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  • Category: exploring

    • white sands

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on February 22, 2018

      Last summer, right before my fellowship started, D and I decided to take a road trip that I’d been wanting to do since we moved to Arizona.

      Actually, a visit to White Sands National Monument was on my list of requirements when deciding to move to AZ (instead of L.A.), along with a trip to Page, to see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, and to Arches National Park.

      We didn’t really have a plan, other than White Sands and we had 3 or 4 days before we had to be back, so we just loaded up our tent and headed out, which is, in my opinion, the only way to road trip.

      D had never been to Texas, so we made a slight detour to have lunch (Tex-Mex, obviously) in El Paso before heading up into New Mexico. I really wanted to make another detour to Truth or Consequences because I can’t think of a cooler town name, but I had already gotten sidetracked by some lunch margaritas, and we wanted to make it to White Sands before dark.

      Alamogordo is the nearest town to White Sands, and our plan was to stay in the area for two nights, camping on the dunes the first night, and then staying in town the second night.

      I’d seen pictures of White Sands before we went, but pictures can be misleading. As we started getting closer to the monument, I started to see sand on the side of the road, and I wasn’t sure if it was THE sand; it was white, but not as white as I thought it would be. But then we came around a bend in the road, and I saw the actual dunes, and there is no mistaking it, it is blindingly white. It looks like fresh snow.

      We got to the visitor center around 3:00 pm, and learned about the camping options, there were open spots but it was about a mile hike each way from the parking lot, which wouldn’t have been a problem normally, but by the time we got there it was so. freaking. cold out. And super windy. I’m pretty sure our tent would have blown away in the night with us inside of it. So we decided to camp in town that night, and come back and stay at the monument the next day instead.

      In case you aren’t familiar, parts of White Sands are used for missile testing, the first test of an atomic bomb was actually done there. They still do tests, including the night after we arrived, so we weren’t able to camp on the dunes that night either. You can call ahead to check the schedule, if you’re so inclined, or you can be like me and just show up and see.

      We stayed out on the dunes for sunset, the wind did end up dying down a little bit, but it was too late to camp by then. The dunes are so gorgeous, it’s really stunning to see, especially at sunset. You can also rent little saucers to go sledding down the dunes, but I’m not the most coordinated and decided the emergency room in Alamogordo was a site I could probably skip.

      We stayed overnight at the KOA in Alamogordo, and had a couple of drinks around the campfire with a guy we met from Seattle who was road tripping around the entire outside perimeter of the U.S. The next morning, we packed up, and basically flipped a coin to decide if we were going to keep going northeast to Santa Rosa (dyinggg to go here), northwest to Four Corners, or head back south.

      I would definitely recommend a visit to White Sands if you’re going to be near the area, it’s really stunning and has an interesting history. And luckily, I didn’t find out that the area around White Sands was the inspiration for the movie The Hills Have Eyes until I was safely back in Arizona, or I probably wouldn’t have slept at all.

      Posted in exploring, life, new mexico, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged national parks, new mexico, road trip, white sands, white sands national monument
    • randomness in NYC

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on April 1, 2016

      A few random pictures from my trip to NYC in February. I was there for work, and it absolutely poured for most of the time I was able to run in the park a few mornings, which was heavenly as always.

      I didn’t stay for the weekend this time, instead I took the latest flight home on Saturday so I would still have some time to creep around.

      NYC

      NYC

      NYC

      I wanted to see a play on Friday night, I’ve been dying to see The Book of Mormon for years, but the only ticket I could find was standing, with a partially obstructed view for $100. I passed, but apparently I’m just going to have to suck it up and spend the money if I ever want to see it. They came to SF a couple of years ago and it was $800 a ticket, so $150 next time I’m in NYC probably isn’t terrible.

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      I spent all of Saturday creeping (read: walking) all over the city, including a trip to Brooklyn, and eating ALL OF THE THINGS. It was the best day ever, but more to come on that. At the end of the best day ever, I still had some more time to kill before my flight so I decided to head to the Museum of Natural History, because I’ve wanted to go there for years.

      NYC

      NYC

      NYC

      I didn’t realize they had a new exhibit on dinosaurs opening that day, so I was truly shocked to see a line that went on for 3 city blocks. I decided to skip it, and instead, I cut across the park and went to the Met.

      What people (including me) don’t realize about the Met is that there isn’t actually a ticket price, it’s a donation. I didn’t get it until the cashier asked me for the 5th time if I was sure I really wanted to pay $25. I’m sure I couldn’t have looked stupider as I pointed to the sign and stammered inarticulately at her, but in the end I just ended up paying the full price so that the interaction could be over. Money well spent.

      NYC

      NYC

      NYC

      Being at the Met in person was amazing, I went from room to room taking in all of the pieces, and so many of them I had seen prints of before, which did absolutely no justice to the real thing. Some of my favourites were the Vigee Le Brun exhibit, she painted images of Marie Antoinette and her children (I’ve probably read every single book ever written on Marie Antoinette, it’s a problem) and the Monet paintings.

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      My mom bought me an enormous waterlilies print when I was in high school, and it was so big it took up almost the whole wall of our bathroom. It didn’t really go with anything else in our house, but it was love at first sight and I begged until she gave in.

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      Even just writing this post has me excited for my next trip. Truly love this city.

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      Posted in art, exploring, New York, travel, USA | 2 Comments | Tagged Central Park, exploring, monet, New York, nyc, renoir, the met, travel
    • always say yes

      Posted at 8:05 am by jasminedesirees, on November 16, 2015

      hawaii

      “Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.” ~ Ian Fleming

      I’m writing this from a beach house in Waianae, Hawaii. I booked my ticket Friday night, and left Saturday morning.

      I struggled for a few minutes, over whether or not this was a practical thing that a normal, well-adjusted person would do, and then realized, I don’t care.

      Posted in exploring, Hawaii, loveliness, quotes, travel, USA | 1 Comment | Tagged adventure, beach, Hawaii, ian fleming, quotes, travel
    • seattle: emp

      Posted at 9:34 am by jasminedesirees, on October 6, 2015

      A couple of weekends ago I was lucky enough to spend a few days exploring Seattle. We had gorgeous weather, so we were able to spend a lot of each day outside, wandering around. We fit so many things into our time there, but it didn’t feel rushed.

      One of our first stops on the first day was the EMP, a music and cultural museum right beside the Space Needle. There were exhibits on Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Fantasy and Horror movies, and Star Wars costumes. It was really interesting, I loved the Nirvana exhibit, and seeing Jimi Hendrix’s passport was awesome.

      Also, they had Sirius Black’s coat from Harry Potter, and Jarrett’s entire outfit from the Labyrinth, probably the greatest movie ever made, and the cappuccino’s in the restaurant were amazing.

      They had an exhibit on Chuck Jones, a longtime animator for WB who was responsible for a lot of the Loony Tunes cartoons. He had a quote that I really liked, “All worthwhile endeavors are 90% work and 10% love, and only the love should show.”

      EMP Seattle

      EMP Seattle

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      Posted in exploring, Seattle, travel, Washington | 0 Comments | Tagged emp, jimi hendrix, kurt cobain, music, nirvana, seattle, travel
    • angel island

      Posted at 7:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 21, 2015

      It’s funny how you move to a new place, and for awhile every day is an exciting discovery, but then eventually, that new place becomes just the place where you live. When we first moved to California, we were exploring new places all the time, but after awhile we settled down to regular life, and most of our travels were to SoCal, or out of state.

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      angel island

      Angel Island has been on my list since I first found out we were moving and started creeping for fun things to do, but somehow it never happened. The nice thing is that we still have friends and family in the area and we go back to the Bay pretty often, so just because we haven’t done something yet (I’m looking at you Alcatraz) doesn’t mean we won’t.

      We ended up going to Angel Island this summer, finally, with Derek’s brother, his girlfriend, and their daughter. We left from Sausalito (one of my favourite places) and took the ferry across on a beautiful sunny Sunday in July.

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      angel island

      The ferry ride was $15/person, plus $1 per bike. If you are thinking of visiting and you have a bike, definitely bring it. Rentals are pretty expensive, so $1 to bring your own bike on the ferry is a steal.

      angel island

      angel island

      When you land at Angel Island there is a little pier area with a couple little restaurants (some of them look really good, and the prices weren’t terrible either) and a place to rent bikes. They also sell wine, which is a useful tip for after the bike ride is over.

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      angel island

      When you first start riding up you are on a narrow little dirt path that is very steep, and you last about 15 seconds before you get off and start pushing your bike, and wondering when the next ferry back leaves.

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      angel island

      But once you get to the top of that little area, the path widens out, and is paved, and is generally not very steep. There were lots of families doing the bike ride together, so it’s not super difficult but there were definitely a couple of times when I was exhausted but had to peddle really hard to beat a little girl up a hill. Not today, Pigtails.

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      angel island

      The only part of the ride that is really hard is when you are around the opposite side, with the best view of San Francisco. In order to get to the magnificent view of the Golden Gate Bridge, you have to ride up the side of a hill that recently made a cameo in Everest. It feels impossible, but the view once you make it to the top is worth it.

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      angel island

      After the hill, it’s mostly flat or downhill. It’s really the last place where you need to put in any effort, so keep telling yourself that as you struggle for breath and turn the colour of a cherry tomato.

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      angel island

      Angel Island used to be an old military base, so there are some really neat old buildings to look at as you pedal, and we had a rare hot day in San Francisco, so we stopped and hung out on one of the beaches while we ate lunch.

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      angel island

      If you are planning on checking out Angel Island, especially in the summer, make sure you bring sunscreen, there isn’t a lot of shade, and lots of water. Once you leave the pier area, there isn’t anywhere to get more water, although there are some picnic tables at the top of the aforementioned mammoth hill.

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      angel island

      angel island

      The BEST thing about our Angel Island trip is that my brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend while we were there! So not only was it a beautiful fun day, but now I get a new sister, and I get to wear this dress to a wedding in the Spring. Wins all around.

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      angel island

      angel island

      And speaking of things I haven’t gotten to do in California yet, we are still deciding whether or not to spend Christmas there (I’m 28 and I’ve never not been with my family. Yes, I’m a baby.) but if we do, I am slightly cheered at the prospect of spending a few days camping in Big Sur between Christmas and New Years. We may die of exposure in our tents, but live dangerously or not at all.

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      angel island

      angel island

      Posted in California, exploring, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged angel island, bay area, California, San Francisco, travel
    • the last bookstore

      Posted at 8:51 am by jasminedesirees, on August 18, 2015

      On our way from Phoenix to San Francisco last weekend there were 3 things I wanted to do. One of them was to stop in at The Last Bookstore in L.A.

      I read about it a couple of years ago, and had been wanting to go, but the last few times I was there I ran out of time. This time I was looking for any excuse to break up the interminable dross of 11 hours in the car, and it was just what I needed.

      The Last Bookstore is in downtown L.A. As soon as I walked through the door, I was struck by what a cool place it was. It’s very big and open with rows of book shelves (obviously), and a big art installation made from paperbacks along one wall. The back right corner is dedicated to old records, and the entire upstairs section is more books, and art displays from local artists.

      There is a little stage/nook area where people were cuddled up reading in big comfy chairs.They often do author readings at the store. There were so many books I wanted to get, I could have spent hours in there, but unfortunately I only had a few minutes. I ended up picking Before I Die, a closer look and compilation of all the Before I Die projects walls, all over the world.

      I’d heard of the project a few years ago and had been wanting to check it out. It was between that, Letters of Note, a book based on a blog I’ve followed for ages, and an amazing looking veggie cookbook, but Before I Die won out in the end.

      We ended up stopping at Griffith park for a picnic afterwards so I got to spend a couple of hours lounging in the sun reading, before we headed to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to watch Vertigo. It was a perfect few hours in L.A.

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      Posted in books, California, exploring, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged before i die, California, reading, the last bookstore
    • twenty eight

      Posted at 10:12 am by jasminedesirees, on March 16, 2015

      Yesterday was my birthday, I spent a great weekend exploring the San Diego area, sleeping on the beach, and eating cupcakes. I was thinking back over the past year, and how amazing it’s been, so I wanted to take a little time to reminisce, and share some of my favourite experiences.

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      March 2014- On my birthday last year, we were on a trip to visit New York City for the first time, and it was everything I’d been dreaming of. It was kind of one of those spontaneous trips where you’re not sure if it’s really necessary, but you could do it, so we did, and I’m so, so glad. We also visited Niagara Falls, and got one of my friends married off in Toronto.

      April 2014- Last April, my sister came out to visit me in San Francisco for the first time, and we had the best weekend ever. We took a last minute road trip down to L.A. to spend a few days with my family. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, so driving down to meet up with them was kind of a no-brainer, even though we had to change a flight we already had booked, and rent a car in order to get there. We also went out to Phoenix for the weekend for the first time, not realizing then that we’d be moving out there in less than a year.

      May 2014- In May, we were well on our way to finalizing plans for our trip. We were spending as much time with family and friends as possible, and really enjoying our last few weeks of living in California, including a lovely day in Capitola.

      June 2014- In June, we spent a few days visiting my family in Montana, and then took off for Thailand, mid-month. I loved visiting Bangkok, the Floating Market and the White Temple.

      July 2014- In July, we moved down to the islands of Thailand, including Phi Phi and Railay, and then spent a couple of weeks in Cambodia, visiting Angkor. Ta Prohm was my favourite place in the world. We also spent a few days in Singapore, and visited the Cloud Forest, and the Supertrees.

      August 2014- In early August we finished up our last few days in Indonesia, including the most amazing time diving in Flores and trekking with Komodo dragons. Then we finally landed in Australia, hung out in Sydney for a few days, then started our road trip up to Cairns, and also, this happened.

      September 2014- In September we were still creeping around Australia. We visited Whitehaven, spent a few weeks working on a farm, and then a few more weeks hanging out in Byron Bay, and hiking to the lighthouse every day. This is still the most amazing graffiti I’ve ever seen.

      October 2014- In October, we made the decision that as much as we loved Australia, it was too expensive for us, so we headed back to Indonesia, to relax on the Gili’s, hike Batur, trek Rinjani, visit the beach of my dreams, and creep around in Kuta Lombok, and South Kuta.

      November 2014- In November we took a spontaneous trip to the Philippines (posts coming this week!) and eventually, made our way back to California.

      December 2014- In December, we spent as much time as we could with our friends and family in California, then packed up our stuff and moved to Phoenix.

      January 2015- In January, we spent a blissful week in Montana, made a quick trip up to Canada to experience the -40 weather and load up on ketchup chips, and then headed back to start life in Arizona.

      February 2015- In February, we finally got our furniture and got actually moved in to our new place, and then got to start exploring our new state with trips to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and the Grand Canyon.

      Posted in exploring, life, travel | 2 Comments | Tagged Australia, birthday, Cambodia, exploring, Indonesia, life, nyc, Phoenix, Singapore, Thailand, travel
    • antelope canyon

      Posted at 8:05 am by jasminedesirees, on February 16, 2015
      antelope canyon

      This last weekend we took the first of many planned roadtrips to check out our new part of the world. We drove up to Page on Friday night, and spent the next two days creeping around and exploring.

      It’s about a four hour drive, but I downloaded season one of the Serial podcast to listen to on the drive up, and the whole thing pretty much flew by.

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      We were up early on Saturday, and our first stop was the Lower Antelope Canyon. I have a charming (probably) tendency to see something, or read about something, and then want to go off and do it right away, without doing a ton of (or any) research, which is usually fine, but sometimes it means we end up stranded in the Sydney airport, or spending 3 days in Mataram for no reason.

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      In this case, it means we drove up to Page, and then I started reading about the Antelope Canyon, and how maybe if you are claustrophobic, you shouldn’t go in there. Errrrr. Also, it said the best time to go is March to October because that’s when the famous “light beams” are most prevalent.

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      I read from a bunch of places that Lower Antelope is better, and less crowded, and also read that Ken’s Tours was the best company to go with for Lower Antelope (you have to go with a guide), so that’s what we did.

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      The tour was $28/ person, and lasted about an hour and a half. It’s only about a half mile total, so not super strenuous, but definitely wear running shoes because the stairs to get down are kind of steep, and it’s a bit narrow in places.

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      It was seriously worth the drive and the price, it was so amazingly beautiful in there. I took about 1000 pictures, I couldn’t get enough of it. Our guide was really nice, and she showed us different places to take pictures right up against the rocks to get a certain image with names like “Rocky Mountain Sunset” and “Sand Wave”.

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      Also it turned out that the best time to visit Upper Antelope is in the summer, but the best time to visit Lower Antelope is actually in the winter, so we did get to see some light beams. I told you it usually works out fine.

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      If you are going to visit, make sure to check the weather forecast (I never do) but if it rains the canyons are closed because they fill up with water quickly and it can be very dangerous.

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      Also, bring a light jacket, because it gets chilly down there. By the end of the tour I couldn’t unclench my hands. And maybe don’t wear shorts. I will never learn, apparently.

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      At the end of the tour, you climb out of a little slot in the rock (watch your head) and when you turn around and look behind you, you almost can’t even tell there is anything there, it just looks like rocks and desert.

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      antelope canyon

      Posted in Arizona, exploring, USA | 7 Comments | Tagged antelope canyon, Arizona, exploring, Lower Antelope, page, road trip, serial, slot canyons, southwest, travel
    • very superstitious

      Posted at 8:40 am by jasminedesirees, on February 2, 2015

      Last Sunday we took a much needed break from unpacking and trying to get our lives organized to actually go outside and enjoy life for a few hours.

      We went over to check out the Superstition Mountains at Lost Dutchman State Park, about a 40 minute drive east of Phoenix.

      We did the Treasure Loop Trail, about 2 miles in total, so not very ambitious, but there are a bunch of different trails, so we’re definitely going to go back and check out as many of the other ones as we can in the next few months.

      Apparently come June Arizona turns into a terrifying hell-scape of venomous rattlesnakes and 120 F temperatures.

      So not exactly peak hiking conditions, you might say.

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      superstition mountains

      Posted in Arizona, exploring, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged Arizona, fitness, hiking, Lost Dutchman State Park, superstition mountains
    • castello di amarosa

      Posted at 10:29 am by jasminedesirees, on December 10, 2014

      We spent Saturday being chauffeured around Napa in a limo, drinking lots of wine and enjoying the gorgeous December sunshine. We visited the Castello di Amarosa, a vineyard and winery, and also the most amazing castle I’ve ever seen.

      I’ve really only seen the Iolani Palace, and Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but still.

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      We did the guided tour, so in addition to the public areas of the castle that anyone can visit if they come to the vineyard which includes a ballroom and a chapel, we also got to see the underground portion, including jails and a torture chamber, and many feet of tunnels stacked with barrels of wine.

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      It took fifteen years to build the castle, and all of the materials are authentic, sourced from ruins of castle in Europe. All of the iron work in the castle was recovered from ruins, and if they couldn’t find it there, they had it made in the authentic style as it would have been in 12th-16th century Europe.

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      We learned a lot about the wine they produce during the tour, and also about the castle itself, and it was really interesting.

      All of the stonework was done by a master stone mason, and different sections of the castle were done in the styles from different centuries, so they point that out to you on the tour, and explain what the differences were, and why.

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      For the last stop on our tour we stopped in a private underground tasting room that felt a lot like a dungeon, but at least there were bread sticks, and tried a bunch of the different wines that are made by the vineyard. I really liked a lot of them, I used to hate red wine, but in the last few years I’ve really grown to like it more and more, especially Zinfandel.

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      My favourites were Dolcino, it was a sweet white wine; Simpatica, which is a blend of Muscato and Riesling, and one called Fantasia, which tastes like melted frozen fruit punch juice mix. Our guide said he often uses it as a mix with vodka, which sounds like a terrible/amazing idea.

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      They have activities at the castle all year round, and every year for New Year’s Eve they have a black tie masquerade ball. It’s expensive, but it sounds like so much fun, so we’re going to try to do that for NYE 2016.

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      If you are looking for me at any point over the next 12 months, I’ll probably be gluing feathers and glitter onto my mask.

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      castello di amarosa

      Posted in California, exploring, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged architecture, California, castello di amarosa, castle, napa, Sleeping Beauty's castle, wine, wine tasting
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