The Bottle Shop- Taking Advantage of the creation of sliced bread!

Today I went to the Bottle Shop. This is a very well known sandwich joint in Ukiah, California. Let me start here with a little story. As I was ordering my sandwich a man walked in. He worked his way through identifying his own personal struggle verbally. I don’t think he was talking to anyone specifically. I think he was just putting it out there in hopes that someone in the room would hear him and get him a sandwich. This is the type of situation that can eventually become very awkward. If the man continues to verbalize his problem and no one steps up… Well, that’s up to the imagination what may happen. But before things could turn awkward one of the ladies behind the counter said “I’ll get you a sandwich”. This single act represents the character of “The Bottle Shop”. This is a great place with great employees and extremely well made sandwiches.

I got a Roast beef sandwich with Jack cheese, Lettuce, pickle and tomato on a Sourdough crunchy roll. On the side I got a bag of Jalapeno Kettle Potato Chips. The cost out the door was around $7. Bottomline: My sandwich was awesome! The ratio of the portions on the sandwich were nothing short of perfect. There was the perfect amount of lettuce, pickles, tomato, and mustard. The chips were an outstanding compliment to the meal.

The service was professional and handled with integrity. The individuals behind the counter take their time with each sandwich. While I watched them I felt like my sandwich was in good hands.

In short, The Bottle Shop is flat out really good. I have ate here many times in my past and have always had an excellent experience. There is a comfortable seating area inside and outside. It is peaceful enough to read a book but alive enough to people watch. The bottom line: Eat Here!

Mendocino: On The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful

Today I went with my buddy to the Mendocino Coast. When we entered the town we immediately decided to head toward the coast. I can’t get myself to call this coastline a “beach”. When I think of beaches I think of hot weather, families on the coast, swim gear, and beach sports. The atmosphere here is very different. There were very few people on the beach. Those that were wore sweatshirts and long pants (except for Zach and I). There were no beach sports. People don’t go to a beach like this to play around.

It is a mixture of peaceful and slightly scary. I think the fear deals with the overwhelming power that the ocean presents. The ocean constantly thrusts against the coastline and rocks with immense power. When I looked at the ocean I could see nothing living inside of it. This intensified the fear of the ocean. It is a visual statement of “all who enter no longer exist”. Though my brain knows this is not the truth my eyes and ears tell me otherwise.

1. 

This is the type of coast that is constantly inviting one to sit upon it’s rocks and just watch. At the same time, I have moments where the immense power of the ocean brings me a desire to “flight”. As quickly as the instinctive “flight” response comes it is gone when I realize I am on land.

In the background you can see the town of  Mendocino

I enjoyed walking along the coast and just trying to feel the power of the world that was in front of me. There is something special about this place that my words are unable to express. It reminds me of a line by Kenny Chesney when he says “on the coast of somewhere beautiful”. This is what this place feels like… I’m not exactly sure where I am but I know I’m “on the coast of somewhere beautiful”.

Montgomery Woods: Lord of The Rings?

Today my friend Zach and I went to Montgomery Woods. I recently got a new camera and wanted to head somewhere that could capture some good pictures. Using Orr Springs road we came from Ukiah. As we exited Ukiah and slowly entered the mountains there was that feeling of “I’m not in Ukiah anymore…”

After being there I cannot imagine any location more suited for great pictures.

The trees in this location are massive. In some ways I felt like I was at “The Land of the Dinosaurs”. While I was walking I was floored by the massive size of a bed of Clovers… Never in my life have I ever been “floored” by clovers. But these bad boys were huge. In fact, if it weren’t for my background in martial arts I would have feared for my own safety…

As we walked through Montgomery woods Zach and I were constantly saying “woah!” “look at that” and “woah”. One of the most exhilarating things to do was to just look up. The trees are so tall that in many cases they nearly block out the entire sun. Some light shines thru.

The environment felt like I was inside a Lord of The Rings movie. Eventually we left the woods with no sightings of hobbits… Though the next time I’m there I expect to see two (not one!) hobbits!

The Country, Pizza, Videogames, and My Hometown

Tonight I went to my good friend Zach's house. Zach lives near Potter Valley. The interesting thing about Zach's location is that his house is the only one up his road. Therefore he is truly in an isolated countryside. From his house, I can see all around Redwood Valley but I see no houses. It is peaceful and at times slightly eerie being out in the country where no one can hear you, see you, or accidentally stumble into you.

This is a massive tree right next to Zach's house. Look at the car by it.

Allow me to get slightly off topic. This is a travel blog. I write about my experience that relate to travelling. In my eyes this incorporates a wide body of experiences. It could be a fair question to ask: How does this relate to travelling if this is your hometown? Simply put, I don't have to travel 3000 miles to be "travelling" and "exploring". There is beauty and awe to be seeing from the second I open the door of my home in Redwood Valley. I grew up in an area that goes beyond the imagination of many people. Therefore I would argue that my hometown has just as much a right to be part of my travel blog as any other location.

A view from Zach's Porch

One of the really cool things to do in the country is to go outside and look up at the stars. In cities the lights make it difficult to see the stars in the sky. Out in the country the only light is from the moon and stars. It is quite humbling to stare at the stars. I often become baffled when I try to gain an understanding of the actual size of the universe.

We had pizza from a local take and bake place. The pizza was excellent. All of the ingredients were fresh. This is the type of pizza where every ingredient counts because it is so fresh that every ingredient adds it's own life to the pizza.

We then played Madden. It came down to a final drive where I was up 28 to 21. Zach made it all the way to the goal line. It was 4th and goal on the 5 yard line with about 15 seconds left. I then stopped him.

When I was younger I thought I would eventually grow out of videogames because when I looked at my parents and all their friends none of them played videogames. Now, that I am an adult I have realized two things: First, I am the the first generation of adults that grew up with videogames and Second, I think I will be playing videogames until the day I die :)

The Final Stats from our Madden Game

Sleeping Quarter and Rose Gardens in Oakland

So while I have been at Mari's place I have had an interesting sleeping arrangement. Let's just say that there are a variety of things placed in Mari's house that happen to take up quite a bit of space. I sleep in the living room on the floor. I design my own bed. This is how I do it. I take remove 3 couch cushions. This is my mat. I place them on the ground. I try to make them pretty snug. I then place a blanket over the cushions. I also tuck the blanket underneath the cushion. This keeps everything in place. I then put another blanket and grab some pillows from Mar and "voila!" I have a bed.

This morning I went with my sister to the Rose Gardens near her place. Mari lives in Piedmont. The Rose Gardens are about a 10 minute walk from her place. We both wanted to do some exercise. I did some push ups, abs stuff and took a run. Mari did the stairs. This is where she goes up and down these long stairs for like 35 minutes.

The rose gardens were cool. I think I was a little bit more focused on my run then on the rose bushes so I didn't completely take them in. But this is the beauty of pictures. Pictures allow me to partially remember the experience.

I ran up a really large hill because I knew that the view from the top was really cool. When I got to the top I was exhausted but it was worth it. The hill had a pretty steep gradient. This made the view that much nicer because I could see further into the community.

Alameda Park and Beach

Today my sister and I went to the Alameda Park. It was really green. I was shocked at how few people there were considering this is the Labor Day Weekend. Parking was really easy. While we were walking around there was enough people so we felt safe but not so many that we felt burdened or crowded.

At first we just walked around the park but then we eventually made our way to the beach. The beach kind of snuck up on us since it was blocked by a large structure that spread apart horizontally for a pretty good distance (I have no idea how far it was). Immediately after we crossed the structure we realized we were right next to the ocean. It dropped us about 25 yards from the ocean.

We walked along the coastline for a little bit. I enjoyed being near the ocean and feeling it's power. The ocean is crazy because there are so many wild crazy looking creatures inside of it. I love looking at the ocean but sometimes it scares me.

Good Friends that are Good People...

Tonight my sister and I went over to my good friends Drew and Lindsey's place. It is hard to provide textual characteristics to people like Drew and Lindsey. Both of them are extremely fun. They also are very ambitious but they are quiet about it. Only through questioning do either of them really go into detail about some of the great things they have done. Drew often enjoys informing people that he is quite "handsome" and is very willingly to openly discuss his journey to attain an 8-pack.

We went over to there place. They live in Rockridge. There place is really nice. I don't know how they keep it so clean. Every time I have been to Drew and Lindsey's place it is always super clean. I feel like it has been clean an improbable amount of times.

We hung out and Lindsey made dinner. The food was great. I wish I could remember what one things was called. I know that there was a large type of Macaroni with some cheese on it and some meat was in there too. Bottom-line is that all of the food was insanely awesome.

Lindsey made this really interesting appetizer that was white bean, garlic, and artichoke Bruschetta. It was super awesome.

Later on in the night we out to Ben and Nick's. We hung out and talked. I like hanging out with people like Drew and Lindsey because both of them are inspiring the way they live their lives. I have never meant anyone who is more efficient with his time then Drew. I will never forget when I walked out to the basketball court to see Drew. I sat down next to him. He had his computer open, he was keeping all 60 kids in check, he was writing up the unit plan and lesson plans for an upcoming unit, and talking to me about a paper that we had due in our Masters class. Lindsey is great because she is laid back and just has fun. Plus, she is very smart and she handles her sh&t!

I love being around good people because it makes me want to be a better person.

The Rose Bushes in Berkley

Today I went to the Rose bushes in Berkley with my sister. The rose bushes are very relaxing. It is much more than a few roses lined up. There are steps and steps filled with the Rose Gardens.

Walking around is really relaxing. There are families there, old friends, romantic couples, first dates, kids running around and many other types of people. It is an environment that is welcoming to everyone.

This is a shot of the hillside of the roses. Look at how the roses are placed on large steps.

Across the street from the Rose Garden is a really awesome park. The park has a basketball court right in the middle of it. I have never seeing a basketball court with so much green surrounding it. There also was a super large slide that kids grabbed pieces of cardboard to slide down on.

This is me and Mari.You can see the awesome slide in the background.