Merry Christmas!
So Matt and I celebrated our first ever Christmas together, and first in LA. Something about the 65+ degree temperature was just weird, but I was determined to go to find snow for Christmas. More on that later.
Christmas morning, we woke up and opened some presents. Matt opened more than I did due to my complete inability to wait (I had mostly just opened things as they arrived).
Among other things, Matt received a Buddy Holly CD and as it turns out there's a bit of a resemblance:
I got a book called "Big Babies", a social commentary tome that I wanted, so I'm giving you my big baby face here:
Eventually we proceeded to make Christmas dinner. It takes Matt and I a crazy long time to cook anything, so it's good to start early. We got a new Vegetarian cookbook from my parents for Christmas and tried two of the recipes. And I think it was probably the best meal we've ever made if I do say so myself.
I made a polenta and lentil dish, that I dubbed 'polentils' and Matt created the Pesto Pizza (it's green! For Christmas!):
But back to the snow.
Snow Odyssey
So, we were going to go find snow on Christmas Day -- one problem though -- we've been having problems with the brakes on the car (and snow generally requires curvy mountain roads full of braking). So the plan was to try to see if anyone was open on Saturday morning to fix the car.
So, Saturday morning rolls around and I call about a dozen places before finding one that is open. They do fix the car, but seemingly being the only open mechanic for miles, they are busy, and the car is not done in time for snow.
So, Sunday morning. And we're finally off to snow!
And we found it! Operation: Real Christmas = Success
Why am I lying like this? Good question. I'm trying to keep my not-water-resistant pants dry and attempting to lay solely on my jacket. In the end, this just makes me look really silly:
Snow, snow, snow...
Where did we find this snow? Well, the Engagement spot of course. Grassy Hollow Recreation Area in Angeles National Forest. You may recall it was snowy then, on Memorial Day Weekend, when Matt proposed. Here's Matt at the Engagement bench:
Where we sat for a while and devoured this cinnamon roll we picked up along the way:
I swear, despite this pictorial evidence, that Matt ate half.
DUCK ATTACK!
After snow, we drove down about 5000 feet into the high desert and through Valyermo, a little town I've always liked. (That snowy mountain in the back is where we drove down from):
We stopped at the quaint post office, where there is a duck pond. But alas, what is this? The ducks head our way -- in force:
I try to get out of the car, to look at the ducks, but then the scouting party of 3 large geese approach the car, and geese bite, so I immediately hop back in the car:
They surround us! See this guy at the back of the car in the rear view:
By now, those swimming ducks have started to reach the car:
And we are officially surrounded by ducks!
Ultimately, Matt rolls down the window a little and throws some food at the ducks, and they all run for it, creating a diversion, that allows us to run for it:
Free!!!
That was a close one.
Sad Forest
In kind of a bittersweet ending to our nice day trip, we drove back through Angeles National Forest, most of which burned down in September in that really large wildfire. And yeah, it was kind of sad, to see it all burned up. A roadside cafe we had gone to was completely gone for instance. But it's ok, at least the forest will grow back eventually!
So all in all a pretty successful Christmas experience. I also managed to slow but surely get some of the Iceland pages done for the album and hope to post those tonight or tomorrow!
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