so... ashley and i made bangkok, but the trip started in california, so i'll start in california.

we made it to santa barbara with our friend jason leupold at about 11 last wednesday night, caught a cab and headed to town to meet sara, who had already been in town for most of the day, and was already buzzed up when we found her. we sat at o'mailey's on state street and drank miller lite with another couple, also in town for the radiohead concert, until we decided it would be better to turn in early, and be fresh for the show the next night.

a cab took us into the hills to the nasgovitz's house, where we were staying... and let me just say: it was ridiculous. we had no business staying in such a nice house for such a long time. their house is beautiful. not only the house, but the property, and the view. it's amazing. i'll post photos. the sight of the house rejuvenated us all and instead of turning in early like we had all planned, we stayed up for a few more hours talking about how lucky we all are, and drank coronas.

our first full day was laid back until the concert, exploring the area, reading and soaking up california. i barely have it in me to try to explain in detail what the concert was like. if you've been to one, you know, and if you haven't, you should go. they are, hands down, the best living band. just ask anyone.

day after the concert, the four of us paid a visit to four wineries, the highlights being foxen, which was basically a shack in the desert, but they had great wine. then demetria, where we serendipitously stumbled onto a private tasting, sampling wine right out of the barrels and all. the experience there was the best, but i think foxen had the better wine. jason disagrees. to decide to yourself, head over to his house on royalle street in october when he has a case from each delivered. we ended that night with a great meal, our heads spinning with what a good time we were having.
sara, sadly, left the next morning to get back to work, so the remaining three drove to santa ynez, rented bikes and jumped back on the wine circuit. there were no wines near as good as the previous day, but the ride was gorgeous, and we had a blast. our lunch in los olivos was so good it made me angry that milwaukee doesnt have anything nearly that good. the remaining day in california was, for the most part, uneventful.
we did see a scorpion in the garage. you can imagine ashley's reaction
and then jason drove ash and i to the airport where we began the 23 hour voyage to asia.

so heres bangkok: its a big city. i think 6 million people, and it feels like it. its loud and its dirty, and everywhere you see fat, old white men drinking beer with attractive young prostitutes. but there are cool parts to the city, as well. we went to two temples: wat pho which has a gigantic reclining buddha statue, alongside which there are 100 pots lined up in which you drop coins and, we think, make a wish or say a prayer. i put a coin in for everyone i could think of, and i think i did a pretty good job of covering all my bases. if youre bothering to read this blog, consider yourself blessed.
we also went to the golden palace where there's another temple whose name i cant remember, but it was insane. it rivaled the taj mahal in how impressive it is.
we got around our first day on the train, which is very modern and clean, and in tuk-tuks, which are motorized rickshaws named for the sound made by the sputtering engine. ashley loved those so much she could barely wipe the smile off her face.

and now, we find ourselves at tonsai beach, with our friend seth and his girlfriend tina.
our first day here we went out on a snorkeling trip that ended early because of bad weather, but was fun while it lasted. we took long-tail boats out to three islands, led by a german guide who didnt speak and never got in the water, and who looks like he has a terrible foot infection on both feet that should be looked at immediately. i wasnt his biggest fan. we got caught in the cold rain in the boat ride home but laughed it off and had a good time.
yesterday seth and tina took us rock climbing, a sport ashley is now obsessed with. i had a blast, but ashley's a natural and kicked my ass getting up the rock, while i shook and fell and swore. we climbed again today, and we all did very well. its been nice of seth and tina to be patient and take us to routes that they can climb up with ease. seth leaves tomorrow but ash and i are hoping we can get some more opportunities to climb on this trip.
tonight we're planning on having some beers and celebrating seth's 30th. ashley and i just got thai massages. that's where a tiny asian woman beats the shit out of you for an hour, constantly testing your pain threshhold. actually, it reminded me a lot of our climbing experience. it hurts a lot, and there are multiple times where i wanted to quit, but if you stick it out, the payoff is worth it. and it (the massage) only costs 8 dollars for an hour.
generally speaking, our experience so far has been amazing. the beaches here are the most beautiful ive ever seen. they make the yucatan peninsula look like sheboygan. i know there is footage of rock climbing at tonsai beach on youtube if anyone wants to see for themselves. you might have to search railay beach if tonsai doesnt work. the food is great, way better on a day to day basis than i had in latin america or europe. the people are very cool and very friendly. everyone is always smiling and eager to talk. there are monkeys everywhere which provides endless entertainment for me . and so far we feel very safe. we dont have specific plans after tonsai. i think we'll stay one more day and kayak out to some caves, and then i suppose just move on to another beach. after two weeks of beaches im guessing we'll be ready to head north again and try something new. we're both looking forward to our upcoming night at the four seasons, bangkok.
i'm not sure either of us has fully embraced the reality of our situation yet, that we have five more months of this. for both of us there are moments when that seems insanely long, and others where five months doesnt seem like anywhere close to enough time. i think that will be a steady theme of the journey though, the ups and downs and constant fluctuations.
for now though, life couldnt be better. we miss our friends and families but there are enough distractions that i think we'll be alright.
eventually i will post photos. weve already taken hundreds. for now im pretty happy to have the first blog done. so thats it. write back or post comments on our blog. kudos to manohar and lauren foy for being ahead of the pack on that one.
bye for now.