Skip to content

Posts from the ‘California’ Category

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.

HW-1

Approaching the hills

Lot’s of people stop at Alice’s Restaurant.  I still had 6-7 miles of climbing ahead and didn’t stop.

Descending from the ridge line.

Making my way home along the rural rolling roads

Sep 2

On the Road Again – Finally

Having spent the past five weeks living full-time in the Airstream, Kelly and I used the Labor Day holiday as an excuse to hit the road and let the Airstream stretch her legs. We’ve been parked for far too long without a trip and were really excited to get away. Of course, we chose Oregon as our initial destination … southern Oregon to be specific. Odds are good we’ll land someplace near Ashland. We’ll see what happens.

For now, we’re parked in a beautiful place – Brandy Creek campground near Whiskeytown, CA. We’re traveling I-5 in order to make decent time. I also wanted to get our truck/airstream combo weighed which essentially limits us to the interstate where semi-truck mega stop are plentiful. Have yet to weigh our set-up, I was anxious to verify whether or not we are loaded with too much stuff. (UPDATE – we were not … in fact, we had lots of room to spare, but our weight distribution needs some refining).

Brandy Creek is a bit out-of-the-way – about ten miles, but the detour was worth it. There are no hooks-ups, which was fine with us because we needed/wanted to test drive our new Yamaha generator. All went well I happy to report.

There were about 30 total sites, of which about half were taken. Of course, the people next to us thought it would be cool to be loud — too loud I thought. Who decides to wait until 10:30pm to set-up tents? Is the 40 foot RV and the monster generator not enough? Good grief.

Apparently – as you can see in the pictures below – the deer were not annoyed. Food is food and the knuckleheads next to us had seemingly unlimited supplies of bread to toss on the ground. The deer seemed quite satisfied.

 

In addition to its namesake creek, there is a great beach and mountain lake, but I forgot to grab my camera, so no pictures.

Tomorrow we’re off to Oregon.

Newer Entries »