Home, Sweet Home! - Los Angeles, CA (Part 2)

     
        My birthday week was out of the way and Christmas was quickly approaching!  Most of my friends were leaving to go home for the holidays. I was beyond happy to be asked if I would house and dog sit over the holiday!  :)

       It was nice to stay in my hometown in my friends' cozy place. I just loved being surrounded in a cute, clean environment with constant reminders of love and Christmas all around.  Having a little companion to stretch my legs with and love on was quite amazing as well.

My new B.F.F. Ellie and all the cards and packages that came for my friends w/ love.

     

The vanity mirror with a sweet note of appreciation.

 
        Even though the little notes and reminders of love spread all over the house weren't for me they made me feel warm and cozy.  I always smile when I think about the fact that 'You will become like the five people you surround yourself with the most' when I think of our friendship. I genuinely feel inspired, loved and appreciated when I am around them.  I admire how they interact and treat people with love, practice random acts of kindness and always extend open invites.
        Thank you friends.  I love you and I appreciate you.







        The week flew by and it was now Christmas Eve.  It was raining but we didn't care!  We sat in the back yard around the camp fire, laughed and knew that we were blessed to be around amazing people that were happy to be alive, appreciating and living in such a glorious moment.  It was a beautiful way to celebrate a day that is supposed to represent all things of goodness and light.

Jeramy and Kirstin loving the fire and the rain!

When no other wood burn the important stuff for the cause!  :p

Jeramy is a travel extraordinaire and the mastermind of GoHobo. (Hence the logos.) 
GoHobo is club that was started by getting people in the vicinity to get together for exploring, beach days, yoga hikes, football in the park and is rapidly turning into an online gathering area for budget and shoestring travel, hiking, backpacking, health, camaraderie and as they put it 
"all good things starting from the feet".  
Visit Gohobo's facebook, give them a like, share your travel stories and get inspired!  

         Christmas was everything I imagined.  It was modest and shared with my immediate family.  My mom made me some crocheted scarves and winter hats.  We had a sweet dinner and kept everything simple.  

          From here on I'll mostly just be uploading photos with captions from the rest of my time home so we can get back to the traveling bit.  You'll get to see some of San Francisco, Santa Cruz mountains, Reno, Portland and others in the next post(s). 

         As always, thanks for reading and sharing my experiences.  

xx, 

Nicole

Home, Sweet Home! - Los Angeles, CA (Part 1)

     I was still very melancholy about leaving Europe; sad yet happy.  It was six days until my birthday and 13 days until Christmas.  No one except my mom knew I was coming home.  What would it be like?  Would I see my home in the same eyes as when I left? Would my friends have forgotten me? Would they be too busy?  My head was filled with all these thoughts.  Maybe I should have canceled my flight so I wouldn't get stuck at home.  If I did cancel my flight what would I have done? Where would I have gone? Was flying home worth it?  Was I really going to be able to leave home in a month and a half as planned?

    I decided it was better if I just tried to nap the whole way and let all those things go. It really doesn't make sense to worry about things when you know you're not going to actually change your mind. The flight ended up being pretty sweet.  It was December 12th and there was no one on the airplane.  I had three seats all to myself!  

     There was an airplane switch in Las Vegas..... where I really contemplated staying for the night, getting a hotel room and a rental car and driving home the next day (or two days later! :P )  I decided to be a well behaved girl and get on the next airplane instead.  To this day i'm really not sure why!

Well, hello Las Vegas! - Dec 13

       I was so happy to be home!  My mom was waiting for me with a big hug and kiss.. and my car! Yay! Freedom! It was warm, the sun was shinning, I didn't need a parka.  We loaded up my backpack into the car and I GOT TO DRIVE!  Haha!! First time in over four months!  My mom was scared silly!  I glanced over just to see her holding the arm rests like a cat trying to avoid a bath; claws out and everything. Haha!
         

Hello view from mom's porch! - Dec 13

         My mom had pulled out a few items of clothing, my teddy bear (don't hate), my bathrobe, perfume, body washes and now had a "bedroom" for me!

         Wow!!  I had a home.

Pre-decorating the Xmas tree - me, santa, my mom, tank the dog and my brother's feet
Dec 15

         My mom must have been relieved that I was home and in one piece.  My brother seemed happy to see me too.  I was happy I committed that day to tree decorating before I left England. The next few days, few weeks were a blur.  I was every where, all at one time.  This gave me a chance to spend some time with my family.  

         I soon dashed off to this holiday party to start surprising people!  You know,  I do love a surprise!

Alex (ex-coworker), Victor (ex-coworker and great long time friend), me and Walter (a mutual friend an amazing guy)
Victor is so built his chest was popping buttons.  ;)
A holiday party I crashed for two, or technically three, of my employers - Dec 15

         It was an eventful night of seeing many familiar faces!  It was a great feeling.  What feeling?  The feeling of being known, having shared experiences with people and automatically being greeted with a smiling face and a HUGE hug! Their shocked faces were pretty priceless too.  The night was a little climactic but it ended well.  

         I soon woke up in a daze and rushed down the road to meet up with my buddies!

Jeramy and David who integrated Nicoke!  seconds after this photo was taken - Dec 16

         We were off to Joshua Tree for Zack's birthday.  Funny enough, it was my and Jeramy's birthday in two days and Zack's girlfriend, Laura's birthday in three days! Four out of six of us had birthdays.  It was a birthday bonanza!  :D

Sonic with the crew! Notice the lady on skates? ...only in America.

We're almost there! Joshua trees - Dec 15

         We were headed for Joshua Tree, yes.  More specifically we were headed for "Hicksville".  It is a small village of old air streams and campers made into accommodation with activities to keep us busy. 

         Thanks Lilly for the following photos!  :)

Hello Hicksville!

I spy CORN HOLE!

Laura and Lilly!

Zack, David and Jeramy!

Target practice with Laura

Zack's birthday cake!

         It was such a nice time!  There were a few shenanigans that took place that night as you can imagine.  Some one ate the dog treats.  Some one else had a slight fall for no apparent reason.  There was a lot of hugging going on, laughing and smiling.  More than I remember.... I guess that's what photos are for.  :D

         The next day there was a couple football games so the boys wanted to watch it in town.

         We girls went to Palm Springs and had lunch!

Yay! Lilly and me - Dec 16

This is my favorite Mexican restaurants in P.S. - Dec 16
Everything seemed so bright and colorful!

         We soon finished lunch walked around a bit and headed back to Los Angeles.  

         From the gang's house I went straight to meet up with yet more ex co-workers. (I was invited at the holiday party.) This gathering was for Diana's birthday!  Yay Diana!  Happy birthday!  

Diana, Kristy from Paris, Micki from Colorado and me --from Mars - Dec 17

         I hung around with them, chatted and reminisced for a few hours before every one called it a night.  It was lovely to see every them as well as Bridget (not pictured) again!

         From there I was off to one of my closest friend Torrey's!  I went straight to bed.  The next morning I was glad to wake up there on my birthday.  Especially when my favorite breakfast on the planet was on the menu and there was a morning toast! 

Bestie & breakfast! - Dec 18

The essence of Torrey - Dec 18

         Torrey happened to have the day off.  So... what to do?!  Scoop up his friend Tony and... drive around until we found something awesome to do?  Maybe do some christmas shopping at the Glendale Galleria?

We found Santa Claus checking his list on the way - Dec 18

and I scored a new hat!  Thank you Torrey! - Dec 18

         The sun was bigger and brighter.  The clouds had never been so beautiful!  I never saw LA in such a great light. We were rocking out in the car.  Yes.. I was actually singing.  I was happy to be home and overjoyed to be alive!

Random shot of Glendale and the clouds - Dec 18

         What was next?  Drop Tony off and have an Oyster House celebration! It seems all my friends were busy but Torrey was still making my day.  Man, those oysters were good!

Dec 18

         We decided to go back to Torrey's house and invite his friends and my mom.  Of course my mom brought my brother. 

My brother Jacob and me - Dec 18

       
         It was weird... for the first time in my life my brother bought me a birthday and/or present.  It contained quite a few pairs of thermals so I wouldn't be cold on my travels.  Pretty thoughtful.

         One of those pairs of thermals happened to be these:

They were a bit over sized even though they were a medium and literally fit three people! - Dec 18
They were a great laugh!  Thanks Jake!
(Katie, Cole and me)

         That's basically how that night ended.  The whole week was good fun with people I love.  I really enjoyed myself!

         Stay tuned!  This post is to be continued!

A journey to see "The Angels"

Oregon was incredible! I was delighted to leave around 6 pm.  This way, unknowingly I would have the opportunity to pass by the magnificent mass of formed dirt they call Mount Shasta at DAWN! Ugh, the beauty is indescribable!

 

 

 

 This is a 360 view just past the marker for the Oregon trail.

Yes, those are camera straps! Film shots are coming soon.

After being in the sun all day I was completely exhausted.  I felt like sleeping as soon as I got in the car but the views kept me entertained and awake.

I landed in Sacramento around 1:30 am.

When I woke up it was 108 degrees outside! Mr. Pigglesworth was not having it. Piggie pool round two was necessary!  This time Emu-head decided he was going to join in.

After this, we scooped up all the cousins in Sacramento and spent a few hours at the river in Columa. Columa is big for it's GOLD and METEORITE! Yep, meteorite, dust that fell from a meteor when it crashed into the earth many miles away a just few months earlier.  Pretty cool, right?

The last surprise from this trip is that cousin Alisa would be joining my on my travels back to LA.  We packed the car said our goodbyes and left Sacramento around 9 pm.  This would put us back in LA around 3 am, except there was construction the whole way home.  We didn't arrive until 4 am.  I slept about three hours.  I was so happy to be back "home" on the couch at my friends' house. I couldn't wait to say good morning and start getting everything ready for an 11 am departure to begin my cross country/around the world trip the next day!

 My first task of the day would be to repack my three suitcases into one, small, lightweight backpack. (Thanks for your help cousin! You helped me keep my focus and I appreciated it.)  Second errand, to take Alisa and pick my mom up from the mechanic so mom can help me move my cars to her house for semi-permanent storage!

My mom and her second cousin, Alisa hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years! That's nuts!  So, I didn't tell my mom Alisa would be joining me. This way I could see the look on her face!  As my mom was introducing me to her mechanic, I said, "hi George. Nice to meet you.  This is my friend Alisa." I guess my mom didn't even see anyone else in the car.  My mom stooped into the car, her reaction was a little late because she had to realize it wasn't just my friend but her long lost cousin.  As soon as that clicked in her brain her mouth immediately dropped wide open and it was all hugs. Yes!! I did my part!

The three of us spent the rest of the day running my lame errands.  Going to the bank, buying one more ring to fake people into thinking I'm married while I'm on the road, picking my bike up and delivering it to a friend's house so they can use it while i'm gone and junk like that.

All and all a very successful two days!  Awesome times!