I made a cake and frosting flavored with coffee for Chad for Father's Day; this transformation from mild-mannered 7 1/2 year old to juvenile velociraptor is what resulted:
My apologies if the videos don't work yet; blogger appears to be having problems...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Apricots!
Our apricots are coming ripe, and for once I got to eat one before the evil squirrels got it. Yum.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
I discovered a new kind of mud!
When I was playing in the dirt today I dug a hole. I filled the hole with water, and waited a few hours. I looked at it later and found an ooey, gooey mud. I just invented a new mud!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Many Moods within a Minute
Today was the first day of Nimue's summer vacation; she and I went on a hike to burn off the morning's energy. I'm quite sure someone will need to cart me off to the funny farm by the time school starts up again on August 26th, but it might be fun getting there...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Mt. El Sombroso
I went exploring on the mountain bike again yesterday. The day's goals:
1. Check out the trails at Almaden Quicksilver County Park
2. Explore more of Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. I'd really like to get to the top of Mt. Umunhum at some point, as at 3486 feet, it is the highest bump along the ridge, plus it has a very distinctive square building plonked at the top of it. The area used to be the Almaden Air Force Station, and was used as one of the NORAD radar stations scanning for troublesome aircraft during the Cold War. Sadly, that part of the preserve is currently is closed to the public due to (a) some needed cleanup work at the former air force station and (b) intervening private land whose occupants take their privacy seriously. I had to settle for the next nearest peak: Mt. El Sombroso, at just under 3000 feet.
3. Ride myself silly and enjoy the fact that Nim would be in school and an after school activity until 4:00.
I started out at the parking lot at the top of Hicks Road and first headed into Almaden Quicksilver for an 11 mile loop on dirt roads. It was delightfully easy riding -- nothing too steep or technical, just nice views in many directions and lots of old mining structures left over from the days when this was a major mercury mining area. Also many wacky colored rocks, which isn't too surprising given the metal content of the local minerals. At one point, I looked out to the horizon to see Mt. Hamilton, and realized that from that vantage point, I couldn't see San Jose at all, or any other populated area for that matter.
After making it back to the beginning of the loop, it seemed like I had only just warmed up, so of course I headed for the big climb up Woods Trail in Sierra Azul to Mt. El Sombroso. Once in the park on this side of the road, I didn't see any other people, and not many signs of civilization beyond the occasional long view out over the South Bay. And this:
Maybe this southern alligator lizard was responsible for the smiley face...
Or the western fence lizard. He has a blue belly that you can't see in the picture.
Or maybe this deer with fuzzy antlers. Clearly Mountain Biking Ma is not as scary as a mountain lion, as this fellow was most unconcerned about my presence.
Knowing the terrain in this area a bit (I've done some other trails lower down in the park, and have ridden up the paved road up Mt. Umunhum up to the point where you start to see very forbidding "No Trespassing" signs), I fully expected some of the trails to resemble steep gravelly walls, and I wasn't surprised. I learned that while I can ride up a 24% grade gravel misery, I couldn't get started from a full stop on it. It gives one a whole new appreciation for the dirt climb the riders at the Giro d'Italia were subjected to on their time trial this year... The stop, however, was for a good cause -- there were still many wildflowers up at that elevation, like this nice mariposa lily:
I continued to stop whenever there was an interesting plant or view to photograph. This one is some sort of Dudleya. I love the name (after Stanford botanist William Russell Dudley), and to me, these succulents look like they're ready to crawl off and do mischief when they flower.
At some point, the grade levelled off a bit. I had an odd moment when I though "Gosh, this almost seems flat!", but then looked down at the bike computer and saw that it was still 12%. The previous crazy angles sure screw up one's sense of what's mellow. Still, I continued to stop to enjoy views like this one of Mt. Umunhum through a profusion of wildflowers:
A somewhat unusual red thistle. This one is actually native, unlike the evil purple ones that seem to be taking over at lower elevations.
I eventually made it to the top, and followed a trail of power line pylons down over the crest of the hill to enjoy the view. It's been unusually clear given the warm weather for the last couple of days -- there's been enough of a breeze to keep the usual brown layer of airborne guck from accumulating over the valley.
Of course, it was gorgeous, and I was still feeling pretty good, so the inevitable error in judgment occurred. That extra loop of trail off to the west? It's only 6 miles. I've got an extra hour. How bad can it be? The map indicated that it dropped a bit, but of course the contour lines were faint, and I didn't actually count how many were involved in that particular loop. You can see below that it dropped almost 1500 feet, and I discovered that the climb up the west side was almost as steep as that on the east side.
So suffering was had. As it should be. At this point, I was a bit worried about making it back to the car in time to get back to pick up Nimue, so was trying to push the speed (otherwise it probably would have been quite pleasant!) As it was, when I made it to the top where the turkey vultures were playing in the thermals, I felt like they were eying me up as a potential afternoon snack.
Fortunately, the descent on this side wasn't too scary, and I made good time back to the car -- or at least good enough time that I had time to drive home and ride over to school to pick Nimue up -- with 5 minutes to spare :)
Crispy Critter back in the parking lot.
30+ miles; 5000+ feet of climbing. All on fire road rather than singletrack, but it was so gorgeous up there that who really cares?
1. Check out the trails at Almaden Quicksilver County Park
2. Explore more of Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. I'd really like to get to the top of Mt. Umunhum at some point, as at 3486 feet, it is the highest bump along the ridge, plus it has a very distinctive square building plonked at the top of it. The area used to be the Almaden Air Force Station, and was used as one of the NORAD radar stations scanning for troublesome aircraft during the Cold War. Sadly, that part of the preserve is currently is closed to the public due to (a) some needed cleanup work at the former air force station and (b) intervening private land whose occupants take their privacy seriously. I had to settle for the next nearest peak: Mt. El Sombroso, at just under 3000 feet.
3. Ride myself silly and enjoy the fact that Nim would be in school and an after school activity until 4:00.
I started out at the parking lot at the top of Hicks Road and first headed into Almaden Quicksilver for an 11 mile loop on dirt roads. It was delightfully easy riding -- nothing too steep or technical, just nice views in many directions and lots of old mining structures left over from the days when this was a major mercury mining area. Also many wacky colored rocks, which isn't too surprising given the metal content of the local minerals. At one point, I looked out to the horizon to see Mt. Hamilton, and realized that from that vantage point, I couldn't see San Jose at all, or any other populated area for that matter.
After making it back to the beginning of the loop, it seemed like I had only just warmed up, so of course I headed for the big climb up Woods Trail in Sierra Azul to Mt. El Sombroso. Once in the park on this side of the road, I didn't see any other people, and not many signs of civilization beyond the occasional long view out over the South Bay. And this:
Maybe this southern alligator lizard was responsible for the smiley face...
Or the western fence lizard. He has a blue belly that you can't see in the picture.
Or maybe this deer with fuzzy antlers. Clearly Mountain Biking Ma is not as scary as a mountain lion, as this fellow was most unconcerned about my presence.
Knowing the terrain in this area a bit (I've done some other trails lower down in the park, and have ridden up the paved road up Mt. Umunhum up to the point where you start to see very forbidding "No Trespassing" signs), I fully expected some of the trails to resemble steep gravelly walls, and I wasn't surprised. I learned that while I can ride up a 24% grade gravel misery, I couldn't get started from a full stop on it. It gives one a whole new appreciation for the dirt climb the riders at the Giro d'Italia were subjected to on their time trial this year... The stop, however, was for a good cause -- there were still many wildflowers up at that elevation, like this nice mariposa lily:
I continued to stop whenever there was an interesting plant or view to photograph. This one is some sort of Dudleya. I love the name (after Stanford botanist William Russell Dudley), and to me, these succulents look like they're ready to crawl off and do mischief when they flower.
At some point, the grade levelled off a bit. I had an odd moment when I though "Gosh, this almost seems flat!", but then looked down at the bike computer and saw that it was still 12%. The previous crazy angles sure screw up one's sense of what's mellow. Still, I continued to stop to enjoy views like this one of Mt. Umunhum through a profusion of wildflowers:
A somewhat unusual red thistle. This one is actually native, unlike the evil purple ones that seem to be taking over at lower elevations.
I eventually made it to the top, and followed a trail of power line pylons down over the crest of the hill to enjoy the view. It's been unusually clear given the warm weather for the last couple of days -- there's been enough of a breeze to keep the usual brown layer of airborne guck from accumulating over the valley.
Of course, it was gorgeous, and I was still feeling pretty good, so the inevitable error in judgment occurred. That extra loop of trail off to the west? It's only 6 miles. I've got an extra hour. How bad can it be? The map indicated that it dropped a bit, but of course the contour lines were faint, and I didn't actually count how many were involved in that particular loop. You can see below that it dropped almost 1500 feet, and I discovered that the climb up the west side was almost as steep as that on the east side.
So suffering was had. As it should be. At this point, I was a bit worried about making it back to the car in time to get back to pick up Nimue, so was trying to push the speed (otherwise it probably would have been quite pleasant!) As it was, when I made it to the top where the turkey vultures were playing in the thermals, I felt like they were eying me up as a potential afternoon snack.
Fortunately, the descent on this side wasn't too scary, and I made good time back to the car -- or at least good enough time that I had time to drive home and ride over to school to pick Nimue up -- with 5 minutes to spare :)
Crispy Critter back in the parking lot.
30+ miles; 5000+ feet of climbing. All on fire road rather than singletrack, but it was so gorgeous up there that who really cares?
Half Moon Bay adventure cycling
A three-day weekend for Memorial Day with no other plans? Bike trip must be done. This time around, we took a quick jaunt over to Half Moon Bay. Nimue and Anna rode together on the tandem, while pack mule Chad got most of the luggage on his touring bike.
In the spirit of the Rough Riders' credo ("Any Bike, Anywhere") we took in many miles of dirt on this trip. From the rustic little singletracks along the bluffs south of Half Moon Bay, to the shaded dirt-road climb through redwood groves along Purisima Creek, this trip provided no shortage of fun challenges.
Saturday:
Sunnyvale to Half Moon Bay, via Old La Honda, San Gregorio, Stage Road.
Sunday (not shown): Coastal trail from golf course up to town and back. Part paved, part delightful maze of singletrack strands along the bluff above the beach.
Monday:
Half Moon Bay to Sunnyvale, via Purisima Creek, Kings Mountain, Stanford Mall, Palo Alto, Mountain View.
The hills are not shown in the same scale -- the Purisima Creek climb is steeper, gains more altitude, and is on dirt. On the bright side, it was also infested with banana slugs to cheer Nimue up as she got tired. Between the slug-watching stops and snack stops, it took a while to climb out, but we made it in the end, and the trail was jolly enough to count as a good discovery.
Chad the pack mule.
Nimue, who wrote a beach note rather than using her voice to express her need for lunch.
Ma and Ni.
Ma and Ni heading up the trail along Purisima Creek.
A rest on the bridge. Nim needed saltwater taffy to keep going.
One of many banana slugs, photographed especially for Eileen.
In the spirit of the Rough Riders' credo ("Any Bike, Anywhere") we took in many miles of dirt on this trip. From the rustic little singletracks along the bluffs south of Half Moon Bay, to the shaded dirt-road climb through redwood groves along Purisima Creek, this trip provided no shortage of fun challenges.
Saturday:
Sunday (not shown): Coastal trail from golf course up to town and back. Part paved, part delightful maze of singletrack strands along the bluff above the beach.
Monday:
The hills are not shown in the same scale -- the Purisima Creek climb is steeper, gains more altitude, and is on dirt. On the bright side, it was also infested with banana slugs to cheer Nimue up as she got tired. Between the slug-watching stops and snack stops, it took a while to climb out, but we made it in the end, and the trail was jolly enough to count as a good discovery.
Chad the pack mule.
Nimue, who wrote a beach note rather than using her voice to express her need for lunch.
Ma and Ni.
Ma and Ni heading up the trail along Purisima Creek.
A rest on the bridge. Nim needed saltwater taffy to keep going.
One of many banana slugs, photographed especially for Eileen.
Nimue's Face
During the bike trip, Nimue decided that she could use "Monkey Face" as an alternative to sticking out her tongue when the camera was near. Of course, the tongue still came out, and she couldn't help but smile upon finding a tree to climb.
Friday, June 4, 2010
A Thing in the Garden
I made a Thing in the front yard this morning.
Maybe beans will Grow on it.
Maybe Nimue will play in it.
The sticks from the apricot tree carnage are Useful.
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