"When it's grey in L.A. I sure like it that way cause there's way too much sunshine round here"- loudon wainwright III

so it was bittersweet to leave our dear home in the abq. i really, really loved it there. our drive west was so beautiful, i love the colors of the desert. eric and i finally agree on something: if we ever have a house or a place of our own, the color scheme will surely be desert earth tones.

 we decided to make a pit stop in flagstaff, az...a surprisingly awesome mountain town. we went to a few thrift stores and coffee shops. it was a nice break from the car.

hey flagstaff!

we were on a quest to visit needles, california, just on the arizona border. eric had visited a particular bar, the red dog, in 2004 with a dog tag promising him a free drink. despite the 8 year time frame, he was pretty fired up about going there. it is a small town....a very small town.

we pull up to the red dog just as it starts to rain. rain that seems so exciting to everyone else...perhaps a little bit for me as we have had excessive sunshine for some time now.

as we parked the car and ran up to the bar, this biker couple standing outside smoking hollered at eric. hugging on him...they thought he was someone else, jeremy. his not-being-jeremey didn't slow them down though, hugging on me and welcoming us into their favorite bar in town. at first, i am not amused by these drunk bikers and the whole situation...

this is me, not amused

but i quickly come around, when i realize these peeps are just harmless drunk bikers with good intentions.

bartender darcy honors eric's 8 year late free drink...and things start getting interesting.

our new friends: needles, ca

so the guy, jeremy, that they thought was eric actually showed up and turned out to be the coolest guy in the bar. he helped us out with a place to camp for the evening.

in a van down by the river...is some times magical, it just so happens that this particular night was not one of them. neither of us got very much sleep...if any at all.

don't let the cool picture fool you....it sucked sleeping with the bikes. we 'wake' early in the morning and go to the local diner for much needed coffee and the start of a new day.

eric was such a sport and drove while i rested in the back. i was feeling kind of rough.

with the promise of LA, we tread onward! we head to redondo beach to meet up with the lovely, virginia. we decided to go directly to the beach for a picnic as we wait for virginia to get off of work.

things start looking up! the ocean is so healing in every way. i feel rejuvenated, which is good because we have a whole night a head of us! meeting virginia is like seeing an old friend, she is awesome in every way. i feel like i have known her forever instead of just meeting her. she is also a kick ass acupuncturist! she introduced us to LA traffic as we head out to see the LA derby dolls!

listen up people, leave my blog right now and look up your local roller derby team cause the shit is awesome. i am totally getting involved with the team in columbus because this is where it is at! i had such a good time watching the fight crew get their asses handed to them by the sirens. they had food trucks outside...it was sooo good. a dosa food truck? yes, please. the derby dolls: if you are in the LA area, seriously a must-do! better yet, find one where you live and get involved! this may be one of the few athletic adventures that is not ruined by the money mongers and general dumbasses. get after it!

having the best time!

we then head out to the satellite to see the talented john elliot.

the man of the hour: john elliot


we were going strong. the photo booth being broken wasn't going to slow us down, we made our own!

the next day, we met up with a fellow connecticut peep, the lovely, annie and her cute pup charlie. she took us on a wonderful hike in griffith park.

it was such an awesome hike. we then had some lunch and some beer in annie's magical backyard garden. she was so sweet and generous: she gave us some dried sage and a local california grapefruit. yum!

we then head to long beach to have a little o wu reunion! we met the enjoyable catherine, eric's old friend from college at the pike. we had a few drinks, including complimentary shots while we caught up.

yay college friends!

we went on another awesome hike with virginia the following day at topanga canyon. i love all the hiking out here!

later in the day, we stopped by the beach to chill out for a bit. while virginia had to work, eric and i took a lovely sunset bike ride at hermosa beach. it was crazy, as beautiful as the ocean can be during sunset, we were distracted by the awesome beach front homes!

our starts are too bright, we must go to hollywod!

west hollywood, that is. to meet up with eric's amazing cousin, the famous director/producer susan dynner! 

cousin susan!!

susan took us to a great happy hour at the den. eric and enjoyed far too many sweet potato fries. the next day we, met up with tammi, who got us the tickets for the roller derby at a delicious vegan restaurant, the veggie grill, which was conveniently located right across from susan's house. it was so good and i ate so much...i forgot to take pics. damn....it was so good. we walked around west hollywood for awhile. there is always something interesting to see in west hollywood. one of my favorites:

we decide to head over to venice beach to ride our bike. this place is amazing! it is like a gathering of my people!

venice beach was one of my favorites so far. it was such a great ride too.

we even did the dance video in front of a jim morrison mural! it was a great place, i am sure the spirit of my boy, jim, is still alive and well there.

we then head over to mar vista to see eric's old friend and fellow worthington, ohio native, bill. he was such a cool guy and his home at a complete sound recording studio in the backyard! we had some drinks and shared some laughs. good peeps for sure.

we head back to west hollywood to meet up with some peeps at the surly goat. after happy hour, we go to get thai food at galanga. my dear friend from columbus, justin met up with us. it was so nice to finally have one of my peeps on the scene. we left the cammy (eric and court's baby language meaning camera) in the car during this excursion. still working on the blogging skills, y'all!

we get a restful night sleep a quick replenishing trip to trader joes, and cousin susan sends us on our way!

i made a request to drive mulholland drive on our way out. it was on our way to visit the brilliant singer-songwriter, jason luckett.

much needed coffee and laughter were our reward for the righteous traffic we faced on our quest to jason's house. he was so warm and adorable. i hope to be able to catch a show sometime! mulholland drive was so pretty, winding through the hills. joy!

we get on ventura highway on our way to santa barbara to see my dear friend, danielle and celebrate my dirty thirty! get ready!

till next time, take care friends.

"either way it's okay to wake up with yourself"- billy joel

my time spent in new mexico has been amazing. i am not sure i have the words for all that i have seen or felt since arriving. i have learned so much already. i will always cherish this time spent here and some great new friends.

our friends duane and flo took us to the jemez hot springs! i could move out here for hot springs alone--my new favorite thing!

the van is awesome, but i wouldn't mind living in this here cave either

we were at the spence hot springs, which had a nice hike to. it soon became over run by a multitude of chocolate labs, like my nephew dublin! their were five total, including two puppies. awwww!! note to self: self, baby chocolate labs look like otters when in the water, but they are in fact dogs, not otters. 

i could have stayed at the hot springs all day. it was so relaxing and just what we needed!

it is truly amazing, not only have we not killed each other but we are still in love!

on a lovely sunday afternoon, new friend to me (authors note: eric knows everyone.) nick organized a house concert. we visited nick and selena's place a few nights earlier and i left completely inspired. dedication to art, ones own art is certainly a strength in character. a challenging battle i can relate to. nick and armando (check out his band!) opened things up, their was delicious food and a very pleasant listening crowd. 

we went to corvalis, nm to visit the lovely anna and her precious dog baby, knuckle. anna took us on a lovely walk through the bosque. 

knuckle!!!

it feels so good to be out in nature as much as we are. i realize now what a priority that needs to be. we get to watch a beautiful sunset as the mountains become pink, but only for a brief time.

the hiking crew: knuckle, anna, court, duane, eric and flo

we woke up one morning to find snow outside the trailer. good thing i packed those long johns…it was actually really beautiful. we were headed to cerillos, nm with duane and flo. solid peeps, the weather didn't slow them down for even a second, we were going! i dig their spirit. how rare to find a couple whom you enjoy both members equally and with such great amount? 

i fucking love this girl

cerillos is flo's home town, which i feel so lucky to receive such insider perspective.

and flo's family is a huge part of cerillos. they own and run the case grande trading post and petting zoo, which is fantastic in so many ways. lucky for us, her dad, todd agreed to take us turquoise mining. i can now add this experience to the list of many 'firsts' that i will experience in new mexico.

the mining crew!

it is so remote and looking for turquoise is strangely relaxing. 

we return to todd and pat's house. we visit the petting zoo and of course, more making out with animals!

todd then took some of the turquoise we found and cut it down for us. this may have been the most frightening thing i have seen.

please don't cut your hand off todd!

i couldn't help but feel extremely nervous with expectations of amputated digits, except that todd is a professional and clearly has lots of experience with these tools. just goes to show you what goes into the precious gems you wear on your body….someone out there takes on huge risks so you can wear that!

the petting zoo

we then go into the cerillos museum, which had some really cool artifacts and such rich history.

i love this pic

old shit

we found turquoise!

it was such a lovely day…we also visited a nearby town, madrid. madrid is a quirky little artsy mountain town. i think it may be my favorite. 

we had lunch at a cute place, the mine shaft tavern. i got my first taste of calabacitas! 

the cooks: baffled by my vegan order

we walked around the town for a while and visit some shops. we then went to coolest cemetery i have ever seen (sorry bona venture, you have now been trumped.)

i really enjoyed visiting madrid. but then it was back to the ABQ for some r &r.

i have truly love our little home in albuqurque. i am amazed by how this little trailer is so comfortable. it really feels like home. i have also enjoyed interacting with the chickens, i can't get over what egg-laying machines they are! funny little creatures…

i have been doing lots of crocheting and cooking, some of my favs! although i am seriously lacking in skills, i attempt foosball for the sake of eric as he loves it so much!

we got up early one day to hike the foothills of the sadias mountains. it was so beautiful. i could really get used to hikes like this…

as with most hikes i go on with eric, it wouldn't be right if i didn't almost die trying to keep up with some sort of climbing eric's 6'2" legs can manage. 

thanks for this hat, flo!

we spend some great evenings with duane and flo, playing games, imbibing, discussing and listening to music. 

we then head to santa fe!

we partake in some edibles on the drive and seem to find our own playground within santa fe. the plaza, great people watching. we came across this gallery with kinetic sculptures. they also featured an amazing artist that made chairs out of rocks and iron. they were surprisingly comfortable! 

we then started a game where we would take turns mimicking the next statue within site: hilarity ensued.

we stayed with the gracious alex and giancarlo, who were both so welcoming and interesting. after a long day of walking the town, i take a cat nap, literally, with mr. furley.

the next morning, we went to the farmers market where i enjoyed a delicious vegan breakfast burrito. i was tempted by some home made beauty products, but i remained strong as we are on a tight budget after all. i got a great book at a thrift store in abq on how to make all types of cosmetic things so we will see how this works.

we then decide to head up to taos on the recommendation of well, everyone. our friend nick's (that hosted the house concert) one band of many was playing in the nearby arroyo hondo that night. we walked around taos all day and i scored some found sunglasses! they are pretty sweet too! on our way out of taos, we decided to go to the mamby hot springs, on eric's memory.

it is going to be hard to top this moment: hiked a bit in a canyon, to a beautiful and remote hotsprings, in which we would enjoy butt naked with other people. it was so rustic, so calming, so wonderful. one college kid had his iPod and some little speakers…we enjoyed sam beam and subtle sounds of wind. it was heavenly!

nekkid!

we hiked out just as it got dark, which man, everything sure changes once it gets dark. we dried off and put on warm clothes, heading to the bar to see nick's band. they were awesome! starting with a drum circle, which got everyone fired up. eric worked the door and i just observed the awesome dancing of the majority of the patrons. it was my kind of place! an introspective evening for me though, i enjoyed just watching. 

it was tough to do all that we wanted, the georgia o'keefe museum closing early because of easter and we never made it out to ghost ranch either. i have to keep telling myself that i can't do it all and that i will be back to the land of enchantment as it has truly enchanted me.

our awesome hosts, alex and giancarlo!

then we got to meet up with one of my friends from high school, john. we enjoyed some delicious beer at the second street brewery where john brews the beer! it was fantastic! it was really nice visiting, nice to know john is indeed, still a very cool guy.

we then got to see alex's show at the new mexico university of art and design, where she is a photography professor. it was great!

then back to albuqurque!

it is bittersweet to leave. i am so excited at seeing more friends out in california, but i have so enjoyed the exploration and relaxation new mexico has provided. i feel so full of ideas and the wheels in my brain constantly spinning. we have a delicious farewell dinner at sadies with duane and flo, i sure am going to miss them!

we hit the road in the morning, i have replenished some of our food supply. we have been doing quite well with our budget, prioritizing beer and wine of course! i feel we have been sensible, but never deprived. it is amazing how little you actually need. 

i am easing into this life quite nicely. stay tuned for the california adventures!! 

since i am in fact out west, i shall close with the ever cheesy: be well.