Mt. Whitney 14,505 feet/4421m – the tallest mountain in the contiguous U.S.

Mono Lake

Mono Lake lookout

After missing out on a few good snowboarding seasons, Scott and I finally pulled the trigger and drove up to Lake Tahoe for a few days.  There’s two main routes you can take from Orange County to Lake Tahoe, either way it’s about a 7-8 hour drive.  We always opt for the 395 hwy just so we can go through the gorgeous Sierra Nevada.

I have an affinity for this area since it’s incredibly beautiful and diverse.  The Sierra Nevada mountain range was formed about 4 million years ago from granite and then was later eroded by glaciers during the last ice age.  It runs about 400 miles north to south and highway 395 weaves itself between the east and west mountain ranges in a area called Owens Valley.  There’s lots of parks and natural formations that you can see right from the car like Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.), Mono Lake, and the lava rocks and cinder cone at Fossil Falls.  What’s really wild is that the road also winds through Long Valley Caldera which is one of the largest calderas on Earth.

This is just one of the many amazing drives you can do in California.  If you ever get the chance to drive it, don’t pass it up!

(Tahoe up next…)

Photos:  First eight shot with the Fuji X100 and last three shot with Canon 5D mk II, 17-40mm f/4L lens

I’m a big fan of Icebreaker.  They make some damn good-looking performance apparel.  All of their products are made of 100% merino wool which regulates your temperature in cool or warm conditions.  It also doesn’t hold stink, so it can be worn over and over again without being washed… perfect for travel. (I never pack a bag without at least one Icebreaker top.)

This boatneck sweater is part of their new “Black Sheep” travel and urban wear line.  It’s constructed with a premium fine gauge merino wool which is soft, lightweight, and non-itchy.  Sold.

Athena Boatneck Sweater – $180

Okay, I’m ready to pack my backpack after watching this video… (This couple spent five weeks traveling through Chile and Patagonia.)

These girls are my new heroes!  This is what life is all about.

Cooking classes at Sur la Table – $ price varies

Photo: iPhone via Instagram – @leahsak

One of my favorite hotels is the literary themed Hotel Rex in San Francisco.  It’s a small boutique hotel with a fantastic 1920′s – ’30s vibe.  They have a cozy library bar that serves a free glass of wine every night, live jazz, an old movie night, inspiring excerpts from books painted on the walls, and an adorable 20 lb. resident pug that hangs out on the couch by the front desk. (His name is Maximo.)  The staff is always very friendly and helpful too.  The Joie de Vivre hotel group always seems to “get it” and after reading this post on Tim Ferriss’s blog, now I know why.

The CEO, Chip Conley has learned to become a “Chief Emotions Officer”.  He explains by using baggage as a metaphor, “Countless times I’ve seen people show up at our hotel front desks with all kinds of baggage, and only some of it the physical kind… Lugging that baggage around for years is noticeable in how that person shows up at the metaphorical front desk of life.  If you are a Chief Emotions Officer, you are more aware of all the bags you’re carrying and how to open your luggage up and make sense of what’s inside.”

In his new book, Emotional Equations, he uses equations (such as Anxiety = Uncertainty x Powerlessness) to help make sense of emotions that are weighing you down.  He says, “Creating your own internal logic regarding your emotional baggage will allow you to carry a lighter bag… one that’s eminently easier to unpack.”

Now I love Hotel Rex even more… (By the way, remember this old post?)

Photos:  My own (except for the one of Maximo)
Source:  Four-Hour Workweek

I’m crazy about the unexpectedness of Vivian Maier’s photos and the way they instantly strike emotion.  There seems to be an interesting story behind each of these shots… don’t you think?  (The last two photos are self portraits.)

Vivian was a nanny with some mad camera skills.  She was born in New York in 1929, lived in France as a child, then moved back to the U.S. in the early 50′s where she spent most of her life as a caregiver in Chicago.  She picked up photography as a hobby and shot mostly in New York and Chicago from the ’50s through the ’90′s.  What’s amazing is that she never showed her work to anyone so she was completely unknown.  Her photography was eventually discovered by a historian when it was auctioned off in 2007.

Now her work is published in a book and you can find it in my Amazon shop.

Source and Photos:  VivianMaier.com

I need to learn how to play so I can buy a wallet for myself!

Picker’s wallet – $30

Blue Horseshoe – Red Galaxy in foreground being circled by a distant galaxy (December 19, 2011)

Cigar Galaxy (M 82) – 12 million light years away (January 2, 2012)

NGC 3259 Galaxy inside of the Ursa Major constellation, 120 million light years away (January 9, 2012)

Ancient cluster NGC 6752, 13,000 light years away and over 10 billion years old (January 30, 2012)

Just a few new Hubble Space Telescope shots from the picture of the week series.  My fav is the frosty Leo Nebula.

Photos:  spacetelescope.org

Abici – GranTurismo Donna (photo via Adeline Adeline)

Adriatica – Vintage R Extra

Linus – Dutchi 1

Bella Ciao – Norealista

Let’s grab a classy bike and cruise around Copenhagen… who’s in??

On another note, I love what the bicycle consulting group, Copenhagenize, is doing.  They’re launching the Kickstand sessions in Spring 2012 to consult North America on the integration of bicycle cultures into it’s cities.  Would be great to see less cars and more bikes in southern California… and with wheels this dope out there, who needs an engine?