Here we go!

Hello from the Tokyo airport! I am too tired to move much and do not have the proper money to purchase anything. 2 more hours and I will be on my way to korea!

The past couple of weeks/ months felt like a dream. Luckily I have this blog to remind me of my past...

Oregon 

Utah

Nevada

California

Mexico

Missouri

Oregon

How lucky am I??!! Thank you family and friends for your support and advice and love and inspiration. I am so happy and wouldn't be living my dream without you!

People are so cool! 

New friends in Sayulita: Katrin and Janell

Lauren Birch becoming not Lauren Birch : ) sooo happy I made it home for this special girls special day!

and a little pre travel Portland skate session with this one and only super gal pal, Erin! 

Positivity Power! 

I am a taco

Hola amigos! 

This is my first time doing a blog on my phone, hopefully I will have patience. 

So Saayulita = surfing, tacos, surfing, tacos. 

And some work at the yoga hostel place I am staying before, after and inbetween. 

The sun here is a big ball of hot skin crispin eye dessert. 

Sunrise

Sunset

I have spent the past 3 evenings laying on the surf board- note: laying (Because there are currently no waves, or at least ones I can catch) and watching the sun go down and the water turn every color and oh my oh my, it's the best! 

If you are what you eat, then I am a taco. Viet was here for 6 days and ate 18 tacos! amongst other things with the same ingredients.  I think I have maxed out at around 10 and not sure if I have room for anymore!  According to some Mexican natives I have met, tacos are not your everyday food. They might be equivalent to an American hamburger (which FYI shouldn't be eaten everyday). 

Life is great, and I am learning new things everyday! 

And

It's currently thunderstorming, which was much needed!

Here is a post sunburn night of not eating tacos! OH, and I LOVE all the drinks here. That is cucumber lime water and have tried hibiscus tea, guava juice, horchata- a sweet rice milk, and more. 

Time for Bed

Hiiiiiii!
Here is a little somethin somethin for you on my last night in Berkeley.
I have enjoyed living in Berkeley/Oakland wayyyy more than necessary... because I am leaving the country      : ( sad       : ) happy      
Since my last post:
I continued the pet sitting gig, climbed in Tuolumne Meadows for a weekend, and explored the East Bay neighborhoods with my main squeeze Viet (who takes many amazing blog worthy pics)

Peaceful Warrior- Photo By Viet

Tenaya Lake: Photo by Viet

Something to be jealous about:
The owner of Buddy (the cat) happens to work for Pixar and invited me on a little tour of heaven.  If I wanted to work in a building, then I would definitely work here for all 9 of my lives. Swimming pool, soccer fields, kitchens, coffee, Mike, Sully, the Incredibles, and much much more! 10 times better than Disney World, and there aren't even any rides.

And that is it for my time here in California! It's been sunny and crazy and served me up plenty of life lessons.  Might have liked it jussttt enough to keep me from living abroad forever and ever. 

certified to Keep Your Pet Alive

Dear Family and Friends,

I am thrilled to announce that I am... Employed! You should all be proud of this Bay Area Pet Sitter Extraordinaire.  My current furry friends are Buggles the tiny bouncer, Buddy the sweet fatty, Niko the wise and hungry, and Mimi the super meower..who I called Milo for two weeks.  Although I would need to watch about 20 animals at once to make a decent living, at least its something!
 

Surfers in Santa Cruz

After a short but sweet visit to Santa Cruz, where I spent time riding my bike along the beautiful cliffy coast, I have been staying put and will continue to stay put (besides ONEeee more trip to Yosemite : ) ) for the next few weeks until I leave California to move on to international travel adventures...yipee!

First Female Solo Ascent of Half Dome.. in this outifit.. with the name Taylore Renee Beatty.

 I finally have something to blog about again!

5 days camping and climbing in Strawberry, CA near Lake Tahoe and then back to Yosemite for 4 days.

For my climbing friends, Lake Tahoe is AMAZING. Definitely one of my favorite places to climb so far. The camping is cheap, secluded, and practically at the base of the climbs. A poor and lazy hikers dream come true. Viet and I climbed a few classic routes, checked out the lake, and spent some time in South Lake Tahoe.  The trip started on a very high note due to magically running into my van-living camping partners from Red Rocks 2 months earlier, Carol and Becca, minutes upon arriving at the camp site. I was so happy to see familiar faces. They were unfortunately ending their stay as we were beginning ours, but we had one overlapping day. So wonderful how the Universe works!

We drove from Tahoe into the Eastern entrance of Yosemite, made a stop for a sunset dip in a hot spring, and then drove for hours in the dark on a longg winding road to arrive at Yosemite in the middle of the night, missing the scenery, but oh well.. we made it!

I was so preoccupied with the events involving Viet's big wall climb preparation, that I neglected to make any plans for myself! I woke up early to go get a spot at the standard valley walk-in camp site, Camp 4, for the rest of the weekend and the line was about 50 people long. A girl like me does not have time for that, so I immediately left to get a coffee : ) After two cups of coffee, 20 or so text messages, and 2 hours of people watching, I came up with a sort-of plan and headed to the wilderness center to find out more about getting a back country permit.

Some people plan months ahead for their half dome adventure, applying a year to 6 months prior for their hiking permit, or waiting in line all morning with nervous hopes of getting that precious piece of paper that allows you to by pass the ranger check station a half mile from the summit.

I casually showed up 20 minutes before permits were issued for the next day, wondering why there were a bunch of people sitting outside the office with lawn chairs, and left 45 minutes later with Half Dome permit in hand! I chose the half dome hike while standing in line with my free map of the valley (not the wilderness area, because that cost money) for the sole purpose of being able to camp at a designated backpackers camp located half way up..to avoid being alone with the bears of course.

...and 2 days later I arrived!

Yosemite is the perfect place to backpack alone for the first time, why?.. because you are never really alone. There are so many people, and on a long hike you run into the same groups over and over again. Many noticed I was by myself and were helpful and encouraging. The view was well worth the 8.5 mile hike to the top and sleeping in the woods by myself for 2 days..with the bears : )

Nevada Falls and Half Dome on Left. Hike up Day 1

Cables to Summit!

Getting close to backpackers camp

Mist Trail,  2 miles to the bottom!

NOM NOM

On a lower note, a climber in the group of hard core Yosemite climbers that I met and mentioned in a previous post (not pictured) passed away a few weeks ago due to a rock fall at the base of a Yosemite climb. Viet and I stopped by his memorial, held at Yosemite over Memorial Day weekend, where his friends and family gathered to celebrate his life.  Just reminds us to keep exploring and living like there is no tomorrow...and hopefully we can all move on doing what we love to do.

Peace out girl scout!

Floating

Hello!

Now that my planned travel arrangements have ended and I am now simply floating from place to place with little direction or purpose trying not to run out of money : ),  I am not sure what to write about on here! I will try my best to keep the blog going so that when exciting miraculous occurrences take place, I can quickly post them on the internet for all the world to see.. or just the 5 people who read this.

Walked on the Berkeley Pier

Tasted wine in Napa

China! or at least China Town in San Francisco (very similar)

I got bangs!

 

Had a drink with this country guy in Austin, TX

Attended University of Texas graduation

and made some trail mix at the original whole foods

Despite the farm work, occasional rock climbing, yoga, and weekly jog.. I have been eating well beyond my energy requirements. What is a girl to do when living amongst some of the best and culturally diverse food in North America?! Vietnamese home cooked meals for a straight week, sushi here and sushi there, China town donuts, raw chocolate, no shortage of Korean restaurants, avocado shakes, home-baked granola, three cakes in one week, and.. this is the song that never ends.. it goes on and on my friends..

Due to my over indulgences, I have gained a a handful of unnecessary pounds that are making it that much harder to pull myself up the granite cracks of Yosemite. I am starting a little health challenge, mostly because I do not have money to buy new clothes, but also because I love being healthy!

If you feel the same then lets do it together, especially that it is now summer time!!!! My goal is to do two physical activities a day and cut back on carbs and sugar (less honey in teas or coffee, less beer and wine, less white rice and flour). Yesterday I biked to a coffee shop, an interview, the grocery store, and to the climbing gym and then went climbing of course. What did you do?! I will try to post some recipes and health tips here and there.

Love your body and take care of it!

Jujube Therapy

Top of the morning!

Just returned to the Bay Area from a week at Gauchito Farms an hour and a half north east of San Fransisco. Emy and I sorted dried Jujubes under a walnut tree for two days, weeded the strawberry field and worked on the orchard one day, and harvested for the farmers market two days.

Jujube's

My favorite little strawberry man

My body did not respond well to the the 90 degree temps after enduring a snow storm in Yosemite, and was caught by the farmers several times sprawled face down my yoga converted nap mat.. but I acclimatized by the end of the week. Never quite adjusted to the itchy rash that strawberry plants apparently give me and the endless mosquito attacks, but hey.. what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

Not easy to capture, but the susnset's were amazing!

The farming portion of this adventure was decreased immensely.. roughly 67%. Due to adverse weather conditions in Utah, Emy and I's reluctance attitude towards manual labor, and life realizations.

Farming is HARD! Farming to make a living is even HARDER! and doing all of this ORGANICALLY in the midst of large scale American agriculture.. chemical sprays, cheap labor, false advertisements and all, makes for an uphill battle.

I have not been scared off completely from the farming world, only have a much greater appreciation for small scale organic farms fighting to make a difference in the health and environment of their communities. 

I encourage everyone to try to shop at local markets! Ask how they grow their produce, what they are feeding their animals, and if they are doing it in a healthy and sustainable manner, buyyyyyyyyy lots!



 Check out this video that Viet made!   http://vimeo.com/94019747


Thanks for reading!