It's an Exciting World

I decided I would visit Stephanie since she had some advance knowledge of when she would be in Hong Kong.  I got the tickets before she had exact days so I got there a day and a half early.  The flight was pretty long, but I got really lucky and there wasn’t anyone in the middle seat.  The sunrise out the window was also very pretty.

The train ride to downtown was also pretty.  I went to the hotel and dropped off my bags before heading up to the peak.  I walked around, as they had a really nice path that nobody else was on, and then grabbed some dumplings at one of the restaurants in the peak viewing building. The tram ride up and back was also very nice.  I was surprised how much undeveloped land there was so close to such a huge city.

That evening I took the ferry to another area.  I walked along the waterfront and grabbed some peking duck pizza.  I somehow got the table right next to the water, and right at sunset.  I got to watch the ferries and boats, as well as a pretty impressive thunder storm go through.

As I finished dinner and went home, the rain stopped.  I made it back just before the rain started again.

The next morning I decided to watch a few videos on where to wander around and they recommended an area called Mong Kok.  I went there for breakfast/lunch and got some of the egg waffle, boba, and some delicious soup dumplings.

I got the 8 flavor combo, as well as an extra order of the garlic, of course.

I then headed to the gondola on Lantau Island.  It was an amazing view, and it led to a really fascinating area, with a giant Buddha statue, a few really nice walking paths, and a monastery.

I took the train back and got to the station as the sky opened.  Again once I got off the train and had to walk the rain had stopped and I got to the hotel to pick up my back and meet up with Steph without issue.  That is where my luck ran out.  On the walk to the Ritz Carlton it rained pretty hard.  There were a lot of sections of the trip that were above ground and uncovered.  I probably should have taken the subway to the building, but I was unaware of exactly where the Ritz was, as it’s location on google maps wasn’t quite right.

I got there about half an hour before Steph and waited in the lobby.  She showed up, and we checked in.  I met the contractors she works with, and we all headed to dinner at an Indian restaurant that she knew.  The food there was pretty good, and we had a good conversation.  I was pretty tired, and they also talked a lot about work, so I didn’t contribute all that much to the conversation.  We headed back to the room and each got a nice soak in the luxurious tub.  The view from the room was amazing.

The next morning we had breakfast with Steph’s coworkers and headed to PMQ with them.  We got to PMQ way too early, and wandered around for a bit.  We found a cute little temple, and Steph put out some incense.  We had a brunch at Yum Cha, and then went back to PMQ for some shop browsing.

We then went to the tailor so Steph could try on her shirts, and we found a place close by for some congee.  It was fantastic.

We went back to the hotel before dinner to relax a little.  Steph and I went to the pool area, and it was a very nice pool and hot tub.  They also had all sorts of sauna and relaxation equipment in the changing room areas.  Had the clouds and fog not been there I’d expect the view to have been amazing.  After relaxing we went to dinner at a Thai place Steph knew of.  We were all tired at that point so we went back and went to sleep pretty early.

The next morning Steph and I grabbed breakfast, then she went to the spa for a few hours.  When she was done with the spa we had high tea in the restaurant in the lobby.  It was very nice.

We then went back to the room to cuddle for a while, and watch some Netflix.  We then went out to dinner at a Ramen place with Trevor.  The food was amazing and it was the same chain as the restaurant we ate at in Japan, Ichiran.  They had the same style concentration booth.  We then went to Glo Station, a multiplayer VR room.  It wasn’t the puzzle room that was promised, but a wave shooter.  We lost on the boss, as we didn’t actually know what we were supposed to be shooting at.  It was a great time despite losing and it not being what we expected.  The set up was also really well done with the multi person tracking.

The next morning I had the last breakfast with everyone as they were about to head back to the factory, and I was going to airport that afternoon.

This was a good trip, and I was happy to spend so much of it with Stephanie.

My brother’s bachelor party was a pretty low key affair, being that it was mostly a LAN party.  I enjoyed it a whole lot more than had it been a traditional bachelor party.

The flight there was uneventful, albeit a little late.  The MARTA ride north had great sunset views.

I accidentally missed the station because I was writing an email, but Jeff was nice enough to wait and pick me up when I got back.   I hit the trains just wrong as the one I needed back pulled away as the train I was on pulled up.  It ended up being about a 30 minute delay.  We got to Jeff’s and had dinner with my Mom and Dad.  They brought over some tasty Thai food.

The next morning Jeff’s friends started showing up, and we eventually got to the gun range.  Jeff brought a small arsenal, as did his friends.

I shot a little, but not very much.  I was most impressed by the difference the suppressors made.  The guns with suppressors made a click sound, and the ones without were deafening.

We then headed back for a round of games before heading to Taco Mac.  It was a nice dinner and we met up with the rest of the party there.  We came back to play games, and had a good time of it.  I played a bit of everything, but the FPS’s weren’t my thing.  I did really well in Mario Kart and Rocket League; only losing those to people who play them regularly.

The next day We went to my parents place and hung out.  I played cards with my dad, and Kim came over with my niece Grace.  This was my first meeting with Grace, and she was cute.

We had dinner and watched Game of Thrones, then I grabbed a Lyft for the airport.

Steph and I decided we’d go to the Grant Tetons National Park for the Aug 21 Solar Eclipse.  I hadn’t experienced a full solar eclipse before and heard it would be nice, but I hadn’t expected it to be as amazing.  I also realized the difference between totality and 1% is huge.

We started off by flying into Salt Lake City, getting a rental car, and grabbing some dinner.  After dinner we drove up to Idaho Falls where I had found one of the only hotels that didn’t change their prices for the eclipse.

We stayed there one night, then went into the Grand Tetons National Park the next day for some hiking around the lakes there.

We stayed in a fantastic Aribnb that night, and went for the big hike the next day.

The total hike was 13 miles, with 4600 ft vertical.  The first part through the granite canyon, and absolutely gorgeous.

The stream running through the canyon was flowing pretty nicely, and we had to cross over lots of side streams.  We then came into several miles of wildflower fields.

Eventually we made it to the summit, just in time to take one of the last trams down the mountain.

We finished up the hike and met up with Adam at the tiny house cabin.  The cabin was adorable, and the size of a trailer.  I was so tempted to get one.  We went into town for a nice dinner, did some grocery shopping and hung out in the cabin for a bit.

The next morning we went to view the eclipse at the visitor center, and managed to get the final parking spot.  We walked around for the few hours before the eclipse started, then got in line for the big scope just as the eclipse started.  We got to see the small sun spots.  We got out the nice eclipse wine our Airbnb host had given us, and had it with some nice cheese and crackers.  We watched the eclipse progress and it started getting colder.  At totality I was amazed.  The entire area was dark, with the sky being in an odd state of not light and not dark.  We could see the planets, including Mercury and Mars.  We saw some stars as well.  The horizon looked like a soft sunset for the full 360˚.  The most amazing part, however was the sun.  It was possible to see the solar flares and corona, with the size being much larger than I had expected.

After the eclipse we went back to the cabin for a nap.  We hung out there until it was time to go to town, where we did two escape rooms.  We did well in both, and almost had the best time for the second room, despite taking no clues.  The rooms were very well done.  http://www.exitusjh.com/

We cooked some pasta for dinner and had an early morning to get back to the bay area.  Adam stayed a few more days to enjoy the park without us.  I had a great time and would love to do something similar in the future.

Stephanie and I went back to the north bay this weekend.  This time we went to Point Reyes and Calistoga.  We had a pretty good time with both.

The drive to Point Reyes wasn’t that bad.  We got there at about 11am, and started the backpacking in at 11:30 abouts.  We were there with Caryn, Nima, Liana, Ryan, and some other of Liana’s friends and family.  They were all a lot of fun.  It was for Liana’s birthday celebration.  We backpacked about 5 miles into the Glen Camp, which was nestled in a quiet valley.  The day we hiked in we decided to head down to the beach.

Only Wilson and Jess got in the water all the way.  A few others of us got our feet wet, but 50 degree water isn’t at all comfortable.  The wind was pretty strong, so even out of the water most people were getting pretty cold.  We didn’t want to stay too late as we had a 2-3 mile hike back to Glen Camp.

We got back and played some Bang! that Nima had brought.  It was a good time, but I did really badly.  Either way it was a good time.

The next morning 8 of us packed out, leaving Nima, Caryn, Liana, and Ryan.  I really enjoyed everyone that went, and I’d certainly do it again.

From there Stephanie and I went to Calistoga, with a stop by Heydrun Meadery on the way.  We had a nice dinner in a spot that Stephanie picked out, then stopped by a local brewpub on the way back to the hotel.  The hotel was adorable, with an outdoor fireplace.

We roasted smores over the fire and cuddled for a bit.  I went inside to listen to my book while Steph stayed out by the fire and read.

We stopped by a Spa the next day for some hot spring waters and a massage, which was nice.