Travel: Angel Island

Travel: Angel Island

Now weeks ago a few of my buddies and I took a nice little sail to Angel Island, a state park off of Tiberon in San Francisco Bay. It's a pretty common place we sail to always rewarding us with a deserted island (since the last ferry leaves at 4). This time as we neared we could hear the barking of seals playing in the bay that we usually anchor in. Lucky for us they were super playful, one even came up to the boat and did a backflip for us! Sadly I don't have an awesome photo but I have some pretty good ones... you guys have an imagination :)





After some hotdogs and burgers, we made our way to the old abandoned military buildings along the shore. Some you can walk into but the stairs are knocked out so you can't go upstairs. Another building you can get into by jumping and pulling yourself up onto a second floor ledge. I myself would not do that, so while other people went on a head and made fun of me, I walked around the building surveying the land. And lo and behold one of the locked doors was open... so I sneaked in a scared the others. Naturally.







This history of Angel Island is quite spectacular and also somewhat depressing. Starting out as a base it soon became the "Ellis Island" of the west, hosting immigrants from russia, asia, and sometimes europeans. Unfortunately the times weren't the best and there was strong racism towards many asian immigrants many times quarantining them and forcing them into small living quarters sometimes for years waiting to be allowed entry to the US. None of these photos are of the immigration buildings which are on another side. These are all part of the massive fort on the island, Ft. McDowell, specifically the East Garrison. These buildings were mainly occupied during WWII since San Francisco was a major staging area for the Pacific theater.





I go back often and this isn't the first post, and I'm sure it won't be the last. We go there often and it's a definitely favorite of living in the bay area. If you're in SF ever you should definitely visit, it's not as common as alcatraz but a billion times more beautiful, and there's cute little deer living there too... So that's awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Island_(California)

- Lauren

Travel: Steep Cliff Ravine Pt. 2

Travel: Steep Cliff Ravine Pt. 2

Man it's been a while... so here's the rest of mine and Mike's weekend at the Steep Cliff Ravine Cabins. On Sunday we had to check out of our cabin early so we drove down the road to Stinson beach to have a good yummy breakfast. Best part of breakfast was a loud guy sitting near us telling his friends about his eggs benedict sauce has like "Three cups of cheddar cheese... you know to get the sauce yellow!" His friends tried once to correct him that there was no cheese in the sauce but you could see them easily give up. Haha I really love listening in on some peoples conversations like the creep I am.





After the beach we drove up and up and up to Mt. Tamalpais to go hiking around the redwoods, and walking in the grassy fields. I love Mt Tam, but of course like most everything here I want to go there more often but can never find the time, aw sadface. Such a poor little girl who lives in San Francisco... haha







I absolutely love redwood pine cones, they're soooo tiny yet make the biggest trees! I had a gold coated necklace with a little redwood pine cone on it, and it was my favorite until I lost it :(





Anyway we hiked a bit to a little waterfall, unfortunately the drought made the fall nice but not spectacular like pictures of it in years past. We didn't hike much further because Mike had a twisted ankle, but I know I want to go soon!!

Can you believe these photos were taken in January, I swear the winter here is the most beautiful... If only the summer was warm!!

Huggles,
Lauren

Travel: Steep Cliff Ravine pt 1

Travel: Steep Cliff Ravine pt 1

About a year ago Mike, Adam, Brit and I got up very early to go to some natural hot springs along the coast... It was what I'll say an interesting experience, but the real take away I had from it was peering down the beach at these little cabins on the shore hundreds of feet below the road sitting right above the water. They were the steep cliff cabins, part of Mt Tam State Park, that were built in the 30's and getting reservations there seemed impossible. Enter a month ago when one of my new coworkers casually said, do you know anyone that would want my steep cliff cabin reservation... UM YES ME!!! So I bought the reservation from her and Mike and I decided to call the weekend outing an early 2nd anniversary... Wait I can't believe we've been dating for that long.





One day was a bit rainy which was beautiful. Each cabin (there are only 10) has an incredible view and hug windows in every room and a little wood stove to heat the place up. These are bare cabins so no water, no bed (there a platform to sleep on), no luxuries except a table, bench and stove. But with the view that's all you need.

The first day we got there late in the evening but it was super quick getting set up in the cabin. They were a lot bigger then we thought, they can sleep up to 5 and have two bedrooms and a bed platform in the living space. One thing you definitely need to bring are curtains or sheets to hang in the windows, they're huge and don't offer too much privacy at night. But it's cool the cabins have curtain rods to hang you fabric. The next day after walking around in the sprinkling rain. Then we went into the small town down the road during the day and bought provisions, and made hamburgers on the little wood stove.




We spent the whole weekend cozying up in the cabin or going on walks on the beach (I know so cheesy), and walking around the paths. Unfortunately Mike had hurt his foot so we couldn't go on any extreme hikes. But on sunday he hid his pain and we walked to a little waterfall on Mt. Tam. I will someday hike to the vista point but that'll be another time.




If you ever are in the bay area or planning look these place up... But the are near impossible to get a reservation, you can only get one 6 months in advance on the 1st day of the month starting at 9am... See near impossible. I'm so grateful that my coworker sold me her reservation and we were able to experience a beautiful magical weekend.




We also watched the Hobbit while there... seemed fitting to be cozied up in a cabin in a place that is as magical as Middle-Earth.

The next day we hiked and drove around Mt. Tamalpais... More on that later!

Another SUPER LATE Post

Another SUPER LATE Post

I never showed you my Halloween costume!! It's wasn't as out of this world as last year... but it did have some throw backs in it.



I have to check the droppings.



Every six weeks... Even the barista at Starbucks knew who I was (even though co workers didn't notice I was dressed up!)



And of course Tripp is a ferocious T-Rex... he does have short legs.

Huggles,
Lauren

DIY: Nautical I Love You!

DIY: Nautical I Love You!

Yay! I'm so happy you guys liked my sailor top I made. So to continue on with the trend here's a fun nautical inspired DIY Project! Creating hidden messages with the international maritime flags! Here's a print out you can cut out at home and hang up this for the one you love like a sailor loves the sea! C'mon everyone loves this whole nautical look!




Start out fist downloading this pdf https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4oTVeyiNDfudUx1c20wSVlpREk/edit?usp=sharing. Cut between the g=flag shapes where the arrows tell you to cut. For best results use a ruler and xacto blade. Fold the 8 rectangles in half to make little squares. Then get a cute piece of ribbon, twine, or string around two feet in length and take the folded flags and put the string in the fold, like a hot dog into a bun! Try to space them evenly or into words like I did. Then take a glue stick and swipe some glue into the fold and shut the fold over the string. Let the glue dry then take the ends of the string and hang up your nautical flag pennant flag!!



I love my little flags hanging over my bed with my awesome California hanging to remind me of the adventures I've had out here and all the fun things I've done these past two years by the sea, on the sea and sailing. look up online for the whole International Maritime Flag alphabet, and make your own phrases! Here's the wikipedia article about these awesome flags (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags)



Have fun making your sea loving message, and let me know how you like them!

Huggles,
Lauren