Winter Surf

I love the winter weather in San Diego. We are subtropical enough to be on the tail edge of most storm tracks. We may get a few heavy showers during the winter but for the most part the brunt of the storms stay to the north. As a result it is not uncommon to have glassy calm days with overhead surf in the middle of winter. This was exactly the conditions we had this January and February with consistent head high surf for two straight months. 

Winter Vacation Part 2

After a relaxing week in Colorado we hit the road again with the next destination at Yellowstone National Park. Driving through Utah and Wyoming took us through some beautiful terrain ranging from the red rocks canons, prairies, to forests. It took us two days to make it to Yellowstone because of all the detours we took to take in the spectacular views.

I was impressed with how well my car performed on the snow. After passing through Hurricane we were in the snow for the rest of the trip. When we hit the town of West Yellowstone the roads were no longer plowed and we started sharing the road with snowmobiles.

We spent a week in Yellowstone. Part of it was at a lodge in the town of West Yellowstone and the other was inside the park at a cabin at the famous Old Faithful Inn. We explored Yellowstone park on snowmobiles, cross country skis, snow shoes, and foot. Got to observes wildlife up close, walk among some inspirational geothermal feathers, and spend quality time with a special friend.

Winter Vacation Part 1

I took my long vacation this year after the Christmas holiday. My girlfriend and I started our 3 week long adventure driving out to my family's ranch near Durango, CO. We left San Diego on the 29th and drove for most of the day with a major winter storm baring down on us. The storm finally caught up with us in Hurricane, UT where we got a motel for the night. We woke up the following morning with a fresh dusting of snow, which made for a spectacular (and slow) drive through southern Utah. The contrast of white snow on red rocks was picturesque.

We got to my Uncle's ranch the following day around dark and just as another storm was hitting. We made the whole drive without getting stuck up to the last 100 feet from the uncle's driveway. That last bit of a hill combined with the fresh snow was too much for my matrix.

Julia and I hung around Colorado through the new year's holiday with my Dad who was also in town. We enjoyed the slow ranching lifestyle, a bit snowboarding at Purgatory, and lots of relaxing around the cast iron fireplace. We also had some exceptionally cold weather with temperatures in the -20s.

2010 Christmas

Merry Christmas. Every family has their holiday traditions. These annual routines may be ridiculous but are another reason why Christmas is my favorite holiday. This Christmas we celebrated our annual gluten free Christmas eve dinner at my sister's house in Point Loma. We put on the National Lampoon Christmas Vacation movie and reminisced about past Christmas holidays. I got my annual Christmas morning surf with my dad and cooked up a pancake breakfast using the as seen on TV perfect pancake pan. It was another successful Helmer Family Christmas.

Christmas in OB

Christmas is my favorite holiday. We celebrated Christmas for the whole month of December around my house. We got a Christmas tree, decorated the house, and I had a fire going in the fireplace almost every night. The cool crisp air, ambiance of the fire, and aroma of the xmas tree set the atmosphere for the month.

Ocean Beach also puts on an annual Christmas parade and the whole neighborhood seems to hit the street for the event. The Christmas parade and neighborhood spirit reminded me a lot of the holiday parade in Santa Barbara.

Moving to Ocean Beach

This fall I moved into a new place in Ocean Beach. I'm sad to leave La Jolla and all the beauties and amenities of living a stone's through away from Windansea, but I am actually excited about living closer to work and in a quieter neighborhood. Ocean Beach is also a pretty cool place to live. My new place is an actual house about 1.5 miles from the OB pier and 4 blocks up the hill away from the ocean overlooking the north end of Sunset Cliffs. It has a large kitchen, fireplace, and backyard.

Big kitchen and a loft that is directly above the kitchen that is out of the picture.

The whole house has a wood decor and a craftsman feel.

I will be using a lot of my fireplace this winter.

We have two basset hounds named Lola and Bones who dominate the backyard.

Fall Colors 2010

I took a few days off of work to get away from the hectic pace of life and reconnect with myself and nature. I took a solo road trip through the southwest and hit it perfectly to experience the fall colors and changing of the seasons. The air was crisp, cool, and had a hint of winter. It also rained a bit which added to the adventure. I brought my camera, backpacking gear, and a road map and left the rest up to spur of the moment decisions.

I retraced the path from previous trips and discovered some new places. My route took me though the hills of Las Vegas, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Hells Backbone, and Torry. For most of the trip I camped in my car with one over night backpacking trip up the Escalante River. It felt rejuvenating to spend some time alone in the wilderness and to see some spectacular fall colors.