St. Petersburg, Russia + Pioneertown, California
We cannot remember what episode we are on...Lulu thinks it's episode 41. It's not, this is episode 42. But ahhhh, what a great episode 41 was. In case you missed it, episode 41 was recorded in front of a live audience at Triad Theater in NYC. You can watch it here, listen to it here, or read about it here. The gals are happy to be back to the usual format of just the two of them, they had a busy past month or so with many amazing guest googlers, including Christina Bianco,Vanessa Ray, and Gaelen Gilliand. We've settled into regular life, after us both living it up in NYC as if we really had 10k. Adjusting can be hard, but thanks to one of our 10k Dollar Baes, we found this upgrade from your basic Ramen noodles that we are loving. It’s helping us not miss the bougie kind as much.
This week Alison is obsessed with this cartoon her friend Anthea created, Jimmy Dean Adventures, it's perfect to watch with her 4-year-old daughter. To no surprise, Lulu is obsessed with fall in New York. It's here, and everyone is happier, makeup doesn't melt, and you can wear layers! She is so happy.
Alison is wanting that thing that turns a zucchini into noodles. What is it called? A spiralizer? Pretty sure she'd be excited if an Amazon box showed up on her doorstep with this handheld spiralizer inside.
Lulu wishes for shipments from Get Maine Lobster. Wait, unless they are live lobsters that show up at your door. Pretty sure that is what happens, and you are supposed to cook them as soon as you receive them. She'll have to buy some larger pots then...and somehow not be freaked out by having live animals in a box.
Alison stays in the Royal Suite at Rocco Forte Astoria Hotel, which has a view of St. Isaac's Square and the Mariinsky Palace. As part of her suite package, she gets personalized concierge service, an in-room bar, and unpacking service. This is the most exciting part of her entire 10k day, as she absolutely hates unpacking. A 10k Dollar Day favorite, Alison gets black car service from Blacklane. Lulu wonders what Alison is going to eat in St. Petersburg, as if you recall in Episode 39 when Lulu went to Moscow, Alison was hating on all Russian food. Well, after having it for the first time recently in NYC, Alison is going to indulge in some caviar at Astoria. It comes sandwiched between mini pancakes, how cute is that?! While in Russia, am I right?
Next Alison heads to the spectacularly decorated Sandunovsky Banya, a luxurious bath house. She rents out every single baths room so she can bath hop. A steam in one, a facial in another, then a massage, the works! She is blowing out her 10k with a pampering spree. Whoops! Alison mistakenly thinks this is in St. Petersburg, when it is actually in Moscow. Maaayyybbeee we shouldn't have ditched our guest googlers just yet. After all that pampering, Alison heads to dinner at Staraya Tamozhnya where they do molecular gastronomy, the concept of which the gals try to break down for all of us to understand. "There's a lot of fog. There's fog...usually...happening" is said, so hope that helps ya. The dinner is actually not that expensive, so she orders a $900 bottle of Sauternes Wine Wrapping up this phenomenal trip, Alison takes in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Mariinsky Theater.
Founded as a western movie set, Pioneertown is now a hip desert community. During the 40's and 50's they filmed over fifty movies and tv shows in this locale just a two-and-a-half hour drive from LA. Lulu rents a van and drives from LA, she'll get into why later. She is staying at an eclectic villa she found on glamping hub, that has a secret garden and a rooftop deck! Now although she isn't as deterred by glamping as she is by camping, in case her villa is a bit too rustic or outdoorsy for her, she is booking a backup room at the Pioneer Town Motel. Just in case. Lulu grabs breakfast at C&S Coffee Shop then heads for a walk down Mane Street. No that is not a typo, it's spelled M-A-N-E. It literally is like a street in an old-timey town, complete with an old-timey post office, where Lulu stops to mail postcards back to friends and family.
Now she heads to a private sound bath at The Integraton, a resonant tabernacle located on a geomagnetic vortex in the desert. Its creator, George Van Tassel (1910-1978), claimed that the structure is based on the design of Moses’ Tabernacle, the writings of Nikola Tesla and telepathic directions from extraterrestrials. As crazy as it sounds, magnetometers read a significant spike in the earth's magnetic field in the center of the building. Relaxation and rejuvenation would be a natural benefit of that energy...as would time travel? Fascinating! In a bit of a shock and awe, Alison says Lulu's day sounds like a "cowboys & aliens" theme, and she may be on to something, but just wait! . Next is a Tex-Mex lunch at John's Place, because these are the only type of places to eat in Pioneertown. Now back to the activities. She wants to make her mark on Pioneertown, so Lulu has decided to bring some juxtaposition to her time in this Old-West town…Alison was close when she said "cowboys & aliens". But she's stepping up her game and not just doing aliens...she's going to do a Star Trek Flash Mob. Thats right, she's getting several 12-passenger vans from Sixt to bring in 40 of her friends from LA to be a part of this. And in true 10k style, she selected the upgrade to SiriusXM access. Lulu orders everyone Star Trek costumes from Amazon, including a few extras for any locals who want to join in.
Realizing how epic this is going to be, she booked a flight for Gregg Monteith to come film it. The flight is from Newark. Sorry, Gregg! But it's business class and it's free, so just come, okay? With all these trekkies around she has to have a screening, right? So she buys 5 of these inflatable movie screens as well as the complete box set of the original series. While she's at it she orders the following series box sets as well - Voyager, Next Gen, Enterprise, and Deep Space Nine. Whew, what a shopping spree. Oh, wait, there's more. She couldn't forget the projectors and the DVD players. So all along Mane Street are just screens everywhere showing all the Star Trek series with a bunch of people in costume watching. It doesn't get more "cowboys & aliens" than this, guys. She caters in dinner for everyone from Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. She paid for everything for these folks, unlike Alison did for her guests in Wilmington, Delaware.
CHECK OUT THESE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
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