A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Since we rarely visited Northern California, we explored the hikes and waterfalls around Mt. Shasta. I have often been drawn to Mt. Shasta and Lake Shasta on my way from Sacramento to Portland, Oregon, but I have never stopped.. . We drove from San Jose to Mt. Shasta in the late afternoon. The drive to McCloud (near Mt. Shasta) was uneventful and took about 4.5…
Read More: Hiking Mt. Shasta
I always like rafting down white water and decided to try it out with the Adventure Connection company near Placerville, CA. A good deal was published on Travelzoo - $79 per ticket, so I decided to give it a shot.. . The trip is scheduled to start at 10:00 and end at 16:00 with lunch in between, covering 13 miles of class 1-3 rapids in…
Read More: Rafting the South Fork of American River
Steve, a good friend, suggested that Alex, Inna, and I would enjoy participating in a Marine Science Ecotour in Redwood City. It would allow me to explore some of the native marine life in the San Francisco Bay and to see firsthand the work that marine biologists do.. . With Steve's help, we purchased tickets and headed for the voyage.. Thanks for signing up for…
Read More: Trolling for bottom dwellers (Marine Science Ecotour)
My wife purchased me a LivingSocial Voucher for Father's Day for a 3-hour Kiteboarding lesson with SG Kiteboarding.. . The beginner lessons cover flying the kite for the first few hours and self-rescue techniques.. . . . . The lesson took place with two other participants at Caesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, CA. We learned to properly launch and control a kite by shifting the…
Read More: Kiteboarding Lessons with SG Kiteboarding
On the Tallink Baltic Queen ferry, we sailed from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, around 10:00 a.m. We had a tiny cabin on the ferry, sufficient for the one-day sail. Alex and I had separate top bunks, and Inna slept on the bottom bunk. There was not much room for anything else. Our luggage blocked the way out (but what can you do?). . .…
Read More: Stockholm, Sweden
We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia, aboard the Tallink Silja Line ferry from Helsinki at 3:30 p.m. We planned to visit our Radisson Blu Sky hotel and explore the beautiful medieval old town.. . When we arrived, we waited for bus #2 to get to our Radisson Blu Sky hotel, but it did not stop at our bus stop. We decided to take a bicycle taxi…
Read More: Tallinn, Estonia
After getting up and having breakfast, we took the metro to Copenhagen Airport. It started lightly raining in Copenhagen, but not enough to get us wet. We boarded the M2 subway at Kongens Nytorv metro station and took it to Copenhagen Airport (Lufthavn station). On the way there, in the metro, we had our 24-hour Copenhagen tickets checked. During our five days in Copenhagen, this…
Read More: Helsinki, Finland
. Our flight from Bergen, Norway, to Copenhagen, Denmark, was scheduled for 8:10 p.m. from Bergen airport. It's a relatively short flight, and we planned to land in Copenhagen at 9:30 p.m. However, our plane was delayed 15 minutes (not a big deal). We also called our Phoenix Copenhagen hotel to confirm they had our room reserved for our late arrival. To my great surprise,…
Read More: Copenhagen, Denmark
We unpacked and relaxed after checking into 193 Strandgaten, an 8th-floor apartment building. . . . . . We brought in our suitcases and relaxed for a brief moment.. . . . . Opening the windows, we were thrilled by the spectacular view of the beautiful, ship-filled harbor. . . . . Since we were hungry (from our long and tedious journey from Balestrand), we…
Read More: Bergen, Norway
Since we had early morning train tickets to Flam, we got up at 5:30 a.m., packed, and boarded our train from Oslo to Myrdal at 6:45 a.m. The plan was to change trains in Myrdal and ride on the scenic train to Flam, followed by a ferry cruise to Balestrand through the magnificent Norwegian Fjords.. . . . . I had an unexpected problem with…
Read More: Balestrand, Norway
Today, we flew out on Norwegian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner from San Francisco, California, to Oslo, Norway, on our summer Scandinavian vacation.. . This was our first time on the Boeing 787, and it is a much superior plane to all of the previous Boeing and Airbus jets I have flown. The seats were much better, the engines were much quieter, and the cabin was…
Read More: Oslo, Norway
For Father's Day, we decided to go to Mountain Winery's Sangria Sunday with Santos Perdidos.. It was a lovely, sunny day out, and we enjoyed the beautiful view from the winery.. . The band started playing around 11:30 a.m., but it was not especially loud or energetic. I expected energy, but the band sounded muted, like it was playing in the background.. . . .…
Read More: Sangria Sunday at the Mountain Winery
I was surprised that Showboat - a traditional American Musical - was being staged by San Francisco Opera. I found a discounted ticket through Travelzoo, so I decided to attend the musical, partly based on the great online reviews.. . The production was massive - over 80 cast members. In addition, the costumes and overall production quality were genuinely extraordinary. We really enjoyed the show…
Read More: Review: Showboat at San Francisco Opera
Today, June 12, 2014, my eleven-year-old son Alexander graduated from Guadalupe Elementary School.. . Here is a photo of Alex holding his graduation certificate with Mrs. Sarah Jellin, the school's principal.. . . . Here is another photo of Alexander with his 5th-grade homeroom teacher, Mrs. Misty Buckley.. . . . His final report card is not too bad:. . . . In the fall,…
Read More: Alex's Elementary School Graduation
Today, we decided to enjoy Carmel-by-the-Sea's beautiful white-sand beaches. We drove on US 101 heading south (we usually take US-17), and this way was much quicker.. . When we arrived around noon, Carmel was covered in a light fog. Eventually, the fog lifted, and we enjoyed a beautiful day on the beach. It started out chilly (in the 60 degrees Fahrenheit) but warmed to 70…
Read More: Beach time in Carmel
I decided to mountain bike at my nearby Almaden Quicksilver County Park in south San Jose, this time using the Hacienda Park entrance (Eastern side of the park).. . When I arrived at 8:45 a.m., there were not too many cars. I assembled my Specialized Ground Control bike and started on the ascent of Mines Hill Trail.. . The park map is below:. . .…
Read More: Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park
Today, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with brunch at La Foret Restaurant in San Jose.. . La Foret is located in Almaden, near the Almaden Quicksilver County Park. It's tucked into a semi-rural area of San Jose. Nearby, there are lots of ranches with horses and other domesticated animals. It's a very romantic setting.. . . . . We arrived right around 1:00 pm for…
Read More: Sunday Brunch at La Foret
Today, I saw "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for the first time at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts in downtown San Jose.. . . . The show started slowly and tediously but picked up in the second half. The costumes and sets were amateurish, but many songs were memorable and enjoyable. This is not a favorite among Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals,…
Read More: Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Today, I decided to sample multiple mountain biking trails at Joseph D. Grant County Park. When I arrived, I parked at the parking lot on Hamilton Road, a few hundred feet past the park's entrance (near Grant Lake).. . I shot a short video on my GoPro Hero 3 Black here of my ride from Halls Valley Road to Canada de Pala and returning by…
Read More: Biking Joseph D. Grant County Park
Today, instead of visiting Lake Tahoe, we decided to visit Half Moon Bay. We had never been there before, so we were curious about the trails and beaches.. . When we arrived around 10:00, I discovered that the front tire on my Specialized Ground Control mountain bike was flat and wouldn't stay inflated. I decided to have it repaired at the local bike shop -…
Read More: Biking the Coastal Trail in Half Moon Bay