Holiday Weekend and a Big Announcement

Hello, darlings! I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! The beau and I opted not to take Friday off work, so it wasn't a long weekend for us, but it certainly was an eventful one! 

First of all, I have a big announcement... no, not as big as the last one, but perhaps more surprising... We're moving to Kansas City! And we're doing it in two weeks! That means the countdown has officially begun - the countdown of days left at work, of plans made with friends, of boxes to pack, and of wedding tasks to complete before we hit the road. 

I never could have imagined this year would be so full of huge life events, but what a delightful year it has been. Talk about finishing out my 20's with a bang, eh? 

Thursday we decided to spend one last holiday with my family, enjoying a perfectly summery dinner at my parents' house followed by fireworks downtown - the same ones I've been watching light up the skies over my hometown for 29 years. We ran around waving sparklers with my nephews in the same dead end street where I learned to ride a bike and climb trees.

Saturday we met up with my family again, this time at the Oakland Zoo. My fiance hadn't been to a zoo since he was a kid, so we decided that was a good item to put on the "lasts" lists for the countdown of days left in the Bay Area.

 

Sunday the beau and I spend the morning hiking at Mount Tamalpais. I got my first sunburn of the year. It is his favorite place in the Bay, so he really wanted to go one last time, and even though I'm a local, I had never been to the peak before, so it seemed worth a go.
 

We finished up our weekend with an award-worthy bargain shopping trip to the North Face Outlet in Berkeley. You know how much I love a good sale! We managed to pick up two snow jackets, three hoodies, one pair of gloves, and a beanie for... get this... $230. I kid you not. We added up the regular retail prices on all of our items and it totaled $830. *Patting myself on the back*

Camping in Big Basin

Last weekend the beau and I spent two nights camping at Big Basin with a few friends. The two of us left mid-day Friday and made great time, getting to the campsite in under two hours even with a stop for gas and snacks. We set up our tent, went for a walk and got the fire going, so that when our friends arrived around dusk we could get straight to grilling.

If you follow the directions on the website, which are the same as what most navigation systems will give you from San Francisco to Big Basin, you'll wind up on a one-lane, windy road from the 280 through Saratoga and on up to Big Basin. Don't do that. There are two better options - exit 280 at Woodside and take the 35 down to the 9. This will get you out of some of the windy mess but not entirely. Here's the route we took and thought was the best option - 280 to 85 to 17, the same way you'd go as if you were going all the way into Santa Cruz. Exit Bear Creek Road and go left. Follow that until you reach Boulder Creek, and make a left on the 9 South into town. Drive a couple blocks down and just after Johnnie's Market, you'll turn right on Big Basin Way. That takes you right up to the park. I'd also suggest doing your grocery shopping at Johnnie's Market. We ended up buying our wood there too, which seems pricy at $15 a box (6 pieces to a box) but the roadside stands cost more in the long run because they give you smaller pieces of soft wood that burns more quickly. 

The campgrounds have quarter-operated hot showers; $1.25 for 10 minutes. The bathrooms are clean with flushing toilets and have toilet paper. If you want to set up multiple tents on your site, avoid the sites designated for RVs because they tend to have a small area around the fire pit and picnic table for one tent but the rest of the site will be sloped and have more trees and shrubs. Also avoid a site near the tent cabins, as it tends to be a bit loud (read- lots of kids).

For a good afternoon hike, try Sequoia Trail with a stop at Sempervirens Falls, a small waterfall about half way into the five-mile hike. It's pretty but not too remote, and the trail is wide enough to be comfortable for a casual hike. There is also a 12-mile hike to a bigger waterfall but I haven't done it myself. The front office sells trail maps for $5 each.

 

Grand View Park

Between the time change and the heavy fog in my neighborhood, it's usually too dark and gloomy to safely jog after work, which is a bummer, because good luck getting me to do exercise videos in my living room instead. Yesterday I left work early because I had to turn in the paperwork for my Indian visa (hurray!), so I managed to squeeze in a good 30 minutes of outdoorsing before dusk. I discovered Grand View Park, also known as Turtle Hill, just blocks from my house! It is a peak in the middle of my neighborhood, Golden Gate Heights, with stairs on either side and room to walk around on top. It is currently being renovated so there is a lot of tree debris, but not enough to shut the place down. I ran up and down the stairs a few times and then stood on top to watch the fog bank creep toward downtown. Amazing.

 

Sunset Jog

Nothing like a little sunset jog along the ocean to turn Wednesday into the best day of the week. As much as I love the cold and gray, these fog-free, "Indian summer" sunsets sure are amazing.

Golden Gate Bridge

Valentine's in Marin

We had a picnic lunch, hiked a couple of trails, sat on a pebbled beach; it was amazing!