder that Swedes rule.

Mystery Restaurants

Could you identify the restaurant in this picture? We couldn't for a few passes in the car. It's my neighborhood Pho, a Vietnamese soup restaurant. Super popular, dazzling in unique architecture, and just being there made me cooler.


Speaking of restaurants, I had the great fortune to spot my second celebrity this weekend. Tim Meadows sipped coffee at the table next to me in Silver Lake. (Cue, the lady's man from Saturday Night Live)

Also, I hunted down a restaurant. To be clear, taco trucks are incredibly popular in Los Angeles. However, this presents the very real possibility that you show up in the grocery store parking lot at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night, stomach growling you're so hungry, and the restaurant (Ahem, taco truck) has not driven in to serve food yet. Not that I experienced it or anything. On Saturday, I had much better luck hunting down the ever-popular Kogi Korean Taco Truck. After at least 30 minutes of driving, in the rain (up hill with no shoes), we arrived to a long line of eager taco truck fans who had the same idea as us. Kogi moves locations every day. Was it worth it? Yes! Delicious. Whoever invented moving restaurants ignored the saying "location, location, location," and won.

Joshua Tree National Park

The desert began to bloom this spring. Last weekend we utilized our national park pass and hiked some trails.




Would you believe it if I told you that rain forced us to leave the camping trip a day early? Yes, rain and cold in the deserts of California. Still, heavenly, as proven by the rainbow.