The last time Laurie led a walk in the Malibu/Palisades region …. well…we have some stories.  So, when she offered to coordinate the June walk, some of us were a bit apprehensive. 🙂  But she redeemed herself a few times over with a fabulous 7 mile walk along the Sullivan Fire Road, complete with hills (to prep for San Fran), some intriguing graffiti art and even a memory that put a old “favorite” tune in our heads.

The day started with a trip to a bakery that we discovered next door to Starbucks which is our usual stop prior to venturing into the wild.  Great baked goods, good coffee and unfortunately a ticket for Carolyn’s car. Those parking police are quick!

We had a beautiful morning to walk up the fire trail that comprised most of the walk.  Some nice cloud cover kept us cool enough to enjoy the scenery and amazing views.

Don’t worry, the beer is a joke. We have those AFTER the walk.

The turning point on this in/out walk was a huge oak tree in the center of the path. Providing a welcomed shady break, the tree didn’t mind some adornment.  Of course ribbons and oak trees reminded us all of that menacing 1970s tune “Tie a Yellow Ribbon around the Oak Tree” which, of course, we could not get out of our heads on the walk down.

Tie a Pink Ribbon round the old oak tree.

The turning point..now we head back for lunch.

Before making our way to our cars, we took a detour to have a look at the historic Murphy Ranch which was built in the 1930s. Local lore says it was a haven for Nazi sympathizers and later became an art colony. It is now literally covered from tree branches to rocks in graffiti art. We got more than we bargained for with the detour as an endless set of stairs was our only route back to the trail.

The Detour

The Art

The Stairs!!! – hundreds of them.

A short drive to Santa Monica allowed us to get to our lunch and some hydration. Seasons 2 turned out to be a perfect refuge for our hungry and thirsty bodies. We think we’ll let Laurie plan a few more of these, it was a pretty perfect day.

Cheers!

A few more photos of our day: 

We were so glad to welcome our teammate Debbie to California!  She came for a short visit, but most of the team was able to gather at Hotel Tsuda for a Welcome to “Cali” evening of appetizers and drinks.  It was a blast to all get together.  The only person missing…..

BENJAMIN FROM BELGUIM!!!

Up early to catch the good weather…a beautiful cystal clear day.

To get up early on a Saturday morning when work or chores don’t call, we all deserve some sort of reward and for those members of the Pink Bragade who dared the dawn, we were rewarded with an absolutely beautiful morning in Crystal Cove for our May walk.  We welcomed three new walkers to this crew – Denise, Heather and Karen.  It was nice to have you join us.

Linda planned the day just perfectly to fit in a nice 5-6 mile meandering walk along the cliffs of the coastline between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach before enjoying an early lunch at the Beachcomber Restaurant in historic Crystal Cove.

A unique part of Southern California’s coastal history, the cottage community built along the cliffs used to be home to many artists.  Now part of the State of California Parks system, the cottages have been refurbished and can be rented to the general public, though the wait is long.   A whole new section of cottages are set for renovation in the near future.  The Beachcomber restaurant is one of the areas most popular known for its great cuisine and amazing location.  Sunday morning breakfast and lunch usually require a wait of no less than 1 hour, but Linda, worked it out so that our actual wait time was very minimal.  Yeah! Linda.

Although most of us did get up so we can begin our training for our 2016 Avon Walk, to be honest, the lure of the Beachcomber’s famous Begniets were probably the true reason. “Like eating a cloud (with powdered sugar and syrup. : )

Our next walk…..Malibu in June.

Lisa, Lori and Linda take a quick top at the turnaround point of our walk.

Karen, a veteran Avon Walker, had the chance to get to know the other members of the team.

Recognize this? The Beach house in the movie Beaches……

Hi Denise!

All of the cottages are rennovated to maintain their historic appearance.

Lori took care of handling the mandatory Bloody Mary sampling that must take place at every Pink Bragade lunch.

As stated above…the Beachcomber is known for some amazing food. Too bad the portions are so tiny….

Once around the Rose Bowl Walking Loop to get the heart rate going.

In traditional fashion, this month’s walking group – small but mighty – got going early with a 8 am jaunt around the Rose Bowl walking loop.  The beauty of the morning was comparable to those brilliantly gorgeous Rose Parade mornings which entice half the world to move to California.  We got our heart rates up with the 3.5 mile walk leaving us plenty of time to make our way to Bungalow Heaven for our scheduled walking tour.

Bungalow Heaven in a cluster of homes built in the 1920s and 30s.  The homes are in a 16-block area in Northern Pasadena consisting of more than 800 homes, mostly constructed in the small craftsman style of the middle class.  Eight homes were open for viewing and complemented by knowledgable docents providing history of ownership and renovations.

Making our way through the tree lined streets with something in every corner of our sight lines, we toured seven of the eight homes, each offering a unique glance at the lifestyles of the era.  The tour highlights are best told through a few photographs.

At the top of the list for favorite house of our group – this Spanish revival beauty.

The craftsman style was the prevailing design for homes on the tour.

The gardens took our breath away.

Ever seen a fried egg flower? Now you have.

Pink flowers!! Of course.

The Bungalow Heaven Home “Tour”ists.

Just outside the frame of the above picture was another highlight of the day…complimentary cookies.  These cookies were put out to taste test and entice us into buying the Bungalow Heaven Cookie cookbook – which most of us did.  Some truly unique recipes are inside – including the “to-die-for” Lime Pistachio!

Can’t wait to try some of these recipes.

Following our cookie fest at the end of the tour, we left our heavenly surroundings and landed in downtown Pasadena at the AKA Bistro to enjoy a delicious lunch. In fact, it was so good, that our food connoisseur extraordinaire Linda B declared it one of the TOP Pink Bragade lunch places of all times.  A true honor indeed as we’ve been to some pretty delectable places over the years.

Pinot Noir on the menu for lunch!

AKA, after putting up with a series of delays in our reservations,actually gave us our own private room. Hmmmm, perhaps because we were in our exercise get-ups? 🙂

Another excellent Pink Bragade adventure came to a close with a quick trip to LuLu Lemon (guess who suggested that?) and a special treat — the culmination of the City of Pasadena’s Ferrari Festival.  Thus we ended the day playing witness to dozens of classic sports cars of the rich and famous revving their way out of town…in this case a fire-red Ferrari brigade!

The dozens of Ferraris on display along Colorado Blvd cleared the street as we walked back to our cars.

 While on vacation Wendy and the rest of the Adams clan ran into Jimmy Kimmel at a restaurant.  They even snuck a cellphone picture of the comedian to verify the siting.  Well, not a week later, while Wendy and others from the Pink Bragade walked along the Strand in Manhattan Beach, who appears…none other than Jimmy Kimmel.  So, the question that comes to mind….just who is stalking who?

We think Jimmy just needs to let go and let Wendy live her life.  🙂

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO OUR TWO BIRTHDAY GIRLS…WENDY AND LAURIE WHO SHARE THE SPECIAL DAY- 3/25!

Our beautiful Sunday morning 7 mile stroll down the Strand ended at 10:30 am when we landed at the Ocean View Cafe up the hill from the beach.  Heather and Wendy knew just where to direct us. They had mistakenly popped into the cafe before they opened and coerced a few lattes out of the staff who were preparing for a busy weekend crowd.  When we arrived, the cafe was full, but they found a way to puzzle the tables and seat us for a delicious meal of Huevos rancheros, waffles and breakfast sandwiches.  We can heartily recommend the Ocean View Cafe — excellent food and a very friendly staff.

Found this exquisite succulent garden along the way….Lisa these photos are for you. 🙂 – We’re feeling succulent wreath workshop in the future. !!!!

January began a new year for the Pink Bra-gade walking team.  After a well-deserved break from our monthly training walks, we are now at it again.  The first walk of 2015 was actually a hike – up the Mount Wilson trail in Sierra Madre.  It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too cold, just perfect for a stroll through nature.

Challenging though it was, each step was worth the effort with beautiful scenery at every turn.  The incline was extremely unexpected and pretty intense.  The trip up was a trial, but the way down – let’s just say very welcomed.

We can recommend this hike if you are willing to breathe a bit hard as there is very little level ground.  But, there are plenty of stopping and turning back points, if the effort gets too much.   One of our walkers actually headed down a bit early, took a short side hike and found a peaceful, secluded area by a running stream just perfect for some meditation.

At the start (or end) of the hike, there is a small museum which is open for visitors, though the hours vary.  Plus, as always, the towns of Sierra Madre, and nearby Pasadena, have a long list of excellent restaurants…a must for any Pink Bragade walk.

Here are a few photos from our adventure.

There is a great book entitled HUMANS OF NEW YORK, by photographer Brandon Stanton, which has been called a “photographic census” of New York.  It is a collection of photographs that capture New Yorkers and their stories.  It began as a blog in 2010 and was so popular, became a New York Times bestseller.

So, just for fun, we decided to do our own blog of sorts – well at least one post on our blog – dedicated to what we call DOGS OF NEW YORK.  And although, we can’t follow up with their stories…we are sure each one has a unique tale (sorry – another pun) to tell if they only could.  🙂

And….our first and favorite dog of New York…the one and only….

amazing flying Teddy!

New York is certainly famous for it’s skyline, one which so dramatically changed on September 11.  If you have never been there, you have certainly seen shots like this from various movies, news reports or photographs.  By winding our way through the miles of New York City, we were able to get a close look at the eclectic architecture that makes New York so fascinating…the brownstone homes in Brooklyn lined up along tree canopied streets, the spiral turns of the Guggenheim Museum, the grandeur of the Metropolitan and Natural History Museums and Grand Central Station..the projects…the roof top graffiti art…the colors of Chinatown.  Our walk along the Highline brought a unique perspective providing glances along the rooftops.  Our recommendation…when you visit this incredible city…get out of the Subway…get out of the taxi and take a walk…take it all in…for everywhere is a site to see.

Septe

I loved walking by this and grabbing a shot.  It was at the end of our second day and I think to many walkers, it indeed felt like we had made a journey this long.  (Adding up all our training walks and daily walks over the past months, I think we may have reached this number or more.)

Anyway, just a quick note to explain that the next posts are a collection of thoughts and images from our trip.  They are obviously no longer in chronological order and are indeed “in the past.”  However, they are things that I thought interesting to share about our wonderful adventure, but didn’t have time to record while in NYC.

I’ll be keeping the blog going even though we are finished with this Avon Walk. The Pink Bragade is already planning monthly hikes to stay in shape and will soon be deciding where our 2016 walk will be.  We will keep you posted (pardon the pun.)

Brrrrrr…guessing the start of Day 2 was about 48 degrees.  The custom made Pink Bragade Hoods, handmade by Laurie, were truly appreciated.  Topping out in the high 50s for the day it was perfect for walking.