Changes

I am sitting here at my desk in my office on my last day of work for the summer. I'm listening to the Giants playing the Braves on my iPad (a rare 9 am game time) and am trying to get a few things wrapped up before heading out on a few weeks break.

Tomorrow we are headed off for a few nights of camping with my wife's niece and her family. Should be a, hopefully, peaceful break with some inner tubing and boating fun mixed in for spice.

We've got a few more camping trips on tap and a bunch of house projects to try and move forward. And some revenue projects that could use a little love and attention.

I'm just looking forward to sleeping in some, going to the beach and trails with my wife and kids and having a little fun before the school year kicks back into gear! And my kids will be starting junior guards next week so they'll be getting all beach ripped!

Looking Forward and Up

The SCMTB Fest is coming!

What do the next ten months of 2012 hold? For myself and my little family, we are stuffing as much good stuff in among the work. I count myself pretty lucky that I work in education and have some summer break time to do more family stuff. I usually end up working over the summer and this one will be no different. But I have a boss who wants me to write up my schedule and give him an idea of what I will do.

What does the rest of the year hold for us? Several group camping trips with friends to Big Sur, Mt. Madonna, Arroyo Seco, the Sea Otter Classic, Spicer up north and New Brighton Beach locally. I've got my first and likely only triathlon of the year scheduled and on the books at the Avia Wildflower, we may camp for it but not in with the other triathletes as it is just too darned pricey to do it right now. Maybe next year when my pay returns to its normal levels (long story but the short of it is my checks are about $350 light right now).

California Camping FTW!

This is not falling with grace but it was fun!

We got back on Friday afternoon from a semi-impromptu camping trip to a place called Arroyo Seco near Greenfield, California. The place is 1.5 hours from our house which makes it pretty well in our backyard. But totally off the grid, no network connectivity whatsoever. Yes, Virginia, I was without internet access for nearly 48 consecutive hours and I did not disintegrate into a puddle of 1's and 0's.

The campground at Arroyo Seco is at an entrance to the Los Padres National Forest (basically the inland portion of the top of Big Sur). It is a rugged and beautiful country with steep hills, sharp and vertigo-inducing gorges, slightly chilly water, crayfish and a touch too many yellow jackets/hornets for my taste.

I took some notes, about the only thing the iPad was good for without any connection to the web, although Starchart was, as always, totally bitchin' to fire up and hold up over head. Seriously, if you have an iPad and access to a clear sky, get it. You'll ooh and ahh and it'll impress the heck out of people (if you're into that sort of thing).

See You On the Other Side

We were supposed to be on the road more than an hour and a half ago but this is a pretty complex weekend so there are lists to check, multiple coolers to pack, kids to occupy and all kinds of other stuff.


I just mentioned to my wife that we bit off a pretty big first camping trip with the kids weekend by combining it with a first time triathlon for me and a first time in a long time triathlon for my wife.

But hey, go big or stay home, right?

Anyway, we're getting ready to head out and I thought I'd steal a quick minute to post this.

See you in a few days.

A Long But Great Day Out

It is, as I write this, a quarter to six. I woke up this morning right around 4:30 and was unable to get back to bed. The sake and beers probably didn't help but either way, I've been up for more than 13 hours now and am wiped out.

Today was a good day though. Nice breakfast (corned beef hash and eggs!), an aborted trip to the Exploratorium (the line was over two hours long to get in because it was a free day), we ended up out at Chrissy Field for a little while and then drove down Highway 1 along the coast.

At Devil's Slide there were almost 20 kite surfers ripping it up and the weather was gorgeous. Only a couple of Sunday drivers who needed to be passed with extreme acceleration (have I mentioned how much I like

I've uploaded some of the trip pics already. And more to come as I work through them.

A great time was had by all and we're now prepped for longer trips out and about. I'd like to go camping in Big Sur but that's not going to be happening anytime soon with the fires and mandatory evacuations taking place. Maybe we'll go hit Henry Cowell first. I know I want Nande to come with us but am not sure how that'll fly.

What I Learned Last Night

I learned that our tent is too small for four people and a dog. Three people would probably be alright as long as one of those people was Grady or Sully sized. But two of them and two adults is too much.

But I slept well on the air mattress despite the expected leakage. The ground was bumpy but it felt smooth and comfy to me.

I didn't really care for the pincer bug that crawled across me in the night and left me with more phantom tick attacks than I've already been having. But it was a nice night and not a bad way to learn that we've outgrown our tent.

Better to learn it in the backyard than a couple of hours away from home on Lake San Antonio or Big Sur.

But the tent would make a nice backup or granny unit for a tow camp trailer. While I'm at it, we need a boat too. And a small plane would be nice, as well. Maybe that cool one with the canards and push-prop and swept back wings that keeps flying by? Sure, that'd be fine.