Here is a list of some of my goals for 2018. Some of these are already planned or in progress but it’s early still so no status reports yet. I plan to update this post throughout the year with progress reports.
Chile
At about 1:00 in the afternoon, the power went out in the Panama City International Airport. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the staff in the Copa Club lounge though so Megan and I continued as usual. I had been about to take a nap with Megan on bag watch after our layover showers, business class travel is rough. We we’re half way to our destination, Santiago, Chile, and a trip we had been talking about for well over a year. An hour or so later, with power restored, headed to the gate for the next half of the flight South.
Our plan was to fly into Santiago and head to the coast for 4-5 days, staying in Valpariso where Megan studied aborad 10 years before, and then Pichilemu, a surf town we had been scouting online. After this we would fly to Puerto Montt and Northern Patagoina in order to visit the new Chilean park, Pumalin Park, and spend time in nearby Puerto Varas. Then make the final leg to Southern Patagoina and visit Torres del Paine, and the adventure hub of Puerto Natales. We decided on this two and a half week iteniary after years of wanting to move abroad to live for a year. Originally we thought to simply quit our jobs and move, first to Pichilemu, then it was Puerto Varas since streetview in Pichelemu looked a bit rough. In retrospec, this may have been, if not a mistake, a bit more than we bargined for. While it would be nice to have a much extended break from our busy lives, we both ended up having a fantastic time despite the abreviated scope of the trip, and are already looking forward to our next trip aborad.
The signs of fall, Sunnyvale, CA
Every year the signals that fall is coming arrive in a few specific ways. One of the first occurred last night. Megan and I rode our bikes over to our favorite local sushi restaurant for dinner. We both finished work late so we didn’t leave the house until 7:15 or so. Along the way we stopped for a minute to admire an unusually red setting sun and then continued on to get dinner without thinking much more about the time of day. It was while locking up the bikes and walking inside that the signal came about. I realized I didn’t have my bike lights, and would need them by the time we finished eating.
Every spring, after emerging from a long season of bicycle commuting in darkness, the time comes when I roll into the driveway before its dark enough to really need all of my flashing lights. I still have them on board and clipped to my pack for most of the spring, although regular use and charging starts to fade away.
Big Oak Flat backpacking, Yosemite NP, California
Before even moving to California my cousin Matt and his wife Jan had recommend a backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps which they had been on when living in the Bay Area. Finally after almost 2 years living in California and only a single trip to the mountains, Megan and I arranged for a 4 day weekend with the plan to head up North and visit the Trinity Alps and the lakes Matt and Jan had liked so much. Two weeks before the trip however, I realized this place is 5+ hours away, which given our typical pace would take us at least 6. We also both admitted that although the lakes look nice, we’ve seen alpine lakes many times before in Colorado.
Also before moving to California, I had decided that, for some reason, I wanted to visit Yosemite only in the winter, reserving a summer time trip for sometime in the future since I didn’t like the idea of the huge crowds. Two winters have come and gone though and we still hadn’t made the trip, and I didn’t have a real reason for avoiding the summer anyway. So 3 days before leaving we checked a guide book out from the library, decided on a trail based solely on permit availability and hiking distance, and then spoke with the backcountry office the next morning to get formally registered.
Continue reading “Big Oak Flat backpacking, Yosemite NP, California”
Protected: 2017 – Jon’s time capsule – [OPEN in 2027]
Half Marathon, Santa Cruz, CA
Race times:
Megan = 2 hr 3 min 46 sec
Jon = 1 hr 50 min 50 sec
Megan set a goal last fall to run a half marathon, her longest distance run to date, before turning 31. She also convinced me to join her. We started training in early November 2016 and the race wasn’t scheduled until April 2017, so we had plenty of time.
5:57 PM Baby Bullet, Mountain View, CA
Megan walked in at 5:33 PM.
It’s 2.3 miles from our house to the Mountain View Transit station which takes 12-13 minutes to bike, plus some time to lock up and then we each still have to tag on with Clipper Card. The 5:57 North bound Baby Bullet arrives at 4th and King at 6:51 PM, and it takes 26 minutes to get from 4th and King to Fort Mason via Uber, assuming no wait for the pickup. Making the 5:57 PM train is basically a requirement to arrive by 7:30.
31st Birthday Weekend, San Francisco, CA
February 28th came around and Megan planned a great weekend for us up in San Francisco. During our training for the Santa Cruz Half Marathon, I had identified a few ‘destination runs’ I wanted to travel to for our long runs with SF and the Golden Gate Bridge being one of them. Based on this, we made the plan.
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- Ride the train up to SF
- Check into a fancy hotel, The Palace
- Run for 10 miles, with the halfway point at the Northern edge of the bridge
- Go to dinner at a nice restaurant
- Stay at fancy hotel
- Return to Sunnyvale
We had a great weekend. The hotel was awesome, Continue reading “31st Birthday Weekend, San Francisco, CA”
2016 Review
Big year. Megan and I both turned thirty and completed the first full year living in California. We moved, experienced big changes at work, went surfing, explored the Bay Area, dreamed of South America, and visited Colorado.
Q1: [ Jan – Mar ]
I remember this feeling like the beginning of our time in CA. Megan began a job after not working since before Thanksgiving and I felt like I had just begun working after having about 2+ weeks of vacation out of my 2 months of working for Apple. We both spent the month focused on getting our bearings at work and around Campbell and Santa Cruz on the weekends.
Honeymoon Video
Welp, here it is.
When we took our motorcycle trip down HWY1 we took a ton of video from the bike and and basically zero video of ourselves at the countless stops and activities. It took a while to edit down to capture the road trip and then record some audio to help the paint drying process, but it was fun and Megan and I are both pretty glad we have this as a way to remember our trip.