Skiing Northstar

I ski.  I have fun skiing. I am not a good skier. I am, however, getting more confident which means I’m slowly taking bigger risks. You can probably guess where this is going…

T’was on the Tahoe Zephyr Express where I overheard a bit of wisdom pass from one generation to the next. The father explained to son that stopping is the single most important skill in skiing. One can ski any trail, no matter the complexity, as long as they can apply the basic skill of stopping.

Shortly thereafter as I carved my way down the ridge line of Mount Pluto, I opted for the trail less taken: a.k.a Upper Drop Off. I got about half way down the trail when things started to get a little squirrelly and I knew I was going down. I’m not sure what other folks do or think when they find themselves in this sort of situation? I, on the other hand, started laughing and cursing aloud uncontrollably and simultaneously…all the way down. It was glorious. In between the spurts of laughter and curses I was quietly hoping that the spill was being caught on video (it wasn’t).

Fortunately, I was no worse for the wear (you didn’t think otherwise, did you?). I dusted myself off, caught up to my run-away ski a few yards down the hill, and finished a couple more runs. I had a lot of fun skiing Northstar this weekend and can cross ski California off of my CA bucket list.

Of course, the trip wasn’t all about the skiing. Ali and I hopped the gondola to the ski village to sample the establishments and even made our own candle. Although I’m not permitted to share the photo, my favorite picture of the whole weekend was Ali and a chainsaw carved creature looking thing. Priceless!

VB-Day Weekend 2014

I married a Valentine’s baby. Meaning that Wifey and I have two reasons to celebrate in the middle of February. We opted for a weekend getaway to Bodega Bay to ensure the occasion received it’s due.  Bodega Bay is a popular destination for city dwellers like us.  It’s only 1.5 hrs north of SF along the CA coast, promises awesome views of the Pacific, and plenty of quiet little things to do.

One of my favorite things was visiting the Potter Schoolhouse.  This was one of the film locations for “The Birds.” Here’s what it looked like in1963 and here’s what it looks like today.

On the East Coast, an ocean view means that you get spectacular sunrises (as long as you get out of bed before dawn).  On the West Coast, however, sunset is on the menu and we had front row seats to the show. I took some video of the sunset from our deck – don’t watch it for the sunset though…watch it for the last two seconds in the 30 second clip.  During the last two seconds of the video, Jake sees deer come into the yard and TAKES OFF.  While you won’t see the deer or Jake, you can hear Ali start to react. Fortunately, the recording ends before the dialogue hits R rated levels.

The deer outran Jake...this time.  We didn’t see the deer in our yard again.

Trans-San Francisco Run

I'm not a huge fan of running in the city.  Between the numerous sidewalk obstacles (er...pedestrians) and stop lights, much of the fun gets drained right out.  For those reasons my go-to run is a route down California Street, along the Embarcadero to the I-280 ramp, and back.  It's just over four miles and I like to run it 2 or 3 times per week.  It can be a crowded route but it has a relatively few number of traffic lights.  I do like a bit of variety though.  So, I decided to run across San Francisco!

The distance isn't bad (7 miles), but the hills are real downers.  Nob Hill is the steepest hill along the route but certainly not the highest.

I really enjoyed the run.  I started at the Ferry Building on the east side of the peninsula and finished at the Sutro Baths on the west side of the peninsula.  The Sutro Baths are nothing but ruins today, however, in 1896 they were a group of one fresh water and six salt water pools all enclosed by an awesome glass and steel structure.

Here's a nice little tip: if you're ever in the area, go enjoy breakfast and the view from Louis'.  I recommend the ham and Monterrey Jack omelet.

California Bucket List

Ali and I have moved around quite a bit.  It's a good thing we're adept at the process because there's another move on the horizon!  I received and accepted an offer from a DC based company that will bring us back to the East Coast and, more importantly, closer to our families.  I'm wildly excited about the opportunity and can't wait for my first day (next Monday).

With that in our minds, Ali and I have started to assemble our California Bucket List.  We've managed to see and do a lot of things in the last 1.5 years and there are still many big things to be done.  Truth be told, some of our bucket-list items are outside of CA but it's tough to pass-up the advantage of proximity.  Do you recognize any of these places?

Only time will tell whether we're able to visit all of these places but why not try!?  In the meantime, it's time to start planning the route (hello, Route 40)!

Oliver's Travels

I got a message from my buddy Owen a couple of weeks ago.  Owen's working on a geography project for school.  As part of their studies, the class read the Journey of Oliver K. Woodman.  What's really cool is that Owen built his own Oliver Woodman and sent him on assignment to San Francisco.  My mission is to show Oliver the sites and teach him a couple of things about American culture and diversity.

Oliver and I did A LOT of sight seeing over the weekend.  We did so much touring that we decided to make a quick chocolate-stop at Ghirardelli Square.

There are just a few more must-see places to show Oliver this weekend.  After that, I'll bid Oliver adieu and send him back home to Owen.

Porsche Cam

We know something good's gonna happen when the Pursuit Porsche Cayenne Turbo rolls into town.  Why?  Because it combines breathtaking performance and unparalleled versatility!  With the PPCT, one can mount any popular remote arm or gyro head with the most user friendly interiors in the biz.  Errr...so I've been told.

The PPCT makes an appearance every couple of months on California Street.  It was here for the Planet of the Apes filming in July and made another appearance just a few days ago - this time for a Nissan Rogue commercial.  It's fun to see filming:

Filming brings a certain buzz to the neighborhood and a sense of excitement.  It's funny though that all of the effort amounts to 1-2 seconds of commercial.  Check it out - can you find "our" shot?

Tree Huggin' the Old Growth in Muir Woods

I wrote about the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes a couple of months ago.  In addition to filming in our neighborhood back in July, they were filming just a few minutes north of SF in Muir Woods.  After clicking around for a few minutes, I learned that (in the movie) the ape civilization was born in Muir Woods.  ...and that's how Muir Woods catapulted to the top of the To Do list.

Muir Woods is similar to the famed Redwood Forest near the CA/OR border: smaller trees but far more accessible.

Once we got down on the forest floor and stood next to these giants we realized 'smaller than the old growth at Redwood Forest' is entirely relative.  These redwoods at Muir are enormous!  They made us feel like Hobits.  We hiked the Sun Trail and only felt helplessly lost at one junction.  Sure we had to backtrack a few steps but I clearly had it all under control.

There were many a great view along the trail but the Old Growth at the base of the valley steals the show.  Here's a previously unseen photo from my Dawn of the Planet of the Apes audition.