Concord & San Francisco

January 14-16, Patrick and I capitalized on the holiday weekend by visiting our pals in Concord, which is not far from San Francisco. I hadn't been to that area yet and Patrick's exposure had been been limited, so we looked forward to exploring the city a bit in addition to hanging out.

Saturday we mostly lounged around Phil & Vanessa's apartment. Phil was brewing his first batch of beer, so Patrick consulted on an as-needed basis.

Later that night we had some fun at the nearby bowling alley. Patrick & Vanessa performed very well (I think they both got strikes on their first 3 turns), especially considering none of us had bowled in quite some time.

The next morning we took the bart (the city's rail system) into SF. One of our first observances as we strolled the city streets must have been a good omen that we were meant to be there! ;)

Our first destination was Chinatown, at my request. I hadn't been to one before, but my first encounter was with good timing. Preceding the Chinese New Year by about a week, the area was hosting a mini festival of flowers, where you could purchase the decorations and fauna used in people's celebrations of the holiday.

Each of the 2 dragons had 2 performers inside the suits. They would jump on each other's shoulders to make the dragon stand up tall, and the eyelids/mouth on the costume would move. It was quite intriguing to watch them dance to the drumbeats!

Our glutes got a workout walking around this city, and I'm sure parking breaks do too.

The nice thing about walking up the steep hills is that we were periodically rewarded with some decent views. Here, we got one of Alcatraz.

The Bay Bridge in the background.

Lombard Street is the most crooked street in America (the road wound up the hill parallel to itself, with near 180 degree curves repetitively placed).

Lombard Street was also home to many cute living quarters! (Although we're not sure how the resident here would get their car in the garage. The picture may not highlight it well, but the driveway's decent would be rather detrimental to an auto's underside).

We're on our way to the sea!

...But first a quick stop at Ghirardelli for a free square of chocolate. MMM! :)

We made it to the Pacific Ocean! I dipped my finger in it and while I debated whether to take my shoes off or not, a wave washed onto my feet and decided for me. Luckily just a little bit got in!

We walked along the marina pier to take in the ocean wind and see what people were catching. A girl casting a basket for crabs showed me the little guy that her family swept up. Hopefully they don't get sick if their intention was to eat these. The sediment is too contaminated from mining long ago for the food to be healthy near that coast.

The Golden Gate Bridge!

Although it was a gorgeous, sunny day, we were rather chilled after spending time leisurely walking and loitering along the blustery shoreline, so we popped into a nearby cafe/bookstore to rejuvenate. To Patrick's and Vanessa's dismay, the cafe was out of chocolate! Apparently everyone wanted a hot cocoa fix that day. I contented myself with a latte, however.

Purchasing a cable car ticket meant we could revel in an icon of the city, while providing ourselves some respite from walking all the way back to the bart station!

The four of us disembarked near the Hyatt hotel, where we took the lift to the top floor to cheers a glass to the fun day and survey the city night lights. Afterward we passed Union Square (above) on our way to dinner/dessert at a creperie. By the time we got back to Phil & Vanessa's we were too tuckered out to drive home, but we returned the following morning with the desire to come back again!

Thanksgiving in Portland, OR

We're obviously a little behind in the posts... but whatever. :-)

Over Thanksgiving we traveled up to Portland to visit with our friend Kat that lives up there.  We rented a car and left Merced after work on Wendesday and drove to Yreka (note: not a spelling error).  The driving weather was forecast to be less than desirable but we found that the weather wasn't an issue- the rental car was.  Headlights that illuminate roughly 30 feet in front of the car are not very helpful on dark mountain roads and windshield wipers that smear the water around make seeing difficult.  Other than that, the drive was uneventful.  We made it to Kat's apartment around 1 pm on turkey day.  The rest of Thursday was spent wining, dining, and catching up with Kat.

On Friday we got a bit of a late start and Kat had to work so we were on our own.  First we walked to a little cafe just down the street from Kat's apartment, then we drove across town to the rose gardens.  There were few roses at the time but we could tell that the garden would be quite amazing in full bloom.  We'll have to check that out during warmer weather.  Following a snack and a half hour of debating what to do next we decided to head to wine country.  We figured we'd go visit some wineries and then pick Kat up when she was finished working.  Things changed when Atalie spotted a giant Goodwill store. An hour-plus later we got back on the road but it was getting late so we headed up towards the winery Kat works at (Cooper Mtn), stopping at another one (Ponzi) along the way.  We did tastings at both and bought a couple bottles that we enjoyed (and could afford).  The night was finished off with dinner and a redbox movie.

Saturday we got up early and headed to Voodoo doughnuts (famous for odd flavored pastries) for breakfast.  Kat had to work again so Atalie and I decided to hit up the Saturday market, which had lots of cool stuff (just out of our price range) and see some of the other shops around Portland as well as some craft brew houses (there are plenty to choose from in Portland).  We ended the night at a really nice steakhouse (we were the youngest patrons in there).

Sunday, we made the drive back to Merced... a little bummed that we didn't get a chance to see more of Portland.  But at least we got a taste of it and got some quality visit time with Kat.

Getting dinner ready.

 In the rose gardens (minus roses).

 Voodoo donuts breakfast.

Dinner with Kat at Jake's Grill.

Mt. Shasta on the drive back to Merced.

November 19- Sentinel Dome & Taft Point

Patrick and I wanted to get one more use out of our annual National Parks pass before it expired, so we walked a couple short trails in Yosemite the weekend before Thanksgiving. Options are fewer in the winter since many of the roads, trails and passes are closed for the season, but we were fortunate enough to get partway up the road to Glacier Point to venture paths to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. We were also fortunate that we didn't under-dress (I decided at the last minute to throw gloves/hat/extra fleece in the car, just in case) since I checked the Valley weather/temperature, forgetting we'd be at the higher elevation.

This tree/root/whatever was an eye-catching absurdity as it grew and protruded from the middle of a boulder. As you can see, the path was fairly easy and pleasant except for occasional ice patches that threatened sure footing, particularly when we reached the steeper ground to the dome.

As we ascended, the air grew very dense with fog. The Dome didn't have snow at the top of it, but the cold breeze coated the shrubbery with crystals of thick frost. The fog obscured our view but it created a very solemn and surreal feeling. It sort of reminded me of when a movie character is transported to a virtual reality that looks like a never ending empty white room.

This made me think of Galadriel's Mirror (Lord of the Rings), which I thought was really neat. But when I got closer it wasn't a frozen pool that Patrick was peering into, just a smooth metal compass mounted on the stone. Oh well- it was still a fun thought to conjure!

On the way to Taft Point there were deep fissures that allowed us to glimpse the Valley floor from far above. A person on the top of the cliff in the foreground can provide some scale.

When turning away from one of the fissures, something in a bush caught my eye- a pair of sunglasses someone must have set down and forgot about. There's a scratch on one lens, but the condition is way better than any of my pairs in drastic need of replacement, so I was thoroughly pleased at the more than appropriate find. Patrick said it's a decent semi-pricy brand of sunglasses too. We lost our camera case last year in the park, so I guess that's part of the balance of nature!

Patrick, perched on an arch overlooking El Capitan.

The sun paid us a visit, illuminating the base of El Capitan with rays that chased away the fog for a time. It made an incomparable backdrop for a photo.

Here's the same view but panned to the left a bit to capture the other ridge. Around every corner in Yosemite, there seems to be another gorgeous and amazing perspective of God's creation!

Reaping what we sowed

Now that the summer growing season is pretty much over we thought we'd give an idea of what managed to grow in our backyard (some of these might be repeats)...

Apples

Lettuce

Hops

Tomatoes

Watermelon

Red peppers (plus green ones)

Weeds.

Basil

Plus onions, zucchini, and of course, limes

Working in Sequoia NP

A couple weeks back I was tasked with helping a coworker wrap up some winter prep down at some sites in Sequoia NP.  I was excited because I'd never been there and would get a chance to see some sights (sort of).  There was 6-10" of snow on the ground so I packed all my winter gear and headed out early on a Monday morning to meet my coworker down there.  On my approach to the park I got a phone call from the coworker telling me the road I was going to take was closed due to snow (it was being plowed).  We turned around and drove around to the southern entrance, which added on another hour+ to the drive.  On top of that, there is on-going construction that causes road closures for 2 hours at a time so we had some time to kill when we got into the park...

This is a swimming hole we visited while waiting for the road to open back up.

After we got through the construction we finally reached our destination (about 3 hours later than anticipated).  The first 2 days and the last day we stayed down in the lower basin.  Here's some photos from those areas:

One of the stream sites.

The area where the cabin we stayed at was.  The clearing in the center of the photo has instruments in it as well that are monitoring groundwater levels.  The fog is blocking out most of the scenery.

The third day we went to the upper basin.  The trailhead started around 7,800 ft and we we hiked up to 9,300 ft.  I thought it'd be a really tough 3.5 miles but it didn't end up being too bad.  The worst part was the hike back in the dark on the icy trail.  My knee/hip didn't like that very much.  This is what we saw when we got to the top of the ridge:

This was my first view of the High Sierra and the Great Western Divide.  Most of those peaks are between 12,000 and 14,000 ft.

Recent Weekends- Part 2

Saturday, October 29:

A pastor in town is heading a grass roots organization aiming to polish up the city and help give it a better image. He invited a few other churches in Merced to get involved a couple weekends ago by gathering some volunteers to spend a morning doing some cleanup at designated spots. Patrick and I joined about 20 others from our church to head up the effort at a downtown transit center.

We spent a few hours picking up trash, trimming the vegetation, weeding, and sweeping.

Proof of the difference we made, measured in trash bags. Our Pastor is the 2nd person from the right, standing next to Patrick (just an fyi).

What's neat is there was a gift shop in the transit center that sold something we've been on the lookout for! They only took cash (which we didn't have on hand unfortunately) but the station is only about a 5 minute walk from where I work so I was able to return via a quick stroll during my lunch break later in the week.

Sunday, October 30:

We know we're married now, but we dated a long time before the ceremony so it seems odd to wait to celebrate 2 years together when we've been together 9! Until we've been married a couple decades, this date will always be as momentous an anniversary to us.

We celebrated by walking to an Italian restaurant near our house for dinner that is a little pricey but serves delicious food. Our first week in Merced we ate there, but hadn't been back since so it was a nice treat. Before the indulgence though, we visited The Vista ranch for some fall fun.


No offense to our Missouri pals, but there's a reason MO is the Show Me State and not the Show Off State when it comes to apple cider. :-/ In Michigan we are raised on some pretty fine unpasteurized stuff (I think that's the difference), so I was skeptical yet hopeful of what CA had to offer after being in withdrawal the last couple years. It was a LOT more expensive, but the taste did not disappoint!

No need for a 3rd person or a tripod- a nearby leaf on a corn stalk provided a nice place to hang our camera. :) Patrick and I were surrounded by walls of the corn maze on the premise. We took it very seriously since I didn't want to cheat to get out (I had to find the official exit!) but it was also a pleasant laid back affair.

After emerging from the labyrinth, we hopped on the tractor-pulled trailer for a hay ride around the grounds. It was a short ride, but long enough to learned a sports bra is a necessary piece of equipment for a farm's potholes. :) Still, we enjoyed it- I haven't been on a hay ride in ages!

These looked rather lovely on the brink of sunset to be simple irrigation ponds for the gardens.

It was intriguing to observe the many shapes, colors, and textures of pumpkin varieties. We've got a creative God!

There was an enormous flower garden we didn't have time to walk through, but we were on higher ground so we could still admire it from a distance. Plus they had smaller patches surrounding the cornfield that we could ogle while waiting for the hay ride. I was pleased to find a basket marked $1 for a bunch, on our way out of the ranch. My 2 sunflowers faded after a few days, but the other 3 flowers I bought are still looking decent after 2.5 weeks! Probably one of the best dollars I've spent, I'd say, and anniversaries too. :)