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California and Shaver Lake Camping – August 2011

October 12, 2014 No Comments

I’m in New Jersey right now, visiting with my family, and seeing my grandmother. I’m also taking the opportunity to go to…IKEA. Yeah. For reals. The nearest IKEA to me is in Toronto. The nearest in the US is in Pittsburgh, and the second nearest US one is…in Paramus. So now I can say I’ve braved the Saturday Paramus shopping rush, and emerged victorious! The drive down was really amazing; a wonderland of fall colors, and today we went to the New Jersey State Botanical Gardens and got to enjoy a lot more of that. Really nice quick trip. Back to Rochester tomorrow!

But! Back in August 2011 I drove up to the Bay Area while Nathan had some laser time up there, and spent several days hanging with a bunch of friends, starting in the South Bay, and heading up East Bay-wards, before heading up to Shaver Lake for Danny’s birthday (which I had done on one prior occasion, and can find absolutely no photos or writeup of. Sad.)

turtle
Can’t have a lake trip without a turtle…

Heading through California

Channel Islands – July 2011 – Part the Third and last

October 2, 2014 No Comments

This week has been remarkably prosaic. Leaves are falling. I went to the dentist. Some chicken went *truly* rancid in the fridge. That stench took a while to clear out of the kitchen. So that’s me! Happy October. Anyway, where were we? We’d just spent our first couple days on the Channel Islands, so we might as well finish the trip (…which was secretly ending up in August 2011, but I want the titles to match up, you know). Picture dense again – the last day was super pretty. Pretty much not sorry.


through-colors
Ridiculous

Continuing

Channel Islands – July 2011 – Day 2

September 27, 2014 No Comments

Today we went and picked up our new canoe! We learned the art of actually tying it to the car, and went out paddling for a few miles. We saw some ducks, swans, a turtle, and some powerboats, and also some nice fall colors, so a totally legitimate breakin ride , I would say. But….somehow we now have to *travel back in time*, to the second day of our time in the Channel Islands, in which there was walking, and foxes!


to-a-view
I am sure there is a view right…over…there

Onwards, and, today, some Upwards

Channel Islands – July 2011 – Part the First

September 20, 2014 No Comments

Summer is mostly over – today is a great weather day, but the leaves are turning, you know? At least compared to LA, it makes all the apple / corn / pumpkin stuff make a bit more logical sense 🙂 Anyway, I got a little bit of teasing about writing these up so many years later, but they’re as much for me as for anyone else, so no skin off my back. Summer 2011 was really nicely outdoorsy, so here we have another bit of it – the first day of our trip to the Channel Islands.

Nathan and I had been trying to get out to the Channel Islands for some time (well, we’d each been wanting to go, and then when we fell in together, it wasn’t like the desire fell by the wayside : ) we invited some other people, had some interest from other people, and then had that not work out, so, to hades with that, we were going! We planned and booked the trip, heading out for a four-day weekend, from July 29-August 1, to Santa Rosa Island on the Channel Islands National Park. We walked around, saw island foxes, and lots of other things, and had a good time.


tole-mour
The good ship Tole Mour!

To the trip!

Arroyo Seco Gabrielino Trail to Brown Canyon Dam – July 16, 2011

September 7, 2014 No Comments

Totally presumed that we would have some down time to relax after the wedding. So far, that hasn’t happened. Mostly good stuff though – some house stuff done, a karate belt test, work (well, that’s been a… mixed bag), and then another upcoming wedding this weekend, and then a few days in Cambridge and then almost a whole month at home! Anyway!

Three long summers ago, I went on a nice walk up the Arroyo Seco with Joe, and we ended up at the Brown Canyon Dam, which I’d never seen before. We were mostly out to take photos and get some fresh air, and I would have to say I think we succeeded on both fronts.


pink-stripes
It was a really beautiful day out

To the rest!

Crystal Lake to Windy Gap – June 19, 2011

July 26, 2014 No Comments

Today was pretty nice – went out to the beach in Canandaigua for a bit, then stopped for lunch down there, on top of doing some garden work and generally puttering around the house. The first tomato turned red today, so here is hoping that there are continuous fresh tomatoes from now until October! Two weeks to go; most of the details have been hammered out, so I think we’re good. We’re getting the leaded glass sidelight windows repaired, so, one step at a time to keeping everything in the house shipshape.
Now, back to a hike we did in the mountains north of LA, some three solid summers ago…man, that summer was packed!


windy-gap
Up at Windy Gap. I think which way the wind goes is reasonably apparent.

Up above the clouds

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