Matthew's web log

We spent a night in lovely Carmel, CA.  We had been there briefly before, but this time we stayed for the night.  The area is pretty and quirky.  For example, there are no addresses.  Houses have names and directions are given via cross streets.   This made putting our hotel into the GPS a challenge, but we still got there.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we were surprised to see the sun and not a single cloud in the sky.  Carmel is not known for the best weather.  Turns out the reputation was correct and a few hours later, it had clouded over.  We spent the morning walking around downtown and checking out the ocean.  The downtown area has lots of restaurants and a candy store for some fudge.  Shockingly, we did not see an ice cream store.  I’ll need to contact the chamber of commerce.

After lunch, we went to Garland Ranch Regional Park, which was suggested to us by the folks in the hotel.  It’s inland about ten miles or so from the hotel.  Being inland, it has the advantage of being slightly warmer, less breezy, and sunnier.   The volunteer at the visitor center suggested a nice loop for us.  While the views were wonderful, it turned out to be a little steeper than we had anticipated and we gained 1300 feet in elevation in about a mile and a quarter.  There were some spectacular wild flower blooms to make it worth it.  The park had a great variety in vegetation and views which made it an enjoyable afternoon.

View all the photos here:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/CarmelApr2013

It was spring time so that meant we went to the East Coast to visit the families.  While in the DC area, we experienced the whacky weather that’s the new normal – snow in late March.  A couple inches of accumulation made for some snowy pictures and cold weather.  We stayed inside for the most part to avoid the cold.  Our blood has thinned after many years in California. We don’t do winter.

Space Shuttle Discovery

For an afternoon of sightseeing, we visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located near Dulles Airport.  This is part of the National Air and Space Museum.  It is a couple of large hangers with lots and lots of airplanes and exhibits related to the space age.  The primary interest for me was the space shuttle Discovery that is now on display following the end of the space shuttle program.  While I saw a shuttle launch as a kid and the shuttle fly by the Bay Area on its way to retirement, I had never been this close to one.  It was fun to see, although bittersweet to think that the country no longer has a permanent manned space program.   Other sites of interest here were an SR-71, the Enola Gay, and a Concorde.  The museum was a fun afternoon.

See the photos from the trip:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/WashingtonDCMar2013/

Today the Maverick’s Surf Contest was held off of Half Moon Bay.  It’s not visible from the beach, but they only hold the contest when there is a high surf.  While there might be 20 foot waves out at Mavericks, along the coast it’s a little more tame, with 5-10 foot waves.  We went to check out the coast and see them.

The temperature was very pleasant, but as usual it was very windy.  We walked along the beach and watched the waves.  In the distance, we could see a lot of boats trying to get a glimpse of Maverick’s.  The coast, as always, is very scenic.  View all the pictures here:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/HalfMoonBayJan201

For our last couple days in Palm Springs, we kept things low key.  On Friday, we hiked the South Carl Lykken Trail, North (yes, it’s a very confusing name).  It’s a thousand feet of elevation gain over a pretty well graded trail.  The view at the top was nice and of course coming down much easier.  Our evening dinner at Lulu’s was enjoyable.

Saturday, we browsed a nearby arts & crafts fair that we could walk to from our hotel.  It was similar to the Art Festivals we have back at home.  I took a nap and L’ went on an extra hike (but I thought about exercising, so it counts as a workout).  The weather clouded over a bit in the afternoon so it was far from optimum pool/spa weather.  We even saw a few brief sprinkles of rain.  Our dinner nearby at Johannes was excellent and definitely our best food of the trip.

There weren’t as many photos from these couple days, but the relaxation factor was very high and made it well worth it.

View the final pictures from Palm Springs:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%206%20and%207,%20Palm%20Springs/index.html#

Joshua Tree

We got an earlier start today than the past few days to have more time at Joshua Tree National Park.  It’s not too far from Palm Springs, but it gets dark around 4pm as the sun goes behind the mountains; we wanted to maximize our daylight adventure.  We picked up sandwiches (I find it a little odd how Subway’s are now often at gas stations) on our way to the visitor center .  With our brochures in hand and park fees paid, we were on our way into the park.

Many of the sites are part of short (1-2 mile) nature trails as opposed to longer, more strenuous hikes.  This was fine as it was cold out.  Some of the park is as high as 5000 feet above sea level and thus considerably colder than Palm Springs.  Much of our day was spent wearing all of our gear to stay warm in the 43 degree weather.  At least the sun was nice and warm.

We stopped at Hidden Valley, Barker dam, Keyes view, Skull Rock, Arch Rock and the Cholla Cactus garden .  Each of these let us see different aspects of the park.  There is a lot to see beyond just the namesake Joshua Trees (which technically aren’t even trees).  To top it off, we watched the moon rise over the mountains as the sun set.   We then headed out the southern entrance and returned to Palm Springs.

View all the pictures from today:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%205,%20JoshuaTree/index.html

Today we went to The Living Desert, a zoo located in Palm Desert (a few towns over from Palm Springs). It took surprisingly long to get there so by the time we made it to Palm Desert, we stopped for an early lunch. We finally made it to the zoo by the early afternoon.

The zoo is reasonably sized and we were able to see the whole place. There are two sections, North American and African. We saw a variety of animals and met up with friends from home who were also in Palm Springs for vacation.

While in the snack shop, I spotted my college friend and his family who I haven’t seen in several years.  Small world, since they live in Seattle. It was nice to briefly catch up.

Getting back to town, we went to the Fisherman’s Market & Grill, which was very good. You pick your fish and then they grill it for you. Tasty, reasonably priced, and quicker than a full sit down service restaurant. A good end to another fun day.

View the photos from today:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%204,%20The%20Living%20Desert/index.html

We returned to Indian land today to visit Tahquitz Canyon. After a steep admission charge, we began the roughly one mile hike through the canyon that ends at a sixty foot waterfall. The hike is well signed and coordinated with our map for various points of interest. The waterfall is very pretty and we begin the hike back after a snack and photos.

When we got back to town, we had lunch at Sherman’s Deli, just a block from our hotel. We’re not sure what makes it the claimed “kosher style” (since they had a ham & cheese sandwich), but the rare roast beef sandwich was good. More importantly, they had egg creams! The waitress said it was the first one she had made so I gave her my expert assessment- it was very good.

I was now ready for my nap. L’ decided she needed more exercise so she went for a hike on the Museum Trail while I snoozed. When she returned, she took a short nap and then we went for dinner at a Japanese place around the corner from the hotel.  Not quite the traditional Christmas outing for Chinese food, but close enough.

View the pictures of Tahquitz Canyon:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%203,%20Tahquitz%20Canyon/index.html#

We went to the Palm Springs visitors center outside of town to find out about hikes.  We were able to get discounted tickets to the Indian Canyons area.  It’s  owned by the Agua Caliente Band of the Cahuilla Indians and they charge rather steep prices.  At least we now knew better what we wanted to visit and had a couple useful maps.  As a bonus, there was a pretty rainbow outside which seemed odd in a desert.

After lunch back in downtown Palm Springs, we went to Indian Canyons and did the Murray Canyon hike.  The hike follows the stream through the canyon.  We saw the large palm oasis and continued hiking to the trail end where there is a small cascade of waterfalls (known as the Seven Sisters).  The hike had about seventeen stream crossings (each way), but none were too treacherous.  The hike was pleasant and we rewarded ourselves with a dip in the hot tub back at the hotel upon our return.

After a shower and an excellent nap, we had dinner at Las Casuelas Mexican restaurant which was good.   There were plenty of restaurants open even though it was Christmas Eve, so for once, we didn’t have to struggle to find decent food.

View the pictures from today:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%202,%20Indian%20Canyons/index.html#

View the pictures from today:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PalmSpringsDec2012/Day%201,%20Santa%20Maria/index.html#

We were able to book a room at Yosemite Lodge last minute and thus make a weekend getaway to Yosemite Valley.  This was my first time in the park in the fall.  Since last year was a relatively dry year (only about 50% of normal rain/snow), the major waterfalls were either completely dry or only a trickle instead of a thunder.   While still spectacular, I can’t help but miss the thunder and site of Yosemite Falls.

Unlike in the Spring and its fill of snow, higher elevation sections of the park were more accessible.  We took a one way bus ride up to Glacier Point, 3200 feet above the valley floor.  From here, there are wonderful views of Half Dome and the valley.   We then left the crowds and starting hiking down the Panorama Trail towards the valley floor.  The signed distance is 8.0 miles, but our total hiking for the day was closer to 9.5 miles, according to the GPS.  I was quite sore for a few days afterwards, but it was worth it.  The trail takes you by three waterfalls with almost continuous spectacular views.

To start our second day, we drove up to Tuolomne Meadows.  Along the way, we stopped at Olmstead Point for a different vantage point of Half Dome.  While it was around 70 degrees yesterday and today, on Friday there was rain, fog, and snow.  This had the added benefit of a light snow dusting of the upper elevations.  Tuolomne Meadows is above 8000 feet and the peaks visible from here are thousands of feet higher.  The views were even prettier thanks to the snow.  We hiked up Pothole Dome (much easier than Lembert Dome), and had wonderful views of the area.

Before heading home, we stopped at a vista point along the road and made a quick stop to Saddlebag Lake.  That area is over 10,000 feet in elevation and there was still snow on the ground.

View all the photos here:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/YosemiteOct2012/