Volunteering at Hellyer

I had fun last Saturday at Brazen Racing's Hellyer race in San Jose.  It was a fast, flat course on a paved bike path along Coyote Creek.

Setting up our aid station:

Pretty good spread for a 10K or half marathon:

The "rabbit" for the lead half-marathon runner, love the ears:

One of the fast half marathon ladies:

Hey, it's Kip!  Looking good!

Go Kip!

The half-marathon "rabbit" on the way back through (I was stationed at the 10K turnaround, directing runners based on which course they were doing):

You got this, Kip!

Not far to the finish now...

Toward the end of aid station duties:

I had an enjoyable bike ride home, mostly on bike paths.  There are some excellent places to ride around this area.  Including the Guadalupe River Trail which goes right by the airport.  It was fun watching planes take off and land:

Time to go for a run myself!

Big climb up San Jacinto

Last week I was lucky to get to join John for his trip to Palm Springs for work.  It was highly enjoyable to see the town (everyone seems happy and laid back) and bask in the desert sun for a few days.

While I was there I took the opportunity to climb the Skyline Trail from town (~500 ft elevation) to the top of the tramway (~8500 ft elevation).  I didn't have time nor the inclination to continue through the snow to the very top of the mountain, but I did manage the return trip on foot instead of taking the tram down as many people do.

It was still quite a long day!

Love the desert terrain:

It's a nice climb rising above town:

Bigger mountains with lots more snow in the distance, and a view toward the valley where John is working:

Spring desert blooms:

A view toward San Jacinto Peak and my target ridgeline:

A safety box in case of emergencies.  For being close to town, the trail gets pretty remote within a few miles:

First signs of snow:

Rocky ridge ahead:

And... snow in the shoes:

View from the tramway balcony (after enjoying a warm cup of cocoa, yay!):

The woods around the tramway - one quiet spot amid bunches of people wandering around during their tramway visit:

The snow was rather deep near the top, and the lack of sun on the north side of the ridge wasn't helping it melt much at all.  Happily, going down went a lot faster than going up, so my feet were soon warm (and eventually dry) again.

A mountain shadow stretching across the valley as I finished my descent, just in time for dinner!

Another day, another fun run around Palm Springs.  Here's a view from the trail leading up toward Bob Hope's house on the south side of town:

Beautiful houses overlooking town:

A glimpse at the curiously-shaped house that Bob Hope owned:

Checking out Palm Springs with San Jacinto towering behind it:

Trails all through the hills on the south side, lots of fun places to run:

And one more view for good measure:

A top-down view of the fascinating house:

It was a fun week, thanks John!

Running and SF

Kip and I did a fun run last weekend, south to Cupertino to see some park trails and pedestrian overpasses and a House of Bagels I hadn't been to yet.

We had one accidental minor detour, happily it led us here:

California quail and a California Kip:

Kip's quest to walk over this beautiful bridge was finally complete:

It's a nice one!

The next day we took John to San Francisco for a set of belated birthday treats, including weekend raclette at the Ferry Building Marketplace, IRN BRU from the Scottish store, and a chance encounter with HIS street.  Another vote in favor of "leaning against it" as the correct pose when finding your name on a sign pole:

Don't end, John!

An excellent "feet":

We stopped in at the cable car museum just to see what was there - loved it!  Free entry to see the giant wheels spinning the cables, the actual cables that were at that moment moving cable cars around the streets.  Really neat to view in person, plus lots of great info and history about the SF cable cars.  Highly recommend it as a quick stop for anyone visiting the city:

The highlight of our afternoon was a Beach Blanket Babylon show - too hilarious!  Musical, talented, hysterically funny, amazing costumes.  Thank you to Kelly for suggesting it, an A+ recommendation.  Plus a quick stop at Rogue Ales around the corner for a drink (thank you Ryan!):

We're greatly enjoying our winter in California  :)

Angel Island and the Golden Gate Bridge

We weren't quite ready to head home on Monday - more to see along the way!  It was just a slight detour to the cute town of Tiburon where we caught a ferry over to Angel Island.  There's a fabulous trail that winds around and climbs to the top.  We were ready for a nice hike:

Looking back over at Tiburon:

Taking in the views, with San Francisco in the distance:

Admiring the straight streets of San Francisco that were apparently built without considering the steep hills in the way:

Beautiful little hummingbird:

Surprisingly well-executed "timer" shot (no cropping needed, even):

Looking over toward our next destination:

Only Kip had been on the bridge on foot, so the rest of us were interested in following his footsteps, as it were.  The fog was rolling in from the Pacific, but it was still sunny on the Bay side, quite an interesting phenomenon:

Kip demonstrating where he slept during his "Around the Bay" loop run last winter (waiting until they would let him run across, as apparently you can't walk across the bridge overnight, although you can bike across, and they would have given him a ride in the cart, but he declined):

A bit of a wind tunnel effect right next to the hills:

Mists over the tower:

Hard to see, but there was a shadow effect in the fog, creating a line all the way to the top of the photo:

It was so great having you visit us, Mom!  We had a wonderful time  :)