Matthew's web log

The weekend of May 31st and June 1st was one of contrasts (as far as the hikes go).  Saturday we went hiking in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve.  While it was sunny yet cool, at home, the hike was up near Skyline.  The fog bank was settled in right around there.  As we drove up, the road got wet and we were inside a cloud.  The fog kept us cool, but I could have used some sunlight.  The hike was really neat.  L’ played leader and directed us on about a 5 mile loop.  Along this loop, we saw a large sandstone outcropping and plane crash wreckage from the 1950s. 

On Sunday, I really wanted to get in some sunlight.  I’m careful to not have skin exposure, but the bright light and blue skies were a welcome change from the day before.  We just did a quick loop at Edgewood County park.  Short and sweet, but still scenic.

Photos of El Corte de Madera Creek:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/CortedeMaderaMay2008/

Photos of Edgewood County Park:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/EdgewoodJune2008/

Contrary to my usual method of advanced travel planning, we decided on Wednesday to go out of town for a night over Memorial Day Weekend.  I suggested San Juan Bautista because it sounded interesting (another one of California’s Missions and they filmed Vertigo there) and was conveniently located just an hour away.  With cool weather forecast, we could add on the Pinnacles National Monument (which on average would be too hot to hike this time of year).

Leaving Saturday in the early afternoon, we drove towards San Juan Bautista.  In my research for the weekend, I learned the fact that San Juan Bautista is "St. John the Baptist" which in retrospect is obvious.  I never was an expert in Catholic Saints though.  There is a lot of history in California and not growing up here, I don’t know much about it (I don’t remember a whole lot from the elementary school project I did on California).  Arriving at the Mission on a gray, cool May afternoon, we squeezed in a tour before it closed at 4:30.  The mission and some surrounding buildings are available for visiting.  We saw one of the original stretches of El Camino Real (which connected the original Spanish Missions).  It was a dirt road here with nowhere near the traffic of El Camino closer to home.  It’s come pretty far.  The Mission was neat and looked just like in the movie (except no Bell Tower).  There were some old stage coaches to see, an old hotel and building and a big plaza.  We finished seeing everything shortly before the official closing time and then headed a block over to the hotel to check in.

We cleaned up in the hotel, the Posada de San Juan.  While just a two diamond according to AAA, the bathroom was very nice.  It had a large jacuzzi tub and a stereo shower (two shower heads on opposite walls that were both on- I kept spinning in circles).  After the stereo shower, we wandered out for dinner.  It was nice not having to drive to go for dinner.  The town seemed deserted around 6pm.  It was kind of eerie.  I guess SJB isn’t a popular getaway (then why isn’t the hotel cheaper?).   We wandered the one main drag and saw a couple restaurants that were mentioned in Via magazine.   The lady in the hotel recommended the Cutting Horse.  It’s a steak place, but she said the halibut was very good (leaving L’ with at least one dinner option; we know what happens if she doesn’t get food).  After surveying our choices we chose the Cutting Horse and there was a one man band playing at the front of the completely empty restaurant.   Strange, but we took a table and the place had a few more customers later, but was never even half full.  I got a steak which was decent.  Even the top restaurants in a small town like this are only average when compared with the restaurants in the Bay Area.   The chocolate mousse cake was excellent.  Since we had a full day coming up and there wasn’t much going on in town, we just relaxed in the jacuzzi and called it a night.

Sunday we were up at a reasonable time to pack up and get breakfast around the corner.  Then it was off to Pinnacles National Monument which is about an hour south of SJB.  We picked up some bagels and cream cheese for lunch and arrived at the park around 12:30.  To our dismay, it was cool and rainy on the drive and in the park.  Since the normal rainfall for the month is less than 0.5 inches, this kind of weather is very strange.   We were willing to adjust our hike length based on the weather. 

I didn’t know much about Pinnacles.  It’s a geologic formation that is on the remains of a volcano.  Basically, a volcano was straddling the fault line.  It exploded.  Over the passage of time the plates moved and half the volcano remnants are here and the rest are over a hundred miles to the south.  The remaining stuff at Pinnacles is neat rock formations and pretty topography.   As is normally the case, I let L’ navigate and she picked a nice 5 mile loop for us.  The weather is really just an exceptionally light mist so we press on.  Part of the loop is warned to be "steep and narrow" and we learn that they are not kidding.  Nothing too difficult, but it was a steep, narrow staircase.   Even with the clouds and poor weather, I take some pictures and imagine that on a blue sky day, this would be spectacular.  We’ll have to return.  We do our full hike of a little over 1300 feet of elevation gain of which the last two miles were down hill.  We make it back to our starting point, make a quick stop in the visitor center and then hit the road to head north and return home.  We get back to my place in the late afternoon where we can shower, grab dinner, and sleep really well from our long day of hiking.

View the photos from the two day trip:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SanJuanBautistaMay2008/

In another installment of my springtime ritual, I went to the East Coast to visit Grandma in New York and friends and family in Florida  Taking advantatage of a direct flight, I flew the red eye to New York for a few days in the Big Apple.  These were filled with enterntainment, good restaurants, and a stop to see Grandma and Aunt Karen.  We enjoyed the Natural History Museum which I think is one of the better museums to visit as a frequent visitor to the city.  It’s huge and to read even some of the signs, you could spend days there.  We also checked out the Lower East side for a trip to the past when it was an immigrant communtiy filled with members of the tribe.  Despite numerous trips to Manhattan this was my first time going up the Empire State Building which coincided with the best weather during our stay in NY. 

Florida was expectedly hot and humid although bearable for most of the time.  We went to the new location of Parrot Jungle which was fun.  I saw a couple friends that still live in Florida and celebrated Mom’s birthday with a couple good dinners.  The week went by quickly and then it was back home to California where I returned to work.

The photos are online   The album includes some pictures that were taken by others.

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/NewYorkandFlorida2008/

It’s been a few weeks since I posted photos.  Two weeks ago we went hiking at Huddart Park.  While the hike was beautiful through the redwoods, none of the photos were that great and since I’ve been busy, I didn’t bother making an album of them.  On last week’s short uphill park at El Sereno I just brought the pocket camera, but forgot the memory card at home (I did hike a different part of the park last summer).   That explains the lack of photos for the last couple weeks, but rest assured, we’ve still been busy.

This weekend the weather turned summer like with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  A nice change from the unseasonably cool weather earlier last week.  We took the opportunity to explore yet another park, Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.  This park is off Skyline and has views of the ocean, redwoods, and wildflowers.  We’re even able to see part of our previous hike.  The photo highlights are here:

 http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/PurisimaApr2008/

(Note, the map links for each photo are working, but I haven’t had time to make the overall map of the hike, so that link is currently broken).

Following some storms Friday night and a few clouds on Saturday, the weather turned beautiful for Sunday.  It was perfect hiking weather.  We the rains earlier in the weekend, it seemed like a good idea to try and see some waterfalls now that they should be refilled.  After some web research, we found that San Pedro Valley County Park, had a waterfall that was over 100 feet.  Not being too long a drive made our decision easier to head over there.  Arriving at the ranger station we asked about which trail had the waterfall.  We were given directions, but the disappointing news that the waterfall was at most a trickle since they didn’t get much rain this weekend.  We pressed on anyway and had some good views of the Pacific and the town below.  The breeze was cool off the water, but in the sun without the wind it was t-shirt weather.  Here are the photos:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SanPedroMar2008

(As with the last hikes, there’s a link on the main index page for the map overview). 

With the mild California winter on the wane, I was able to get in a hike the last two weekends.  A couple weekends ago I returned to Almaden Quicksilver Park.  On a very clear day, we could see all three of the Bay Area’s biggest cities- San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland.  This was a long hike for me (6 miles, according to the gps), but was still an enjoyable day outside.

Last weekend, the parents were visiting and it was in the low 70s- great for early March.  We went for a hike in Santa Teresa County Park.    After misreading the map, we took a steeper trail than I had wanted to.  We all survived and enjoyed the good views.

Note there is now a link to a map showing the entire hike (found on the index pages). I’m still fine tuning the website presentation for this, so comments are welcome.  There are still map links from each photo page.

Photos from the hikes are here:

Almaden Quicksilver:  

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/AlmadenQuicksilverMar2008/index.php

Santa Teresa:

http://ww.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SantaTeresaMar2008/index.php

With a three day weekend celebrating our presidents, it was a good opportunity to do some California site seeing.  I rarely do local touring, but this time we spent three nights down in San Luis Obispo (known locally as "San Luis" and abbreviated SLO).   Leaving after work on Friday, the traffic was not too bad.  We stopped for dinner at the Gilroy outlet mall and then had clear sailing down 101.  We arrived at our accomodations at the Peach Tree Inn around 9:30.  The hotel name reminded me of my time in Atlanta where every other street is named peachtree.  The hotel is more than adequate- they have honey nut cheerios for breakfast, a friendly staff, and free wireless. 

Saturday is the first full day of activities.   We head a mile down the street to downtown and explore the Mission.  Many California cities were started as missions.  This one dates from 1772 and was the fifth one in California.  It is adjacent to the creek.  The grounds are scenic and our first attempt into the church is stopped because there is a service going on (we learn later that it was a funeral).  It is an unusual "L" shaped church.  L’ asks one of the people there if the purple decorations are for lent and he replies that it is.   Glad that we expressed interest in the building, he takes us back behind the office and shows us part of the exposed original beams of the building.

When we’re done exploring the Mission, we wander around town and stumble on a small museum inside of an old building.  There’s an exhbiit on the history of the Chinese in town, which dates to the 1800s.  It’s now after noon and we break for lunch.   Most importantly, following lunch I visit one of the many candy shops in town and purchase some much deserved fudge. 

Since L’ is an avid hiker and we’re near the beautiful California coast, we head to the Montaña de Oro State park.  Adjacent to the coast, we hike around.  I slow down the pace by stopping to take a photo every ten seconds.   This also is the second attempt at using L”s GPS to later geotag the photos.  Look for the "See Map" link on the photos from this part of the trip.  After a couple hours in cool, windy weather, we head back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner.   We have dinner, wander around town a bit, but it’s cold so we head back to the hotel and crash.

Sunday is our second full day in SLO.  Following breakfast, we head to Morro Bay.  I had seen online that there was a parade of "Tall Ships" on the waterfront.  It turns out to be just a couple, but it was neat to see recently built ships that look like old sailing ships.  Morro Bay is beautiful, but a bit spoiled by the not so scenic power plant in the background.  I did not see Mr. Burns running it. 

After viewing the ships, we head up Hwy 1 and L’ spots a windy road to get us to Paso Robles.  It’s a fun and beautiful drive towards Paso  Robles.  Arriving in downtown Paso Robles, we have lunch and browse just for a little bit.  We then do a wine tasting at the Sylvester winery.  Nothing great, but a couple of the wines were pretty good and we pick up a bottle. The winery has a couple of old railroad cars on site that we explore before hitting the road.  We drive by an old Adobe and L’ wants to stop and check off another California historical landmark.  The adobe is more or less abandoned now, but it has a ~150 year old cemetary adjacent.  After visiting, we head back to SLO for a stop at the Madonna Inn.  This is the super tacky, over the top Inn that is now pretty famous.  We’re not staying there in the caveman room, but I make sure to time our visit so that I can get my money’s worth of the waterfall that serves as the men’s urinal.  The bathroom and decor live up to their reputation.  We then head back to the hotel for a quick stop followed by dinner at Novo downtown (quite good, another good recommendation form Lonely Planet).

Monday morning we check out of the hotel and make our way to Hearst Casle in San Simeon.  Unfortunately, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it is now overcast and breezy.  San Simeon is on the coast off Hwy  1, but we stop off in Cambria for lunch at Robin’s (another Lonely Planet recommendation).  Lunch hits the spot and we make it to the Hearst Castle visitor center with plenty of time for the afternoon tour we’ve already booked.    The tour starts with a bus ride up the hill for a guided walk around the castle and into some of the rooms of the castle.  While there are multiple tours availalble, we only do the basic one that shows you the highlights.  After the tour and bus ride back to the visitor center, we grab some hot drinks and snacks.  Our tickets include a movie about the castle, but it doesn’t start for a while and you can’t jump in during the middle.  We decide to just hit the road. 

A few miles north of the castle there are a couple vistas to see the elephant seals.  This time of year is breeding and frolicking time.  The seals are very active- much more than when I saw them at Año Nuevo last year.  I’m able to take lots of photos of great seal action.   Since the weather is not the greatest, we then head back up along the coast making minimal stops.  If the weather were good, I could see wanting to stop every ten minutes for a great photo op.  Since I know I’ll be back, we just stay on the road and head back toward home.  We get back in time for dinner, unpacking, and preparing for going back to work after a great three day weekend.

For all the photos, see the following link:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SanLuisObispoFeb2008/

The rain finally stopped after what seemed like forever.  With beautiful weather, it was time to get some hiking in. 

Saturday it was off to the Long Ridge Open Space Preserve.   The preserve is off Skyline and it was a twisty road to get there- lots of fun to drive.  Getting there mid-afternoon and with a busy evening planned, we only had a couple hours to explore.  It was nearly deserted and we made a loop, including an intense uphill part.  The lighting was challenging for the photographs.  Lots of shadows and brights in the same picture and moving in and out of the shadows required constant fiddling with the camera.  Here are the photos:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/LongRidgeFeb2008

Sunday L’ took me to one of her favorite hikes near Half Moon Bay.  It was windy at times, but the views were spectacular.  We saw a few elephant seals in the  ocean right off the beach.  The tide wasn’t low enough to walk the whole loop along the beach, but it was still quite pretty.  It reminded me of Point Reyes, only without a two hour car ride.  

A new experiment with the Half Moon Bay Hike was to try syncing the photos with the GPS tracking recorded by L”s GPS device.  This was fairly easy after a little web research.  I’m still working on the best way to display the map and photos together.  For now, there is a "See Map" link on each photo page (in the bottom right next to the photograph information) that will pull up a Google terrain map of where the photo was taken.   Here are the photos:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/HalfMoonBayFeb2008

After recovering from Belize the first weekend of the month, it was time to explore some of the wonderful sites of the Bay Area.  Saturday it was off to the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a short fifteen minute drive or so.  Exploring the Sierra Azul trail, it was mostly shady and fairly steep.  Here are the highlights:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SierraAzul2008/ 

The following day it was up to San Francisco to visit the zoo.  I was hoping there would be an idiot feeding time like there was last month, but no luck.  Still, it was fun visiting my third zoo within a month.  It was one of the clearest days I've seen in SF.  We explored the northern end of the city after the zoo for some good views of the Golden Gate. Here are the highlights:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/SFZoo2008/

All of the trip reports and photos from last month's Belize adventure are now online.  The main index page is here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/Belize2007/index.html

Enjoy reading and viewing the photos.  The trip reports all have musically based titles so have fun figuring out the songs and artists.  You can comment at the end of any of the specific trip reports or leave a comment below.

And if that's not enough, Lonnie's photos are online at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=982r7rrd.7z4u1nel&x=1&y=8mlb5t