As I mentioned on Monday, Big Sur is officially my second favorite place ever, squeezing in just behind the coast of dear ol’ South Carolina. The terrain is totally different – think mountains that run into beaches that run into the bluest ocean – and the views are just incredible. If you ever get a chance, definitely get out to Big Sur.
At last! I have been dying for time to write this post. Things on the east coast were non stop once we made it back from the west coast, but I haven’t stopped talking about the trip. John and I headed out to Monterey, California in mid-March to visit two dear friends, Anne and Douglas who are currently living in that adorable town. Remember these two? How could you forget?! In fact, we actually planned this trip out to see them before any of us were positive they were moving. Chances were good, but not definite. What would have happened if they hadn’t made the move? Well, Anne and Doug were just going to purchase tickets and head out there with us for a few days of touristy travel. Win, win, huh?
Happy Thursday, friends! I have been waiting to do this little #tbt for a while now, rather than stick it in the lineup directly after the previous Costa Rica #tbt and be oh so predictable. This one comes at the same time that two of our very dear friends, Anne and Douglas, have officially started their cross-country trek on their move to California for the next year via a new job for Douglas {eek!}. And while we are all so excited for them (and can’t wait to visit in March), it was hard to say goodbye see ya later nonetheless. So, in dedication to the Marions, I give you the #tbt to our Costa Rica trip in 2012!
Roll back to February 25, 2012, and we began our fun by celebrating John’s birthday with cocktails on the plane, and a cake when we arrived. A full week filled with sunshine, lots of fishing (and catching!), good food, too much beer, and thousands of photos later, we created memories on a trip that we won’t soon forget. There ended up being 12 of us total, staying in the same house as our trip in 2011, and doing our fishing off of both Frenzy boats again out of Marina Pez Vela. With such a large group, we all rotated on fishing based on how much we wanted to fish/which boat we were able to book for a given day. I am so glad the same crew is still there, too, as they really made the experience as fun as it could possibly have been. Some days were slower than others, as it always is with fishing, but we never came home empty-handed. In fact, every single person was able to land at least 1 sail, a first for many of the group. Another first? Swimming with a caught sail. Right in the water with him, holding onto his bill! Because of the trauma caused to the fish bringing it up on the boat, that is no longer an option for an angler’s photo op. I feel very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to do so the previous year, but absolutely cannot disagree with the new practice. I know I speak for everyone when I say that is was such an amazing rush to jump into the vast ocean and swim with a wild beast of a fish. Another outing resulted in a deliciously large tuna, which we prepared for dinner that night. Swimming at 2 pm, on the table by 8. You really can’t beat that, huh?
With John and I having so recently been to Costa Rica, it was easy to plan out both our days and nights, from figuring out meals for 12 to what adventures we could partake in on our days off from fishing. As luck would have it, there was one day that the boats were booked, giving the whole group a chance to head off together on a zip-line adventure. Not everyone was on board with the adrenaline-filled excursion at first (you know who you are :)), but it ended up being so much fun. Other days off were spent enjoying cocktails on the beach, eating local food in little roadside restaurants, exploring Manuel Antonio National Park, and even a little beach/rain forest horseback ride.
Literally 5000 photos later and 25+ caught sails under our belts, we headed back home, sun-burned tanned faces, mild hangovers, and huge smiles. Here is just a taste of our adventure. Enjoy!
Happy Thursday, friends! Today’s post is our #tbt for the week, since Scotland feels like ages ago. Can I go back already? Like, yesterday? Our last two days were filled with travel, incredible sights, great food/wine, and guns. Yes, guns. At last! We spent an entire morning shooting skeet, and really enjoyed it.
But first, we left Culloden and headed south down Loch Ness to visit the ruins of Urquhart Castle and dip our toes in Loch Ness. The castle dates back to the 13th century and, despite its state of disrepair, did not disappoint. Situated right on Loch Ness, it was blustery and beautiful. Loch Ness was pretty chilly too! And sadly, no, I did not spy Nessie…. Until next time, Nessie…
After warming my toes back up, it was back in the car- this time driving west towards Isle of Skye to Dornie for a tour of Eilean Donan Castle. It was a long, windy, narrow, long road getting there, but worth the travel time. The castle is in great shape, having been rebuilt several times since the 6th century. It has been featured in quite a few films, including James Bond: The World Is Not Enough in 1999, and is really a pretty sight.
Heading south again towards Fort William, we arrived a few hours later at Inverlochy Castle, our digs for the night. And OH MAN LET ME TELL YOU. This place is awesome. I could have stayed here forever. Like, lived there. With an incredible game room, ridiculously good food and wine – and scotch, of course – and more activities than you know what to do with, this is the place to go. {Charlie- this is where I tried haggis!} Despite trying to schedule a fly fishing excursion, we only had time to shoot skeet before it was time for me to fly home. I must say, though, it was so much fun, and the perfect way to end the trip. Alex MacDonald with Achnacarry Sporting & Country Pursuits is the go-to guy at Inverlochy for outdoor fun. He was so nice, and I think he really enjoyed having a group of shooters who knew what they were doing! After a few practice shots, Mom sat back with the camera and got some really good shots of us shooting. I am so grateful to have photos of such a fun day.
See what I mean? via 
Happy Monday, friends! I hope everyone had a delightful weekend. It was pretty overcast here the whole time, but it was nice to get a bunch of things done around the house. And now, back for round 3 of our Scotland adventure!
I last left you with a sneak peek photo of about 50 barrels of… scotch! I am sure everyone was able to guess what gold was in those barrels. We left Dunkeld bright and early that morning and headed out for a day full of fun. Well, two days full of fun, really. Heading south back towards towards Perth, we made a quick trip to the beautiful Scone Palace, site of the crowning of the King of Scots. Another site where I was unable to take photos inside, I don’t have much to show you on the palace. Although, I did have a friendly encounter with a peacock while I was there!
Needless to say, it was a busy and exciting day! We ate dinner that night at the cutest place just a mile or two away from the Culloden House in Inverness called The Snow Goose, and had some fantastic traditional Scottish fare. I highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area! A good night’s sleep was in order, particularly with the days coming up. More on our travels tomorrow!
Guid mornin’ friends! I hope everyone is excited for the weekend… I am still a little jet lagged for some reason, so it will be nice to do not much of anything for a day or two!
Back to our Scotland adventure. From Edinburgh, we started our travels heading northeast to St. Andrews via Fife. In Fife, we visited Falkland palace, which was situated right the in center of the adorable town. There were flowers everywhere I turned, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I was not able to take many photos inside the castle- It is frowned upon and I was caught very quickly! After our quick stop, it was on to St. Andrews, located right on the coast, to see the cathedral ruins and the golf course. Both were incredibly beautiful, but the cathedral really took my breath away. Although it was abandoned in the late 16th century and left to ruin, it is still an awesome sight. The south wall of the nave is still standing, along with part of the south wall of the transept, so it is easy to imagine how large the cathedral was when it was in working condition. The grounds were beautiful, overlooking a cliff down to the North Sea. Since I am not exactly a golfer, we didn’t spend a lot of time on the course, but it was great to wander around the town and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Hello, dear friends! So sorry for the radio silence for so long… It’s been crazy busy around here, and without much time for my usual outdoor activities, I haven’t had too much to post about. BUT! Part of the silence is due to the fact that I was gone for a little over a week, back to the fam’s motherland – SCOTLAND! The Johnston clan (Dad, Mom, and I) flew over there to do quite a bit of traveling, sight seeing, and scotch tasting. Oh, and there was lots of good wine and good food. Shocking, right? Just kidding. My grandparents, KK and Bo, spent a lot of time traveling Scotland (being Scottish, and all…), so we had an impressive quantity of notes on which to base our schedule. Bo even set up my parents’ Scotland honeymoon schedule 32 years ago! He really couldn’t steer us wrong, and it was an amazing trip with fortunately glorious weather. Even though we didn’t have time to do the fly fishing at Inverlochy that I was hoping to squeeze in due to the outgoing flight schedule, we were able to enjoy a little skeet shoot while we were there. {More on that in another post!} I think I have already talked Dad into going back to do more of the ridiculously fun/impressive hunting and fishing during the appropriate seasons before long!
I took a ton of pictures, so the trip will be broken up into a few posts. Despite my list-making tendencies, I somehow didn’t remember the charger for my GoPro, so you’ll be getting the goodies I got on my Canon and iPhone. Don’t worry- there is still plenty to see!
Flying into Glasgow early in the morning and heading immediately to Edinburgh, we spent a day wandering around the city, taking in sights like the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle, and discovering little whiskey shops and pubs on quiet, quaint streets.
Keeping up with the fishing theme of the week, I thought I would share my video diary from our Costa Rica trip in 2011. Happy Thursday- Enjoy!
I ran across this article from Field & Stream while I was pretending to fold laundry, and I was instantly hooked. No pun intended- You’ll see what I mean. Given the amount of fun and successful hunting my dad and I had while in Argentina, both in 2010 and 2013, it is safe to say that we will definitely be going back. Hopefully several more times (hint hint, Dad..!). Both previous trips were spent only dove hunting, and we know there is a lot more that Argentina has to offer. Between dove hunting, duck hunting, big game hunting, and fishing, the country is a world-class playground for the outdoorsmen/women. Dad and I have primarily talked about adding a few days of duck hunting to our adventure, despite my constant efforts at begging him to let me go after a monster red stag or axis deer. Those who have met me know that I have an itchy trigger finger. And let’s be honest- I would have to have that thing mounted. Immediately. But, back to the topic at hand… This article sparked a new interested that I previously hadn’t really thought about- adding a few days of fishing on the great Rio Grande to the mix- a Cast & Blast. Ummm WHERE DO I SIGN UP? In this particular instance, the anglers were after the sea run brown trout, but one can also catch rainbow and brown trout, freshwater dorado, pirá pita, and pacu, depending on the region you visit.
With 10 tips and tricks for fishing, along with 5 more for the hunting portion of your trip, the authors provide really good insight as to what you can expect when you are fishing and wingshooting in Argentina.
Click HERE to read the entire article. Enjoy today’s in the news!
I can’t believe it’s already Thursday again… And now that we have moved into April, I find myself longing for warm weather, sunshine, and some fishing action on the boat. Today’s chilly, rainy weather has inspired me to make today’s #tbt the first fishing post- Costa Rica 2011! This time two years ago, I was on my first trip to Costa Rica, and my travel buddies were my parents and the main squeeze. It was such an unbelievable trip that he and I planned one for the following year to go with a group of friends (more on that in another #tbt!).
We stayed in an amazing house owned by some family friends, called Casa Carolina, and I could not recommend it more. The house is located on the side of a cliff, overlooking the harbor- talk about some incredible sunsets! We watched the sun go down each day from the pool with a cold beverage in hand :). The staff there are so friendly, and I know it is only a matter of time before we can see them again!
The main purpose of the Costa Rican adventure, of course, was to fish- offshore sailfishing and an attempt at some rooster fish inshore. The boat we fished from is called Frenzy, a 43′ custom, and boy did we have fun on that boat. In addition to the Frenzy, we spent a day aboard Frenzy II (35′, used more for inshore fishing), leaving from the Marina Pez Vela on both. Recently, they have added the Front Row to the fishing fleet, a 28′ vessel, and I am pretty sure that means we need to head back down there soon to give it a try! We had success every day while sailfishing- the ones down there are massive compared to those off the shores of South Carolina. Although the rooster fishing proved to be a futile effort, we never failed to have a fantastic time on the boat. The crew on board could not have been nicer, and they really know what they are doing when it comes to raising fish. Rather than bore you with words, I will leave you with a photo recap of the trip- Enjoy!
Amazing sunset the first night.
