Tag: California

Any time, day or night, if you are looking for an iconic view of the city of Los Angeles, take a ride up to Mount Hollywood to tour the grounds of the Griffith Observatory, all located in the legendary Griffith Park. As you can see, even with an iphone, and in the midst of foggy conditions, it’s GORGEOUS! In real life, it’s even more stunning!

While I certainly have mixed feelings on whether we should really be weighting structures all over the world with our romantic feelings for one another… In the moment that you actually find some, Let’s just say, it’s an “Awwwww…. Moment.” And seeing the lights of Los Angeles in the valley below, with the Love Locks in the foreground… Well, that’s definitely a “Wow Moment!” But, for the record, I’m not officially recommending you go out and do it yourself! We definitely encourage a “Leave No Trace” mindset, wherever you go!

Our final Korean indulgence for the evening was a Mango and Milk Snow Flower Bingsu from Little Bean Cafe in the Koreatown Galleria. Bingsoo is a popular Korean shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings that may include chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, and red beans. Varieties with ingredients other than red beans are called bingsu. Our bingsu was a light, creamy milk-based bed of shaved ice, covered in fresh mango! Mmmm! A perfect finale to a fabulous day exploring Koreatown Los Angeles!

After a big dinner at Street Food of Seoul in City Center on 6th, it was now time to start hitting some dessert! At Little Bean Cafe in the Koreatown Galleria, we started with a round of Bubble Tea for everyone! Honeydew, Almond, and Thai Milk Teas! Unfortunately, they were out of Boba for the evening, but the teas are still awesome even without the toppings!

We came to Koreatown Galleria primarily to do some shopping at Choice Music LA. But, there were tons of cute shops throughout the mall, and we thoroughly enjoyed perusing the wares! Young Art is a Korean Gift Shop with all sorts of Asian-inspired toys, books, stationary items, and collectible goodies. We got some notebooks, stickers, and a few other cute mementos. Mint Gift also offers gorgeous Korean collectibles and household decor. I got a teddy bear in a gorgeous traditional Korean hanbok.

THE place to buy K-Pop Music and Merch is Choice Music. They’ve long been our Go-To ordering site for everything K-Pop. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with their Flagship Retail Location in the Koreatown Galleria, we HAD to stop by and see their merch selection first hand! Choice Music LA is is DEFINITELY the stuff K-Pop dreams are made of!

Enjoying a lovely night in L.A. as the fog rolls in and gives it a surreal sort of feeling! Palm trees, blowing in the Pacific Breezes, as they frame tall buildings against the opaque skies… The mystery and intrigue is so heavy in the air, it envelops you! Los Angeles is that kind of place!

In the food court of City Center on 6th in the Koreatown neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles, you will find several phenomenal choices for Korean and Asian food options. Street Food of Seoul had SO many menu choices! And the family that operates this restaurant was amazingly kind!

SomiSomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki serves up a super fun and absolutely delicious snack-style dessert called Ah Boong! Ah Boong is a fish-shaped waffle cone, known as taiyaki, stuffed with your choice of filling, swirled with soft serve ice cream, and decorated with any combination of the toppings you desire! First, you pick your filling from choices like Custard, Nutella, Red Bean, Red Bean and Cream Cheese, and Taro. Then, ice cream flavors range from Milk, Matcha, Ube, and Black Sesame, to Horchata, Strawberry, Banana, and more! Some flavors are even swirled together for added taste-bud excitement! Finish off your…

Heading through the Koreatown vicinity of Los Angeles, just west of Downtown… Along Wilshire Boulevard for a bit, and Western Avenue for a while. Just a few random shots with a hint of some LA flavor!

Heading Eastbound along the Santa Monica Freeway, you can catch a glimpse of another masterpiece by British Street Artist D*Face. D*Face is one of our favorites to spot on our travels! We’ve seen his work now in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Fort Smith, Arkansas! Love Struck is physically located at 3040 Robertson BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90034 And this image was a quick shot from I-10! Click on the links and photos to learn more about D*Face!

Love my girls… And, fortunately, they love each other! #siblings#love

Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier offers loads of classic Amusement Park fun! Roller Coasters, a Ferris Wheel, Rides, Games, and all the fair-inspired eats! Funnel Cake, anyone? If you’re in the Santa Monica area, be sure to check out America’s #1 Pleasure Pier! Smack dab at the very end of Route 66!

With the hustle and bustle along the iconic Santa Monica Pier, you never know what you’re going to find! One thing is for sure, as America’s Greatest Pleasure Pier, you WILL find FUN!

At the end of Route 66, you’ll find the bustling Pacific Beach area of Santa Monica, California! The iconic Santa Monica Pier, surrounded by the sandy stretches of Santa Monica State Beach. The Pacific Ocean before you is surprisingly natural, in contrast to the steady population just beyond. I imagine on a sunny day, the beach would be pretty busy… But, on this cool, overcast winter day, the natural areas were quite lovely, with iconic Americana situated atop the Santa Monica Pier just to our left!

Mountains are gorgeous, and cities are fun… But there will always be something alluringly surreal about the call of the Pacific Ocean! Overcast skies, the crashing of the waves, the cries of the seagulls… Cool, moist, briny air… Sand beneath your toes, water lapping at your heels… Marine life in its vast entirety, beckoning to you from their home!

Leaving Red Rock Canyon State Park, heading South on California State Route 14, you can find all sorts of interesting sights out your window! You’ve got the Beacon Solar Project, with fields of solar panels as far as the eye can see! Desert landscape, snowy mountains, Joshua Trees, clouds, wind turbines at the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, and more! The deserts are alive! Wildlife, vegetation, weather, and technology!

I guess I’m a bit of a U2 Fan Girl, and that tends to show itself when I’m in the Desert Habitats of the Western US and find myself with the opportunity to dance amongst the Joshua Trees! Yucca brevifolia are a unique, intriguing, and absolutely iconic plant to enjoy! And the Joshua Trees do grow in abundance in Red Rock Canyon State Park! And that just goes to show, Everything in life can be educational! Get out there and explore! And, you know, it never hurts to have a good soundtrack for the adventure!

It’s amazing how much you can learn just by exploring one certain trail, or area, or habitat. Geology, Earth Science, Weather, Plants, Botany, Human History, Wildlife, Biology… And so much more! The Hagen Canyon Nature Trail in the Red Rock Canyon State Park has it all! We can (and often do) literally spend HOURS just examining plants, seeds, leaves, roots… Studying the parts of the flowers. Or maybe the insects that live in them. Or their place in the food chain of their surrounding habitat. If you want your kids to learn, just go for a walk! Get out into the world,…

Geological Formations are greatly impacted by the process of erosion, and exploring the creek beds in and around Hagen Canyon at Red Rock Canyon State Park is a great way to experience real-time erosion. Get up close and personal to observe how the water gently trickling through the creek bed effects the mineral grains as they pass. Just a little hands on geology learning fun while enjoying the Canyon Trails! Your little rock hounds will have a blast exploring!

Nothing makes me happier than time spent exploring red sandstone formations! Buttes, cliffs, curtains, spires, and more! We definitely want to come back and experience even more of this stunning unit of the California State Park System. Hagen Canyon Trail in the Red Rock Canyon State Park is AWESOME!

My favorite landscapes on the entire planet! Red Rocks! I absolutely live for traversing the red sandstone trails and formations! The geological wonders never cease to amaze me! It was still a little foggy out, so the photos aren’t as brilliant as I wish they could have been under bluer skies. But, there’s no place I’d rather be, no matter what the weather! We definitely want to come back and spend even more time in this gorgeous unit of the California State Park System. Hagen Canyon Trail in the Red Rock Canyon State Park is AWESOME!

Leaving Ridgecrest, through Inyokern, and then along California State Route 14, it was a foggy morning across the desert flatlands! But the Joshua Trees shrouded in fog made for a fun visual!

Roxanne’s Cafe, located at the Clarion Inn of Ridgecrest, California, offered a selection of surprisingly good free breakfast choices. While not a buffet, you instead got your choice of one menu item and a drink, included in the price of your room. French Toast, Eggs, and Bacon And a Breakfast Croissant with a Side of Fresh Fruit. UPDATE: It looks like the restaurant at the Clarion formerly known as Roxanne’s is now operating as Charlie’s Pub and Grill. Let us know if you like it!

Midnight Adventures can often be the best kind of adventures. But, let me tell you, It’s DARK in Death Valley! And you can’t see much of ANYTHING. So, we can certainly say we were here. But, it’s also HIGH on our list of things to get back to as soon as we can! Along with all of the other California National Parks. But driving through the park, not being able to see a THING… Fun, yes. But it will be that much more awesome when we can actually see and experience Death Valley in the daytime, with our feet on…

And, just like that, our time in Nevada is done! It’s been a fabulous trip, though! Make sure you check out all our Nevada Adventures! Next on the agenda, California Dreaming! See ya there!

We started our morning checking out Tahoe City, but eventually worked our way around the lake, and to the South Lake Tahoe side of things. Wow. The entire Lake Tahoe area is STUNNING. It is DEFINITELY on my list to go back as soon as we can and spend a LOT more time there. I can’t wait to hike and climb some of the enticing trails and unique formations. Although our time in Tahoe was more of a “Hey, let’s check this place out while we’re driving through,” we found an absolute gem of a destination that warrants a MUCH…

Oh, the Redwoods are INCREDIBLE! This entire trip was about making Bucket List Items HAPPEN. From driving to the Arctic Ocean (twice), to dancing on glaciers, to panning for gold with real miners, to actually seeing the Aurora Borealis with our very own eyes…. We got quite a few items scratched off in excellent fashion. Frolicking through ancient forests of giant Redwood trees was DEFINITELY just as high on the list! I have tons more photos, but I’ll just leave this one here for now! Check out the scale of that tree compared to our Honda Odyssey Mini-Van! WOW! The…