VASQUEZ ROCKS

Last Saturday after the excitement of the cycling Andrew and I called in at a place called Vasquez Rocks. It was absolutely stunning as you can see. 

It is a Natural Area Park and has been used in a variety of films and TV shows due to its rather unusual look. For those of you familiar with 'The Big Bang Theory' it is used in the episode 'The Bakersfield Expedition' where they are dressed in Star Trek costumes and on a road trip to ComicCon. They stop to take photos as it looks remarkably like another planet only to have their car stolen, leaving them stranded. It was rather exciting wandering around thinking that the cast had been there once before!

We really enjoyed our brief time hiking there and its definitely somewhere we will take Mr Macintosh as he would love it. Due to the heat on the day we went we didn't fully explore but we did go out towards the boundary and ended up crossing over the Pacific Crest Trail. That is something we want to walk, or at least walk parts of, so it was exciting to see the first bit of it. 

I'll leave you with more breathtakingly beautiful photos as I've got some packing to do. We are off to San Francisco for the Memorial weekend. We'll check back in next week with some photos!

H 

LATELY...

Now that I'm here in the USA I'm finding that there is a whole new lot of shops to get used to and to learn about. I'm rather excited about this as its got new styles too. Although having said that I was in a line at a Starbucks when a girl said she loved my purse (read handbag) and when I said it was from England she remarked how ahead we were in fashion! I'm not sure that's how England sees it, guess the grass is always greener on the other side. 

Anyway, here's some of the things I've been liking or looking lately. 

Lately I've enjoyed this tee from Hollister. Well I actually bought it for $18 which currently is about £10. Nice!

I've been looking at bedding ready for getting the new sets for our house. I found this on Pinterest and I love the chevrons. In the USA they really are everywhere which is fabulous. The yellow accents on this may perhaps be a step too far though. I'll see if I can convince Andrew that chevrons are necessary! 

Lately I've been itching to get into LA. This is LA at night. It looks insane. We arrived at LAX at night so we have seen a few of the lights but only as we drove really quickly out of the city. We have been really busy house hunting though so haven't made it out there just yet. I can't wait to visit though. 

I've also been crushing on typewriters. They are just so simple and yet elegant. I am a letter writer so the idea of taking the time to write to someone really appeals. I'd love a cool looking one too. 

The other day I tried Oprah's Chai tea latte at Starbucks. I had it as an iced version. It was incredibly good. I have a feeling I'll be drinking a few of these in the wonderful sun we are enjoying! 

So there we go a round up of all the little things I've been contemplating. It'll be interesting to do next months and see how 'American' its become!! 

H 

HARDCASTLE CRAGS

This Easter weekend was filled with so much emotion as it was Andrew's first time back at TCM church and also our last. There was lots of sadness and far too many goodbyes to be said. We broke that all up by spending Easter Saturday up with my sister and brother-in-law; Becca and Tim. 

They had planned for us to spend the day at Hardcastle Crags which is a National trust property. we had brought Macintosh with us so needed a long walk to tire him out. The place was fantastic. It had woods, streams, waterfalls, enough dogs for Mac to say hello too and a beautiful Mill to wander around at the end. We thoroughly enjoyed the long walk in the sunshine with enough fascinating people watching thrown in. Andrew had so many great photography opportunities and wandered along at a slower pace capturing the beauty of the place.

Here are a few snaps of the place.

                   

Oh and I found a bench with my name. Always a good thing! 

Now we are onto the last few goodbyes in Lincoln before we head home for the family goodbyes. Will be sharing some snaps of the time in Lincoln later in the week. Hope that going back to work hasn't been too horrific after the long bank holiday. At least its raining and not sunny, doesn't tempt you to be outside as much.

H

GOODBYE TO MY OLD FRIEND

A year ago I was adamant that this would never happen but with the posting abroad I just had to make this call.

I wonder how many people are attached to their cars; we talked about it at work the other day, how many of the guys had named their car. Well all my cars have had names but the name of my first car I didnt choose, to be honest I would have called it somthing completely different but the previous owner's name for the little Austin Mini Mayfair 1983 just stuck. This is Primrose, my first car (oh and Macintosh).

I think Primrose was the pattern for every car I owned after it. Primrose was a cool car, slightly lower than the normal mini because the suspension was a bit flat, retro interior with brown carpet everywhere. When people say dashboard, I say shelf. When people say 'just go straight on', I say 'I am going straight on' (the car crabbed alot). When people say 'how much fuel have you got', I say 'havent a clue! We should be able to make it though (yes the Lloyds know that wasn't always true)

You see it was the coolest car in the world never completely works but that doesn't matter, you don't need fancy stuff in you car to have fun:

Heating - no chance - sit on you hands, they will soon warm up.

Radio - no way - listern to the engine, it makes some intresting sounds.

Lights - sometimes - depends if it was raining or not.

Crazy adventures - ALWAYS!!!!

The mini also featured in a not so famous russian mobster heist movie filmed in various locations around Dunstable, various homemade music videos, rally safaris into deepest Shropshire trying to get lost so that Penman and myself could have fun trying to work out where we were. Even if we had no adventures planned whilst driving then Primrose often helped by just breaking down.

If ever a first car became a best friend, it was this one. But as time went on Primrose got older, I lacked time, money and most importantly a garage to fix her. So with the posting to America came the realisation and persuasion from Han that she must go to a warmer, more enclosed home that wasn't a flowerbed.

Farewell Primose, you will be missed.
A

               

SOME COOL STUFF

So we are working lates at the moment so I have just filled up with some midnight pancakes, bacon and syrup before heading off to bed but thought I needed to put up some latest news not realising that actually not much has gone o!. So here are some cool stuff I have bumped into and will add some more news when it happens. Oh we did have a water moccasin sighted near work earlier this week (which we all though was a wet slipper not a poisonous snake as it is apparently). Was quite exciting.

A

1. Here is a cool video I found on a blog called http://www.swiss-miss.com  I think I watched it a few times to take in the flow; its amazing!

2. Some people I know need this I think. lol.

3. No reason really. It just made me laugh. This is from A Well travelled Woman blog.

4. Final one and here's to you Mr Farmer. Think we will need a lot more practice till we are this good but he didn't have a bumpy wall to deal with (or a projector to get in the way of!)

SOME COOL STUFF

Here are five cool things that I saw this week that made me chuckle.

A

1. Facetime with Mac who was excited to hear me but very confused.

2. Everyone needs an A5 Clipboard, yup you read it right, they are just practically cool and the perfect size. They are the next fad, trust me on that, buy them while they are cheap!

3. A very cool kids toy set at the Pro Bass Shop, Destin. Planes on water equals cool everytime (unless theyaren't  designed for it, not cool).

4. The Ripleys Believe It or Not building.

5. Yup you know its nearly Christmas when you see ridiculously tall christmas trees everywhere!