Murphy' s Ranch

Another weekend means another adventure! I spent all of Saturday catching up on my adult things like oil changes and laundry, but Sunday I was ready to hit the road again, especially now that its hitting the 100s in Bakersfield. My friend Katie is 7 month pregnant, but she still wanted to go hiking and exploring.

As with most of my adventure, we found an interesting place online and decided to pursue it. This one was more mysterious then most trails I have on my list and Katie was all about finding it. It turn out in the hills outside of LA there was a Nazi compound in the late 40s, early 50s. A guy named Herr Schmidt escaped before the Allies liberated Germany and decided he would start up his own Nazi party in Los Angles. The CIA raided the place in the 50s and has been abandoned ever since.

We got very detailed instructions off the internet, as the trail was a little sketchy to find. But we luckily we found the right hole in the right fence (Not trespassing, don't worry) and walked a nice fire road until we came to the 500 step staircase.

 Going down was easy. The stairs were a little small but overall an easy stroll down into the valley.

At the bottom of the stairs and rounded the corner and we found the house of Herr Schmidt.

Since it's been abandoned for over 50 years it was in pretty rough shape and covered in graffiti. Very creepy but very cool.

There were lots of people around exploring the area, even people with dogs and kids. I was a little more daring then Katie and climbed up on to the roof on a sort of sturdy ladder. You might be able to see me sitting on the roof below.

We continued along the path and continued to find deteriorated, graffiti metal. Not sure what most of it was, but it was all really cool.

We walked around for a while more but it was getting hot and the other Katie was getting a little tired, so we decided to turn back. Which meant going up every one of those 500 stairs again.

We took a different set of stairs back up, which paid off as we found a graffiti water tower at the top. Like all of California, the water tower did not have water in it.

After a long day of hiking, we had built up quite an appetite. Luckily, Katie had info on a german restaurant down in Venice Beach. And there is nothing better then a bockwurst and a Kolsch beer at the end of the day.

Memorial Day weekend pt 3 - Laguna and Anaheim

We began our trip back up north first thing in the morning, travelling along to coast to Laguna Beach.

It was a cloudy overcast day, but there was plenty of exploring to do on the rocks and tide pools.

We saw lots of crabs, fish, Dolphins and even a whale! I can't wait to go back over the summer and go snorkeling. Now that I have a gopro I really want to try it out under water. 

Since it was starting to drizzle (weird I know) we decided to scrap the beach and check out Downtown Disney in Anaheim.

We spent a little too much time exploring the Lego store, which was amazing

Then we found our company! 

At last, after waiting all weekend, it was time for the thing we were looking forward to the most: going to an NHL playoff game, ducks versus Blackhawks 

Agata is from Chicago and a die hard Blackhawks fan. I have decided the ducks will be my California team, so we were rooting against one another. We had cheap nose bleed seats but they were still pretty good. 

It was quite a game. The ducks scored 3 Goals in about 5 minutes to start the game and the place was going nuts.the Blackhawks finally tied it in the final minute of the game and we went into overtime. We were excited for more hockey, but not happy about our 3 hour drive home after the game and going to work the next day.

All in all, another amazing weekend. It's crazy to think I still have barely seen this state and there is still so much to do. 

Memorial Day weekend pt 2 - the zoo and more

After a long night of adventuring, we woke up early Sunday morning to relive our childhood and visit the famous Sam Diego zoo.

There was a lot of excitement among the patrons as several baby animals had just been born, including a hippo, giraffe, and orangutan. 

We were just as excited as all the little kids to see the animals. 

My favorite part was watching the elephants getting pedicures. They just put their foot out and let the trainers do anything they wanted. 

After the zoo we journeyed down the road to a microbrewery that was being operated out of an old wonder bread factory. 

The beer was pretty good but the best was the hard root beer. It would have gone great with some Haagen Dasz.

Our journey didn't end there, as we raced back to the coast just in time to watch the sun dip under the horizon from Sunset Cliffs

And we finished off our day the only way we know how, with ice cream. Between two hot waffles and drizzled with caramel.

Memorial Day weekend pt 1 - San Diego Beaches

It was another 3 day weekend so of course we had to escape Bakersfield. So my friend Agata and I hopped in the baby blue beetle and hit the open (full of traffic road) down to San Diego!

It took us 5 hours to battle throw go traffic down the coast. But we still made it in time to stop by the oldest tavern in San Diego, which was convientently across the street from our hotel. 

The next day we were awoken by San Diegos famous perfect weather, so naturally we had to hit the beach

There was plenty of surfers, beach volleyball, skate boarders, and other California things. We went to Corranado beach, famous for being the location where the navy seals train. Sadly they weren't around but we saw plenty of fighter jets.

The most amazing part is the sand glittered with what looked like gold. In fact it was mica, a rarely seen mineral that made the beaches glitter in the sun.

After we had enough sun we explored the area a bit. There were tons of amazing houses to see.

After the beach we headed to the gas lamp district to explore the bars. We started off at a big sports bar to watch hockey. Once it was over, we went on a search for a speakeasy called The Grand Experiment. We finally found the "door"

When you pull on the barrels it opens up to a secret bar. It sat maybe 20 people in it and everyone there had been on a waiting list for 2 months. Still not sure how we got it but was amazing.

Tree outside my window

Apparently this is called a mimosa tree

Sunday crawfish boil

Being the foodies me and my friends are, we spent Sunday having a BBQ, complete with crawfish overnighted from the Louisiana bayou 

They were very delicious swimming in Cajum spices 

The rest of the day involved lounging in the sun, some pool football, and plenty of eating. The temperature has hit the 90s so summer is just around the corner....

Hearst Castle

It's been a full two weeks since my last adventure, so it was time to hit the road again! This time, a trip to Hearst Castle 

Hearst Castle was build in the 1920s-1940s by newspaper mogul William Hearst. He took his favorite camping spot in California and built a palace to entertain people like Charlie Chapin, Cary Grant and the Warner brothers. It had all you ever needed. A beautiful view of the coast 

A swimming pool  (not filled, darn drought)

Guest cottages

And lots of flowers

It was a pretty awesome place that was worth the trip. It was filled with art and pieces of castles from all over European. Hearst clearly had a little too much money and free time. 

Next up was a trip to elephant seal beach. 

They were very funny creatures

And what trip would be complete without a stop by a winery for a tasting? 

Business trip

I'm back in Oakland to visit my favorite people, the marketers! The usual hotel we stay in was booked so I took a gamble and picked a random doubletree that was nearby. 

Here is the view I currently have from my patio:

Turns out my room is right on the Berkley Marina! Not to shabby. 

Plus they have plenty of pretty flowers 

So even if the visit with marketing goes terrible, at least I'm living the life tonight I my beach front property!