San Francisco Days 6 & 7

Okay, so I may have exaggerated a little in the previous post.  There were no bear attacks that night, or the next (which for the record...was much better once the initial fear dissipated. Oh, and also because I downed a powerful sleeping pill. That might have had a little something to do with it.)

In case you were wondering- here's what the yurt looked like on the inside.

[And yes, Ryan is wearing only undies. Even on top of a very cold mountain. As my brother Joey pointed out, "I used to think Ryan wore nothing but underwear because Hawaii is so hot...I can see now that's not the case."]  ;-)

Our second day there, we returned to the park, so we could...

Get the obligatory park entrance sign picture!  (Ryan was snoozing the first day we passed it.)

Go bear hunting!  No luck on that front, but we did find an old, abandoned  helicopter that Ryan clambered up into and excitedly exclaimed (and I quote) "This is in tip top shape!"  Hmm.  

See plenty of deer!  There is no shortage of deer in the park.  I think we spotted deer every hour.

Play in the snow again!  (Psst...great aim for a 3-year old, right?)

Make snow angels!

Play mini golf (Ryan's first time)! 

The next day we checked out of our yurt and made the long drive back down the hill (this time, with half a Bonine in my system...as I really wanted this to be a rare, puke-free vacation).

Not the best wing man on road trips.

But instead of heading back to the city as planned, we decided to make a spontaneous trip to Fairfield. We figured we'd use the side trip to could soak up a little extra culture...because what's that saying by Seneca again?  Ah yes... Travel and change impart new vigor to the mind...  

So what did we do?

We hit up McDonalds, the JellyBelly Factory and an outlet mall! Woot! Woot!   I felt smarter instantly.

In our defense...the little guy sat in his car seat for a very, very long time.  And I don't think there is ANYTHING this child loves more, than a grimy, 90-degree, bacteria infested McDonald's play land.  Nothing.

Astute, loyal blog readers may remember that we were just at the Jelly Belly Factory last year.  Astute, loyal blog readers may also know that we are total suckers for our little guy.  So when somebody piped up from the backseat and asked if we could go again, Daddy practically swerved and did a 180 on the freeway so we could back head over there. 

Because we were at the outlet mall for so long (there was a New Balance & Columbia!), we spent the night there.  Here's a picture of our son enjoying a little siesta on his bed. Clearly he had a rough day eating fistfuls of jellybeans and all...

San Francisco Day 5 - When Bears Attack

ROAD TRIP!  Watching Cinderella (Ryan called it "awesome") on the long drive to Yosemite.

Since we stay at Joey's on our frequent jaunts to San Fran, we always try to leave mid-trip and give him a breather from us.  Don't get me wrong, we're still totally overstaying our welcome...but since he's my younger brother and doesn't want a wedgie (more importantly, I also know enough to have him thrown in prison in at least three states) he usually relents.  :-)

We rented a car for the trip, and because we had enough Hertz points, we tried to upgrade to a convertible (which would have blown Ryan's mind).  But it didn't work out, so we got a Nissan Maxima with a sun roof instead...not quite as cool, but still cool enough that we earned a few cool-parent points from our son.  Hey, we had to make up for the three-cylinder Chevy Aveo on our last trip).  :-)

The drive from San Fran was about 200-250 miles, but because the last hour or so was up a slow, winding road, it seemed to take forever.

Special thank you's go out to my brother Joey & parents, Wayne & Janice, for not warning me in advance of the narrow, winding road, and the need to take a Dramamine before the trip.  Every time I mini-puked up Chipotle burrito in my mouth, I thought of you all.

First stop?  Misty Bridalveil Falls. 

Since he slept the last two hours of the trip, we let the little guy stretch his legs out by scampering along the stream for awhile.

Since there was the strong chance of rain the next day, we tried to see and do as much as could on our first day there.  Here is Rich's attempt to be Ansel Adams.

We kept trying to show Ryan how beautiful, mighty & majestic El Capitan & Half Dome were, but all he wanted to do was throw sticks in the river.  (Proof that culture is inherited rather than bred...)  ;-)

We also stopped at the Visitor Center to see the Miyuk Indian museum, crafts and recreated Miyuk village, Ahwahneechee.  Here are the boys in one of the bark homes.

These firetrucks are a draw no matter where you are.  :-)

I've always said that on every occasion/trip, you capture one single million dollar shot.  I think this one was it for the trip- it's of Ryan & Daddy walking on Sentinel bridge toward Yosemite Falls.  I will not go into detail about how hard it was to find Sentinel bridge, or how pissy Daddy got tramping us around in circles through the likely snake-infested woods to get there.  I will just say that the photo came out very nicely.  :-)

Half Dome in color

Half Dome in black and white. 
Which do you like better?  I won't be hurt (I took both).  Just so long as you purchase one for $999.99 (since a grand seemed a bit steep).  I accept cash, Paypal and El Pollo Loco taco al carbons.

A few of surprises we hadn't expected- patches of snow and so many deer everywhere.  Ryan was thrilled to play in it again!

I won't deny that the most exciting part of the day for me was not Half Dome...it was driving to Yosemite Lakes to check out our digs for the next two nights. Our yurt was awesome.  Not only was it a lot larger than I'd imagined it'd be, it was also propped up off the ground (clearly this one was not made/constructed by Monglian nomads) and had all the comforts of home- a gas stove for heat, a warm shower, a fully equipped kitchen, etc.

Our wee  little yurt.  I now (of course) want one. Desperately.

There were only two downside(s) to our otherwise perfect yurt (and no, those two rhyming words did not appear together all by themselves...I take full credit for my poetry): 

1. We were the only ones there in the entire hillside yurt village.  Not a single other soul around.  Normally, this would be awesome.  Sleeping in a tent, under the stars in beautiful Yosemite.  Just like the Indians did!  But in bear country?  This is terrible.  I would have much preferred to be near a few chubby, slow-moving folk from Iowa who came in a van filled with Ding Dongs and Little Debbies.  Though the clerk tried to assure me that bears would 'probably' not be a problem, she said this while sitting two feet away from pictures of giant brown bears climbing into nearby trash containers.  She also tried to assure me that their security would make regular patrols up to our yurt throughout the night (which would be far more helpful if say, the bears kindly and patiently waited until the top of the hour when the security drove by to attack us instead of attacking at random).  But I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

2. Late at night, everything sounds like a bear.  The clicking of the gas heater, the cackling of the fire, pinecones falling on the roof, deer scampering by...  All bear sounds.  I think I slept five minutes of every hour...waiting.  Waiting for the bears.  But don't think I just laid there like a sitting duck.  In my mind, I was scrolling through various plans of attack...I was NOT going down without a fight.  Unfortunately, based on our limited resources, my plans were limited to lighting the bears on fire with our automatic lighter (in this plan, I hoped the bears would allow me to walk right up next to them before lighting their fur on fire)...to loudly banging pots together to scare them off (which I didn't want to do because then it would also wake Ryan up, and I preferred that he would sleep through the bear attack).  Rich, who was clearly thinking along the same lines as me- was a little more practical and had detached a heavy curtain rod that he kept near him.  But I couldn't quite see him & his curtain rod taking on a hungry, 800 lb. bear- which is when I would step in and calmly light the bear fur on fire.  See?  I'm no patsy.  I know those big, brown a-holes don't know how to stop, drop and roll.  Anyhoo, the moral of the story is this- sleeping behind thin, tent-like walls atop a mountain all by yourself in bear country is not ideal.  But if you must, bring up a few grenades or something.  I'm sure the pastry-loving folks from Iowa know where to get them.

To be continued...

San Francisco Days 3 & 4

Downtown historic Old Town Sacramento

Our third day in the city we took a day trip with Joey out to Sacramento so Ryan could go to the California State Train Museum.  It was highly rated on Yelp and other webpages, but I still couldn't believe how amazing the place was.  From its location right in the heart of Old Town Sacramento, to the large variety of trains housed there (and in such stellar, restored condition)...we could have stayed there all day.

This sleeper car rocked/swayed to emulate what an actual overnight train feels like.  I'm not sure who loved it more (I think we walked through it four or five times)...me or Ryan.  I *loooooove* sleeping on overnight trains and I can't wait to do this again someday.

Admission to the museum was $10 pp, and for another $10 each, you could ride on a restored steam engine for a 40-min. loop.

One of the many restored engines inside the museum for our little trainophile/trainologist to admire.  ;-)

The grand finale (oh how I wish I had known about this earlier so we could have spent more time here!)...Thomas the Train tables, filled with trains for little boys and girls to play with!

Day Four began with a walk through Haight-Ashbury on our way to Golden Gate park.  These two hippies were protesting the fact that Ben & Jerry's was out of waffle cones that day.

Ryan won the race!  Daddy tore his new O'Neill shorts. Twice.

San Fran Days 1 & 2

Since we've done a lot of the traditional attractions in the city, we really wanted to just chill out on this trip and focus on sleeping in, hitting up the greatest children's park in the city, and eating good food.

First park on the to-do list?  Mission Dolores...just four blocks away from Joey's.

All someone wanted to do was recline and swing on the special needs kid's swing.  I swear, he looked 80 just laying there and gently rocking back and forth.  :-)

Mission Dolores park just reopened a few weeks ago following a $3.5 million renovation of the children's park, so we lucked out.

Later that night, we went down to Fort Mason for the Off the Grid food trucks for dinner.

Though we chose to avoid the (previously posted) worm & cricket tacos, Uncle Joey managed to find Ryan a wonderful dinner- three different kinds of gourmet cupcakes.  You can see how distressed Ryan is about his dinner not being part of a healthy, balanced diet.

See what I mean?  He's pissed.  Really, really pissed.  (He angrily threw the cupcake to the ground in disgust right after this picture was taken...or he gobbled it.  I can't quite remember, either way it disappeared.)

The next day we hit up a second park right near our apartment called Duboce before hopping on the train to meet some family in Union Square.  Ryan got to see his Grammy Kay at the Cheesecake Factory & the Disney Store.

King Tutenkamenryan atop his royal throne...

Clearly he is pleased with the belly dancers.

However, he is Ryan.  And Ryan cannot pass up loud, pumping Egyptian music and an empty stage.  He performed roughly four numbers for the restaurant (they even lit the stage back up for him after the real belly dancer left).  Sadly, he earned no tips from the tight-fisted crowd.  :-(

Our amazing entrees...I had the kushari, which was my favorite dish in Egypt back in '06. 

A few scenes from San Francisco

I'm too lazy to upload our photos from the camera to the laptop, but thought I'd post a few of the pics we took on Rich's iPhone instead.  :-) 

Yum!  Moth larvae tacos!  What's not to love?  (The vendor was willing to sub out the worms for crickets if those were more your speed.)

If you want to shop in Haight, you'd better love yoga, Tibet, weed, peace and granola.  Look at these two peace lovin' hippies!

One of the many reasons I love this city...even the steps are pretty!

One of our favorite parks in the city...the Koret Children's Playground in beautiful Golden Gate Park.

We are alive, well, and heading out tomorrow morning for a few days in Yosemite.  Though I never like leaving this amazing city, I think I've witnessed more angry verbal confrontations (from both the sane and insane) here in four days than I have in the last 4 years in Kona.  Plus, if I don't get away from all this great food, I will have to return to Kona wearing one of Rich's outfits.  No bueno.

More soon!

Yoda's Disciple

A few weeks ago I posted about being thirty seven years old, and wondering when I would feel truly comfortable and confident in my own skin. I made a vow to either banish the thoughts/insecurities once they entered my mind, or to find peace with them.  For the most part, I've had great success with two main issues that used to plague my mind relentlessly (let's just call them Issue A and Issue B). But I learned this doesn't always translate into success across the board...because when a little snafu came up recently regarding Rich's job, my brain went into overdrive...for 5-6 (exhausting) sleepless nights straight. Even though I knew that I had ZERO control over the situation, I couldn't let it go.

And I fell back into my old habit, which was to refuse any sleep aid(s) because I wanted to be strong enough to stop my my mind from racing on my own...even if it meant laying in bed until midnight.

So, yeah...epic fail.  Clearly I'm not quite at that place yet. Obviously I am far from exuding zen in the face of adversity, but what I did takeaway from this all is that every person needs help from time to time. Note to my stubborn self: Sometimes you need a good night of sleep more than you need to be strong & independent.  

But overall, I've been much, much more at peace not having to worry about Issues A & B, thereby allowing me more time to revel in the joyful blessings of my life- health, family, running and travel.

So.  Moving on...

We've been crazy busy this past week- with a close family friend's funeral service, my first long run of the season (a 16-miler), a fantastic luncheon at a friend's house, a late night pool run with the three boys, a Peaman 1-mile race with the boys (Ry did awesome!!!  17:07 min/mile!  Not bad for a scrawny, 31-pound midget!), and Rich's Improv show (he did great...the troop was lucky to have a very supportive & rowdy crowd of about 125 people)!

This week brings even more excitement.  We leave on Thursday for San Francisco until the end of the month. Unlike our last two trips to California (which were lovely, but far from restful), this one is going to be very, very chill.

We'll be spending most of our time in the city, with a few day trips to Sacramento (to see the train museum and ride a steam engine...trains are one of Ryan's passions in life), Oakland (a children's theme park for Ryan) and best of all...a few nights in a yurt (ger) in Yosemite.  :-)

Back in '00 when Rich and I were passing through Mongolia, we saw them for the first time. I desperately wanted to be able to sleep in one, but we had ongoing tickets to Russia (via the Trans Siberian Railway) and didn't have enough time.  Even though I had a History degree that focused on Asia, I had no idea what a yurt/ger was, so if you're unfamiliar with the term, don't feel bad.  It's defined as: A circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible framework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, and Turkey.  And here's a picture of some that we took in the middle of the city of Ulan Bator (Mongolia).

Nomadic tribes use these gers because of their ease/mobility.  However, I estimate it would take me roughly 4.7 months to correctly assemble one (so it's a good thing I was not born Mongolian).

I'm also really excited about a few things happening right now and/or on the horizon:

• Camping trip #2!  We have only one free weekend between now and when the boys leave for Japan for the summer.  I want the three boys to have one more fun, family experience before fall, so we're pitching a tent at a new location we've never tried before the weekend we come back.  :-)  
• Enjoying my runs.  I'm happy to report that I have fallen back in love with running. It could be the cooler weather, the confidence from running the ultra...but I've really enjoyed training for this race (the Kona full in June) and getting back in shape after a two-month hiatus.   
• Our 15th anniversary!  Five years ago, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a renewal of vows in our backyard.  This year, we're celebrating in San Fran in Golden Gate Park.  But even better- with an addition to our original family unit...little Ry!  (Who I swear, is going to be the official photographer of the event.  That should be awesome.)

Ten years ago...

Fifteeen years ago...please don't be mad at me Joey!  Wow...JJ (my ring bearer) only came up to my shoulder back then!  Now fifteen years later he's at least 2 inches taller!!!!  (Ba ha ha ha.)

Meet Kona's newest librarian

Someone loooooves to drop books in the library book box, so I thought...why not make one together?

Gathering...

And the hard part...sorting!

Don't get too comfy, librarians...Ryan is out for your job.