Hawk at Prairie City
So 2012 is off to a great start with caving, hiking, swimming, diving, biking, photography and a little offroading all in the first week. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue throughout the year.
caving
Hiking
Diving
Off roading
I’m really looking forward to the adventures that await. Whilst there’s no way I’ll be able to fit all that in every week, even one or two things will be good. After all, everyday is an adventure.
Land Rover
Since the bug is in the shop undergoing several transformations- switching from swing arm to IRS, raising the front, adding roll bars, roof rack etc. It may be awhile till I get it back on the road. In the meanwhile I purchased a used land rover Discovery. As with any used vehicle there’s plenty of things that need repairing. First up the ABS light was on and after driving to Folsom it had over heated. So looks like I need a new front sensor for the ABS and a replacement thermostat hopefully took care of the temperature problem. I’m still looking for a used good sensor though. I also got a set of new tires and allignment done. Hopefully that’ll keep me on the road for awhile. While that was going on I rode my Bicycle across town a couple of times so I’ve gotten in a good start to my bicycling for 2012 already. Next up I wanted to be sure the Land Rover would handle a little offroad driving so I headed out to prairie city to try the 4×4 course. I didn’t attempt to climb any of the large rock obstacles they set up but did drive around in the dirt and had plenty of fun driving through the new water/mud obstacle. I watched several rock crawlers going over the rocks and the some motorcyclists had a go at it. I had enough mud for one day though and headed home. Washing the mud off afterward was a whole ‘nother challenge as three rinses later I was still finding mud.
]water crossing
Little Muddy eh?
diving Folsom Lake
In spite of my legs still being a little sore from the hiking and caving the day before, I dragged myself out of bed and headed out to Folsom lake. There I met up with Mark already checking out the dive site. As we geared up we were joined by Kadean. The water level was down pretty far so we had a fairly long walk down to the water but it was a nice cool day so we didn’t mind. Because of the low water we swam out quite a ways before heading down for our first dive but still wound up in only 15 to 20 feet of water!. After swimming around for a bit we headed back to shore, took a break then switched out tanks for a second dive. This time we swam further out and reached a wooping 34 foot depth. Mark spotted something lying along the bottom and retrieved a very nice rod and reel. For folsom lake the visibility wasn’t bad and we even spotted a couple of fish though they carefully stayed out of camera range. All too soon it was time to head back to shore.
the green green water of Folsom Lake 
Sunrise
We spent new years day heading out to Crystal Stan cave.It was a great start to the new year as we had wonderfull sunny weather for our hike to the cave.Once we reached the cave it was time for a brief lunch break then we headed in. I spotted a couple of spiders, Dale spotted a moth near the lower entrance and Angela spotted the tiniest centipede. It was only a half centimeter long. All to soon we’d gone trough the cave and it was time to head back up the trail. Marrianne suggested I lead the way so I’d be sure I could follow the trail. Getting back to the gully proved easy enough but from there the trail was pretty overgrown and I headed up away from the way we had come in. After a little scrambling through the bushes I gave up and pulled out my gps. It confirmed I was 300 feet from a trail. Turned out I was heading right for the road so I continued on up and then we leisurely walked down the road to where we’d left the vehicles so it worked out allright. Next it was off to Angels camp for some excellent pizza at Mountain Mikes a great ending for a great start to the new year.
Inside the cave
great view from lower entrance
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 42 trips to carry that many people.
Just got a nice comment from the Sacramento Ghostbusters.
Ghost Busters!
Guess you could say they really have the Christmas Spirit!
Everybody loves a parade!
llamas love parades!
This weekend I made my way downtown to check out the Sacramento Santa Parade. Living in the mild climes of California it’s sometimes difficult to get a feel for winter Holidays- No white Christmas here, but the parade made it feel a little more like Christmas.
Cool cars
I particularly enjoyed the line up of cool cars that participated, mostly Corvettes sine the local Corvette club appeared to be supporting the parade but there were also the lowriders, Wild Bills race car, and the giant shopping cart hot rod. The high school bands did some great interpretations of Christmas classics and the crowd really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Grinch loves a parade!
There was a brief delay when I think someone may have been injured as I spotted an ambulance but the show went on and it wasn’t too long before Santa and Misses Clause made their appearence marking the end of the parade.
Bye Santa!
Turkey day!
Sunset from the train
After learning that James, Emily and Michael would be going to Bakersfiled for Thanksgiving I decided to join them. Since the bug has been sent off to Tuna’s buggy works for some major upgrades I decided to take the train down. This worked out well as James et all were doing the same. They left before me as I had to work Monday and Tuesday, but I drove them down to the train station, then left their car at the station when I went down on Wednesday.
Christmas Mantis?
Dad’s Poinsettia had a visitor! Winter color for a preying Mantis.
The usual family chaos ensued as we all made our way to Tina’s for Thanksgiving. It really was a lovely dinner. The next day Lora got up early to hit the shops and brought me back a TinTin ornament! It even came with a coupon to see the new film when it comes out. Next we drove up to Fresno to visit with Moms sisters before heading back to Bakersfield for game night at Annes. Finally it was time to head home and after an uneventful train ride back to Sacramento, we stopped for some exxcelent food at India Oven and James, Emily and Michael headed for home where it had already snowed.
Angela works on her photography while Michael builds a gingerbread house.
Guess winter is really here.
Rainy day in Sac-town
Down town
As winter approaches and the cold and rain begins, I find myself tired of huddling indoors and longing to travel. This weekend, I could feel the pull, but since the motorcycle is not an ideal vehicle in bad weather and the car is in need of repairs after the abuse I dealt on it this summer I was left wondering what to do. I settled on taking local transit to wander around downtown in search of something interesting. The bus and light rail ride to downtown were amusing enough as a huge variety of people rode together to reach downtown. I jumped of the train near the K st mall hoping perhaps to spot some ice skaters enjoying the rink. No luck, the Zamboni was spinning around trying to obtain a smooth finish on the thin layer of ice but the warm breeze and incoming rain didn’t bode well for ice skaters. I wandered through the mall, stopped to get something to eat at the food court before heading back out. Facing the buildings that form the Sacramento skyline I could see the dark clouds forming that would lead to the evenings rain so I decided to start taking pictures, I worked my way through Old Sacramento admiring the trains outside the railroad museum before making my way out along the I st bridge. By now it was starting to rain and I juggled my camera and my umbrella as I shot a few pics of the river and the waterfront.
Sacramento waterfront
I debated heading for home but since I was already wet, I instead headed along the streets of Downtown looking for some more interesting pictures, a fire and rescue truck came barreling towards me, light and sirens blaring, then right as I pulled out my camera they shut them off. Oh well, I still got an interesting photo as they went by. As I turned away though I heard a screech of tires and looked up just in time to see a police cruiser come to a skidding halt with a bicycle on its bumper.
Sacramento evening
My first thought was they had some how run over a bicyclist! It soon became clear though that they had been transporting the bicycle on their front bumper and it had shifted prompting them to hit the brakes. I left them trying to negotiate space in the trunk as I made my way towards the Sacramento convention center.
Fire truck
I took a couple of pictures of St. Pauls, then walked back past the Capital building, towards the J st bridge and then decided it was time to hop the train and head for home.
J st bridge
I was tired and a little soggy but at least I had gotten out for awhile.
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween
preston castle
Another Halloween gone by. This year I heard of something new to check out so I asked Tom and Karole if they’d like to join me on a trip out to Ione, to see the Haunted Preston Castle.
Spooky tower
We started the evening with a wonderful dinner at Indian Oven.
Then we headed out to Ione. Driving through the dark we approached town and spied our first view of the Preston Castle. The building itself is pretty impressive, large stone walls with tall towers set on top a hill overlooking the town. Add to that the opportunity to tour it and walk through its halls in near darkness. It really was a spooktacular evening. They did the usual ‘haunt’ setups as well as some original ones but really it was the ambience of the location that truly made the evening. Between the old massive construction, crumbling walls, creaky floors and its varied history as a prison with more than one violent death during its recorded history. definitely an ideal Halloween haunt.
Hallway
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