Today was definitely the best day of the season, and it was probably better than any other day of last season.
I don’t see winter wonderlands very often.
Beer no. 4. Magic Hat #9 Pale Ale
beer
Mammoth
Back at it! Turns out weekdays at Mammoth is amazing, there’s no other people out!
Beer no. 3, Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat. Gross. I didn’t finish it.
Travel light
I’m heading up to Mammoth and gonna stay there for a few nights, but I promised I’d help Asher with his apartment first and maybe do a round of golf in-between so I pretty much traveling with my hole apartment this time.
I like building stuff and always thought I was kind of good at it. I felt a little useless today though, started off a few things but couldn’t really finish anything. I blame it on the equipment. Asher still said I was a good help, I think he just said that to cheer me up.
I wasn’t the only one having issues though. This guy set entertainment lighting for a living and he still couldn’t figure out how to get the bedroom light fixture to work. He blamed it on color blindness.
It took us longer that expected to work on the apartment so we skipped golfing and headed straight up to Mammoth. Stopped for gas and I realized I had to cool down my beer for when we get there. It got to ride in the back of the truck the last hour.
Got Goose Island Winter Ale as beer no. 2.
I like it!
Beer #1 Elysian
Starting off this years calendar with a lot of alcohol!
Bifrost Winter Ale from Elysian Brewing Company, Seattle WA.
The label says:
Bifrost is our lively winter brew, a bold pale ale with citrus and earthy hop character balanced by a smooth malt backbone.
I can’t taste any of that, I can only taste alcohol. 8.3%/vol
#LABeerX
I wasn’t gonna do the beer calendar this year. It took me way until March before I finished last years calendar, I don’t really wanna drink that much and I also don’t think I’m gonna be home that much in December. Pure pressure from my friends made me change my mind though. This is the 10th year I’m doing it, which is kind of cool!
We started a hashtag for it last year on Instagram #labeerx.
A day Downtown Los Angeles
We’ve been camping over the Thanksgiving weekend the last couple of years but it didn’t fit with everyones schedule this year. I was a little bummed out we didn’t go but some urban hiking downtown LA definitely cheered me up.
We took the metro down, I like how you can see snowcaps as the backdrop of the city!
First stop for the day was the remodeled and reopen Clifton Cafeteria. It was a line to get in but it didn’t feel like we had to wait that long.
Once inside I was slightly confused how it all worked and then I got extremely frustrated because the guy who made my sandwich was suuuuuper slow. I think it is my culinary trained me that steps in and get stressed over things like that. Once I got my beer, I was all happy again though.
They have a large tree inside the cafeteria.
Next stop was the EightyTwo bar, a classic arcade for grown ups where you can drink alcohol. It’s a cultural thing. I don’t get it. I lost $2 within what felt like 30 seconds so I gave up and just concentrated on the alcohol.
They are closing down the classic Sixth Street Viaduct early next year so they can demolish the bridge and replace it. Apparently this landmark that’s been in a bunch of movies (Grease, Terminator, the Naked Gun etc.) has a 70% probability to collapse in a major earthquake, so it’s probably for the good that they replace it. We walked over to get a few last snaps of it.
I fell back in love with Los Angeles during this little walk. And also, I should bring out my camera more often.
The actual bridge;
Well, since there’s no water in California, the LA River bank should be used for something, right?
We get epic sunsets in southern California!
Next stop, the Angel City Brewery where we played Jenga and solved world problems.
We were gonna go to Wurstkuche for some good sausages, but the line was long so we went next door for burgers instead.
Walking back to the metro we passed by the Last Book Store. I’ve heard good things about this place and was more than happy to stop by and spend some time.
I bought a new book!
Mammoth bound
We decided last minute to go for Mammoth for the night and then continue to Yosemite tomorrow.
Usually when I drive up to Mammoth it’s after work and I wanna get there as quick as possible but this time we had some time to explore so we stopped by the Old Desert Cafe in Mojave.
It was very empty and charming.
Once in Mammoth, we headed out to the Mammoth Brewing Company. The Yosemite Pale Ale was fantastic!
Bar hopping
Like always, my guests got sick right away when they got here so we took it mellow yesterday. Today however they met up with me so we could do the classic bar hopping on the way home. It’s good for them to see a different side of Los Angeles, not just fancy hipster bars.
Golf
It’s been a bit of a habit for us to go golfing on Fridays after work but it’s getting dark quick now so I think this might be the last week they’ll stay open late.
I rushed to the course and managed to check in before 6pm. The started gave me a hard time about it and pointed out I had to be out of there before he closed the gate at 7:30pm, but he still let me play.
I am a bit of an expert on finding abandoned golf balls, I think I got that skill from my grandfather who used to walk his dog by the golf course and always picked up lost balls.
Most of the balls I find are not that awesome, some of them are pretty good and a few are really crappy practice balls. Since I still kind of suck at the whole golf thing, I don’t really think it matters what balls I am playing, but everyone else makes fun of me for playing with the practice balls so I hit the range today and got rid of them.
Everyone mark their balls differently so you know which ones is yours when you play in a group. A few months back I started to mark my balls with the date I found them. Let’s see how long it takes before I lose this one!
I’m supposed to be packing for the camping trip this weekend, but packing is boring. Drinking beer is more fun.
Going to China
Flying out to Beijing in the middle of the night from the international Tom Bradley terminal at LAX. Turns out the brand new Villaraigosa Pavilion is not so much happening on a Friday night. Everything is closed and empty and it’s even difficult to find a beer.
My friend told me to buy one of these weekly magazines to waste my time since I love gossiping so much. I have actually no idea who Josh Duggar is, but inTouch had a story about One Direction, so that’s the one I went with.
Finally found a wine bar where I could have an overpriced bottled beer!
