alameda

We went to the Alameda 4th of July parade today, followed by waffles at Oles. Kenji treated the waitress to some of his world-famous obfuscation:

Waitress: What can I get you?
Chloe: I'd like a strawberry waffle without whipped cream
Waitress: Ok, and you sir?
Kenji (smiling): I want the same thing!
Waitress: Ok, another strawberry waffle, no whipped cream
Kenji (still smiling): Yes!
Waitress: No whipped cream, right?
Kenji: Yes!
Waitress (turning to me): Ok and y..
Kenji: With whipped cream!

Afterwards, we headed back to the macaroni factory to show the parents the rugs that Chloe had bought at auction last week. We then headed to Berkeley to cook dinner. We grilled steaks, flying saucer squash (don't know their real name) and corn, which turned out pretty well. I was a little nervous about the steak because it was around three inches thick, but it was cooked throughout and if anything a little well done. Chloe and I also made a grapefruit, orange and lemon granita with wild mint from Alta.

Right now we're keeping our heads down as the neighborhood people launch an impressive and potentially dangerous array of professional grade fireworks into the air. I feel bad for all the stray cats!

Kiting third

I had a nice session at third today.

And brought my GPS along for the first time this year:

Google maps here

It was flooding slightly (~0.5 kts) but easy riding with some nice flat spots every once in a while and hardly any holes. On my way in, I saw all kinds of kite carnage though: A deflated kite got washed downwind into the rocks, a guy with a broken harness wrestled his kite all the way back to shore, only to have it get caught in a gust and slammed hard into the rocks (BOOM! hissssssssssss)... and apparently there were two other ripped kites. I was glad that it wasn't me this time.

Oddfellows (again)

The Oddfellows were offering one of their breakfasts again this morning, which we of course attended, followed by a walk around town

and a little waterproofing of the hot tub and some other odd (!) jobs.

Chloe and I panned for some gold and found a tiny flake. I would estimate that it weighs in at a hefty 100 micrograms or so, but still!!! GOLD!

Afterwards, I took a break and laid down on the bed and admired the cabin:


Finally, Chloe and I set out to find the property line stakes and succeded in locating two that we hadn't seen in twentysomething years

July 4th Parade

Chloe and I drove up to Dutch Flat to see the Dutch Flat 4th of July Parade. It's been a long time -- maybe eighteen or twenty years -- since I had last experienced it, and it was as great as I remembered it. The whole "water fight" part of it seems to have assumed a more prominent role, but it looks like kids and adults alike were enjoying it.






















As we were walking back to our car, I noticed an Outback with a Williams sticker on it and asked the people sitting nearby if they went to Williams. It turned out that one of them had, and is good friends with my Junior Advisor Naoko, who I occasionally hear from and who now lives in Rockridge.

After a little deliberation about what to do next since it was already noon, we decided to go back to Sterling Lake again. The road provided the usual bone rattling ride. Along the way, as we crossed paths with kids in ATVs and heavily modified Jeeps, I began to wonder whether any other Subie owners were foolhardy enough to drive this trail. My question was answered in the Sterling Lake parking lot:


We set off along the trail

and immediately found a fun warm up peppered with knobby inclusions, which I did in my awesome new Vasque hiking shoes (with Stealth soles)

This time we had a much better idea of how to get to the mystery boulder field without any bushwhacking. We even found another beautiful vernal pond at the very top of the ridge

At the top of the hill we were greeted by a panoramic view of the Old Man Mountain and the field littered with glacial erratics that I have named "Bouldertown"

Unfortunately, several of the boulders which had looked so appealing last time were actually highball death forays, holdless and super difficult, or both.

The knobs on this one are actually blank concavities. It's really a shame I'm not stronger, because it's a beautiful line with a picture perfect landing, despite being on a steep hillside.
Next, we walked down the hill, and I found my favorite boulder of all. Sure it's not an ankle snapping highball, but it has some intriguing lines and the boulder itself is like a sculpture. Theres the V-easy mantle:

The V-easy crimp lader/ high step:



The technical slab


And finally, the V? (3?4?5?) super fun sit start on a perfect right handed sloper inclusion off tiny feet to a giant and perfect ear shaped knob



In between tries we walked up the hill to absorb the view of the valley along Fordyce lake and down to the Eagle lakes

At around 4:30 we started hiking out and came across this interesting boulder:
. It's a difficult looking problem and will require some cleaning, but definitely a candidate for a low-gravity day. I figure it will happen seven years from now or so.

We had a steak, potato and corn dinner with the parents in Alta

Ocean Beach Kiting

I briefly tried kiting OB today but the wind was a little too light for my 11. Heres a little clip that Paul took of me working the kite like crazy
clip here
Despite getting a little demoralized and smacked by the chop, I'm really excited to try to kite OB again; it's a beautiful beach with plenty of room to setup, launch and land. Paul got a chance to see all of the things that have to be done before getting out on the water: hopefully it didn't discourage him!

Kiting 3rd

I had a great session today after work... perfect wind except for a few holes. This felt just about at the instinct sport 11's sweet spot.

early flight, rockies, salt ponds

I got the 6:20 AM flight out of Syracuse (Thank you for dropping me off Jon and Christa!!!) to ORD this morning. If you're wondering about the painful departure times, it's because we paid for these flights with mileage, and they were the only flights that we could get.

The flight from chicago to SFO, despite being cramped, was pretty nice because the skies were absolutely clear from the rockies westward, and I had my nose pressed to the window for almost the entire time






And as a Grande Finale, we flew right over the salt flats





spectacular.