Hiking Big Basin Redwoods

Today, we decided to hike the beautiful Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz, CA.
We have not hiked there for over 15 years and wanted to know what, if anything, has changed.

The drive to Big Basin Redwoods from San Jose was uneventful. I drove on Highway 85 west, followed by Highway 9, south to 236. The narrow, twisty road was not as difficult as I remembered. However, I hit a severe traffic jam when approaching the Big Basin. It took me 20+ minutes to get into the park. Once there, I was told by the ranger that there was no parking! However, we got lucky as more spots opened up in a few minutes. Coming on Labor Day is not always a good idea.

As it was late in the day, we decided to do a short hike that reached the closest waterfall. The ranger suggested we take Sequoia Trail from the Big Basin Headquarters and follow it until we reach Sempervirens Falls. From there, we could continue on the Shadowbrook Trail in a clockwise loop. The entire round-trip was approximately 5 miles or about 2 hours.

Along the trail were many groves of tall redwoods and plenty of shade on a sizzling day.

The actual Sempervirens Falls are not very impressive (compared to others I have seen).

Since Inna did not have breakfast, she purchased a "Tree Hugger Wrap" at the Big Basin Cafe. She decided to eat it at Sempervirens Falls. The wrap was quite good; she shared half of it with me.

The hike back from Sempervirens Falls was quite pleasant, and I enjoyed walking beneath heavy tree cover on a warm summer day. Along the way, we ran into a stray dog that followed us for 20 minutes, but it eventually found other people to follow.

We finished the hike at 5:20 p.m. and returned to Los Gatos (as Saratoga did not have any exciting restaurants to try). The hike was initially supposed to take us 2 hours for 5 miles, but it ended up being closer to 2.5 hours and 5.6 miles.

Inna found a well-rated new restaurant in Los Gatos - Oak & Rye - and we decided to try it. We ordered "Heirloom Tomatoes" and a "Homemade Pretzel" for an appetizer. The tomatoes were tremendous, but the pretzel was a bit too small.

We ordered the famous "Scotty 2 Hottie" pizza for our main entree. It was a bit spicy but quite well prepared. It will give Pizza My Heart some competition!

We enjoyed our time there and will be back!

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Alex's Bar Mitzvah

Alex has been working hard over the past year to learn to read and write Hebrew in preparation for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah at Chabad San Jose.

He spent many Monday afternoons with Rabbi Aaron Cunin, Sipi, Jonathan, and his fellow students learning the portion of the Torah he would be reading. He also had to learn to read ancient Hebrew.

Alex wrote and delivered the following speech during his Bar Mitzvah:

August 27, 2016 

Hi everyone! Thank you for joining me for my Bar Mitzvah! I would like to thank a couple of people who helped me along the way to achieve this goal. 

I would like to thank my Dad because I wouldn’t have this bar Mitzvah without him. He paid for everything for me to have this Bar Mitzvah. 

I would also like to thank my Mom for spending sometime driving me here. For the next set of people teaching me Hebrew, I would like to thank Sipi, Rabbi Aaron, Jonathan, for teaching me Hebrew. I would have never been able to speak without them so I appreciate it a lot. I want to also thank my grandma, uncle, and everyone in my class who supported me. It makes me feel confident when I become supported. Without Rabbi Aaron’s help, I wouldn’t have gotten this Bar Mitzvah. 

Now let me talk a little about my Torah portion. Moses addresses all children that if they fulfill the commandments of the Torah, they will conquer and settle in Israel keeping with God’s promise. Moses describes the land ahead of them with all kinds of food. During their 40 years in the desert, Moses mentions that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of God’s mouth does a man live. Thank you for being here celebrating my Bar Mitzvah and I hope you have a great Shabbat!

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Hiking Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

Today, we decided to explore the beautiful Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. To avoid early morning traffic on Highway 17, we woke up early and headed to the park around 9:00 am.

It's one of the few California State Parks that allows dogs. Last week, we went to Shoreline and were disappointed to learn that no dogs are allowed, as it's considered a wildlife sanctuary.

Since our friend's beautiful sheltie, Maya, was with us, we had to find dog-friendly trails. We followed the "Pipeline Road" trail to the trail overlook. This trail is next to the "Redwood Grove Overlook Trail" and allows dogs. Another permitted trail horses, and we saw a few horses on that trail.

There is a nice Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park map located here.

"Pipeline Road" is a beautiful road with many giant redwoods. Even though it was a scorching day, the tree cover was substantial, and we never felt overheated. We didn't see many animals on the trail - only occasional birds and other dogs.

We walked a few miles on the trail (by the narrow stream) until we arrived at the overlook.

There was not much to see at the overlook, so we decided to head back. The total distance of our hike was about 4 miles.

After our long walk, we drove to Santa Cruz to get lunch downtown. After deliberation, we decided to try lunch at the well-rated Gabriella Cafe.

We needed a restaurant with a patio to eat with Maya.

I ordered the highly recommended Coquellas. It's a Mexican dish with fried eggs, black beans, tortillas, and avocados. It was delicious and spicy.

Inna ordered "Housemade Pappardelle Bolognese" and was impressed with the freshly made pasta.

Alex ordered a burger and was impressed with the quality of the beef and the freshly made bun.

After our delicious lunch, we stopped by Penny Ice Creamery for some delicious, freshly made ice cream (the Best in Santa Cruz).

Inna and I both really liked the Raspberry Chocolate ice cream! We could see that it was freshly made, and nothing beats freshly made ice cream!

After finishing the ice cream, we headed to the Santa Cruz beach for more walking.

Maya ran around the beach, chasing incoming waves.

I shot some videos of Maya playing with other dogs on the beach. She usually prefers to play by herself.

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Beautiful Lake Tahoe

In the morning, we quickly packed and headed to beautiful North Lake Tahoe at around 8:00 a.m. There was very little traffic on Highway I-680 and I-80, and we arrived in Truckee (just west of Lake Tahoe) at 11:30 a.m. (a 3.5-hour drive).

Since we were hungry and tired from the long drive, we ate lunch at Marty's Cafe - a well-rated restaurant on Yelp. There was a long wait to be seated (as the restaurant was packed), and we initially considered other alternatives. Still, other restaurants in Truckee were also bustling, so we decided to wait it out. We ended up waiting for about 35 minutes before we were seated.

I ordered a Brie and Mushroom Omelette with an English muffin (it included a homemade raspberry jam). It was well-prepared, incredibly delicious, and served very quickly.

Inna ordered an Eggs Benedict and was surprised by how well it was prepared. We didn't have high expectations (after our spectacular breakfast in St. Regis in Bora Bora) and were pleasantly surprised.

Alex ordered a Cheeseburger with a fruit salad and was also very happy. We really enjoyed our brunch entrees here and hope to be back again!

After an unexpectedly delicious lunch, we headed for our planned hike on the Sagehen Creek Trail. This is a flat trail just North of Truckee, with a round trip distance of 5 miles.

The trail started with much tree cover but eventually became a desert landscape with few trees and no shade.

As it was a scorching day, Inna was flustered by the high temperature (over 89 Fahrenheit) and the high altitude (6,000 feet).

We did not see many animals on the trail, though Inna did manage to spot a small snake, some lizards, and a very loud bird.

After the hike, we decided to stop by Truckee for cold ice cream. We stopped by Bud's Old Fashioned Fountain shop for a sample. Yelp reviews were mediocre, but we decided to try it ourselves. Alex ordered a chocolate and peanut butter flavor and liked it somewhat. Unfortunately, we were not impressed by Bud's ice cream. I think Haagen Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, and Three Twins ice cream taste much better (and let's not even try to compare Bud's to Birite in San Francisco).

After cooling off, we headed for King's Beach to play a bit of Miniature Golf. We decided to play one game at Kings Beach Miniature Golf.

We played 18 holes, and Inna won by a large margin. However, Alex won a free game of golf by getting his last put on the 19th hole.

Here is a video of us playing a couple of holes:

After finishing golf, we headed to our hotel at The Village at Squaw Valley. Inna found a respectable room price on Hotwire, so we decided to stay there for two nights. We parked in the underground garage, which is very convenient. The whole Village at Squaw Valley reminds me a bit of Whistler in Canada (though I have more affection for Whistler).

After checking in, we decided to have dinner at Fireside Pizza. Inna did not want to eat pizza, but she liked the other items on the menu. Alex ordered a small Caesar Salad. Inna ordered a specialty salad (Buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes). We also ordered some Hummus, Feta, and Olives as a shared appetizer. We shared a large Thai Curry Chicken pizza among all three. The pizza was delicious, but Alex did not like it; he prefers Thai food.

 For dessert, Alex ordered a Brownie Avalanche, which was fabulous. Alex did not like the lemonade - it was the HiC version and prefers natural lemonade (made with freshly squeezed lemons).

Alex and I found a Foosball machine in the Kid's Play area of the Village at Squaw Hotel and played three games. I won the first game, Alex won the second, and Alex won the final third game of our tiebreak.


Sunday, July 24, 2016

We got up reasonably early, around 7:30 a.m., to get an early breakfast and have time to get to King's Beach, where I had jet-ski reservations. Since most of the breakfast eateries in the Olympic Village were closed, we drove to King's Beach and decided to eat breakfast there.

We stopped by at the Java Hut, where I ordered a waffle, and Alex and Inna ate a breakfast sandwich. After breakfast, we headed to the beach, where the jet skis were being prepared.

After signing all the paperwork and liability forms, Alex and I walked into the beautifully clear water to get to the jet skis tethered 50 feet offshore. We boarded the jet skis and were off to ride Lake Tahoe. (Even at maximum speed, jet skis would take two hours to reach South Lake Tahoe from King's Beach).

The water was unusually calm in the morning, and I could go at maximum speed, i.e., close to 49 mph. I took turns with Alex, who was initially uncomfortable with the ride's speed and bumpiness. Eventually, he got used to it and enjoyed riding the jet ski as the driver.

After about an hour of riding, we returned to King's Beach, and I took Inna for a ride. We rode slower as the water had become r. Many more boats and jet skis were out as the morning wore on. After 30 minutes of riding, we returned to King's Beach to let Alex have another turn.

Alex got to drive the jet ski far longer this time and immensely enjoyed it.

After about 3 hours of riding, we were tired and headed to lunch. Inna found a nearby eatery well-rated on Yelp - King's Cafe. We really enjoyed our lunch there, as it was delicious and reasonably priced.

After lunch, we stopped by a new Ice Cream Shop - "Sweet Tahoe Time." Alex ordered himself a Birthday cake-flavored ice cream with lots of toppings.

We walked back to Kings' beach and decided to rent some kayaks and a stand-up paddleboard. Inna and I rented a two-seater ocean kayak, while Alex rented a stand-up paddleboard. We paddled around for about an hour on King's Beach.

I filmed a short video of our kayaking and supping adventures:


Our kayak rammed Alex's paddleboard several times, and he fell off once. Afterward, we rested a bit while Alex chased Pokemon.

After 5:00 p.m., we decided to try another game of golf at King's Miniature Golf nearby. We played the second golf course. The result was the same as last time, with Inna winning (again), I was second, and Alex was third. Alex was frustrated on a few holes where his initial strategy did not work.

We were all a bit tired after a long day at the beach and headed back to our "The Village at Squaw Hotel." After some rest, we had dinner at Fireside Pizza (this time outdoors). Inna ordered a Cobb Salad, Alex ordered a personal Pizza, Margherita with a Caesar salad to start, and I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese with a house salad. For dessert, we shared a brownie with ice cream. The meal was delicious and very reasonably priced.

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Boogie Boarding on Manresa Beach

Today, we planned to enjoy our favorite beach near Santa Cruz - Manresa State Beach. Since it does tend to get crowded (with minimal car parking), we decided to leave early, stopping briefly at our local Whole Foods to get sandwiches for a picnic lunch.

The traffic heading on Highway 17 was unusually light at 9:00 a.m., and we arrived at Manresa State Beach right around 9:30 a.m. The weather was very cloudy, but many surfers were out enjoying the waves. Many 3-5 foot high wave sets were coming through.

Alex initially hesitated to go boogie boarding but eventually changed his mind and put on his new wetsuit. He initially tested the cold Pacific Ocean water, which he found to be much colder than Lake Tahoe. He grabbed his boogie board and plunged in. He only stayed out for about 30 minutes, but he enjoyed it (and was quickly tired).

The wetsuit was quite constricting, and his energy ebbed a bit. After a short boogie-boarding session, he threw me a freesbie and a football back and forth. Then we played some badminton.

Despite the cloudy and overcast (and somewhat chilly summer day), we had a relaxing time at Manresa State Beach and hope to be back again (with better weather).

We saw a lot of surfers in the morning, when the wind was a bit calmer, trying to catch 4-5 foot waves. By noon, the vast majority of surfers have left the beach.

Inna and I finally got used to the colder Pacific Ocean.

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