I took Ed hiking at Stough Canyon, where we hiked all the way to the picnic bench that used to hold the box of notes from hikers.  It has since been removed and never replaced.  I miss leaving notes for other hikers and reading the funny messages left behind.  While at the picnic bench I lied down and meditated, enjoying the sun soak into my body.  A friendly Pacific Gopher snake came out to sun himself under the tree next to me.  Ed took pictures, thinking at first it was a rattler, since both snakes do look very much the same.  Though we couldn't see the end of it's tail, I knew it was not a poisonous snake because the head was not shaped diamond, but narrow and cute like our pet snake Rosey.  We had Mimosa's at Mimi's, then brought home muffins for Zyla.  The library had emailed me saying my erotica was in.  I went to get Beauty's Punishment, which I had started over 15 years ago.  I couldn't remember exactly where I left off, so I figured I would probably just read the whole thing again.

On Wednesday, Ed and I did not really have a date since I had to work at Zyla's school library.  I was done with my hours, but they needed me to check in books as the school year was winding down and everything was due in.  But Thursday, Ed and I took advantage of another beautiful day to go hiking at Switzer Falls together.  I was actually in the mood for a fun French type photo shoot, so Ed brought a little video camera along.  We stopped at multiple places along the trail to take cute artsy pics with the parasol I kept twirling around from the Renn Faire.  The water in the stream felt deliciously cool, perfect for the increasingly warm weather.  I did a reading from the first page of my novel Tropic of O.  Ed wanted to make a documentary that we could release when my book was eventually published.  After having some snacks in our favorite spot above the falls, we were walking back, through the foundation of the Lodge when a huge adult rattlesnake hissed at me.  I stopped in my tracks and held my arms up for Ed to stop behind me.  We watched as the snake then quickly crossed the trail and went into the underbrush to the side.  I was in shock.  I had never seen a snake at Switzer.  Never seen a snake on this Lodge foundation I had been playing on since I was a little girl.  I had not even been paying attention, my thoughts had been caught up in memories of the place, when my sister and I would pick wild blackberries and eat them, laughing and playing.  It all happened so fast Ed was not able to film it.  We warned a hiker hanging out with his son nearby of the snake as we made our way out of the forest. 

The weekend rolled around again.  Netflix was disappointing me.  I wanted the new season of Breaking Bad, it had a very long wait, but instead of waiting for a disk to come in to ship me, they kept sending what was next on my queue.  I did enjoy A Wink and A Smile: The Art of Burlesque on Netflix instant.  That documentary put me in the mood to want to join a burlesque troop immediately!  I put on a burlesque type show for Ed to my drum music.  I finished Beauty's Punishment, returned it to the library where they had the third book of the trilogy waiting on hold for me.  Jessica's emailed asking for my stand in resume.  I sent them the link to the one I had created on the SAG iActor site.  They did not charge me a monthly fee for May since they had not gotten me any work.  I picked up one of the D.H. Lawrence novels before diving into the last of the Beauty trilogy.  The Man Who Died was powerfully simple saying so much in 85 pages, I fell in love.  I could completely see why Anais would be inspired by this man to write a novel about him.  The story was like a twist on an old tale, which is popular now.  I liked how it went out of the box with blending Christianity and Egyptian religions.  I was excited to read more of Lawrence.  The new season of True Blood was premiering on Sunday and Jodi invited me to her house to watch.  I grabbed up my favorite bottle of Vamper Juice and headed over.

Another week in June, found Ed and I hiking at Placerita Canyon in Santa Clarita.  This was another well-loved hiking trail I frequented as a child with my family.  Ed brought the video camera along for some more footage for our documentary.  We arrived at 8:45am in the parking lot, surprised to find it full.  The trail seemed empty, but then joggers or hikers would appear as if out of nothing.  For once we did not see any snakes, but for the first time out in the wild, I spotted a bobcat up the trail.  At first I did not comprehend what I was seeing, since it was facing away from me.  It looked like someone had let their dog off the leash, which happens frequently when I am hiking at Stough.  I expected to see some owner nearby, when the bobcat turned around and seeing me, dashed into the bushes off to the side of the trail.  As it's short tail disappeared from view, I told Ed who was hiking right behind me.  He pulled out the video camera, as we hurried the few feet up the trail where last I saw it, but the bobcat had completely vanished into the brush.  That night I got a call from Jessica's List to photo double on a new movie called Lucky Stiff through Sandie Alessi Casting.  Finally a job after over two months of waiting!

Tuesday morning, I woke up and took Zyla to school before returning home to get ready for set.  I was returning to Sunset/Gower Studios, which made me happy.  I had hoped to see some of my Dexter friends, but it appeared that none of their production trucks were on the lot and I assumed they were probably out on location.  The guard at the gate did not want to let me on the lot, saying I only had a walk on pass.  I was upset since there was no street parking anywhere available.  I called up Guy at Sandie Alessi Casting who said he would fix things.  Five minutes later, my pass was available and I parked in the structure before making my way to Stage 12 basement.  But the 2^nd AD met me in the parking lot, and brought me to the make-up trailer that was parked there to meet everyone.  He then brought me to the basement of Stage 12 and I met the 1^st AD, Chris and was given a chair in the crafty room while I waited for wardrobe to show up.  I was to photo double a dancer whom they had not shot yet, but was pre-fit in the clothes.  I guess she was not available to do this last minute photo shoot.  Originally the production had planned to do the photo on the train in the train scene because that is where the picture is supposed to be taken.  But the train scene was being shot way into the filming and they needed the picture for the cover of a newspaper that was needed for shots being filmed the following day.  I was not sure what to expect when they said I would photo double a dancer, thinking it might be a crazy Vegas showgirl costume.  Wardrobe brought in a polyester purple suit and some boots for me to wear.  The vibe of the movie was 70's, being based off a musical from Broadway.  I met Dominic Marsh, who I was doing the photo shoot with.  He was really nice making everyone laugh in the make-up trailer.  My hair was done Farrah Fawcett style with classic 70's make-up.  I headed back to set, which was in the hallway outside crafty.  The entire shoot would be photo shopped to make it appear we were having a good time on the train.  I met the director, then the DP Greg set up the shot and staged Dom and myself the way he wanted.  The picture took all of ten minutes to shoot, then I was wrapped for the day.  I changed back into my clothes and found out that Guy had not sent over any vouchers, since this was a last minute photo shoot and I was the only BG working and technically the movie was not scheduled to start filming until the following day.  The 1^st AD promised me he would fill out my voucher the next day and get it turned in.  I had never in my life left set without a copy of my voucher, so it was weird, but I knew that Guy was aware of the situation and Jessica's List called to confirm they knew the agenda as well.  The 1^st AD also booked me to be in the train scene since my face was showing in the photo.  That was being shot mid-July and I felt lucky to get another day on the movie because the only people coming to set that day would be the principals and dancers.  I was not sure what would happen to the dancer who was pre-fit in the purple polyester outfit, since now I would need to wear it since I took the picture in it. 

Wednesday, I was back in Zyla's school library for a few hours checking books in and putting them away for the last time this school year.  Ed and I chilled at home watching Johnny Depp's new movie The Rum Diaries on Netflix instant before we went to pick her up.  I started reading D.H. Lawrence The Woman Who Rode Away and was instantly sucked in, not stopping until I finished the entire short story.  I loved how he really delved into the thought behind all the actions and where characters would go and give themselves over to.  It felt exciting, fresh and real.  I loved being surprised by such an amazing author of the past whose stories were so relevant to my life now.  I felt like Lawrence spoke to my soul.  The book I had gotten from the library had three of his stories put together that Lawrence wrote in 1924.  The next one was St. Mawr, which I dove into with glee. 

Thursday, I was inspired to film more for the documentary in another childhood favorite hiking spot Malibu Creek State Park so Ed and I headed there after dropping Zyla at school.  The morning was overcast and misty, perfect lighting for what I wanted.  As we pulled into the lot a bunny hopped in front of our car.  I was surprised to see a guard on duty at the gate since it was 8am on a weekday, but I guess since it was summer break they had someone to collect money.  Usually every time I had ever gone with Ed on a weekday morning we drove in for free.  Now they wanted $12, which seemed ridiculous since we were only going to be there a short time.  Instead we pulled back out onto Las Virgenes Road and drove the rest of the way to Malibu.  We made a right at Pepperdine and headed back to Solstice.  I was not as happy as I could be over the pictures I had done 2 weeks ago at the waterfall and wanted a retake from a different angle and composition.  Pulling into the free parking lot at 8:30am, I assumed maybe one car would be there like last time, but no, two vans from The Biggest Looser had shown up.  Looked like the trail was going to get crowded and I wanted my shot, so we took the Solstice Canyon Trail while they took the Rising Sun Trail.  We beat them to the waterfall and quickly lined up the shots I wanted.  Everything turned out beautiful.  Then Ed and I went to see the Virgin in the grotto and had a snack while The Biggest Looser crew came down from the Rising Sun trail and joined us.  I had a copy of the first page of my Tropic of O and read it for camera.  Then Ed thought it might be fun to read it his way while I filmed him.  After saying a Hail Mary and leaving some change under the child statue's head, which was a tradition according to The Biggest Loser's trail guide, we shot some interview segments at the haunted mansion, then headed home.  For the first time in a while I saw no snakes, only an adorable hummingbird who joined us at the shrine of Our Lady.

Time for the weekend again!  This time with Zyla's Flip Festival Show at her gymnastics center and Father's Day, it proved to be a busy one!  My mom came into town to attend Zyla's big show.  I drove over to the gym early to line up for the event which is first come first are seated type thing for all ticket holders.  The event was sold out, meaning 500 people would be showing up.  I was lucky enough to be first in line, chatting with some of the USAG Team mom's who were fundraising in the parking lot.  Ed drove over with my mom and Zyla, who was all set to wow us.  Ed filmed the event in which Zyla took home the trophy for Heart of a Champion.  I was very proud of my little girl, she looked amazing.  On Father's Day, we all went to Ed's favorite Byzantine Church in Van Nuys, St. Mary's, before heading down to my sister's for dinner.  It was a wonderful day full of laughter and fun with the family. 

Monday, Zyla was back at school for her big park party with her class.  I got a call from Jessica's List to work on another movie, Don Jon's Addiction.  I was going to play a parent and then cross over to be a churchgoer.  It was shooting in Pasadena, and I woke up early Tuesday morning to get ready for my drive to crew parking at the Rose Bowl.  I was then shuttled to base camp at The Church of the Angels.  Wardrobe gave me a black and tan leopard print blouse to wear with my black pants.  The first scene was a Princess Party scene with all these little girls running around looking like Disney princesses.  We were shuttled down the street to a lovely home all decorated with pink.  I loved seeing Scarlett Johansson in the scene.  The movie took place in New Jersey and she was doing the accent, which made me smile.  I couldn't understand why I was not called in to be her stand in since she looked like my twin.  Her stand in came to talk to us and said she had just gotten on the movie, which had already been filming for a few weeks and was about to wrap up.  Whoever had stood in for the majority of it had known the 1^st AD.  Stand in work can be a lot about who you know especially the 1^st or 2^nd AD's!  That scene went by fast and the kids were wrapped.  The five of us playing parents and the Princess Party Hostess stayed for the church scene that would be shot 5 hours later.  We hung out in holding at the church sharing stories and laughter.  Lunch was served, then more BG showed up.  A new thing I had never seen before was Volunteer BG.  That meant about 60 people showed up to be in the movie for free.  One of the other actors said they had seen this on another movie recently, since the merger had happened.  I had heard that a lot of call in services did not have a lot of non union since the merger, which grandfathered in a lot of AFTRA actors to be eligible to work as SAG actors on SAG movies.  But I'm guessing the movie was on a budget wanting to save some cash because surely there were still people out there wanting to be paid minimum wage to work as non union BG.  All the volunteers were very professional.  The historic church was very gothic, patterned after a church in England with exposed brick and arched wooden beams.  Lots of detail and love was put into this holy space.  We shot through the church scenes quickly, wrapping out by 9pm.  Voucher signed and in hand I hopped on the shuttle van back to my car.  Ed had dinner and wine waiting for me while I reminisced with him about the day.

Wednesday was going to be Ed and I last date day for a while.  Zyla would be graduating elementary school tomorrow early and starting her summer break.  We decided to find a new hiking spot and explore together.  I looked online for more places with waterfalls and found out about Santa Ynez Falls in Topanga State Park.  After dropping Zyla at school we headed out to Pacific Palisades to the entrance at Verede de la Montura instead of the Entrada one we have gone to before.  This entrance was better I felt as almost the entire trail is covered by shade trees.  And of course you can't beat free parking.  Though the trail is not maintained by the park service, there are still signs along it, giving clues that you are heading in the right direction to the waterfall.  Dodging poison oak was easy enough as we made our way on the paths or up the creek bed that was dried out at this time of year.  Fortunately closer to the waterfall there was refreshing cool water running down.  Ed brought the video camera even though I protested that I wanted to discover the place without entertaining the lens.  It actually worked out for the best because we got amazing footage for our fun documentary.  At one point, Ed thought we had reached the falls, but it looked too small to me from what I had read online about what we would find. I wasn't sure we could climb up over it, but Ed did and reached back to help me up.  We finally found the falls and spent some time in the secluded nature of this secret magical space.  A bunch of humming birds filled the air with their vibrations.  We saw frogs and newts in the many pools of water around the falls.  We both took turns playing in the water under the falls before heading back.  The day had started out cool, June gloom overcast, but later burned off to sunny.  With the sun out, it seemed more birds were singing in the trees and bushes as we made our way back.  The flowers fragrance filled the air, bright yellows, purples and oranges.  The forest seemed to come to life welcoming the sun on this first day of the Summer Solstice.  I felt in touch with the flow of life, with the energy of the universe and very blessed.  We had this all to ourselves for most of the morning, but around 11am more hikers started to make their way up the trail.  When we were just about back to our car, a deer leapt down an embankment to our left.  It was so beautiful.  I felt lucky to watch it eating some leaves while Ed got footage of the enchanting creature.  We waved good-bye to this wonderful new place that had opened its secrets to us.  Before getting Zyla from school, Ed and I shared some margaritas, toasting to our summer adventures.  He stayed to share some more with his friend while I picked up Zyla and got her to her first Art class of the summer. 

Califonication Season 4 came in the mail from Netflix.  Ed and I watched the first episode when I got a call from Jessica's to work on Californication the following day!  I thought that was pretty synchronistic.  My call time was 2pm down in Venice.  I parked at the Westminster Elementary School, which was base camp and went to wardrobe.  Only three of us were brought in to do some crosses by the alley where Runkle played by Evan Handler was pulling up in his sports car to enter the house.  While waiting in holding I saw Marcy played by Pamela Adlon hanging out.  It was really chilly with the wind down by the beach and I was feeling cold in the tank top wardrobe had given me to wear.  At 6pm, we were shuttled back to base camp for lunch.  More BG had shown up for the last shot of the night.  It was in the same alley.  A beautiful outdoor café was set up to be in the background while David Duchovny who plays Hank Moody gets into his car from the house.  I think Madeleine Martin who plays his daughter was in the car too.  I saw her by crafty earlier in the evening.  It was so much fun to see all my favorite stars while I was in the midst of catching up on all the episodes of season 4.  Wardrobe was very thoughtful and brought me a Dolce and Gabbana leather jacket to wear for the scene and to keep warm.  Our holding was the driveway of the house we were shooting at.  I liked watching all the creatures of Venice that came out to play past our production.  With such a colorful scene down there, and so many different characters to observe, I never got around to reading my D.H. Lawrence book I had brought with me.  We finally got to our shot, then wrapped out at 1am.

The weekend was spent doing last minute things needed for the road trip.  I finished reading my Lawrence book, and looked forward to getting more of his stories from the library.  On Sunday, Ed, Zyla and I all drove down to Disneyland to see the new Cars Land that had just opened up on the California Adventure side of the park.  We got there right when it opened, yet the line for a fast pass to Radiator Springs was an hour long!  We strolled through the new land to see the sites.  Since everyone was busy with Radiator Springs, which had a line 4 hours long to wait in if you did not have a fast pass, we went on all our usual favorites instead.  Tower of Terror, Screamin, Silly Swings, Goofy's Sky School, and Grizzly River Rapids in which I got thoroughly soaked!  Little bit of lunch in the back at Paradise Garden Grill, then headed home to pack up for our big family road trip 2012!

Monday morning I woke up at 4am to get ready for my big family adventure.  Ed, Zyla and I packed into my car and were headed up the coast by 6am.  It felt good to be on the road, driving north.  The beach looked amazing.  I had been looking forward to driving up the coast for a long time.  Four hours in, we reached Hearst Castle.  We stopped at the beach to play in the surf for a bit.  We could see the castle in the distance up high on the hills.  Ed pulled out the video camera to get some great shots of the bay and us walking on the pier.  We drove a little further down the beach and found Elephant Seals.  Tons of them resting up on the sand out of the water.  At first it looked like they were dead, so many lying motionless on the sand, but then one would whip sand up over itself, or another might wriggle into a new spot and you realized that this was just their thing.  We drove on to Carmel, passing through Big Sur, where I saw the Henry Miller Library off to the side of the road.  It looked closed so we didn't stop, but I remembered the footage I had just seen of it in the documentary Henry & Dovid: Sex, God & Revolution.  Carmel was a little confusing at first, but we found the adorable town that reminded me of Beverly Hills.  Had some lunch at a little café bistro type place before heading to the San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission.  We quietly entered the chapel, I lit a candle for my family journey that the angels would guide us and keep us safe.  After seven hours, of being on the road we were thankful to arrive at our hotel in Santa Cruz.  We went for a swim, then I took Zyla in the sauna steam room for the first time.  At 6pm, it was time to head to the big Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which is three times bigger than the Santa Monica one we were used to.  Since it was Monday night, the Boardwalk was celebrating the prices of 1907 and we were able to get on all the rides for $1.  Riding roller coasters on the beach as the sun set slowly over the water, I felt blessed to be sharing the moment with my family. 

Tuesday we woke up, checked out and headed north again to San Francisco.  My directions from google maps were ok, but I still got a little confused and ended up off the freeway in some random neighborhood before we pulled out the GPS to get us to Fisherman's Wharf.  Driving along The Embarcadero was a lot to take in, so much activity going on!  We found parking across the street from Pier 39, then purchased our tickets for the cruise to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I had some amazing Maui Maui at the Wipeout Bar and Grill, before we boarded our boat.  Powering over the water, wind whipping my hair, shot us out of the harbor and into the bay past Alcatraz.  The last time I had been to San Francisco was on my 10^th grade field trip with my school, I was happy to be back sharing these moments with my family.  As the boat reached the Golden Gate Bridge, we slowed down to float gently under it and I made a wish.  Ed took many pictures of us and of course lots of video footage.  Zyla and I saw a dolphin swimming next to our boat and when we got back to the harbor, lots of sea lions were hanging out on one of the wooden flats floating in the water.  We took a stroll down the street to Ghiradelli Square so Zyla could munch on a Cara's Cupcake, while sitting in front of the mermaid fountain.   We stopped into an art gallery before heading back to our car.  Traffic was tough getting out due to a ball game at AT&T Park.  Lots of orange about as everyone seemed to be routing for the Giants.  We arrived at our next hotel, which looked like a Spanish Mission.  Our bathing suits were still damp from the day before, but we put them on and headed out to the pool.  It was chilly, and I opted for the Jacuzzi only.  The pool was cool with an underwater window that looked in on the bar area of the restaurant. 

Wednesday, we packed into the car and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge heading up to Muir Woods.  Arriving at 10am, both parking lots were already full, and we had to find street parking about half a mile away.  Zyla got the kids Redwood Discovery Quest booklet from the ranger station and we explored the woods looking for clues.  We walked through the Bohemian Grove then headed up the Hillside trail through amazingly tall redwoods.  I brought my flute along and pulled it out on Bridge 4 to play a little Titanic.  I hadn't played in over a year and was a little rusty, but loved hearing the notes fill the air, blending with the gurgling stream sounds.  We quietly walked through Cathedral Grove where the Owls were nesting, before making our way to the Café.  After lunch, we figured out the clues and the password to open the treasure box and claim our reward, which were stickers saying we accomplished the John Muir Quest.  The trip was half over and I had been driving the entire time, so I handed the wheel over to Ed and he drove us to our next hotel in Merced.  We had some dinner and enjoyed the pool and Jacuzzi before going to bed.

Thursday, we woke up at 6am to get ready for our drive into Yosemite.  I had not been to Yosemite since I went with my family in the 80's on an overnight camping trip in Little Yosemite Valley.  Ed and I saw a fox darting through the grasslands as we drove along Highway 140.  Winding our way along the Merced River was breathtakingly beautiful.  We entered the park driving through the rock tunnel and into more amazing sites.  Parking at the back of the park in Curry Village, we hopped on a shuttle to take us to the entrance of Happy Isles where the trail to Vernal Falls Mist Trail begins.  It is a very steep hike and Zyla and I kept loosing our breath and taking breaks along the way.  I could not believe I had done this as a kid with a huge heavy backpack on.  It was a warm day, but thankfully most of the trail is shaded.  At the bridge we took pictures with the waterfall behind us, filled up our water bottle and headed up the steep granite staircase that would lead us to the top of the 318 foot waterfall.  The mist was light at this time of year and we did not get soaked walking up as I remembered had happened when I came here often as a child in springtime.  When we reached the top we rested by the Emerald Pool.  I was so hot and dizzy from the hike up which from base of trail to top of waterfall is a 1,000 foot elevation gain, that I pulled off my tank top and submerged it into the Emerald Pool before putting it back on.  How refreshing!  I pulled out my crystals from my rabbit pouch I had brought from home and washed them in the Pool and set them on a stone to dry.  I pulled out my flute and had another Titanic moment, as the notes played across the water.  The squirrels here were just as friendly as I remembered them being in my childhood.  They bravely came right up to us begging for food.  Zyla fed them some of our raw cashews which they took right from her fingers.  We nicknamed one of the squirrels Tailless since his tail was missing.  Hiking back down was much easier, but we took our time, glancing at the powerful waterfall right next to us.  It all felt surreal, like we were walking through a dream, a painting.  When we arrived back at Curry Village we had some lunch before heading to the Yosemite Valley Visitor's Center.  We wandered through the museum, Indian Village and watched a movie about the history of Yosemite.  Around 4pm we caught the shuttle to Lower Yosemite Falls.  It was really amazing to share this with Zyla and Ed who had never been to Yosemite before.  To be standing next to the waterfall, that until this point Zyla had only seen on the Flying Over California Adventure ride at Disneyland.  We walked the short trail to the bridge at the base of the Lower Yosemite Falls.  We could see both Upper and Lower falls from the walk.  Once at the bridge, Zyla wanted to go bouldering up the river to the base of the falls.  Ed and I followed.  On the hike back, a baby bear was munching on some grubs in a fallen tree.  It was really exciting to see a wild bear right next to us in nature.  I could not stop breathing in the sweet pine air.  I wished I could stay here forever and wander the woods like Muir had.  I hugged a giant redwood good bye as we made our way back to the shuttle that would take us around the park back to our car.  I wanted to come back and camp out on the Valley floor.  I wanted to ride a bike around to the different sites at dawn.  I wanted to come back here again soon.  We drove out of Yosemite to the setting sun and arrived back at our hotel around 9pm.  After all that hiking, I was thankful for some Jacuzzi time before falling asleep. 

Friday, we slept in and took our time getting ready before our long drive home.  Because of some roadwork, we were detoured away from the 5 freeway and out into the Mojave Desert.  Guess the road trip would not be complete without including this scenery to the footage we already had gathered on this trip.  Ed was excited that we might find some place selling a rattlesnake head, which he had been pining for lately.  A local told him that if he wanted one he would have to go deep into the desert to the Indians who caught and gutted the snakes.  Sounded a little too crazy to attempt, especially after reading all the Lawrence stories of women who go adventuring out to get native with Indians that never ends well.  We decided to skip that and resort to ordering his heart's desired relic online.  Arriving home at 4pm, unpacking, I felt like I was in a daze going through motions.  All the experiences, adventures I had just shared with my family swam through my mind.  We all had so much fun together, and this trip brought us closer to each other.  I thanked God for this wonderful experience and the blessings continually being showered into my life.  Ed and I watched the footage from the trip and I was excited to see it up on youtube where I could share my adventures with all my family and friends.