the redwoods are what fairytales are made of

Today I saw some of the most beautiful views my eyes have ever beheld. They were in fact so beautiful that it was absolutely impossible to do them justice with my camera. But you know me, I tried anyway.

 

 

tripping on the road

Remember that time Sander had a nerd convention in San Francisco and I tagged along and got to roam the city all alone for a few days? Well, it's that time again and, just like last time, the city is not disappointing me. I'm less than 24 hours in and so far I've already

- slept in a rumored haunted hotel (I think maybe the lights flickered once. Oh and when I woke up at 3am because I was hot and went to turn on the ceiling fan, I couldn't get it to work. What did I ever do to this ghost?!)
- sat next to a very large and very drunk man on a bus and watched him sharpie a vagina onto the seat in front of us
- saw a man take what I swear looked like a komodo dragon for a walk
- eaten chicken satay (oh blessed be this city that provides the nourishment of heaven!)
- been high-fived by a barefoot, dreadlocked hippie girl for no other apparent reason than the fact that we were both there in that particular place and time
- witnessed a man pull his pants down in Golden Gate Park who then informed me he was available
-  saw two men out for a stroll, one of whom was holding a small dog swathed in a pink blanket.
- actually saw a woman get on the bus, sit down, hoist her dog up on the seat next to her, put an inflatable neck pillow on the dog, and sing him to sleep.

I know, it seems like a lot for one day. It feels like it too, trust me.

I haven't even talked about the adventures we had whilst traveling to San Francisco! I really should too because that's the only part I have any pictures of I can share. We decided to drive this time around and leave a little bit early so we could spend a night in Reno and check out Tahoe and Yosemite on the way. It's on the way to Reno that we made the most jaw-dropping discovery, though. Ever heard of Thunder Mountain Monument? I certainly hadn't. So when we drove past this on the highway after miles and miles and miles of barren wasteland

I shrieked and ordered Sander to take the next exit because I HAD TO check it out. The hour that followed was quite possibly the strangest hour of my entire life, and that's counting the experiences of today I shared earlier. This place is an Indian monument built buy one man over the course of 30 years, using nothing but whatever trash he found in the vicinity. This structure you see in the picture above? He actually lived in that with his family for a good number of years. Let me show you some details of this place and you can tell me how excited you would be to live here.... 

An underground sweat lodge? Is that where you were sent if you had been naughty? You can see why we never felt at ease walking around this place, and we definitely made sure to leave more than the suggested donation of $2, just to make sure we didn't get back in the car with an ancient Indian curse on our heads. I mean, you saw the baby in the skull nailed to the tree, right? Brrrrrr....
I'll leave you with a few more pictures of this fascinating place, and the promise that I will return with more stories soon!