I joined two of the interns for a "moderately challenging" hike Saturday at the Ranco San Antonio Open Space Preserve. We did the Wildcat Loop Trail and the trails leading to it in a little less than three hours.
Our original plan was to hike the trails at Alum Rock Park, but sadly, it was closed due to "extreme threat of fire."
Not so sadly, I found the Rancho San Antonio as an alternative.
Even though the signs at the parking entrance announced that the lots were full, we pulled in to find ample parking. The trails were a little bit crowded when we started around 11am with travellers on apparently their return hike, but as the early afternoon wore on, we found ourselves mostly alone.
There was a variety of wildlife along the trail, including a large family of quail (though some dumb Stanford students chased them off before we could get a picture!), a variety of lizards and snakes and lizards that looked like snakes or snakes that looked like lizards. One really bizarre tiny bright blue "snake" might have actually been a Western Skink. Looking at my pictures versus the California Herps website, the other lizards we saw were most likely the Great Basin Fence Lizard and a San Francisco Alligator Lizard. There were also a number of extremely bold black squirrels.
The hike wasn't too challenging aside from a few steep inclines, but my muscles are still aching quite a bit today.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sinbad!
One of the ladies that ran my training classes yesterday is Sinbad's cousin. AWESOME
The transition to Big Kid Job has been pretty seamless thus far. Instead of planning goals for my training days and weeks ahead, now I plan *years* ahead.
Everyone gets really excited/surprised when they see I'm from Ohio. They looked at my birth certificate and driver's license as if I had turned something in from Bulgaria. What, Ohio? Where's the University of Toledo? I work alongside ivy league graduates. Personality and experience go a long way!
The transition to Big Kid Job has been pretty seamless thus far. Instead of planning goals for my training days and weeks ahead, now I plan *years* ahead.
Everyone gets really excited/surprised when they see I'm from Ohio. They looked at my birth certificate and driver's license as if I had turned something in from Bulgaria. What, Ohio? Where's the University of Toledo? I work alongside ivy league graduates. Personality and experience go a long way!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
San Francisco - More than Rice-a-Roni
Reuben gave us a great tour of San Francisco and Sausalito on Saturday. Thanks, Reuben!!
I had some awesome clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin's on the fisherman's wharf and caught some great shows by San Francisco street performers. We capped off the trip with a trolley car ride and a pit stop at the mall for restrooms... Guess what - the SanFran mall is a Westfield Shopping Center as well.
This slideshow is outside California and then into Reuben's tour.
I had some awesome clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin's on the fisherman's wharf and caught some great shows by San Francisco street performers. We capped off the trip with a trolley car ride and a pit stop at the mall for restrooms... Guess what - the SanFran mall is a Westfield Shopping Center as well.
This slideshow is outside California and then into Reuben's tour.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Home at Last
We rolled into San Jose early yesterday evening, and it's absolutely beautiful here. We passed through miles of farmland coming in. Gilroy, apparently, is the garlic capital of the world.
Today one of my new roommates will be showing us around San Francisco.
Today one of my new roommates will be showing us around San Francisco.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Can You Smeeeeeeeell What the Strip is Cooking??!
It's Vegas, baby!
In front of the Tropicana, I was mere yards away from famous professional wrestler turned movie star Dwayne Johnson (The Rock!) where he was shooting some movie which I can't remember. My mom and I each did a shot of Patron at Dick's Last Resort. She wanted to do Jose Cuervo, but the bartender laughed at her.
"What kind of Tequila do you have?"
"Cabo Wabo, Patron and some other crappy shit."
"Do you have Jose?"
"That's the crappy shit!"
He was kind of mean, but I think that's the restaurant where they're supposed to be jerks. It's okay, though, because since I'm a super awesome college graduate now, my feelings were not hurt.
I'm more advanced now. Please enjoy the slideshow!
In front of the Tropicana, I was mere yards away from famous professional wrestler turned movie star Dwayne Johnson (The Rock!) where he was shooting some movie which I can't remember. My mom and I each did a shot of Patron at Dick's Last Resort. She wanted to do Jose Cuervo, but the bartender laughed at her.
"What kind of Tequila do you have?"
"Cabo Wabo, Patron and some other crappy shit."
"Do you have Jose?"
"That's the crappy shit!"
He was kind of mean, but I think that's the restaurant where they're supposed to be jerks. It's okay, though, because since I'm a super awesome college graduate now, my feelings were not hurt.
I'm more advanced now. Please enjoy the slideshow!
Cheating the Grand Canyon
We've still some more sight-seeing to do tonight in Vegas, so I'll let the pictures do the talking for now! Tomorrow evening I arrive in San Jose at last and meet my new roomies! Over the weekend, I'm going to do some sight-seeing in San Francisco. I'm not going to lie - this is not in the Grand Canyon National Park - it's mostly in the Little Colorado River Gorge because it apparently costs $25 to get into the park even if you're just doing a lazy "driving tour".
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Aliens Among Us
I grew up watching shows about aliens and listening to the wild tales of my Uncle Don about the government's meddlings, so a trip to the International UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico was just the ticket. $5 admission got you a trip to 1947 and beyond, through the media circus of the UFO crash in nearby Corona to the alleged government cover-up of the UFO debris and alien bodies. I know also know the differences between Close Encounters of the First, Second or Third Kind.
The drive from Amarillo to Roswell was amazingly void of life (like the vast majority of land along the US highways). This is just what I know from previous road trips, however, as I'm a brat and slept the whole four hours there while Holly drove. Hey, it was early!(Be sure to check out JustSimplyHolly.com for her pictures as well.
Roswell might have once been a tiny, kitschy town off the beaten path, but today, it is no different than Toledo. On the way to the museum we saw a Hobby Lobby, Applebee's, Chilli's, and of course, Walmart and Sam's Club. The stores here, however, were careful to add the local flavor.
The museum encouraged photography. There was a lot of READING involved however (which was fine for me since I'm a nerd) since most of the exhibits consisted of old newspaper articles and signed affidavits from witnesses and close relatives of those involved in the Roswell "incident".
Roswell had plenty of charm. It seemed like everbody wanted to get in on this alien action.
I hope this man wins. He at least wins for the best slogan: "Short. Bald. Honest."
Next, we headed off to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we will sleep before visiting the Grand Canyon. We decided to make a stop at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park, however, and it's a good thing. It was beautiful!
Notice that I'm wearing my Sunoco hat?
We're now safely in Flagstaff, Arizona. Tomorrow morning, we will visit the Grand Canyon and then spend the afternoon and night in lovely Las Vegas. While my mom is taking the week off of blogging, she's still doing the Troy Neff show Thursday morning at 9:00am EST (that's 6am here!!). You can see the podcast or listen live at Troy Neff's website.
The drive from Amarillo to Roswell was amazingly void of life (like the vast majority of land along the US highways). This is just what I know from previous road trips, however, as I'm a brat and slept the whole four hours there while Holly drove. Hey, it was early!(Be sure to check out JustSimplyHolly.com for her pictures as well.
Roswell might have once been a tiny, kitschy town off the beaten path, but today, it is no different than Toledo. On the way to the museum we saw a Hobby Lobby, Applebee's, Chilli's, and of course, Walmart and Sam's Club. The stores here, however, were careful to add the local flavor.
The museum encouraged photography. There was a lot of READING involved however (which was fine for me since I'm a nerd) since most of the exhibits consisted of old newspaper articles and signed affidavits from witnesses and close relatives of those involved in the Roswell "incident".
Roswell had plenty of charm. It seemed like everbody wanted to get in on this alien action.
I hope this man wins. He at least wins for the best slogan: "Short. Bald. Honest."
Next, we headed off to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we will sleep before visiting the Grand Canyon. We decided to make a stop at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park, however, and it's a good thing. It was beautiful!
Notice that I'm wearing my Sunoco hat?
We're now safely in Flagstaff, Arizona. Tomorrow morning, we will visit the Grand Canyon and then spend the afternoon and night in lovely Las Vegas. While my mom is taking the week off of blogging, she's still doing the Troy Neff show Thursday morning at 9:00am EST (that's 6am here!!). You can see the podcast or listen live at Troy Neff's website.
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