More Spring Flowers

All the hills are green in San Diego. The heavy rains from this past winter have transitioned into green hills and wildflowers along the coast. The walk down to Blacks beach is as pretty as it gets. Too bad the surf is small. I am still waiting for the first south swell of the season.

Desert Flowers in March

I headed out to Corrizo Wash with my girlfriend to check out the spring flowers and to experience the solitude from escaping our busy urban lives. It was a beautiful weekend to in Anza Borrego with the cactus and brush plants in full bloom. We got to our campsite in the late evening and enjoyed a beautiful night under the stars. Driving out through the washes made me miss not having my old truck. My new Toyota Matrix gets great gas mileage but has horrible clearance when off roading. I took it easy this weekend with my car but I know in the future I will be pushing my Matrix to its limits.

Big Move to Point Loma

My sister made the big move today to an amazing house at the end of Point Loma where coincidentally she will be living with my old college roomie. The house has a big backyard for the neighborhood and is one block away from San Diego Bay. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time at my sister's new place. If you can't tell, my sister's favorite color is pink.

Bren Ski Weekend II

All my graduate school friends met up for the second annual President's Day weekend ski adventure at Claire's cabin in Twain Harte. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm. Not ideal conditions for the snow sports. We skied for only one day at Dodge Ridge and then enjoyed the rest of the weekend with more summer like activities. We lounged in the sun, hiked table mountain, and enjoyed plenty of wine and fine spirits. It was still an awesome weekend with all our friends.

My Red Beach Cruzer

I love my beach cruzer. I rescued the bike from the back of my apartment the first week I moved in. All the components were rusted solid and the tires were flat but with surprisingly little effort, and the help of a hacksaw to cut off the old lock, I was able to have a very nice beach cruzer. This bike has taken me 100s of miles along the San Diego, La Jolla, and Pacific Beach coast. I have biked to many great surf sessions and back home from many late nights at the bar. I still have a bit more rust and lots more adventures to log before I decide to retire my red beach cruzer.

El Nino Winter

The exceptionally warm weather and ocean water transitioned this winter into an El Nino with great surf and extreme storms. Typical El Ninos result in lager and more frequent winter storms for San Diego. However, this one resulted in fewer storms hitting San Diego, but the ones that did, packed a heavy punch. Playa del Norte would turn into a temporary river flooding cars and washing trash cans down the street whenever a red blob on the dopler radar lit up over Mt. Solidad. Viewing rain showers from my apartment and the numerous rainbows following the storms are memories that will highlight this El Nino.

California Winter Snow

My typical winter vacation involves chasing waves along the west coast. This year I though I would try something new.

I started my adventure driving up the 395 and camping for a night in my car overlooking the crisp, cool, and clear Owens Valley. After exploring for a day around Mammoth hot springs and Hot Creek area I decided to make a trek into the mountains and build myself a snow cave for the night. I was dreadfully unprepared for the excursion but survived and gained some valuable winter experience.

I then met up with my girlfriend in Reno for a few days of snowboarding in Tahoe. The snow conditions were good and I got to further enhance my boarding skills. We then made the short drive to Yosemite Valley where we camped over the new year's holiday. Overall the trip was a success and introduced me to a new type of adventure.