Wisetrips Travel Blog – Page 71 – A digital travel diary.

Return to Mountain Biking at Quicksilver Almaden County Park

Sunday, June 11, 2017california, mountain biking, sf bay

Once the rains in San Jose finally stopped, I returned to mountain biking at Almaden Quicksilver Park and surrounding trails. However, I noticed that my rear tire was constantly losing pressure.. . . . . . . . At first, I took my 2011 Specialized FSR Stumpjumper S-Works FSR Carbon to Trail Head Cyclery. The mechanic there redid the rear tire. However, one week later,…

Alex’s Graduation from Dartmouth Middle School

Friday, June 9, 2017dartmouth, personal

How time flies! Only yesterday, Alex entered Dartmouth Middle School as a 6th grader (from Guadalupe Elementary). Three short years later, he is graduating with honors from Dartmouth Middle School and heading to high school (Go Bells!). . The Dartmouth Middle School Graduation followed the following Program:. Processional to "Pomp & Circumstance" . Flag Salute. "Star-Spangled Banner" by the Chorus. Greetings and Introduction by Mr.…

Grandma’s 85th Birthday at Manresa

Sunday, June 4, 2017birthday, personal

For Grandma Bella's 85th birthday, Inna and I took Grandma to the Michelin 3-Star Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos.. . . . We have been to Manresa a few times but have not returned since the fire (and its upgrade from Michelin 2 Star to 3 Star rating).. . . . While Bella enjoyed the spectacular desserts and Manresa, she was less impressed by the…

Bird watching at Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge

Saturday, June 3, 2017california, hiking, sf bay

Who knew that there was a nearby wildlife refuge in North San Jose?. . Steve Stolper suggested I join him on his bird-watching hike on the Mallard Slough Trail at the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge in Milpitas?. . We met Steve at 1751 Grand Blvd, Alviso, CA 95002, where a parking lot leads to a small Educational Center.. . . . We saw many interesting…

Windsurfing Coyote Point on new Ezzy Elite sails

Friday, June 2, 2017california, sf bay, windsurfing

After 25+ years of windsurfing on 20-year-old gear (1996 Ezzy Transformer sails, Aluminum Chinook booms, and PowerEx masts), I returned to the sport with new, modern gear.. . . . I found an excellent deal online at Isthmus Windsurfing, where Jon Massman was able to help me build a new quiver of sails based on 2016 Ezzy Elite sails and Ezzy Masts.. . I purchased…

Dartmouth Symphonic Band Banquet

Wednesday, May 31, 2017dartmouth

At the end of Dartmouth Middle School's school year, the Symphonic Band held a final banquet to celebrate all of the band's accomplishments.. . The banquet was supposed to start at 7:00pm, so we arrived at 6:30 to wait in line. The banquet was really created a bit later. We stood in line for a catered dinner (Alex sat separately with his friends). After a…

Kinetic Sculptures Race in Ferndale

Monday, May 29, 2017california, humboldt

Our first stop in Ferndale occurred during lunchtime after we had hiked at Humboldt Redwoods State Park nearby.. . . . At first, we stopped by Ferndale Pizza, where Alex ordered and ate an entire pepperoni pizza! I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo (which was well prepared), and it filled me up.. . After lunch, we decided to stop by at Humboldt Sweets. Yelp indicated that…

Hiking Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Sunday, May 28, 2017california, hiking, humboldt, state park

After waking up at 7:00 am and quickly showering, we dressed and headed for breakfast at our Best Western Plus. I was surprised at how busy it was at 8:00 am; everyone had the same idea of getting an early start on breakfast.. . . . There was not a lot of variety at Best Western (but at least it was free), so Alex decided…

Exploring the Lost Coast

Saturday, May 27, 2017california, hiking, lost coast

On Saturday, May 27, we started our long drive from San Jose to Garberville and Shelter Cove (aka the Lost Coast).. . There was a lot of traffic on I-880 and US-101, so we stopped by for lunch at a well-regarded (according to Yelp) eatery - Sarah's Sweets and Eats in Petaluma.. . I ordered a delicious Pastrami Reuben sandwich, while Inna ordered the Monte…

A Day out in San Francisco

Friday, May 26, 2017california, sf bay

Since Friday, May 26, was a Juniper Holiday, Inna and I decided to see Monet's "The Early Years" exhibit at San Francisco's Legion of Honor Museum.. . The drive there was uneventful, though finding parking was a challenge. There were several intriguing sculptures in the courtyard of the museum. The sculptures looked like they were made from wet clay - yet they were solid.. .…