I left my heart in San Francisco

I sit in Pagosa Springs watching the World Series wishing I was at AT&T Park. Wishing I was close to the place I first called home. I grew up in Northern California and was a regular at Candlestick Park when the Giants played there. The Giants were always a part of my life growing up. It is very much in my family. My dad played baseball. Grandpa played baseball. Even great-grandpa played baseball. The sport is a passion of mine and always has been. As I watch game 1 of the World Series, I look at the bridge in the background beaming over the bay and I ache for clam chowder, served in a fresh sourdough bread bowl. Though the air is crisp and cool from the ocean breeze, I would be in Heaven sitting in this ballpark right now. If you have never been to San Francisco, I highly recommend it. There is so much to see and do. The food is A+++. The views are spectacular. The culture? Nothing short of amazing! Short and sweet this week! ;)

A la tierra is the expression I use when in Mexico. It means down to earth. This place is full of so much majesty, heart, and beauty. The people here are gentle and kind, and always greet you with a smile.

Day One began last Monday morning around 4 am. We were on early flight out of Denver and since it was a three day weekend, we wanted to make sure we were at the airport and resonable time to get through the lines at security. It turns out, there werent many people there afterall so once through security, it was to the bar at 7 am. This vacation was starting off right. Not too long after, we lined up at our gate and it was to Dallas/Fort Worth for a very short layover. We got on the plane, seat belts fastened, laptop out and ready, shoes off. About twenty minutes later, once everyone is on the plane and ready for the sunny city of Puerto Vallarta, the captain announced that there were problems with the plane and we had to deplane and catch another flight. Turns out this "other flight" was in another concourse of the airport which we had to take a tram to. It put a small damper on the trip, but after we got on the second flight, everything was a-ok. Around 4 pm we landed in Puerto Vallarta. I could hardly wait to get off the plane and feel the Mexican heat on my skin. My wish came true. It was like walking into a wall of humid, sticky, heat. With the humidity it felt like it was 120 degrees. We were off to customs. I'm a white girl. This is a fact. I dont speak Spanish very well. I took French in high school and now study Italian in college. I admit, learning these languages have helped my ability to understand and read a lot of Spanish, but when the customs lady is barking at me a thousand mph, I cant really comprehend. After all the bags cleared and passport was stamped, we were off to find our shuttle driver. Timeshares are a really big thing down here, and the salesmen will try to suck you in ruthlessly. It was a sea of them in the lobby, and we were nothing but live bait. And then, the sign came like a beam of light, Becky and Eric's name. It was our shuttle to Sayulita; our destination. We were greeted with ice cold Pacifico's that you can drink, IN THE CAR! All these small freedoms had me amazed. Thirty minutes later we arrived at our vacation home. Casa Sopresa which in English means Home of Surpises and that is exactly what it is. Palm trees shade over our private pool. A shady outdoor patio holds not one, but TWO hammocks, comfy couches and chairs. Not to mention an outdoor shower where you can hose yourself down after a sandy day at the beach. )Which is only a block away)The rooms are spacious and the beds are a little firm, but very comfy at the same time. I put my bags down and it was to the pool. At least to dunk my feet in before dinner. We enjoyed a Mexican meal, and two for one mojitos. (Can you really turn that down?)Since the day started at an unGodly hour of the morning, it was sleepy time for Lindsay.

Day Two, like pretty much every other day of my life, started around 11 am. Anyone who knows me KNOWS I am not and will never be a morning person. Plus, the sounds of the air conditioner soothe me and keep me asleep. Once I was up and had my coffee, it was off the the beach to soak up some sun and a couple of Pacifico's. I was bombarded by vendors selling their home-made goods. Bracelets, dresses, sarongs, wood sculptures, pretty much anything you can imagine. I wanted to buy everything. The great thing about the slow season in Sayulita is you can bargain with the vendors and talk them down to great prices. They are just happy to be making a little bit of money this time of year. So, I bought some stuff. But what is a true vacation without souveniers? Right ladies? Anyway, I did not leave the beach empty handed. Being the little explorer I am, I walked around town. The aromas from all the restaurants were making me hungry. We ate at a little joint called Burrito Revolution. I had a quesadilla with avocados(of course, I cant live without my avocado on EVERYTHING) and it was better than any quesadilla I have ever had. I have wanted to go back and try the vegetarian burrito but it has been closed every day now. Sad day. Needless to say, you cant go to Mexico and not get pretty buzzed up at least one of the nights. So, Buddha Bar had a "ladies drink free" for two hours of the evening. I got buttered up on margaritas and danced the night away. I made a few new friends. Two girls, Miranda and Hilary, from Vancouver and Tim and Nicole, newlyweds from Seattle. We were all sauced and having a grand ol time. The night would have not been complete without a evening swim in our private pool. And that's just what I did.

Day Three was spent in bed. Pretty much ALL day actually. I had a little thing Americans call a HANGOVER. I did not want to crawl out of the comfort of my bed all day. Finally around 2 pm, I decided to crawl out of my chamber and get in some beach time. I read my book and soaked up the warm afternoon sun and sipped on not one, but two fruit smoothies to soothe my tummy. Kids that were about 12 years old were ripping it up on the waves, very fun to watch. I ate an extremely later lunch(or early dinner) of tacos camarrones mojo del ajo. Which is Shrimp tacos in butter and garlic. The combination of shrimp+garlic+butter+avocado= a wonderful dish! Anything with garlic with please me. A MMMMM sound followed every bite. I could have licked the plate, honestly. I decided to take it easy on my belly and NOT drink tequila that day. So I went with something a little more girly and drank a mango collada. It was divine.

Day Four goes down in history as the best day of my life. I got to mark something off my bucket list...Swimming with dolphins. Since I was young, this one thing has always been on my list. It was always too expensive for 10 year old with no job. Plus growing up in Colorado, you just dont have those options. Finally, I made a vow to myself. I am going to do this. It was pretty silly but I couldnt sleep that night just thinking about it. )Well, it may also have to do with the fact that I slept in a whole work day)That morning, I was ready. My childhood fantasy was going to come true at the age of 24. We got there for the earliest session they offered, which was 10 am. After learning about dolphins for twenty minutes(Fun fact: the dolphins closest reletive is a hippo)we for to meet our dolphin. Lifejeckets tied tight, because the pool is very ,very deep, we all got in the water. She swam by us and we stroked her belly. She was so soft, intelligent, and gentle. She had a perma-grin on her sweet little face. This sight, this experience of being so close to one of God's most precious creatures took over me. I had my own perma-grin through the whole session. Tears came to my eyes, not in a bauling state, but there were tears of joy present. I got to dance with her, kiss her, hug her, and take a ride on her belly. For a moment in time, there was a connection between this creature and I. Something so different than any human connection. I was embracing true beauty. Something that doesnt judge, something that has so much brain power and affection. And like that. It was over. It was time to get out of the pool and move on with my life. After the swim, I was given a very fishy kiss from a sea lion. We got some good professional shots by the photographer and rode the water taxi across the bay to paradise village, a crazy big resort with it's own shopping mall. It reminded me of Vegas, but out your backdoor there was the pool, behind it, the ocean. We met up with some friends and spent the day on the beach, drinking fruity, girly drinks. We walked down the beach till we got to a sea turtle hatchery. The babies were so tiny and sweet. All the people involved got three turtles each. We were giving these babies a chance to live. With each one I sent, I imagined the people I have lost in my life. For each, I gave the gift and breath of new life into this world. Even if they were just turtles. These turtles can live a long life of 150years. Longer than living thing. Watching the babies "leave the nest" with the sun-setting over the sea, was another tear jerking moment in my life. I went to sleep with a smile on my face that night.


Pretty much every day has consisted of the same harmony. Eat some amazing food, have some amazing frozen cocktails (and mojiots, Golly I love those things!) and making frequent visits to the pool and the beach. The weather is warm, the people are happy, and the mood is tranquilo. With two days left, I will have to have camaronnes mojo de ajo one more time, and buy that dolphin wooden sculpture I have been eyeing all week.

Summer is Over

Well friends. It sure has been awhile hasnt it? I started back to work in late April and have not written since. Kip's experienced the busiest summer we have ever had. The tourist season this year was booming and work was very lucrative. This is a good thing but the downfall was not enough time for adventure. I am in my third year of school and my initial goal is to acheive my masters degree in counseling/psychology. It's a super fun major to study but it takes a lot of time out of my days. Now that I am officially on vacay for 17 days(yes terrible sounding I know) I can finally go on another adventure! I am leaving tomorrow morning for Denver International Airport and flying off to Mexico. We are going to a small town called Sayulita which is just north of Puerto Vallarta. I cant wait to spend 10 days in the sun with nothing to worry about but putting on some sunscreen every once in awhile. Needless to say, I will be posting because I will have Wi-Fi at the vacation home. YAY! :)

Lindsay

creating adventure on your clock

I am a firm believer in creating your own adventure. Some of us cannot travel very often due to work, school, kids, and just life in general. When you live in a very small town, your options can be kinda limited when it comes to going and doing stuff. So why not create your own adventure? I live in a small town in Colorado, and let me tell you, life could be SO much worse! This past Sunday, we went on a little hike up Williams Creek and dropped in a fishing line. It was great just to be in the sunshine and in the quiet of nature. This little "vacay" took approx one hour to get to and I felt like I was out of the inner circle that I call my life. It's amazing to me how much stuff you can explore in the comfort of your own geographic area. Adventure makes most of us happy and makes us thrive for more. New experiences are good for those who feel bored and want to "get out" of the norm. I recommend looking into fun outdoor things in your area, going out and seeing them. It's not going to Europe but it sure is nice to get out in the sunshine! :)
Cheers and happy adventuring....

Home again...

So I have been home now for a couple weeks! As you can imagine, I have been busy being back to work and just being back home has it's many challenges and chores! New York was an experience for sure! Being in a HUGE city and living the lifestyle of a city girl has it's perks. I ate A LOT of food and did a lot of shopping. More so, window shopping. One of my favorite things to do is spend hours in a Barnes and Noble and read all the books. I had a chance to do that in New York and just happened to see a celebrity! I was browsing through the vast magazine selection and looked to my side, and there was Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. I would say that that's a pretty cool sighting. After a night of sushi and a fried Oreo dessert, I was on my way to the plane early the next morning. It was great to be heading home but I knew that I would miss the big city thrills! So now I am home in Pagosa Springs. The weather is getting warmer , but the wind wont give up. I wish it would so I can enjoy the sunshine without getting blown over by the wind. This writing isnt much of anything important, but more will come at a later day! Cheers

Continuing the adventures in the city. It's been a couple days since I have last wrote. Things get busy here as you can imagine. The hustle and bustle of the New York lifestyle has gotten to me a little bit. Since I leave the day after tomorrow, I have been trying to fit in as much as I can with my time.
Day Three rolled around. I decided to go to 5th Ave. Yes, ladies. This is where the REAL Saks 5th Ave resides. Also Tiffany & Co, Louis Vuitton, and the famous FAO Schwarz. Since I am not the kind of girl to be into big $5000 purses or super fancy things, I opted for the toy store. Now kids of my generation and earlier generations remember the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks where he goes and plays that huge piano; well that piano is still at FAO Schwarz and I had been dying to see it. This toy store is not like your average toy store. It has 5 floors of every kind of toy you can imgaine. Baby stuff, action figures, Harry Potter stuff galore, sports figurines, etc etc! I felt like a kid in a toy store. Haha. Well, I actually was...This store can bring out the kid in anyone. Not to mention they have almost a whole floor dedicated to CANDY! After spending a good half hour in here, I moved down the street and looked at St. Patricks Cathedral...HUGE. After walking for a mile or so I headed back to meet my friend for a drink at a bar called Point Break. Based on the popular 80's movie with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. Enjoyed a Bahama Mama and loved it! Met up with Cindy and Stevie in Central Park and went to Dallas BBQ where I had a DELICIOUS banana coloda and a veggie burger! I then took a cab to Zach's office and saw where he works. Pretty fancy office and has a great view of Ground Zero. This was a surreal experience for me. Though they have cleaned it up a lot and have started the rebuilding process, it was still very sad imagining all the innocent people who died in this building on September 11th, 2001.
On a lighter note, yesterday was top notch. I slept in before spending a day in downtown New York. We went to Wall Street where there is A LOT of US History. We went into an old church cemetary where Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton were buried. All the gravestones were from the 1800's. We then went to the sight where George Washington took his first presidential oath in 1789. Then it was off to the Staten Island Ferry where there were SO MANY people. Since it's a free ferry, you can imagine that there are tons and tons of people waiting to get on. This is part of most people's everyday commute. I got a delicious smoothie and chocolate crossiant to eat on the ride. I saw the ever-famous statue of liberty which was beautiful! After getting off the ferry and getting back on again to get back to Manhattan, we went to Century 21 which is quite possibly the best store EVER! If you are into clothes and shoes and are NYC, go here! They have everything half off. I am talking really nice designer stuff for super cheap!! I could have spent days in here looking at all the clothes. Since the line to the dressing room was approx. 80 people long, I decided to put my potential purchases on over my clothes to avoid the lines. I left with a few things that I absolutely love!
Since I have been riding germ infested subways, I seem to have picked up a nasty little bug somewhere along the way. So I ended the night with Lebanese food. A first for me and definately will not be my last! I have never been a huge fan of brusselsprouts but there was a way they cooked them to where I would eat them again!! So today I have been feeling under the weather, and I think New York felt that way too. There is a nice layer of fog and lots of cold rain. I opted for staying inside today and resting which was a great idea. I dont want to get any more sick than I already am! Lucky for me, a great movie is on...Mystic Pizza!! :) I bid you all a good night from the Big Apple!

I 'heart" New York

It's official. I am now a blogger. I have been inspired in many ways to use my creative writing skills and even if nobody cares about what I have to say, it's an outlet to help me put my thoughts and feelings and share them with the world. First things first, I. Love. To. Travel. This passion grew when I lived in Los Angeles and took weekend trips and day trips to the many fun things the city had to offer. Everyone had their own places that were their favorites and I was exposed to them through my friends. Whether it was spending an afternoon at the Getty or people watching at Venice Beach; everyday was a new and fresh adventure. I was bitten by the travel bug and it's venom has never escaped me. I desire to visit new places and experience new and spontanious things. In the past two years, I have been to Baja, Las Vegas, Portland, Palm Springs, various places in Colorado(my current residence) and though I am from Northen California originally, I saw many parts of it I have never been before. Such as Arcata, Eureka, and Sebastopal. I have been to the Bay Area MANY times too but there is always something new and fresh to experience in San Francisco.

April 20, 2010 rolled around and I could barely sit still. I am not a morning person. Anyone who knows me well knows this fact. I had to be up at 4:30 that morning to catch my flight. This pup was off to New York City. This sounds silly but ever since seeing Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, I have ALWAYS wanted to come here. It seemed so far and almost impossible to make the time to get to the east coast. The inspiration came from a couple friends who live here and talk about what an awesome place it is. I am now seeing first hand what they were talking about all this time! I sat in an aisle seat on my flight into LaGuardia so I wasnt able to see the buildings. It didnt really set in until I took my very first Subway ride into the city. The tall buildings were so surreal to me. Luckily I had someone with me who knew the city and rode the train with me. I would have gotten lost and probably ended up in New Jersey hanging out with Snookie or something. I was welcomed to "the city" with open arms by my wonderful friend Zach whom I met in L.A four years ago. I rode up an elevator for 50 floors to the PH level. Which stands for penthouse. The famous Empire State Building stands tall and proud right in front of the window. I can see people's cameras flashing most of the evening. I felt like a kid at Disneyland. I was in total and complete awe with my mouth hanging wide open. Once I gathered myself, closed my mouth, and able to utter more words than "wow," we went out for my first New York dinner. We went to a nice steakhouse. Ironically, I dont eat beef or pork and havent in 6 years so I opted for the crab cake. Super good btw. But the thing that made me smile was the cocktail I ordered. Since I am here during the Tribeca Film Festival, there is an official drink dedicated to this event. It was called "The Leading Lady." This devine cocktail was a martini and consisted of Stoli Vanilla, cinnamon schnapps, and a blackberry liquer. It was nicely garnished with fresh blackberries. Since I am a bartender, I like to "study" my craft and get new ideas! :) Though I am in the "city that never sleeps," I was tired after a long day of flying and needed some rest. I was suffering from serious jetlag and didnt go to sleep till 3:30 and woke up at 1 in the afternoon. So much for having a super productive day! I walked around the neighborhood and there was so much to look at and shops to visit just in the four block radius I stuck to. After I got ahold of my friend, I rode the subway to Union Square where we got a real New York pizza and a glass of wine. The restaurant was called Gemma and it was very authentic Italian. Candles were everywhere dripping wax and I imagine a restaurant in the heart of Italy would be like this. The culture in this city absolutely blows my mind. Almost every block feels like you are in a different country! It was pouring rain and I was wearing flip flops. I had an incident with the couch where I stubbed my toe and it turned into a pretty bad sprain. My whole toe is now purple and it looked like the size of my big toe. Needless to say comfortable walking shoes made my toe feel suffocated. My poor little toes were soaked and cold! So, we went to a funny little dive bar called Tom and Jerry's to warm up. This is where I discovered possibly my new favorite cocktail called a John Daly. Basically, it's an Arnold Palmer with a twist. Seagrams Sweet Tea Vodka+fresh lemon juice=heavenly! My first day here was amazing, but today is the day that really did it for me. I rode in my first New York cab and met a dear friend of mine at her apartment near Central Park. We started our adventure with PinkBerry. The most amazing frozen yogurt you will ever have in my opinion. I topped it with fresh raspberry, mochi, and coconut. We then walked to the American Museum of Natural History. Since we got there in the last hour it was open, it was free! We did a quick walk-through of the main exhibits and had a grand time. We then walked to a store called Tibet which was quite the experience for me. We went into the meditaion room and played with the singing bowls. The sound they make is something used for meditation in the Tibetan/Buddhist culture. There was something very peaceful about this experience. It was so quiet and seemed worlds away from the chaotic city life right above us. I left with a pashmina scarf that is so delightfully soft! Then we were off to my first Broadway play. We decided to see 39 Steps which is an Alfred Hitchcock play. There was a very small cast of four people who played 50 different characters. These actors are genius when it comes to their craft. Being an actress, I know that you really have to dedicate yourself to your character and become that person. I cant imagine dedicating yourself to 20 different people on stage and playing each part so amazingly well! After the show we walked around Times Square, which is basically the Hollywood Blvd of New York. Crowds and crowds of people all flocking to the huge novelty stores. It was cool to see and experience but I dont think I would purposely go there for anything. We topped off the evening with a slice of New York cheesecake and a cup of coffee(which may explain why I'm up at 2:30 blogging). I then took the taxi back home which seriously made me fear for my life and gave a bit of motion sickness. I would never drive in this city, I get impatient when Pagosa has traffic. My fuse would blow just trying to get out of a parking space I would think. The great thing about this city is you never have to drive. The public transportation is unbelievably amazing! Well, I'm off for the evening but I am here till Tuesday and will have more stories to tell. If you are reading this, thank you for making my typing attack worth while. Goodnight from New York City....