Today, we ventured North for some outdoor fun. I had never been to San Rafael (aside from driving past it on the freeway), so Mark and I decided to go check out the 25th Annual May Madness car show.

The weather up there was SO drastically different than down here in the city. It was actually HOT and I had to take off my hoodie. I think the both of us actually got some colour (not that HE needs it like I do, lol).

We wandered around and checked out some pretty amazing looking cars and spoke to a few nice people. They had bbq there, but all we had was flavoured ice.

After seeing all the cars, we decided to check out a local bakery and get some noms. I know it’s not the most exciting adventure, but it was really nice to get out of the city and feel the warmth of the sun.

On our way out there, TONS of people were heading out to the beaches. The road to Muir Woods was clogged all the way back to the freeway. On our way home, it was really cool to see the fog rolling off the hills and just pouring into the city. On went my hoodie again.

Anyhow, I took a bunch of really fun pics from today, please check them out on my flickr page.

~E

On Saturday, Mark and I decided to head over to Marin because he had read that there was some open art studio thingie going on. As we were driving down the freeway, he realized that we had completely overshot our destination. As we went to pull off and turn around, we saw a road that said “Main Gate Road”. We were both curious, so we drove down it to see what “gate” it lead to. Turns out that it was part of an old housing development for a nearby air base.

As we were driving, we kept seeing signs for an art fair nearby. Oddly enough, we had unintentionally stumbled upon an art showing/open studios. We stopped and saw some really unique pieces and got to meet some pretty interesting artists.

After we left, we decided to drive around and see the sights. If I had to put an estimation on the ages of the military housing, I would guess post WWII with some more recent upgrades. Many of the houses were obviously unoccupied, even complete streets of houses just sat barren. There were places like a bowling alley and an officer’s club that were completely abandoned. One of the buildings by the officer’s club is where I got out and took a bunch of pics.

I LOVE old abandonment. I can easily envision what these structures looked like in their prime. As I was walking around the OC building, I startled a deer and it literally almost scared the shit out of me. My first thought was that part of the building had crumbled and fell to the ground. The doe was so well hidden in the shrubbery that I couldn’t see her at first. She scampered away and then stopped. Then we had a good stare-down as I was trying to get a good pic of her.

I also passed by a VERY active hive in a tree that I could actually hear before I could see (which kinda freaked me out because I had no idea if I was walking closer to it or away from it).

Mark had thought I got lost. He was sitting in the car waiting for me and had tried calling but I left my phone in the car.

After driving around out there for a bit, we decided to maybe go check out some other areas of Marin that we haven’t gotten to, but then I decided that I wanted to go look at pups so we went to the SPCA instead.

Cheers <3

~E

So, I turned a whopping 34 years old this passed Wednesday. For people like me, every year gets even more and more amazing in the fact that we’ve made it this far. Birthdays become more precious than ever. I have to say that this year was probably one of the best Birthdays I’ve ever had. Having lived in the Midwest most of my life, I’m used to my birthday being rainy and gloomy. This year, the weather was my friend and I was afforded the ability to enjoy the outdoors. I got to spend it with my favourite person in the world and felt completely loved, which is how everyone should feel on their birthday.

We just recently purchased a 2012 Honda Civic Sedan and have been having a few adventures, so the past couple weeks have been pretty nonstop. We left for Reno late Tuesday morning and arrived around 4pm. We stayed at the El Dorado Hotel and Casino. Mark booked us for a Deluxe room, but after we got there and found out that they have only a seasonal pool and hot tub (which don’t open until sometime in May), we decided to upgrade to a suite. They only had a couple types of suites available and gave us a really good deal on the Player’s Suite. It was the best possible room you could get there and it had a jacuzzi in the room. The upgrade was DEFINITELY worth it.

The room was nice, but the hotel itself was just “eh”. Having lived in CA for a while now, it’s shocking to visit places where people are smoking openly in public areas. For me, this was one of the biggest drawbacks, as the El Dorado didn’t have a non-smoking area in the casino. Thankfully, our room was non-smoking at least. It was somewhat aggravating to see people blatantly ignoring the signs saying that smoking was permitted in designated areas only and just wandering around blowing cancer everywhere.

The hotel was connected to two other hotels, the Silver Legacy (where I spent all my time on the Black Jack tables), and the Circus Circus. You could walk between them and gamble/dine/shop, kinda like a mall.

The first night, we wandered around for a bit, did some gambling, ate dinner at a place that was literally called “The Buffet”, and then went to our room to relax in the jacuzzi and enjoy the view from our room (it was pretty spectacular, we had a panoramic view of the city and the mountains).

The next day was my birthday. We had room service for breakfast and then decided to head over to Lake Tahoe. I had never been there, so we thought it would be a fun idea to drive over and get some good pics in. It was a sunny day, but a little chilly with it being so windy. The lake is absolutely gorgeous and I got a few good shots. The scenery is amazing, but I can’t imagine living at such a high altitude.

When we got back, we rested for a little while, I did a breathing treatment, and then we were off to find a nice restaurant for my birthday dinner. There was one place that I had read about that got really good reviews, it was called the Roxy, so we stopped in there. We had a wonderful dinner and the Roxy really lived up to the reviews. Our dinner even came with a sundae for dessert. Afterwards, I wandered back over to the Black Jack tables at the Silver Legacy, and Mark wandered around some more. Not being a gambler, he found some arcade games at the Circus Circus.

I had pretty good luck at the tables. We split a $100, Mark took $40 for the video games and I took $60 for the tables. I had maybe a total of 6 hours worth of gambling on that $60 and even ended up ahead by $96. I consider it a win if I make it out of there with what I went in with.

We had a late night bubble bath in the jacuzzi and a champagne toast with some Moet to top off the night. It was the most perfect birthday I have had in a VERY long time.

Despite having a great time, I don’t think I would stay at the El Dorado again. There were only two things that were really “wrong” with our stay. One, the smoke. The whole hotel is just nasty with the smell of smoke and it permeates everything there. This is mostly the reason that we spent most of our time either in the room, outdoors, or in another casino. The Silver Legacy seems to have a better ventilation system.

Two, the shower in our room whistled like a freight train. I’m not kidding you, I ended up naming the damned thing the “choo-choo shower”. It would fluctuate between a slight hum all the way up to an ear-splitting, piercing scream.

There were good things about the place though too. Parking is comped if you have a room there, so you don’t have to pay for that. Rooms are pretty cheap as they are merely a means to keep you in the building and to keep you spending money on the casino floor. Therefore, you can get a really nice room for a decent rate. Room service was fast and accommodating. The pricing at the eateries was decent as well, ranging between $-$$-$$$. Our average meal for two cost about $30. Not bad at all. Another plus was that the operators answering the phones were always pleasant and never seemed like they were put out by our call and hated their jobs.

There was only one other thing that was a downfall for me and that was the altitude sickness I had. My body barely takes in enough oxygen for me at sea level, but when we got up over about 3000 feet, I could feel a definitive difference. I’m happy that I didn’t get nauseous, but I did get pretty severe headaches CONSTANTLY, and even had some disorientation. Reno sits at about 4200ft elev. Tahoe was even higher, up to about 6500ft elev. I had to eat aspirin at least twice a day there, once in the morning and again later in the day. I definitely do not recommend traveling to such altitudes without oxygen for people with any sort of breathing issues. Lesson learned.

We check out early the next morning, around 10am, and headed over to a local coffee shoppe we had heard about. We got on the road home around 11am. We ran into some pretty inclement weather through the Sierras. I tried to get a good shot from the car. It was the first time I had seen snow in almost two years. We drove until we were out of the storm and then pulled off to a cute little restaurant on the side of the freeway for some lunch. San Francisco was a welcome sight. We got back home at about 4pm. 

All in all, it was a great trip and I am thankful that I am still here to enjoy such things, especially with someone I love so much. I am super excited that we have a car now too. We are able to roam as far as we like when we are afforded the time. Future adventures await.

Be sure to check out my photo set on the flickr!

~Eyva

So, yesterday was Valentine’s Day, which also happens to be my boyfriend’s birthday. He decided that he wanted to go to Santa Cruz for the day. We rented a Mini Cooper and decided to take the scenic route, down the Coastal Highway.

It was a PERFECT day, a beautiful 55 degrees and sunny. We stopped at a few places along the way, just to take in the sights. We stopped at a beach and climbed out onto the rocks (and I froze my ears off cuz it was crazy windy). I took a few pictures and some video before we climbed our way back to the car and got on our way.

We drove past a lighthouse and decided to stop and take a few pictures (I LOVE LIGHTHOUSES!). We didn’t actually get out and walk around, I just jumped out to snap a few quick photos and then head back out. I got yelled at by some jerky maintenance guy because we pulled up and stopped where we weren’t supposed to or some shit. Oh well.

The drive was pretty nice, we got to Santa Cruz boardwalk around 2pm. We walked around for a little while and realized that the arcade didn’t actually open until 3pm, so we left to find some coffee.

We went to Verve coffee house to grab a drink and drove around town for a little while. When we got back to the boardwalk, the arcade was open. We probably spent a good hour there, but only spent $20. We had fun and ended up turning our tickets in for a giant stuffed Ras Tafari Banana (It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!).

We went to Woodstock Pizza for a (not really) romantic dinner and debated on whether or not to go bowling or to head back to the city. We were pretty tired by the time we were done eating and had to have the car back by 9pm anyways, so we just decided to head home.

All in all, it was pretty fun. Even though the amusement park wasn’t open yet (it’s seasonal), we still had a pretty good time. I would eventually like to venture back that way when the park IS open, just because I haven’t been to an amusement park in years.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE all things aquatic. I LOVE ocean life, ships, seafaring, underwater adventures, EVERYTHING that has to do with the ocean. I went to college for Anthropology and wanted to become a Marine Archaeologist, but due to the limitations of my condition, I found that I cannot dive. It is even unknown whether or not my body can handle even snorkeling. This put quite the damper on my career aspirations.

Anyhow, I love aquariums, so my boyfriend/best friend Mark decided to take me down to Monterey Bay to see their famous aquarium.

Mark, David and I drove the two hours down the South bay to Monterey this past Sunday. We arrived there shortly after 1pm. I had made a small list of particular things that I wanted to see after perusing their website, and they also handed out a schedule of the daily events at the door.

We missed the Albatross visit, where their in-house Albatross is fed and introduced to the public once a day. There was a feeding schedule for the Penguins, the Sea Otters, and the Kelp Forest that I mainly wanted to see. Unfortunately, so did everyone else that was there.

The only thing I would change about our visit there is that I would NOT have gone on a Sunday, as it is extremely busy with families and small children. I don’t think I had seen that many strollers in years. I think it would have been a little more enjoyable sans the large crowds of families and spazzing little people running around.

Aside from that, we took some absolutely gorgeous pictures. The Jelly fish were amazing. I commented to Mark that I need to learn how to use my camera properly in different lighting situations, as his 4S took better shots than my Nikon point and shoot.

One of my favourite guys there was a sea turtle that had his own little aquarium to himself (as far as no other sea turtles, but there were other little fishies in there with him). He seemed to have this curiosity about him, where he wanted to inspect us just as much as we were inspecting him. At first, he seemed to be trying to hide. Then, it was almost as though he realized it was “showtime” and swam around looking at each of us directly in the face. He was pretty sweet.

The schools of fishies swimming around in the Kelp Forest were such a sight. Their beauty and choreography of their natural swim pattern were pretty awesome to see. To see an animal so in tune with it’s family/species, not one seemed to falter from their path. I realized why there was a small section of “bleachers” set up there. I could have watched them for hours.

One thing that I wish I could have done more was the touch tank for the Rays. I LOVE being able to interact with the bat rays and the baby sharks. I’ve been to other places that had petting tanks and it was such a wonderful experience to be able to actually TOUCH one, without fear of getting bit or harming them in the process. Unfortunately, the bat rays at Monterey seemed to have had enough of people the day we were there and were basically hanging out as far away from us as possible. There was ONE that swam by and I pet it briefly, but then he swam away again. The water was also way too deep and absolutely freezing cold. I would have been shoulder deep had I tried to touch the bottom, where the rays usually rest.

Mark and I decided that perhaps we will return another time, preferably on a weekday when there are less visitors and we can have a more intimate experience.

After the Aquarium, we were pretty hungry, so we paid a visit to Old Fisherman’s Wharf. It was pretty cold out by this time, but we strolled along and checked out some of the shoppes. The candy shoppes are pretty hard to resist! There was one that had the old time cotton candy machine and in the front window, they displayed their taffy-pulling machine.

We found a place called Kocomo’s and decided on some fresh oysters and clam chowder in a bread bowls. The oysters were AMAZING. That’s one thing I love about living here, you can almost always get seafood that is guaranteed to be fresh and delicious.

It was a long drive home after a really fun day. We were all pretty tired and quiet for the ride home. Don’t forget to check out my pics of this adventure on my Flickr page to the right! —>>>

Happy Trails!

The Columbarium is not one of those super-tourist attractions that many people know about. When I’ve asked people about it, they usually give me a blank stare. Not many people seem to know about it.

Not that they should, it’s only one of the last remnants of the cemeteries that used to exist within the San Francisco City limits.

The Columbarium was originally built in 1898 by architect Bernard J.S. Cahill. It is built in the Neo-Classical style. It was originally part of the Odd Fellows Cemetery. In 1902, the city board prohibited the sale of all cemetery plots within city limits. It seems that the dead were talking up valuable realty that could be put to better use. This idea was furthered with the 1910 prohibition of cremation as well. By the end of the 1920s, most of the dead had been disinterred and moved to their new home in Colma and other out-lying cities. It is a long-running joke that there are more dead people in Colma than there are living.

There was also a crematorium on the premises that had been built in 1895 by Cahill as well, but it had been demolished in the 1920s along with all of the mausoleums. They took most of the headstones of the cemetery and used them to build a sea wall at Aquatic Park. I thought that was kinda creepy.

Sadly, as time went on and the property passed from one hand to the next, the Columbarium fell into disrepair. When the cemetery had been moved, many people decided to disinter the remains of their loved ones from the building as well, choosing to find a new home for them in fear that the building would meet the same fate as the crematorium.

For one reason or another, the Columbarium was neglected. Human remains were still there, but it had no real caretaker to maintain the upkeep of this beautiful structure. Not until the Neptune Society claimed it in 1980 and instilled a full-time caretaker, Emmitt Watson, who has been the sole caretaker this entire time. The structure began to house more than human remains, such as animal and plant life.

I first visited here back in February. It was a beautiful day and I rode my scooter there around 2pm. It is located between Geary and Anza, near Arguello. The Columbarium is open to the public every day for certain hours. In fact, it is the only remaining non-denominational “cemetery” left within the city limits that is open to the public AND still has realty available for purchase.

If you were to chose to be interred here, you would be among pretty notable company. The likes of Harvey Milk, the Haights, and the Stanfords are present here, just to name a few.

I came here with the intention of getting some beautiful photos, and the ghost-hunter in me REALLY wanted to get some good EVP. I was NOT disappointed! In fact, I got so much activity on my voice recorder that I decided to go back the next day.

It is rumoured that the ghost of a little girl by the name of Anna von Staden likes to roam around the building and make her presence known. Even the caretaker, Emmitt, has seen and heard her. I have addressed her specifically on my recordings and she has responded with a very child-like “Hi!” There are numerous other “voices” on the recordings, some sad, some confused, and some just chilling. For a place that houses the remains of over 35,000 souls, I was hoping that there would be SOME sort of activity. I was not disappointed.

For those of you that aren’t really “in” to the paranormal, the Columbarium is an absolutely gorgeous piece of architectural engineering. Filled with beautiful bronze statues, stained glass murals, and marble abounding, it makes for a peaceful abode for the afterlife. There are also outer walls that surround a fountain, for those that would rather spend their mortal eternity out of doors.

If you are a paranormal enthusiast, such as I am, this place is definitely worth a visit. If you are an architecture enthusiast (such as I am as well), you would greatly appreciate the rotunda form and classical structuring of the building as well as the great pains the Neptune Society has gone to in order to restore her to her former glory.

Check out their website at:

http://www.neptune-society.com/who_we_are/columbarium.html

~Eyva

P.S. Be sure to check out my Flickr set entitled “The Neptune Society Columbarium”!!!

I don’t know that many people that have been to a trampoline gym. Hell, I myself had never even HEARD of a trampoline gym until I moved to San Francisco. What a fun idea though, right???

Some people think so, some don’t, judging by the reviews of House of Air on yelp!. It has really mixed reviews, actually. I’m not sure what people expect when they go to this place. You can check out my yelp! review of HOA here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/house-of-air-san-francisco#hrid:t_gspW11PLNitYDfitEFlg

(I hope that worked)

Unfortunately, two nights before our scheduled playdate at HOA, I had to lay my scooter down in order to avoid hitting a car that pulled out in front of me. At least this time I had a chance to hit the brakes and didn’t go flying towards the ground, it was more of a screech/halt/tip-over/smack the pavement type thing. Painful nonetheless. My right knee took another hit for the team, and my right ankle actually got pinned under the exhaust pipe this time, so it’s probably permanently messed up now as well, considering it’s been over four weeks and I still have issues with it.

I was worried about not being able to play with the other kids when we went to HOA that Sunday morning, but found out that all I really needed was to catch my groove when bouncing. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really quite fun. We had a group of eight people and our scheduled time was 10am.

There was a child’s birthday party going on, but it didn’t really affect us as they have an adult section where people under 18 can’t go, for safety reasons. After our hour was up, we all went to Pluto’s for lunch. If you think an hour is not long enough at a trampoline gym, think again. It’s quite the workout, especially for us old folks!

My ankle fared well up until the very last jump. I landed wrong and tweaked it. Boy was I pissed. I had gone the entire time just fine, and on the very last bounce I had to mess my shit up. C’est la Vie, I suppose!

~E

I’ve had a few adventures since I last wrote. I know, I need to get better at keeping this thing updated (not that anyone really reads this anyways ). I’m not going to make excuses, just sheer laziness on my part.

First really fun adventure was over to the Marin Headlands. I dared to cross the GGB yet another time on my little Bessie (my scooter). This time, it was about 25 degrees warmer than the previous time I braved the bridge. And thank the gods for that, I got to ride over it wearing only a tee-shirt

The Headlands are a MUST SEE if you are in the Bay area. Probably one of the best views of the Pacific and of San Francisco you will find. Battery Spencer is the first stop on the Coastal Route. You can walk up an easy trail to get absolutely amazing views of the GGB, Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, and a little bit of the Sausalito area. It’s fun to be able to walk through the Battery grounds and into most of the structures. For the places that I couldn’t go, I sometimes found a crack or crevice that my camera would fit into and would snap a few photos to see if I could get anything viable. Some wins, some losses. You have to check out the set on my Flickr page.

I hiked up and around the Batteries that are tucked into the landscape and eventually worked my way over towards Rodeo Cove. I got off Bessie and decided that this is where I was going to step INTO the ocean, since that is something I had yet to do since moving here. It was a wonderfully warm Indian Summer day and the water was freezing cold. It was nice to watch the children and dogs frolicking on the beach, chasing each other and the water. There were a pair of really young toddlers there with their moms. They would chase the water when it receded and run from it when it would come rushing back in.

I had a fairly sudden drop in my blood sugar and desperately needed food. If you go over there, be sure to bring a bag lunch. There are NO places to get food in the headlands, you would have to drive over to Sausalito. Except for one place that I just happened to stumble upon: The Marine Mammal Center. My wonderful saving grace is their Gift Shop. I boought two bags of Cheez-its, a bag of Heinous Anus (Famous Amos) cookies, and chocolate covered granola bar and a Coke. And then proceeded to eat it all.

The place itself is wonderful. They are a hospital for sick or injured Harbor seals and sea lions. They have hospital kennels in the back that are open air and have an observation deck that’s open to the public. They also have a necropsy room with a viewing window. They do actual necropsies in order to learn more about the mammals and the disease/condition that killed them.

It was a really fun, full day of putting around a beautiful park. It was September 20th when I was there, and it was so nice out that I actually got sunburned! And now I have a Farmer’s tan. I don’t mind so much

~E