April 30, 2010

Hiking Mt. Tamalpais

Continuing with our favorite hobby of hiking lately, we left early last Saturday morning to cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. Mt. Tam is about 30 min north of the city, and has spectacular views of nature. We saw two snakes and are convinced they were deadly and so, we are true adventurers. =D
We saw endless Redwoods, beautiful waterfalls, soothing Babbling Brooks, and hillsides covered in spring wildflowers.  














that's me down there!















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Project: Herb Garden



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April 24, 2010

New toy!


We're excited about this little addition.  Already took it for a spin, and its been so much fun!  Looking forward to better photography in my posts. yay!

St Lucia. Paradise.

Its been about two weeks since we got back from St. Lucia.  We were in the Caribbean mainly to celebrate my father in laws 60th birthday.  
It was a beautiful island with friendly people and a gorgeous scenery.  We mainly lounged and tried a variety of both food and drinks.  
The Artunian fam.
We stayed at the Sandals Grande Resort
We had a little patio and garden outside our rooms
The Pitons in the background
Their Catholic cathedral in the town of Sufriere
Yes, I was on 'Island Time'
Some snacks to help Ad and I relax on the 9hr flight back to San Fransisco
All in all, a very beautiful and relaxing getaway!

April 7, 2010

Bon Voyage!

St. Lucia or bust!

April 5, 2010

Bolinas, CA. Where the real Hippies reside.

A few weeks back on our way to a hike in the Point Reyes National Forest, we made a planned pit stop at the tiny town of Bolinas.  I had heard about this place from a few people in the city, and what I had learned from it is that, first and foremost, its not easy to find the first time around.  The residents of this community like to keep outsiders/tourists at bay and so you won't find any street signs that lead to the town, since the remove almost all of them themselves.  But Adam's pretty good at following a map, and based on the shape of the land, he lead us to the colorful town.
Forget Haight & Ashbury, this is is a true 'flower power' town.

There are quite a few old hippies who moved there from the city many years ago. The laid back, tree hugging lifestyle is evident in this town.
The local center

Its a very popular surf spot. And they make sure you know the rules of their GREEN beach.

After an hour or so there, we got back on the road and headed toward Point Reyes.

 
At this point we had hiked for about 20 minutes. It was very foggy at first.
After about an hour, the sun showed up!
I loved these.  They look like the Andy Warhol flowers.
I love how the trees created a canopy along this path. With the sun filtering through it, it looked like something out of a secret garden.
One of the two lakes we passed along the way
We were hiking to the Alamere waterfalls, which was an unmaintained trail and has plenty of warning signs. We basically had to cover our face from the branches that poked out from everywhere. It was super muddy and I was nervous that every plant may be Poison Ivy!
The views were awesome
After about 3 hrs, we made it to the top. And to the falls.
They were great but not as big as I thought they would be.

Lunch on this cliff overlooking the beach was a perfect break before making our way back.
Hiking up here in Northern Cal is one of my most favorite things to do.  The scenery is breathtaking.  So lush, green and really makes you feel like you are one with nature.  Love it!