A few weeks ago, Geno had the idea to run Mill Creek, near Fresno. When I was trying to find information about it, I kept seeing write-ups about a Mill Creek in N. California, and it looked good. I put it in the brain as “Paddle someday” run. Went and did Mill Creek near Fresno. there were some really fun rapids on that one, but not many and miles and miles of mank to deal with. I didn’t care for it much, though others in the group were more enthusiastic. …

Kim and I planned and led a beginner friendly climbing trip to Joshua Tree in Feb. We drove out through rain, but the weather was pretty nice at the park. Cold, but nice.
We had fun climbing, ate well, and enjoyed everyone’s company. Aside from some tents trying to join the space program, the weekend went off without a hitch. It felt good to be back on the rock.
Many of the photos were from mitzi.  Thanks.

A few months ago, I found some cheap fares to Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. Kim and I decided to spend our thanksgiving there, and had a great time.
Rarotonga feels to me much like Hawaii in terms of the ocean life and the geography and plant life, though it’s much smaller than most of the Hawaii islands we all think of. It’s surprisingly undeveloped, no big hotels, no golf courses, I didn’t see a single chain store or restaurant I recognized, and mostly pretty affordable, with the exception of food, …

I went to San Deigo to participate in a triathlon.  It was 70.3 miles, consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.   It was in support of Challenged Athletes Foundation, and thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, we raised nearly $2,500 to assist in providing facilities, equipment and support for athletes with disabilities that want to play, run, swim and do many of the things we all take for granted.  A very deep and sincere …

I had, Friday and Saturday, the best contest I’ve ever had. I was on fire and it felt incredible. This was the US Waveski National Championships, with about 78 competitors in a variety of categories. Over 40 were entered in the Waveski Open Division, so we started with 10+ heats of four paddlers each. There were guys from Australia, South Africa, Spain. At least 10-12 competitors were from out of the country, and probably 50+% were from out of …

Holy crap, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane today. Kim and I went skydiving today, to celebrate my having lost over 50 lbs.
It started with her friend Enrique, who had suggested it. Kim asked if I was interested, but I said that I’d looked into it before, but was too heavy and couldn’t go. Kim asked if that was still true with my weight loss, and I replied I wasn’t sure. She checked, and when we realized …

Kim and I ran the 10K Volkslauf mud run today. It was super fun. I had done it many years ago a couple times, but not since moving away from Bakersfield. We ran in a team with Ray Purcell and Courtney Purcell, and had a great time. The Volkslauf has moved sites, and had some teething issues with parking and having enough water for the runners. This 10 K has lots of mud, some long pits, tunnels to crawl …

Kim and I, with our friends Ray and Jeff, went out to Santa Cruz this weekend. On Saturday, we paddled from Scorpion cove to Smugglers Harbor, then back to sCorpion where we camped for the night. Sunday, we loaded our gear into the kayaks and paddled to Prisoner’s Harbor, then hiked 3.5 steep, hilly miles to camp. today, we hiked back out, then did a nice short paddle before catching the boat back to the mainland. We saw sea …

Kim and I vactioned in Zion National Park, where we hiked the amazing Narrows hike, learned about canyonering, explored some amazing canyons, had our car snacked on by squirrels, rode bikes and more. We’re been lucky enough to travel to some amazing spots in the planet, and when I do a trip like this I’m reminded that, especially in terms of natural beauty, America has some stuff that ranks right at the top of the list.

Last weekend, Kim and I drove to Lake Tahoe, parked the car in Squaw Valley, and rode about 50 miles around the Lake to South Lake Tahoe on Saturday. The route included everything from bike paths to rolling hills to a LONG climb that led to a screaming fast downhill. Super fun. We stayed in an inexpensive motel in south lake tahoe…. then walked 6 miles roundtrip to get dinner. A great night of rest, and we woke sunday, and …