The year 2008 in pictures... part 3

• July

Forth of July! Went back up to High Sierra Music Fest... our 4th? or 5th time... always an amazing weekend. Had to miss my HS reunion for that one.


And the wedding season begins. Good ole' Tele Pete and his lady decided to have theirs in Yosemite a month before ours! Good choice Pete. Weddings are always fun, but Pete and Heather's wedding at the Evergreen Lodge was really, really fun.


Aaron & Chelsea tied the knot the following weekend in Berkeley. Very classy.


Funk, Alex, Mendel and I went on a full moon kayak paddle in a "slough", slept on the beach, and went kayak surfing all day... then went straight to Aaron and Chelsea's ceremony.


The next weekend, it was Kimbo and I's joint bachelor, bachelorette party at Kirby Cove. A perfect weekend in the bay area. Lot's of games...

• August

Weekend before the wedding... needed to get spiritual in the mountains. Did the Palisades Traverse with Splitboard Stevie... a LONG day involving summiting five 14,000 ft + peaks. Saw Peter Croft the day before... that's Steve in awe as he lapped us 6 times freesoloing harder routes...


The next weekend... let's see... oh. We got married.


Then went on a short honeymoon to Santa Barbara, Channel Islands (where we saw 1000s of dolphins, sea kayaked, snorkeled, swam, and camped), and visited LA... see blog.


We hung out the next weekend, went to Outside Lands, relaxed, took no pics.

And for the long Labor Day weekend, we went out to Mammoth with Dave and Danielle for Demolition Derby... blog.... Kim found some yummy pulled pork. She's excited.

• September

More weddings. This time in Indiana...


B-day... for Kevin "the gimp" Smith in Carmel.


For Kim's B-day, we went on a bike tour in Mendocino with Hoefty and Elena... blog.


Another B-day... this time for Nick. Amazing time, climbing at CalDome for two days then Mtn Biking at N. Star the last. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. Blog.


OK... the last part coming soon...

Honeymoon... side note: Channel Islands trip? Ideas for next time...

After Kimbo and I's last minute trip out to the Channel Islands... I figure I'd jot down some ideas for adventures next time I make it back out there...

• Snorkel/Scuba... the water is much more clear here... there's tons of scuba operations to check out the abundant wildlife (it's protected)... and the fish/lobsters are much bigger here because of the protection... Scuba.. maybe? ... but Snorkeling gear... DEFINITELY.

• Spearfishing... There are numerous sections around the islands which aren't protected. These kids caught a 8 lb Sheepshead... though it's red... and the wiki pic looks nothing of the sort... but sea bass would be a real treat. (you need a spear, diving equipment, and a paddle board would be useful as well)

• Kayak... I'd love to spend some more time sea kayaking out there. The sea caves were a lot of fun to explore (wear your helmet!... and bring a headlamp... I really think there are tunnel that go through anacapa to the other side!)... and pretty exhilarating. There are lots of pour overs you can do... and the wildlife is abundant... The ultimate trip would be to start out at San Miguel then go to Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, then Anacapa, and back to the main land. Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz would take a few days... and landing/camping would be a problem... long stretches between camp sites

• Dolphins... are amazing... and I'm not sure if you'd run across them on your kayak... so taking the ferry at least one way would be a bonus for this trip.
• Deep water free-solo... that would be fun... and sketchy... but would be cool to climb up Arch Rock... then jump off the top
  
• Whale watching... apparently they are here from mid-Dec to April
• Sailing... now... we just need to pirate a catamaran... there were plenty of sailboats moored around the islands... they'd just hop on their dingy, find a nice cove and have a picnic... then dingy back out... not bad.
  

Getting there... Island Packers... seems like they've got a monopoly on the ferry service.

--------------
SANTA CATALINA ISLAND
Another island, I'd love to kayak around is Catalina Island. The island is fully developed with 3,000+ residents, festivals, and even bison.... Catalina probably has a very different feel compared to the Channel Islands, but there are some primitive boat-in only campsites between Avalon and Two Harbors (12 miles), which sound like a lot of fun.

To get there... depart from Long Beach.

Some more useful Catalina kayaking info...

Honeymoon... part 2 (Sea Kayaking the Channel Islands)

So on Day 3 of our honeymoon... I confirmed a few reservations during the brief breaks between riding and tasting wine to head out to the Channel Islands. I picked up a local magazine at the bike shop where we purchased a new tire that had all the information to get out to the Channel Islands NP. I called... made a few reservations, and made it happen.


View Larger Map

Day 4. (Anacapa Island)


Terry was nice enough to give us a ride to my car so that we could head out from Lompoc to Oxnard (1.5 hr drive) and make it down to the harbor by 8:30 am so we could rent our kayak and hop on the ferry at 9.

The Channel Islands are 11 miles off the coast... some folks even kayak out there... (maybe next time), and are know for their sea caves. The eastern side of the island is protected, meaning there is no fishing allowed... so there are giant lobsters, fish, and the water is very clear.

The highlight was the Dolphins on the way out... you gotta see this to believe... but there were hundreds of dolphins... seriously amazing. Check out the vid.



Also... in case you didn't know this, the water temperature is significantly warmer south of point conception (pink dot). So you only need a shorty wet suit to go out in the water. And you can jump in without one and be comfortable for an hour or so (like I did). The kayaking was awesome... the snorkeling was awesome... I'd like to go back there. Probably to Santa Cruz Island.


The whole island is cliffed out like 100+ feet on all sides. This is the welcoming ladder up to the island.

After the day-trippers left, we were alone with 3 others camping, and the care-taker (who has a small house out there). We walked around, watched the sunset... and it rained on us for about 10 seconds. Later that night we had a dry thunder storm that I totally slept through.



The sunset was quite nice too...

Day 5.


We woke up early to go kayaking since there is less wind and the water is smoother earlier in the day. We stayed on the northern side of the island and went past Middle Anacapa to West Anacapa to Frenchy's Cove... where winds picked up, and we had a little snack while waiting for the wind to subside. In fact, we took a nap curled up on our life jackets... probably looked uncomfortable, but one the best naps ever...



After getting back, we packed up camp, jumped off the dock a few times...

... and I borrowed a snorkel and mask and did some snorkeling. The ride back wasn't as exciting, as we didn't see any dolphins... but still very nice. We got back around 6 pm, and drove into LA. We decided to stay with Pat and Sidone, they showed us around LA, went out to dinner, and we grabbed some drinks with their friends.

Honeymoon... part 1 (bike tour)

Was a lot of fun... there were many last minute changes as our itinerary was flexible, but everything turned out great.

First... the day after our wedding, we relaxed at a nearby creek...

After we drove back to SF, we had dinner with my family and a few friends, and we packed up for our "honeymoon"...







Day 1: Morro Bay State Park...

After bandaging up Moses' neighbor's finger while dropping Mingus off... we drove south to Morro Bay State Park.

...where our firewood was saran-wrapped... just like our bed, shower, toilet, and my car was on our wedding night.

We had a mellow night of playing scrabble and going to bed early surrounded by 100s of RV's...









Day 2: Buelton (Warmshowers)
The morning of... we decided to head out down to Santa Barbara, and do a loop while on our bike tour... our plan was to head up to Solvang, stay at a Warmshowers host in Buellton, bike through the "sideways" wine country, and stay with a host in Lompoc. Then head down to Gaviota SP, soak in the hot springs, and stay at the B&B in Santa Barbara when we got back to the car.

In stead we got a nice big slash in our rear tire... which I couldn't fix... so we got a ride back into town, fixed the flat, had a shake and a sandwich... and drove up to Solvang (7 miles away from Buellton). And biked to our host. Where they were very nice, amazing hosts, and fed us an amazing salmon dinner.





View Larger Map

Day 3: Lompoc

Day 2 of the bike tour... and we had logged 10 miles so far. woohoo

We started by heading back out to Solvang (the Dutch capital of the USA), eating a chocolate eclair and coffee... then heading up Foxen Canyon Road to tour some wineries... We had a nice lunch at a general store... where the lady also gave us a bunch of spinach...

After riding down from Santa Maria (not really worth visiting...) to Lompoc we arrived at Terry's place, tired, and hungry after riding 70 miles. Terry was a hoot... and we had a fantastic dinner, had some great conversations over a bottle of port, and a sweet whiskey based liquor. Then Kimbo and i jumped in his hot tub. Warmshowers hosts are amazing...

stay tuned for Part 2 (Sea Kayaking the Channel Islands)

Santa Barbara Bike Tour

The PLAN? lots of edits... as of 7 pm on Aug 12...

Aug 11- MON: down to Morro Bay?

• 5 hr drive... after dropping parents off at Airport? Camp at a biker/hiker site? or at a Walmart)
• Made Reservations for Morro Bay State Beach
• Camped at Morro Bay... my jaws dropped at the sight of Morro Rock... though when I learned rock climbing is prohibited on it, I wished I never saw it.
  

Aug 12 - TUE: Cycling Full day 1

• Santa Maria (Walmart) - > Refugio State beach (52 miles) Hiker Biker spot
• Also El Capitan State Beach (42 miles) has a hike biker spot
  
• http://www.stateparks.com/refugio_beach.html
• http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=603
• Wildlife Cruise from Island Packers at 1:30 pm. (28$ from Ventura)

EDIT

• We drove to Goleta... planning to ride to Buelton (where I am now)... but got a huge gash on the tire, caught a ride with Carl (a nice guy with a big truck)... back to Goleta (after riding 10 miles straight up)... bought a tire, fixed our problem, and drove up to Solvang (the Dutch Capital of the USA)... rode to Buelton... and I'm writing this now. WarmShowers rocks!!!
  

Aug 13 - WED: Cycling Full day 2

• Buelton to Solvang up Foxen Ranch Road to Santa Maria down to Lompoc (Terry of Warmshowers is gonna hook us up)

Aug 14 - THUR: Cycling Full day 3

• Lompoc to Solvang (where I ditched the car)... to Graviota (hot springs)... to Kayaking? To Carpenteria State Park.
  

Aug 15 - FRI: Cycling Full day 4

• 9:30 am...North Shore wildlife tour - Island Packers (9:30 am)
• With Em?
• Drive to LA.
  

Aug 16 - SAT: Full day 5

• Hang out with Em? Pat?

• Or to Santa Maria? and stay at a B&B?
• Call? - 805-928-7777 (Historic Santa Maria Inn...)
• Or to Nipomo (Kaleido Scope)
• Or to SLO (805.544.3003 - Bridge Creek Inn)
• 
  

Aug 17 - SUN: need to drive back...

• El Capitan back to Santa Maria
• Check out a few wineries
• State Beaches
• Check out SLO
  
• Drive home...

280 miles - 350 miles...

Bike Route option 1 (236 miles? Loop)
Bike Route option 2 (250 miles... many options to turn back...)
Camping at Hiker/Biker sites?
http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/region_info.asp?regiontab=0&id=6

SO... we can drive down to SLO, or Santa Barbara... stay there a night... then ride the tandem down to Santa Monica... (which I've been wanting to check out that area for a while...) Maybe head down to LA to Em's place... etc. and just do a simple loop like 200 miles... or we could just stay in that Santa Barbara region... just wine tasting, staying at the beach, exploring the canyons, etc...

I'd like to do mostly camping... which would mean, we'd either need to reserve... or look for the biker/hiker sites...

Some descriptions here...
http://www.bitrot.de/bike_sfla.html
http://www.sbbike.org/region/region.html#101
http://www.sb-outdoors.org/Trails

Maybe hit up El Cap State Beach on Sat... live music?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/29/TR3E11AJ6A.DTL
EGH?

Wineries (Foxen Canyon Wine Trail)
http://www.foxenwinetrail.com/Map.html
http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/sideways-wineries.html
http://www.santabarbara.com/winecountry/trails/santayneztrail.asp

Cycling Resource
http://www.sbbike.org/region/region.html#101