Episode 2: The One With All The Dragons

A thought just occurred to me..I've been in California for 5 months now. That's almost half a year. Soon it will be summertime and then before I know it, a year will have passed since I moved out here. wow, time flies. I've done some pretty cool things since living out here. Like Oktoberfest in San Francisco (that's when I bought the extra large refillable cup, which I refilled at least two three times and purchased a 3 day 2 night package at a resort in Lake Tahoe. That part of the night is a little fuzzy for me, but heck, it should be a fun trip) Wine tasting at least five times in Napa, watched the Blue Angels fly over San Francisco Bay, attended my first ever NFL game at Oakland Stadium where the Patriots kicked their a**'s (wonder if I brought them good luck when the seagull pooped on my head right before the game.....huh. anyways) Oh yeah, went to Immortal Michael Jackson by Cirque du Soleil in a catered box suite...uh-mazing.... 
Now that I look at it all together, I'm having a pretty cool adventure out here. 


This past weekend was completely action packed and full of excitement from beginning to end as well. Friday night I did one of my favorite activities. Ice Skating. And I was with a totally rad group of people my age from the church I've settled into. Yes, we played tag, and yes I took a wicked digger.....three times.

                                                  Here we are. Good looking group huh?


It kind of felt like I was at snow camp again in Rumney, NH. Dang, I really miss that place. Some of us went back to Laura's house (now my house too) to drink Starbucks hot chocolate and watch Horrible Bosses. Still hilariously funny, even on the third viewing.


Saturday was the most exciting day of the weekend. I ventured into the city, taking the BART, which the natives refer to as just BART, not The Bart. oops. Apparently it's obvious I'm not a native. I dragged Alex, another new friend, with me and we checked out the Chinese New Year Parade. Now that was a parade. Wait, let me back up.


We first stopped to have lunch at Lefty O'Douls, home of the original Irish coffee.

Dangerously good.

After warming up a bit (dangerously good Irish coffee will do that to you), we made our way to the parade. This was the most visually appealing parade I have ever been to, hands down. There were costumes and outfits of all colors, traditional Chinese music and dancing, a 4 door Porsche highway patrol car (oh so sexy), dozens of dragons to celebrate the year of the dragon, and explosives...Those Chinese sure do know how to throw a celebration.

That was loud. Wicked.

Beautiful costumes

And how about these dragons?

Whoa....That's a lot of dragons. 

And, My favorite shot of the day

Kind of looks like a Chinese dragon version of the Beatles picture. 

Me, in my awesome front row spot.

Saturday was wrapped up by a 10:45 showing of The Vow (mixed feelings). My friend Michelle came with me. So glad I finally made friends so I didn't have to go alone. Thank goodness. 

Found this in the parking lot after the movie.

Interesting.

It's been run over by a car...

Even though I didn't get to sleep until 2:30am, I got up at 7:15 Sunday morning to go to the first service at church so I could go on a hike after. I've always loved hiking, and this has become my Sunday afternoon routine. Well, on Sunday's when the Patriots aren't playing. Football season is over for now, so there are a lot more Sunday hikes in my future. Every time I go for a hike, I always feel closer to God than any other time. Getting away from the hustle bustle of everyday life and just breathing in all of His creation is truly humbling. Man made things look so small from up there. All that stands out is the canvas of beauty He has given us to walk in every day of our earthly lives. Pretty incredible if you ask me.

This week I hiked Mt. Diablo with my new housemate, Laura. As if my legs weren't sore enough from 2 hours of ice skating on Friday night, I added a 7 mile hike to close out the weekend. 

Here's a look at it.

It was cold and windy, but totally worth it.

Interesting fact about Mt. Diablo: It has the 2nd largest viewshed in the world, only after Mount Kilimanjaro. On a clear day you can see all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Sierra Nevada's. Pretty neat.

Now that was an epic weekend. No wonder I'm so exhausted today.

Until next time...