California sights

Last week was my little sister's wedding and the rest of the family took a road trip to Los Angeles for the occasion. As if the wedding wasn't enough, Southern California provided quite a few notable notes...

Take this super classy vehicle cruising down the 10... I missed the perfect profile view showing off the brass bulldog sticking off the front bumper but you can still see the little pooch leading the way.

A for individuality!

En route to Koreatown for dinner one night... I'd actually seen this sign in February when visiting a friend around USC. As she says, you know you're in the ghetto when you see this:

someone call Maury!

That dinner was at The Boiling Crab... my dad and I were disappointed to learn that The Boiling Crab is a chain and not a singular destination, until we realized that now we only have to go as far as San Jose to enjoy the delicious Cajun seafood.

Super-stylish graffiti greet patrons of the restroom...

Each order of gumbo comes with the littlest bottle of Tabasco sauce I've ever seen!

I don't even like Tabasco and I love this bottle!

A sampling of our mess... crab legs, shrimp, and clams cooked up in classic Cajun and garlic sauces.

The Boiling Crab is always crowded - a wait in excess of one hour seems pretty standard - so we took the advice of a neighboring businessman and ordered our food to go so we could eat inside his snack bar establishment in the same plaza. This unnamed drink bar serves all manner of boba drinks and slcohol (it's just not on the menu.) Weird? Absolutely yes. But I think the same man owns or manages both The Boiling Crab and the little boba house so if you'd rather wait 20 minutes for a take-out order rather than an hour or more to eat on-site, this is the way to go.

On our way back, Popsy suggested we lunch at Harris Ranch.

The second-most interesting thing? There happened to be a ton of police personnel visiting that Sunday.

Every Hour, Every Day... at Harris Ranch?

The most interesting thing? This awesome cow-lady lamp in the hall! Moooooo!

not your average cowgirl

And finally, somewhere at a Costco gas station in Gilroy, my brother spotted this little spark of determination: a woman, bent on driving her sedan to the penny-saving gas pump, even with obscured vision.

I suppose it's a talent

San Francisco... there's no place like home!

pre-flight fancies

SFO's Terminal 2 is so fancy that there is a museum-ette showcasing an exhibit on everyday art... about a year ago there was a collection of silver serveware for all to see.

On display last weekend... Scandinavian ceramics!

Two cats and a fox chill out in the exhibit.

This monkey and jaguar duo were - surprise! - also made by Scandinavian artists!
Someone's got jungle fever!

Two pieces showcasing the "rice" technique,
where bits of clay are nicked out before glazing
and the finished pieces end up with seemingly translucent grains of rice.

Birds... not angry!

Thanks to last weekend's clear weather, I got a lovely view of San Francisco before the plane turned south for Los Angeles...

There's no view like a bird's-eye view...

this is where I'm going!

On the bright side, FARC is releasing prisoners, not kidnapping more.

animal house

Apologies for the long gap in between posts about my Peru trip!

After returning from our visit to the Yahua, we returned to the lodge for a hot lunch... nothing special there. Then it was a short walk to what I'll call a monkey sanctuary... my favorite part of the jungle trip:

Reclining in the middle of the path was my first primate...

This little guy wasn't too happy about us humans getting close. Actually, it took a while for the monkeys to warm up to us... then they were climbing all over me as if I were a tree. You'll see.

This "monkey reserve" hosted a few other creatures, such as this avian pair...

The monkeys recognized guide Pedro and jumped on him right away...

Spotted another parrot... this green guy was playing sneak!

But even sneakier was this tree-hugging adult sloth.

Lanky and mischievous Suzie was quite the character, so much that she was the only animal with a name.

"Just try and catch me," she seemed to taunt.

It almost looks like Suzie's giving someone the bird!

Itty bitty monkeys and coatis raided the fallen fruit around the trees...

I just love the way that monkey's tail is curled!

There were a couple of anacondas...

... and I dared to hold one. But not the head. Oh no, you silly snake handler, you hold the head. I'm so excited I forgot to open my eyes properly for the photo... oh well!

A small pond housed an ancient turtle...

Monkeys swung from trees like miniature clowns and trapeze artists...

A white capuchin got friendly...

Coati spotting!

This lonely little baby is my new love...

She let me get very close...

... and as I inched closer...

... she let me pet her!

Look how cute she is!

Look how round her belly is!

And when she'd had enough, she got up and made it very clear she was through. I love her attitude!

Partly by accident, partly by the ingenuity of these monkeys, a capuchin used me as a ladder to get to a high-flying branch...

After reaping the literal fruits of his labor, he used me as a dinner table.

Another little mischief chows down on plátanos (bananas...)

I guess it doesn't hurt!

Near the end of our animal visit, we went to a sort of visitor center/pub on the premises and met a toucan...

I honestly had no idea what the animal expert/barkeep was saying because I was playing with the toucan but he offered Pame and I some jungle moonshine. Then asked for money... Is it just me or is the cost of everything not included in the price for a stay at the Amazon King Lodge. It wasn't a lot (2 soles for the moonshine) but I was really under the impression that our fee covered everything, especially if alcohol is pushed into my hands. If it's not free, don't automatically pour me a cup!

Anyways, the moonshine is pretty sweet and not very strong. It barely had any more alcohol than Nyquil.

But who cares about a sample of jungle moonshine when a friendly toucan is attempting a real robbery and trying to bite my watch off. Nice try, little guy!

This afternoon in the "monkey reserve" was by far my favorite bit about my Amazon adventure... I let Señor Perfilio know in the comment book that I'd appreciate more time here.