I got the smoker going! Made some pretty great meats the past week and I’m impressed, as usual, with myself 🙂
I have pics of the results too, but just got notified that my image storing capacity here is out of space 🙁 They want $50/month to give me more storage, but that would run out pretty fast too 🙁 I’ve already put out an ad on Upwork for someone to help me move this blog to a privately hosted server. I’m not too impressed with my WordPress skills though, so fingers crossed I can get some help 🙂 Not as many pics as I’d like for this post, but I hope to have it sorted asap 🙂
Been hitting the gym and did an easier yoga class. Felt as flexible as a tree trunk hahhaaa… Slow going and shoulders are still a bit stiff. Patience not being my strongest suit, but I’m trying to give it some time…
Once a year they host a Designer Sample Sale at the World Market Center here in Vegas. It’s where hotels, venues, etc by their decor and furnishing. This is the only time they let ‘regular’ people come in to shop. Unfortunately a lot of the showrooms were closed, and only a few of them were open. Still saw some cool stuff and I think if there was nothing stopping me, half of my home would be furry hahhaaaa… The couch for example was ‘only’ $1400. What’s stopping me really, is that I don’t think I’m ready to settle in one place yet. The worst is getting rid of stuff when you are moving so got to rein myself in a little 🙂
Lot of fun shooting this week, but since storage is limited, you get my favorite set. I’m supposed to be Red Sonja, and the bikini is supposed to be chainmail. But budget and delivery time was of importance, so this is what I came up with. And now I want red hair!
I love the new spa place where I get the contrast therapy with red light sauna and cold plunge. Went 5 times last week. Also got a massage from Tony and he said contrast therapy should be great for my recovery and joints. Tony is Bulgarian and he does this daily in 42 degree water for like 10min. So far I’m still managing only like 8-10 sec in 48 degree water! There are some restaurants by the spa. One is called North Italia. Too lazy to go home and cook after spa-ing, I went in and damn, it was great! Went for pizza and pasta (I was starving) and both were super tasty. Will be hard to pass by it on my future spa visits ugh!
Felt in the need of some sun and fresh air this weekend and hit the Calisco Basin exit before Red Rocks. This is a great alternative since the Red Rock park gets pretty crowded at times and sometimes they require you to reserve an entrance in advance. Will go here in the future since there are a bunch of trails and not as crowded!
Other than that, I made a dental appointment for Hunter for this week. Went to check out the veterinarian office because only the best is good enough for Hunter. Very nice and calm place. Unfortunately Hunter only has a few teeth left, so I hope they don’t have to extract any more 🙁
Time to hit the gym and workout. Have a great week and I hope to have my storage situation sorted this week 🙂
Last Sunday I decided I was worthy of a treat and more caffeine so I went to a cafe to read some and feast on sugar 🙂 I was gifted this book ‘Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear’ by Elizabeth Gilbert. Didn’t expect a lot, but it turns out it’s really inspiring. Talks about how to tap into a creative life. Fears we might have about failing and what’s stopping us…
Close to this cafe there is a library. I never checked it out and decided it was time. It was big and really cool. They had a room where people were selling their arts & crafts. There is also an art gallery and they decorated the room for the Mexican ‘Day of The Dead’. Reminded me that I want to make an ofrenda at home for Halloween. In simple terms you set up an altar with pictures of your loved ones that passed. This is so they can cross over and come visit you. You also put things or food that they liked by the altar. A great Disney cartoon movie about the celebration and meaning of the Day of the Dead is called ‘Coco’. Its really good!
The book about creativity got me going, so it must be working! Pardon the mess in the background…
Even went and bought a sewing machine! Unfortunately when I got home and unpacked it, I saw it has already been used 🙁 Annoying, but going to go and get it replaced with a new one!
Had an appointment with a plastic surgeon about my lip filler. Ages ago I had something permanent injected in them. I want to redo my lips and get out whatever is in there. We Googled and even called the office where I got them injected, but the nurse couldn’t answer if it was dissolvable. Google could’t even find the injected substance. This surgeon said, to remove it by surgery might f*ck them up beyond fixing. He recommended a lip lift. Will have to wait until my joint issue is solved, and then I’ll see 🙂
On a positive note about my joints, I now have an MRI scheduled for next week. Also seeing a rheumatologist. All this will hopefully give some answers, because it’s exhausting! In the meanwhile I take cold baths. I throw in a bag with ice and I finish my showers with cold water. Also have these electrical patches that give some relief…
Also trying to go on walks as moving my body does help! You can see how excited I am 😉 Spotted this cute cat in the neighborhood which was far more interesting!
I was a bit slower on my other ‘creative’ job, but expect me to be more energetic and organized this week 🙂
When I was younger I sometimes went playing car-Bingo with my mom. Like regular Bingo, but people sit in their cars on a parking lot and you honk if you get Bingo. I love Bingo! So at Red Rock Hotel here in Vegas, they have a big Bingo hall. They have a themed hour of the game on Thursdays. Angel and I decided to go and check it out. The theme was Y2K so we dressed the part 🙂 I also love costumes parties so this was a win win.
What we didn’t expect was it to be this popular! Doors open at 8pm and it started at 9pm. There was a looooong line to get it. And once inside, people were partying like it was NYE! There was a DJ and we got light sticks or whatever they are called. This was a modern type of Bingo where everything was handled by a computer or tablet. You just sat and watched the screen and it alerted you how close you were. In our case, how close to winning we were not 🙁 When someone yelled Bingo the whole hall erupted, cheering and just yelling. Dancing on the tables and just going wild. It was hilarious and I will definitely go back!
Decided on a hike on Saturday by the Red Rocks. Sunny and blue skies when heading out.
Half way through the hike it starts getting cloudy and I get a Flood Warning on my phone. Didn’t think much of it and it was still hot…
Then the skies turn dark and the wind picked up. It cooled down fast and I was pretty sure I was going to get caught in a rainstorm! I got lucky and the downpour started as I was driving home!
Yesterday I picked up Angel and we checked out the Historic Railroad Hiking Trail. Very cool and I’ll show pics in my next post…
Angel and I agree that we are the worst partners to be around each other, since we both support each other when it comes to consuming sugar. This week we detoured into Ethel M Chocolates. They got amazing chocolates so you can’t really blame us!
I also watched when the dog trainer was giving Angel’s 3 divas som training. He managed to get a little order in them hahahaaa…
Lastly a pic of me enjoying my morning caffeine outside and Hunter enjoying not having any responsibilities! I want to be Hunter in my next life!
Now I’m going to figure out what today and this week has in store for me 🙂 Have a good one!
Didn’t really know a lot about Whitefish, but the pics online of the place looked inviting, so thought a birthday trip there would be an excellent idea! And it was!
I think I mentioned before that have slight fear of bears! I have watched and read plenty of educational material on how to act if you encounter a bear. Unfortunately I think all my rationality would blow out of my brain and I’d either freeze or run LOL…
Didn’t help that the first thing I see at the Kalispell airport is bear spray for rent!
The airport is small and it’s the nicest airport I’ve been to. The rental car desk was downstairs and the lot with the car was a 3 min walk away. Very convenient not having to take some shuttle bus to a place to pick it up after flying…
Checked in to the Airbnb right in the city and went eating and checking the town out. It’s small, but pretty. Plenty of places to choose from when it comes to eating. Decided on this food truck park called Thirty Eight with live music. Crab bowl with no lame imitation crab and tacos. Couldn’t decide and was fomo-ing. Then ice-cream for dessert at Sweet Peaks, but it was more icy than creamy 🙁
Went to a store to pick up some stuff for the hike the following day. Had to pick some new flavors of Maeve chocolate I’d never tried. If you see this chocolate, buy and try it. It’s the best! They even had Swedish ginger bread cookies!!!
I had booked a group hike with Glacier Guides Montana Raft since I was too freaked out by the idea of hiking alone in bear woods! Meet up time was at 7am and since I need coffee first thing in the morning, I bought this strong ass instant coffee the night before at the store! 300mg of caffeine should do the trick, right? And apparently formulated for NASA in 2018, so I thought it would be good enough for me too LOL!
It was dark and lonely on the streets when I left at 6.20AM…
I met at their office with the group. Got our lunchpacks and jumped in their van for a 2h drive to the Glacier Park. The start was from a hotel, which I don’t remember the name of, but they had beautiful mountain and lake views. We had a short talk about bears with both guides carrying bear spray. Basically they said a bears thoughts were not “look, a human, let me eat it”… And they had never needed to use their bear sprays. OK, felt pretty relaxed after hearing that!
The hike was about 15km in total there and back from the glacier. The nature was impressive!
We finally reached the glacier with super clear water. Surprisingly you were allowed to swim in it. Pretty hot after the hike I took a quick dip. Needed to show the rest of the group what we Finn’s are made of! Cold, but so refreshing! After lunch in the sun and drying up.
This was an awesome hike! My joints were hurting pretty bad after, but so worth it! Outdoors gives you an appetite and dinner was at this cute little restaurant called Piggyback Barbecue. Probably some of the best ribs I’ve ever had!
Since it was my birthday weekend, I couldn’t drive by Clydesdale Creamery without having this sugar bomb! WOW, it was almost too much. But only almost! They also have a Clydesdale (giant horse breed) farm that you can visit and stay at. If I had more time I would’ve gone there too…
Soaked in the hot tub which was under a giant tree in the back yard of my Airbnb after, and it was a perfect ending to the day!
Saturday was my birthday! Happy birthday to me 🙂 Started by getting coffee at Folklore and enjoying it in front of the fireplace…
Dressed to impress!
More coffee in town and some shopping. I’m good at treating myself 🙂 Spotted these cute doggos on the town too…
Then went to the City beach. I’m like a kid when it comes to water. Had to get in and do another quick dip 🙂
Dinner was at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club at their restaurant. The smoked trout for starter went down faster than I could take a picture of it. The steak was great even though the presentation could’ve used some creativity 🙂 They gave me an ice-cream dessert with a sparkler 🙂
Since it was still light out I checked out the neighboring downtown of Columbia Falls. Not much there and definitely happy I chose to stay in Whitefish instead. Beautiful sunset by the river and thankfully no bears 🙂
Finished in the hottub again and it was definitely the highlight of my Airbnb with the fireplace and heated floors 🙂
My flight wasn’t until the afternoon on Sunday so started with caffeine at Folklore. Great coffee spot!
Then a short hike at Swift Creek Loop Trail. But first – Rent bear Spray! Convenient station where you could rent bear spray per day.
I think I can admit it was probably not the most enjoyable hike in my life. I was just on a constant lookout for bears hahahaa… Luckily there were people on the trail, so I hoped the bears would go for quantity! Needles to say, no bears. But so many other animals. Big woodpecker, what I think was a chipmunk, some hairy larva and only had time to catch a pic of the snakes tail. Snakes don’t bother me at all!
Stopped for a coffee on the way back to town at Crema which was excellent and just next to the parking lot this deer was grazing 🙂
Hungry again and went back to Thirty Eight because they had a BBQ truck from Texas there on Sundays. Baked potato with brisket and some huge rib, both smoked to perfection!
Could’ve easily spent a couple more days here. Can really recommend Whitefish if you enjoy nature, hikes, skiing in the winter and perfect little cute town with everything you need! And bears….
Still good to come back and hug Hunter. Angel’s friend looked after him and from the pictures she sent me, he lived like a king while I was gone 🙂 Only the best for Hunter!
What I planned to look like for my birthday… But that didn’t happen! Maybe next year when I turn 50 🙂
Lots of other stuff to tell you about, but it will have to wait until Sunday 🙂
After a week in Sweden it was time to pack up for my annual hike with my sister. This is the 6th consecutive year we’ve went. This time we set out for the 160 km long Padjelanta Trail in the northern part of Sweden.
You feel every extra kilo in the backpack on your back! The weather forecast looked rainy so we both bought rain pants. Most of the huts sell food and snacks, but since you don’t know what or how much they’ll have, we brought food for every day.
We flew up to Gällivare early in the morning on a smaller propeller plane.
From there it was a 3h bus ride to Ritsem where you can start the trail from. Saw reindeer on the road and we had a pee break at a cool hotel on way. Had to take a pic of the stuffed bear since I have a slight bear phobia…
We spent the night at Ritsem since we arrived late. Most rooms have bunk beads and since I thought I might roll out of bed we made a barrier out of our slippers 🙂
There are 2 departures with a boat in the morning to shuttle you over to where the trail starts from. In very good spirits and ready to tackle the first 18km of the trail!
There was a small settlement where we started where the Sirkas Sámi have their summer stays. I loved this church ‘kåta’. ‘Kåta’, traditional Sámi housing back in the day.
After about an hour it started raining lightly. Then the wind picked up and it started raining even more. Luckily half-way to our first stop, there was a small shelter. We went inside to make some food, hot chocolate and put on long johns.
A Sámi guy also entered to have some shelter from the rain. He worked on the trails in the area during summer and otherwise hunts reindeer. He also happened to mention that there are bears in the area. I had a slight panic attack until he said that the bear will see us, but we’ll never see them. Puh!
Warm & full, we took on the last part of the trail. The weather switched between rain and no rain. Beautiful surroundings with a lot of waterfalls. Worth mentioning is that the water is so clean here, that you can always fill your water bottle up and have ice cold and fresh water. Yes, my rain poncho on top of my backpack makes me look something from the ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ character!
Our first night we spent at the Kutjaure Mountain cabin. All the cabins have one or two wardens that supervise the cabins. Everyone is asked to help bring in water in buckets, empty waste water buckets after doing dishes, chop up and bring in logs for the fireplace and clean up. The cabins have no running water or electricity. They have gas though so you can heat up water/food and pots, pans, plates, glasses and utensils to eat and cook your food from. Here is dinner with the fireplace going and us having our coffee the next morning before heading out.
2nd day was 19km. A bit of rain and most of the day was cloudy. We met a German lady who had taken a break and offered us some coffee. Most of the people you meet on the trail and in the huts are super friendly! Saw some reindeer too 🙂
2nd night was spent at Låddejåkka cabin. Dinner was a super tasty Bison Chili and a Blueberry Peach Crisp for dessert 🙂
The 3rd day was one of our longer days and it was 25k. We skipped one of the huts and it made the hike longer. The trail was pretty even and easy even though it started with a 4k long uphill climb. A lot of heavy fog when we reached the top, but so quiet and peaceful!
Since there was no rain we had some porridge with dried raspberries, coconut flakes and goji berries for lunch. Some chocolate chip cookies too for some sugar to help with the remaining kilometers 🙂
The 3rd night was spent at Staloluokta cabin. This was the only place along the trail that had a sauna. Us being Finns obviously we got very excited! I can’t describe how good and rewarding it felt after the long day! And to wash off properly too! 2 thumbs up for Staloluokta and their sauna!
Since we both prefer to eat outdoors, we always start our mornings with just black coffee. Then hike and find a good spot for breakfast. It’s a good thing we are so alike – wake up early, fine with starting the day with just coffee and pretty much keep the same speed on the trails.
The 4th day was an 18 km day. Very beautiful scenery and so green everywhere.
Found a nice spot by a waterfall to eat and rest. Right after we packed up we spotted a small group of reindeer. They say that if you spot a white reindeer, it brings you luck!
Most of the days so far had been cloudy and rainy. This afternoon we finally got some sunshine! Had to sit down and just enjoy the warmth. Probably our legs needed a break too 😉 See, the reindeer brought some luck right away 🙂
When we almost were finished, we come to this wide river. No way around, but through. Soaking wet feet, socks and shoes ! And 10 minutes later there was another river crossing just as wide, so we arrived with clean feet at Tuottar cabins 🙂
Here they had about 6 smaller cabins with 3 bunk beds in each. We shared our cabin with a solo hiker from Catalan. The water was down at the river where we just came from and kind of far. The guy was a gentleman and told us to chill and he’d walk down and fill the water buckets so we didn’t have to 🙂 Instead we went to see what the store had to offer. My sister got very happy to find that they had beer. Even though it cost like 3 times more than in the store 🙂 Oh, and there was a rainbow so more luck to us hopefully!
5th day was a 26km day again since we skipped a cabin and walked to the next one. Started with decent weather. A little pit stop by a river…
Right after we had to cross that river. Soaked again… I think from this point on, our shoes and socks never completely dried up for the rest of the trip!
Since my hiking shoes are made of leather they don’t let out the water. After each river crossing I had to stop and empty the water out of them and wring out my socks.
We were pretty exhausted by the end of this day. It rained on and off and the final stretch was downhill and the trail was wet, muddy and slippery. We had made reservations before for all of the cabins. They say you have to arrive before 6pm to be guaranteed to get your room. Otherwise it might be given to someone else without a reservation, since you might not show up. We got a bit stressed at the end of the hike since we didn’t arrive until 6.45pm. Our longest day so far. But we were lucky and got our own room at Såmmarlappa Mountain cabin 🙂
Our 6th day was a 19km stretch. It got more woodsy as we were on lower elevation. That also meant that the trail was even more wet, big pools of water and a lot of mud you tried to step around. Also the weather cooled down. Around 5°C in the morning and you could see some fresh snow on the mountain tops.
We could feel the kilometers in our legs by now and felt good when we finally arrived at the Njunjes Mountain cabin. All the cabins have a fire place, or a heater, in the common room, and in your room so you can dry stuff up. All my crusty socks went up 🙂
Last day was an easy 13km stretch which felt good. You mostly hiked in the woods. We both prefer the higher grounds with open landscape and where you get the views for miles.
Then you have to get on a boat to get a ride to the last mountain station which is Kvikkjokk.
Since there is only one bus which leaves 05.25am daily from Kvikkjokk, we had to spend the night there. Treated ourselves to a delicious 3 course dinner at their restaurant. My starter was smoked elk, fermented reindeer and first time trying reindeer tongue. I wasn’t going to eat that, but the waiter said it’s the best, so gave it a try and it tasted pretty damn good! Dinner was reindeer steak and for dessert we had vanilla ice cream with cloudberries. Cloudberries only grow up here in the north and are called ‘the gold of the forest’. If you ever get a chance to try them, do it! Soooo good!!!
Next morning we took the early bus for about 5h to reach Luleå where we caught a flight back to Stockholm.
What a hike! We both agreed that this was our hardest and most strenuous hike we’ve been on so far. The rainy weather played a huge part since we made fewer stops along the trail. We learned that we need to study the map before-hand if there are a lot of climbs and downhill parts before we decide to just skip a hut. This hike was recommended to be done in 9-10 days and we did it in 7. Even though it was hard at times, it was beautiful and me and my sister always have the best time together. It feels great that we pulled it off and tested our limits. Can’t wait to see what we plan for next year! Thanks for this year’s adventure sis!
More of my time in Sweden coming hopefully on Sunday. Giving jetlag and my sugar cravings a fight now hahahaa…
I consider myself a veteran traveller, and I still, I leave stuff to be handled to the last day or 2. First I had an appointment at DMV to get a Real ID, renew my drivers license and register my car in Vegas. I show up and get a big “NOPE” at the window! This because I didn’t bring all the paperwork needed. Yes, there probably information in the appointment email, but I obviously didn’t bother reading it. Only thing I could do was getting my VIN number checked which was behind the DMV office… Puma vs DMV = 0-1
At least I got my hair fixed! I liked that the dryer looked like I had a halo. Meet your holiness Puma 🙂
Last custom orders got shot too!
And at midnight before my flight I was packed and ready. I was aiming for only one packed bag, but ended up with 2.
Flying to Sweden went smoothly and landed at 8am the next day in Stockholm! I prefer arriving at my destination in the morning so no time is wasted!
My friend Linda picked me up at the airport and we spent the whole day together. Met up with my sister later and we went for meatballs, since that’s one meal I miss when not home. This place make them fresh every day. Served with the brown sauce, lingonberries and pickled cucumbers. YUMMY!
They also bake their cinnamon rolls fresh…
Jetlag has been put on hold. Met up with my cousin the next day and we went for a walk. Stockholm is a beautiful city surrounded by water.
Had to make a pitstop to avoid dehydration 🙂 My cousin is not as photogenic as I am, so he has to deal with a smiley over his face!
Walked a bit more and then went for food. I love beef tartar!
I haven’t really been eating any, or at least very little, sugar since I got home from Prague since there was an overkill of it there! I can’t resist to buy ‘lösgodis’ here though. The salty licorice candy is the best!
Had a bunch of girlfriends over for dinner this weekend. So much fun to catch up, so I forgot to take one single picture 🙁
On today’s schedule is to go and buy the last things for our hiking trip. Been looking at the weather forecast and it looks like it’s going to be pretty cold and some rain. Will try to keep my packing in my backpack to a maximum of 10kg. We have to bring more food this time, so I’m guessing I will end up at 11-12kg. Can’t wait to hit the trail!
Got an appointment booked with a Chinese Dr before our hike too. A friend recommended him, and I hope he can relieve some of the pain in my shoulders with acupuncture. Fingers crossed.
I hope everything with you is peachy! I’ll catch you after my hike in about 2 weeks from now unless I get lost up there 😉
I feel that all I did last week was running to different doctors appointments. Unfortunately my shoulders are hurting pretty bad again. Wake up several times at night from pain, but get some relief from getting my cold sleeves from the refrigerator usually at around 4am, sliding them on and I can then get a couple more hours of sleep. Been Googling, ChatGPT’ing and getting advice from people who had rotator cuffs issues on what to do.
First off I was going to a rheumatologist. Never even heard about that. I was specific when booking it that I wanted cortisone shots in the front of my shoulders if they didn’t find any other issues with me. Long story short, I was seen by a student who after a few questions just said, yeah, probably a tear in your rotator cuffs. Asked if I wanted to do bloodwork for auto immune diseases. I said I emailed them my bloodwork from a month ago and maybe she can check if there were answers in there. “Naaah, there probably won’t be” she said and asked again if I wanted to bloodwork. I asked where the Dr is since I wanted to see if I can get cortisone shots. Turns out the Dr was not even there. At this point I just said thanks and left. I wrote them later about my experience, they apologized and I received a full refund.
Managed to find another orthopedic Doctor. The first place I went to before didn’t have any appointments until end of August. After examining me he didn’t want to give me Cortisone since the first shots should’ve taken care of the area where I have pain now. But I got stronger painkillers and muscle relaxers. Which he forgot to send to the pharmacy so I’m still waiting for them. Going to book an MRI for when I’m back from Sweden.
You woud think 2 appointments would be enough. Nope, got a UTI too so popped by an urgent care and popping antibiotics now. Does it sound like I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself? Yup, you’re correct! But came across this great quote – ‘pain is inevitable, suffering is optional’, so I try to keep that in mind and remind myself that it will get better! Makes me also think of people who have way worse conditions, pain, etc, so I’m going to cut my bitching right here!
Can’t just deal with pain. Had to be a bit vain too and get some Botox. Was recommended this great place from a friend and wrinkles are smoothing out as I write here 🙂
When not being at the doctors or being vain, work had to be taken care of 🙂
I’ve gone for walks which always makes the pain better and have done exercises at home. The other day when I got on the walking path around 2pm, I see a man standing in the grass watching his dog run around. Because it’s so hot at that time not many people walk the trail. I pretty soon realized that he is naked. I’m pretty close when he sees me and hastily bends down to pull on his shorts. I walk past and he greets me. I say hello back and continue walking hahahaaa… Not totally kosher I guess, but I didn’t get too nervous since he had a dog and just seemed to be a nudist!
Yesterday Hunter was lying on the sidewalk right outside the house. I hear yelling and I run outside. He is all puffed up and in staring contest with a woman and her dog on a leash. All of a sudden he bluff charges them. I yell at him and he luckily comes to me and lets out a little growl while not breaking eye contact with the intruders on our street. I asked the woman if they were OK? Luckily she was chill and nothing happened. I apologized for my ‘sons’ behavior and I think he was guarding our house as their car was parked right by my drive way. When we were inside I gave him a treat and said he was a good boy protecting our street and house LOL… He was not too upset though and lied down outside on my broken umbrella that fell over. Yeah, it will be trashed later than sooner…
Also went by REI yesterday to look at some hiking gear for my trip to Sweden. My shoulders will somehow have to survive the hiking trip, because I’m too excited about it! I’m thinking of getting this backpack since the one I have is for men, and not a perfect fit.
Other than that, I observed and helped Greg when he was shooting Angel this week. He is so good and creative and he lets me experiment too under his watchful eye 🙂 Got a hair appointment tomorrow, seeing Angel, and then DMV on Tuesday. Got to pack too and as European weather is very moody, better bring something for every possible season! This is how I feel when I think about packing… I ‘d rather nap!
Hope you are in good health and if you got leftovers of it, send it my way 😉 Will write to you from Sweden next week!
That was one busy and fun filled trip! Jetlag is in full-force, but at least the eyes are healing up nicely. Oh, and I’m trying to detox from sugar, because there was waaay too much chocolate, bakery stuff, bread and snacks! Too hard!
Anyways, here comes some pics. Sunday walk with Archie who came by to visit. The neighborhood where we stayed was so green and we saw chickens, sheep and horses on our walk in the neighborhood…
First time trying LPG over there. You put on a bodystocking and this machine sucks your skin in and massages you at the same time. Good for the circulation and a bunch of other stuff…
.We were always running around town and there wasn’t always time to go to a restaurant and sit down, so that was solved by eating in the car. The food there is just incredible!
One of the days we had a meeting with a producer that Angel knows. He is working on an interesting thing that we will hopefully be a part of 🙂 The meeting was at Cafe Savoy. It was established in 1893 and has a lot of history. One thing we learned is that when they renovated it in 2001, they found the original ceilings underneath, that had been covered up during WWII to hide it from the Germans. Very beautiful place and definitely worth a visit!
We walked in Old Town after. The weather ranged from cold, hot, to a full on storm… The architecture there is beautiful and so many cool buildings. Threw in some sculpture-humping while exploring, because why just take a photo of it?
I think somewhere here we had our 2 days of shooting. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pics on set. We were told they will share some pics later and I really hope so! We never shot anything like this! It was very funny and everyone was great on set. Can’t wait to show you!
We had our trip to Olomouc to see the surgeon before the surgery. Beautiful town. We had some time to walk around and went inside this big church. I usually try to visit a church in new places and light candles for family and friends who have passed away…
Before the surgery I did another full day in town and it was nice with the sun out this time 🙂 Very walkable city and I hit a couple of coffee spots on list. Coffee and Riot, good coffee and tasty sandwich. Then Dabov Specialty Coffee. They have won a lot of roasting awards and had a big selection of various coffees. The owner was also very passionate and knowledgable about coffee and I tried a super good pour over.
This tower is the Zizkov Television tower. Almost visible all over town. I now noticed they had these little baby sculptures climbing it. Similar to the one me & Angel were ‘posing’ with earlier…
The kids hit the playground one day and of course there was a full bar and cafe there too. Reminds me of Mexico where there’s always food where there’s people. And what amazed me was that every table also had an ashtray. Very 70’s to be able to smoke pretty much anywhere. Even next to the playground LOL… And the food they offered is not the usual fast food crap or ready made sandwiches in plastic. We had some fresh cheese and ”škvarková pomazánka’. It’s a spread made of ground pork cracklings mixed with lard and finely chopped onion. Sooooo good!
So the kids play and parents can have a drink and some food. Some parents where playing volleyball and took beer breaks in the between to hydrate hahahaa… Also saw this man and had to ask for a picture of his pretty awesome t-shirt!
I’m not big on household chores so it obviously had to be documented when I did some cleaning. Want to make sure I get invited back 😉 Hard work so had to switch to shorts too…
I then had my surgery and after 3 days after my eyes were well enough to venture out again. La Bohemia was another great coffee place.
Hit a park and of course there was another fabulous restaurant called Jurecek there, so more food it was!
Went out for lunch at an amazing Brazilian steakhouse that was in a cellar in old town. The pistachio crusted ice-cream with chocolate sauce for dessert was just WOW! You can probably guess that I never went hungry while here…
Had to walk some of the food off after and we hit a gallery that was showcasing work by Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and one of Czechs most famous photographers named Jan Saudek. His images were amazing and that some of them were from back around 1920’s is mind blowing. Read that he used to paint on his photos to create some of the effects. He is still alive and is 90 years old. If you are into art/photography, definitely check him out!
Also had a day of shopping with Angel and her mom in town. What I though was going to be like a 4 hour day, was a full 12 hour day! Mommy took shopping to another level hahahaa… Of course there were breaks for caffeine, sugar and a sandwich to keep up with her!
Oh, I spotted these 2 books for kids in Czech named ‘KUK’, You have to google what that means in Swedish hahhaaa… Sorry for my simple humor!
Some leftovers. The top ones are from the beautiful train station in Prague. Last pictures of Angel buying more Milka chocolates so we could keep our sugar levels peaking!
It was then time for me to check out, I had an invoice for my ‘room service’ provided by Angels nephew LOL. Angel asked the Uber driver to unload my bags at the airport since I’m not supposed to lift heavy. Well, this Uber driver took it to another level and escorted me all the way to the check in counter!
I decided at the airport to not buy any sweets for my flights. Time to start detoxing from sugar. Well, that lasted for an hour before I ordered candy on the plane. The flight attendant asked which one I wanted and I answered – BOTH!
Guess who was hapy to see me and me him? He of course had to be spoiled with a treat as soon as I put my bags down!
Can’t thank Angel and her family enough for the great time over there! Showing me the sights, helping me with my surgery and recovery, feeding me and just being the best!
I like when at the end of the week I feel that I’ve been productive and gotten stuff done. Not just work, but gym, hanging with friends, and spending some time outdoors… I regularly assess what makes me happy and content outside of work, and usually topping my list is being outdoors. What’s topping your list?
Yesterday I tried a new hike. Even though there were pics of a creek on google maps, it was dried up out there. But sitting on a rock and enjoying the stillness, fresh air and quietness resets me 🙂
Obviously spending time with Hunter makes me happy and here’s our weekly shenanigans which mostly consist of napping. I built him this fabulous ‘tent’ too where he likes to hide and sometime sneak attack from…
Oh, and I think Hunter has a girlfriend now. This is a pic from my neighbor with his cat Princess 🙂 Love is in the air….
Had some fun with Joslyn James this week too. Only a couple of BTS pics of me so far 🙂
And some pics I shot last week. There seems to be a theme, me cleaning which I really don’t like doing! But I’m good at pretending 🙂
And since this is a blog about me, more me….
I rocked at pickleball this week! So much fun and just booked a lesson for this upcoming week too so hopefully I keep it up 🙂 Maybe it’s my new pickleball hat?
Today I was invited to King von Nuggets 10-year birthday party 🙂 It was a brunch and it was great. Didn’t get a great pic of the birthday boy but he is a lively doggo for being 10 years!
Got my blood drawn and survived. Had to get extra coffee to get the energy going, but still crashed after 🙂 But good volume on the hair though hahhaaa…
This week is going to be busy. Leaving for Prague on Friday and before that I have to get tested since I’m shooting there. Shooting the last of my custom orders before leaving, getting my hair and nails done, squeezing in pickleball and then packing. Knowing European weather, you need to pack for cold, wind, rain and possibly summer clothes 🙂
I feel like I got a lot of good work done these 2 weeks. I’m still working on this site, but a little stuck right now. Shot some Psychonaut Explorer stuff. Recruited the beautiful Elisa to model too 🙂
Trying to cut out my own text from these rhinestone sheets. Not the smoothest thing, but I like the result…
And then showed off my modeling skills. Hello America’s Next Top model…
And then the stuff that’s been making (most) people happy since 19XX …
I was invited to a party called Bresh on Friday with Dyana. Can’t believe I used to party and after party until the next day. Now I was happy eating tacos at 3am before going to sleep not being totally f*cked up . I think it’s called getting old 🙁
Also feels good to be back at the gym. I didn’t work out while in LA, and then I was kind of sick for a week after. Damn it’s hard to get started again… ugh!
And not to forget Hunter S Thompson. I call him King of the Castle and he pretty much gets whatever he wants 🙂
Since he was living in the woods before I got him, I think he might of hurt his back legs at some point. He kind of just leaves them ‘hanging’ and the just plays with the front legs. Sometimes I also suspect he just might be a little lazy…
I found an awesome doctor here in Mexico City. He treats my shallow spider-veins on the legs with laser and injections. Tiny bit painful, but as we say in Swedish – vill man vara får man lida pin!
Other than this stuff I got a hair treatment, chilled in the park, and enjoyed some morning coffee in bed 🙂
Tonight I’m going to see the new John Wick movie. Also looking to plan a trip to Puerto Escondido. Everyone here says it is beautiful there and I miss the beach! And if anyone here has done overnight and multi day hiking in Switzerland, Slovakia, Norway or Finland, hit me up with recommendations please 🙂
One of my favorite things in Bariloche were the two overnight hikes. Our first hike was to Refugio Jakob. Also called Refugio General San Martín. Refugios as they call them are huts where you can spend the night.
The description of the hike lists it as a moderate hike during summer. We thought it was quite easy. Easy walking path and had some access points to the river where you could fill up your bottle with fresh water.
The only moderate part would’ve been the last part where you had to do some climbing. That part didn’t require any real rock climbing skills, just paying attention where you put your hands and feet.
When we started it was pretty sunny, but then it became cloudier with some rain. We were lucky to reach the hut right before it started to pour down. The people at the hut told us that they had closed the trail at noon since they feared it would get too slippery.
It’s always such a sweet feeling after hiking a few hours and then finally spotting the hut! This one was located beautifully by a lake. (I actually think almost all of the refugios in Bariloche area are located by a lake or water).
It was great to be able to order some hot chocolate on arrival and we also booked the 3 course dinner that was served at 8pm. You could bring your own food or cook with a camping stove if you had one. The use of the kitchen was not allowed. The pumpkin soup was really good and I ate it before I remembered to take a pic of it. Then it was a lentil stew with vegetables and the dessert was amazing!
We got our own room. I had to take a cat nap after the snacks and chocolate lol… Maybe too much fresh mountain air too…
Looks cold, but it actually got too hot and had to remove clothes. The only downside of this refugio I would say that the bathrooms were located a bit of a walk away from where you sleep. I had to go pee at night and half way up to the bathroom I started imagining pumas in the bushes. Too scared to scan around with the flashlight on my phone in case I’d spot two glowing eyes approaching me. I got half freaked out and just jumped off the trail and squatted and then made it back as fast as I could. Alive!
You could also buy breakfast which was toast and cereal. We skipped that and only had hot chocolate, tea, and some snacks we brought with us before hiking back.
Definitely recommend this hike and a stay at the refugio. It’s beautiful and it took us about 5h both ways with some breaks. Cost of the stay is 5000 ARS pesos/person. Dinner 4500 ARS pesos/person. Breakfast 2500 ARS.
The second overnight hike was to Refugio Laguna Negra. Also called Refugio Italia or Manfredo Segre. This trail is listed moderate/hard during summer months. It’s 10,5km and says it takes about 4-6h to hike it. Comfortable trail to hike on. The toughest part is the last 2-3 km in the end that is steep uphill. I loved this trail and it pretty much followed a river the whole way.
The weather was sunny and it was great to take breaks, eat snacks and listen to the river.
The uphill part was sweaty. When you start the climb there is a sign. Didn’t understand it first and had no wifi so I couldn’t use Google translate. I think it looks like the stick figure is holding a rolled up magazine. But then we started spotting piles with logs next to the trail and figured out they were asking you to bring a couple of logs with you…
I marked the trail in between the red lines snaking its way up.
The views when you are getting towards the top and the end are amazing!
The 2nd picture above is the last part of the trail before you finally get over the ridge and see the lake and hut. So beautiful!
This hut felt a bit more rustic. You went up the small ladder and there are mattresses lined up in bunk-beds. You pick your spot first come, first serve. Nice view from the bedroom window though 🙂
Since it was still sunny and and hot, we sat outside enjoying the lake view, catching some sun, and reading. I tried to befriend the bird too, but it was only interested in my muffin leftovers…
Also got 3 rounds of one of my favorite games, Yatzy. I’m a sore loser in games and take them way too seriously hahahaaa…
Here they also offered dinner. Pretty much the same options as at Jakob, but here you could also get pizza. Opted for pizza and it was so good!
The hut was only lit by candles at the table and it was great chatting with other hikers. Slept pretty good and the kitchen opened at 8am. Skipped breakfast and only ordered coffee. Since Argentina won the World Cup, you could pretty much buy anything with the football team on. One couple had this thermos for example 🙂 Beautiful lighting in the morning…
Beautiful day hiking back as well…
I loved this trail. There was so many great spots by the river where you could sit down and enjoy the nature. Cost of the stay is 5000 ARS pesos/person. Pizza 3500 ARS pesos.
If you plan to visit and hike in Bariloche, this is a great website with info about shorter or longer hikes. Also with links to the refugios since it is necessary to book your stay in advance – https://www.barilochetrekking.com/
The longer hikes also sometimes require you to fill out a form online. You tell them on who is hiking, where, when and the dates. This to make it easier to plan rescue missions in case it would be necessary. Apparently you have to pay for the rescue if you didn’t submit the form before hand.
Also as I mention in the previous post, hiking gear is expensive here and the selection is a bit limited. I would try to bring what I need from home.
I wish we would’ve had the time for one more overnight hike. Well well, next time 🙂 Will have more post about the rest of Bariloche and Buenos Aires coming 🙂
