Sacramento Week 4 (almost) Update

Friday June 29^th Sacramento Ballet summer intensive concluded with a final demonstration. We performed the four classical ballet pieces including Summer, Raymonda act III, Scotch Symphony and Symphony in C, as well as our other disciplines including Jazz, Contemporary, Tap and Musical Theater. The entire program, but especially the last week really went by fast. I enjoyed my time at Sacramento Ballet. The teachers and other dancers were fun. I’m actually considering moving here and dancing one way or another. I guess I will wait and see what happens in San Diego first though. It didn’t take much convincing to get me to stay in Sacramento for a few more days… relaxing at the lake and some fireworks, a trip to six flags (which turned into way too much fun), and the 4^th of July firework show at Cal Expo were all worth it. Almost 4 weeks after I arrived in Sacramento I am making my return trip home.  I really appreciate everyone who encouraged me to come, and helped me out in whatever way they did! This is starting out to be a great summer, and might even be in contention with 2007 (when I went to Spain) for best summer ever! Hope everyone had a wonderful 4^th of July!

fireworks at Hogan Lake pre 4th of July

Six Flags Fun!

Happy 4th of July!

One more firework picture

Sacramento week 2 update

I had planned to write an update last week after the first week of the Sacramento summer program. If I had posted it probably would have consisted of the facts that I was having fun, but was completely sore and tired. Week two was much better. A day off and it was like magic. I’m still struggling a little with the contemporary and tap, since they aren’t styles I am very familiar with and are quick. We had the mini demo on Friday where we danced 5 of the ballet pieces we learned. We did the classical ballet variations from Cinderella, Scotch Symphony, Raymonda and Symphony in C and the contemporary repertory piece “hook” from Trey Mcintyre’s Peter Pan.  For only have a few rehearsals for each one they went pretty well. Only one more week in Sacramento, the time is flying. This Friday we will be doing the full demo consisting of the five ballet pieces, maybe another variation we haven’t learned yet, and the other disciplines including tap, contemporary, jazz and musical theater. It should be fun. And to celebrate on Saturday we are going to head to the lake for a 4^th of July early celebration with fireworks.

Summer in Sacramento

Just like I have been planning I hit the road again and am no “living” in Sacramento. Staying with friends I will be calling this home for the next three weeks. I took my time leaving town, had to stop and get some food in Garberville, and take a look at some of the bikes. Redwood Run was going on. Last stop in Humboldt was to get some more dance supplies and see some wonderful people. I made the trip longer by going north before I drove south, but to see the people I got to see and the food it was worth it. On 299 there is a place called Strawhouse. Whenever I drive that way I tend to stop. This time they were serving fire baked pizzas and it was the right choice for dinner. It was amazing! Today I am gathering my things and organizing and trying to rest before my summer intensive starts tomorrow. Looking at the schedule for week one is a little intimidating, not that I don’t think I will be fine, but several styles I don’t know well and I am not in ‘dance all day’ shape.  Almost 400 miles in my car, now 3 weeks in Sacramento. Here I go! (I will try to update during my dancing, but even when I am not busy I've had a hard time keeping current)

yummy pizza from the Strawhouse! :)

Summer Kick Off

As the summer approaches and things start to speed up for me, I feel as if I neglected to write about my last trip to San Francisco. I am trying to keep this blog up to date and keep most if not all of my major travels on here. The trip to San Francisco was fairly uneventful. Not much to report: a drive to the city, dance class, sleep, dance class, pick up a friend from the airport and drive home (complete with lunch in Petaluma and some bakery items in Ukiah).  I made it back for final rehearsals for the summer arts fair performance with Feet First. The arts fair is the annual welcoming of summer in Southern Humboldt. You run into just about every local you know at some point between the trees stage and the green energy tend on either end. As I learned today, walking from one end to the other with a group of locals is almost impossible.  That’s all for this post, as I am looking forward to a busy week of dancing, teaching and packing, I am off to Sacramento in less than a week. I intend to post on here once that trip starts and throughout the summer program there and in San Diego, but as I have learned, I am not the best at keeping my road tripin’ blog current.  Cheers!

Shelter Cove Run

Yesterday I ran a 5k. This was my first run ever, besides any running I had to do for PE in school. Not only was it a run I could say I that I did, but it was also a fundraiser for one of the local schools. So I could kill two birds with one stone. The only issue is that I am not a runner; I can’t count the times that I have told people that I do not run. I made sure I knew what I was in for a just over 3mile run; I figured I could do that. Honestly, I didn’t run the whole thing; I’m not used to running or even walking longer distances. I find it a little funny how athletic ballet is, and how I am in decent shape for that, but still couldn’t beat the kids… It was overcast and foggy at home when I left in the morning, but as I made the descent towards the cove it was clear and sunny, and the water was an amazing blue. My time was 38:50. Not great, but not bad for my first time especially considering I do not consider myself a runner. Now that I’ve got one under my belt I am already considering trying another.

More Motocross: Hangtown 2012- Minus the pictures

As usual, my brother and I headed to the Hangtown national located at the Prairie city OHV Park just outside of Sacramento. As the annual opening race of the season approached the hype for the race was gaining and as usual anything can and will happen at this race. This year we decided to try some KTM fan experience tickets. Our experience was not very positive. If you want to know more about it just ask and I will explain, but basically the view was not good at all, and the staff managed to ignore my brother. We are not usually the ones to complain, but this is something I would discourage people from getting and especially anyone in a wheelchair/disabled.
On our way home we detoured to San Jose through San Francisco and tried to not look at the sun as the complete eclipse was happening during our drive. Home again safe and sound. I only have 3 weeks (less by the time I publish this) before I head to Sacramento Ballet.

Once again I am making a post without pictures due to internet service. I will post photos at a later time, I just wanted to get this post up. Enjoy!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

This is a brief post to share photos of this wonderful rainbow. It was visible in the complete arc and very bright in the full spectrum. Pictures don’t do it justice, but it was very pretty. It was a very spectacular drive home with rainbows, clouds, the sun setting and a subtle reminder that without rain we do not see rainbows.

Pictures

Here are some of the photos I have meant to post but never got around to when I had decent internet service.  Made it to our home for the night, just waiting for the excitement to start at the MX opener tomorrow at Hangtown :) Enjoy!

so cal beach shot

THE hike from the parking to the boundary 2.5 miles x2

first time at the SF oprea house

snow for my birthday, always

RV before Seattle

tomac autographed tomac coffee :)

5 leaf clover!

pretty quilt

treats before a late night movie in SF

Quilt Raffle- Send me to dance camp in San Diego

I started this blog to mostly keep track of trips to motocross and supercross races, but since I’ve been traveling more and more for dance too, I might as well keep track of all the trips. This post is more about my dance. If you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning of the year, I went to two auditions for summer programs; I got in and will be attending them both. I’m making quilts one is being raffled off through Feet First Dancers in Garberville, to help me pay for tuition for the second program. I can do custom quilts and have several other ones already finished if anyone is (actually reading this) interested…

The first program I will be attending will be for three weeks in June at Sacramento Ballet. Six days a week I will get up and head off to classes, and I believe there is a showcase type performance at the end of the program. I will get three weeks of rest to regroup for the second program. The program at City Ballet of San Diego is the one I am raffling the quilt off to pay for. I have a remaining balance of $1,000 for the tuition and that does not include housing, food or supplies. This program is featuring instructors Julie Kent Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theater, Paloma Herrera Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theater, and Zippora Karz former Soloist with New York City Ballet. The countdown begins… four weeks until summer intensive #1 begins…

Quilt front is made of red and orange cotton, back is a red fleece. It is finished with red Satin edging, approximately 50” square, machine sewn and quilted & machine washable. (Made by a human {ME} not machine, it is imperfect and an occasional seam may come undone when washing and using). Tickets are $5 each. The winner will be notified on or before June 11, 2012.

Don Quixote!

The San Francisco Ballet performance that I most wanted to see all season was Don Quixote. I made plans to go down the weekend of Cinco De Mayo, and went. Friday I drove to my grandmother’s house in Hayward with my mom, so they could visit. Saturday morning I got up and headed into the city, took morning ballet class then took my time getting ready to see the ballet. With over an hour to until I was supposed to pick up tickets and even longer until the show started, I took a stroll by City Hall and found a place to get some food (I had a pretty good grilled chicken sandwich and some coffee). Since I got my ticket a little late I didn’t have many seats to choose from, but I guess I chose right. Once I got my ticket and went inside the lady who had the aisle seat next to me asked if I would mind switching with her so she could sit by her friends who were seated on the other side of me. Fine by me, it was a better seat and gave me a clear view of the stage. Show time! I had seen clips of various versions of Don Q, but never the whole performance. It was an exciting show and the dancing was amazing. Since the ballet was based in Spain, the Spanish flavor and dancing made me miss my 2007 trip to Spain. Once the curtain was down it was time to get back on the road. (Yes, I left my mom at her mother’s house, but my dad was headed to the city and was going to pick her up…). Smooth sailing, or driving rather, home. I arrived around 11pm. I also managed to not use a GPS for this trip! Woo hoo, in and out of San Francisco without help!

Seattle SX- and more

For once I am actually writing about the trip I just took. Seattle Supercross is about 12 hour drive north for us, and free tickets were enough to get us on the road. 1,360 miles just under 23 hours on the move, not counting any of our stopped time. Since the drive is a long one for one day we usually leave a day ahead of time to get there. This time we made it in one day, but got to Seattle LATE, and by the time we got settled into a hotel it was close to 3am.

The first day in Seattle I decided I should go exploring the city. The sun was out and a perfect day to go for a walk around. Two things I planned on doing was check out the space needle and find the theater/studio for Pacific Northwest Ballet, so I could get tickets for the performance that night and get myself to class the next morning before the race. I was successful in both. I found the space needle and got up to the top, I was looking down on the streets like a map trying to figure out where I was and where I wanted to go next, and I could also see the stadium where the race would be held the next day. The place was busy getting ready for the next day’s events celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the world fair in Seattle. There was a water fountain with music that I stopped at for a few minutes, and then I found my way to the theater where I was hoping to see a show that night. I knew I was on the right track when I saw a little girl about 7 years old with her hair pulled back in a bun wearing ballet pink tights, always a dead giveaway that you are near a ballet studio. With ticket in hand for the evening performance I went back to the hotel for a little while.

I wanted to go see PNB perform since they are one of the best ballet companies in the country, and they happened to be performing the weekend I was going to be in town. And with a $15 ticket price (since I am still under 25), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was excited to see Apollo performed live. I had seen clips of it on video, but video never does performances justice. The second act of the performance was Carmina Burana. Going into the theater I had no idea what that even was, but after reading about it in the program I was excited to see it. Apollo was good, but Carmina Burana was amazing! And with that to wrap up the day in Seattle I was determined to get myself into class the next morning, even if it meant a long day.

A race Saturday would normally start with me getting ready, packing up the car, checking out of the hotel and heading to the stadium for the opening of the gates at noon, but this time I decided class at PNB was in store first. The facilities they have are incredible. I took an open class with over thirty people and still had plenty of space, and that was only one of the studios in the building. A brisk walk back to the hotel to get ready and off to the races we went. As I walked I passed a man who asked “do you have a spare 82 cents?” I responded as usual, and it wasn’t until after I had crossed the street that it occurred to me how odd that request was. I might have been a little preoccupied with the thoughts of how much I love to dance. Not only was class good and fun with some other great dancers, a good teacher and a pianist, but dance is such a universal language it makes me smile sometimes

Since in typical Seattle fashion it rained during the week, practice was not starting until later on in the afternoon, so my taking class meant we missed nothing during the day at the stadium. Although the sun was shining and I was happy to see it, I was also hoping it might rain. Rain in Seattle for supercross usually means there will be a shake-up in the race and make for unpredictable and great racing. I was prepare with a rain jacket, ponchos and hand warmers for the rain, but Seattle decided to have a gorgeous sunny day instead. However, my hopes for great racing were not let down. There were new winners in both classes, the already crowned 2012 champion crashed out, the title battle in the lites class got a little more exciting, and it was a great night of racing!

On these longer trips we tend to try and get on the road out of the city after the race. That was our plan again. After making some PB&J sandwiches in the truck in the parking garage we hit the road. At about 2am we pulled over at a rest stop and took a ‘nap’ in the truck. Just as the sun was rising we filled up the gas tank and got back on the road. After a few stops, we finally pulled in at home around 5pm. Exhausted from the long trip and lack of sleep, we were both happy to be back, and to call it an early night and lazy Monday…

PS. For once I am caught up on my travel blog. I will try to post pictures from the last month or so soon. Until next time… safe travels          

Another trip around the sun

I’m getting better at just letting whatever happens to happen. This control freak is learning how to just enjoy. In typical April weather, it tried to snow. I knew it would happen and planned on getting myself to the city a day early for that exact reason… I had tickets to go see San Francisco Ballet for my birthday, but that was about my only plan. I did have to take two classes while I was there since I had already paid for them, but didn’t have a return date or real plans. I just knew I was going to see the ballet for my birthday. After two separate people canceled on me I tried to find someone to go with, but seemed that everyone was busy, and I was about to go solo. Last minute I offered my extra ticket to the wife of my dad’s friend. It was that or waste a ticket, and they had put up with me staying a few extra days when my car problems happened the last time. I saw another great show and had an overall good day.

On Sunday I got to class and had brunch, then walked around the city in the sunshine. Once I got ‘home’ I quickly made a decision to get myself to see another performance while I was in San Francisco.  LINES was performing and it sounded like a good idea to me. One more class and a drive home...

Uneventful

For once a trip went as planned, other than moving the date because of my car problems in San Francisco. A quick trip to Chico to get the old Toyota set up for my brother went about exactly as planned; there were some awesome clouds and views, but nothing too exciting. 450 plus miles in a ’96 Yota, they keep going and going like the energizer bunny.

April Fools!

Once again off to the bay area for another audition.  Not getting my hopes up but going for things. Saturday I got to take a fun dance class in Garberville before I headed south. Sunday I was oddly not nervous for the audition, probably because I had no expectations of actually having something come of it, but you don’t know if you don’t try. I was somewhat relieved to see someone I had danced with before in the room when I walked in. After a good class with sticky numbers that weren’t so sticky, I wasn’t asked to stay for more. It ended up being a beautiful almost sunny day in the city. I used the time to catch up with a friend over coffee and lunch, and then we wandered around the city for a while before I headed out.

It was an uneventful trip to Livermore, got there parked and was just about to watch a movie when the dog started barking. We looked outside to see a Mercedes across the street smashed into an old pickup truck. I will say one of my first thoughts was that I was glad she turned right not left. My car was parked across the street from the accident. The whole passenger side of the car was smashed into the rear axle of the truck. The neighbor had bought that truck new in ‘86. It was a good old, solid, Ford, so I was surprised with the damage to it and could only wonder how fast the car was going. Turns out that the Mercedes had a sensor that documented the speed at impact and it was around 70MPH!

Once again this trip was mostly just spending time in the bay area until the following weekend. This time to see some shows. Tuesday night I went to see San Francisco Ballet perform one of their mixed shows with some dancers I danced with in the last year. Once again it was good to catch up with them, and to see some more dancing.

Some yummy food and more time at my Grandma’s in Hayward for a few days and it’s time to head back into San Francisco.

I wrote the previous part of this post while I was sitting at my Grandma's. Up untill this point in my trip I figured this blog post would be mostly repetitive, my plans included heading to the city for a show or two and some classes then heading home, but in true April fools fashion my plans changed.

On march 31^st I drove into San Francisco to take class, I stopped by my dad’s friend’s house for a shower before heading to a show that night, just when I thought I was going to the theater, my car decided it was not going to start. More car problems uggg… I got a ride to the theater with the plan of trying to figure out SF public transportation to get back. I failed on that attempt, but I didn’t try until morning thanks to a friend who let me crash with them. Second attempt I was successful, made my way to a matinee performance by San Francisco Ballet. Since my car once again decided that Friday night was the good time to quit working I knew I was spending the weekend and at least Monday in the city. For car problems, it could have been worse. I had a place to stay and an excuse to take class and go see shows. Spent Monday taking class and waiting to hear about my car so I could get back on the road home Tuesday. It was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco two classes some wandering around and food with a friend, only having to pay for a battery and a running car by the end of the day, not too shabby.  All in all, even with car problems my trip ended up only being a day or two longer than planned.

(Not) Up to Date

Apparently I am failing at this thing called blogging… My plan was to document my trips, and as I type I am on my third trip since my last post. Maybe that’s it. I am just posting in 3’s. I will blog about the current trip at a later time though, so I guess it’s only 2 trips this time.

Trip 1: Off to Sacramento… and SF while I was at it.

Just before Valentine’s Day 2012 (the first I have not had a valentine since I was in junior high) I hit the road to Sacramento. Sacramento ballet was performing Cinderella. This was my first time seeing Cinderella and seeing Sacramento Ballet perform. After the performance we finished the night off with pizza, drinks and going out.  I told myself I was going to take class in Sacramento then hit the road home, but the building was locked up when I got there. After some contemplating I decided, off to San Francisco for class that evening. THEN I drove home. And just as I was crossing the line into Humboldt County, my car hit an even 160,000miles. Good thing it is a VW.

Trip 2: the length of California

This trip was mostly for auditions, but turned into an interesting adventure in itself. In total: 1,880 miles, 35 hours on the road, 17 days.

The first day on the road the plan was to drive to the bay area, San Francisco to be exact, so that the following day’s drive to Southern California wouldn’t be so long. I left later in the day and this leg of the trip was uneventful. (Thanks to the PulpMX show for being exactly the length of time from Garberville to SF). Day two was class in the city before hitting the road. Have I mentioned how boring I think the I-5 is? I personally prefer the roads where you actually turn the wheel and maybe even do some shifting. After the minor hiccup of my GPS freezing in the middle of the last of LA traffic, only to find out it was wrong and just get back on the road I made it safe and sound to SoCal. I had a day to relax and let my body not be in a seated, driving position all day. It was Friday, the day before my audition.

Day four was audition day. A Saturday morning drive south to San Diego, only a few nerves getting to me, but mostly calm. Considering I was auditioning. Over all it was a mostly calm and uneventful day. Unexpectedly they told me then and there after class that I was in for the summer program. I thought they usually waited and sent a letter, but I left with the papers in hand. I met with one of my past dance teachers for lunch and a brief walk over the ocean before hitting getting back on the 5.

Sunday day five was a day of rest. I had been sick since before I left, and it ended up lasting through the whole trip, almost 3 weeks of coughing and blowing my nose while on the road… no fun, but I managed to have fun anyway.

Back on the road again, Day 6. It was cold and wet. It was wet and cold enough to be snowing through the Grapevine. Lucky for me, it was wet when I went through but they closed it a little while later. I will say stormy weather makes for interesting and beautiful clouds (and you certainly should NOT be looking at them instead of the road…). I made it safe and sound back in the bay area after traveling through just about every type weather you could think of, sun, clouds, rain, hail and snow…

One week on the road I met up with a friend in San Francisco, but instead of resting or being lazy we found someplace to take a hike. A real hike, 5 miles total and mostly not flat! The next few days were mostly just killing time before another audition in Sacramento. A few days here, a class, some visits with family and all that jazz.

Day ten was the day before the audition and time to hit the road to Sacramento. It was a beautiful day for a drive, the kind where you roll down your windows to get some fresh air. And that’s exactly what I did. Unfortunately my car window decided it was the day it was going to stop working. While down. At about 4:30 on a Friday. I knew it wasn’t getting fixed, but was lucky where I was head had a garage I could park in for a few days and people willing to drive me where I needed to go.

Day 11 another audition. There is something about a room full of girls in black leotards, pink tights and pointe shoes that make me smile. It seems weird that I was the oldest one there, but I was. I left there figuring I got in, hungry and tired, but happy.  

Monday, day 13, I hit the road again (I-5 and I are becoming friends). Back to the bay area to another place with a garage, and closer to a shop to get my window fixed. I had figured I would be headed home around here, but it turned into another few days of an extended road trip.

Two weeks on the road, I dropped my car at the dealer to fix the window and some other things that had been on the back burner anyway, and spent some time waiting with family. And since I was in the bay area, I borrowed my grandma’s car and headed into San Francisco to see SF Ballet perform Romeo and Juliet. My original plan was to go to see the ballet for the first time ever for my birthday in April, but since I had the opportunity and was just waiting for my car to get fixed I went.

I finally got my car back with a window and other work done. I decided to head back into San Francisco, take class and see a dance documentary that had been recommended to me. It was a fun dance filled evening by myself in San Francisco, it put a smile on my face. Another night in the city another class and then I was on the road home.  

And that’s a wrap. I will do a post with photos at a later time when I have better internet service to load them all… until next time, thanks for reading I’m off to the ballet.

Oakland Supercross

Another good night of racing in Oakland. Eli Tomac was the man of the night in the 250 class, and there was some good racing between RV, CR and JS in the 450 main.

The sun doing down over the track

Eli Tomac, keeping the red plate going into Anaheim 2 next week

And who doesn’t love Kevin Windham?

Here is a video of Kevin Windham’s opening ceremonies

Flash Mob Video

Since the last post was pretty long, this one will be very short. Here are two links to video of the flash mob I was in.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/mQpF28UzVig

http://youtu.be/JzEGO3Qm2V4

Flash Mob!

These are a few of my favorite things… when I realized that the timing for the trip to do the flash mob in San Francisco would be only a day or so before another round of the Supercross that just happened to be in Oakland, I figured I could combine my love of dance and interest in the sport of supercross into one trip. San Francisco bound, this time NOT at 6am, to be part of my first flash mob.

I have officially been part of a flash mob. I will post the link to the video once I get one. Now, I get to enjoy the city for a day before race day.

In case you didn’t know, an alarm is a loud ringing sound…

New Year Resolutions...

Heads up: this will be a long post


Happy New Year! Okay, I may be a little late with posting. I resolve to be better about posting in 2012 (although I am not one to make New Year’s resolutions so we will see how that turns out.) this post is going to cover three trips I took so far this year, and will get me up to date just in time for another trip. Actually I will probably not be able to post this until I am already on the road for trip number four of the year.
To kick off what looks to be an exciting New Year form me, my brother and I drove to Anaheim for the first of the Supercross series. With all the hype that surrounds the opening of the year, we hit the road. Typical of any of our trips we have to travel a good distance to see do anything worth wild, so to keep with tradition; it was about eleven hours drive time to get to our destination.

Windy roads are normal where we live; this is going across highway 20, between the 101 and the 5. I did not intend to get the sign in this picture, but it’s fitting and I like it.

With a day to spend in Southern California we met up with some friends who were also in the area and spent part of the day at Universal Studios. 

No pictures of us, but check out our shadows.

Day three of trip number 1. The whole trip was centered on this day, January 7^th, the opening of 2012 Supercross. A completely sold out Angel Stadium was set for the exciting night. With both classes full of good riders, this season was sure to battle with last year for the title of best season of racing in recent history. There were some surprises in the results, but great racing kicked off for the year.

Kdub's Bike

A1 Lites class results: Dean Wilson with the W

The mechanics packing behind the gate

RV showing the packed stadium why he was wearing the #1

By the time I am posting this Trey Canard had a bad crash in LA. Get well soon Trey!

It seems that the return trip is always a blur; sure we drove for another eleven hours straight, I’m sure that doesn’t help. 

       Total trip: 1,251miles

       Travel time: 21 hours moving

Sacramento bound: aka trip #2

As I have alluded to, 2012 is promising to be a year of adventure for me. Effective on January 13, (yes, Friday the thirteenth) the plans for my future were entirely up in the air. Complete with giving up a part time teaching/dancing job at the local ballet studio, and my house, I intend to see what excitement I could find.  To start this New Year off with a bang, I finally got my hair cut. I had been growing my hair out with only small trims for several years so that when I finally cut it, I could donate to Locks for Love. And what better way to do that than with a visit to a good friend in Sacramento, who just happens to be a hairdresser?

And while I was at it I decided to get myself into a flash mob taking place in San Francisco. So this second trip of the year began with a Thursday 6am departure time to arrive in San Francisco in time for a rehearsal at noon. That’s about where that day’s plans ended but instead of spending a night in the city, my travel companion and I decided it would be more fun to drive to Jackson, then back to Sacramento. Worth it, even if we were in the car all day.

Friday I think we were still recovering from the drive, but spend the day wondering around downtown Sacramento, and since it is our state’s capital we decided to visit the capital building. Friday consisted of walking, eating, and resting. Even more delightful, it was sunny. Friday night the friends we were visiting took us out for drinks and to check out the clubs. Any time you put ballet dancers in a bar, we tend to treat it as if we are at the barre (that would be the railing ballet dancers hold on to in the beginning of class). Good times were had by all…

Sacramento

The top of the dome

The bottom of the dome

Thank You

Vetran's memoral in the park at the capital

treating the bar like a barre

Saturday was the day of truth. Everyone kept asking me if I was really about to cut my hair off, and that just made me second guess my decision. I hadn’t had my hair that short in over ten years. I said I was going to do it, and I figured being the New Year, if the world was going to end, now was as good a time as any. So chop, chop, and chop.

Before

Good-Bye 13+inches of hair

Then out on the town again Saturday night. From experience ballet dancers will be ballet dancers even when it’s not expected. You can read that as at 2 am when we were about to leave.

The new hair, doing ballet out in public around 2am :)

After some much needed coffee we hit the road home on Sunday. Once again on a road that winds through the hills of Northern California. This time it was 299 just as a storm was about to come in and it was trying to snow.

2012 trip number 3 is not too interesting, another 6am departure to make it to the flash mob rehearsal in San Francisco, followed by a long overdue ballet class, visiting with a friend and sharing this bottle of wine.

Project Happiness Chardonnay