Friday, I woke up early and went to the fitness center at our hotel. It was really small but they had an elliptical and a couple of treadmills, so I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 10 on the treadmill with an incline of 7-12.We had breakfast (the hotel provides a full breakfast every morning with some pretty healthy options) and then we headed over to the Laguna Hills Farmer’s Market to stock up on fruits/veggies/etc for the week (our hotel has a kitchen). Around Orange County they have Farmer’s markets every day of the week, and even on a friday morning this place was pretty busy.
There are no words for how delicious the fruit was. Best fruit I’ve ever tasted. Seriously.Afterwards we drove through Laguna Beach, then up the coast to Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
We had lunch in Laguna overlooking the ocean and it was gorgeous.
I got the soup and sandwich combo-clam chowder (amazing), 1/2 veggie sandwich, and fruit. I love that there are so many fresh and healthy options here.
Later on in the afternoon, we stopped off at the Coffee Bean for a treat. I’ve been dying to try their coffees and teas because we don’t have any in Florida!
I ordered the decaf English Breakfast Tea Latte…
It was like heaven in my mouth. Dear Coffee Bean, please come to Orlando, Pretty please, with an English Breakfast Tea Latte on top…
On a side note, my sister asked the barista if any famous people come in there, and he said Kobe Bryant comes in all the time. My sister is on a mission to meet someone famous while we’re here.
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Saturday I woke up early and couldn’t wait to go running. I did 3 miles and it felt amazing. There is no humidity in the air and it’s not sweltering hot. My pace was about a 10:30 mile and it felt easy-It’s amazing how much the temperature and weather can affect you.
After breakfast at the hotel, we drove up towards LA to go to the Sunset Ranch in Hollywood to take a 1-hour horseback riding tour in the Hollywood hills.
A friend of mine had recommended this to me and when I heard about it, I jumped at the chance! We got pretty close to the Hollywood sign and everything.
My horses name was Tanto, which our guide told us meant “stupid” in spanish. My sister’s horse was called Ranger Danger, and my mom’s horse was called Malcolm.
And for the record, Hollywood hills is an understatement. We were in a canyon, and we were pretty high up towards the top! I almost had a heart attack when the horses we were riding walked within a foot of the edge of a deep ravine. Literally. I’m not scared of horses or heights or anything, but something about the fact that the horse was in control and not me, made me so nervous. I kept thinking “what if they trip? or slip?”
Can you see the edge to the right of my horse?
Needless to say, It freaked me out.
But we rode on.
The views were breathtaking, and unfortunately my camera died halfway through the ride. But luckily I was able to get a few shots before that. It was pretty hard to hold the reins and snap pictures with my big DSLR, so I wasn’t too concerned when it died.
P.S. Tanto likes wooden posts.
Afterwards we headed to Bird’s for a late lunch based on a recommendation from our guide at the horseback riding tour. She said our chances of a celebrity sighting here was pretty great.
She was right because while we sat outside eating, Moby walked by. And as we were leaving, my sister recognized the boy who plays Grant on the tv show Secret Life of an American Teenager. He even spoke to us-he said “sorry for almost hitting you when I was parking.” HAHA.
After lunch we drove around and saw Hollywood blvd, Rodeo drive, and Robertson blvd. We have plans to return later, so we didn’t stop but just passed through.
We may or may not have also stopped for more Coffee Bean.
Hi, my name is Raya and I am a Coffe Bean-aholic.
Stay tuned.
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