It has been a while since I’ve published on the blog. Today I updated the [CA Tick List](http://www.jonmcosgrove.name/ca-tick-list/) and thought I’d post some brief comments for each new mark.
SF Symphony
Sea to sky hike
Napa wine drinking
Anchor overnight at Angel Island
### SF Symphony
This past July we attended the SF Ballet at Stern Grove for the second year in a row. The Symphony accompanied the dancers and did a great job. There were 4-5 dances, one of which was sleep inducing, another was really engaging though. The dance was with a single pair and the music for it was excellent.
Megan’s parents were visiting so they got to see the show as well, and afterward, we spent the afternoon in SF eating and walking around in the Sutro Baths area.
In the week following the performance I actually tracked down the symphony director’s contact information and emailed him (Tracy Davis <tdavis@sfballet.org>) in order to find a copy of the music. Unfortunately I found out that there isn’t a recording. The ballet I had liked and accompanying songs were premiered in April of this year and apparently they don’t make recordings very often.
Maybe one day I’ll track it down.
– Composer: Oliver Davis
– Accompanying: Pas de Deux The Infinite Ocean
[](https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0047.jpg)
### Sea to sky hike
In October, Dan and Ashley came out to visit us in California. Megan and I both took 2 days off of work so we had 4 days together. In past times, we may have gone to Joshua Tree to climb, or done a long backpacking trip in the mountains, both options we did consider. However, with Megan scheduled to be 20 weeks into pregnancy, we opted for a shorter local backpacking option.
The [Skyline to Sea trail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline-to-the-Sea_Trail), as its properly called (not Sea to sky, that would be uphill) had been on our list since moving to California, and considering it has nearby road access for much of the trail, it was a good option for a pregnant person.
The weekend prior to our hike Megan and I left the Camry in Santa Cruz after surfing in order to serve as a car shuttle, so Thursday morning we drove to the Castle Rock State Park trailhead off of Skyline boulevard and started our hike.
The plan was to camp for 2 nights, first at Waterman Gap followed by Jay Camp near the Big Basin headquarters. This is the standard route for Skyline to Sea and includes about 10 miles a day of hiking.
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0015-2/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0025/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0012-2/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0005/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0007/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0018/)
The first day and night went great. We had fun catching up with Dan and Ashley, whom we miss very much, and all felt good. Day two started off fine, and had some great scenery, but got unusually hot in the afternoon. Despite the strong day one showing by the pregnant member of our group, by mile 6 or 7 Megan had slowed down. I think it was a combination of the surprising heat and some steep climbs, plus the baby, that wore her out. I was pretty hot as well and getting a bit dehydrated since I had stopped drinking much water in case Megan needed it.
Megan kept hiking though and with about a mile to go to Jay Camp and Big Basin refreshments, we felt we were getting close. Myself and Dan had been walking a bit ahead of the girls and we stopped in order to let the catch up. After a while we didn’t see them and slowly started backtracking. When they came into view, Ashley looking a bit worried and Megan was clearly upset with her shirt lifted up and her entire belly exposed. She had been stung by a bee, and right on the belly no less!
She was really upset and not knowing anything about the potential impacts I got pretty worried too. She took some Benadryl and we finished the day’s hike. With some reassurance from the Leighton’s and a check of Megan’s Up to date medical app we were feeling better and we got some chips and beers from Big Basin’s camp store before spending a nice night in the Redwoods.
In the morning Megan made the wise decision to take a cab to town, which was a bit difficult to organize but once arranged, Dan, Ashley, and myself left to complete the hike to Waddell Beach. Thinking back on it, Megan and I were both still pretty shaken up by the bee sting, but after the trip we learned from her OB that we had nothing to worry about.
The rest of the hike was nice, but the day was surprisingly hot again. I sent my pack down to town with Megan so I was hiking light and didn’t even think to offer to take weight from Dan and Ashley until we were almost at the beach! Once at the end, we found Megan on the sand watching a large group of kite surfers tearing it up on a windy and wavy day.
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0023/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0014-2/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0024/)
### Napa wine drinking
This year, Apple’s SPG Holiday Party was scheduled in Calistoga at [Castello di Amorosa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castello_di_Amorosa). We had acted fast when the location and hotel discounts were announced and so we also got a room at the pricy and in demand [Calistoga Ranch](https://aubergeresorts.com/calistogaranch/) for the night of the party.
Saturday morning we left early and got to Napa in time for lunch at Genova Delicatessen which is delicious and which I had eaten at a few times during some work trips to the area for NREL. After lunch we went to the resort and luckily got to check in a few hours early. The room(s) were awesome and we had a great afternoon relaxing, napping, and reading.
[](https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9879.jpg)
For the party, the company rented out the whole place and setup tents in open areas due to the cold for dining and drinking. We had the run of the place and after dinner walked around the whole castle. Some highlights were the long narrow corridors throughout and the lower level wine storage area which also had a bar and dance floor setup for the party.
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_9853/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_9874/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_9863/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_9869/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_9896/)
[](https://www.jonmcosgrove.name/img_0091/)
### Anchor overnight at Angel Island
This trip was covered in my previous post called [Sailing Trip, San Francisco Bay, CA](http://www.jonmcosgrove.name/sailing-trip-san-francisco-bay-ca/).
Since then I completed a movie about the trip. This was a low effort edit, and as such, it’s a bit long, but I think it turned out okay. There are some significant audio and video focus issues. I didn’t realize until the trip was over but we had some microphone connection issues and the camera’s autofocus struggled in the low light of the boat cabin.
[YouTube embed](https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJGRhSA3PrU)
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## Media URLs recovered
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0047.jpg
– https://i1.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0015.jpg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0025.jpg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0012.jpeg
– https://i1.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0005.jpg
– https://i1.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0007.jpg
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0018.jpeg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0023.jpg
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0014.jpeg
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0024.jpg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9879.jpg
– https://i1.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9853.jpeg
– https://i1.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9874.jpg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9863.jpg
– https://i0.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9869.jpg
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_9896.jpg
– https://i2.wp.com/www.jonmcosgrove.name/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_0091.jpg
– https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJGRhSA3PrU
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It has been a while since I’ve published on the blog. Today I updated the CA Tick List and thought I’d post some brief comments for each new mark. SF Symphony Sea to sky hike Napa wine drinking Anchor overnight at Angel Island SF Symphony This past July we attended the SF Ballet at Stern Continue reading “Catchup!”