After Thanksgiving Doin's

On the day after T-day, the three of us had turkey-potato pancakes for breakfast, with the last of the cranberry sauce, and then we set out on an 8 mile hike to see Kyria's neighborhood and world. As a reward, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant she'd been wanting to check out.  Yummy food, and I ate most of it with chop-sticks.  We only brought one small partially filled doggie-box home, we were so hungry.

Another day in Paradise for sure

we will hike over and up around and above the church to get to the forest

dragons

the Greek Orthodox Church was right there all along, but we didn't see it until we were along-side and above it.  the city you see above the right dome is San Francisco 

the Mormon Temple from the other side

Kyria and Jeffery at Lookout Point on a "two bridge day", overlooking Oakland and San Francisco

me and my daughter at Lookout Point

zoom up on downtown Oakland, San Francisco and the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge clearly visible.

In the forest, we just hiked like mad, so I didn't take photos until we got to the restaurant. This is steamed oysters with ginger and green onions

We ate 90 percent of this.  Afterwards, we walked to Kyria's, packed up, kissed and hugged, and headed to Grama's in Marin County.

We went out looking for holiday lights with Grama and Kathy, and this is the photo that Jeffery took of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the ferry on the water to the left.

The next morning, Grama and I get stationed at the foot of the stairs for the Quad Dipsea Race Kyria and her Pamakids pals are running in Muir Woods.  Kathy went up the stairs part-way, and Jeffery went up until he reached sun and the roadway far above us.

here comes Kyria!  At this point, she has run over to the ocean and back; nearly 14 miles of grueling climbs and descents and beautiful scenery.

Kathy yodels down to us, so we know Kyria is coming and we spot her in her Pamakids shirt.

Kyria has run past us and down to the bottom, to mark lap two, and is now climbing on lap 3 to re-do the stairs she just came down, and to head back to the ocean once again.

Grama ran about 4 steps with Kyria in support.  G-ma and I had fun cheering on all the folks, and even pointing some in the right direction on the confusing curve

this statue was one of many cool things decorating the house alongside the stairs.

Jeffery gets Kathy's yodel, so he sees Kyria coming back up the stairs.

she tops the stairs

and begins her stretch of reasonably flat terrain for a time.  Good luck, daughter!  Thanks for everything!

The old girls pretend to do the Dipsea Race

at the Balboa Cafe, they have paper table covers and crayons, so I did a celebratory poster.

went out ahead of the gang and caught this perspective through the window

We parted from the ladies, and headed home, and now we're in the mountain frost, getting ready to get ready for the holidays.  Cheers for now!

Thanksgiving

We went on Wednesday to Kyria's home in Oakland to join family for Thanksgiving feasting and fun. The trip down was crystal clear and cold and it remained so our entire time in the Bay Area, which was wonderful, if chilly.
I'm just going to do Thanksgiving prep and Day for now, with the added days in a post to follow

ball-shaped bollards

we have to stop at Pedrick's for our brussel sprouts and treat snacks and more

we give Kyria the wreath we made her from stuff locally gathered along canyon road-sides

prep work takes place immediately

some red berries and fir fronds

Thanksgiving Day - the hor d'oevres are set out

Wendie, Matt and Kyria discuss the beverages, etc.

Hannah has a smile for me

table is set, and the fresh-made cranberry sauce is on the table

Jeffery finishes plattering the turkey

Our hostess, Kyria is seated.  We can eat!

Jeffery, Wendie, Kathy, Matt, Ian, Alycia, Hannah, Brooke, Joy, Dan, Grama, Darlene

add Craig, Liana, Kyria, and me to the numbers at the far end, and Jimmy between Kathy and Matt on the right.

we had to take a few shots of the group dues to timer-mis-timings

Here's a good one where we all made it (three or four of us were setting timers on our cameras)

Liana makes the whipped cream while others do whatever they're doing.

way back when we were younger, my brother Tom made us family members a bunch of music c.d.'s that catered to our individual tastes.  Kyria still has her's handy, and they provided the dish-washing music that got the job done faster.

This is all the photos because we were having fun or recuperating from it afterwards, but I'll have some more fun times to show soon.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

15 Miles in a Day

I had decided that my growing abilities as a hiker needed a goal that wasn't about elevations climbed or minutes per mile shaved off.  This was a distance challenge.  I'd heard that a 15 mile day was a good day for Pacific Crest Trail hikers, though many did more than that.  Well, I figured if that lady in "Wild" could do it with a heavy pack, then I could do it on Caribou Road sans pack, and with only about a 1000 ft. elevation climb.  If I could only keep to 2 mph, it would take over 7 hours, so I tried to go stronger, and did it.  Thanks to my friend Brenda, who also did it (yay!) I was spurred to accomplish my goal.  We did the 16 mile round-trip in 6 hours 20 minutes.

Ben Lomond's sun-lit head peeks up above misty puffs that rise from the deep shadowed canyon

along Caribou Road

the darkness and the steaming light on a frosty morning hike

at the wild azalea waterfall, there are actually a few flower blooms!

closer up view

strange rocky structure that refused to let the photo capture its essence

hawthorns? hickory?  whatever they are, they hurt like a porcupine

we've reached the Belden reservoir just below the Caribou PG&E camp!  Not much farther to the turn-around point

closer up view - note the silver-gray rock "blades" to the right.  we love them

vine-laden chimney

funky stairway

the rock "blades" that are the wall of the canyon at the reservoir

fun orange berriy bush

nifty rock castle with cool clouds

waterfall right before you get to the powerhouses at the "top"

Coming to the powerhouses; we will touch the dark orange sign and begin the return trip after sitting in the sun to eat our lunch.  We both brought peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches and chunks of fruitcake.

close-up of the top of the hill

Caribou Powerhouse #1

We met up with Jeffery, who was jogging to coincide with our return trip.  He walked us back to the starting point like a friend doing the end of the Marathon in support, and with 16 miles under our belts, we did feel pretty darn triumphant!  Huzzah!