Wisetrips Travel Blog

The Almaden Valley Athletic Club , where I am a member, was celebrating its 50th anniversary on May 30th, and I decided to attend with my wife. According to ChatGPT: The founding story of Almaden Valley Athletic Club is closely tied to two longtime friends, Jim Theiring and Joe Shank , who grew up together in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 1974, Jim and his wife Linda invested their life savings i…

After checking the iwindsurf.com pro forecast, I decided to wing foil at Coyote Point in San Mateo.  On arrival at Coyote Point (a 45-minute drive from San Jose) via US-101, the wind was showing as 15 knots. I decided to rig my brand-new Duotone Slick SLS 5.5m wing.      Wing Foiling Gear Board: Naish Hover LE Carbon Ultra 95 Foil: Armstrong HS Foil Kit 1250cm Wing: Duotone Slick SLS 5.5m Har…

To help me work from home more efficiently, I ordered  the   Dell  Pro P 34 USB-C Hub Conferencing Monitor from Insight . I connected it to my Apple MacBook Air 13' M3, and it's working well. I think the text is a bit fuzzier than Apple's 5K display, which has higher PPI. I really liked the built-in USB & Ethernet ports on the monitor, as they eliminate the need for a separate port extender on the MacBook Air (w…

After checking out of the Airbnb in Forestville, we drove for about 45 minutes to  Jenner Headlands Preserve . We decided to do a short, 4.5-mile loop from sea to sky. It took us about two hours, and we saw cows, horses, and many birds along the way. For lunch, we first stopped at Cafe Aquatica , but our friends wanted more seafood options, so we continued on to Bodega Bay, where we stopped at The Birds Cafe.  We …

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we decided to hike a few trails at the nearby  Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve  (about a 20-minute drive from our Airbnb home in Forestville). On arrival at the park at around 10:30, we noticed a long line of cars trying to get in, with many cars parked on the road. We decided to try parking on the road and found a spot a few hundred feet away. We decided to hike the East Ridge…

For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to join our friends at a house in Forestville (on the Russian River), with a stop to kayak with  Burke's Canoe Trips . I had called Burke's one day earlier to make reservations for two kayaks: one two-seater for Inna and me, and one single-seater for Alex. We were told to arrive before 11:00, as it usually took 3-3.5 hours to complete the 10-mile downstream journey to Guerneville. …

I had been using the Home Master TMAFC-ERP Artesian Full Contact Reverse Osmosis System  for the past 10 years. I had been very happy with the water quality and the system's reliability, but I disliked the yearly filter changes because they often led to leaks. Every time a new filter needed to be installed, the plastic piping previously used on the older filter had to be trimmed by one-quarter inch. Sometimes, even cutting the p…

My current Apple Series 9 watch was starting to require frequent recharges. Its battery health was 84% (after 2.5 years of use), and it was dying after recording a wing-foiling session. Since I also used the watch to lock/unlock my Tesla during wing-foiling sessions, I needed to be able to count on it. Since replacing the existing Series 9 battery would cost $90, I decided to upgrade to the Apple Series 11 watch instead. The Appl…

We had eaten at Gary Danko twenty years ago and decided to try again. Inna had made dinner reservations for Saturday, May 16, at 19:15 (the only time she could find, as the restaurant is extremely popular and needs to be booked in advance). We had actually arrived earlier (at 18:00) and were hoping to get an earlier seating. Still, the restaurant was fully booked (so we decided to stroll around Ghirardelli Square, tempting…

With a strong wind forecast (20-30 kts) from iwindsurf.com , I was anticipating epic conditions at Crissy Field. I loaded up the Tesla Model Y with all my gear and started our drive to San Francisco around 11:00, arriving at Crissy Field at 12:40. After finding a nice place to park (with a lawn nearby for assembling the foil and wing), we strolled to Chestnut Street for lunch. We stopped by our favorite Cracked &…

For Mother's Day , I made dinner reservations at Dio Deka , our favorite Greek restaurant in Los Gatos. It used to be a Michelin 1-Star restaurant (but not any longer). After parking near the restaurant, we walked over and were seated outside. It was the first time we had ever sat on the patio at Dio Deka (near the fountain), and we really enjoyed it.  We looked at the menu and ordered the followi…

Inna purchased tickets to the  "From Me to You" concert featuring   Andrey Makarevich  (from Mashina Vremeni) and Laima Vaikule . The concert was held at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts at 19:00. I was not familiar with Laima Vaikule, so I was curious about her and the combined concert with Andrey. Andrey Makarevich — legendary rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, known for poetic lyrics and …

I've been waiting for the right wind conditions to start my wing foiling season in San Francisco, and finally got the opportunity today. The iwindsurf.com forecast initially had very favorable winds (as reported on Friday), but showed less favorable SW winds on Saturday morning (NW winds are best). I loaded up the Tesla Model Y with all my gear (having assembled the Foil with the Armstrong 1250cm front wing) earlier t…

Inna had pre-purchased two tickets to the Hearst Castle's Grand Rooms T our for Saturday, May 2, at  11:20. We arrived at 11:15, and our tour bus was already loading. We ended up being seated in the back. A Visit to Hearst Castle: Grandeur, Art, and the Collector’s Trophy Room Big Rooms Tour Experience Few places in America capture ambition, extravagance, and contradiction quite like Hearst Castle. …