While Steph was in Mexico, cave diving for Thanskgiving, I had a group of friends over to celebrate the holiday. Most of the regulars were there; Riley, Rong, Paul, Yutong, Adam, and George. Adam’s mother also came. Adam had actually flown his own plane to the Bay Area to join us, and because it is his new toy.
Lee’s has been doing an excellent job DMing a game of Traveller. We completed the first story arc and have started on the second. I’m playing a former cop who is great with a blade. Tina is a rich noble, who has been in jail for a long time. Andrew is a gambling former smuggler. Adam is an antisocial pilot. Tim is a former Navy man who can fix most anything. Together we are doing pretty well at not dying. I got some figures printed and painted the ships that Tim printed out.
I was able to go back to the Southeast for Nana’s birthday. I had a good time and got to also meet Elise for the first time. I’m glad I was able to see all the family. At the dinner for Nana’s Birthday we had Fred, Karin, Rodger, Brenda, Tila, Cheryl, Cindy, Devin, and Adrian.
Steph and I went sailing on Pete’s boat out of Alameda. We started around 10am and headed out south of Treasure Island under the Bay Bridge. We caught the wind and had a good sail going around Alcatraz. We spotted the Matthew Turner, a square sailed ship, and followed it. After getting pretty close, the other ship was able to pull away. We then headed North of Alcatraz and towards Angel Island. We passed under the Bay Bridge on the North side, seeing the Bay Bridge troll. We puttered into Alameda, as the wind died. Pete was able to switch sails to one that was more suited to wind below 2 knts. He also ran out the whisker pole to help it keep shape. I didn’t do all that much during the sailing as I was the least experienced. Steph did a large part of the steering.
I got the kayak campsite again for Angel Island.
Michelle and Michael came to pick us up in the morning so we could get to SF for lunch before getting on the ferry. The lunch was nice, as we got to hang out on the pier, by the map of the bay. We mapped out our route and looked at features of the bay we weren’t as familiar with.
It was a pain to carry the kayak around, along with the camping gear. It luckily wasn’t too far.
This time we took the ferry to the island and I kayaked from the ferry dock to the campsite beach. It was a pretty short kayak, but we timed it really well and I got the calm tides. Even over the short kayak I got to see lots of wildlife along the coast of the island. I made it to the campsite about 30 seconds before the others. We set up camp and then hiked to the peak of the island. It was a pretty intense hike, at 700 feet high. We got multiple points with great views of the bay. Along the hike we saw a lot of deer, a coyote, and a pair of vultures.
That evening we went to the civil war fort and sat at one of the tables along the waterfront there to watch the sunset. The video below is that sunset with the clouds spilling over the hills next to the golden gate.
The next day we hiked the road all around the island. The military bases and the detention center were very interesting. The detention center was more modern than I expected, being in use from 1910-1937. We grabbed everything and a quick lunch before taking the ferry back and heading home.
I joined BASK and was able to get in on a trip out of Redwood City. We met at the boat dock with a target of a wreck out in the bay. The ship was a lot more interesting that I had originally thought, and the history was better as well. The USS Thompson was a ship that started as a Navy destroyer, was then sold and became a floating SF restaurant, then purchased back and sunk in the south bay as a bombing practice target.
The people were nice to meet and I enjoyed kayaking with them. I look forward to doing more kayaks with the BASK group.
Tina and I went kayaking out of the Redwood City dock and were trying to go see the Greco Island harbor seal colony. When we got there, none of the seals were there, so we turned around and kayaked back. It was still fun to see the dredger they have at Redwood Point, and I got to see a bat ray, since we were at a very low tide.
A group got together to visit Adam in the end of June and start of July. We now felt fine to fly so we flew with Riley and Rong to Vegas, then got a car and drove to Kanab. Tina and Amit had driven there, and we met up with Tim and Hannah that evening as well.
We went to the dunes the first day and had a great time. We were able to rent a board that was similar to a snowboard to surf the dunes. We each were able to get up and ride the dunes a few times. Tim was probably doing the best of everyone by making it the furthest down the dune and standing up all the way.
I stayed in the next two days as the hikes didn’t interest me and I had a little work to do. I didn’t really regret missing the walk through town or the north rim of the Grand Canyon hikes. I had a nice relaxed time at the house.
Steph organized a group to go to one of the local tourist traps, Moqui Cave. It was better than I expected, but still not great. The Belly of the Dragon cave was aa better spot and very interesting formation.
Keeping with the cave theme Steph found a lava tube that could be traversed over about 100ft. It was a tight squeeze but fun to go through. The other tourists were annoying in that the kids didn’t wait to go through the squeeze, and some of the teens were getting into the gated off section of the cave. The national forest and the national monument near the cave were also very pretty. We were at about 10,000 ft so even the light walks were making us winded.
We played tons of games while there. We played lots of Mars, the card game and board game. We also played Wingspan a few times, as well as one game of Mage Knight that we loss spectacularly. Tina brought her switch and we played Overcooked and Just Dance on that. The Just Dance was especially fun because we were all so bad at it.
On the way back Riley, Rong, Steph, and I went ATVing in the desert outside Vegas. It was interesting, especially when a giant dirt devil went through the path we were taking.
I bought a geometric terrarium and sealed the bottom so that it could hold water. Then I tried to grow some juniper from branches I cut around the neighborhood from junipers that had overgrown the sidewalk. The moss came from the back yard, and I got three different types. I grabbed some dirt from the garden and got a ride along rolly polly. So far it has been a few weeks and things are growing decently well. We will see if it survives long term. It can’t stay in the sun for too long as it acts as a greenhouse and will get steamy.
It's an Exciting World 