A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
For our 25th Anniversary dinner, I initially booked Evvia, but had to cancel because Inna felt unwell. When I tried to book another day, I could only reserve outdoor tables, which worried me due to the cold weather. I decided to try dining at Le Papillon—a restaurant I visited decades ago. I made a dinner reservation for Saturday, October 24, at 19:00. . . On…
Read More: Anniversary Dinner at Le Papillon
We haven't been to Carmel-by-the-Sea in a while, so we decided to revisit it on Saturday. . . We met up with our friends at our favorite Mad Dogs & Englishmen Cafe, which has nice bicycle sidecars on display. . . After sampling a few pastries and enjoying delicious cappuccinos, we walked down to the beach. Although it was mid-October, the weather was beautiful and…
Read More: A Day Trip to Carmel
For my 58th Birthday, Inna treated me to a delicious dinner at Dalida Mediterranean in San Francisco's Presidio. She made a reservation for 19:30 (the earliest available for Sunday, October 11). . We tried calling Dalida to see if we could dine earlier, but couldn't reach anyone. When we arrived about 40 minutes early, they told us we couldn't be seated earlier. . Since it…
Read More: Birthday Dinner at Dalida
With an unusual Southerly wind forecast (15-20 kts) from iwindsurf.com, I anticipated unpredictable conditions at Crissy Field. Normally, I only sail in Northwesterly winds. . I loaded up the Tesla Model Y with all my gear and started the drive to San Francisco's Crissy Field around 09:40 (stopping at Keypoint Credit Union on the way there). There was some heavy traffic, and I arrived at…
Read More: Wing Foiling at Crissy
Since the wind forecast was unfavorable for wing foiling at Crissy Field, Inna and I decided to head to Noe Valley instead, to meet up with Alex and to have lunch with him nearby. The drive to Noe Valley was surprisingly quick—normally, I need 90 minutes to reach Crissy Field, as driving through Golden Gate Park is usually quite slow. It took just about an…
Read More: Hiking Lands’ End
With an unusual Southerly wind forecast (15-20 kts) from iwindsurf.com, I anticipated unpredictable conditions at Crissy Field. Normally, I only sail in Northwesterly winds. . . . I loaded up the Tesla Model Y with all my gear and started our drive to San Francisco around 10:00, arriving at Crissy Field at 11:30. There was some fog around the Golden Gate Bridge, but nothing to…
Read More: Wing Foiling at Crissy
With an unusual Southerly wind forecast (15-20 kts) from iwindsurf.com, I anticipated unpredictable conditions at Crissy Field. Normally, I only sail in Northwesterly winds. . . . . 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 12:50. There was some fog around the Golden Gate Bridge, but nothing…
Read More: Crazy Day at Crissy
With Alex relocating to San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood, we decided to celebrate his birthday at Memento SF, a local, well-regarded restaurant. . After dropping off a few items at his new digs (and his birthday presents), we walked a few blocks to Memento SF (on Castro Street). . . Since one of Alex's roommates was running late, we ordered appetizers and drinks, and then…
Read More: Birthday Dinner at Memento SF
After checking the iwindsurf.com pro forecast, which had a very favorable outlook for Saturday's wind, I decided to wingfoil 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. The forecast called for 20 knots by 15:00, but I didn't believe it. . I…
Read More: Wing Foiling at Coyote Point
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 . From the Takakkaw Falls, it took us about two hours to reach the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, where we had planned to stay one night. Inna had found an amazing Nordic Spa, and she wanted everyone to rest after so many days of hiking. . . . . . . We reached the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge at around 16:30, and it…
Read More: Kananaskis Village Hotel & Nordic Spa
Saturday, July 4, 2026 . After the 50-minute drive from Peyto Lake, we arrived at Storm Mountain Lodge, near Lake Louise. Inna had chosen the Storm Mountain Lodge for its convenient location for the many hikes around Lake Louise (since shuttles were required to access the hiking trails). (I wish that UberX were available for drop-off at Lake Louise, as the price for shuttle transfers…
Read More: Gorgeous Lake Louise
Thursday, July 2, 2026 . On the way to Hotel Canoe in Banff, where we planned to spend two nights, I intended to stop at Wild Flower Bakery to purchase the next day's packable lunch. Once we reached Banff, traffic was extremely heavy, so I dropped off Alex and Inna nearby so they could order pastries and sandwiches while I looked for parking. . .…
Read More: Beautiful Banff
Thursday, July 2, 2026 . We had always wanted to see the Canadian Rockies, Banff, and Lake Louise, but had never had the time. For the July 4th weekend, I checked to see whether flights from San Francisco to Calgary were available at a reasonable price (and luckily, they were). With Inna's and ChatGPT's help, we came up with a detailed plan to see as…
Read More: Calgary
Saturday, June 13, 2026 . Having visited Bora-Bora ten years ago (see my previous blog post), we finally returned to The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort. We had considered other hotels on Bora-Bora, especially the Four Seasons. Still, the cost differences were substantial, and Costco's package to The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort was very compelling. I purchased the transfer flight from San Jose to…
Read More: Return to Bora-Bora, French Polynesia
After checking the iwindsurf.com pro forecast, which had a very favorable outlook for Saturday's wind, I decided to wingfoil at Coyote Point in San Mateo. . . . . . On arrival at Coyote Point (a 45-minute drive from San Jose) via US-101, the wind was 12 knots (much lower than forecast). A few wing foilers and windsurfers were putting around, but no one was…
Read More: A Windy Day at Coyote Point
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…
Read More: Hiking Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
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…
Read More: Kayaking Russian River
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…
Read More: Dinner at Gary Danko
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…
Read More: Second Day Wing Foiling at Crissy
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.…
Read More: Mother’s Day at Dio Deka