Tag: Camping

Carpe Diem, Spring in CA

Adventures in the Past Few Months

Our calendar has been packed the past few months with short adventures and weekend trips, all flavored with a strong dose of short notice spontaneity and disorganization. With the project shutdown and layoff I felt the need to take advantage of every single day between the announcement of the project shutdown and the end of my notice period when I would be officially unemployed. It was such a whirlwind of last minute plans we even packed for trips that never happened!

Tahoe Northstar

Our adventures began with a last-minute trip to Tahoe Northstar. We booked our stay at 10 PM the night before leaving  yet still managed to travel in style. I rented a Tesla Model Y to try out self-driving during the long (for us) trip up to the mountains. The car added some fun for me, though I’m not sure the kids noticed much difference. Continue reading “Carpe Diem, Spring in CA”

Camping, Winter to Spring 2021

As of last January, we had 4 camping trips booked. Our goal was to get out and use the new VAN and enjoy some travel despite the pandemic. Looking back I think we did well to anticipate and beat at least part of the reservation rush since in November I was able to easily find spots for all our trips through May which was the end of the 6 month window allowed for bookings. For later bookings we are limited to the few days that come available at each morning at 8 AM, 6 months out.

Our 2021 camping season didn’t start well. The first trip in late January to Calpine Fire Lookout was canceled due to state COVID restrictions. We’re thankful the Forest Service protected us by canceling our solo stay in a one room fire lookout station in the middle of nowhere with no other camping facilities within a few miles. The fire lookout is open for use now, alas dozens of subsequent attempts to find an available reservation have failed, until today, so we’re now reschedule for a two night stay the week of Thanksgiving.

 

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Sailing Trip, San Francisco Bay, CA

“Stab it! Stab it! Did you get it? Stab it!” *

“Ahh… I’m trying”

“Alright! Nice! Now pull it back and cleat it.”

This was the end of the scene that played out in Ayala Cove on Angel Island this Labor Day as we were hooking up to the mooring balls to spend the night on our sailboat for the first time outside of a marina. I was driving trying to get the boat into position and Megan was hanging off the bow, attempting to use our boat hook to feed the line through the loop on top of the floating mooring ball.

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32nd Birthday San Francisco, CA

For my birthday this year, when I turned 32, Megan planned a fun weekend up in San Francisco. I had known she was planning something near by. Earlier in January she booked something via Airbnb accidentally using my account, so I immediately got some confirmation text messages with subject lines like “Your trip on airbnb is booked for…”. We were both sitting on the couch at the time and she immediately declared that I wasn’t allowed to open or notice anything about any email or text messages on the topic, which, surprisingly, I managed to do.

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The weekend arrived and we drove up mid afternoon to check into the [Argonaut Hotel](http://www.argonauthotel.com), right near the Bay at Fisherman’s Wharf. Its a well known hotel in a great location, and we had talked a few times in the past about wanting to stay there. However, I had since looked in detail at the hotel as a part of a different surprise weekend I was planning, and had changed my mind. I thought it was too touristy and a bit overpriced based on reviews I saw online, but I hadn’t mentioned this to Megan.

Coincidentally, the weekend before, we had been in San Francisco for the day visiting the [Tulipmania](https://www.pier39.com/tulipmania/) festival on Pier 39 among other things. We passed by The Argonaut Hotel and I commented to Megan that I had changed my mind about wanting to stay there. Little did I know, Megan had this whole upcoming weekend planned, and she later told me she was super bummed when I mentioned this. Luckily, I was wrong and it ended up being a cool hotel where we had a great night. The hotel has a lounge called the Blue Mermaid where we had happy hour drinks and oysters, and a National Park visitors area attached which had a bunch of cool history about the shipping industry and the Bay in general. After walking around we went for dinner in China Town and had Moo Shu pork, but the big event was planned for the next day.

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Aquatic park pier

In the morning, we drove over the Golden Gate to Sausalito, where we were to meet to go sailing out on the Bay with a local guy offering trips through Airbnb. I was excited! Ever since moving to California had wanted to sail out in the Bay! Originally, Megan had signed us up for Saturday, but the weather was pretty rough: rain and high winds leading to a lot of chop on the water. She arranged to switch days and it was a good call. Sunday we had consistent winds which were on the lighter side, and warm sun despite a bit of chilly air.

We met the Captain, got an overview of his boat and motored out of the harbor before getting the sails up. The tides were in our favor and we made good time out to the Bridge. We got great views and a cool perspective being underneath; we even saw a helicopter fly underneath right near us, and had to maneuver around an enormous cargo ship headed out to sea. Once we turned back from the Bridge, we sailed around for a few hours with good wind in the Prisidio Shoal area. It was a cool backdrop with Sausalito and San Francisco along the shore, and generally we had a great time. When leaving the dock our captain mentioned we might see dolphins which I hadn’t known we had in the area, and we got to see a bunch of them swimming around the boats and surfing in the ferry swells.

[YouTube embed](https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m16!1m10!1m3!1d4815!2d-122.5006885!3d37.8318906!2m1!2f38.58!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f35!3m3!1m2!1s0x80858504b4c95f1d%3A0xd3c5c65691b271eb!2sBasin+4!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1521329891822)

Every year I’m surprised when my birthday comes around. I don’t feel like I think a 32 year old should, but I guess thats how it goes for a lot of people. I’m glad I’ve got such a wonderful wife who plans fun celebrations and finally got us out on the water after over 2 years of wanting!

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.

 

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Point Reyes, Bodega Bay, CA

4/9/2016 – 4/10/2016

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to make the drive up to San Francisco. Megan had a CME conference to attend beginning at 8 am. She was scheduled to spend the morning learning about the lungs and kidneys, while I planned to explore a bit and drink coffee.

When finished with the training, we met up for lunch at Sushirito, a local chain serving up ‘sushi burritos’. This place had been recommended to me and was good, but not deserving of more than two sentences on a blog or something.

 

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The Lost Coast, King Range, CA

Three weeks into starting my new job and I was ready for some time off. Megan had just arrived the previous week, and after a few days of unpacking she too was long overdue for some RnR. Luckily, the company gave me the full week off for Thanksgiving, so we headed North five hours to the Lost Coast for a backpacking trip.

 

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Robber’s Roost, Hanksville, UT

Canyons!

After our inaugural canyoneering trip to Moab in November we decided we needed more. Detailed scouring of the Interwebs showed the desert surrounding Hanksville, Utah to have a plethora of great canyons, and, most importantly for us, readily available GPS coordinates to walk us straight to the first rap, ensuring our novice abilities weren’t tested in some inescapable drainage we thought was correct.

 

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Moab

11/6/2014 – 11/9/2014

Our 4 day Moab trip was conceived only a few weeks before leaving. The four of us had gone to the climbing gym Sunday morning and then grabbed a cup of coffee and sat out by Clear Creek in Golden when I suggested it might be fun to squeeze in a weekend trip before winter really arrived. Thankfully the time off worked for all involved and we met up at Dan’s around 2:30pm for the 6 hr drive to Moab.

Dan’s Outback was stuffed full. We were car camping so packing light wasn’t really on my mind but on top of all the climbing and riding gear combining the cars at Dan’s was a challenge.

 

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