Yesterday, Kelly and I visited Point Montara Fog Signal and Light Station. It was very foggy when we arrived so I initially doubted we'd get good shots. Happily, the fog burnt off while we were there, so it turned out okay.
Leaving Point Montara, we headed south on Highway 1 to Moss Beach and visited the James Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. The attraction there is the tide pools seen at low tide, but we arrived four hours too late for the morning low tide. We settled for sea lions, seabirds, and beachcombing.
From Moss Beach, we headed north to Pacifica, had lunch at that world-famous famous seafood restaurant, Denny's, then headed 5 minutes back south to Gray Whale Cove State Beach, a/k/a Devil's Slide. It's a state beach, so presumably family-friendly. I missed the memo that it had become a public nude beach (two guys) and a public masturbation beach (one guy). No pictures of them…overweight fat guys should not wear Speedos or wander around nude on public beaches, much less masturbate.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 10:02 2009-09-07 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Sunol Regional Wilderness (Parks)
Kelly and I drove up I-680 today to hike through part of Sunol Regional Wilderness. We were particularly interested in Little Yosemite, a reportedly scenic gorge with a waterfall in Sunol. Little Yosemite is actually part of the San Francisco Water Authority's land but open to the public through a lease agreement with the East Bay Regional Park District.
Short version: Meh. Sunol was hot, Little Yosemite was markedly unspectacular this late in the dry season, and the falls were nowhere to be seen. The hike along the Canyon View Trail and Camp Ohlone Road was okay, but it was hard to enjoy it due to the heat. The best part of the trip was getting back to the truck and the drive down Route 84 through Sunol itself and Niles. :-\ We'll try again between October and May when there's more to see.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 19:26 2009-08-22 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Gardens (Parks)
Yesterday was Visit Gardens Day here at KurtWerks. Our first stop was Kelley Park, home of the Japanese Friendship Garden. It was a very pretty and tranquil place, except for the older children running around yelling and raising a ruckus. I guess that's what happens when older children are bored. Pictures are here.
Stop number two was another visit to the Heritage Rose Garden in the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens. There was much more to see than there was during my previous visits because a fair number of the 3,700 varieties of roses (and something over 5,000 plants!) were blooming. I guess there's a reason it is called "The Sangerhausen of the West." I get the impression one could go every weekend and see a different garden.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 10:12 2008-04-20 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Castle Rock State Park (Parks)
Today's park was Castle Rock State Park, southeast of Saratgoa. I only took a a few pictures because just as I started my hike, my blood sugar tanked. As a result, I headed back to the car, shoved some Ritz crackers in my mouth, then started back down the mountain to get real food. The moral of this story is to take something with me so I don't have to cut short my visit. Or maybe the moral of the story is not to to eat sugary oatmeal for breakfast… Regardless, I'll start taking water and snacks with me in a small backpack when I go on these hikes. I'll make a second attempt tomorrow.
One thing I don't care for is the park's proximity to a gun club and shooting range. I have no objections to firearms, it's just unfortunate that a shooting range is so close to the park. It's difficult to enjoy a peaceful nature walk with the sound of muzzle blasts echoing all around you.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 20:51 2007-12-23 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Coe State Park (Parks)
It should have been Pacheco State Park, but traffic on State 152 was backed up for miles, so I headed back north on the 101 about 10 miles and visited Henry W. Coe State Park instead. Pretty park. It was a little rough around the edges if you're one of those who likes all the modern camping conveniences, but I was happy with it. The staff was friendly and the park ranger did a great job describing the hike he recommended for the amount of time I had to spend. I'd like to go back and hike some of the other trails for which I didn't have time this visit. As I threatened yesterday, I took a few photographs.
I'm out of shape, but not horribly so. The hike down the Corral and Spring trails, while not strenuous, was more walking than I've done in a while. I'll feel the steep uphill from the spring itself back to the main Spring Trail in the morning. To work out the kinks, I might undertake visiting Pacheco tomorrow.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 21:32 2007-12-22 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
A Week Off (Parks)
Well, it's more like 11 days off if one counts the weekends. I count the weekends! I don't go back to work until 2 Jan, 2008.
NVIDIA, like a lot of tech companies, closes down for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. I don't know what the business justification for shutting down is, but from a practical standpoint, it makes sense. So many people take time off during the holidays that work can be difficult to complete–some decisions can't be made, for example, or one person's progress is blocked because the upstream dependency is on vacation. Regardless of the business justification, I like to take the time off whenever I can. Shutting down completely makes taking a week off an easy sell to my boss.
Which is not to say that I have a lot of plans. I don't. I'm not heading back to Pittsburgh and Kelly isn't coming out here. I don't want to spend the money on plane tickets and dislike traveling during holidays. Kelly has to work Christmas day. I will clean up around here and intend to visit some of the California state parks that are close by. Current candidates for visits are, in no particular order:
I'll take pictures to post.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 10:23 2007-12-22 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)