This year's Chinese New Year Eve dinner was held at the Capital Seafood in Irvine Spectrum. None of us wanted or able to afford the time to host it at home. It is only appropriate to have a Chinese meal for this evening. Since it is really a distance to travel for a meal in the Alhambra area. So we settled for Irvine, especially when some of us had to work until 6pm.
I arrived at Vanessa's early. For reason unbeknownst to me but obviously to Duncan, he wanted to go pick up pau pau (my mom, his grandmon) with me instead of waiting to go with daddy and mommy. Yes, I found out not too long later, this little devil somehow thought I promised to give him a surprise gift. Well one way or another, grandma was very very pleased to see Duncan came along to pick her up, so a surprise gift is a small token grandma is very willing to offer!
Our normal routine ... have a big meal, then pass out the red packages to the kids and grand ma. There was a bit of mixed up with the red packages. It took like 3 counts to straight out whose's whom...too many kids, too many packages to count since each couple gave two to each child.
The littlest nephew, shy from the crowd.
Here is a picture of the happiest mommy collecting the red packages.
I have first read about Oumi Sasaya udon restaurant in LA Times. Since then, I have lunched here a few times whenever I am off and in the mood for udon. Since I dined by myself, it was never an issue waiting for a seat at the counter. Watching the cooks working behind the counter is quite interesting.
A square of cold tofu is served with the meal, you drizzled soy sauce to your own liking. It is a bit blend but the tofu is silky.
Each time I have ordered a hot udon with shrimp and mochi tempura. Before this shop, I never had fried mochi with udon before; a chewy texture with the tasty hot broth. I love it.
It's time to go home...after this amazing weekend here.
I made Tom stopped at the Zabriskie Point on our way out to say "see you later" to Death Valley, as we will be back in the future. A last look at this rough terrain and an ever lasting captured on camera. Until next time...
Our last stop for the day is at the Artist's Palette. We wanted to hit it in late afternoon light to capture the intense colours. The scenic loop drives through multi-hued volcanic and sedimentary hills, a bit of roller coaster feel.
We made it just in time, beating all those other people trying to set up their tripod!!! Way to go....
As for the palette, it is different colors. But honestly, it looks more like a "starting to melt" ice cream sundae, except for the blue. The green blue color stands out from the earth tone brown.
Driving out afterward, we were rewarded with a great sunset to end our day of adventures.
Now, I can brag about being to the lowest point in North America! This is one of the most photographed spot in the Death Valley, because of its easy access, and the surreal salt flats. Sodium Chloride—i.e. table salt—makes up the majority of salts at Badwater Basin. We got the late afternoon lights, so the white salt was not as blinding.
If we wandered further from the road, we probably would be able to see more of the structural patterns undisturbed by human traffic....but we didn't. The salt flats is fragile, so I am not sure foot traffic is good. This is always an internal struggle for me when it comes to nature preservation.
This was not on our agenda list. We were driving toward Stovepipe Wells from the sand dunes and spotted a sign. And we saw this dust trails from a vehicle far off toward the mountain. Curiosity took over and decided to see why would this vehicle was driving off to no where. I was so glad we did. We found the trail head to the Mosaic Canyon in an easy 1/4 mile walk. The fault from the canyon created this winding passage through rock walls composed of smooth, water-polished marble. Wow and wow, I felt like a little kid in a maze playground, never knowing what you would discover around the next corner.
What is a desert without sand dunes...so we found ourselves at this easily accessible one off Hwy 190. When I saw this place, I thought of the Sahara. Sand dunes in desert has a totally different feel than the ones you find on a beach. That desolated feeling just pours out of me. That feeling of how small and short live we humans really are in the big scheme of mother nature. And of course, all those sad and romantic stories of love found and lost in between the sky and the sand.
Our next quick stop was at this crazy looking crater and its eerie looking surrounding with the blackish looking sand and dried out bushes. It's like we were on a different planet all together.
According to Wikipedia, "Ubehebe" (pronounced YOU-bee-HEE-bee) is a Timbisha Native American word meaning "Big basket in the rock." Sure looks like it.
The best part is you practically parked your car next to it, got out, and looked into the bottom. Pretty amazing.
This morning, our first stop is at the Scotty’s Castle. Personally, it is just a big house, but it is the story behind the building made it COOL. But after looking at the interior and understood the amenities built during that time, lots of the designs were in advance of its period. I would love that kitchen.
The story between two very unlike individuals and their friendship is very interesting, especially when it was narrated by a ranger with a Living History period clothing. Everyone should do the tour. You can read up on the history here.
Tom’s left foot was hurting so we didn’t go up the hill to see Scotty’s tomb.
At the guest house wing, there is a built in organ. The ranger turned it on for us to hear. Very cool.
This time of the year, the sun sets rather early. So by the time we left Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the sun was coming down quickly. This also means our first impression of entering Death Valley National Park is impressively highlighted by the warm glow.
Look at these two pictures, open road, motorcycle, rough majestic mountain range….all these are great elements of dreams and desires, isn’t it.
We passed Zabriskie Point on the way in. We saw many people setting up their tripods ready for that perfect shot. “We shall return tomorrow”, I told Tom, as I wanted to check us in before dark set.
We found Furance Creek Inn first. Tom said, “This is it, isn’t it; because there is nothing else there.” I said no because we are supposed to go further, not totally convinced if I were right, as GPS is just not so useful here. And my printed instruction from the website is a bit sketchy.
A few more miles, we found the Furance Creek Ranch. Check-in was smooth. We reserved a cabin, not really sure what the differences are. It was good, a bit under value for what we paid. But really in the middle of nowhere, we are definitely paying for the convenient. The room is adequately adorn and provided with TV & internet connection, unlike our tipi experience the week prior.
The Ranch has two restaurants and a saloon onsite, serving overpriced mediocre food. Remember, we are in the middle of nowhere….We dined at the 49’er Café for a quick dinner while reading up on the gold rush speculation at the time. Outdoor fire places were lighted when we came out from the General store. We sat for a while, hoping to get in the “isolation” atmosphere. We couldn’t since there is a car pass by every few minutes. The middle of nowhere is not as isolated as we thought.
Instead we strode to the onsite Borax museum, the oldest structure in Death Valley. It contains many artifacts from the mining period, an extensive mineral collection, and numerous outdoor exhibits located on the museum grounds. Worth a visit for sure, and reading up on the 20 mule story was fun too.
We are so spoiled living in this country. We have all these natural wonders so readily available for anyone to explore.
Every early winter, I would read up at least one article about Death Valley National Park on the LA Times. Since I moved to CA 10+ years ago, this site has been added on my To-Do list someday. And every winter in the last 10 years went by without much effort to check it off the list.
Now that Tom lives part time in Las Vegas and Death Valley is only 2.5 hour drive from the Veer, oh why not? Of course, the decision was made before I actually explore about accommodation availability. I was thinking of doing this the week between Christmas and New Year on our road trip back to Las Vegas. But OMG there must be thousands other people think alike as I found out the rooms at the Furnace Creek Inn was running upward of $500+ per night. Holy smoke, I don’t need to see it that badly.
I found another timeslot which more acceptable for the same type of accommodation.
We scheduled for two nights here at the Furnace Creek Ranch, not the Inn (I wish….but I am so not used to self-funding high end properties….)
We started off on Saturday mid-day, slowly making our way through the odd ball town of Pahrump (not ever having a desire to stop here…), lost our way while looking for a short cut to to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge as a short stop. We wanted to check out those endangered pupfish.
When we were about to give up, I spotted a small sign pointing down another unpaved road, another shortcut…well, we had time on our hands, so we followed it again. This time we landed at the right place. We found the visitor center and strode down a boardwalk, yes, a boardwalk in the middle of the desert. It was actually quite funny when you think about it. Following the well maintained boardwalk, we found a small stream, very clear water, and spot the endangered pupfish. Ok, I think they are pupfish; they were chewing on the flowing algae. But they are so small; I couldn’t tell if they were really “pup”, they didn’t look rounded.
It was a very nice and quiet strode, most of the time we were by ourselves. I got some gorgeous pictures out of it.
Pay attention to the one picture where a dead plant is covered by the dry white crust, looking like cauliflower, but actually is a result of the dry desert heat. And that stream, it is actually flowing up from an underground river to a pool, slowing streaming down for a while, and eventually sipping back in the ground or going back into another underground river. Pretty amazing how nature works.
The first few pictures in the slideshow are mountain ranges on our way from Las Vegas to Ash Meadows. Love the different veins through the face of the mountains.
We woke up bright and early to the cold air inside the tipi. Putting all our layers back on, tugged our thick socks inside our shoes, and hopping to the commune area to get coffee and tea and heated bathrooms!!!
We found Bob (the dog) impatiently waiting for us to go walking with him. The tipis are located among the dates plants inside the China Ranch Date Farm, a green oasis, overgrown with huge cottonwoods, willow trees, and date palms. We took a very leisure walk among the date palms, read the date description signs and learned about the history of the area. The fresh dates hanging on the trees are covered with cloth to prevent birds and bugs from picking at them. I think the date trees full of fruits are colorful and shapely!
We then checked out, drove three minutes to another parking lot to check out China Ranch Date shop. Wandering inside the shop while waiting for a taste of their fabulous date shake, we found free samples of the various dates they grow in the farm. BTW, one shake was big enough to share between the two of us. It was good, but too sweet for me since I don't normally consume ice cream and shakes. We went outside and poked around the old buildings and sheds.
Finally we made our way out of the canyon, and one more look at the wide space and the long stretch open road to Sin City!
A prelude to the "official" Death Vally trip, between Christmas and New Year, Tom and I went on a mini road trip as we made our way out east from LA so we can spend New Year Eve in Vegas.
First we made a detour up north to Ventura as Tom visited with his long time friend, Steve. It was a very emotional reunion for Tom to see his friend after such a long time. We spent the night up at the Marriott Ventura Beach and went out to have dinner with Steve and his boys.
The next morning, we headed east. Passing through Victorville, we looked for the Bottle Tree Ranch, but we couldn't find it. Along the old Route 66, instead, we saw abandoned homes and towns, life long forgotten, the come and gone of city and towns. Kind of sad to see that evolution of "industry".
After a while, nothingness turns into hilly scenery and desert brushes. Eventually, we came to this dingy little town,Tecopa, if you can call a few homes located close to each other as a formation of a town. Population 150. As we turned from Hwy 127 onto Old Spanish Trail, we came upon the first salt flat looking spot. I couldn't help myself for a quick stop as the sun was setting, putting a nice ray onto everything. What you see here is not snow, it is salt crusted land.
After checking in Cynthia's Tipi, she led us through this narrow and windy badland canyon road....to her second location where her three Indian-style tipis are located.
It was getting dark fast when we arrived at this house, served as common area for the tipi guests. It has two bathrooms, a central room served as common dining area, and a screened in poach. There is an old wood fire place in the middle of the house to provide heat.
Inside the tipi, there is a wood fire pit. A bundle of special firewood was provided for us to warm up the tipi while we snuggled and fell to sleep with LAYERS of bedding. The special wood burned with much less smoke so wouldn't suffocate...which is a good thing. Holy cow, it is cold without the modern day heating facilities! Whose idea was this to do this tipi camping in the middle of winter in high desert! We were given couple camp lanterns in case we need it for bathroom break. I made certain I didn't have to use them for that purpose. Once I was in bed, I didn't plan on getting out of it until daylight!
Each year during spring fever, I would have these urges to look for wildflowers, mostly due to the just over winter rain and hopes for bright color flowers and greens instead of the brownish shrubs we call grass here in southern California.
Couple years ago, I dragged Tom to go south in search of wildflowers in the Anza Borrega State Park. Well, it barely met the definition of wildflowers massively in bloom definition. Click here for the previous blog about that outing.
This year, once again, I dragged the hubby out to Antelope Valley in search of California poppies. It was one of those hit or miss outing, as the blooming period is kind of narrow. We didn't hit it at its peak, but at least we found wildflowers. There were plenty of poppies to be found. The only thing I wasn't expecting was the wind and cold temperature. I guess we arrived a bit late, the wind picked up already, and the bulbs were semi closed. Nevertheless, it was a well worth drive.
We found a bunch of yellow patches too. Not that I could identify what species they were, but still very beautiful.
We found the California Poppy Reserve, but the guard at the gate told us the poppies were closed due to the high wind, we should go back in couple weeks, it would be better, so we didn't actually go into the Reserve. On the way home, we came across a herb of sheep, I certainly didn't feel like I was an hour drive from Los Angeles. It was great to be out in the "country", kind of "country"!
I just returned from OZ business trip this week, so just trying to recover from the jetlag. Tom has been couping up at home, so we decided to drive a few minutes down to Point Vincente to check out possible whale migration. It was only early April.
What a beautiful day this turned out to be? I love that lighthouse, wished we could go in to take a look.
We accidentally discovered the Hopkins Wilderness Park!!! We were running errands, and I spotted what looks like a camping area in the middle of the city. I said to Tom, “Honey, do you know there is a camp ground there?” He was surprised; living in Redondo Beach for like 7 years now, never came across it….We circled around and made a stop in to check out the place.
I doubt I would want to actually camp out here, but it was good to see the city did leave some green space even when the price of the land was probably outrageously valued than a park…but hey, how can one put a price on “green” space….Good for them.
Friday was my last day of this one-week local exploration excursion. It started with another beautiful clear sky morning. And surprisingly no crowd again!
After slowly getting out of bed, we strode outside to the beach, the pier, and the boardwalk. The little town is interesting, a bit of touristy….but I was not complaining. It wasn’t like glamorously developed to the point it was for the rich and famous. It still has the lay back small beach town feel; no big commercial shops, just little one here and there, nesting among the local eateries.
Pismo Beach was known for its clams at one point, not anymore, they were overly harvested...
Some fun fines here:
A heavenly fragrant (and later on found out it was the smoothest soap bar I have used) soap bar from Heart’s Desire…will definitely get more next time.
Chocolate covered bugs from Hotlix….if you were into the CBS Survivor TV show, not me. We were told they are popular….really????
One of the best sticky buns I had for breakfast (still craving them now) from Old West Cinnamon Rolls.
We had dinner at the Cracked Crab, yes, the kind of places they just dumped the shellfish on the table and let you had a go at it, wearing a plastic bibs and all….Yum! We ended the evening at Vino Versato next door, a newly opened; freshly painted in PINK and black, very Sex and the City look….and ran by two ladies. It was a fun place for a girls’ night out for sure.
Today we said goodbye to Monterey and made our way down south to Pismo Beach, my next destination of the remaining vacation week.
But first, we picked up Jina from San Luis Obispo (SLO) train station. She was coming with us to Pismo Beach, no point in bringing a 3rd car too!!!
Then we hit the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, yes, another mission to check off my list. This was the 5th mission found by Father Serra in 1772. We came in from the back, and didn’t see the front entrance until after most of the tour. It seemed to me this one was smaller than the one in Carmel. But it is right next to a small stream in downtown, along with all the shops, very easily accessible by locals and tourists visiting the area.
Here are pictures of the mission.
Afterward, we grabbed a bite at the Big Sky Café, interesting menu. I had the Mediterranean Salad Medley, not really sure if I would call it great. It was ok. Probably poor choice on my side. How can a café name like this be having bad food? I was thinking of this cookbook “Big Sky Cooking” I wanted it for a long time, definitely setting up high expectation for myself….oh well.
We browsed through a few more shops and decided to go check into the hotel in Pismo Beach first, then headed back this way for the Thursday night farmers’ market, supposed to be really fun. Yes, I was setting expectation again! Not my fault, this LA Times article had my hopes high up.
Here are a few pictures of curios of the shops in San Luis Obispo downtown area and some from the Farmers' Market.
We came back in the evening for the SLO Farmers' Market. Parking was challenging but we found one near the mission. Ok, there were a few produce and fruit stalls, but the rest were food vendors, selling mostly BBQs. Yes, once again, high expectation, the experience was only mediocre. Jina and I had BBQ meat, we picked the longest line to stand in, figured the local must know something we didn’t. At least the food was good and the price was very reasonable for the amount of food we got. Yes, we stuffed our face. Not good.
And here are a few shots of the Worldmark Pismo Beach. I set low expectation since this was my first time here because everyone kept saying the unit is small. True it was small, but for the three of us, there were plenty of room. And it was like a few steps to the beach, really great location. I had the bedroom. Jina and Barb slept on the Murphy bed in the living room. I really like the Murphy bed idea. Not that I needed one in our current home anymore, but it would have been great for any small footage home. And we did have a full kitchen, not that we were cooking anything at all, not even breakfast!
Barb finally arrived in the early afternoon; we walked down to the beach in front of the Marina Dunes for a while so she could check out the surroundings.
Then we drove out to the Fisherman’s Wharf, trying to catch some snapshots of seals. We only found a few lazy ones here and there. The weather was too beautiful to do much, but just walking around, catching up on each others' stories.
An hour or so later, we were looking everywhere, up and down Monterey downtown, trying to find a wine bar. NONE. Can you believe it? They were either permanently out of business or closed for the day. Huh? I thought this was a tourist town. We were told Monterey was not “chic” enough. All the wine bars were in Carmel etc.
Barb recalled a wine shop, A Taste of Monterey, in Cannery Row. We ended up there even though the wines were not top notch, according to my wine snob friend, Barb. The view was perfect; they had a 180 degree panoramic view of the bay. Worth a trip for the view if not the wine, but what do I know about wine?
We also stopped in Bargetto. Who said one sampling was enough?
With just the two of us, KFC was our dinner menu….I know, bad, bad, bad…but we both love KFC. See, I don’t do high maintenance meal all the time….haha.
The Chows left this morning, after a slight delay due to battery drain. The interior light might have been on all night or something. So while waiting for Barb to show up, she was driving up from Redondo Beach this morning, I was trying to see what I wanted to see. By the time I got my lazy mind made up, it was approaching noon. Oh well, I didn’t have much time left, so instead, I went to Moss Landing for a quick look around and got a bite to eat there.
I first read about Moss Landing from Sunset magazine, a favorite of mine. This was supposed to be one of those local secret places that most tourists would bypass. But it was only a 10 minutes drive from Marina. The so-called town is basically a small strip with a few galleries and interesting shops.
The colors were definitely eye-catching, bold and in your face. Love it! I was the only one in the shop most of the time, maybe it was a weekday (Tuesday), or maybe it wasn’t. I couldn’t tell. But there had to be sufficient business for them to keep up, didn’t you think?
I browsed through the galleries and shops quickly, tried to sneak in a few shots here and there for my memory bank. In general, they didn’t mind, but always ask first….
Who is looking for her sandal???
I had a choice between The Whole Enchilada and the Haute Enchilada for lunch, interesting names. Didn’t take a genius, but Mexican cuisine was on my mind…. I picked The Whole Enchilada for a wider menu selection. The Haute Enchilada has a more eclectic atmosphere. I wouldn't do this at my own home, but for a fun outing…it is interesting!!!
I have been enjoying home life in the last few months since "Deep Blue" arrived home in mid June 2018. We spent a lot of time on the water to acquaint with the boat.
