jimsjoint

Kite Surfing at Coyote

We always talk about seeing something new or different every time we go on a bike ride. This ride was no different. As we were heading out the levy road to the "bus stop", we noticed a couple of kite surfers. At first it looked like they were doing their thing in the bay waters, but as we got closer it was apparent that they were actually IN the old salt reclamation pond! This water is only about 18 inches deep, but I guess if you are a good kite surfer it doesn't matter.  These guys were good! Needless to say, it was another windy afternoon on the bay, so these guys had perfect conditions. I took a few videos that you can check out by clicking here.

 

Tahoe Time - Marlette Lake Bike ride

Staci was nice enough to invite us to stay at her timeshare in Tahoe for our anniversary weekend.We met up with them and did a mini caravan from Sac to south shore on Saturday. The weather (just like when we got married in 1985) was not cooperating. Cloudy and rainy. As we made our way up and over Echo summit, it started to SNOW!!   Our room on Kingsbury Grade wasn't quite ready so we headed to Fat City Food Co for a late lunch. Great food there!!  The prime rib dip was excellent!  Another stop at Safeway to stock up on supplies and we were good to go.

Back up the ridge and checked into the condo. Nice, spacious 2 bedroom place with BIG living room dining room and kitchen. The view,  between the trees looking down into the Carson Valley was BEAUTIFUL!!   As the sun started to set it started to snow yet again!  In all our visits to Tahoe, most have been during the summer, so it was extra special for us to see some snow, especially on Memorial weekend! I took another video out the window of the snow drifting onto the trees.   Barb was feeling under the weather (no pun intended) so the accomodations were perfect for just chillin with the fam.

 

Other than a bike ride with John Downing, the trip was all about family.  Spent most of our time playing with Colin, watching Colin play, or just watching Colin be Colin.  What a great kid!  He is already walking around like a champ.  He has such a GREAT disposition! A happy boy. The only time he is not happy is when its time to go to bed. He fights it, but who wouldn't?  He too wants to stay up late when he is in Tahoe!  But, momma knows best. The other thing that was kind of funny was that Colin was in charge of the TV remote, and the TV in general. He would swipe the remote then start pushing buttons. Change the channel mostly. When he didn't have the remote he would just go to the TV and start pushing buttons. Most times just turning off the TV.  He is one smart kid and knows EXACTLY what he is doing. Either way it was all good with Colin in the house!

Sunday morning I met John at Lakeside Inn and we drove up to Spooner Lake.  The plan was to ride from Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake and back. Its about 10 miles round trip. 1100 elevation gain, from 7000 ft at Spooner to 8100 at Marlette.  We had done the hike a couple of summers ago so we were somewhat familiar with the trail and the area. As we drove into the Park to pay our fee, the Ranger mentioned that they hadn't been on the trail this morning, but becuase of the snow storm the previous evening, there was bound to be snow on the trail. That was the first I thought of snow on the trail.

From our previous hike and reading about others bike rides, we knew that it was pretty much a 4.5 mile climb to Marlette Lake.  We started off pretty well. There were zero  people on the trail this early, maybe the weather scared them off, but either way, it was just John and I on the trail to Marlette Lake. As we continued our steady climb, the dirt trail was a dirt/snow mix. Further up the trail it was snow / dirt mix. Then at some point it became ALL SNOW on the trail, and I'm not talking about a dusting of snow either, we are talking 3-4 inches in some parts. There were some parts of the trail that were so steep and snowy that we had to get off our bikes and walk/push our way up.  At one point, we noticed a bear on the trail about 50 feet in front of us. He saw us when we saw him and he hauled his big bear ass outa there. Exciting!!  It looked like an adolescent so we were sure to keep an eye out of any momma bears that might have been hanging around. Fortunatly all that was left were the bear tracks that he left in the snow.

I got to tell you, at some point I started to think that maybe it wasn't that great of an idea to do this ride on a day like today. Not only were we the only ones on the trail, there was a lot of snow and there were bears out there!!   But that made the ride so cool.  I don't know how many times in my life I'll do a bike ride in the snow, and see a bear. Aside from our close encounter, the rest of the ride was so peaceful. So beautiful. So HARD. I have to mention that the elevation did have an affect on us old guys from the bay area. We were sucking wind from the start and it didn't get any easier as we chug chug chugged our way up. We did take plenty of breaks to catch our breath.

Eventually we made it to the "top" of the trail, where there was a short and steep downhill to Marlette lake.That downhill was crazy!! First of all if was about a half mile down to the lake. The trail was entirely covered in snow, and my "hybrid" tires didn't really have any traction.  So it was pretty much hold on and let'er go! All the way down.  At one point I realized that I would probably be pushing my bike back up this same snowy trail to get home. Thoughts of frostbitten toes went through my mind.

We rolled down and onto the shore of Marlette lake. Alone in the wilderness. Serenity now.  An alpine lake at 8000 ft elevation with snow covered banks, and us.  Just totally totally cool.  We took a nice long break here, not only to catch our breath from sucking wind the last couple of hours, but also to take in the beauty that surrounded us. Took this 360 degree video .  After about 30 minutes we heard some other bikers making there way down the hill, so that was our queue to start to head back. The ride back up to the "top" wasn't that bad after all. I did have to get off and push my bike a little ways, (because my tires were spinning in the snow),  but not as far as I thought I would.  Once we got back to the "top" it would be a nice 4 mile downhill back to the car.

And downhill it was! It made us forget about all with "wind sucking" we were doing on the slow chug  up.  By this time the sun was high in the sky and most all the snow on the trail was starting to melt. Also by this time, people started to realize that it was a good day to bike/hike.  We saw maybe 100 bikers and hikers making their way up as we were making our way down. We definitely beat the crowds.  In what took us a couple of hours to climb, took only about 20 minutes to ride down. But what a fun and exhilarating downhill it was. Totally worth it!  I peddled ahead a couple of times to get video of "Downhill Downing" in action.  He would have gone a lot faster if it weren't for all the people on the trail.  Check out this video too.  Eventually the downhill ended and we were back to where we had started in the morning.   As we were slow peddling back to the car at the end of the ride, we were reflecting on just how cool and special this ride had been for a couple of old "creek trail riders" from Fremont. It was the combination of doing the ride  to the lake alone,  without seeing another soul, the fact that the freak snow storm had made for a once in a lifetime ride, and (last but not least!) the beauty and serenity of the surroundings. The perfect combo made for a perfect ride. THANK YOU Staci!!!

Dropped John off at his house and headed back up to the condo on Kingsbury grade. A "chill" afternoon followed by and awesome anniversary dinner prepared by Staci and Shane.  BBQ steaks topped with mushrooms and onions, asparagas, yukon gold potatoes. The perfect way to end the day.

Up early monday. Get away day. It wasn't too bad at all. We left Tahoe and hardly hit any traffic on the way home. Went and picked up the dogs and Marie and Ron's house and they had prepared a wonderful dinner for us! Shrimp cocktails followed by chipotle shrimp kabobs with bacon and pineapple, braised brussel sprouts and a rice salad dish. Cupcakes for dessert! Then home with the dogs and snug in our bed.

 

Strawberry Fields Forever - 2012

When Barb and I started to ride our bikes on a regular basis ten years ago, we signed up for a  handful organized rides,  group rides where you register and pay a fee.   The organized part of the ride is that a group sponsors it,  maps out and marks the  routes (50k, 100k and 100 mile), and provides support  (and restrooms!!)  along the way. Snack and lunch stops, SAG wagons to pick you up if injured or  have equipment failure.  The other nice thing about organized rides is that there are so many riders, that cars HAVE to take notice and be more careful.   We have done some great rides - Ride around Lake Tahoe,  Tierra Bella in Gilroy, Canyon Classic in Patterson, Surf City Century in Santa Cruz. We even did a cold and rainy Strawberry Fields ride back in 2006.

Yesterday we were back in the saddle for Strawberry Fields Forever 2012. Just like old times only with MUCH better weather! Sunny and clear, slight breeze and not too warm. Perfect!    This year we decided to dial it down a notch from 100k to 50k, and I'm so glad we did.  We met up with Diane, picked up our ride packet (number, map, etc). Today's ride was going to take us to the coast and south past Aptos, Rio del Mar, clear down to Watsonville, then east and north, up through the Larkin Valley and back to the finish line.

There was no firm start time. We could start anytime between 7am and 10:30.  We decided to meet at 8:30. We hit the road and, started to follow another group of riders an almost immediately were off track.  At some point we (Diane) realized that we were following people that were on the 100k route. We had to backtrack about a mile to get on the correct 50k route. After that we were good to go. I started to pay attention to the route map and the arrows on the road rather than riders in front of us.  The 15 mile ride to the first rest stop was great.  A beautiful 5 mile loop along Valencia Road. Shaded two lane road with zero traffic. Zero bike riders also!  It was so peaceful and scenic that I thought  I'd  peddle ahead, then stop and video Barb and Diane as they came by.  Worked out great. Only problem was that I was breathing so heavily that I sounded like Darth Vadar.  After that, it was a short distance over highway one and our cruise to the beach.  Along the coast and through the trees.  Not much car traffic, not too many hills,  and like I said,  perfect weather.  We took our time at the rest stop. Knowing that we didn't have to bust our butts on a 100k made this day less stressful. If we had been doing the 100k we would have been in  hurry to get moving.  But  today we were able to stop and smell the roses, or in this case,  strawberries!   We all fueled up at the rest stop.  They even had a espresso machine set up and were making coffee drinks! I had a quick cappuccino along with pb& strawberry j sandwich.  Also had some yummy strawberry cookies, biscotti, and celery and peanut butter.  Filled the water bottles and hit the road again.

Continued down the  coast overlooking strawberry fields that really did go forever. A close up look showed that these berries were ripe and ready for market!   Just cruising along side the fields you could smell that sweet smell.  A few more miles south we came upon the first crash. It looked like a large group was riding together, and as best as I could tell, someone may have lost control and fell. It must have just happened because there were bikes all over the road and at least one guy was sitting in the  middle of the road (looking dazed and scraped)  being attended too.  We continued on and eventually we took a left (east)  then  worked our way towards Watsonville. Then  another left (north) and long pull towards the finish.   At some point we got on Larkin Valley Road and cruised beautiful rolling country side.  Beautiful rolling country side sounds good until you realize that "rolling" means "hills" when you are on a bike.  There were a couple of long uphill pulls. There was one time, after a long uphill, that we crested and cruised just a little then round the bend and see yet another uphill!  UGH!  When your really not sure where you are going, you always hope that next uphill is the last uphill.   We all took our time, controlled our breathing and chugged our way up up up.  Larkin Valley eventually gave way to the coastal highway again and we cruised down to Aptos High School for the "finish line".  This is where all the riders from all the routes gather to eat lunch. The bad part about this is that the "finish line" is about 5 miles from the "starting line" where we parked the car.  Either way, we basked in the glory of a ride well rode. We ate a great lunch of rice and beans, green salad, chicken and sausage and some awesome garlic salad. Oh and STRAWBERRIES!!  Mountains of the biggest reddest ripest strawberries that you have ever seen. Whipped cream and chocolate sauce if you like.

The worst part about the finish line was that it was 5 miles from where we parked our car. We joked about calling cab or drawing straws to see who would endure the torture of an additional 5 miles to go fetch the car.  We eventually sucked it up and saddled up for the final ride back to the car. Did I mention that that last five miles was almost all uphill?  It was torture, but a good torure. I kept thinking, "atleast we didn't do the 100k!" When we finally did get back to the car, the odometer read a total of 38 miles ridden.

North Carolina trip

Like any trip that has been on the calendar a while, this one was a long time coming. We knew that we wanted to see Kate (and Frank) while she was pregnant. Just something about our baby having a baby that we needed to see her for ourselves.  We booked our trip to arrive on saturday afternoon and leave the following Sunday. Reminder to self: NEVER BOOK A FLIGHT AGAIN WITH TWO LAY OVERS.  We took a red-eye from SFO to Cincinnati, then flew to Atlanta, then the final hop to Jacksonville North Carolina. Just about 12 hours of travel time. UGH!

I should mention that we brought almost 100 pounds of baby clothes with us for Parker James Lee. Staci had a bunch of Colin's baby clothes in all sizes that he had grown out of already. She vacuum packed them and put them in BIG suitcases. We did preliminary weighing at home to ensure we were under 50 pounds. We each had "one bag fly free" deal through Delta. When we got to the airport one bag weighed 49 pounds and the other 51 pounds.  The porter said is was close enough and checked our bags through! WOOHOO!!

We landed in NC and were picked up by Kate and Frank at the airport. YAY!!! Family!! So so SO good to see them. Even with all the phone calls, skypes, facebook posts, texts and emails, there is just something about being able to hold your kids. It had been way too long, almost 8 months, since we saw them last in Tahoe. After hugs all around, rub that pregnant belly and it was back to the house.

At this point we told Kate that one of our bags was sent to Wilmington Airport by mistake and that we would have to drive there (1 hour away) later to get it. Little did Kate know that she was in for a surprise. It wasn't a piece of luggage we were picking up, it was Staci and Colin!  So Kate and I did the drive to Wilmington and Kate was surprised!! Check out the video here.

Now that everyone was together, it was time to VACATION!!   We didn't have much planned other than baby/nesting stuff anyway. It was all about getting the house ready for baby, surrounded by the girls shopping, cleaning and doing girl stuff.  Having Colin around the house was great.  Good to see what a great Dad Frank will be. He and Colin bonded.  Frank even rocked Colin to sleep a couple of nights!  It was actually going to be a working vacation for me. I brought my laptop and logged plenty of hours while I was there. Frank was working too. Busting his ass doing MARSOC prep.  Frank only had Sunday off, and we were all worn out from our travel day on Saturday, so it was a somewhat lazy day around the house. Frank  smoked a pork shoulder and we had it for dinner.  I think Barb did a little cleaning and Staci did a little "Colin proofing" around the house.

The dogs were sure happy to see us!  Moose and Bandit are as about as big and strong as dogs can be. Moose is a Bull Mastiff pup who's wagging tail could be considered a deadly weapon. Bandit (who we met when he was just a pup) has grown into a sturdy grown Pit.  Both good dogs. They are best of friends and have a good time together. But when these two start playing rough, you'd better get out of the way! Check out this video of Moose playing with a new toy that Barb got him. He's loving it!

For me it was a real relaxing week.  I was up early ( 7am EDT/4am PDT) and got a good head start on the work day. I set up office in the dining room.  I did my work while the Girls were out or doing stuff around the house.  We did get to hit the beach one day and were also able to sample some of the local eating establishments along the way. But mostly it was just taking it easy time around the house. Except for Barb, who I think ended up cleaning the entire house top to bottom.

We said goodbye to Staci and Colin on Wednesday then spent the rest of the week around the house. Although the girls were in and out running errands and shop-shop-shopping,  We rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned carpets one day.  That was fun.  Got Parker's room ready. We were looking for a dresser and ended up getting some really cool "modular" furniture at Target that not only works out great, it also matches the decor of the room and rest of furniture.   We did spend plenty of time feeling Kate's belly for signs of Parker squirming around in there.  So amazing to realize that our grandson is in Kate's belly!!

The weather was great the whole time we were there. A little humid during the day but not unbearable. Our day at the beach was great. Sunny and warm (warm water too!) with just a Little wind. The night before we left, a SEVERE thunderstorm blew through. lasting only a few hours, the rain , wind , thunder and lightning was INCREDIBLE!!  We opened the back door (it was still warm outside) and enjoyed mother natures fury from the comfort of the couch.

Sunday rolled around and it was time to say goodbye. Kate drove us to the airport and we flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta to Salt Lake City to San Francisco. John and Michelle picked us up at the airport and drove us home. They also watched the house and took in our mail while we were gone. We put our bags in the house then high tailed it to Marie and Ron's to pick up the dogs. They were kind enough to watch Mali and Bruno for us.  Then back to home sweet home to sleep in our own bed. Ahhhhhh. Great vacation!

 

Giants game - Party @ Triples Alley

Days like this don't roll around too often, but when they do, life is grand!! Steve invited John Downing and I to a Konica Minolta sponsored event at AT&T park.  A private party in "triples alley" followed by  Giants vs. Phillies baseball. John and I drove to the city and parked across from Pier 38. A short two block walk to the park and around back along McCovey Cove.  The very private and VERY exclusive Konica Minolta function was held in the Triples alley area of the park, right behind the  "out of town" scoreboard.  We checked in at the desk, got our name tags, a complentary baseball as well as our tickets to the game.  We met up with Steve and got the grand tour.

Inside the party it was pretty cool.   The entire area back there was reserved for Konica Minolta, one of the official sponsers of Giants baseball. Tables with all sorts of food.  Hot dogs, sliders, chips and guacamole, asian beef with noodles and rice, lettuce wraps. lets not forget all the peanuts popcorn, Cracker Jacks, cookies, brownies and red ropes you could eat. They were also serving beer, wine, soda. A feast fit for a baseball fan!!

Maybe the coolest thing about the day was that they had one of the big gates open that leads to the outfield. We could go out and stand on the warning track and watch batting practice! We got there around 4pm and there was hardly anyone around. They hadn't even opened the gates yet so there was NOBODY in the stands. A very cool experience.  Giants were taking BP.  Lincecum was doing some bunting practice. Steve showed us around and introduced us to some of his co-workers. We looked at some of the printer/copiers that Potter Fire is thinking of getting. That Steve is quite the salesman!

Sometime after 6pm,   I had already eaten a couple hot dogs and had a few beers, it was time to make "the walk". Instead of going into the park via the normal way, people at the Triples Alley party got to go to their seats via the field!  They opened one end of the barricade and we proceeded to walk the warning track from center field to right field, passing the visitor bullpen area. John took a picture of Steve and I right when I was pointing our where a fair ball had landed (under the bullpen bench) the previous night. Then up into our seats from the field!   PLAY BALL!!

So we settle in our seats (lower box sec 103 along the right field line)  for some Giants/Phillies baseball.  Little did we know that we would be treated to a pitching  masterpiece!  Matt Cain Vs. Cliff Lee.   A pitcher's dual for the ages.  They both pitched shut out ball for nine innings.  Zero after zero went up on the scoreboard, and by the time the 9th inning rolled around, they had only been playing for 90 minutes! I thought if the Giants scored in the bottom of the 9th it might be a record for the shortest 9 inning game ever. Needless to say, nobody scored in the 9th, or the 10th. Finally, after both starters were out, the Giants were able to get a couple of runners on base and Melky Cabrera send a shot into right field that scored the winning run. GIANTS WIN!!!!

A big shout out to Steve and the entire Konica Minolta team. They have good people and good products and know how to showcase them. Winners in my book! Thanks for a great baseball experience!

Fight for Air Climb 2012

Did something very cool a couple of weekends ago. Marie and Ron invited us to participate in the Fight for Air Climb. This is a fundraiser for the American Lung Association.  A chance for people who CAN breath to show their support for people that can't.

On this rainy saturday morning, we made our way to the Bank of America building in downtown San Francisco.  The tallest building in the city. Fifty two stories tall. Eleven hundred and ninety-six stairs!

Got there early morning and parked in the underground garage. All quiet in the garage and the elevator ride up to the lobby.  When the elevator door opened to the lobby, it was like being transported to another world. PEOPLE!!!  Because of the rain, a thousand people milled about. It was LOUD and there was plenty of ENERGY in the room! Some people were standing in line to register, some in line to climb, others just taking it all in. There were many different teams participating.  We even saw a FUCK CANCER team!!  Many groups of firefighters were on hand to do the climb in full gear!   We checked in, got our number bibs and looked for "team Marie". We found Ron and Marie and their buds Mike and Renee, and we were ready. Jumped into line and slowly made our way to the stairwell that would be our route to the top. At the base of the stairs we passed the official timer table (we were all wearing chips) and away we went. It was a staggered start so it wasn't like the stairway was full of people.  Our group slowly spread out.

Of course, every floor in the stairwell is marked, so after the fourth floor, I decided I was going to keep my head down and not look at the floor numbers. Keep a steady pace, and breath. Around every 10 floors there was a "safety station" where they had a couple of cheer leaders, water person, and occasional para-medic. Slowly (very slowly it seemed) we made our way up up up.  I was passed a couple of times by people that were really trying hard. I was mostly all by myself for the most part. Considering it was pandemonium down below. I had figured the stairwells would be crowded with people, but the staggered starts made all the difference.

Somewhere near the top you could hear the celebration above you. THE FINISH!! I think I was delusional because towards the end I thought there were fifty-four stories, so when we got to fifty-two and we were done, I WAS HAPPY!!!

It was a party up top. The top floor of the B of  A building used to be the "Carnelian Room", a fancy shmancy restaurant where the barons of finance used to dine. Today its a "renovation in progress" and place for all the climbers to celebrate.  After hitting crossing the finish line to the cheers of well wishers, its on to the party!! All sorts of finish line snacks. Muffins and fruit, pastry and coffee, all sorts of good stuff, to enjoy while looking at a million dollar view of the city. When you are at the top of the tallest building in San Francisco, looking down on the pyramid, you know you are way up there! TOP OF THE WORLD MA!!!

If you are anywhere in the bay area on a clear day and you have a view of the city, The B of A can be seen. We can see it when we hike mission peak or even out the creek trail on a bike ride. Only difference is that today when I look at the behemoth, that monolith, that building that touches the sky, I can know that I climbed that beast.

 Just a side note - Barb did the climb in 20:49. Jim did the climb in 18:43. WOOT!!

 

Venice Trip - Echo Mountain Hike

Did the long drive to SoCal last weekend to see Kelly. Good buddies Marie and Ron were watching the dogs for us, so we dropped the little varmints off around 10:30 Friday morning and were on the road shortly thereafter. Cruised out (way out, actually to the end of) 580 until it merged with 5 south, then put on the cruise control. Traffic was flying  almost all the way. As we were coming down the Grapevine and into the L.A. basin, we called Kelly and let her know we were close and that traffic was moving. She checked something on her computer and told us that traffic will come to a dead stop in about two miles. Sure enough, two miles later we were smack dab in the middle of L.A. rush hour traffic. Kelly texted us.."Welcome to L.A.!!"

Checked into our hotel and got to Kelly's place at dinner time. She has a really great apartment on Venice Blvd about two miles from the beach. Nice big, spacey  two bedroom,  3rd (top) floor corner unit that she shares with Heather. These girls are def living the good life in Socal.  Not only did we get to see both Kelly and Heather, their buddy (and former Cal State water polo team mate) Katie was there for the weekend. It was like water polo reunion weekend!  EAST BAY WHAT??!!  Nice to see all these girls doing well for themselves. Makes me happy!

What really made me happy was the GREAT dinner the Kelly made for us.  Fish tacos, chips and guacamole, ice cold corona. All good. So good to see that not only can our Kelly cook, she is cooking good, fresh, healthy food! And not just for us, all the time!! Did I mention how great Kelly looks?  Southern California life is suiting her well. We spent the remainder of the night just catching up and talking about old times.

Saturday was hike day. Kelly had planned on taking us on the hike that she had done when she lived in Pasadena. The Echo Mountain hike via the Sam Merrill trail. We arrived there mid morning.  The place must be popular because all there is is street parking and we had to park waaaaayyy down the street. We started our hike at the gates of the old Merrill estate and made our way down, across a dry creek bed, then steadily up up up  endless (seemed like it at the time) single track switchbacks. As we made the first few switchbacks up the hill, you could look up, WAY UP, and see people WAY up there on the trail. They looked so small!  Like I said, it was a single track dirt trail that was basically just cut into the side of the hill. As we went further up, the look down became a little more exciting. If you have vertigo, this hike isn't for you. We did our normal Mission Peak type pace. Not slow, not  fast.  We were passed by some. We passed some people too.  There was even a group of mountain bikers making their way up.

It was pretty cool when we finally got to the top.  There are ruins of an old resort hotel that thrived there from 1896 to 1936.  Beautiful sweeping views of the L.A. basin from Long Beach to Santa Monica. Check out the video here!  We took a nice break up top.  Glad to share a great hike on a beautiful sunny day with Kelly.

On the hike back down we were already talking about where we were going to eat lunch. On the way out, and while driving through Pasadena, we saw plenty of places that looked promising. But when I saw "The Hat - World famous Pastrami",  I knew what I wanted. The Hat was great!!  Between the three of us we ordered two "pastrami dip", one turkey sandwich, one fries, one onion rings. Turned out to be too much food. We ended up sharing everything and in the end had a whole bunch of food left! But it was oh so good. Maybe best pastrami sandwich ever!!

We dropped Kelly off at her place then we went back to our hotel to get a nice shower and take a rest. Back to Kelly's for take out Thai food and San Jose Sharks (they were playing LA Kings) on TV.  Great dinner and Sharks win!!

Sunday - Happy Easter -  was get a way day. Up early to pack, check out and pick up Kelly at 9am for breakfast out. Down to Venice beach for great breakfast at the SideWalk cafe. Enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast as we watched early morning Venice Beach come to life.  After breakfast we did a short walk up and down the beach walk, bought some souvenirs and then got ready to say goodbye. Dropped Kelly back at her place and hit the road for home.

Got a stupid flat tire on the way home. About ten mile north of Buttonwillow (which is about 15 miles from the middle of nowhere) we noticed something was wrong. I told Barb to call AAA, but they didn't even know where Buttonwillow was!!! I actually did a 20 minute tire change and ended up riding the last 200 miles home on the donut spare!

When we stopped in Pleasanton to pick up the dogs, Ron and Marie had prepared us a great dinner of cannelloni and king crab legs! Talk about a perfect way to end a perfect weekend!

Kelly on Webcam - So Cal style

Turns out there is a webcam on Venice beach that shows part of the trail that Kelly rides her bike on.  I had told Kelly that one of these days we should see if we could see her as she rides by sometime. She called us today and told us to be on the lookout.  So we pulled up the link to the Sidewalk Cafe beach cam  and talked to her on the phone as she made her way down from the Santa Monica pier.  With Google maps on one screen and the webcam on the other, Kelly point out landmarks and we were able to tell her when she was getting close. You could tell that the camera was mounted on the roof and had a wide shot of the beach and path. We could see that there were street vendors set up so that was our landmark. We told Kelly to look for the big blue umbrella laying on its side. Sure enough , she rode up on and we saw her REAL TIME!  It was pretty cool. She was finally able to figure out where the camera was and we had a good laugh over it.  That's her standing in the middle of the trail.  Nice to see you Kelly Girl!!

Puppy Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgdhxxK7Ms&list=UUc1Vjr2tLNvab1PB71YZD2g&index=1&feature=plcp

 

 

Movie Maker Magic

 A little early Christmas gift for Kate and Frank 

Download So good together

Kate and Frank are Having a Baby !!

We knew that Kate and Frank weren't doing anything to NOT have a baby, so when they called us last week to tell us the good news it wasn't a TOTAL SURPRISE. None-the-less, it was great and welcome news!  Kate and Frank are having a baby!!!!  Somewhere around the beginning of July next year,  Kate and Frank will be parents, and the Lee's and the Flaherty's will be grandparents and Kelly will an aunt!  A new era is beginning for all of us!  I know that Kate is going to make a fantastic mom and Frank I know will be a great dad.  When they called and told us the good news, for some reason I thought of this picture. A young, nurturing Kate holding little Luke just like she's going to hold her own little baby. When I look at this picture I know that Kate will be the best mom in the world.  We couldn't be prouder and happier!  WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Dairy Glen Camp Out

Over the years and during many of our  bike rides out to Coyote Hills,  We'd sometimes see  scout troops or church groups camped out at Dairy Glen,  the lone camping spot in the park.  When ever we would ride by  (usually early saturday morning),  we would see tents dotting the glen and early morning activity in the camp ground. The smell of camp out breakfast filled the air. Dairy Glen is also where "heart attack hill" starts.  The short and hard climb up to the highest point in Coyote Hills Regional park. So we'd spend a lot of time climbing up and and zooming down right into Dairy Glen. We talked and talked and talked about reserving this great little spot,  nestled into the hills and looking out over the glen and the marshiness of the areas on the eastern side of Coyote Hills. On the western side of Coyote Hills is nothing but San Francisco Bay.     The only civilization that you can see from the  campground is the small stretch of distant road where cars are just  getting onto the Dumbarton Bridge.  We'd always say that we had to camp here one of these days.    Saturday was the day.

Saturday at 2pm the truck was packed (so much stuff for one night of camping)  and I followed Steve over to the park to begin the setup.  Three miles and ten minutes later I was unpacking the truck and setting up camp.  The great thing about being so close was that Barb could hang back at the house and come later when all the work was done, I mean all the fun was starting.  It wasn't that hard setting up camp.  Armando lent me his 4 man tent that was up in about 5 minutes. Blew up the air mattress, unloaded the ice chest and I was all set. Steve on the other hand had to set up his 12oo squre foot 3 bedroom family tent. Maybe it was just a two room but either way it was big. Within no time Downing, Vandenbusch and Flahertys were all set up and settling in for some camping fun. We ordered dinner from nearby Dino's grill and had a nice dinner by the camp fire. 

As night fell we began realize just how cool and different a trip this was. The park closed at 6pm. Gate locked (we had the combo)  and  the park ranger goes home.  We are alone.  Very alone!  If you look at a map of the park and the camp site, you can see that we were isolated out there yet still smack dab in the middle of the 7 million people that make up the bay area.  We had plenty of fire wood and kept a nice warm fire going all night.  The boys took a little ride out the levy road to the "bus stop" where we take our breaks on Saturday morning bike rides. Riding out there in the twilight was awesome!  The sun had just set and the redness of the western sky and the darkening blue of the evening made for a beautiful reflection on the bay.  Fantastic!   Later in the evening we all took a short night hike up and around the trail that circles Dairy Glen. Headlamps and flashlights in hand we ventured up and out of the camp ground . It was really REALLY dark when we turned off all our lights and it was REALLY cold when we got away from the warmth of our campfire.  What made this interesting for me was that I had been on that trail hundreds of times over the years, but never when it was so dark and cold and quiet.  We made the hike a short one and headed back to camp. Smores and small talk filled the rest of the evening.

Up early enough to watch the sun rise over mission peak. Bacon and eggs for breakfast then a five mile bike ride (boys) and hike (girls and Steve)  up  heart attack hill AND out to the bus stop. Back to camp to tear down and pack up.  Said goodbye and made the long 3 mile trip back home. Five minute later we were pulling into the driveway. Unpacked the truck and still had 30 minutes for the 49ers started. 

Eden Landing Ride

Took  a Sunday ride on the dirt side of the Creek trail, and ended up going someplace we'd never gone before. I had been checking  out Google maps and saw that there were some offshoot trails on the north side of Alameda Creek that looked like we could take out and around almost clear up to the San Mateo Bridge. Little did John Downing know that this was my plan when I asked  him to ride with me today.  All was well and good. We took a right off the creek trail and headed northwest on a trail we had never been on before. After a about a half mile or so, a road block. Ugh!  A gate and barb wire fence and sign saying Eden Landing Ecological Reserve  - NO TRESPASSING.  That was good enough for me and I was ready to turn around there,  but John  had other ideas.  At first he suggested throwing the bikes over the gate. I said why don't we just climb over the gate and check things out. Over the gate we went.  There was a trail going in both directions as fas as the eye could see. Then John spotted it,  a clearing beyond the barb wire where people had  created a way to get around the gate. The lure of the unknown and the glorious day clouded our better judgement and on we went.

  Beautiful ride in a true "no man's land."  On our left, the marshiness of the 2000 feet or so of distance between the Alameda Creek trail and us. Nothing but  marshy wetness, pools and vegetation. On our right, the remnants of  an old duck hunting village. Little make shift duck blinds (8-12 that we could see) that must have been great back in the day when duck hunting was king in this area.    We made our way out to where the trail bends and heads north along the bay waters. What a cool and out of the way place.  We took our break here and marveled at the beauty and untouched splendor that was all around us. This was obviously a place where the wind, tides and bay waters push alot of drift wood  onto the the shore. We checked out tons of drift wood, found more than a few tennis balls and even a few coconuts.  After a well deserved break we turned around and headed back. Good thing John was paying attention else we would have missed our turn and ended up somewhere in Hayward.  Before we got back to the creek trail and familiar ground, we did see this 4 foot snake taking a sun bath on the trail. All in all a great day and a great way to end a Sunday Ride.

 

Muddy Ride to the Bus Stop

They say its the little thing in life that makes things interesting.  We have been riding out to Coyote Hills and Alameda Creek for years now. These days and weather permitting , we take an old levee road out to "no man's land" where the old salt ponds meet the San Francisco Bay. Whenever we get out this far we usually take a break.  Someone else had set up some old pieces of washed up scrap  wood  to create a makeshift bench.  We started to call it the "bus stop".  This is the same spot where we have seen seals bobbing around during high tide. Also saw a couple of sharks trolling in the shallows just a few weeks ago, and tons of birds feeding and flying when the tide is out.   The last few times we've been out there and the tide is out, we set up a little game of  "hit the ring".  There is a stick sticking up out of the mud, we found an old rusty metal ring and balanced the ring on the wood. Then we would stand up on the levee road and throw rocks or sticks and try to knock the ring off the stick. Click here to watch video.  We have come to call this activity the "Olhone games"  after the local native American tribe that used to inhabit this land.   There are times when we get out to the bus stop and the tide is in, the wood is underwater and metal ring on the bay floor.   Whenever the tide is out and we set up the ring, we hope that its still "up"  next time we ride out there. So we rode out there yesterday.  A muddy ride to say the least.  We get about half way out the levee road and the rain from the recent storms had turned part of the trail into slop. Mud started to cake up on the tires (and everything else! ) and at some point we were only going forward because we were afraid to stop for fear we couldn't get going again! It eventually got a little better, and as we rode up on the bus stop we could see the metal ring still hanging, only this time way out in the water!  The  ring was barely hanging on as the waves lapped up against it and the wind blew.  Still pretty cool to realize it had hung there since Saturday with all the wind and tides and rains.   Amazing!

Freak Storm in Fremont

Friday night we went out to dinner with Michelle and John.  After dinner we headed over to Ardenwood farm to pick some blackberries.  Took this self pic as the sun was setting. After we had a bag full of berries,  we decided to get some vanilla ice cream and head to Downingville and have some berries and ice cream. On they way home we saw some GREAT and very unusual (for Fremont)  lightning strikes hitting the Pleasanton Ridge area. When we got to John's house, him and I went out into the yard to try to capture some of the strikes on video.  WOW!!  The storm pass right over head and we were able to see a great lightning show.  Here are the top 3 videos taken with the Droid

Lightning #1

Lightning #2

Lightning #3

And you can always check out all my vids at the jimsoint youtube channel

Summer Vacation 2011 - Kate and Frank - Tahoe

So Kate and Frank came for a visit.  The plan in place and reservations made months ago.  Arrive August 11, spend August 12-19th in Tahoe and say goodbye on Sunday the 21st. A mini whirlwind with a little Tahoe relax time in between. We picked Sammy Sturm up at her house and went to pick up Kate and Frank at the airport.  Hugs and kisses all around and into the car for a drive to the city. Kate and Sam have a tradition of going to Pier 39 to get pearls from some shop on the pier. It also gave us a chance to show Frank just a little bit of the city. Before heading into the city though, we stopped at Joe's of Westlake for a little lunch.   The wharf was good.... the fog was in.. saw the seals... looked at Alcatraz across the way, and waited for the girls to do whatever it is girls do. Oh, one thing they do is go to the hat store and try on hats. Fun stuff eh? Just like old times.  Drove down Lombard street,  through the Marina and onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Took the "long way" home over the Richmond bridge and down the eastshore freeway.  Shortly after we got home Kelly arrived from Pasadena, so we were all set for a Tahoe family vacation, this time with our new son in law. Not sure Frank knew what he was getting into marrying into clan Flaherty, but he would find out soon enough.

Friday was travel day. Dropped Mali and Bruno off at Matuszak's house (thank you Ashley for watching our doggies!) and picked up Ron and Marie for a 4 car caravan to Tahoe! Arrived in south shore right at check in time. Got a great room on the 5th floor facing the lake.  Since Kate and Frank were newlyweds and had just celebrated their one year anniversary, we decided to give them the master suite. We would sleep in the studio with Kelly (and a Camello one night)  for two nights then move to our own place at the Stardust.  

Saturday we had a little party on the beach.  Fun in the sun with friends and family.  The planning and prep all came together and we were able  to have a great time introducing Frank to Kate's family and friends.  We are blessed to have such a fine young man come into Kate's and our lives.  Thanks to everyone who made the day so special. Thanks to my bro John for taking some pictures of the day.

We lucked out with the weather all week.  I think the high was 81 everyday. No afternoon thunderstorms.  We did get an overnight low of 37 one morning, so it was true alpine summer experience.

Sunday we said goodbye to almost everyone and settled in for the week. Team Downing stuck around for awhile (it was Michelle's birthday) so we did get to spend some quality time with them. Bloody marys for breakfast and a walk to state line for brunch and "shopping".  We checked into our place at the Stardust. We got a great, remodeled room, so we were very happy. I think I like the Stardust even more than the Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort!

  Everything from here on is sort of a blur. Blame it on the jack, the stoli, or the bud(weiser), or the fact that I was in vacation mode and we really weren't doing much more than relaxing and enjoying each others company.  It was a time for Frank to get to know the Flaherty family and for us to get to know him a little better.  I think I was able to provide some good info on what it takes to survive living with a Flaherty woman. : ).  Like I told Frank, the first 25 years are the hardest.

Monday was massage day. Kate  had scheduled couples massages for us. I really liked my massage but Barb was a little disappointed. But a massage is a massage and in the end its all good.  Kelly made us dinner. Steak, mashed potato, salad and bruschetta!  YUM!  Finally getting into the Tahoe groove. 

Tuesday we went white water rafting down the Truckee river. This is the 3rd time we've done this and it's always a blast. Barb sat out this trip because her shoulder was still giving her problems, so it was just Kate, Frank, Kelly and I to take on the mighty Truckee River.  Having a couple of Marines paddling made the trip down the river a piece of cake. We survived all the rapids and our guide said we were one of his best crews ever.  Kelly wanted to "family" gamble at  the casinos before she left so we went and had dinner at the Lakeside Inn, then went to Harvey's to try our luck. We wanted to play blackjack and all table were $10 minimum bet, so our stay at the blackjack table only lasted a few hands. The girls did have some fun playing the penny (max bet $2) slots with their mom.

Wednesday Kelly said goodbye.  It was Wet Woody Wednesday at the Riva Grill. Half price for the strongest drink on the lake. I don't remember much after the second one. I do remember that Frank had four! Thursday morning I met Frank and we went for a little early morning  bike ride. We cruised 13 miles out to Fallen Leaf Lake.  Thanks to John Downing,  I took Frank on the  same ride he took me on last year. First to the north side of Fallen Leaf lake, then up (hill) to the south side and the waterfall that cascades into the lake. It was nice to spend some quality time with Frank.  Thursday afternoon we went on the Tahoe Queen out to Emerald Bay. What I thought would be a touristy ripoff was actually pretty fun. The captain filled us in on all the history and folklore of the lake and surrounding area.  Great idea Kate!  Since this was our last day/night in town, we were packing up and eating everything in the fridge in preparation for our Friday morning departure. GOOD BYE TAHOE!!

Friday we left early so we could stop at Auntie Diane's on the way home. Kate really wanted to show Frank the ranch and introduce him to the rest of the Flahertys. As always, we had a great time visiting.  Diane prepared some great food for us. Frank and Diane bonded immediatly and talked a lot about horses, ranching, rodeo and their mutual love and respect for President Obama (not).  A great way to wrap up our Tahoe vacation.   We pulled into our house right around sunset.  Unpacked and crashed out.

We did have plans on saturday and sunday but we pretty much just took it easy. Kate and Frank went to visit friends. Sunday afternoon we went to Steve and Vicky's for a farewell BBQ and then it was off to SFO to say goodbye to Kate and Frank.

Check out the pics here!

We got Video too. Click here!

 

Happy Birthday Kate

Young Kate, our baby, turned 23 years old yesterday!  It was a good day for her. Frank brought her flowers at work and took her out to lunch.  They went out to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. We miss having her around but are so glad that she is Happy in her life with Frank. Its a long way from the summer party's we used to have when she was a little kid.   Even th0ugh Kate is a big girl now, she will always be our baby.

Love you honey!

San Simeon Weekend - doggy style

Years ago our good friends Tim and Linda introduced us to the California Central Coast.  Over the years we have been back a few times with them to enjoy the area.  We've been on a few Hearst Castle tours, checked out the elephant seals hanging out on the beach, had massages and ate like kings. What is best about the trip is our stay at the Cavalier Best Western Hotel. It's right on the beach off Highway 1 in between Hearst Castle and the tiny town of Cambria.  This  may be one of the best Best Westerns in the USA. Sure, they have normal rooms that you can get, but they also have a bank of nicer rooms that you can reserve. King's Row is 20 upgraded (bigger room, nicer bed with fireplace) facing the ocean. There is also a set of about 10 rooms that are "ocean front".  We've had some GREAT times with Tim and Linda at San Simeon over the years. I guess that's why it felt a little like we were cheating on them when we took a weekend trip there with Marie and Ron earlier in the month.

One of the cool things about this Best Western is that it's dog friendly, and the main reason we came this time is so we could bring the dogs with us. Now that we are empty nesters, we just can't leave our animals and go like we used to when Kelly and/or Kate were still around.  Marie and Ron were going to bring Giuseppe and we were bringing Mali and Bruno.

I've always wanted to take the "long way" there by heading down highway 1.  We were following Ron and when he took the Monterey exit off of 101, I knew we were in for a treat. Sure it added another hour or so to the drive, but it is one of the (maybe THE) most beautiful drives in the world. Spectacular!

Pulled into Best Western right at check in time.  Two great rooms and settled in for a low key, do nothing vacation.   Because we all had dogs, and dogs must be attended to at all times, it really was all about the dogs.  But that's ok, because it was all about the dogs at the beach!  We really didn't do that much. Girls had a massage that first night while Ron and I hung out with the pups. We did get a dog sitter one night so we could go out to a nice dinner with Marie's sister and friend, but other than that is was us and the dogs. It actually turned out nice. There were a couple of doggy accidents in the room but the staff comes right away (like a hazmat team!)  and does a thorough cleaning.

One of the coolest parts of the trip was watching the dogs free on the beach. In this land of leashed dogs, it was so cool to just let them go and run.  The first day we let them free we were the only people and dogs on this long stretch of beach.  We had the whole beach to ourselves!   Giuseppe was like a wild dog.  I've never seen a dog run faster and longer than this guy did. Mali and Bruno tried to keep up but they had little legs. The dogs ran and ran and ran. Chasing pelicans that were flying by over head. We almost lost Bruno when a rogue wave and undertow almost dragged him out to sea.  All the dogs slept great that night.

As usual, the sunsets were the best. The picture at the top was the view from our room, looking south. The view from Ron and Marie's room had the sunset view. Outstanding!  We would just hang out in their room  at cocktail hour and watch the sun sink into the sea. 

We got Trouble...

A month ago we saw the posting on the Creek Trail that they would be closing the trail to do work on the levee.  When John and I went out today the fence was up and the sign was posted. Not Good. When we knew the trail was going to close we had talked about alternate routes. We could have scooted around the fence like we did all last year when they were doing similar "improvments" further down the trail, but today decided to take a another route.  Right where  the fence is, is where a dirt trail starts that eventually gets to  Coyote Hills, so we took that. We meandered through some trails that neither of us had been on before, just taking a right when there was a fork in the trail, and hoping for the best. We eventually found familiar ground and made our way around the backside of Coyote , back to the creek trail, and to the end and the bay. It was a beautiful morning out there. Still and warm. A BIG bitch'n billowy cloud sort of day.On our way back we did scoot around the fence for one last ride before they start to move in equipment and materials

In the Beginning

When Barb and I started going out 30 years ago, she lived in a little one bedroom apartment in Milpitas.  We had the chance to drive by the old place a couple of weeks ago when we were meeting Tim and Linda for coffee at Starbucks in Milpitas.

The apartment that we shared for a little while was on the upper floor facing the street.  Things haven't changed much in 30 years.  We moved out 6 months after we got married, and the rest is history!