Uvas Canyon County Park - Half day trip in pictures

Updated post...

While the 4 hours spent in the park today were simply amazing(as exciting as it was to take my new bride to see the golden gate bridge two weeks after we were married...considering this is the first outing for the new lens!), there are side effects like sore legs, nose bleeds etc. that require some tending to..

More pictures to follow tomorrow...

This one was taken near IBM in Bailey road (which is on the way to Uvas..) We should all be happy that we have such a glorious sun that brings up the colors and shades the way it does!

Was planning on posting more details, but the allergies are at their worst. So leaving you with just more pictures from the trip..

As usual, the post ends with one of my darlings doing something memorable. The little one picked up a stick in her hand to walk around after watching everyone around her have a stick. No one in our party had one though. She also picked a really tiny stick which she carried with her the entire time. Every now and then she would break into her teacher routine and start saying "repeat after me, W is for..." etc. to her imaginary students. This happened everytime there was any sign within her height she could point to. It was so amusing...

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Yosemite National Park - Photoblog

We (us and the cousin family) decided to go to Yosemite two days ago. It was supposed to be a day trip. We left at 8AM. Wanted to reach by noon, eat lunch near a river or creek, then go on a trail or hike to a place we have not been to, have dinner at curry village, then go up to glacier point for sunset and be back by 1:00 in the night.

It was a nice plan which we did execute till the lunch part. We had to overcome two obstacles.

a. It was free day and that meant an overwhelming crowd and no parking. We searched for parking for approximately an hour and forty minutes. We were this close to giving up and heading back home when we decided to make one last try and miraculously we found parking. It was a good thing we did not give up because we definitely would have missed some great sights.

b. The 0.8 mile hike to the foot bridge at Vernal falls was supposed to be mild difficulty. It was mild for healthy men and women who looked like horses with not an ounce of fat on their bodies and had rippling muscles to show! The me who has not seen any exercise in years and had to hike the paved trail which was at a 60 degree angle was struggling to just keep up.

Again the kids co-operated on flat terrain and protested during inclines. The older kids starting saying things like "my heart hurts" or "my lung aches". We kept promising a most beautiful sight, just like the other parents on the trail. The older kids really enjoyed it when we finally got there but the three/ four year olds were just bummed out.

At one point the little one just lifted her hand heavenward and said "thookie" (lift me). On any day, would just lift her up, give her a big kiss and carry her. Not on this hike. She pleaded and I made the mistake of lifting her. Immediately all eyes were on me. Every parent on the trail promptly reprimanded me indirectly or directly for setting a bad example. All the kids started lifting their hands up and saying "thookie" in their respective mother tongues! Apparently lifting kids on trails like this is banned. I just didn't know.

But we all did pull through to the foot bridge and it was gorgeous. Suddenly there was a cool mist as the river gushed through rocks. There were rainbows everywhere. The temperature dropped a good ten degrees. There was a water fountain and a rest room!

After spending almost a half hour at the bridge, the ladies and kids made their way back to the MIL who wisely stayed put at the trailhead. Balaji and me decided to go on the rest of the trail towards the top of the falls. It was the most exercise I have ever gotten in any two hours but was worth it!

After coming back, have decided to start working out more seriously so more such adventures can be enjoyed without getting bummed out too soon..

The self imposed ban on fries, chips and sodas and the local biking has definitely helped, but not enough to go on hikes. I am very much a work in progress...

On the bright side, I did get creative during the last hike. It was difficult enough to carry my own bodyweight. So ditched the tripod with the ladies and took only the camera and used my hat as a camera stand of sorts for self timer. The iPhone doubled up as a camcorder..

If you go on this hike, take one of those Niagara falls type raincoats with you. Should come in handy to protect the camera from getting wet as you go up.

All said and done, another great local trip.

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A day on Route 1 - Lets make that A fathers day on Route 1

We spent Father's day on Route 1, with my in laws and the cousin family.

Just tired and sunburnt after a long day at state parks and beaches. The sunburn mostly happened while sitting in the van in very slow moving traffic on the freeway with no access to sunscreen. Should start carrying a "dupatta" like the ladies to cover my face in situations like this.

Here are some pictures from the trip (more follow if time permits later this week)

First, a portrait of a Seagull.

Manged to get up close and personal with a few of the gulls on Bird Island in Point Lobos State Park..

Two more gulls, got real close at Sunset Beach (which was off of Route 1 in Watsonville).

The trick to getting them close seems to be :

1. pick a nice spot
2. park your butt there
3. select gull
4. wait patiently for it to do something
5. (ignore cries of kids and wait for gull to cry instead)
6. keep gull constantly in focus
7. click, click, click..

Finally a photo of one of the chicks, from daddy's own little nest..

We had a great father's day, with every kid on every beach, trail, state park parking lot, wishing all the dads in our group, a happy father's day.

The girls made sure that every adult male on the path was wished. It was hilarious to see them wish a boy who just sprouted a mustache (possibly doing a summer job)"happy father's day!".

Steve jobs threw a small spanner in the works, but all said and done, today was a day well spent. Three dads enjoying the company of mothers and kids, especially mother nature! Hope all the dad's who read this had a nice father's day as well.

Here's to being Daddy!

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Please save state parks in California

A virus has infected the laptop and that has translated to a day of gardening.

Had to borrow the wife's laptop for this urgent post.

All those trips to route 1 might become nasty experiences.

The Governer is now cutting down 80% of the state parks and wants to "close" them!

If you can pack a quick lunch and want to spend <30$ on gas, you could have a real good day trip along the beautiful coastline within 2 hours of the silicon valley area for a park fee of 6 dollars today.

This is a lot better than spending 60 bucks a ticket to some theme park!

Please please please support the save the parks initiatives. Please contact your local politicians to get this thing repealed.

Click on thi link to send a support email or use any other initiative that you know of.

Please...

We do not want these nice forests with redwoods, creeks and beaches to be trashed. Sometimes I feel that the only good thing we are leaving behind for future generations is these state parks. Now that is also at risk!

Pleasssseeeee...

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Mendocino Coast

The last time we were there to take in the sunset at the glass beach in Fort Bragg, San was 7 months pregnant and it was going to be our last trip before Jr. was going to make her grand entrance.

After almost 7 years, we revisited Fort Bragg, the Mendocino coast in northern california (3 hours north of San Francisco) and a bunch of memories.

Had a great time with the kids. Now that all that non stop driving on windy roads for hours on end is over, it is time to literally chill with my girl Volini.

Leaving you with the panorama shots. Like the saying goes, a stitch in time..

Tried that one lying down on the ground under the bridge on the sand sweeping from left to right. Next time, have better ideas for this shot.. there are very few places where there is such an opportunity to be directly under the bridge to take a panoramic shot like that.. (just have to pick a cloudy day..)

Except for the botanical gardens which closed so early we saw all the main points of interest over the 25 or so mile coastline.

It was a strenuous trip but we made it back within two days and still had a day to recover!

We have some choice glass pieces to show for the trip as well. Here is a shot of the glass on the beach (all courtesy of old glass bottles dumped thirty years ago on the shore and letting the waves do their job).

The glass beach is strongly recommended!

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