Adventure took us to Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek this weekend. Our annual trek to Sykes Hot Springs was canceled this year due to unsafe conditions in the Ventana Wilderness, and with literally everyone else bailing out Sunny and I hit up Big Basin in the outdoor spirit.

The agenda was basic: arrive, check in, set up, hike berry creek falls, dinner, booze, sleep, wake up, pack up and pack out. Easy right? Our first day went something like this: arrive, check in, booze, set up, booze some more…

…play bocce ball, then got competitive with drunk bocce ball, nap, grilled sausages for lunch, a short hike to some mini-water fall then booze and bocce some more. Awesome right?

We might have skimped on our default beer selection, but we made it up with our food choices. Rather then going to Safeway to purchase items in bulk as first planned, we went to Whole Foods where we were able to purchase an individualized selection of food items and basically blew a 6 person budget on 2.

I’m just going to say this once, but seriously the best grilled food I’ve had on any camping trip - period.

That evening we made up for our unapologetic PBR binge with some Stone’s Pale Ale - this stuff was incredibly tasty and I didn’t have to keep running to the bathroom every 2 bottles/cans like I had to with the PBR.

We lit the grill again and tossed on some fresh white corn. Not sure why so many people wrap their corns in foil, they’re perfectly fine with just the husk, well…that is if you don’t actually eat the husk. After the corn we put the main event on - two Texas BBQ (this is what Whole Foods called them) style hamburger patties down, and this was the first time I bought these as there’s St. John’s in town if I ever feel like a good burger…

However when these were done, and sandwiched - they were a epicurean explosion. They were serious burgers - moist, juicy, tangy, spicy, and just flavor packed throughout. One was more then enough, especially with the bottles of Pale Ale we were going through

Some of you might scream bloody murder, but it was well worthwhile.

The following day as we awoke from our drunken stupor, we packed up and made our way down to head quarters to start our Berry Creek Falls hike - little did we know the main trail was closed due to a fallen tree which knocked out a bridge. We had to take a detour. Rather then the planned 8 mile round trip, we attempted something of a 12 mile round trip and ran out of time half way through. Grabbed lunch, hiked back and made conversation with a cycling group from San Francisco.

That’s about it. Uneventful, but quite rejuvenating. I think I’m going to put together a group trip next time.

More on Flickr.

-Wallace

Last weekend Zagi and I headed down south to join the FRRG (Four Rings Racers Group) for their inaugural track debut at Buttonwillow Raceway some 4+ hours south of the Bay Area. I attempted to take off early but due to uncontrollable circumstances I got stuck in the office till almost 4:30pm - we barely was able to stay ahead of the Friday afternoon rush and by the time we arrived we couldn’t figure out where the Sharaton was so we made our way to a pimp ass Motel 6 room. Zagi looks like a serial killer in the above photo. Fortunately the car was not only still there the morning after, but nothing was missing either.

We grabbed a quick bite at McDonald’s at 6am then made our way to the track, arriving around 7am. When we caught up with FRRG they had their own row of garages…or at this point it was considered its own paddock area. Seth and Mike were busy checking their vehicles, while Brandon was busy directing and unloading his RS4 - which by the way, with the rear bench seat and carpet removed is pretty spacious, one could load it up with a weekend worth of hostess products via Costco.

Oh, by the way, one of the garages was fully catered - that’s how FRRG rolls. We had 5 sessions of 20 minutes in length, and by this time everyone was busy prepping their respective vehicles - in our group we had a couple Audi A4’s, a few Audi S4’s including an Avant, a couple Audi RS4’s, a couple new Mustangs, a track prepped E30 and Zagi’s Turbo’d R32.

7:45am rolled by and we hit the track for our initial lap. I swore this was the slowest I’ve ever seen Zagi on the track, going through the paces easy and smoothly. 20 minutes passed by in about 5 laps.

While they were laying the first coat of rubber onto the track, I strolled around the paddock area to see what else showed up for the 4 other sessions running with us. This is when I stumbled upon this omg so sweeeet 964.

As if that wasn’t enough, he had ‘heat cycled’ tires - can one say ‘rich off?’ For those who do not know, this basically means that Tire Rack will take the new tires you just purchased from them then put them through a process that actually wears and eats the tread away until the desired thickness - essentially, burn your new tires until they’re used…and they charge a hefty premium for this service. The results however, are nothing short of spectacular for those who have used it though.

Our 20 minutes was coming up so I made my way back to our paddock area. Brandon’s over the top RS4 was waiting for me in garage 1.

Then Seth was flaunting his pj clad rear end to Mike, who was ironically behind him most of the day.

Repeat this 4 more times and you get an idea of how the rest of the day. Zagi had a quick scare on session 4 where his MAF decided to spontaneous die on him. After a quick freak out, we checked the fuel pump and went over some scenarios…a few minutes flew by before we finally figured out it was the MAF. Anyways…a couple videos from Alvin’s chase cam on Zagi’s car

The cam also caught Brandon going over ‘Magic Mountain’ the wrong way

That save was pretty awesome.

Anyways, we packed up and headed on home. The sun sat as we zipped up 5 to the 101.

Pics on Flickr.

-Wallace

Grabbed this from DesignRehab. Usually Earth Day promotional material is so boring - think of the last piece of Earth Day print or media you’ve seen and it probably involves a picture of our globe, or a tree, a leaf or litter. Earth Day’s sole message is, “Look, we only have one Earth - let’s try to not screw it up.”

This piece of media successfully superimposes the current situation of the arctic circle on to many of our familiar living situations.

-Wallace

We celebrated our anniversary early by taking a spontaneous trip down to none other then Hollywood. It’s been long over due for me and Crystal simply wanted to shop with the stars…literally. There was some confusion early on, such as I thinking Los Angeles was only a mere 4 hours away…Crystal promptly corrected me when I arrived at her place, “uhhh…no, it’s 6 hours away.” Oh…I thought, well that sucks…I would have flew as I hate driving and absolute despise anything longer then 4 hours - which by the way is how long it takes to get to Tahoe from here.

Anyways, after a belated start we were finally on our way and guess what? Due to the Oakland Police Funeral being held the same day law enforcement of all shapes and sizes decided to caravan down the 5 as well - so we went the entire distance not a mile above 80 mph down the grapevine. Police cars, suv’s and motorcycles the entire length. Awesome. We made it in some 5 hours and 30 minutes; absolutely hungry, exhausted, and cramped.

Check out our killer.

After checking in we grabbed dinner at the hotel; Crystal the lasagna and myself the meat loaf - food here is more or less under par, but not exactly expensive…that being said imagine an overpriced tv dinner - skip. Being it was so late only Luis went out of his way to grab drinks and chat it up at the Standard. We soon passed out around midnight and struggled to wake up the following day.

We missed our brunch at the Penthouse restaurant in the Huntley, but gorged on Mel’s instead. Afterwards spent the day shopping along Robertson and Melrose. Crystal bought a new super cute dress while I drooled over an Alfa Romeo 8C in front of the Ivy. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel and realized that our ‘relaxed afternoon’ by the pool would have to be infused with a little bit of Rehab at the Hard Rock in Vegas. We stayed at the party hotel…shocker.

After a quick tan session we napped then went to Koi for dinner - absolutely fantastic, our waitress was superb, attentive, extremely helpful and well…I swore she was on ecstasy as she seemed to be having more fun then we were. I especially loved the seared tuna with onion crisps and the grilled japanese eggplant. We finished an hour ahead of schedule so we decided to check out Skybar at the Mondrian - this was probably the most relaxed spot we’ve been the entire trip but 9pm hit and we had a date with Walter and Jill over at Lola’s. Wayne, Walter’s waiter, told us that it was tradition that the guys drank “Starfuckers” (I’m not making this up) and the women drank Pomegranate Martini’s…never had I had a martini I enjoyed so much and with Walter drinking 5 Starfuckers for every 1 of mine…we were soon over the top. Sia, Shebani, Navid, Arash, Belcher, Ryan, Barry and the whole gang eventually showed up and we ended on a roaring note. Much thanks to Walter and Jill for taking care of the bunch of us this evening. We left absolutely trashed.

The next morning we passed our morning run, I wanted to die and Crystal had trouble getting up. We rushed over to our brunch reservation at the Huntley and I wanted to puke the entire drive over. After I got some coffee and some eggs in me I felt a whole lot better. The Penthouse is a cool restaurant, and the Huntley…well, my type of joint. Definitely staying here if I find myself in Santa Monica again. Thanks to Crystal for scouting out the Huntley.

Then we scoured third street promenade, I mean how could we not? When in Rome…right? Finally we were off to the Getty, one of the only things I absolutely wanted to do on this trip.

Luis told us to go toward the evening, as the sunsets at the Getty Center were nothing short of astounding. However, due to lack of time we couldn’t…we were there late enough in the day to see some vibrant colors in the flora though.

The Getty Center itself was the attraction we both agreed later, although it houses some amazing art and treasures…especially the van gough and the two monets, it’s most impressive ability was its architecture. Massive slabs of travertine, mind blowing landscaping, and the perfect use of light. The entire center was on display. I certainly wish to go back on a less crowded day, and to visit the Getty Villa down in Malibu as well.

After the Getty we visite Gary and Alev who has been so generous to many of us. Alev introduced me to these ‘jasmine pearls,’ little did I know the best tea did not come in bags. I actually bought Crystal a jar as well but haven’t dug into it, I’m curious to taste this ‘OMGWTFBBQ’ tea that Alev and Gary keeps talking about. Ever the entertainers, Gary set up wines, cheeses and nuts for the both of us but due to the long drive back I was a bit cautious. One thing that did get me was his cats…my eye was itchy so I rubbed it…with the same hand that I was petting the cat with. Oh noes… If you have ever watched Will Smith in Hitch, fast forward to the food allergy scene - yes, that was me.

Crystal ended up driving most of the way home as I really needed to rest my eye. While she did that I was able to snap a bunch of pics and nurse the case of wine Gary sent us packing with.

A memorable weekend. Thanks to everyone who took part, and next time…I won’t wait another 3 years. Crystal’s actually ready to go again this weekend.

More Pics on my Flickr

Thanks Guys -

Wallace

Today is our anniversary. Yes, it is ironically April Fool’s.

Being a good boyfriend I decided to send Crystal one of the more modern floral arrangements through Teleflora which has been nothing but awesome. Until today…

Crystal sends me an email with “Thanks for the flowers!!!!!” this afternoon with the enclosed picture:

Baffled, I wasn’t sure if I should reply back to her…as she seemed to be satisfied - but I asked her if that was what they really delivered. Without waiting for a response I sent a less then amused email, and I believe some of it was profanity laced.

Adam replied - shocked, embarrassed, and probably genuinely amused. He offered a full refund, or whatever it will take to set things right. I mean come on, the two aren’t even SIMILAR!!!!

Crystal got caught up so didn’t have time to respond until just a few minutes ago. I’m sure she was literally rolling on the floor laughing, while i was rolling on the floor moaning. Anyways, she replied, “April Fools!!!!”

Therefore I ended up with the delightful task of explaining this entire situation to Adam, the teleflora customer service guy. So, with this I HIGHLY recommend Teleflora’s services and sincerely hope that whoever you’re dating is a whole lot less mischievous then Crystal.

Just wait…I’m going to get her back.

-April Fool