A Creative Couple Weeks

These last couple weeks have been unusually high in creative output at our household.  First was the Mission Delicious video conceived and developed by Anna ...

Then Julie drew this Mehndi art on a lamp shade as a gift for Laura...

 Last night I made a Soma puzzle cube from 27 - 1/2" wood cubes. Which made 7 unique puzzle pieces. Then had Anna solve the puzzle before I let her decide how to paint it.

This morning at Home Depot Anna and I made a bird house together.

Picture to follow.

Today Julie painted this Seagull on Driftwood scene.
Seagull on Driftwood Key Rack/Jewelry Organizer/Leash Rack

Then she also repainted these Lobster Pot Buoys we found on our Irish Beach vacation in July.
Lobster Pot Buoy / Nautical Decor / Beach Decor / Coastal Decor

Later on Sunday I made the frame for a 36" x 60" HardieBacker board for next mosaic Julie is planning on starting in the coming weeks.

Winter Beach Getaway!

Spent Sunday afternoon in Point Reyes, CA! The weather was great so we decided we needed a beach day, and drove out to Drakes Beach. On the drive down we had to stop and take a photo of these big freaky woolly long horn cows.

The temperature was perfect and we strolled along the beach looking for "sea glass". We came across a first for us, huge Elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach. I managed to get pretty close and take some photos and a short video of one of the seals.

Of course after enjoying the beach for a few hours we had  to hit our favorite restaurant in Point Reyes, Cafe Reyes for a good dinner before heading back home.
For us a visit to Point Reyes is always fun no matter the weather or time or year.

Log Cabin Vacation

We just spent the last week before school in a vacation home in Junction City, CA.  Julie found a VRBO on the hillside just above the town. While the drive there was pretty long especially going straight up I5 then winding along 299 out of Redding, the time did pass quicker than I anticipated. This vacation was the first time we have deviated from choosing a costal location with easy beach access. The closest we had come to this kind of location was our Santa Barbara vacation (4/2009) which was still only 20-25 minutes from nice beach access.

Well we arrived at the cabin with a few hours of daylight left.  As we walk in the door we are greeted with a song from Big Mouth Billy Bass hanging on the wall!  During the rest of the week Billy entertained us with a little ditty often. So, we headed in, unpacked and headed out for a walking tour of the neighborhood.  The lots were large enough that you could only see a couple of other homes.  As we walked around the neighborhood, hoping to find convenient access to the river, we discovered all the neighborhood access was on private property.

I started the following morning with a run around the neighborhood, being greeted by a curious dog along the way.  Then we investigated the "town" of Junction City where we picked-up some lures to fish with and headed west along 299, which parallels the Trinity River, until we found a good access point called Pigeon Point to setup on the river and play and relax. After a couple hours we drove west on 299 to Willow Creek looking for an ice cream stop and ran into this big creature:

Bigfoot was a popular figure in all the little out croppings (too small to be called towns) up and down along 299. To the right is Anna posing with Bigfoot in Willow Creek. On the way back we found another shaded fishing hole we called Shady Bend (since it was shaded and at a bend in the river).

The following day we we headed back to shady bend and Anna took a shot at fishing.  It only took a couple of times reeling in the line before she caught her first fish!

... more to come ...

N 38° 5' 7.206", W 122° 48' 22.0608"

N 38° 5' 7.206", W 122° 48' 22.0608" Our favorite place to visit in our favorite area of California! This was our honeymoon place and frequent vacation spot over the years since.

Real Life Mermaids

My daughter Anna is taken with Mermaids and the Ausie TV series H2O Just Add Water. So, I went searching and found these two (1, 2) 20/20 epsiodes on two women who make a living performing as Mermaids and being activists for the sea. Wouldn't it be cool  to hire a mermaid for a  little girls party!

Iridium Flares, Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station

Check out Heavens Above and their Android app very cool! There's an Iridium Flare close by tonight. The ISS and Space Shuttle final mission STS-135 will be passing over head in just a few days. Should be visable with just a pair of binoculars!

Soul Surfer

Just got home from watching Soul Surfer at the theater!  Great movie, moving, inspirational!  We took Anna and she couldn't stop talking about it afterword. The shark scene is brief, and not gory or the focus of the movie.  It's really abut how she recovered and triumphantly returned to surfing while discovering a more fullfilling outlook on life. After seeing the movie I'm thinking about getting the book. Check our her web site for devotionals, music video, and more.

Zero Day

Just picked up this Thriller in Kindle format for only $11.99 for my phone and / or computer.  Seems pretty good sofar! Check out Mark's site for the book too. If you order through the links on his site he gets a little back for the referral. He has also posted a video of a possible movie trailer somebody put together for the book.

Found this great new camera on Amazon

I found the Nikon Coolpix S8100 on Amazon while looking for a replacement camera for my Nikon Coolpix S50. Which has been repaired once after being dropped and may be in need of repair again.  After the first repair I've decided it's isn't cost effective to repair these point and shoot digital cameras.  Especially the ones that are in the $200 - $250 or less price range.

So, this new S8100 is great with a much improved image sensor, 1080p video, 12.1 Mega-pixel CMOS, 10x optical zoom, 3in LCD, HDMI out port for direct connection to a TV, and really good low light ability.It charges via USB cable, though the mini jack for the camera is still the Nikon specific shape. It's going for only $220 with Tax & shipping! It feels solid and is very near an SLR in feel!

I can't wait for our next coastal vacation, where I'm sure I'll get plenty of use from this new camera!

Trying out Barefoot Running

 Just picked up a pair of Vibram Fivefingers Komodo Sport barefoot running shoes. I just took my regular budget for new running shoes and went a different direction than usual. I've been reading up on barefoot running for a couple years and thinking about trying a pair of Vibram Fivefingers ever since I read the book Born to Run. When I first started looking into this new foot wear there was only one store in town that carried them and the selection was small.  They hadn't developed their KSO's yet either.  This year the Komodo, the Bikila, and Bikila LS are all new. These models looked like they might be a better fit with a nicer upper. So, I went to REI ( one of the many local stores that now carry Fivefingers) and tried on a pair.  This time around I liked the fit and feel and just had to try them. My wife thinks they are too strange to be seen in. I noticed on the way out, another brand of shoe that uses the Vibram made soles but is a more traditional looking shoe. ie: no individual toes.

Today I found Christopher McDougall, the Author of Born to Run has spoken at Google Talks and TEDx events, which can be found on YouTube.

2011/02/27 Update: I  went for a 6mi run in my regular running shoes. Then, based on Vibrams recommendations, I then put on the Komodo's and did a short run that was  about 10% of my usual distance. They say to take a few weeks to get used to running nearly barefoot, strengthening the muscles in your feet and lower legs. Then build back up to your usual mileage taking care not to over do it. Well after my short run, less than 1/2 mile, I can see their point.  I could feel my calves working much harder and after one time around the block I considered calling that enough. However, I did go for another lap around the block, opening up to a sprint for part of the lap. I'm looking forward to my next run in them!

2011/03/09 Update: I've been walking around when at home w/o shoes and trying some of the exercises, I found in this post and this video. That should help me transition to barefoot running. This morning I went for a short run to the park and ran on the grass then headed home and changed onto my standard running shoes and added a bit more distance.  Trying to ease into this.

2011/03/19 Update: I went to the trail and ran first in the fivefingers shoes then returned to the car and switched shoes and added some more distance again.  It was pretty wet and the Watt Ave. Parking area & trail was flooded. They must be letting water out from the dam since we haven't seen that much rain.

2011/06/17 Update: Well I haven't been updating this post much recently. However I have continued to improve and I now prefer running in my Vibram Fivefingers over my Merrell Trail Gloves. The  Merrell shoes look more normal but are just a tiny bit stiffer.  I can finally run at a quick pace for a few miles comfortably in the Vibrams.

My new Roku!

Check out the Roku player for Streaming video from the web, Netflix, Amazon on Demand, YouTube, Podcasts, and many more.

Anna and I Walking on the Beach

Run-A-Muck Photos

COTM - Dad Life

Amazon's Kindle App for Android Has Arrived!

Woo! Hoo! It just arrived Monday. I've been slowly progressing through a book that is on my laptop in digital "Kindle" form, wishing I had the Kindle reader on my phone. Now I do, so I expect to get much more reading done on this book. I love they automatic syncing between my laptop and the phone. When I open the book it is always where I left off which ever device I was last reading on. Plus the software for the PC and Phone is free! So, I didn't spend any money on the Kindle reader device!

Amazon's Kindle App for Android Comes at Crucial Time

Afternoon trip to Tahoe

After spending the first part of the day getting some things done and cooling off in the pool, my wife came up with the idea we run up to Pope's Beach in Tahoe, and enjoy the remainder of the day then get some dinner and head back.  So, we quickly packed up a few things and headed off to Tahoe.

The water was coolish but not too cold, we jumped right in!

After the beach we headed out for dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Express at Heavenly Village.  Anna was tired by the end of the day and fell asleep on the drive home.

First big splash of the pool season!

Annual Father Daughter Week! Day Three

After spelunking through mines and caverns yesterday in the Gold Country, it’s back to San Francisco to visit the De Young and the Japanese Tea Gardens.  Today the King Tutankhamun exhibit is the main attraction.  Going mid-week turns out to be great. We didn’t have very many people at the exhibit to wade through just to see the pieces.  Anna wasn’t all that into the King Tut display, but when we passed through the gift shop she liked all the King Tut related stuff.  I ended up buying her a bracelet, writing pad, pencil, & bamboo book mark with a turtle carved out, and a gem stone turtle for mom.  Once we made it out of the souvenir shop, we ran into Adam, who’s working at the De Young.  Actually I was too focused on Anna and deciding what to see next when Adam ran up and caught our attention.  It was a short conversation, I’m sure he couldn’t break away from work too long just to shoot the breeze but I’m glad we ran into him.  After talking to Adam we caught lunch at the nice restaurant at the De Young.

After lunch we browsed the rest of the displays.  The African exhibit up stairs was more interesting to Anna than King Tut was.  Once we had seen all the art, we headed outside.  I’d planned on going straight to the Japanese Tea Garden, but instead we walked around for a few minutes and ended up at this neat pond next to the museum.

Turtles and lily pads next to the De Young

Anna met a little girl and they played around this pond and park area for awhile.  I talked with the girls parents while shooting some photos. Turned out they were from Korea and the dad is a visiting professor for a year.  Their daughter didn’t speak any English, and the mother only spoke some.  However, we still managed to carry a conversation, and enjoyed watching our daughters play together.  I think Anna enjoyed that play time more than the museum or the Tea Gardens.

After a while we headed over to the Tea Gardens and I shot a few photos of Anna and the gardens.

After checking out the Tea Gardens, we headed out of town.  We were going to stop buy Anna’s Aunt’s house in Vallejo on the way home and visit for a few minutes.  Her aunt Katherine loves art and museums and Anna, so I though she would like talking to Anna about what she saw at the De Young and the Academy of Sciences.  The only problem I had was getting out of town.  My GPS was having a difficult time locating the satellites, so I just drove by feel until it finally synced with the satellites.  I was close!  Only a couple blocks from the freeway on-ramp.

Day four we stayed in town while waiting half the day for a tire place to put two new tires on my car.  We did manage to walk to Starbucks to meet mom for lunch while my car sat waiting its’ turn.  We were so hot by mid after noon when my car was finally done, we went straight home and jumped in the pool.

Annual Father Daughter Week! Day Two

We had planned to visit the De Young and see the King Tutankhamen exhibit before it left California for another 30 years, but after spending a whole day in S.F. just to see the Academy of Sciences… we thought it better to reschedule that for later in the week and try something different.

Tag board to track who is below in the mine

So, we packed our cameras and flashlights and headed for the hills looking for the Mother Load.  First we went to the Sutter Gold Mine, a real working mine still producing lots of gold.  There we took an open mining car down into the mine.  Anna was a bit scared as the car drove down the tight road to the mine entrance but she seemed fine once we were in the mine zipping down the tunnel in the dark.  Kind of the opposite of what I would have expected.

Entrance to the Mine

Once we got about 1200 feet into the mine there is a safety room dug out of solid “green rock” which is very dense hard rock.  Then they reinforce the room with steel bars drilled deep into the rock and a mesh anchored to the walls.  This is the room they go to if there are problems in the mine.

Zipping down into the mine!

Further down we got out and walked into a narrow side tunnel where they were following a vain of quartz.  Here the miner showed us the difference in appearance between pyrite and gold.  He then showed us several pieces of powered equipment the miners used to drill into the rock.  We learned about problems with dynamite and what the modern safer explosives are that they use now.

600ft or more below the surface

Then a quick ride back to the surface!  Anna had a blast and since the tour didn’t take much time, we headed out for lunch and then drove on to California Caverns.
The caverns were so dark that I don’t have many photos that turned out for that trip.  When I tried using a flash the dust particles in the air (though unnoticeable otherwise) nearly obscured the subject of the photo.  Here are the few photos worth anything.  These turned out because of some marginal lighting the had installed.

It was a long drive home on the winding roads, I didn’t use a map I just relied on my GPS to get us home, hopefully in the quickest way possible.  Next, it's back to S.F. …

Annual Father Daughter Week! Day One

Once again this year I took the week before school starts off and Anna and I spent the week checking out new places and sights we haven’t seen yet.

This year we started the week by going to San Francisco and spending the day exploring the California Academy of Sciences!  Cool place!  It took all day to see everything and Anna got to see an 4 story indoor Rain Forrest with all the colorful birds, frogs, butterflies, geckos, snakes, & more, a modern Planetarium, an Albino Alligator, a huge aquarium very similar to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we had taken Anna to 2-3 years ago.  She talked with the diver before he went down in the main tank for the scheduled feeding, that’s when she learned that I am a certified diver too.  She couldn’t wait to talk with the diver after the show to tell him her dad was a diver too. I had to explain the difference between a professional diver and a recreational diver.

Tank Diver

There were also several dinosaur skeletons, which Anna had fun posing with…

Saber Toothed Tiger

The planetarium was a modern digital projection on a domed ceiling that curved closely over-head.  The imagery was so clear and sharp that people were advised to close their eyes if they became dizzy or disoriented during the show.  It started out on earth at the Academy of Sciences and gradually panned out into space.  Then we visited several planets in the solar system and beyond to other parts of the milky way then out even further before returning to earth.  Anna was a bit scared at first and crouched on the floor holding my leg until we were out in space then she was fine.  Too bad I couldn’t take any photos in side the planetarium.

After the planetarium we went up to the Living Roof and got a cool breather.

Up on the Living Roof

Later after lunch we checked out the exhibits in the Natural History museum with Lions, Zebras, Cheetah, penguins, gorillas, etc., including skulls of man as he evolved that we could touch!

Day Two was very different but just as much fun…

Just tried this outstanding Oatmeal Stout!

I’ve always liked Guinness better then any other stout I’ve had and stout is the only bear I really like.  Well, tonight I opened a bottle of Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout from Anderson Valley Brewing Co.in Boonville, CA.  (My neighbor gave me the bottle last night after I gave him some free computer support.)  This beer has got to be far and away the best stout I’ve ever had.  If you like a beer described as “Slippery, creamy, dark, and sweet as a Pacific May morning,”.