More Family Time!

Started the day early with my mom training.

Stopped by the Stora Sundby Castle on the way home.

Picnic in the park by the castle!

When we came home, the girls showed off their pony Musse.

Grandpa on the trampoline!

I love Sweden during the summer, the days go on forever, so there were still some time to jump in the pool before it gets dark.

 Ended the night with Kubb after dinner, the girls won!

Family Day

I had been in the country for less than 24 hours, when my sister put me to work.

My sous-chefs never disappoint!

Cinnamon buns!

We went on a short road trip in the afternoon and drove by the present King of Sweden’s summer residence.

Dinner with the family in the sunset!

Going Home From Catalina

We had a great day and night yesterday which ended around 1:30am after seeing 4 shooting stars!
We had the breakfast of champions today…

A super chill day at the beach before taking the ferry back home to Los Angeles. We saw whales playing in the water on the ride back home, super awesome!

As we all were busy checking out the whales, someone pointed down in the water not far from the ferry… A SHARK!!!

Camping at Catalina Island

We took a camping trip to Catalina Island over the weekend. 

Burgers for lunch!

Scavenger hunt after lunch.

Team ABC Casa was clever and went to the tourist information to get all the answers.

Large beers at one of the local pubs.

“Are you gonna drink all that?”

Pina Colada means vacation!

Salton City pt.2

We came across a convenient store where we refilled our water storage, I dont think they’ve bothered with changing their flags since the 1970’s.

We found a spot where we could access the beach front, it was stinky, but still pretty cool.

Wait, is that dead fish washed up on the beach?

Yes, it is, and they dont seem to have had a pleasant death.

Wait a minute, are we actually standing a field of dead fish here? Eeek!

The beach covered in fishbone.

I love the light during the sunset!

This place was haunted!

We played with light for a bit after sunset before we got hungry and cranky after 6 hours of shooting and drove the 1 hour back to civilization and our hotel for the night.

Salton City pt.1

We went to Salton City for the weekend to take photos. Salton City is located right next to Salton Sea, 3 hours east of Los Angeles. Salton Sea was created due to poor engineering when redirecting the Colorado River. Heavy rainfall made the river flood in 1905 and created the lake, some 220 feet below sea level. They planted fish in the sea and Salton City was a popular tourist resort in the 1920’s.  
By the late 1970’s people started to realize that since there were no outlets in the sea and no fresh water coming in, the sea got polluted and stinky and the fish started to die off. People moved away, leaving their houses behind – we thought that sounded cool and wanted to take photos!
So, it’s in the middle of the desert and dead hot! The sea looks oh so inviting but you don’t want to jump in, trust me!
This is where the marina used to be – it’s now fenced off;

The population of Salton City was down to less than 1000 in the year 2000.

Due to America’s crappy economy though, and since it’s so cheap to live in the middle of nowhere, the population had increased to almost 4000 in 2010. I think a lot of them lives in trailers.

I was fascinated at first, but then I got a little grossed out by all the trash. My friends gladly went into all these trashed trailers, but I was scared that they would fall apart once I was in there.

It was just a bunch of junk everywhere, and off course, bullet holes!

And then there’s desert…

This was probably some fancy living back in the days, with a pool and all!

Las Vegas

We took a short weekend trip to Las Vegas, first stop was the M Resort & Casino.
People go to Las Vegas to party and gamble, I go there for the buffets. 
The crab legs are my favorite!

The aftermath…

Last call for alcohol.

And then off course the desserts!

I’m not much of a gambler, but I like to spend my $5 on a slot machine and get a “free” drink out of it.

We went outlet shopping the next day and I found a pair of shoes for $4. I think these will look awesome with my summer dress and big hat on the yacht!  I just have to get myself a summer dress, a big hat and a yacht…

Stopped by Luv-It Frozen Custard before taking off home.

Bridlewood Winery

I went up to Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez valley over the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday, I brought my camera but forgot the memory card at home. Super Stinky! Took a couple of snapshots with my phone at the Bridlewood Winery though.

Catalina Island

I’ve heard many good things about Catalina Island and have been wanting to go for some time, I thought it was a good opportunity to go with my parents.
I also want to visit Queen Mary, but will have to do that next time.
Saying goodbye to Long Beach. 
About half way over to the Island we came across some dolphins on the hunt for food. Hundreds of them! It was very awesome, I have never seen so many dolphins at once before!

We arrived at Avalon, Catalina Island after about 60 minutes and was welcomed by a pelican.

It turned out, Catalina Island is like different country, I loved it and can’t believe I have not been here before. It’s less than two hours away and it is very awesome!

 

We had about 6 hours on the island, but there’s a lot more to explore on the island! Next time I want to stay over night!