photo by JT Liss
It’s Jenni Drishti! On day 11ish of the road trip (we lost count somewhere between John Friend’s flight of the Divine and the canyon grand crevasse) we arrived in Santa Barbara for a yoga class with Drishti’s own Jennifer Rawlings at Yoga Soup, the 2nd coolest named studio we encountered after Cosmic Dog.
photo by JT Liss
One of our favorite yoga classes on the trip was found far from the bright lights and feather haired hipsters. After driving for approximately 25 hours in two days, trudging through a bit of LA traffic – wouldn’t be a Cali trip without it! – Jenni’s steamy lunch flow was just what our car-cramped bodies needed.
Shout out to Yoga Soup owner Eddie, a native New Yorker turned SB yogster with an enthusiasm for life that can’t be captured in a box (if you visit the Soup, be sure to ask to see the special “savasana” space upstairs and you’ll know what we mean).
Also, shout out to the 70s cool veggie vibe of the Sojourner Cafe. The menu is scrumptious, the staff incredibly friendly and the wood paneling just groovy baby. Tip your waitress. Try the desserts!
Here’s Jenni’s cute yoga shop, Drishti, yogi-owned and operated since 2002, and one of YD’s biggest supporters since the very beginning. Love!
photo by JT Liss
And so we continued in YD Road Trip fashion, hopping in the dork mobile and getting back to the open, er, narrow winding roads of Pacific Coast Highway 1. Purple mountains majesty, the Big Sur coast is something to behold! We caught the view from the jagged cliffs just as the sun was snuggling down to the horizon. Note: This photo was not ‘shopped.
photo by JT Liss
Surreal. ‘clicking to enlarge’ highly recommended.
Here’s YD the following misty morning demonstrating a 4000 mile tree pose in a flower bush with a Wente wine cork in front of amazing rising cliffs and crashing sea. (fact checkers are looking up the full Sanskrit for that one as we speak).
After this climax? More driving! We wound our way up the most monotonous stretch of highway yet. I-5 to Portland, we believe you owe us some of our livelihood back. Except for you, Mt. Shasta (pronounced as a breathy: shahhh-stah).
Finally, Portland. After almost 5000 miles of driving (really) we arrived back where we started, which we’ve come to find is pretty much the nicest city in the world. Where else can you find such craftsmanship in recycling bins:
or pizza-loving cleverness:
Or friendly power attorneys who offer their 9th floor lavatory facilities to wayward-looking tourists (us). We don’t know about their divorce settlements, but we would totally have a beer and a vinyasa with the folks at Gevurtz Menashe Larson & Howe PC.
Last yoga of the trip (blast!) brought us back to Yoga Pearl, partially because we didn’t get a chance to take a class the first time round and partially because the adjoining cafe Prasad has the most delicious food we’d drive 5000 miles for. Well, it’s pretty damn good. Also good was Tiffany Cruikshank’s Power Vinyasa class (we were told she was somewhat of a celeb when we signed in). Carpet flooring is not our preference – hello mat slide and extra wrist squoosh – but we sweated with rest of the Portlanders to the tune of playful hip breakers and an equally fun playlist. On that note (heh) most, or actually, we think every single class we took on this trip had musical accompaniment. West coasters love their yoga jams and ab crunches. Just an observation.
After a cleansing sweat, replenishment from Prasad and our last tour of almost-too-nice-it-hurt city of Portland we half moped half frolicked our way to the airport. phewwwwwww.
More to come! Wanderlust and Road Trip Final Thoughts. If you’ve made it this far, you don’t want to miss the Jerry Springer wrap-ups.
Thanks to our sponsors Wente Vineyards and Hugger Mugger, for without you we would be up yoga creek without a compass.
Photos above by J.T. Liss. Check out more photos from the trip at J.T. Liss Photography on facebook. 25% of any photos sold will benefit Off The Mat.
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It was soooo awesome to have YD in Santa Barbara!! Omigosh! We really enjoyed reading your lovely write-up of your visit with us – thank you so much for taking the time to share. And your drive up the coast of Big Sur looked amazingly gorgeous. WOW! 🙂
Yay! YogaDork! Thanks for honoring 2 of my favorite peeps and 3 of my favorite places in SB in your latest blog! I wouldn’t know about your blog if it weren’t for Jenni , who by the way looks gorgeous in the above pic!! Enjoy the rest of your travels!
Jenni is the best!