Archive for

Sep 28

9 Years

Yesterday Kelly and I surpassed the nine year mark in our marriage.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been married this long as our wedding remains vivid in my memory. That event was such a good day and these subsequent years have been even better.

I’m a better person now versus 9 years ago; Kelly deserves the credit.

While we’ve never been ‘big’ on celebrating our anniversary, we did decide to splurge on dinner at the nearby Ritz Carlton. True to form for us, we kept the meal simple – Burgers and Beers. Simple and understated.

A simple anniversary dinner

Generally I don’t eat dessert, but Kelly declared that I would be doing so last night. Good for me, because the profiterole was absolutely delicious.

Dessert before

Dessert after

Sep 25

Welcome Home

Whenever Kelly or I return to the Airstream, Lilly immediately springs to life and wants to play. I love that about her personality – she is so playful.

It really doesn’t matter that more often than not, Lilly has been curled in her bed dead asleep … once the door opens and someone new has arrived, she is ready to play.

Generally, Lilly prefers to play catch/fetch with one of two toys – a red chew toy (a bear Kelly has dubbed “Mr. Squeakers”) or her closely coveted tennis ball. Tonight, as I walked through the door Lilly jumped into action and immediately went for the tennis ball. As a smaller dog, she struggles to get a complete grip on the ball, but such size disadvantage does not quell her efforts.

Regardless of how my work day may have been, Lilly never fails to lift my spirits and put a smile onto my face.

As Lilly and I were goofing around, I snapped the following picture below.

Lilly and her ball

Sep 23

No Dogs Allowed

Kelly and I have become increasingly frustrated with all the NO DOGS restrictions here in Northern California (NorCal as the hipsters call it). Coming from Washington state, we were accustomed to bringing our dogs along to hiking trails pretty much wherever we desire. I guess we were spoiled in that sense. Too bad the same cannot be said around here.

Our dog Lilly loves to join us on the trails and we are happy to have her join us. Unfortunately, here in NorCal we’ve had to pass-up some really neat spots which would have otherwise been so cool to visit. Damn this state.

Today, Kelly and I went to visit Windy Hill Preserve, one of the few open spaces in the area which allows dogs … on leashes. Actually, we always walk Lilly on lease, so such restrictions are moot for us. Anyway, the preserves is pretty nice. Situated midway atop the Peninsula ridge-line, Windy Hill offers a nice mix of tree cover and open grasslands woven into a mostly up and down single track hike. Outside of the tree cover, temperatures were a bit hot for my preference, but overall a nice hike.

Kelly and I like this place, but as it’s located about 20-25 minutes away, the location is not overly convenient.

Lilly seems to have a super-sense whenever we are headed to a hike and today was no exception. There is no doubt that she is a big fan of Windy Hill.

A few snapshots from the hike are pasted below.

Love the bark pattern on this tree

Some interesting art in the midst of the forrest

Lilly, impatiently waiting for Dave and Kelly.

Looking up through the tree cover

Lilly’s post hike routine

Sep 22

Saturday Bike Ride

As mixed as I am with living in California, I must admit Northern California (NorCal as the locals call it) is pretty great. Good weather and lots of opportunity to play outdoors make life here tolerable.

If only the cost of living wasn’t so expensive …

This morning I decided to take advantage of life here in NorCal by way of a 45 mile bike ride. Conditions were perfect and my route took me through all sorts of topography which included lots of climbing – the kind that can break your spirit. The ride started nicely enough, southbound along the famous HW-1. The sun was shining and the normally pushy winds were elsewhere … perhaps enjoying brunch. About 9 miles into the ride, I turned off HW-1 and headed inland towards the looming hills I would need to conquer in order to compete my planned loop.

Initially, the hills weren’t that bad. But it wasn’t long before I found myself dragging my ass up a steady grinding hill nearly 20 miles in length. Like good medicine, I try to convince myself these painful efforts are somehow good for me and only make me stronger. We’ll see about that hypothesis.

Fortunately, what goes up must also come down. For me, this meant that 90 minutes of uphill suffering would be rewarded with a glorious decent through ever-winding Redwood forest roads. As a cyclist, there is nothing better than car-free roads, smooth backstop, and speed. Lots of speed. I was fortunate enough to have all three.

Soon enough I was through the forest and again found myself traveling the undulating rural backroads which would lead me back to Half Moon Bay.

I’ve always loved riding bikes and a few hours of bliss this morning reinforced those feelings. I did stop to snap a few pictures which I’ve included below.