I found myself surprisingly infuriated when yesterday a friend told me about a near-attack from a vicious dog, with an even more vicious owner. According to him, he was out and about one day when an unleashed dog ran up to him, barking and snarling. In self-defense, he grabbed his can of pepper spray, whereupon…
Category: Parking It
Camping at Pyramid Lake in Nevada
Peter chafes at absurd rules, and one of these is the rules that we can’t buy or shoot off fireworks for the fourth of July in our Californian town, despite the fact that budget cuts have also cancelled the annual downtown festival where we had a public display. So, one recent weekend, he drove all…
Rant on the 2011 Closure of California State Parks
I have an entire blog about the upcoming, er, proposed, closure of selected California State Parks, but it is out of context without a rant about the cynicism, demagoguery, and manipulation of the members of the California State Legislature. We have, after all, been at this point before. In 2009, our then-governor vowed to close…
The Crowds and Cost of Yosemite
A few years ago, we saw Disney California Adventure’s Grizzly Peak Recreation and mocked it for being a weak imitation of one our favorite redwood destinations, Big Basin Park. As it turns out, I was wrong. It’s clearly a Disney-fied Yosemite National Park, albeit missing the massive crowds and cold climate. Inarguably, Yosemite Park has…
Our Visit to Yosemite
We just spent two days in Yosemite, enjoying its spectacular beauty. We drove up to Inspiration point and enjoyed the view: We drove further up the mountain near the Badger Point and played in a huge fresh snowfall, throwing snow balls at one another and creating all sorts of snowmen, from a wizard, to a…
A Hike to Sempervirens Falls
Before my life took a few unexpected turns last year, I often took Neil and Kelly on field trips, especially when there were school vacations. That wasn’t the case so much at the end of last year, since I was busy working, but now my work is in, as I think of it, a state…
A Hike in Arastradero Preserve
I love Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, but normally we keep our hikes close to home, especially if we have others joining us. But this week, Neil was at a camp at Stanford, so I figured I’d go on a hike with Kelly while I was there, and invite others willing to make the drive…
New Brighton Beach in June
One of my homeschooler groups organized beach days, but so far, most of the people involved have wussed out on going to the beach unless it’s truly hot. But this Tuesday, I was going to go to the beach, rain or shine, with or without anyone else. So we ended up being the only people…
Frog Lake
Last Saturday, I went to one of the state parks that’s been threatened (whether genuinely or in the latest round of stupid politician kabuki theatre) with closure, Henry Coe Park. I’d wanted to hike up to Frog Lake for years: it’s a popular fishing hole, according to lore, especially since it’s the lake closest to…
In Search of the Elusive Banana Slug
A few weeks ago, we went for a homeschoolers’ hike at Villa Montalvo, and to our surprise, we found a banana slug on the way, which delighted the children, particularly the younger ones. So this weekend, I thought I’d take Neil and Kelly out to someplace with loads of banana slugs to look at and…