Three To Kentucky

We've been back from Kentucky for more than a week. Christopher came along and the three of us enjoyed spending Christmas together right before we all banded together to help Annabel (Connor's sister) get married. But in between all the business of the season we had some fun. We did things like...

Chop wood.

Christopher had his first Waffle House experience. He ordered the peanut butter waffle, expecting there to be real peanut butter. The fool. They put peanut butter chips on peanut butter waffles at Waffle House!

The three of us hiked up to Natural Bridge.

Natural Bridge is in the background as we stand at Lover's Leap.

We did a tour at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

I tried to make friends with the chickens. 

Only one was brave enough to eat from my hand.

It got so cold that the creek began to freeze over and we had to keep the wood stove burning.

Before we left, a thin sheet of ice developed across the whole creek

Christopher chopped more wood.

It was all this and more. It was a good trip, but we were all tired by the end. I'm still glad that Christopher got to have a taste of Kentucky.

Pinnacles National Park

This past weekend, Connor and I went to Pinnacles National Park. Going to a new national park is on my goal list for this year, but if you've been following this blog long enough, you'll know that I've been before, so that goal hasn't been crossed off just yet. Connor, however, hadn't been before. I was excited to share this park with him.

I haven't been on a challenging hike since July... or any hike really since then. (I briefly felt well enough to go up Sierra Buttes back in July.) But after walking 7 flat miles (or 11k) in a day last week, I was feeling like I might be up for the 9.2 mile (15k) hike up, down, and around the mountain. 

Halfway up the mountain, we bumped into a pair of hikers that started when we did, but were a little faster. We took each other's pictures.

We took our time as we climbed up and up and up. I was huffing and puffing the whole way. Connor kindly reminded me that most people would be breathing hard on the trail we were on. Eventually we made it to the top, where we had lunch.

I can see the top!

One of the main reasons to come to the Pinnacles other than for the rock formations is to see the California Condors. There were once 27 left, but now there are many more that survive in three different locations; the Pinnacles being one of those. As we ate lunch and enjoyed watching the condors, the pair of hikers that had taken our picture earlier in the hike joined us. We had a great chat. For the rest of the day, we would sometimes see each other on the trail and talk a bit before one group out paced the other.

The California Condor has a 9.5 foot (3m) wingspan

I'm really proud to have done the entire hike without too much trouble. I feel like I've graduated from being too sick to leave the couch to finally being able to hike the way I used to. Also, in the end, we beat that pair of hikers who had been ahead of us at the beginning of the day.

Connor and I added a new patch to our collection, too! We picked up this patch at the visitor center at the east entrance. I've added a "Pinnacles National Park" entry on the souvenir patch map for those who may want to find one of their own.

Grand Canyon Adventure

A few weeks ago I joined Connor on his business trip to Las Vegas. After last year's experience, we knew that Vegas isn't really our thing... that and the 108°F/ 42°C heat that Vegas was experiencing. This year we decide to go a few days earlier and visit the Grand Canyon. Although, the night we landed, we chose to see another Cirque de Soleil show: Ka. It was very good. We also learned that if you plan on walking to a show, it is best to get a hotel close to it. Last year we walked nearly an hour from the Luxor to the Bellagio. This year we walked 15 mins from the Excalibur to the MGM Grand.

 

 Being in the Excalibur feels like walking into a Super Nintento game... like Knights Of The Round.

The next day we rented a car and drove four hours to the Grand Canyon. Four hours is a long time, so we did have a stop in Williams Arizona and popped into a few shops before finishing our drive. It's a cute town that is along the historical Route 66.

Despite a bit of a late start from Vegas and spending some time checking in our hotel in Tusayan, we were still able to see the canyon at sunset.

 

It was a glorious 84°F/ 29°C

They say that each angle of light changes the colors of the canyon. I don't know who "they" are, but they are right.

 

If you look closely, you can see clouds from a wild fire in the top center of the image

The next day we drove out to Desert View Watchtower. Don't let the photo fool you. It was high season and there were zillions of people around. But it rained a little and everyone ran inside.

The views from the tower were phenomenal. I wish we had more time to enjoy the Grand Canyon, unfortunately we had to drive back to Las Vegas so Connor could get signed in for the conference.

We did manage to get a few patches and magnets to add to our collection. We also found a Sheriff's badge for my brother. It was a bit of a joke gift, but he had just introduced us to the game, Bang. For those not in the know, when you play, one person is the sheriff and gets to wear a sheriff's badge. All we had to do was insist that he be sheriff when we played again so that we could pin him. He likes his new badge.

Lassen Adventure - Pt.2

The next morning of our Lassen adventure, we got up bright and early-ish, had breakfast at the restaurant by the motel, and pumped ourselves up for the big climb. Connor kept saying, "I can't believe I'm going to climb a volcano!" And I said to myself, "Who's idea was this?" since I'd climbed this once and I remembered it being hard.

We climbed and climbed and climbed. We stopped many times to catch our breath. A family was hiking right behind us and their three little boys had boundless energy. Connor's theory was that because they were shorter, the altitude wasn't affecting them as much. Har har.

Eventually we made it to the top, but not before we explored the crater just below the peak. That was a mistake. We were so tired after struggling up and down crevices that we almost didn't get to the peak. But when we finally summited, it was glorious.

We ate our lunch. Everyone up on the peak that day celebrated with everyone else over how we all made it.

Look! It's Shasta in the distance. It's about 70 miles from Lassen.

Then came the climb down. I had borrowed hiking sticks from my parents. It was a good move. The trail is pretty rocky in places and it's easy to loose your footing. As we got lower and lower, the air becomes positively soupy. There was so much oxygen it was exciting.

And so on September 27, 2015, we earned our Lassen patch. We climbed the mountain and lived to tell the tale. 

Then we stopped by Dutch Bros to get some liquid energy (Dutch Freeze) before driving all the way back home.

Lassen Adventure - Pt.1

Last month Connor and I decided to do an aggressive weekend hiking trip in Lassen. Located in Northern California, it's a little over 4 hours away from us... or 6 if you like to stop for lunch and look at things. What made this trip a little more aggressive than some is that we planned to do two hikes in two days.... but with some serious altitude. We live at around 100ft above sea level. Bumpass Hell is at 8,000ft and Lassen, well Lassen's trailhead starts at 8,500ft and peaks at 10,463ft. To help make the Lassen Peak hike more possible, we decided to stay in Mineral overnight, which is at almost 5000ft.

We also decided to do the easier of the two hikes on the first day. Bumpass Hell is a 3 mile hike, roundtrip. Easy for us, or so we thought, since we hike a 4 mile trail 2-3 times a week... usually in an hour. We were wrong as we ended up pretty winded from the elevation. But what you get to see at the end is worth the oxygen deprivation.

Bumpass Hell is a geothermic area that has fumaroles, boiling mud pots, and hot springs. The season and water levels will determine what there is more of as each phenomenon can evolve. A mud pot with more water can become a hot spring, but less water will turn it into a fumarole.

Of course you have to time your visit pretty well. When there is snow, Bumpass Hell is closed to protect people from accidentally going off trail and burning themselves. So contrary to popular belief, hell does in fact freeze over pretty often.

I was glad to see Bumpass Hell again. And Connor hadn't ever seen anything like it. There aren't too many places on earth were you can get pretty close to geothermic activity in a relatively safe manner.

As we hiked back, we were surprised to find that we were already starting to acclimate to the altitude. The walk back seemed easier. This boded well for the next day's challenge: Lassen Peak.

The further point is the actual peak. It looks shorter. It isn't.

Local Tourists - Angel Island

Mum has wanted to go to Angel Island for an age. I had gone awhile back with Rachael and had since offered to go with Mum, but she wanted to go with Dad or someone who was just as enthusiastic as her. When Connor hear this he told her, "I don't know of anyone more enthusiastic than me!" We hit the tipping point and Dad decided to come along too. So one Saturday, we got up earlier than anyone cared to and drove to San Francisco. It was a misty morning and we enjoyed walking in the ferry building, getting some tea, and waiting for our ferry. The ride out was quite fun and Connor was especially happy. He usually is whenever he's on a boat.

We passed Alcatraz, circled around the back of Angel Island before creeping up, just behind the Tiburon ferry. 

After docking, we searched for a patch. Angel Island is in the middle of a rebranding, so they don't have their own patch just yet. A very helpful lady did let us into the gift shop (that was closed that day) so I could get this patch and took my info for when the Angel Island one becomes available.

The thing Dad had wanted to do the most was visit the detention center. Angel Island was the Ellis Island of the West. This center is where everyone came through when entering the bay. The majority of the immigrants coming through were Chinese. They were not treated well.

Many Chinese carved into the walls. Workers at the detention center assumed it was graffiti and would putty over the words and repaint the walls. As it turned out, the writing was poetry and almost every single wall is covered. I loved how the center had a section where different layers have been lifted so you can see the various states the poems had been in. Most of the walls have the slight dimples of puttied over characters. The museum did a beautiful job explaining the poems and had English translations, although I'm sure they are much more vivid in their original language.

The poems are suppose to be read out in Cantonese for the best effect

After we toured the museum, we headed out and had a look at the bell and memorial walls around the site. Mum had a look inside the bell. I thought she looked silly.

Although we were hungry, we collectively decided to walk to the top of Angel Island before having our picnic lunch. It is quite a climb, but the view is worth it. You can see 360 degrees around you. Dad pointed out that 180 of those degrees were fog. I managed to snap a picture in between the swaths of fog floating by.

As we hiked back down, Mum commented on how she was just about out of water. We ended up passing by some sort of work party in the lower picnic area and they offered us not only water, but cookies as well. Mum was quite pleased on how we seemed to get rewarded for hiking.

We caught our ferry and enjoyed the views as we headed back. Of course that isn't the end of the story...

We didn't know that it was only the last ferry of the day that goes back to the ferry building. The one we were on would go to Pier 39, then Angel Island, then back to Pier 39 before going to the ferry building. We opted to walk the nearly 1.5 miles (2k) back. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were all tired and ready for dinner. But it was a good kind of tired where you feel you earned extra chips and guac.

Local Tourists - Fort Point

You know how when you get back from a really great vacation, you get the post-vacation blues? I got hit hard after spending a glorious week in the Keys. Back to the daily grind.... and no more snorkeling. (Snorkling isn't something you can do in the Califronia Bay Area. Visibility is 0 and anyone who can stand more than 2 minutes in the ocean without going numb should be scientifically studied.) To combat the reality that we probably won't be going to the Keys again any time soon, Connor and I have decided to be local tourists and do some aggressive sight seeing here at home. We started out with Fort Point.

Thank-you to the nice lady who took our picture

I didn't even know Fort Point existed until about a week ago. I was researching a possible hike by the Sutro Baths when I came across it. (I was looking to see where to get a Golden Gate Bridge patch. Who's surprised? Probably no one. It's a new obsession.) And I think I know exactly why. It's located under the Golden Gate Bridge. Unless you are walking along the bay side of the bridge it just isn't very visible.

It was a really neat place to see though. Fort Point was built around the American Civil War to defend the bay. Connor and I noticed that it had many architectural similarities with the Dry Tortugas' Fort Jefferson. The brick arches were laid similarly and the number of levels on the building were identical. Or would have been if Fort Jefferson had been completed.

We ate lunch by Fort Point before deciding to walk across the Golden Gate. It looked like there once was a path from Fort Point to the bridge path. That is closed, so there is a longer route to take instead. We walked 2.6 miles (4k) from Fort Point to the vista point across the other side of the bridge, then another 2.6 miles back. It was a lovely day and we both shed our coats part way through the walk. But we were both ready to sit down after all our exploring.

No fog in Fogust? That would be my storm-like superpowers coming into play.

Through my research, I had found several possible shop locations with patches. The Fort Point gift shop ended up being the only one we went to that we could find what were were looking for. (And that included the Warming Hut and the Golden Gate Pavilion.) We chose a Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point, and Alcatraz patch. Connor and I have been to Alcatraz independently of knowing each other. I figure we earned it. After walking the bridge, we also picked up a magnet for the fridge and got one of those state park stamps on a bit of paper from the pavilion.

I'm excited about the idea of being a local tourist. There are many places that are within 4 hours of us and could be done as a weekend trip. Has anyone else been doing local tourism? Are there places you've been dying to go but just haven't yet?

In The Florida Keys - Pt.2

We got up bright and early to make it to the Key West airport in order to catch our seaplane. Today we were going to Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas. Garden key is one of the last islands in the Florida Keys and is home to Fort Jefferson.

I learned to snorkel on the beach just behind the trees on the left front of the fort

There is only one way into and out of Fort Jefferson. And although it was never finished, it was still used as a prison and a base of naval operations.

As if the fort wasn't difficult enough to enter or leave, there is a moat.

We spent our first half hour of our 2.5 hour stay looking at the museum and talking to one of the park staff, Neil, at the giftshop. Neil had great stories to tell about his past life as a Wallstreet tech guy. After a bit, he asked us why we were still talking to him. We should go have a look around the island!

After getting a recommendation from him over which way we should go, Connor and I had a grand time walking alternatively between the top and middle tier of the fort. 

After walking out of the fort, I could tell Connor was getting antsy. I hadn't realized that we had spent a whole hour touring! We only had an hour to snorkel. It turned out to be a really well used hour. After Connor gave me the basics on how to not drown whilst snorkeling, we worked our way from south beach to the first turn of the fort. In that time I saw many, many fish as well as coral. I never thought I'd ever get to see anything like that because I'm not a strong swimmer and I have a fear of being in the ocean. I took to snorkeling, well, like a fish. Three times we swam from the beach out to a destination. The second place we looked at was the seagrass that was out a ways. Connor spotted a huge conch shell. It must have been nearly as big as my head. We called to some people on the shore and found that we had about 15 minutes left before we had to get back to the plane. With that information in mind, I swam as fast as I could to the pylons. Our pilot, John, had recommended going to the pylons, choosing one, and staying still for a moment. Sure enough, groups of colorful fish soon appeared and did fish stuff. I was pleased to have swam out much farther than I ever thought I could. But we had to head back. We ran to the beach where the plane waited for us.

I encourage Connor to ask to be co-pilot, which he did. I stayed in the back and enjoyed the sights. Our pilot pointed out wrecks and the different undersea geographies. I saw a pod of dolphins, sharks, and a million sea turtles. The ocean was made of them. 

Upon leaving Key West, we headed towards Key Largo, where we would be staying with Connor's family at the Key Lime Sailing Club. Since we had missed things on our way down, we did our best to make up for it on the way back. At Big Pine Key we stopped at the Key Deer visitor center and got some recommendations on where to look for Key Deer. There were no guarantees, but we did end up seeing a bunch. Full grown, they are the size of medium dogs. We stopped at the end of a road that dipped into the ocean and ate our sandwiches, all the while watching white ibis hunt and lizards chase each other. It wasn't long before we headed north again, this time stopping by a scuba shop to get me fins before we snorkeled in Bahia Honda. (I know. I hadn't snorkeled in my life and this is the day I snorkel in two different locations.) Feeling confident, I swam, nay, raced Connor to a far out buoy. I won. Along the way we saw cow fish, a crab, and tarpin chasing after schools of tiny fish.

The next day we went kayaking (saw an iguana, but no manatees) and snorkeled even more after tying our kayaks up part way back. I saw upside down jellyfish and even had the pleasure of getting some of their stinging goo on me. Connor pointed out three parrot fish to me. And I watched a small barracuda chase after even smaller fish. Everyone was tired after the adventuring. But with only one more full day to enjoy after this day, Connor, his father Jeff, and I went out on a sailboat. 

Connor has his sailing license and the three of us cruised around Buttonwood Sound for two hours. I'd never felt so relaxed. As we came back in, I took a wee nap. When I woke up, we were closing in on the dock and saw some dolphins swim by. I took a few more snaps before sitting back and enjoying the view. This picture is a poor substitute for how beautiful it was out there. 

On our last day, the whole family went on a charter boat and snorkeled 4.5 miles off shore. Before we had come to Florida, I told Connor that it would be a cold day in hell before I'd ever do something like that. (Actually, I said "Maybe not this time", but I was thinking "Cold day in hell" in my head.) By the end of the trip, I told Connor I'd be disappointed if we didn't go. I am so happy we did. I was sure that I'd never see Brain Coral (my favorite coral) or a moon jellyfish (my favorite jellyfish) in the wild before this trip. We saw a large stingray hiding in the sand. A parrot fish decided to swim up to and stare directly at me. But the highlight, which Connor and I were the only ones lucky enough to see, was the saga of the octopus. Connor spotted an octopus being harassed by some fish. We thought it was neat to even see an octopus. After fighting a bit, it hid under a rock. We both floated nearby, just enjoying all the fish. All of a sudden, a nurse shark just as big as me (!) swims under me (!!!) and starts aggressively pushing the rocks with its snout. That poor octopus suddenly got sucked up by the shark! I attempted to say to Connor "Did you see that!" which sounded more like, "Aoooouuuaaa!" with some pointing. Of course he had. After an hour and a half we all headed back to the boat and the first mate asked everyone what they saw. He told us that in the 20 years he's been out there, he's never seen anything like what we saw.

It would have been neat to have pictures of the snorkeling, but I had a far better time just experiencing it all. And what might be a poor substitute for shark and octopus pictures is a picture of the fun doodads we collected. I thought the Dry Tortugas patch would be the rarest one we would find, but because a strange sequence of events and because Connor is the luckiest man alive, we were given a Florida Park Service patch. 

We bought two luggage tags, a few magnets, and a heap of patches

I'm hoping to get going on my patch project soon. I'm still researching the best way to go about displaying them, but I have a pretty good idea of what I might do. In the interest of adding more patches to the collection and seeing places I might not have otherwise, does anyone have any recommendations of places to go check out? I'm better versed in what can be found in the west coast of the US, but am open to any and all suggestions.