Vision Quest Ranch

Back in April, a good friend of mine spotted a Groupon deal for Vision Quest Ranch's Bed & Breakfast and she convinced me to purchase the deal with her. Prior to booking the inn, I haven't heard anything about it but knowing her, she has good taste with this kind of things so I clicked the "Buy Now" button. Vision Quest Ranch is located in Monterey County wherein wild animals adopted from different parts of the world can be seen. The ranch offers a variety of tours and activities to get more personal with the animals. Guests can feed the big cats and elephants. They also have a Bed & Breakfast which has unique bungalows themed with different types of wild animals.

Listen to the lions and tigers roaring only yards from your canvas walled hotel suite. Each African tent style bungalow is creatively decorated and equipped with comfortable furniture and complete bathroom facilities. They're basically "chic" canvas walled hotel suites with most of the comforts found in a luxury hotel suite. Wake to a continental breakfast delivered to your tent by the staff and one of our African elephants.  In the afternoons, guests will enjoy visiting with the facility trainers on their evening walks with many of our Wild Things (weather and animal(s) permitting). - Vision Quest Ranch

We drove about four hours to reach Salinas and as son as we got there we looked for a place to have lunch. With only a few minutes left to spare, we luckily got in the free tour for the B&B guests at 1300. The tour took about an hour to finish and it was consisted of introducing the wild animals they have in the ranch. They also told us that they are in the progress of turning it into a zoo. Personally, I was thankful that I got to go to this place before it's a zoo.

 

 

After the tour, we immediately checked in to our bungalows. We stayed at the Little Big Cat House and the Bear's Den. One of the rooms had two queen beds and the other one had a king bed. The bungalows were very clean. Each bungalow has a refrigerator, coffee/tea maker, shower, and a portable heater for those who easily get cold at night. 

 

The place was so calm and serene. It was very relaxing. Just look at the view when you step out of the bungalow.

The weather was perfect. We slept throughout the night hearing different animal sounds and when we woke up in the morning, we were greeted by an elephant who delivered our continental breakfast. 

We also got to feed her with apples and carrots. Oh what an experience! It was very hard to leave this place. We really enjoyed our stay here. Hoping we get to come back!

Sequoia National Park

Believe it or not, it was my first time to visit Sequoia National Park even if it's only 3 hours away from home. The park really owned its name as evidenced by the gigantic trees that pierce the sky. The group left early in the morning as the weather forecast said there's going to be rain after 12 noon. We reached our destination safely and chose to hike the Moro Rock Trail for Bryan's birthday.

One of the stops we made before reaching the Giant Forest Museum

We had to wait for the other car to arrive at the Giant Forest Museum so we could start our hike. What better way to spend time wisely while waiting? Take photos!

The Sentinel

The birthday celebrant with his wife

The view was definitely breathtaking as well as the hike! Haha. We took a lot of stops during the hike so we could take pictures.

Aaaahhh! I love how scenic the trail was! So happy I was able to come with them. Always fun to be with this family.

Sycamore Mineral Hot Springs

Last week, my family and I drove to San Luis Obispo to visit Hearst Castle and the vicinity. We stayed overnight at Sycamore Mineral Hot Springs' 3-Bedroom Guesthouse and oh boy, it was indeed a beautiful place to stay at. Sycamore Mineral Hot Springs is located in the Avila Valley surrounded by the beauty of nature. It's walking distance from the beach, has accessible hiking trails, and multiple hot tubs. What makes this place unique is that each room/suite has its own private balcony/patio and a hot tub with low sulfur mineral water.

The guesthouse had a full kitchen, dining room, balcony, and two hot tubs. I forgot to take a picture of the hot tub because of too much excitement so here's a photo from their website.

Photo grabbed from http://www.sycamoresprings.com

I was kind of bummed that their Meditation Labyrinth was closed. It didn't even say on their website that it's been closed since February 2014 and there's no exact date on when it's going to be open again.

Photo grabbed from http://www.sycamoresprings.com

They also offer pilates, yoga, and tai chi classes in their Healing Arts Dome. If you're up for relaxation, try their spa treatments but be sure to call early for reservations as they tend to get full fast. They also have Hillside Tubs that can be rented in an hourly basis and it's open to guests and non-guests of the hotel.

Overall, it was a really beautiful and serene place to stay at. Very relaxing and quiet. Although, it might be nice if they renovate some parts of the hotel especially the guesthouse to make it look new. Here's a short clip of the guesthouse tour I took with my GoPro. 

Weekend in Vegas

June was very busy for me because of the memorable events, achievements, and fun-filled activities and trips I had this month. I think this is the most I've traveled in a month! So to cap off this wonderful month of June, this entry is dedicated to my weekend trip in Las Vegas a.k.a. Sin City. The purpose of this trip was to celebrate our BSN graduation (Tin, Debs, me) but sadly Debs wasn't able to join us. Anyway, traffic was so bad both going there and going home so we ended up doing this even though it was scorching 110 degrees outside...

Hitch hikers!

We stayed at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in their 2-bedroom Tower Suite. Here's a photo of the gang on our first night there.

Our first night was very chill, we just walked around the strip to grab some Fat Tuesday goodness and then went back to the hotel to enjoy our luxurious suite and karaoke-d all night long. I would post videos but I can't seem to find them. :/

The hotel's pool was jam-packed that weekend because of the heat and of course it's summer but we still managed to squeeze ourselves in! 

On our second and last night, we decided to go to 1OAK. My feet definitely got punished that night. It hurt so bad, I couldn't feel them! 

These girls ain't loyal haha

The next day (our last day), we headed to a Filipino restaurant for brunch and headed straight home to Bakersfield. Oh my, traffic jam was so bad but we managed to make it fun - just look at our faces. Haha. 

Till next time, Vegas!

When in Wyoming

One of the highlights of my summer is my family coming here for summer. My father and I planned a mini trip to Wyoming to explore two national parks - the Grand Teton and the Yellowstone National Park. This trip is the most outdoor-ish we've gone to! We saw a lot of wildlife and mother nature's treasures. We went on a 10-hour tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. To be honest, I wasn't that excited to go because I was expecting it to be boring but it turned out to be a fun experience for the whole family! It was so cold during the tour so we ended up having lunch in the van. Anyway, let me continue my story using these pictures.

 

With our tour guide, Jacklyn.

The Tetons

Jackson Hole's town square houses a lot of tourist stores. We walked around and did some shopping for our friends before we headed to the airport. It was a short trip but very well spent. 

Till next time!