Category / Traveling

by Lexine

The Vegas Trip, Pt. 2: The Adventure

The behemoth sight of The Sphere, taken from my ride on The High Roller. 

After my last visit to Vegas back in 2018, I thought the city had everything and the kitchen sink. Sprawling buffets, 24-hour weed dispensaries, replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn Bridge, fountain shows at the Bellagio, light shows at Fremont Street, and “Elvis” posing with families on the Strip sidewalks while trucks advertising near-nude escorts drive past. I guess I underestimated Vegas and its penchant for excess for they added more things since my last visit, namely The High Roller and The Sphere. Sooooo many more things to see, and yet…

…with a view like this from my room, it was kind of tough getting out. (That’s how much of a slut I am for pretty views from my home.)

By the way, after seeing more Trump ads on those digital billboards and on every other street corner, I think the next time I visit Vegas, it will be on a non-Presidental election year. It’s bad enough the convicted felon’s hotel is there, although it was also easy to miss since other buildings caught my eye. (In fairness, there were more Kamala ads around, including one on that big-ass Sphere.) 

This was taken from observation deck at The Strat (more on this later), and I found out earlier that day that her ads would be featured on that Sphere. So glorious! 🥹

Not so glorious but amusing is seeing a gold-plated eyesore pull up to the Dollar Tree, of all places. Only in Vegas. I’d say people who voluntarily buy those abominations on wheels (after all the batshit crazy things its creator has said and done) have Dollar Tree morals, but that would be insulting to Dollar Tree.

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by Lexine

The Vegas Trip, Pt. 1: The Arrival

A month ago, I was in Las Vegas, a few days fresh into my forties. Life seemed to be good; I was having fun and feeling some actual hope for the future. I wish I could say the same thing today, but that’s a rant for another day. 

I didn’t plan nor expect to enter my forties in Vegas. With the budget I had at the time, I thought I’d take another LA trip (and risk my well-being being potentially rattled due to that blue team being in the World Series) or just celebrate my birthday close to home (I thought about staying at an upscale hotel in SF for a couple nights). Four days before my birthday, with still no place to go, I checked out Airbnb on a whim and saw an offering I couldn’t refuse: a high-rise suite at Palms Place with strip-facing views, going for under $700 for a week’s stay during my exact travel dates. The lone catch was that the reservation was “non-refundable” and, to save all my coins, I’d have to drive what would end up being over 1200 miles for a round trip. And I had only two days to prepare for my trip. They were small prices to pay to enjoy myself, however.

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by Lexine

40 Of My Favorite Things: #4

Road Trips!

Images from two of my past road trips, from 2022 (in the Central Valley), and from this past summer (at Lancaster). 

Whether it’s for a day trip or as part of a week-long getaway, I just enjoy traveling by car. I have a slight fear of flying and while I don’t mind train travels, I just prefer being behind the wheel instead of someone else. Yes, I’d have to do all the work and spend the money and worry over shit like flat tires and gas. But I get full control of my itinerary, I don’t have to worry about strangers sitting next to me, and that’s all that matters.

All my road trips I’ve taken so far have been within my state borders. I’m hoping to take a road trip up and down the West Coast, as well as through the Southwest one day!

by Lexine

40 Of My Favorite Things: #5

State/Regional Parks! 

I’ve always had appreciation for state and regional parks, and that appreciation grew ten-fold during the pandemic lockdown four years ago. Stores that were not essential business were closed for a while, and parks were the one place where I didn’t have to entirely worry about crowds and masking. (Although I always had my face mask on me just in case.) I’m lucky to live within driving distance of plenty of regional parks and beaches, and I hope to return to that park in the header pics soon (that’s Mt. Tamalpais State Park and the amazing views from there, taken from July 2022). 

by Lexine

Scenes From The Willie Mays Tribute

I would’ve posted this on my socials yesterday, but various things kept me from doing that. Plus, I keep losing followers on IG/the bird app (was it something I said?), so looks like I’ll be posting exclusives here first, haha. (I also happen to be gaining followers here, much to my surprise.) 

From the Willie Mays Experience pop-up museum, across the ballpark. Went there before heading over to the event. 

Outside Oracle Park. The event was free to the public.

Turnout was decent, though I expected more fans. This is Willie Mays we’re paying tribute here! Probably the Monday afternoon start time kept some people away from the event. (It was also an off-day for the Giants.) The second pic is one of the many tributes to the GOAT around the park, as well as a tribute to another Giants great, Orlando Cepeda, who passed away a week after Mays. (Side note: go after the evil ones instead of the good guy legends, Grim Reaper!)

Some of the guests at the tribute. I didn’t expect to see former President Bill Clinton (1st pic), Spike Lee (4th pic), and members of the championship teams like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Sergio Romo (all not pictured) there. Jumbotron pics are of (from left to right) Michael Mays (Willie’s son), Barry Bonds, and Juan Marichal (2nd pic), and former President Barack Obama (3rd pic). 

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Michael Mays, giving the last speech of the tribute to his dad.

20240708_160041~2 You’ll be forever in our hearts and forever missed, Mr. Mays! 🧡🖤

by Lexine

Summer Road Trippin’

There was more to my LA vacay than a fabulous music festival and seeing one of my idols in person. More images from another fun road trip!

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I’ve longed to visit this place! And when I finally arrived on a hot May day…

There are not enough😆s for this. I missed out on the poppies, but, nonetheless, I still made the most out of my visit. It’s quite fascinating to see desert land and Joshua trees up close. (Just don’t touch their tips.)

I had quite the day in the Lancaster/Palmdale region. I’d never visited the area before, and I wasn’t surprised to see some MAGA folk running around. (Bumper stickers tell all.) I’m sure they were feeling fine that day as that Thursday was the very same day their dear leader became a convicted felon.  (There are not enough😆s for that, either.)

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Wild how it was so hot during the day, but when the sun started to set, the winds picked up. I definitely felt them when I took this pic at a vista point near the mountains.

More pics after the cut…

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by Lexine

Scenes From Outloud/WeHo Pride 2024

I posted some pics and clips of my glorious time from this year’s Outloud Music Festival at WeHo Pride on my SM, and here’s more!

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You’re officially at a Pride festival when you see rainbows and Kylie imagery. 

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Did Karl The Fog also take a trip to LA, too? 

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The crowd during the free Friday show. The barrier in the back separates the General Admission crowd from the VIPs (which I was a part of, TYVM). 

Drag queens and dicks out on the stage!

Adam Lambert and Kesha command the crowd. I was so damn happy to see Kesha thriving and happy again, after all she’s gone through. ❤️

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Did I really pay $18.50 for a small plastic cup of Kylie’s Sparkling Rose?

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Yup, I did. Don’t be surprised. I ended up buying a bottle of water to save the leftover rose. I still have it! 😛 

I had the VIP Weekend Pass, but personal commitments kept me away from the Saturday night show, which is why I have no pics of Janelle Monae (who was Saturday’s headliner–I heard Queen Latifah also joined her on stage that night, so yes it sucks to have missed out on that!). 

Nothing would keep me away from the Sunday show, however, since that was the day I’d finally see thee Kylie perform! Before I get to that, I must say that the festival should’ve expanded their Summertramp Stage area. (It was across the street from the main stage.) I say that because some of us (olds) also wanted to see 90s dance legend Crystal Waters live (she performed a couple hours before Kylie came on). Instead, I and many others got turned away due to “capacity” issues. Bruh. 

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This ended up being my view of the Crystal show.😆  I still heard her, but maaaannnn…

Thankfully, I was a lot luckier when I finally got to see HER. 

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Also glad to have a good zoom on the camera on my phone, because I was, I dunno, 100 deep into the crowd? Her audience looked like it could’ve easily filled Staples Center (I know it’s not called that anymore, but I still call it that!). 

The joy on Kylie’s face when she was rewarded with that sign and the WeHo mayor proclaiming that day to be Kylie Minogue Day! 

And these clips I personally took…

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Fireworks to cap off a night to remember!

I overheard someone in the crowd saying Kylie’s WeHo show was “better than Vegas”. I can’t speak on that, but I planned on going to one of her Vegas shows a couple months ago until I heard she was going to headline this music festival that was closer to home and cheaper to attend. Sure I’d spend $250+ for standing room only tix to her Vegas show, but, for a few bucks more, I got VIP passes and all-weekend access to see Kylie and many other great artists perform. 

minogue shirt (cropped)

Now THAT’S a shirt! 

by Lexine

Scenes From Bottlerock Napa 2024

My first ever Bottlerock experience! And it was actually a very good one. Place was packed but not overwhelming, found free all-day parking just a 15-minute walk from the fairgrounds, spent just $10 on two footlong hot dogs (in fairness, I scored a $15 credit to anything at the event and the dogs originally go for $25), and the porta potties were surprisingly clean (!) every time and were stocked with TP.

I only went on Friday (couldn’t attend the entire weekend for various reasons), and it’s only because of two reasons:

Yep, Megan Thee Stallion and thee Stevie Nicks! They both performed at the same time, but on different stages, and I thought I’d only be able to see one or the other. Megan’s set (whom I chose to attend first) was a little shorter than Stevie’s, so once she was done, you best believe I went to the area where Stevie was performing with quickness. I only watched her perform three songs, but it’s better than missing out on a legend. It’s not every day I get to see two queens perform on the same day!

I’m in the process of packing for a road trip that starts tomorrow, so here are more pics from Bottlerock last Friday.

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The packed field facing the main stage (where Stevie would perform that evening).

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A little whimsy at one of the vendors.

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The rock band All-Time Low. First time hearing of them (I’m always the very last to know things/people/bands/trends, etc.) and they were pretty good.

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If you forgot the Coppertone, these sunscreen stations got you covered.

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Rapper Nelly with Cameron Diaz at the Culinary stage. They were cooking up a Cuban sammich (to honor Cameron’s Cuban roots).

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Thought I could get a chair massage for a decent price. I was wrong.

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The Silent Disco dancefloor. You have to be a part of it to understand it. That couple you see up front got down.

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My $10 lunch, since I can’t bring in outside food. Don’t worry, I only ate a bit of that bread. 😉

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Another view of Stevie’s performance.

Would I go back? Maybe. I’ll be lucky if the performers I like appear on Friday like this year. I hear it’s more gnarly and packed on Saturday and Sunday; Bottlerock happens every Memorial Day weekend, and I’m only getting older and grumpier when it comes to traffic and crowds. The costs for a single-day pass alone also has me a little hesitant. Then again, I stood front row for Megan’s show (her ongoing tour charges $400+ and up to stand/sit front row for her), and I also got to see Stevie and Cameron on the same day. For the $230 I paid for Friday admission, it’s not a bad deal.

Next stop: Outloud WeHo. Guess why!

by Lexine

Trips Of A Birthday Girl

up on the balcony

Ten years ago today: me having some birthday fun in the Hollywood Hills. I remember that Cookies & Cream cake I bought at a Pavilions. I can’t eat that cake nowadays! 

I enjoy traveling, and more so on my birthday. With the exception of 2020 and 2021 (because pandemic), I’ve celebrated my birthday far from home. I do have this rule where I don’t go anywhere on my actual born day, as I do my best to limit outside fuckery that I can’t control. (I don’t want my special day ruined!) But I’d also be in a vacation rental home or in a hotel room. The last time I stayed in my actual home on my birthday was…oh hell…well over ten years ago! It was probably in 2010, but it worked out for me as the SF Giants won the World Series that year, and I wouldn’t have been able to attend their parade if I went on my annual birthday trip.

I know where I was a year ago. Five years ago. Ten years ago. The poolside cabin in Long Beach that was also my first vacation in three years. The top floor penthouse condo in Vegas where I had access to the roof and thus had 360-degree views of Vegas awesomeness, from the Strip to the surrounding mountains. The small apartment in the Hollywood Hills that boasted panoramic views from downtown to the Pacific and even Catalina Island. (Notice a little trend?) I certainly was not in my little Bay Area home to blow out the candles.

My Vegas trip from five years ago. Views of the Strip from the Paris Las Vegas Eiffel tower, and Red Rock Canyon Park. 

This year, I buck the trend and stay home. I could’ve gone somewhere again, and a part of me kept asking myself “whyyyy are you staying home?” Yeah, why am I staying home? Oh, that’s right: next year is a milestone birthday. And I’m saving up for that so I can go all-out for my, uh…21st (for the third time). Till then, I shall enjoy my birthday gifts from my friends, pig out on sugar-free cupcakes, figure out what Halloween costume I should wear, and simply kick back in the comfort of my own home.