Birthdays, Bikes, Books, and Boxes

July 25, 2014

Miami Critical Mass

Miami, FL

Kelly had a birthday Friday! We celebrated with a 12 mile bike ride around the city (Miami Critical Mass) and delicious cake!

peace.love.sunshine.

She was so kind to get a vegan, gluten-free, passion-berry cake from a local bakery!  I went to Publix to pick up a normal (and probably not as delicious) cake for Kelly's other friends and was lucky enough to request a design so "complex" the lady couldn't draw it on. Soo... I got to step into the bakery and show them my skills!



July 26, 2014
Evanston, Illinois

A party in your mouth (photo by Subho)

Early the following day, I was able to jump on the plane for Chicago. My friend needed help moving (... oh goodness did he NEED help moving :-p ). Many, many hours later we finally turned in the U-Haul and took a quick nap until the sun rose. As a nice reward, we went to Devon Street for some Indian foood!!!

Green fields make life better! (photo by Subho)

After, we went to Busse Lake Forest Preserve for a small hike and nap in the grass.









PS- I'm reading a great book right now. It's a collection of essays from various foodies (authors, chefs, notable food people) about travels and food.

Kansas City

Kansas City's empty streets

July 20, 2014
Kansas City, Kansas (but sometimes Missouri)

Well....KC isn't the city that I expected. KC is...
-clean
-slow paced
-sleepy
-expensive and charges for every odd thing
(... but seems to have low rental rates)
-sprawled across two states
-highly supportive of the local team sports
- full of early birds. Few things are open past 3pm

KC is known for their Kansas City BBQ; however, while in the city I ate Ethiopian food, Thai food, chips at a baseball game, and bread from the farmers market. Not the ideal food trip that I'd wish for... But you have to make do with whatever situation.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to visit the famous, historic City Market in Kansas City. It seems like everybody from the surrounding area drives in to buy their weekly goods and grab a bite to eat. Musicians take the opportunity to entertain and vendors show off their prized veggies, flowers, and foods. I ate the most delicious bites of sweet peach and salty tomato!

Cool veggie-- "Bitter ball"

Pretty bell peppers!

Let me know if you know of a reason to visit KC. Until then, I have no plans for another visit in the future.

California 02

July 4, 2014
After Scott picked me up from LAX, we checked out the Santa Monica pier briefly before heading north. A quick 3 hr snooze was enough to power me up for the drive to Big Sur. Unfortunately, the drive was surrounded by white-- too many clouds and fog to actually see the beautiful Pacific Ocean coast that shyly hid on the other side of the road.

A small sign on the side of the road rewarded us with ginormous elephant seals barking and wiggling their blobs of fat in the sand.

We later took a small hike--getting lost in the woods on the side of the road and practicing our limited rock climbing skills. The second hike, about one hour further north, had a contrasting environment compared to the preceding hours of brown terrain.

We landed in San Francisco at 6pm. With an hour to spare before meeting up with an old friend, we ran up the hill to Chinatown-- bought some Chinese snacks and fresh fortune cookies-- Little Italy and Pier 39. What great energy (and strong, cold winds)!!

Pier 39-- San Francisco

We finally got to meet up with Sean briefly! :)

July 6, 2014
Scott and I got to see many of the key parts of town-- the famous Hollywood sign, Koreatown, Malibou, the Getty Villa, Santa Monica Pier, and LA traffic.
Since Scott had to leave early Sunday morning! I spent the day by myself. The hostel offered cheap bike rentals, so I rented a beach cruiser, packed my snacks into the basket and headed north along the coastal path. The path flows with all kinds of bikes and all varieties of ages. I stopped right before the Santa Monica pier with the great surprise of exciting entertainment-- slack liners, hammocks, and gymnastics things.

Dear Ft Lauderdale Beach Police, Why do you ban slack lining? It seems to add to the culture and the economy quite well in Santa Monica!

30 miles and a California sunburn later (no tacos in my belly, sadly)... I'm ready for this Red Eye, cross country flight.

Food idea-- flat bread with hummus, spouts, and kimchi

Miami, FL

June 28, 2014
I stayed in town this weekend. Friday evening was critical mass. We rode bicycles about 13 miles through the city. Saturday morning started off with delicious breakfast-- three large vegan pancakes with custom toppings. In order to digest such a delicious meal, we continued the bike ride to Key Biscayne. A couple miles and bridges later, the ocean welcomed us with open arms and extremely high saltiness.
What a better way to end the weekend, but with a repeated bike ride early the following day!

California National Parks

22 June, 2014
Did you know sprouts have a massive amount of nutrients in one little grain ? The innocent seedling has the potential to fuel a body, decorate the land, and stimulate the senses. A sequoia tree starts as a little seed and can grow to massive sizes if grown in the right environment.

Sequoia National Park

I went on a very last-minute trip with my friend, Edwin. About five hours before take off, we committed to the adventure, packed our bags, and waited at the airport with a couple of ideas for how to spend the time. While never truly having a plan, we ended up sleeping under the stars, driving through 2 national forests and 2 national parks, seeing landscapes ranging from the desert, forest, valley, and canyon.... And felt climates ranging from 58 degrees to 95 degrees. All in 48 hrs!!
Edwin got to see, feel, hear, smell the Yosemite that he's been dreaming of for years. The following morning involved hugging massive trees and a barefoot hike in the meadow (where we saw a bear!)

Edwin found a bear!

The driving route