One thing I've been wanting to do more often in Tennessee is go hiking. There are hiking meetup groups, and specifically night hikes that I plan to do, but then it sort of gets lost throughout the day on my list of priorities. 

While April was here, my friend Matt suggested a little half-day trip to Cummins Falls State Park. He easily convinced me it was an ideal location to hike in from his beautiful photos of the waterfalls themselves and him behind the waterfall. Not only going to a waterfall but being able to go behind one? SOLD. 

READ MORE TO SEE PHOTOS, HIKE DETAILS, & DOUGHNUTS!...

Two weeks ago last night, April flew in to Nashville. I was BEYOND thrilled. The reality didn't even really hit me until I had blown up the air mattress and got ready to go pick her up. 

We went straight to Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (because I swear that's the best ice cream ever in my life so far (gelato is it's own category)) and then hit up The 5 Spot for their Monday night throwback dancing — making the oldie's good again.

Since she had just come from visiting her sister in Montana, I figured it was better to ease her into the Nashville city life. Instead of going straight into the tourist Nashville, we focused on a few key Nashville aspects before spending most of the day in Franklin.

The itinerary included:

• Breakfast at The Pancake Pantry
• Pictures with art walls nearby (like the one above)
• Carnton Plantation
• Lotz House
• Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge which also included a drive through some of Natchez Trace Parkway
• Dinner at The Loveless Cafe
• Music at The Bluebird Cafe

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By the time we went through the art exhibits in Chinatown, we were really really hungry. Eugene left us and we hopped in our cars again to make one final downtown trek: Pershing Square. And more specifically, Perch & Mrs. Fish.

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Piñatas + Polka Dots + Silly String might be my new favorite combination now.

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Behold: The Grammy Museum! This was an unexpectedly informational and interactive museum with so much about various music legends. 

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From The Original Los Angeles Flower Market we drove over to Chinatown (which is about two miles — we could have technically walked except we both parked in limited hour parking). 

I love going to Chinatown simply because of the lanterns strung through the main plaza areas. And all the fun Chinese mementos you can buy.

We met up with our other friend Eugene at the Golden Dragon Seafood Restaurant for dim sum. I was really grateful Eugene knew how to speak Chinese because I have only had dim sum once before and it gets really confusing if you don't know what you're doing. They come around with carts of different food, so you kind of need to know what you're looking for beforehand, or at least be able to communicate pretty well. 

That aside, dim sum is the best thing to do in Chinatown if you ever have the opportunity to go. Everything is so good! Except for the chicken legs. That wasn't my favorite.

Eugene is really familiar with Chinatown and was telling us some of the history about it like this area is technically the "new" Chinatown. The old one was just about a mile away. He also told us how there's a strong artist community that resides there now because it's a relatively cheap place to live. We had the opportunity to experience first hand some of this community when later at night there was actually an art show.

We also got to see a sort of pre-show when we were walking around the plaza area. A group of people were taking "Jerry McGuire" VHS tapes and stacking them up. We asked them what they were doing, and in preparation for this art show, they were taking this collection of VHS's and making a sort of shrine. 

Before going to our next destination, I was SO EXCITED when Eugene suggested an ice cream place called Scoops Ice Cream. They have daily flavors that they list on their Twitter — I went with Root Beer. It was an amazing break from the heat and equally lovely flavor.

Near the end of the day, April, Eugene and I came back to Chinatown to experience the art show in action, including the completed shrine. And also just to get back to our cars since that's where we parked for the day.

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My friend April is coming to Nashville in less than NINE HOURS. And I couldn't be more excited. I can actually hardly believe it. We both love to explore, and have had so many adventures in Los Angeles, that I'm so looking forward to discovering Nashville and parts of Tennessee with her! 

In celebration, I'm posting a series of spots we scouted on a serious adventure day back in Los Angeles with her and another friend Eugene.

So began one of the most full and fun days before I left L.A. 

First stop: The Original Los Angeles Flower Market. Located in the Los Angeles Flower District. 

READ MORE TO SEE FLOWERS & TIPS

In due time, I'll show you my non-Pinterest perfect room that I've finally settled into in Nashville that includes a 3'x4' black and white poster of the ducks. They're pretty much lifesize. Which is nice, because I miss them along with the rest of the farm.

I've been lucky enough to be able to go out there at least once each week to visit and help out. But they just recently had their last farmer's market for the season last Saturday, so not as much harvesting to do anymore.

There's always a good reason to go out there though. Just this past Sunday, they actually had a little house concert which included a band called Pilgrim — composed of a really sweet family that sold everything to travel around the US in an airstream doing these house concerts. Seriously fantastic. 

But back to the animals. I talked about separating the sheep (full disclosure: some went to get... well... slaughtered on Monday. You should have seen my face when Lizzie told me. I'm just glad they lived a great life).

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE A PHOTO DOCUMENTARY OF EVERYONE ELSE

How was your Halloween? Mine was everything I wanted this year. But I have even more great Monday news: I'm going to be traveling to Salt Lake City, UT after my visit home in January!! And to celebrate this, and the end of Halloween-time, here's a little recap of one of my favorite times I visited Utah during the spooky season (two years ago). Including general Halloween ideas for next year ;) 

Last night while attending a Mormon rager hosted at our house complete with lots and lots of sugary sweets and attempts at making s'mores in the microwave and over candlelight (we literally had one girl sitting at our fake fireplace roasting her mashmallow with a knife over one of the candles placed there (and it actually came out really good)) because — due to rain — we were unable to break in our newly constructed firepit in the backyard, I was working out what I wanted to do this weekend with some new friends here in Nashville. 

In the back of my mind, I felt like there was something going on this Saturday. But I couldn't remember what. And then... oh ya, Halloween.

Maybe because I've been so lost in moving madness and trying to get settled into this new area, time has become slightly irrelevant to me. And although it feels like fall here and I'm in love with it all, I am missing Los Angeles just a bit. I've been reminiscing on the last couple of years especially and all the random findings that only Los Angeles dreams up that I would usually do around this time.

So, in that spirit, I put together a little list of my favorite Halloween-y things I've done in LA:

• Museum of Death
• Dearly Departed Tours
• Nightmare Before Christmas at the El Capitan Theatre
• Theme Park Scare-a-thons: Knott's Scary Farm, Universal Studios, & Disneyland
• West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval
• Día de Los Muertos on Olvera Street

READ MORE FOR PICTURES AND EXPERIENCE DETAILS

Is it just me or did anyone else just realize that "shepherd" almost exactly breaks down into "sheep herd(er)"?  

Don't worry — I just checked Wikipedia (which knows all, right?) and it confirmed that shepherd is, in fact, an amalgam (looked that up too — it means a mixture or a blend) of sheep herder! I knew I was kind of onto something.

Anyhow... THE SHEEP. 

I went to visit and help Jesse and Lizzie out on the farm yesterday because it was the big day where the baby boys would be separated from their mamas. Kind of sad... but it does prevent them from getting a little too excited and impregnating the other females. 

Backing up a little: giving water to the sheep was actually my first solo job on the farm. It was also the first time I drove the "gator" by myself, in the same day I was taught how to drive the gator. Moving fast, I know. 

CLICK THROUGH TO READ & SEE PHOTOS OF HOW WE SEPARATED THE SHEEP & MY FIRST SOLO EXPERIENCE

This post could also be titled, "Learning how to not ruin the plants and greens when pulling them out of the ground or chopping them," but that might be too long. 

Yesterday was the first morning in three Mondays where I didn't get up at 7am (well, more like 7:30am if we're going to be honest) and have some fresh duck eggs for breakfast prepared by Jesse, go out and check on those ducks, put water in their kiddie pool and fresh food in their bowl, and then go help Lizzie harvest.

I remember when first talking to Lizzie on the phone, she asked me questions about my experience harvesting. I think I grew a sweet pea plant for a school project one year, does that count? Not so much. She said something also about hoeing and plowing. I realized that I have heard the words, and know they have to do with farming, but I've never participated in them and had no idea how that even looked. Thank goodness for Google Images. In any case, I felt I at least could learn. 

After arriving on the farm, I remember going out the first morning and seeing the field we would be "harvesting." I thought to myself, "What/Where are we harvesting?" In my mind I imagined the obviousness of cornstalks growing out of the ground. And while there were tall stalks of okra growing in one area, from the distance I was standing (and maybe it's also because I wasn't wearing my glasses to sharpen things up) it just looked like there were some greens in various lines along the dirt, and some white blanket-like covers. 

Lo and behold, the "some greens" turned out to be a lot of greens. Just like the sweet potatoes I talked about last time — which were hidden under a lot of what looked like dead vines — there were more plants/food like radishes and turnips hidden beneath the dirt. A whole lot more greens were revealed under the white blankets as well (the blanket is used for protection against certain bugs and extreme weather). 

Because it's the end of the season, harvesting and planting was not as demanding or intense as it might have been just some weeks before. The weather was beautiful most days, and we had time to enjoy being out in the field.

Harvesting at first was really slow for me. I was really tedious about picking anything out of the ground, asking Lizzie almost every moment if something like a radish was large enough to take out. For those plants that are hidden in the dirt, you have to dig around it to see if it's ready and large enough to join the bunch. And then there's other plants — the "greens" — where you take a knife and just cut from the stem near the bottom. In time, I was a little more speedy. I was almost matching Lizzie at one point in making bunches of mazuna. Kind of.

In essence, it's been one of the greatest joys these last few weeks in understanding what goes into planting and harvesting, and being part of each process. I definitely now know what a hoe and a plow is. So you could say I've come a long way. 

I've been asked what exactly we've been harvesting on Sugar Camp Farm, and although you can find a list on their website, I've also compiled a little photo journal below with a little video (yay!) of Lizzie explaining the process of harvesting pink beauty radishes (it's a fitting name considering they're pink, beautiful, and radishes).

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE ALL THE PHOTOS & WATCH THE VIDEO...

Because at the laundromat, you really have some time to reflect on this random day filled with sunshine and my own spider paranoia among the limitless options of washers and dryers and clothes going round and round. 

READ MORE ABOUT THE CYCLE OF MY DAY... 

Hello! HAPPY OCTOBER FIRST!!!!

It's been awhile. But September was definitely a blur in a really wonderful dancy twirl sort of way. Like when you're just dancing and spinning and a little exhausted from twirling but having the best time anyways? That feeling.

I haven't had the chance to compile a day-to-day account of my Route 66 yet, but I promise it's coming soon. What I have done is transferred my blog from Blogger to Squarespace (I've been using Blogger for about five years now so this is one of those life-changing technological moments for me) and even made a fancy Facebook page if you want to check it out and "like" it. It's all coming together. Slowly. But surely! 

Just to catch you up — I left September 2nd on my Route 66 road trip and successfully made it through eight states starting in Santa Monica, CA and ending in Chicago, IL before things started to slow down. I had a couple days in Chicago before spending five days in Ohio and one day in West Virginia before FINALLY driving through Kentucky (honorary state mention) and making it to TENNESSEE. I literally cried when I crossed the state line randomly listening to Danza Kuduro (which is probably the most opposite-of-crying kind of music). Out of joy mostly. It felt really great to be here. 

I spent that first night near Nashville (although I got here too late to do any actual exploring), and then took my time the next morning before making it to my destination of the next 3 – 5 weeks: Sugar Camp Farm. 

READ MORE TO SEE LEARN ABOUT THE FARM, WWOOFing, & WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO...

One of the best things you can do in Southern California is get a bike and ride the strand. There's many a miles of concrete for bikers/skaters/skateboarders/runners to do their thing on and you don't have to worry about any angry drivers trying to run you over (for the most part of it at least).

Last weekend I did the ultimate strand bike ride. The one that I've only done a handful of times before because it takes a little less than forever: my house to Hermosa Beach Pier all the way through to Venice Boardwalk. In total, it's about 30 miles (that's including my house to the pier which adds 2 miles each way). But it's also really one of the best ways to get a feel for how each beach is a little different from the others.

The bike route is really flexible. You can start at Hermosa Pier, or start earlier than that at Redondo Beach Pier. And you can end at Venice Boardwalk, or go further to Santa Monica Pier. I've never been beyond Santa Monica Pier on the bike path, but the Marvin Braude Bike Trail (which is basically what you're taking the whole time) does go all the way through to Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades. The bike trail in total is 22 miles — but you have to remember that's going to be each way. I don't think you have an option to uber back with a bicycle in tow.

And if you don't prepare for it like I don't each time, you're probably going to start feeling sore about twelve miles in.

This is the route Heidi and I took and the main places we stopped:

• Hermosa Beach Pier
• Manhattan Beach Pier
• Dockweiler Beach
• Marina del Rey
• Venice Boardwalk

I don't know who Google Maps is calculating time for (see map after jump) — maybe I'm just really slow — but it takes me almost two hours to do this route. Not one hour and eight minutes. But maybe that's just me.

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND READ TIPS ON WHERE TO STOP

Last Friday was my first Abbott Kinney First Friday in Venice. If you're looking for a crazy variety of food trucks, looking normal eating on the sidewalk, and finding fun surprises as you walk through a mass of people, this is the place to go on your first Friday of the month night.

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND READ ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE...