In light of all of the things up and coming on my 2014 calendar (New York for Governor's Ball and Big Bear Lake in June, Istanbul in August, Sydney in September), I am officially broke, so I challenged myself to spending no more than $60 for the weekend.

This restricted me to some "creative" meals (i.e. cheddar and deli meat omelette with srichacha on top for breakfast) and a LOT of TV. But it also brought me to a famous hiking trail called Vasquez Rocks. Apparently named after one of California's "most notorious bandits" (I had never heard of him before) - I mostly wanted to visit because they shot one episode of the Big Bang Theory here, haha. (Also, Star Trek and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, if you are more inclined to those.)