Sequoia Diary

This past weekend Asia, I, and some friends spent labor day weekend in the Sequoia National Forest.

We ended our summer with a time full of fun and adventure....

Sequoia is the perfect place to get away. It's so peaceful and beautiful up there, and there's a ton of places to explore. We started the weekend by heading to my all-time favorite thrift stores. It's great because the townspeople are all elderly and give away their old clothes, which to our benefit have just come back in style. We all got a couple of things, and I even managed to score a Konica color for three bucks. Seriously love that place! We also got to explore a part of town that I had never seen before. There are a ton of antique and native american stores that we normally just drive by, but this time we stopped. One of the stores sold things from handcrafted turquoise rings to rabbit pelts. I bought a davy crockett hat, which I had when I was a kid, but had outgrown.

We ventured down this river and found some really amazing watering holes. They were tough to get to, but definitely worth it. Tons of small waterfalls and a few caves. It was so serene. No one was there and we were completely hidden. We had the whole place to ourselves. We swam and played for a couple of hours getting a bit burned, but who cares. It was so perfect. There are some really fantastic fisheye film photos on their way. They're currently being developed, but I'll post them when they arrive. Afterwards we hit the town market for ribs, and our favorite ice cream parlor for a treat after trekking through the river.  

When we got back to the house we were so swamped. We just rested till dinner rolled around, which of course was the ribs. My mom also cooked up a crab and potato salad. And she just found out about this new vegetable called Kale. It's is a variation of the wild cabbage. Very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and calcium so naturally very healthy. I gathered some plants from around the house, they looked pretty interesting and they all had a really nice scent. Vanessa and I made chai frappucinos for everyone. Chai Experts. She told me about the chai powder she gets and now I can't stop making it. I'm always chillin' with my chai! I took the next picture of the garage/yoga studio which is covered in native foliage. It's completely green with more than a dozen solar panels on the roof.

And I just thought I'd throw in this nice bag of meow mix.

For our final adventure we went on a hike outside of the Sequioa's. There was supposed to be wild horses roaming, but sadly they were nowhere to be found. It was a relatively easy hike, but draining due to the heat. The destination was these two fishing ponds which were pretty much off the map. Very hidden and not much activity. One of the ponds was completely covered in a mossy light green algae. It was really still. Quiet, tranquil. We just enjoyed ourselves and took in all the scenery. It was so nice to be out of LA and in the wilderness. It was an amazing trip and I know we'll be back before the year is over.

This final trip to Sequoia was the perfect way to end to our summer.

RIP SUMMER 2011