Last I decided, this blog was meant to go in a "Travel Blog-y" type of direction, whichever way that is. And I've actually taken heaps upon piles of trips this year, all of them document-worthy but none that I actually documented. I guess instagram makes it easy to not actually have any cohesive thoughts. So unfortunately, anything I write from here on out will just be a memory.
Well here are my attempts anyway and hopefully by 2018 I will have been able to recollect all of my trips before they fade into oblivion!
Here goes numero uno:
Idyllwild -- October 9, 2014
Idyllwild, Idyllwild, Idyllwild... the name kind of rolls off the tongue like a roller coaster! The town, emphasis on "town" in the most Stars Hallow, Capeside way possible --where there really is only one diner (fine maybe two), and where all of Asian food, from Korean to Japanese to Tahi can be found on a single menu, where you can literally walk the perimeter of the center in 20 minutes and wave Hi to the entire population with their acknowledgement, it's that kind of town.
Idyllwild is kind of like a rumor that people know about but can't really pinpoint. Almost everyone I've asked about Idyllwild has said, "Oh, yeah! I've heard of it, I think... maybe. Never been there. ...where is it?" Unbelievably, it's right next to Palm Springs and about two hours drive away from LA but with completely different landscape from the barren, dried up dusty desert that is most of SoCal. Think tall trees and log cabins and snow covered mountains in the distance, and the smell of crisp, cold, thin air when you inhale. I've heard it looks like a snow globe in the winter! But then again I have high standards for snow globe comparisons since London wins the award for most snow globe-esque.
Mike and I went during the second weekend of October when LA was suffering one of it's worst heat waves but it was 60 degrees in the mountains (lucky coincidence that I will pretend was perfectly planned). We brought our mountain bikes since we heard there were numerous biking trails in the near vicinity, and tall people with bad kneeds tend to dislike hiking.
The town itself is adorable, charming, quaint, chubby cheeks and giant eyes and whatever else that illicit cuteness --and knows it too! Idyllwild definitely plays up its small town charms with candy and ice cream shops, an outdoor BBQ restaurant with live music in the afternoons, vintage and antique shops, and oh yeah, five churches.
We got there Friday night and pretty much crashed right away. Saturday morning after breakfast at the most adorable and slightly-hostile-to-non-locals diner, we asked a guy in a truck who was walking his dog about directions for the best biking trail. He gave us the friendliest, most descriptive directions imaginable, then told us about the music show he was playing in that night and said we should come by and listen! Directions and an invitation in one morning, lucky us!
The biking trails go in all directions throughout the mountains, and are undoubtedly beautiful. They range from extremely expert (which I quickly learned I was not), to easy/moderate which was more my skill level. We biked for a solid afternoon and watched woodpeckers drill the heck out of some trees, saw some wild rabbits and bunnies and lizards that are too large for comfort, listened to some hillbillies from the OC rant about gender roles, and finished the day exhausted and ready for whiskey and a full meal.
After that, we went to the wine shop (the only one) that the nice directions-man (lets call him Drums since he was on the drums) told us he would be playing at, and the entire town was jammed inside that wine bar. And everyone, everyone was drunk and yelling and laughing and singing. And amazingly but not implausibly, they all seemed to know each other. It really did feel like a snow globe moment or a Lifetime movie or a fuzzy cat sweater. Drums remembered us and stopped in between sets to ask us about the bike trail and talk to us, and smiled at us between every song. Some lucky grandson out there has the coolest rocknroll grandpa ever!
Idyllwild -- October 9, 2014
Idyllwild, Idyllwild, Idyllwild... the name kind of rolls off the tongue like a roller coaster! The town, emphasis on "town" in the most Stars Hallow, Capeside way possible --where there really is only one diner (fine maybe two), and where all of Asian food, from Korean to Japanese to Tahi can be found on a single menu, where you can literally walk the perimeter of the center in 20 minutes and wave Hi to the entire population with their acknowledgement, it's that kind of town.
Idyllwild is kind of like a rumor that people know about but can't really pinpoint. Almost everyone I've asked about Idyllwild has said, "Oh, yeah! I've heard of it, I think... maybe. Never been there. ...where is it?" Unbelievably, it's right next to Palm Springs and about two hours drive away from LA but with completely different landscape from the barren, dried up dusty desert that is most of SoCal. Think tall trees and log cabins and snow covered mountains in the distance, and the smell of crisp, cold, thin air when you inhale. I've heard it looks like a snow globe in the winter! But then again I have high standards for snow globe comparisons since London wins the award for most snow globe-esque.
Mike and I went during the second weekend of October when LA was suffering one of it's worst heat waves but it was 60 degrees in the mountains (lucky coincidence that I will pretend was perfectly planned). We brought our mountain bikes since we heard there were numerous biking trails in the near vicinity, and tall people with bad kneeds tend to dislike hiking.
The town itself is adorable, charming, quaint, chubby cheeks and giant eyes and whatever else that illicit cuteness --and knows it too! Idyllwild definitely plays up its small town charms with candy and ice cream shops, an outdoor BBQ restaurant with live music in the afternoons, vintage and antique shops, and oh yeah, five churches.
We got there Friday night and pretty much crashed right away. Saturday morning after breakfast at the most adorable and slightly-hostile-to-non-locals diner, we asked a guy in a truck who was walking his dog about directions for the best biking trail. He gave us the friendliest, most descriptive directions imaginable, then told us about the music show he was playing in that night and said we should come by and listen! Directions and an invitation in one morning, lucky us!
The biking trails go in all directions throughout the mountains, and are undoubtedly beautiful. They range from extremely expert (which I quickly learned I was not), to easy/moderate which was more my skill level. We biked for a solid afternoon and watched woodpeckers drill the heck out of some trees, saw some wild rabbits and bunnies and lizards that are too large for comfort, listened to some hillbillies from the OC rant about gender roles, and finished the day exhausted and ready for whiskey and a full meal.
After that, we went to the wine shop (the only one) that the nice directions-man (lets call him Drums since he was on the drums) told us he would be playing at, and the entire town was jammed inside that wine bar. And everyone, everyone was drunk and yelling and laughing and singing. And amazingly but not implausibly, they all seemed to know each other. It really did feel like a snow globe moment or a Lifetime movie or a fuzzy cat sweater. Drums remembered us and stopped in between sets to ask us about the bike trail and talk to us, and smiled at us between every song. Some lucky grandson out there has the coolest rocknroll grandpa ever!
The next day was spent exploring a bike trail that turned out to connect to other longer, drier, sandier trails without our knowledge and the next thing we knew we were out of water in 90 degree heat and on the phone with spotty reception, asking some park rangers whose responses were basically, "Yeah, we dont know about that" when we asked for help and for the quickest trail to get back.
3 hours and some major dehydration headaches later, we found our way back to the car and scarfed down the fastest diner meal ever in the other diner that we hand't eaten at yet in Idyllwild, and we were on the way back! We pretty much explored the entirety of Idyllwild cuisine, if you don't consider catching a squirrel with your bare hands and roasting it over campfire. Back to good ol' Los Angeles where the count of normal people to new age artists and musicians is just mildly high.
Idyllwild is perfect for a woodsy, cabiny sort of get-away for those who want something new within 2-2.5 hours outside of LA. It's a gorgeous hidden gem for those who want the fresh mountain air without having to drive to Northern California! And defintiely has that western/biker gang/hill billy feel to it if that ever seems to appeal to you.
Enjoy!
February - Joshua Tree
March - Napa/Sonoma
April - Mexico
May - San Diego
June - Grand Canyon, Half dome
August - Chicago
September - Peru
October - Idyllwild, San Franciso, San Jose
February - Joshua Tree
March - Napa/Sonoma
April - Mexico
May - San Diego
June - Grand Canyon, Half dome
August - Chicago
September - Peru
October - Idyllwild, San Franciso, San Jose
