Mum & Dad, having completed their main tour from San Diego back up to San Francisco, now have a couple of weeks with me in the Bay Area. We took the opportunity of having good weather to cross the Golden Gate and spend the weekend in Marin. Day 1: antique shopping in Petaluma, and Day 2: a fantastic walk in the sun, retracing our steps to Alamere Falls. After the manufactured saccharine charms of SoCal, I think it was a breath of fresh air.
I am lucky enough to have my parents visiting at the moment; here for a few days before heading down to San Diego, and taking a leisurely drive up the coast. While the first Saturday was a wash-out, the sun came out to play on Sunday, and we counted ourselves lucky to have such a pleasant day to visit one of the most famous tourist destinations in America; Alcatraz.
It certainly is a tourist trap, but the constricted numbers (book ahead in the summer, folks) and unbelievable location make it a must-see attraction. The audio tour – usual a gimmick – adds tremendous depth and atmosphere to the experience … very much recommended, and even better followed-up with hot clam chowder.
The pleasures of living in California … while it is a bit of an effort to get up to the slopes, it’s worth it. This time, it’s Squaw; a much larger, almost European resort, and host to the 1960 Winter Olympics. Super amazing (if cold) conditions were marred only by having ski boots that were a size too big … something to add to the shopping list.
My first house guest!
Ken was in town to take care of activities at the hand-built bike show over in Sacramento, and managed to set aside some good time to hang out at the house, and with the Sitzer clan. Good times.
It’s odd, for the last few months in the USA I have not felt the urge to grab my SLR to take photos. But, last night I suddenly felt the urge to use a real camera, so on the way to dinner with a friend I grabbed my 5D and rattled off a few shots. More to come.
In the last fourteen years, I have only managed a scant week of skiing, and in that week (back in 2004) I managed to break my wrist while trying to snowboard.
In moving to California, I was rather excited about the prospect of living within shooting distance of some serious mountains, so when a team of designers, architects and webby people invited me along, I immediately bit their hand off.
Located to the south of the main Tahoe areas, Kirkwood has some of the best snowfall in the region, and while not quite waist-deep in powder, we at least had some pretty soapy white stuff to mess around on, with minimal ice.
I was pleasantly surprised by the difference in experience between skiing in Europe and America. The super resorts in France are huge in comparison and really set up for a solid week of action; this is in contrast to here, where people get less vacation and want a weekend get-away.
Skiing with a couple of Dutch people, it was interesting to discover just how many of the cultural references we shared from family holidays in the Alps; the Raclette and Fondue, the mixtures of European nations vying to be first onto the ski lift, and the uniform ridicule of mono skiers and their strange sense of fashion. I would also argue that, since people are only going for the weekend a few times a year – instead of saving for six months and going for 9 days – that people don’t invest to the same amount in lessons. You do see plenty of groups of ‘roll-ons’ though (we dubbed the wee kids in the helmets by this name, since they look like cans of roll-on deodorant) and the skills of some of the snowboarders, in particular, was breathtaking.
But I ain’t complaining; skiing and hotdogs is a fine combination, and one I shall be partaking in again at the earliest possible convenience.
One of the pleasures of walking around the neighbourhood is checking out the exotic (and not so exotic) machinery on display. Everything from immaculately-prepared hotrods, through to European rust-buckets.
It’s been great to have Abe back in town for a couple of weeks. A great opportunity to hang out, get introduced to some awesome people, and get some kitchen time with Abe … great to have the place up and running for his arrival.
First ride for my Santa Cruz Blur LT in California today! We took the opportunity of a day off work (Thanksgiving) to head out into the hills. This ride is a solid lung-buster climb, followed by amazing views (sadly not for us though) and a swift descent down sandy fire road. A perfect blast and work out for an overcast morning.
[custom_field field=”Pacifica – San Pedro” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
Given how diligently commercialised the rest of the holidays in America have become, it comes as a pleasant surprise just how innocent and positive Thanksgiving is. Gather with friends and family, eat a little too much, drink until tipsy, and in the case of about thirty other Californians, head to the beach to throw a ball around and enjoy the Autumn sunset.
In that spirit (forgive me if I am getting a little too Californian here), I could not be where I am right now without the love and support of some great family and friends. I am an extremely lucky guy!
Thankyou.
