Category: California
We are finally back in California. For me, this trip to Canada felt incomplete, but what can you do when Mother Nature has her own ideas. Wildfires aren’t just limited to Canada, as we have our own forest fires to deal with south of the border. However, unlike the ones up north that were triggered … Continue reading McWay Falls
When people mention Yosemite National Park, the Half Dome comes to mind. The famed 16-mile Half Dome cable hike is a bucket list item for many hikers, but securing a permit is not easy. Luckily, there are other challenging trails within the park such as the Upper Yosemite Falls hike and the Four Mile Trail. … Continue reading Four Mile Trail
It’s been 10 weeks since the contractors started work on our master bathroom, and our bathroom is now finally finished. We were initially told that the process would take 3-4 weeks, which I thought was an ambitious timeline, but 10 weeks?! I liked our old bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathtub needed to go. Not only is … Continue reading Bathroom Renovation
Been back home for 3 weeks now, and in the midst of getting the house ready for termite tenting, roofing repairs, and various reno projects. Finally got a chance to get back on track running at Crystal Cove marveling at our wildlife here. It always gives me warm fuzzy feelings when I see dolphins. New … Continue reading Crystal Cove
Given the desert conditions of SoCal, our national parks pale in comparison to the ones located further north in the state. One of the best and most well known national parks in California is Yosemite. Due to its popularity, visiting the park requires advanced planning to secure lodging, permits, and reservations. But that’s not always … Continue reading Upper Yosemite Falls Trail
It’d be a shame to come to California and not visit any one of the National Parks. So we dragged Angela to her second National Park during her monthlong stay with us. Sequoia National Park is famous for its gigantic sequoia trees. General Sherman being the largest tree in the world by volume. While other … Continue reading Tokopah Falls Trail
California is one big National Park. In total we have 9 National Parks with varying scenery, from the desert terrain of Death Valley and Joshua Tree, to the Giant Sequoias in King and Sequoia, granite rocks with waterfalls in Yosemite, volcanic rocks of Lassen, and the shores of Point Reyes and Channel Islands. Today we … Continue reading Redwood National Park
Faith came to visit this week, and managed to drag my lazy bum out of the house to go whale watching. In the 11 years we’ve been in SoCal, never once did we go whale watching, even though the migrating whales are just off our coastline. Whales migrate down south from their feeding grounds in … Continue reading Pink Floyd
Two “baby” hikes. For our last day in Tahoe, we decided to go on a hike that the kids would be able to do. After some research, I decided on the Cascade Falls trail. A baby hike of just 1.4 miles out and back. The beginning of the hike looked promising with a wide and … Continue reading Cascade Falls & Eagle Lake Trails
After yesterday’s 10-mile hike, we decided to take it easy today. Spent the day at Meeks Bay paddling the day away. Rented boards from SUP Tahoe - highly recommend these guys They racked up the boards on top of the minivan for us Whiling away the hours on the lake
We were supposed to do stand up paddling today, but due to high winds we postponed it to tomorrow, and I made the last-minute executive decision to move up our Mt. Tallac hike to today. As a result of the last minute change, we ended up starting our hike very late - 11AM, instead of … Continue reading Mt Tallac Trail
We finally made it up to Lake Tahoe after having lived in CA for the past decade. Joe had always wanted to check out the place, but for some reason I’ve always felt there’s something better than going to a lake. For me, lakes are for fishing, swimming and, subsequently, contracting some kind of brain-eating … Continue reading Rubicon Trail
It’s been a year since I last ran. Suffering from burnout from running and non stop training for the last 8 years, I was toying with the idea of giving myself a break from running. Back in April of 2020, the California State Parks (including my training ground) closed due to the pandemic, and that … Continue reading Back To The Old Haunt
Joshua Tree National Park is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from us - a nice day trip for a hike. Of the 15 National Parks we’ve been to in 6 states, this one ranks smack dab in the middle of my favorite (#1&2 being Zion and Grand Teton). Judging by my list of favorite … Continue reading Joshua Tree National Park
Being in nature makes me happy, and National Parks are a great source of that happiness. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way, because the people you meet on hiking trails are in general the nicest and happiest bunch you’ll ever encounter. How can you not be happy when Mother Nature … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 2
Once retired one has nothing but free time. Add a little dose of spontaneity, and you get last minute trips like our Death Valley National Park trip. Thanks to the internet, a quick research can help cobble up a trip in less than 12 hours. And thanks to credit card reward points, one can score … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 1
FIRE'd @ 47 