Hiking and the Madonna Inn!

In November my wonderful mother came down to San Luis Obispo to visit me.  It was so nice to finally have a little bit of home back with me!  Since she was only here for a weekend, we decided to try to fit as much as we could in a short amount of time.  Firstly we went for a great hike up a nearby mountain called "Bishops Peak".  It took us a while, but was definitely worth it.  The view was spectacular.  I would highly recommend anyone who's in the area to go for it!

mom and me

After our hike we went for coffee at the cutest (and best) coffee shop in SLO called the Kreuzberg.  Ive been a few times with my friends and it never fails.  They have great tea, coffee, breakfast and lunch items.  Something unique about it is that all of the menu items are named after famous authors, such as "the hemmingway", "the doctor suess", "the thoreau" and much more.

Another amazing place that we HAD to visit was the famous Madonna Inn.  This place is a must see for anyone who is stopping through San Luis Obispo.  It is a hotel and every room has a different theme.  In addition, there is an adorable cafe that serves the best foods.  Mom and I decided to go there for breakfast one day and we were happily surprised with all the christmas decorations...in the middle of November!  But, on the other hand the food was fantastic.  We ordered a slice of pink champagne cake (heavenly) and some waffles.  In addition i just had to try a strawberry fountain soda (topped with strawberry ice-cream of course).  Oh something else unique about this restaurant is that everything was PINK!

Life in San Luis Obispo

Now that I've been living in San Luis Obispo for a few months, I realized that I needed to give little recognition to this tiny town.

Firstly, my school, Cal Poly is awesome!  Living in the dorms isn't all that great, but its an experience at that.  As for the food, living on a dining plan is useful, but at the same time I hate it.  After eating the same food for 3 months in a row, you start to get tired of it.  However, we do have a frozen yogurt shop on campus called "Yogurt Creations" which is definitely a plus (especially after a hard midterm or final!)

YoCray

Another little snack that I'm so thankful for at Cal Poly is the late night waffle deal.  My friends and I have decided to limit ourself to waffles once a month, but they are just so good!  Whipped cream, blueberries and syrup are the perfect combo!

With the addition of discovering the waffle, my friends and I have also discovered the Burger Bar.  The Burger Bar is the "fancy place" on campus and they serve amazing gourmet burgers.  Last time I went I had a three bean burger and my friends tried the jalapeño burger!

Finally, every Thursday night there is a Farmers Market in downtown San Luis Obispo.  Ive only gone a few times, but it's always fun and always has plenty of foods to try.  Currently I have tried both the asian fried noodles and the roasted corn on the cob (with all the fixings).

Novo (SLO)

So, I know that it was a while ago, but in October a few friends and I went to a restaurant in downtown San Luis Obispo called Novo.  It was my roommates birthday and a few friends decided that going out for a sunday brunch would be a cute idea.  We got all dressed up and went to town.

Before my meal was served I decided on getting a nice cup of tea (as usual!)  I thought that the teapot was so unique and ornate that I just had to take a picture!

For my main meal I had to order something else unique, just for a change and a little bit of adventure.   I ordered the tofu quiles (:  Sounds different right?  I was super excited to try this interesting dish.  The menu's description was "tofu, fresh vegetables, corn tortillas scrambled with salsa"  The dish was unique, but a little more greasy than I thought it would be.  Still, it was an experience!

Out with the girls

I will definitely go back to Novo at some other point in my college career! 

We're back!!

After taking quite a long break from blogging, I've decided to come back and start up again.  For those of you who don't know, in the past few months a number of changes have occurred.  For example, September through November Tyler was attending Marine Boot Camp in San Diego.  On the other hand I moved down to college in San Luis Obispo, California (Cal Poly!!).
Before we were separated, we decided to relive our british experience by going to to Redmond's British Pantry.  We took a nice long bike ride and was rewarded with some amazing food!

Traditional tea

"Cream tea" and fruit

 Of course we had to start off with some tea, although it wasn't PG tips or Tetley it was still very good (:  I ordered a scone with some "clotted cream" but it was more like whipped cream, still delicious though.  Tyler ordered a "full english" and although it came with beans, eggs, bacon and a tomato, it was missing the fry bread! Which is of course the best part!

Americas version of a full english

That was one of our last meals together before our 3 months of separation.  Our true last meal though was at the "brown bag cafe" in Kirkland.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photos; mostly because we wanted to spend our last few hours together without interruption.  However, that day I did get a few good photos of our last day together!

It was an emotional day for both of us, but we knew the next few months would be difficult.  Unfortunately it was more difficult than i had ever expected.  We were officially a labeled "Long Distance Relationship Couple!"

Soon after Tyler left, I was packing my bags and heading down to Cal Poly to start my first year of college.  Being in California definitely has its benefits such as the weather, the weather and the weather!  

Since Tyler wasn't allowed his phone or couldn't use the internet at boot camp we resorted to writing letters.  Which was a lot more romantic anyway (:  My favorite days were those that I got letters.

Hannahs Annual trip to Lake Chelan

Waiting in line for our breakfast

After I left Spokane, it was time for me to spend some vacation time with my family.  We have been going to Lake Chelan for the past 9 years, and we have had lots of memories over the past few years.  As a tradition, one morning we all wake up and head out to a unique breakfast cafe/house called Blueberry Hills.  From the name you can probably guess what they are famous for!  We decided to go on a Sunday this year, which probably wasn't the smartest idea because we had to wait in line for about half an hour.  But it was definitely worth it.  My mom and I ordered the Danish Yeast waffles, which my brother, Adam, and I swear tastes like beer.  My brother ordered the Barn Waffles, which were topped with delicious blueberry pie filling and some fresh whipped cream.  And my dad ordered the eggs benedict.   We spent a long time eating our breakfast and had a chat with one of the owners and some people at the tables around us.  

Mom and I shared a fruit plate

Moms and My Danish Waffles

Dads Eggs Benedict

 After we finished our breakfast we went out for a quality family hike.  We were a bit worried that the car wasn't going to make it as we quickly ran out of gas at the top of a mountain, but we ended up fine. We hiked for about an hour on the trails "lollipop, tootsie-roll and whoop-di-do."  The temperature was perfect and we had a great day out.

Adam and I with our trusty Land Rover

Hiking

Silverwood and Domoni's

So, while staying in Spokane, we decided to take a little trip out to a few small towns in Idaho to learn a little about Tyler's heritage and family.  Setting out early our first stop was...Cabelas.  Ok, I know thats not a town, but we decided to stop at the hunting store and look around before we hit our first stop, Kellogg, Idaho.  This is a small town that doesn't really have much.  The main attraction there was a gondola that was giant.  We spent about half an hour getting up to the top of the mountain and half an hour getting back down, but it was definitely worth it.  Then we went to another little town called Wallace.  I think that Tylers Grandma grew up there, so we walked through some of the old antique shops.  Our main purpose while we were there was to get a huckleberry shake, because this part of the US is known for their huckleberry products.  Unfortunately we couldn't find one, so we headed home and stopped in Pinehurst at the "Tall Pine Drive In" for a burger and shake.  The huckleberry shake was amazing, but maybe thats because we were so thirsty and craving it so badly.  In addition, Tyler got a bacon burger, and it was picture perfect (:

Us on the gondola

view from the gondola

Tylers Bacon Burger

Tylers Turkey Burger

 I think that we decided on going to Silverwood theme park the following day.  Both of us have been to this park multiple times, and it has just kept growing as fast as we have.  It was a really hot day and there were lots of people and lots of lines, but we still had a great time.  We went on a few roller-coasters and Tyler even faced his fear of a spinning ferris wheel.  When we were ready to eat we ate at the only real food restaurant in the park.  I had a Gingham salad, filled with fruit, almonds and gorgonzola cheese, not to mention the amazing poppyseed dressing.  Tyler had a Turkey Burger which was also delicious

Hannahs Gingham Salad

Turkey and Provolone

The next day we also had a great feast upon us.  Tylers family has known about this little deli shop in Spokane for ages, and this place serves the best deli sandwiches.  They serve heaping portions, with a side of popcorn.  We even read on the wall that each sandwich comes with two bowls of popcorn!  We met Tylers sister, Emily here for lunch and we all left feeling happy and full.  I ordered the Tiny portion of Turkey and Provolone (which was definitely not tiny), Em ordered the Ruben, and Tyler ordered the Pastrami and Cheddar Jack.  We all also shared the sweet honey mustard, which complemented the sandwiches perfectly.  We highly recommend this place because of their amazing sandwiches.

Pastrami and Jack

Side of Popcorn