Fourth of July Shenanigans

Step One: Light BBQ Duties
Despite my obvious lack of skill no humans were burned, no cats were traumatized, and the hot dogs still resembled hot dogs when the grilling was done!


I put DP outside to enjoy his watermelon:
Step Two: Check fog level outside. Looks good this year!

Please note the difference here...LAST YEAR AT THE BEACH: FROZE TO DEATH:

THIS YEAR AT THE BEACH: SUNNY SKIES AND I AM UNCLOAKED (relatively speaking):
Step Three: Ensure enough fireworks have been purchased.

Step Four: Pass the time till sundown by taking random photos:

DP even found a new friend! Someone named "Gort" stopped by:

Step Five: Light up the very second the sun touches the horizon!

Some weren't impressed with mere sparklers:

Here is a 2 minute overview of the evening for you to enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend- Driving, Hiking and Asshats

The only way to properly celebrate a day off work is to get the hell out of town... even if it's only for the day! So I packed up DP ( Mr Monk was unfortunately still at the office), liberal amounts of beef jerky, a couple of bags of trail mix and copious amounts of water and headed down south (as going east out of the question with the Bridge closed) towards big sky, big trails and big trees.
AKA: Big Sur

As you can see in the photo below, the fog was putting up a terrific fight and wasn't giving up it's grasp on land easily:
A couple of hours, 2 packets of jerky and two cans of soda later...we arrived at Big Sur. DP was raring to go!
The first hike to Valley View/Pfieffer Falls was nice, and I only nearly died 3 times. This whole "keep walking" thing, the whole "fresh air" thing and the endless sunshine was very taxing. We did see some nice things along the way, though.
Things like Trees:

Flowers:More trees:

and finally the "Valley View" came into view:

Then it was off to the natural beauty of Pfieffer Falls:

Uh, well, the falls were there, but they were also heavily polluted with humans who felt it was OK to BATHE in the falls, EAT by the falls, and ruin any photo opportunity for others. Asshats. DP was more than happy to join them:

We then headed over to some famous overlook (McLary or McCray Falls) which has a creek that waterfalls into the ocean:

Some asshat kayakers had pulled into the beach! A Park Ranger on the overlook told us that these asshats were breaking the law, as the beach is closed to the public, but there was nothing they could do, really. So the asshats remained, spoiling everyone's photos of the lovely water, beach and waterfall with their unsightly kayaks and selfish selves:I maneuvered around the trail to attempt to get a photo without asshats in it:

Look at the color of that water! Here is the other side of the cove. Please note, no asshats on this side:

Moving on, we found more trails and more crap to photograph:

Normally, I don't condone the presence of spiders. However, I was in their habitat, so I dealt with it:

We found some old fashioned water wheel thingy that was fascinating for about 20 seconds:

Then we headed back out into the woods:

Yes, here I am, being all nerdy and taking the obligatory "look at me" photo:

and so DP wanted to take one, too. Can you see him?
The afternoon was waning, and DP was getting all cranky, (due to low blood sugar levels). We stopped for a snack along the trail:

Of course, as soon as DP brought out the beef jerky and trail mix, the Blue Jays showed up, demanding handouts: A few more photos of flora and fauna:

At this point, DP was ready to pack it in and call it a day:

A last shot at a roadside shop on the way home:

July 4th, SF Style

The Fourth of July, Northern California style:
Please not the requisite Uggs and heavy jacket for the July Fourth Beach experience. Even DP had to fashion a sort of "snuggie" out of a napkin:


Of course, the all American Tattoo is a must to show your spirit:

So we arrived early, hiked the hills and lunched, then settled in to people watch and play some dominoes:

Apparently, I was the only one who noticed the flying shark. As dusk falls, it's time to build and perfect the "wind proof sand pit" - a MUST for beach fireworks:




Without proper construction, you will be unable to light your fireworks without going through boxes of matches, two or three torch lighters and one blowtorch. Then, when finally lit, the damn thing will blow sideways. This lesson I have learned the hard way.

I submit the following firework to shock and appall your sense of taste:

Seriously??? Someone actually said, hey, wouldn't the tragic loss of 1500 lives in the Titanic disaster be an awesome theme for a firework??? It gets better:


Yes, those are victims of the Titanic disaster falling to their death from the ship that I have circled in the above photo. Seriously people???

DP was all disturbed by this heinous lack of tack on the part of the firework designers. He was ALL ready to light this thing up. Of course, I kept the outer covering of this firework so I could keep the artwork to shock and appall others for years to come.

While waiting for the approach of darkness, I spied a co worker of mine sitting on the beach (after she texted me to mock my rolled up jeans and dark sweater). She was all wrapped up in pink and miserable in the "cold". HA HA HA!!! She doesn't know what a "cold" 4th of July can be here! Check out the photo closely:

This "pretty cold in pink" woman ended up leaving before dark, and missed out on the illegal firework show. I bet that chic in the bathing suit stuck it out!

So we waited for dark and played some dominoes. SOME people cheated. I won't say who:

DP was getting all antsy waiting for the chance to light one off, so we let him sacrifice a small one to keep him happy:

Then the cops showed up:

So we waited for dark to light up the rest. Here I am with a large "roman candle" sparkler...much better than those wussy ones they sell to kids nowadays:

Of course, Titanic the Tacky Firework turned out to be a major disappointment:

But other ones were quite nice:

DP had to be reminded several times to back away from the flames:

But all in all, a good night was had by all: