Toccoa Falls 9-17-17

Ahhh, football season in the South. The most wonderful time of the year. It's also the best time of the year for hiking. While I really do enjoy watching college football, I feel guilty wasting weekends when the leaves are changing colors and the weather is usually quite nice. So I make up for it by trying to hike on Sundays, when pro football is on. Just don't really have any interest in the Falcons or any other pro team, except for sporadic moments when former UGA players are doing well on whatever team they happen to be playing on at the moment. This is a win/win because James loves pro ball and tries to avoid hiking whenever possible hah. 

So the week of September 11 we had, well, an issue with a tropical storm (Irma- die b*tch) and it rained for several days. We lost power. Lots of trees down. Overall a bad week. By the weekend, I was completely stressed from work and really wanted to get outside. Learning opportunity- I was so wrapped up in my own world, I didn't realize how extensive the storm damage was in the mountains and I didn't think to check. I planned to hike the section of the Appalachian Trail that crosses Blue Mountain and drove up there and started hiking only to find huge sections of the trail were completely blocked by trees and washed out. I don't hike by myself very often and while I am not afraid to, I am clumsy. I started climbing over trees and roots and fell, so I decided to turn back. I drove around aimlessly for a while enjoying the scenery but ultimately wanted to do something. So I took quite a detour and went to Toccoa Falls. 

There's really no hiking required to see Toccoa Falls, just a nice stroll down a gravel path. Park near the bookstore and pay admission (I think it was $5) at the bookstore cashier. Dogs are allowed but I left mine at home. Even though it was a beautiful afternoon, there were only a handful of people there. It was very peaceful and pretty. We don't live very far away so I'm ashamed we haven't been here before. So even though my initial plan to hike a 4000+ mountain off my list didn't happen, I had an enjoyable afternoon sitting next to a pretty waterfall. 

California Wrap Up

Well, it's been a decent 2+ months since our trip to California and I still haven't finished writing about it. Maybe I'm a procrastinator or maybe I just really have spent the last two months reflecting and trying to figure out what to say. Maybe I subconsciously didn't want to write because I wanted to pretend the trip never ended. 

As for what we did at the end of our trip, we went to the wedding we initially traveled to CA for and went to the beach and we went to a house party and tried to re-live college days. That was about it. Nothing earth shattering. The wedding was lovely and we saw some friends we hadn't seen in a very long time. The beach was lovely too. We had great weather the last few days we were there. Perfect low humidity, sunny San Diego weather. 

But really, the last few days of the trip just felt like normal life (I mean, normal life if we didn't have jobs hahaha). We started to be able to drive/walk from place to place without relying so much on Google Maps. We finally adjusted to the time zone difference. James finally got over his initial culture shock and admitted he really likes San Diego. Dare I say, we felt...at home...

The last time I felt this way after a trip was when I traveled to Athens, GA in 2007 for a long weekend with my ex-boyfriend who had friends at UGA. I decided right then and there, with almost no thought process whatsoever that I would go to UGA for grad school. I immediately loved Athens and felt at home more than I did in my actual hometown. So I'm not saying we're going to drop everything and move to California but I will say my snap decision to up and move to Athens did turn out to be a good thing. Maybe I should trust my instincts more than my logical, cold, little brain. 

The good news is, we're definitely in the midst of planning another trip to California. It will be after the winter holidays when everyone is in the doldrums of January in Georgia. Stay tuned...

Last dance

https://www.jonellejones.com/#/watercolor-wildflowers-hand-lettering/

So I have not finished my series of posts about the California trip, but I really feel compelled to write about Tom Petty instead. As fate would have it, I will be traveling to Florida later this week for my cousin's wedding so I was already feeling a twinge of homesickness when the news of Tom Petty's death broke. Tom Petty is someone who did Florida proud. As a child born and raised in Florida in the 80s/90s, there was not always a lot to celebrate in the way of music and culture (or anything really) from Florida. I think most people associate Florida music with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimmy Buffet, Creed (God help us all) and of course, the Backstreet Boys and Nsync.

Well, life in east central Florida in a swampy, lower middle class town was much more Tom Petty than Jimmy Buffett. It's much more cinder block ranch house than Disney World castle. It's much more trade school than Florida Gator. It's much more skin cancer than Coppertone girl. Sure, there were good times and it is my home, but I always felt out of place and disconnected. Despite that, I connect Tom Petty lyrics to Florida in a way that makes me happy. 

I remember when I was a kid my mom telling me about friends of hers who cried when Elvis got married and cried even more when he died and I always thought that sounded crazy, but now I understand.  Tom Petty is, by far, my favorite musician of what is currently considered the classic rock era (although I realize even bands like Nirvana are played on the classic rock station now). I am pretty sure I was born listening to Tom Petty, given my age and my parents' ages and the fact that he has been making incredibly popular music my entire life. 
I feel fortunate to have been born when I was and hear his music for so long- but not long enough. Every song, every lyric just feels like home in a way I can't explain. 

This article expresses a lot of what I feel and I particularly love the quote "between Petty and the Gators, I prefer Petty". 

RIP

Sidenote: this isn't really a comprehensive post about music in Florida but I will acknowledge the uptick in indie, punk, and metal bands in the late 90s and while this was awesome, being pale and wearing long, dark clothing never really jived with the image of "SUNNY FLORIDA" that of course perpetually ruled my teenage life. 

California Trip- Balboa Park

So finally on the third day of our trip, the sun decided to come out. It was a stunningly beautiful day so we decided to walk around Balboa Park. We got a pretty early start so there were not too many people around. We parked in the 6th Street and Upas Street parking lot and had no trouble finding parking. We pretty much just followed the trails and visited many of the various garden areas. My favorite part by far was the rose garden. I have never seen so many varieties of roses in my life. I also enjoyed the botanical building. The desert garden was a little lackluster. I would have much rather just visited the desert (but not a good idea in August!).

It was my goal to not pay for very many attractions but we did end up visiting the Museum of Man. It was OK; probably a good choice for people with kids because it's not very extensive and you can move through the exhibits fairly quickly. Overall I am more of an art museum person and I wish we had done that instead. We also opted to not pay the extra admission fee to visit the Japanese garden, although it looked very pretty. We barely scratched the surface and definitely could have spent another day there. I've never been anywhere like Balboa Park before. 

After walking around for 5+ hours, we were feeling rather peckish so we went further into downtown San Diego and ate at an epic Mexican restaurant called Pokez. The vegan options were endless and the prices were amazing, not to mention the vibe which definitely had a artistic flair. I got an indescribably large taco salad (seriously, I don't know how they made the taco shell bowl it was in) that I had a hard time finishing. 

In the evening, we met up with our (formerly) Arizona friend Chris who ended up moving to San Diego after we already planned to be visit. That's serendipity! We went to a bar in Ocean Beach, the name of which I did not catch, and just sat and talked for hours. It was a very peaceful, beautiful evening- exactly what I imagined a Friday night in California would be like. 

California Trip- La Jolla

Our second day in California, I was stunned to walk outside and see it had rained the night before and it was so foggy it looked like we were in the Pacific Northwest. Despite the gloomy weather, we decided to go to La Jolla Cove and look for the famous seals and sea lions. This was, all in all, not the worst decision because there were fewer people there due to the weather. We saw about a dozen sea mammals and quite a few other sea creatures in the tide pools. La Jolla is very beautiful and no wonder it tops a lot of "must see" lists for San Diego. We walked around for a few hours and then left to get lunch.

For lunch we upped our vegan game and went to a restaurant in Little Italy called Cafe Gratitude. James really embraced the California lifestyle by ordering a watermelon infused water that cost $9.50. This is a man who typically will not even drink free water, let alone pay for it. Joking aside, it really was a fantastic restaurant. I ordered a Mexican style bowl and James got a raw "lasagna" made with squash ribbon noodles. Both our dishes were great and kept us full for the rest of the day, which ended up making the meal economical. We walked around Little Italy for a bit and then napped before walking down to the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. 

This is no ordinary pier. It has adorable little vacation cottages on it. I was a little weirded out by the fact you can drive onto the pier to access the cottages (if you're staying there). I couldn't help but wonder how the pier holds up with all the cottages, vehicles, and rough surf over the years. But it's been there for nearly 100 years, so I guess none of this is an issue. 

We didn't get a stunning sunset but still enjoyed the view from the legendary Pacific Beach Shore Club. Seriously the people watching is second to none at the beach and the Shore Club has a big upstairs area overlooking the beach. Unfortunately we did witness a fight and probably a drug deal (unrelated to each other) but overall I felt really safe walking around Pacific Beach. We wended our way through these charming alleys to get back to the rental and saw the cutest houses and yards. If only I was a millionaire...

California Trip- Ocean Beach Dog Park

So as described in my previous post, much of day one was spent traveling (getting to the Atlanta airport is no walk in the park either). We arrived to our Air BnB in Pacific Beach around 5 pm and James was literally about to eat his hand. Hunger combined with no air conditioning is a bad mix for a man (strangely, though, he claims "hangry" is not a legit feeling). So I pulled up the handy list of vegan/vegetarian options I found online and found the closest one, which was a "fast food" place in nearby Ocean Beach called Plant Power. Well, nearby in rush hour meant another 25 minute drive BUT it was so worth it. By the end of our trip, James became a walking billboard for Plant Power and spent enough money to probably keep the place in business through the end of the year. 

After eating $50 worth of probably not the healthiest vegan food ever, we felt the need to get some exercise, so the next logical stop was the Ocean Beach dog park. Because it's not at all creepy to go to a dog beach without your own dogs and fawn over other peoples' dogs. We walked around the dog beach and were quickly refreshed by all the pups and people enjoying the evening. I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever and we caught the most stunning sunset. Even locals said it was unusually beautiful. The pictures really didn't adequately capture it. 

After the beach, we went to Trader Joe's to get coffee and essentials for the morning and quickly learned another lesson- you have to pay for grocery bags in California. I don't have a problem with this; just wasn't expecting it. James declined to pay .25 cents for a bag so we ended up carrying all our stuff out and have it roll around the back of the car. We are such noobs. 

The theme for 2017 is "West is Best"

Literally the day we arrived home from our trip to AZ earlier this year, we had a wedding invitation in the mail for an August wedding in San Diego (thank god, our friends live in desirable places). So, I immediately started planning for that trip. It gave me something to look forward to in dreary late winter Georgia. It also motivated me to exercise since being out of shape on a beach is not something I want photos of. I ended up losing 30 lbs, whoop whoop. 

Ultimately, we didn't do many of the things I would want to do during a trip to Southern California, but that is fine because we'll definitely go back. Since I over planned our trip to AZ, I figured I'd just take things as they came in San Diego and not schedule everything down to the minute. California truly is like another country and I figured our first trip should just be to feel things out. That being said, we learned some valuable lessons which I will share here:

1. It is not 72 and sunny year round in San Diego. In August it can be 85 and cloudy. Related lesson- air conditioning is apparently less common than I ever would have thought. 

2. The cheaper airfares to Los Angeles Intl (LAX) are very quickly diminished by the drive between LA and San Diego. I must have had temporary insanity when I booked our tickets and thought this would be a good idea (seriously though, I could not make the math work. It was cheaper to fly to LA and rent a car for an entire week than to fly to San Diego).

3. Air BnB is not always what it's cracked up to be. Again, you get what you pay for. In this case, a very tiny un-air conditioned studio with paper thin walls just a short walk from the beach. But when you are a numbers person like me, the price and location couldn't be beat.

Once we recovered from our drive (escape) out of LA, adjusted to life with no AC, and met up with our friends, all was well. This was the sunset on our first night:

 More to come soon!

Waterfall Trio 6-25-17

Although I am certainly a child of the 90's, I cannot say I agree with TLC- I love chasing waterfalls. In fact, I have become spoiled and have found myself not considering a hike if it doesn't go near water at least, if not a waterfall or two. 

With the weather being very rainy this summer and being crunched for time with various summer holidays and other events going on, I was looking for something close by that would give a lot of bang for my buck. I studied the maps and found a nice little horseshoe of a route not too far away that led me to 3 stunning waterfalls. The day ended up being unseasonably cool which made for very pleasant hiking. All three of these are also dog friendly but my munchkins didn't make it into these pictures.

First up, DeSoto Falls. We arrived here around 10 am and only saw 2 other people on the trail. There are 2 falls at this location, with divergent trails leading to each. The trails are no more than 2 miles total. Again, a lot of bang for your buck. There is also a nice little campground located between the two falls. 

Traveling north from DeSoto Falls, we then went to Helton Creek Falls. This trail is exceeding short and flat, making it very accessible to nearly anyone. Due to the fact that it had rained nearly every day during the previous week, Helton Creek Falls was rocking. The water flow was impressive. We saw a handful of people here but I imagine on sunny days, hot days, it's packed. 

Leaving Helton Creek Falls, we continued along the dirt road we parked on which eventually leads to a creek crossing (two actually) before intersecting with the main road. We drove through the mountains, catching views of Yonah and others, before arriving at Dukes Creek Falls. The trail at Dukes Creek is the longest of the 3 but still leisurely at around 2 miles total. Unfortunately part of the viewing platform at the end of the trail was damaged by a tree falling, so we could not experience the full scenery of the falls. Regardless, it was a nice visit and I spent some time at the opposite end of the trail just relaxing by the creek. 

All in all, it was a worthy way to spend a day. We were back home by 3 pm- not bad for driving to and from the mountains, as well as driving between the falls. All of these are also located within close proximity of other scenic areas, such as Raven Cliffs, Blood Mountain, and state parks, so planning a multi-day waterfall extravaganza could be an option as well. 

Obviously I am about 2 months behind with posting, but expect some new posts soon about our recent trip to California!

Panther Creek 2-26-17

• Distance: 7 miles
• Terrain: moderate
• Location: Clarkesville (Habersham County)

We finally did a hike I've been wanting to do for several years. We actually live relatively close to Panther Creek now. It only took about 1 hour, 10 mins to get there (with a stop at a super sketchy gas station). The weather was really nice, so there were quite a few people along the trail, but not nearly as many as in summer time, I would think. It's a cool 7 miles roundtrip and we definitely felt it afterward. It's a pretty moderate, meandering hike for the most part but there are definitely a few steep spots and the trail is very rooty. I would recommend shoes with good ankle support. At the bottom of the falls there is a nice beachy area with plenty of space to sit and relax or have a picnic. The dogs swam a little and enjoyed running around on the beach. There are lots of other resting spots along the trail as well. The rock formations are quite impressive with boulders as large as the ones along the Chattahoochee. The forest was beginning to show some blooms and the rhododendrons were about to pop open. I can't wait until later in spring when all the flowers will be blooming. The only damper on this hike was unfortunately several bad examples of NOT leaving a trace. There was a smoldering fire pit near the waterfall (hello, we are still under Level 2 drought conditions) and waste I would prefer not to write about. I fail to understand why people who enjoy nature enough to go on a 7 mile hike literally think their sh*t doesn't stink. We also saw an abandoned armchair. Again, whyyy??? I don't go into nature so I can be reminded how much I hate humanity.

Reflections on Arizona and my 3 year plan

Like I said in my other post, I’m not really sure vacation is supposed to be a life changing event, but maybe it is…I mean, there is a whole genre of books and movies about (mostly) white women going to exotic places and having their whole worlds change (see “Under the Tuscan Sun”, “Eat, Pray, Love”, “The Holiday”, “Wild”- ok, maybe not a vacation, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”, “Tracks”- also not a vacation and seriously one of my favorite movies etc etc etc. I think part of the reason why I truly enjoyed Arizona was because we didn’t do anything extravagant yet everything was special. I like to focus on where I am when I am on a trip, not what I am doing. I want to spend more of my life like this.

James and I have been exploring minimalism recently and really want to simplify every aspect of our lives. It sort of started in a material sense when we sold our house in Woodstock and “downsized”. Honestly the house we have now still feels too big. We don’t have a lot of “stuff” anyway, but have slowly been getting rid of things we don’t need. Being vegan also helps; I skip ¾ of the grocery store when shopping and use much simpler recipes.

Our ultimate form of minimalism will come when my student loans are paid off and we can sell our house, thus having no debt. After 10 years at my job, I will be able to qualify for loan forgiveness (Dear Jesus please do not let the political powers that be discontinue the public services student loan forgiveness program). I have 3 years to go. In 2020, I would like to quit my job, sell our house, buy a travel trailer and figure out something new to do for a while. Maybe we'll move a new place, maybe we won't. Maybe I'll still be a social worker, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll be a fire watcher like I wanted to be when I was a kid. Who knows...

Scottsdale Pics

             

Scavenging in Scottsdale

The Grand Hunt

https://www.instagram.com/constructed_adventures/

Chris had a huge event planned for his birthday. He runs a company called Constructed Adventures which plans elaborate scavenger hunts for special occasions (engagements, birthdays, company outings, etc). He puts a lot of heart and soul into the planning and implementation, so it is a truly sentimental experience. He also has a drone so he can film your special event from awesome angles! It is one of the most unique concepts I have ever heard of. As someone who is very rarely surprised by anything, I think Chris could even plan something that would stun me.

So for his birthday, Chris planned a massive scavenger hunt all around downtown Scottsdale with the end goal of the party-goers finding him in a surprise location. It involved lots of walking, drinking, puzzle solving, map reading, socializing and generally acting crazy. It was almost like being in a Judd Apatow movie, running around trying to navigate all these absurd challenges in order to party (think Super Bad). We got to meet tons of new people and literally see all of Scottsdale. Chris’ day job is at a certain online review company and I give this birthday party 5/5 stars!

Sedona Pics

Bell Rock

Airport Vortex

Cathedral Rock

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Views from the Chapel

Boynton Canyon

Midgely Bridge

Oak Creek Canyon

Weekend- Phoenix and Scottsdale

We discovered two great vegan restaurants side by side in Central Phoenix- Green and Nami.  We ate at Green for dinner when we got back from Sedona and then went to Nami for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This is definitely not health food but after running around for the past few days, we burned a lot of calories and felt we deserved it.

After breakfast each day we walked up and down the streets surrounding the restaurant, which are all historic neighborhoods full of gorgeous homes on tree lined streets. One side of the street is awesome southwestern influenced Bungalows and the other side is more stately Tudors. We also saw wild lovebirds! At first we didn't believe it, but I looked it up and sure enough certain neighborhoods in Phoenix have flocks of wild lovebirds. This area of Phoenix seems to be the up and coming "hip"(ster) part of town. It reminded me a lot of certain parts of Tampa (i.e. I felt very at home).

We also went to a nifty old diner called MacAlpine’s, which is also home to a huge vintage market. There is an old fashioned soda fountain and a large selection of milkshakes and other retro treats (not vegan, so we didn't try anything). I did buy a vintage turquoise ring from the antique store and the manager there was incredibly knowledgeable and spent a lot of time explaining vintage jewelry to me.

We spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Old Town Scottsdale. I always thought Scottsdale was just a boring suburb of Phoenix, but it is a truly cool town. The old town area is huge, full of art galleries and very upscale. Hardly like the Atlanta suburbs (at least, not the one we live in). The weather was beautiful and perfect for strolling around enjoying the sculptures and landscape. I could seriously see myself living in Scottsdale.

More about our night out in Scottsdale in my next post!

Day 3- Sedona

Fri 2/10/17

Initially, we planned to do a driving tour called the Apache Trail on Friday, but ended up changing plans because our AirBnB hostess mentioned it is a really rough drive and I did not want to chance messing up our rental car. Plenty of websites say it is fine to do in a sedan but our hostess said it’s a very narrow road and people do not drive courteously. The weather was also forecast (at that time) to be bad on the weekend, when we initially planned to go to Sedona, and we felt Sedona was something we did not want to pass up. So we went to Sedona on Friday instead.

We left Phoenix around 8 am and got to Sedona a little before 10 am. It was a very nice drive and hardly felt like 2 hrs.The scenery changes rapidly as you drive north of Phoenix and in no time, amazing desert formations appear. There are intriguing signs along the highway indicating ghost towns (I wanted to stop; James said that's how horror movies start). We also saw some hot air balloons!

I found a basic driving tour online that seemed to hit most of the highlights of Sedona so we roughly followed it. We did skip some sections based on time and/or confusion about what exactly we were looking for.I only referenced the map, not the CD the website mentions.The areas on the tour are:

1 - Bell Rock
2 - Cathedral Rock
3 - Chapel of the Holy Cross
4 - Schnebly Hill Road- skipped (it appeared to be a dirt road and no dirt roads for the rental car)
5 - Airport Vortex
6 - Airport Mesa
7 - West Sedona- skipped (could not really figure what exactly we were looking for)
8 - Boynton Canyon
9 - Upper Red Rock Loop- skipped (in interest of time, wish we hadn't skipped it)
10 - Red Rock Crossing- skipped (in interest of time, wish we hadn't skipped it)
11 - Uptown Sedona
12 - Midgley Bridge
13 - Indian Gardens- skipped (could not find exact location)
14 - Slide Rock- skipped (state park with a $10 fee. We didn't have enough time to truly explore)
15 - West Fork
16 - Upper Oak Creek Vista and Canyon

A lot of the tour areas do require a parking fee and some had very small parking lots.

We at lunch at a lovely café- ChocolaTree- total hippie vibe, raw, vegan, etc. It’s a little outside the main drag of Sedona but was perfectly situated on our tour. It's located between the Airport Vortex and Boynton Canyon.

We saw the bare minimum on our whirlwind tour, but the tour really does take you from the desert to the mountains and I felt like we traveled so much more than we actually did. I would definitely like to return to Sedona and spend time visiting the northern part of Arizona.

Day 3 observations- in AZ, you can go from the desert to snow in a~30 min drive, there is nothing a crystal or vortex can't heal, spring water tastes drastically better than Phoenix city water.

Sedona pics to follow in their own post!

Day 2- Tucson

Thurs 2/9/17

We met up again with our friend Chris around 9 am on Thursday morning and he chauffeured us to Tucson, where his parents live. Chris and James grew up together in Georgia and Chris’ family moved to Tucson when he was a teenager. 

Along the way we stopped at Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch and fed the critters. We then had lunch with Chris’ parents at their house before heading into Tucson to see the University of Arizona. We walked around the campus, which had shocking numbers of grassy quads just like any other university. U of A is a more modern school compared to UGA, but it was a pretty campus and the downtown area bordering the college was cool. 

We stopped for coffee and then drove to the other side of Tucson to visit Gates Pass, which is a park and scenic overlook area. We hiked a short ways up a small mountain (hill?) and took some pictures. It was really pretty with tons of saguaro cacti dotting the landscape as far as the eye could see. I guess I never really realized cacti grow in “forests”; I just always had an image in my head of one giant, lone cactus standing by itself out in the desert. The Pass is probably a great place to watch the sun set, but we left before that happened. There is a little hut at the top of the hill w/a grill, so also a good place for a picnic.

We then drove back to Phoenix and ate at a fabulous restaurant in Scottsdale called Diego Pops. Really cool décor and the food was amazing. Highly recommend.

Day 2 observations- college kids look younger than ever, I have been pronouncing "Saguaro" incorrectly my entire life, there are a lot of strip clubs in/around Phoenix.