Posts Tagged: “United States”
Big Island 2024 - Volcanos National Park
May 11, 2024
I’m so excited that I got to hang out in Hawaii again! My brothers and I were invited to a family friend’s wedding on Oahu so we figured we’d make a trip out of it. My partner and I wanted to get scuba certified so we decided to come to Big Island first.
Since Volcanos National Park is at elevation, we needed to come here first. So this was the trek we made on our very first full day.
Pittock Mansion Hike
April 17, 2024
My friends invited me on their college reunion trip that they do every year. This year, they decided to do it on the west coast at Lake Oswego, Oregon. That’s 15-20 minutes roughly speaking outside of Portland. I’ll always jump on the chance to visit the Pacific Northwest again!
This post is about Pittock Mansion. It’s a big historic house sort of in the area of Washington Park which my partner and I had explored almost exactly 2 years previously.
New York City 2023
September 5, 2023
After I was done visiting Burlington, I made my way back to New York to spend some time with friends. It was VERY hot while we were in town and I was working during the day so I’m going to collapse the trip into one big post with all the highlights.
Our friend lives in West Village and right around the corner from his apartment is the Stonewall Inn monument. It was pretty cool and sombering to run into it while strolling.
Mount Mansfield, Vermont
September 2, 2023
As I usually do, I wanted to do a hike! And coming off the heels of our Lassen trip, I felt great about doing Mount Mansfield. I had planned on doing the Long Trail -> Haselton Loop which comes out to 6.1 mi round trip, and approximately 2,793 feet of elevation gain. This gets you to the highest point in Vermont as an added bonus.
I believe if you aren’t interested in a steep death climb up the mountain you can ride the gondola up to the ride which would save you first half of this grueling hike.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Burlington, Vermont
September 1, 2023
These posts are going up ridiculously late but I don’t think anyone will notice. Yes, I was in Burlington, Vermont back in September! I was visiting an old coworker who lives there now.
Getting to Burlington from San Francisco is a pretty long trek and requires a layover. Since the layover was in JFK, I figured I’d do two legs of my trip and go to Vermont first, then spend a few days in New York City after.
Lassen Volcanic National Park - Kings Creek Falls
July 23, 2023
My friend’s flight was today so we knew we had to be back in San Francisco with time to spare. There seemed to be some scenic waterfall trails to do that were relatively short so we elected to try out Kings Creek Falls.
After our big peak hikes the two previous days this did feel like a break but it was NOT a simple 2.3 mile stroll. And it’s not precisely a loop either, you can keep going after the falls to do a bigger loop that has offshoots if you want.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Medium
Lassen Volcanic National Park - Brokeoff Mountain
July 22, 2023
The nice thing about camping is waking up with the sunrise! So we had no issues getting up early this morning. I brought eggs, breakfast sausages and instant coffee for us so we had a nice big and hearty breakfast.
Although I didn’t pack olive oil or salt so that’s something to get for our next camping trip haha.
One annoying thing about this campsite is that they placed this huge concrete table on an incline so the whole thing is tilted.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Lassen Volcanic National Park - Lassen Peak
July 21, 2023
I recently turned 30 and I knew for my birthday I wanted to get some camping and hiking time in. I’ve been to Lassen before but on a motorcycle roadtrip where we didn’t do much besides the scenic drive and swimming in a lake.
Lassen’s snow takes a long time to melt and mid-July is in fact the best time to try to go for high elevation trails to be open.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Angel Island State Park
March 17, 2023
We’ve been getting a lot of rain in San Francisco this season but we got a brief respite – the perfect day to go on a local hike! We decided to check out Angel Island State Park
To get to Angel Island you must take a ferry, either from Tiburon or from the ferry building in San Francisco.
The San Francisco ferry only runs twice in the morning but is convenient in that it takes clipper cards, including clipper from your phone.
Blue Ridge
November 24, 2022
Hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving! I know it’s been a while since I posted: that’s because most of my trips the past 6 months or so have been more friend/family/event oriented so there’s not much to post about.
In fact we went to Blue Ridge to visit with my boyfriend’s family but we managed to do enough adventurous stuff that I figured I’d make a post for it. Blue Ridge is a pretty touristy town in northern Georgia, nestled in the bottom of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
South Dakota Cave Tours & Wineries
May 14, 2022
I bet the title of this blog post really took you by surprise! I know this whole experience was unexpected for me. In addition to having surprisingly tall mountains, South Dakota also has some of the longest cave systems in the world.
For both Jewel Cave and Wind Cave you will need to book your tours in advance. We were lucky, one of them had just finished renovating their elevator when we were there.
Custer State Park & Bear Country USA
May 13, 2022
The internet suggested Custer State Park quite a lot, and I believe rightly so. The park is really big and it seems like there’s a lot to do there.
The highest point in South Dakota is higher than you might imagine. Black Elk Peak tops out at 7,242 feet and the trail has an elevation gain of 1500 feet! For my California lungs, it was a bit of a trial.
Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument & Badlands
May 12, 2022
Woooo geez, sorry that this blog post is so late! Life got pretty busy right after this trip. So my friend and I had planned to go to South Dakota pre-COVID but during the pandemic we had to postpone a few times.
I think when you think of South Dakota you don’t think of much being there but I actually found enough to do that we could’ve even spent another day or two.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 9
April 17, 2022
Aw man! The trip had to come to an end eventually :(
In Bend, we started out day out getting breakfast at The Sparrow Bakery Northwest. The original location apparently had a lot of sparrows flying around, hence the name. The Ocean Roll is a famous type of pastry with cardamom and vanilla. I didn’t really like it that much because cardamom is weird in my opinion. I did get a lox bagel and a mocha and was overall impressed with the pastries though.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 8
April 16, 2022
There’s a cafe in Mitchell called Bridge Creek Cafe. Accordingly, we walked across a bridge that went over a creek to get to it. It’s a small operation. I got eggs and bacon and coffee and was a happy camper.
There was a pamphlet in our room talking about the scenic drive for John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. We had already done a portion of it the day before on our way to Mitchell.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 7
April 15, 2022
Today we planned to head east out of Portland through the Columbia River Gorge. I think I mentioned before that this was the thesis of this whole roadtrip. I was determined, but also nervous because of how much it rained the night before.
For breakfast, we decided to try a new cafe. This time we went to Coffee Time. Compared to yesterday, this place was much more interesting. It had dim lighting and interesting decor.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 6
April 14, 2022
I had decided when I invited my boyfriend to join the second half of the trip that we should stay an extra night in Portland so he could actually explore it.
I’m really glad we did. We started the day off with a coffee and pastry at Barista. I didn’t notice anything particularly noteworthy about my mocha or almond croissant but my boyfriend mentioned they hadn’t properly frothed the almond milk.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 5
April 13, 2022
I woke up bright and early today to go down to breakfast at 7 AM (totally unnecessary it turns out, it goes on until 9 AM). I had my coffee and food and hung out downstairs briefly. It was pretty simple fair, like continental but a little extra effort in the hot food.
I was very preoccupied with running late. I had about an hour and a half drive to Portland and I wanted to be on time to pick up my boyfriend from the airport at noon.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 4
April 12, 2022
By today I was falling asleep in my car much, much faster. And I even got to sleep in a bit! I probably didn’t get out of the campsite until 10 AM.
My first stop I actually had to backtrack a bit by 15 minutes to Thor’s Well. It was raining pretty hard for the fifteen or so minutes I was there so it was a little hard to look at.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 3 (Oregon Section)
April 11, 2022
I wish I hadn’t planned a 3 hour drive with multiple stops after a 6 mile hike! But alas, 50 minutes after Boyscout Tree Trail, I found myself at Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor. This is one of those things I wish I had done my own research on a bit more before putting it on my to-do list. In the sense that it was a coworker recommendation with a few of the destinations pointed out.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 3 (California Section)
April 11, 2022
Today was my Redwoods National Park hiking day. Planning this is kind of challenging because the park is actually a bunch of state parks bundled together and some of the hikes are about an hour apart from each other. For instance, I was actually already camping in Redwoods National Park by camping at Prairie Creek.
To start, I packed up camp and drove back up the 5 mile dirt road from the night before.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 2
April 10, 2022
It was a quick drive to my first hiking destination – Russian Gulch State Park. It’s been on my list for a year or two. I picked out the waterfall trail called Fern Canyon trail which is 5.4 - 6.3 miles depending on the route you take.
The barebones route is on a pretty smooth path, nearly a fire road. You can definitely take bicicyles on it, you just can’t go all the way up to the waterfall with a bike.
Oregon Road Trip - Day 1
April 9, 2022
As soon as I bought my car I knew I wanted to go on a road trip. One thing still hung over my head was the the Colombia River Gorge in Oregon. When I went in 2017 it was snowing so badly we couldn’t really see anything.
Originally I planned to leave Sunday and just drive a lot on the first day. I think my intention was to use the entire day Saturday to prepare for my trip.
Oregon Road Trip Itinerary - California Leg
April 9, 2022
I thought it might be nice to include a bulleted list of destinations and resources so that if you’re planning your own trip, you can just grab information from here without having to dig through all my journals. Of course, I still recommend looking through the rest of the blog posts to see detailed advice and thoughts plus pictures!
Coming up the California coast to Oregon, here’s what I did and where I stayed.
Oregon Road Trip Itinerary - Oregon Leg
April 9, 2022
I thought it might be nice to include a bulleted list of destinations and resources so that if you’re planning your own trip, you can just grab information from here without having to dig through all my journals. Of course, I still recommend looking through the rest of the blog posts to see detailed advice and thoughts plus pictures!
Driving through Oregon, here’s what I did and where I stayed.
Maui Day 7-8
March 11, 2022
Aloha! This post sadly will cover the final two days of our trip to Hawaii. We wanted to show our friends our snorkel spot, spend some time drinking piña coladas by the pool, celebrate our friend’s birthday with a sushi boat, visit an aquarium, and then head home.
See day 5-6 here.
Friday To start the day, we headed to Whaler’s Village to do a little shopping. Basically I got fried to a crisp while snorkeling the day before and I was considering getting a sun shirt.
Maui Day 5-6
March 9, 2022
Aloha! This post covers Wednesday and Thursday of our trip to Hawaii. We did an early morning bus ride to the summit of Haleakala, tried out paddleboarding, snorkeled by our resort and actually spent some time relaxing by the pool!
See day 3-4 here.
Wednesday We woke up around 2 AM for our bus pickup from the resort. The tour company we used was Skyline Hawaii. Our guide was named Trevor and he was a gem.
Maui Day 3-4
March 7, 2022
Aloha! This blog post will cover Monday and Tuesday of our Hawaii trip. We did our first snorkeling, saw whales, went to a luau and did some hiking!
See day 1-2 here.
Monday We started off bright and early with a kayaking and snorkeling tour. We chose Kayak Olowalu which started at 8 AM. We were given the advice to do this kind of tour early in the week for two reasons: First, we were still on California time so we could wake up early, and second if it rained we’d have time to reschedule.
Maui Day 1-2
March 5, 2022
Aloha! I will be combining Hawaii days since there was quite a lot of relaxing in pools on this trip.
So my friends decided they wanted a Hawaii trip and I was lucky enough to be able to tag along. The thesis of the trip was relaxing so this trip is focused more on eating and drinking. That’s okay and I really needed it!
From SFO it’s about a six hour flight to Kahului airport on Maui.
Everglades Day 3
December 29, 2021
Our final day in the Everglades we planned to go all the way out to Flamingo Visitor Center. This is all the way at the southern tip of Florida and the Everglades. The road out there is out and back so you can stop at a few things on the way out, a few things on the way back in.
We started with the Anhinga Trail, a 0.8 mile boardwalk through a swamp with plenty of birds and alligators to look at.
Everglades Day 2
December 28, 2021
We had breakfast at a cafe in Homestead called Island Cafe. For both convenience and comfort of easy diner food, I’d recommend this spot.
First stop after breakfast was the Big Cypress Oasis. This is also the southern terminus of the Florida Trail. More importantly there are a TON of gators here. Along the road is a long river with a boardwalk and the gators and other wildlife are plentiful. The visitor center here was also really informative.
Everglades Day 1
December 27, 2021
When my mom suggested a trip to the Everglades, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started researching and came up pretty barren on things to do. A big emphasis is on airboat tours, bicycle tours and kayaking.
For our first day, we had to drive from near Tampa where we were for Christmas festivities, down to Everglades City. This is for the Gulf Coast side of the Everglades, and for us the first of four possible entrances to the park.
Christmas in Dunedin 2021
December 26, 2021
My parents have a place in Dunedin which is a town about forty minutes from Tampa. We decided to go there to meet them for Christmas this year and had a wonderful Christmas with our typical traditions and plenty of wine to go around!
While here, we did two things: We took my parents’ bicycles out for a ride through the local Hammock Park. One big difference between here and San Francisco or Oakland is that you can just bicycle through town and through a park with no hills whatsoever!
Sonoma Wine Tasting
October 19, 2021
I’ve been really needing a vacation lately and this 3 day weekend was the perfect opportunity to get away! My boyfriend and I were in Napa not too long ago. His friends were interested in Sonoma though so we decided to switch it up.
I’ve been to Sonoma once before in 2016 but I recall doing a wine bus tour and didn’t pick out any of the wineries myself. So this time around our wineries and restaurant choices were more curated as a group.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park - Observation Deck Trail
August 26, 2021
Thanks to my Utah and Virginia trips I actually completed my 2021 hiking goal already. I had a day off though and hadn’t gone out in a while so I referred back to my state parks list.
Henry Cowell State Park is near Santa Cruz, so not too far away. I picked the Observation Deck trail because it is 5 miles out and back with 600 feet of elevation gain which seemed casual enough.
Not Recommended
Difficulty: Medium
Winchester, VA
May 28, 2021
It seems a little unlikely that anyone will need this blog post since we only picked Winchester to stay in for the proximity to the venue of the wedding we were attending. That said if you happen to find yourself here, it’s a cute little town with a surprising amount to offer. It’s pretty typical of towns this size and location to have a big focus on the civil war and this place does not disappoint in that way.
Wine Tasting in Virginia
May 26, 2021
I learned there is wine country from our Airbnb recommended activities page. It’s really not fair to compare since I went to Napa so recently but I tried to keep an open mind.
First up we headed to Bluemont Vineyard, about 30 minutes out from Winchester. They’ve got a huge patio and covered seating that overlooks a really lovely valley. The flights came with six wines, three white and three red.
Shenandoah National Park
May 25, 2021
I’m on a roll with the national parks this year! I knew I wanted to hike on this trip, and I even originally wanted to come to Shenandoah three times. That’s because the list of hikes is insanely long. Skyline Drive is a scenic route that goes through the entire park from north to south and is 105 miles long. Technically from Winchester it’s only about 35 minutes to the northern tip of Shenandoah but the mountain roads are very curvy and it takes time to get through the park.
Fallingwater
May 24, 2021
This is a bit of a detour from our existing trip in Virginia. Basically I had never heard of Frank Lloyd Wright until I read the Hyperion Cantos where for some reason Fallingwater and Taliesin are critical locations in some of the later books. I missed Taliesin West when I was in Arizona because of COVID and I knew I didn’t want to miss my chance on this trip.
Fallingwater is a historical Wright house in the boonies of Pennsylvania about 1.
Washington DC - Part Two
May 21, 2021
During the week we were working remotely so we didn’t have as much time to do things. We did go out a few times to meet back up with my cousin and my friend so I’ll basically be covering some more restaurants and bars in this post.
Monday we worked and then went out to dinner in Falls Church. We headed to a spot called Dogwood Tavern.. I got the cheesesteak sandwich and fried macaroni balls.
Washington DC
May 20, 2021
I’m posting this about a week late so I will be summarizing my trip to DC pretty heavily. I was staying in Arlington – about 20-25 minutes outside the city – and spent a weekend and one or two weekdays in the city.
Saturday was the main show of meeting up with some college friends. We started in Georgetown which is known for its architecture and bougie restaurants. Here is what came recommended in Georgetown:
Napa Wine Tasting
April 6, 2021
You’d think as a California native I’d have more experience in wine country but in fact, I’ve never done wine tasting in Napa before! I have been to Sonoma, Paso Robles and Livermore but Napa is the real deal!
We were there for a long weekend, and stayed at Silverado Resort and Spa. I didn’t pick it out but it’s pretty dang nice and has pools, a grill, a golf course and of course a spa.
Zion National Park
March 9, 2021
We left for Zion Friday morning, which is about a 5 hour drive from Salt Lake City. This time though, we were planning to camp. Arches was much colder at night time, while Zion had lows of mid-40’s. We ended up picking out a spot at Hurricane Cliffs Recreation Area BLM.
We did dry camping, meaning no water and no bathrooms. And you can’t poop in the desert! While these campsites are out on dirt roads, it’s actually pretty quick to get back into town for gas, coffee and toilets.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Arches National Park - Day 3
March 1, 2021
Since today was our last day and we hiked 10 miles yesterday, we wanted to keep today light. We had plenty of sleep, so we packed up, had breakfast and checked out of the cabin around 9:30 AM.
We went back into the park and aimed to hit all the pullouts and overlooks we had skipped the previous days. By the way, if you don’t have the National Parks Pass it is a must!
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Easy
Arches National Park - Day 2
February 28, 2021
Today was our full day at Arches and we intended to do it ALL. Thankfully there are only three primary areas at Arches. Fiery Furnace however, is closed both for winter and for COVID.
The main event of Arches National Park is the Delicate Arch which appears on Utah license plates among many other things in the state. The hike to see it is about 3 miles round trip with some elevation.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Arches National Park - Lions Park Bike Trail
February 28, 2021
After Canyonlands we headed over to Moab. We stayed at Moab Valley Resort & Campground which was absolutely for the best because it is QUITE cold in Moab in February. The cabin is pretty utilitarian but it comes with a space heater and at 40 bucks a night it is well worth it! It also comes with a grill out front and walking distance to Lions Park
We crossed the road (be careful here – it’s a busy road with four lanes) and crossed the bridge over the Colorado River.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Medium
Canyonlands National Park
February 28, 2021
I’ve been in Salt Lake City since the previous Saturday night and have been loving working remotely from my friend’s basement while her dogs watch.
We left around 10 AM for Moab and only stopped for groceries and gas before hitting the road. We did stop in Green River at the Chow Hound for lunch. I got the half pound burger which was pretty good but the ham sandwich Courtney got looked pretty meh.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Easy
Sam McDonald Park
January 30, 2021
For this hike we originally were intending to go to Memorial County Park but I discovered upon arrival that park is closed from the fires still. For what it’s worth I wasn’t in charge of planning this hike! But also shame on Google for navigating me all the way there and not telling me it was closed! There was no reception there so I was almost unable to reconnect with my friends.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Mori Point
January 23, 2021
I picked this hike off of Google Maps so I don’t feel great about including it in the 2021 collection. That said, I believe we still clocked in 2 or 3 miles and there were some pretty steep parts. Anyways, Mori Point is part of Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and is located in Pacifica. This is very, very similar to Pillar Point Bluff in its views. I would recommend Pillar Point over Mori Point though.
Not Recommended
Difficulty: Easy
Mills Canyon Nature Area
January 17, 2021
First post of 2021! Welcome to the new year y’all! This year my focus is definitely going to be on things inside my house or within driving distance so it is gonna be a quiet year for the blog. I’m thinking this will age better than this post from 2019…
When it was coming down to the wire on my 2020 hiking goals, I heard about some of the Peninsula city parks and put them in my tracking document.
Not Recommended
Difficulty: Easy
Tilden Regional Park
December 14, 2020
Tilden is a regional park in East Bay spanning 2,079 acres between Berkeley and Orinda. Getting there from the Peninsula is no problem but the roads around the park are pretty steep. We drove through some interesting neighborhoods and my car’s clutch tried its best.
We started at Lake Anza and worked our way in a loop to Grizzly Peak, Inspiration Point and back for a 6.8 mile walk:
There’s a lake right at the entrance that I guess in warmer weather people could swim in.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Medium
Samuel P Taylor State Park
December 6, 2020
I found this hike through redwoodhikes.com, specifically the hike to Barnabe Peak. See also the things to do page on the state park website.
My expectations were that this would be on a fire road type trail, clock in at about 5.8 miles, and have outstanding views.
Start at Camp Taylor. Parking there as of 2020 still costs $8. I parked close to the entrance, but to get to the trailhead you should park further in.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
San Pedro Valley County Park
November 29, 2020
Once again my girl over at Trees and Tents provided me with an in depth trail description and recommendation. I followed her instructions for the Brooks Falls Loops to a T, but it’s been dry lately so there was no waterfall.
One thing I noticed right off the bat was how many critters there are here! I saw deer, tons of birds, chipmunks and even a rabbit. I suspect with the proximity to Pacifica that a lot of these guys aren’t too afraid of humans because these deer were very chill.
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Medium
San Bruno Mountain State Park
November 28, 2020
I am normally against these kinds of “city parks” because they don’t really feel that much like a nature excursion but I’m glad I gave up on that idea. I was expecting it to be cold, but it was actually a really pleasant winter day. I ended up putting two jackets and my beanie in my backpack.
Here is the trail map. See the image for about half of the recorded path we took:
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Difficult
Scottsdale Vacation 2020
October 12, 2020
Since half of this trip was spent drinking in the Airbnb pool, I’ll just condense it into one long post. I knew I wanted to meet up with my friend who lived in Austin, and we figured with COVID we could do a roadtrip and meet somewhere in the middle. Arizona fit the bill perfectly. One question was where would we meet in Arizona? Flagstaff, Tucson and Phoenix were all options.
San Luis Obispo
October 2, 2020
When my old coworker asked me if I’d like to meet up in San Luis Obispo for the weekend there was no way I was saying no! My old boss has an Airbnb there he rents out which we used as our home base. I left my place early Friday morning to go borrow a car from my parents and made the 3.5 hour drive to SLO, getting there around 11 AM.
Pillar Point Bluff
September 27, 2020
I recently discovered an AWESOME blog called Trees and Tents and I got the recommendation for Pillar Point Bluff from there. Once again this is not technically a state park but I am still counting it, especially considering COVID and the fires! This puts me at 13 “state” parks in 2020. 7 left with uhhh 3 months to go!
Since I’m side tracked, I was also thinking I should probably put a rating and difficulty section for hikes, to make finding the hike that’s right for you easier!
Recommended ☆
Difficulty: Easy
Boy Scout Trail Mountain Biking
August 19, 2020
My roommate Sam is an experienced downhill mountain biker and she asked me if I wanted to give it a go. Considering my sad attempts at dirt biking, I was pretty nervous but I wanted to give it a try. She took me to a good beginner spot in Pacifica, called the Boy Scout trail. We walked our bikes up to the top of the trail, which had some really amazing views of Pacifica and Montara Mountain (which I intend to hike at some point as well).
Butano State Park
August 14, 2020
Oops, did I not do anything for over a month? Anyways, my company has been nice enough to give us periodic “Friyays” where we get some Fridays off to just relax and do whatever. I wanted to get out of the house after a week of virtual chatting and staring at computer screens so I opened up my 20 State Parks in 2020 goal document and selected Butano State Park as today’s destination.
Muir Beach
June 28, 2020
Muir Beach is situated nearby Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais. The beach and hiking trails were open but Muir Woods itself is currently closed. Even in June we encountered 60 degree F temperature and TONS of fog. There were still people attempting to enjoy a beach day though, and the parking lot was full. In this picture you can kind of see how many people were there. Lot’s of people in shorts and swimsuits that I felt sorry for.
Buttonwillow Trackday June 6-7
June 6, 2020
California is in phase 2 of COVID recovery which is great, it means we’re at a pretty safe hospital capacity AND tracks are starting to allow trackdays again. My brother Sam is associated with Carters at the Track as an instructor so it made a lot of sense for this to be my first trackday since getting back from Texas.
I can’t find any previous blog posts about trackdays, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that I’ve been doing trackdays at the pace of one a year (usually around this time of year, too) for the past four years.
El Corte De Madera Creek Preserve
May 17, 2020
It’s been a bit of a long weekend so I’ll be keeping this short. Corte de Madera Creek Preserve is open to hiking with proper social distancing. The bathrooms were closed but we didn’t end up needing them. This is another park that’s right off Skyline in Woodside, so very conveniently located. There’s actually about 30 miles of hiking trail. In my opinion the trails are pretty confusing and the map is pretty cramped.
Purisima Creek Redwoods
March 29, 2020
My big news is that I relocated to San Francisco from Austin, Texas as of Monday! This really threw a wrench in my whole plan to “appreciate Texas more” but stars aligned and here I am! Kind of terrible timing, really, with Coronavirus, to be moving to the Bay Area.
Anyways, since 20 parks in 2020 isn’t happening for Texas state parks, I’m shifting gears to a 20 park in California 2020 goal.
Balcones Canyonlands
March 14, 2020
This, along with Wild Basin, is not a state park, but it is close-ish to Austin at about 45 - 60 minutes away. You can see here that the trail makes a triple ice cream scoop shape, which means you can walk along the outside edge of the whole thing and come out to about 3.5 miles of hiking. This is the perfect activity for the times because you get some exercise and fresh air, outside the house and not surrounded by people or touching things other people have touched.
San Francisco
February 20, 2020
I was in the Bay Area from Thursday to Monday but I had the FLU so I’m just going to write one blog post because I was pretty much dead for the entire time.
Thursday morning was when the flu hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought my head was exploding, I was sweaty and weak and had no appetite. For some hilarious reason I thought I had food poisoning, so I just popped an advil and got on the airplane and hoped for the best.
Boston Day 5
February 18, 2020
My last morning in Boston! I was sad to leave but probably also a little happy to go to a state where there’s no winter!
My flight wasn’t until 3 PM so we had time to get some last goodies. We went to Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge right when it opened at 10:30 AM. I ended up with a double scoop of salted caramel ice cream for breakfast.
It was so delicious!
Boston Day 4
February 17, 2020
Monday was President’s Day and we both had it taken off from work. Since we’ve been going out and about so much all weekend, we took it easy today with breakfast and coffee at the house and wrapping up in blankets with popcorn to watch the Pixar short Bao and then Pan’s Labrynth.
This was the night we were going to make our homemade pasta, so we stopped by Wegman’s for our missing ingredients and some more wine and got to work.
Boston Day 3
February 16, 2020
Sunday was another late morning (maybe all the staying up until 2 AM playing Halo?) but this time we ran out of breakfast food at home. I picked out McKenna’s Diner which wasn’t too far away for late brunch. The wait was kind of intense here and the sytem is ruthless. They only call your name inside and the waiting area inside is very small and crowded.
While we were waiting to popped over the Honeycome Cafe for coffee to keep ourselves warm and caffeined while we waited for McKenna’s.
Boston Day 2
February 15, 2020
Today we ran some errands in the morning including getting a work suit for Tom’s roommate and picking up some more beer and wine.
We made plans to meet Shariq and his girlfriend at the MFA at 2 PM so we had to hustle home to make and eat breakfast. We got to the museum right on time where we were able to get in for free thanks to Megan’s membership.
Boston Day 1
February 14, 2020
My flight last night was delayed to nearly 8 PM which resulted in me arriving in Boston at 1 AM! My Valentine’s day card I made at the work happy hour yesterday evening barely made it through security and the flight.
The man next to me on the flight lied about having a broken TV screen to get two free shots of bourbon. I saw his TV turn on later! Sneaky!
Atlanta Day 3
February 3, 2020
Today is only a half day but we still had time to do stuff in between working and going to the airport so I figured I’d make a blog post.
Paula had a midterm today (which is partially why we were spending so much time studying yesterday) at 11 AM. I had to work a little in the morning so I spent some time at home reading emails, poking at Jira tickets and making sure there were no pull requests I should’ve been reviewing.
Atlanta Day 2
February 2, 2020
Today I got to wake up after sleeping on my other side to protect my new earring to Winter, my sister’s dog, poking his nose around on my legs and butt. Thanks, dog!
We were going to walk to Grant Park to the farmer’s market, but for some reason it wasn’t there today. Still it was pleasant this morning and Winter was eager to get out of the house to do adventure.
Atlanta Day 1
February 1, 2020
I’m in Atlanta this weekend to visit my sister, Paula, who is doing grad school at Georgia Tech.
Technically I got in last night at around 11:30 PM but since all we did was yap and fall asleep I am officially counting Saturday as day 1.
I slept in and had a few eggs at home before we hit the road to read, have coffee and study at The Read Shop where we met up with our cousin, Megan.
Government Canyon State Wilderness Area
January 25, 2020
This place was a tip from a random woman at a different hike while I was waiting in line for the bathroom. I’m glad I listened! Government Canyon is outside of San Antonio and about an hour and forty minutes from Austin.
I now have a state park pass so I had no issues getting in. The first thing I noticed while looking at the trail map is how MUCH trail there is!
Guadalupe River State Park
January 20, 2020
I didn’t have high hopes about the hiking in Guadalupe River State Park. I read online that it was mostly a place where you might swim or kayak. After looking at the trail map and seeing a 3.1 mile hike, I decided it was worth it to at least check out.
This is roughly 1.5 - 2 hours driving from Austin which, for Texas, is decently close. The weather lately has been pretty dry so the river was a little low.
PAX South 2020
January 19, 2020
I’ve been going to PAX since 2014 although, historically, to PAX East in Boston. You can refer back to my Tumblr blog for those. I’ve also been to PAX prime back when my sister lived in Seattle.
So this was my first time trying PAX South in San Antonio, Texas. I’ve been to San Antonio twice now but I’d never been to the convention center.
I woke up around 7 to prepare my makeup but I actually ended up sticking with just eyeliner and the contacts.
Wild Basin
January 12, 2020
While it’s technically not a state park I’m including this hike in the “20 State parks of 2020” collection because I can.
The park is really close to Austin and has only 2.5 miles of hiking but does have decent overlooks of hill country.
There’s also good variety in things to see when in such a short span. We crossed a decently serene creek.
The waterfall doesn’t really have a good vantage point but it looks decently impressive if you squint.
Inks Lake State Park
January 11, 2020
Today we went about an hour and a half North West of Austin. I have a list of 20 state parks to check off and I’m rapidly running out of ones that are close by!
The park website descriptions of the trails made them seem pretty bland. I’ve been keeping my expectations low on purpose and I wasn’t disappointed. The signage to get to Pecan Flats wasn’t very clear and we went the wrong way a couple of times.