Hidden Villa Farm

Luke isn't afraid of mud puddles.
Stollin' down the boulevard with his buddy.Celery!Chickens!Pigs!

Hiking in Palo Alto

Headed up the road today to our favorite after work hiking spot; now Luke can hike it on his own.
Starting out on the panorama trail overlooking Stanford and the bay.Mom and son enjoying the open fields at sunset.I won't mention the part where Luke threw up in the car on the way home because other than that, it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Hiking at Rancho San Antonio

Still trying to check out all the cool hikes that are only 10 minutes from our house. This time was Rancho San Antonio with Natalie's mom.
Luke loved checking out all the animals at the farm in the middle of the hike -- especially the roosters and the cow.Big sunflowers!

Hiking in Big Basin

Since our San Diego trip got canceled this weekend, we decided to explore one of the best local Bay Area hikes - the Waterfall Loop at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. There are many good easy and moderate hikes in Big Basin, but we wanted to see the BEST waterfalls so we did the strenuous loop, Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail to Berry Creek Falls, returning on the Sunset trail. 10.5 miles with 2000 feet of elevation changes! We are insane.
When we ran into this sign about an hour into our hike we knew we were in for quite a day.
We encountered fallen trees everywhere, many were very recent from the winter storms and last year's fires.
The family at Berry Creek falls.
Luke and Dave checking out Golden falls. All these cool waterfalls (Cascade falls was another one, but not pictured) were well worth the hike; we loved seeing this beautiful area that is so close to home.
Natalie with her favorite Banana slug - 8 inches long!
Luke loves nature! He didn't even cry once throughout our entire 6+ hour hike. The $8 hiking kid-pack that we got at a garage sale held up well.We wanted to test our gear and our endurance limits in preparation for our Yosemite camping trip in May. Right now, 6 miles of this tough terrain is our limit -- 10 miles was a bit over the top -- we'll have to get in better shape before trying a hike like this again.

Hiking After Work

Went on a beautiful sunset hike today overlooking Mountain View and Palo Alto. A great way to finish off a Monday.

Sunset hike in Palo Alto

5 minutes up the road from our place and with a great view of the south bay, this is a great place to get away for a weeknight hike.

We always see a few deer, this time we saw a couple with big antlers. And we heard some owls, but couldn't find them.

Seattle Day 2: Hiking at Mt. Rainier

We got a little lost on the way and drove to the other side of the mountain before realizing we missed the Sunrise exit, but the hike was worth it once we got there.

Natalie's mom likes climbing trees.We hiked through snow, saw a skunk, and ate some yummy dried pears and apples that are now my favorite snack.

20s Retreat in Occidental

The whole group...
Us on a bridge...

Picture at the peak of the big hilly trek...





































Great speaker, good basketball, spectacular friends, firey campfire, hilarious games -- an all around uplifting and refreshing weekend.

Justin writes a great summary of the retreat (with some more pictures) here.

The Best Way to Do the "Road to Hana"

Standing on the edge of a 300-foot waterfall:


The road...


1. Leave your hotel/condo by 6am.
2. Head straight for the "Seven Sacred Pools" (past Hana) stopping at 3-5 quick (just off the road) waterfalls to break up the drive.
3. Do the awesome hike up from the Seven Sacred Pools to see beautiful waterfalls, eerie bamboo forests, and even an infinity pool. It's called the Pipiwai Trail and it's one of the best hikes on Maui -- 4 miles roundtrip, takes 2 1/2 - 5 hours to hike, and ends at Waimoku Falls, a 400-foot lava rock waterfall.
4. Now you have plenty of time to head back and check out the scenic stops that you skipped along the way and you don't feel rushed. And you can laugh at all the people driving the other way in traffic who slept in. Some of the stops we enjoyed: red sand beach, black sand beach, blue pool. If you're going to Maui, you will buy the "Maui Revealed" book so I don't need to go into more detail here.

Here's the infinity pool:


Follow this and you'll be home by sunset. Don't believe everyone that tells you it's a grueling drive and you can't do it in a day. The road is nicely paved; we saw everything we wanted to and even fit in some long hikes.

(Note: The "Seven Sacred Pools" are neither seven nor sacred, but they did see an increase in visitors when they renamed it from "O'heo Gulch"--it's all in the marketing.)


If you see a sign like this one, it means you're on the right track to something cool...

Maui Day 5: Cliff Diving in the Waihe Valley

This morning we woke up to find a gecko crawling on our picture of Maui. I found it interesting enough to take a picture.











The Waihe Valley trail features some cool swinging bridges, impressive 100 year old aqueduct work, and a good waterfall at the top for cliff diving.