Again in Tahoe

For my friend Jerilyn's visit we decided take a trip to Lake Tahoe. The weather was still warm but the water was insanely cold, as usual. Still, we braved up and swam as much as we could, knowing that the summer was ending and this was probably our last chance to do it for at least a year. This trip was near two months ago, and by now Tahoe has already gotten snowed on a couple of times. We will try to make a trip there this winter, but hopefully I will post something between now and then, or else this will become a blog about Tahoe.

An Old Friend's Visit - Big Sur!

A really good, really old friend finally came to visit after not seeing each other for 5 years. It was her first time in the US, and she was only here for 3 weeks. We took her to our favorite places in the area, but there was not enough time to do everything we should have done. She will have to come back soon!  

Here is our trip to Big Sur

Lake Tahoe!

We finally took a trip to lake Tahoe! it was short, but a lot of fun. We drove there friday night and camped in the woods. The next day we kayaked around Emerald Bay, drove around the area a bit, and back to Berkeley. Hopefully we will be able to do a longer trip before it gets colder!

Big Sur

About a month ago we went on a day trip to Big Sur. We drove down the famous highway 1 and just stopped on the side of the road whenever things got pretty. Now that school is over we can enjoy our weekends, and we have been! Northern California has been beautiful so far. We are the luckiest to be able to live here, so we will try to soak in as much of it as we can.

The whole day was very foggy and quite chilly, but it was still enjoyable. The landscape looked like it came out of a movie. 

The water was incredibly blue, and there was a waterfall right on the beach. Unfortunately people weren't allowed in this beach, so we could only look from afar. 

We have gone on more trips since, but I haven't been bringing my camera. Both my camera and lenses are almost 5 years old, and they've been rattling like maracas and refusing to focus on things. Hopefully I will be able to replace them within the next couple of years. For now I will have to keep trying to make them work! 

Rose Snacks

There other day I bought rose water because I am an adult and I can do whatever I want.

...

But then I brought it home and had no idea what to do with it. So I went and asked the source of all answers, youtube. I went around and around and finally decided on two recipes: Mini Choux and Turkish Delight (I've tried to make turkish delight before, but this is the only recipe that worked for me. You just have to be patient with the lady in the video) They were both sooo delicious!

Sadly, I didn't take pictures of the turkish delight, but I'll definitely be making it again, I have plenty of rosewater left. 

Update!

I haven't posted anything in a while. Since my last post I finally graduated and started a temporary job. Now I'm on full time job hunt mode. But this means that I should have more time to write here! Lately we haven't been going to too many places, so we'll see what posts end up being about.  

Here is a small update with pictures from my instagram

1. Muir Woods    2. Muir Overlook and the Pacific    3. The Golden Gate Bridge

4. Monterey Aquarium    5. Found crazy photo app    6. At Monterey

7. Alexei by the window    8. Triple cherry branch    9. Got my degree


Hopefully I will be back with a real post soon!

Trip to Mount Tamalpais

School has been crazy this semester. In a month I will get my degree, and be done with school for a while, if not forever. 

You know how at the beginning of every semester you tell yourself that you will not procrastinate, and you will stop doing homework at the very last minute? Well, after 21 years of telling that to myself, on my very last semester I have managed to do it! it was about time. 

About a month ago, Alexei had a weekend day off, and we decided to go for a hike to Mount Tamalpais. We were excited to see how bay area hikes compare to New Mexico hikes.

The first thing we noticed? 

We never once felt like we were immersed in nature like we did in New Mexico. At the beginning of the hike you always had the gorgeous view of The Bay, which kind of made you feel like you were so near a huge city. Even once the bay was out of sight, we were never alone. There were a lot of people hiking, so you never went more than 5 minutes without encountering people. In our New Mexico hikes we would go for hours without seeing anybody or anything remotely "urban", which gave our hikes a more wild feeling. I am positive that there are places in the area that are more remote and isolated, but it felt good to hike in a little bit more of a 'crowded' environment for a change. 

Halfway through the hike we found the West Point Inn. This goes to show how "urban" this hike. The inn was built in 1904 when there was a railroad that went through the area, but since then the railroads have been removed, and the inn is now stuck in the middle of nowhere. We stopped here to enjoy some falafel and hummus that Alexei had woken up extra early to prepare. There were lots of families, cyclists, and hikers enjoying the view from this spot.

After the short break, we continued on to the top of the West Peak. About half a mile away from the top there was a parking lot. Needless to say, the area was very crowded. But we were still really proud of having hiked the whole thing.

We found a lonely spot on the top, and sat down to eat, again. This time we had sandwiches, made with the same Alexei-made falafel and hummus, and homemade bread from the day before.

At the end of the hike we drove down to Stinson Beach, where we enjoyed the sunset before going home. I really wish we had more time to explore The Bay some more, but it seems like we will be moving again soon :(
Hopefully we will have time to squeeze in a couple more trips!