LA and I make amends...

So, after getting in a bit of a fight with Los Angeles, I spent sometime getting back to one of the things that made me excited about this city in the first place, nature. Being active and outside has always been somewhat of a reset button for me and a reset was definitely necessary these past few weeks.  I've been traveling a lot lately and I haven't had much time to relax. Any time that I have had in LA has been short and spent trying to cram in friends and events.  Without time to recharge, it's easy to get frustrated. Fortunately, between all of my trips and traveling, I was able to spend some time with nature.

A few weeks ago, my friend Carrie invited me to join a girl she knows from college and her friends to go hiking in Malibu. I've been hiking in Malibu many times, but I had never heard of these so called "moon pools" that we were going to see.  After a bit of a slow start, we made our way up PCH and up into Malibu Creek State Park.

Aside from being an absolutely gorgeous place to spend the day, the park has also been used to film many movies and tv shows, as part of it used to be owned by 20th Century Fox. One of the most well known things to be filmed in the park is the tv show M*A*S*H, and you can actually do a hike to the filming site.

M*A*S*H Site hike from Feb 2012

After a quick picnic lunch, we braved the extreme temperatures and hiked into the park in search of the amazing rock quarys to cool off in.  Though the entire day had been a process so far, it was definitely worth the wait.

Photo swiped from Claudia Zhao

Last weekend, I continued to explore LA nature and ventured outside of my comfort zone and over to Hollywood to go horseback riding on Mt. Hollywood with some of my sorority sisters. This was an absolute blast and something really fun and different.  I had no idea there was so much nature on the East side of LA.

Great views on our trail ride taken by Megan Dorste. Perfect way to start a Saturday!

           

Next week I'm off to Boston for a conference, but after that, I'm in LA until Thanksgiving. Plenty of time to enjoy an LA "fall" and continue to explore new places and engage in blog-worthy fun!  On deck, we have a Hollywood beer festival, a 5K run, and a road trip up the coast.  Speaking of the 5K, if you would like to support me by donating, please visit my personal page here http://heroesofhoperace2012.kintera.org/taylorsale. I have never actually run a race before, so this should be interesting...