Red Rock Canyon Park

We have recently fallen in love with a local park called Red Rock Canyon Park. It is about a 5 minute drive from our house and it is the perfect place for our little family right now. It is a gem for a number of reasons. Dogs are allowed there. There is lots of nice flat land for Senya to run around. The landscape is absolutely gorgeous. There is almost never anyone there besides us.

If we are at home and we have about an hour of free time, we can jump in the car and head over to Red Rock. It is wonderful to have somewhere so close by that is a perfect outing for our little family.

We have taken to keeping Senya’s wagon in the car so that it is always with us when we go out. She rides in her wagon while we hike up into the canyon and then she generally likes to “hike” (run) back down.

Given how perfect this place is for us and how close it is, we have taken to going here a few times per week. Here are some pictures of recent excursions.

Hunting for bugs

Found Some

Happy Girl

Taking a Break

Goldfish Picnic

Snack Time

Hiking

Exploring

Fun for Everyone

Cool Mom

Climbers

A sad goodbye

Tonight I bid a sad farewell to a friend who has been with me for 11 years. We’ve been through a lot together. The end of my teenage years, all of  college, all of my “real” jobs, 4 houses, my dating years, being married, pre-kid and post kid… really… not everyone sticks close through all of that.

Before you start guessing the names of my friends and texting them to see if they are alive, let me just tell you. It was my motorcycle (yeah, the one I wrote about a few weeks ago… then one that is my same age and I’ve had forever).

On the way home from work today, I was driving down ocean avenue in Venice. I was in the right lane (2 lanes in each direction) and I was driving along at a normal speed enjoying the sunset golden hour (so beautiful on the coast here).

All of a sudden a car in the oncoming lane made a left turn into my lane and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop in time.

I’ve never been in this type of accident and I have always wondered what it must be like. I’ll tell you exactly what went through my head. There was only about a half of a second to react, but this was my thought process…

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Bam.

Just kidding. I have always thought that’s what it would be like, but it wasn’t. This is the true account.

“Oh shoot, there is NO way I am going to be able to stop. I am going to hit that car! Shoot.OK Brakes!!! 70/30 front/back just like the motorcycle safety class said. Shoot. I’m definitely going to hit that car. Is my insurance up to date? Yes it is. I just paid it last month. I was standing out in the yard and called from Skype. Good. Is my registration up to date? Yes it is. I remember putting that 6-12 sticker on the plate this summer. Good. I am really glad I have insurance. I can’t afford a ticket for being uninsured. He’s in my lane. This is clearly his fault. That’s good because his insurance will pay for my bike. I really can’t afford that right now. It will also pay for his car. I REALLY can’t afford to pay for THAT (shiny new cadillac SUV). Oh shoot, I hope this doesn’t hurt too much.”

Bam

Thump

Thud

(that was my bike hitting his car, me flying over the handlebars and my body hitting the side of his car, and then me landing in a heap on my bike on the pavement)

It was a long evening after that, but here are the basics. Everyone around was really nice and willing to help in any way that they could. The driver of the car was incredibly apologetic and did everything exactly right (police, insurance, etc…).  Lindsay rushed to the scene with Senya and Jason to pick me up and help however they could. A police tow truck took my trusty bike to the lot to be assessed by insurance (fairly certain it is totaled). Jason took me to the hospital (Linds wanted to but I didn’t think it would be a good idea for Sen to be in the waiting room all night. Nobody thought it was a good idea for me to drive myself there). I am fine. I have some scrapes, bruises, and sprains, but I’m OK and have no real damage. I’m grateful for that.

Yosemite Day Hike

This past weekend Lindsay and I went to Yosemite in honor of her birthday. I know it is a few months after the fact, but ON her actual birthday, we were saying goodbye our empty house after packing it up to move. There was a hurricane raging outside and there was no power. We both felt that her special day should be observed once we were a bit more settled.

Now that we’ve been here a bit, we were ready to strike out and do some exploring. We chose Yosemite and wow, we were not disappointed! What an incredible weekend.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A Very Proud Daddy

Today was something of a benchmark day. While we were out hiking in our favorite local park, Senya pointed to the tallest rocky peak in view and said “Mountain.” With just that one word, my heart soared so high, I could have flown right over those craggy cliffs.

What could possibly make life better than that?

Well maybe standing at the foot of that tall mountain and watching a coyote hunt in the tall grass in the purple light of the sunset… that’s what.

Wait, it gets better though. Senya loved that coyote so much. She talked about him all day long (yes, she can say coyote and it’s adorable). She fell asleep saying “coyote” over and over again until she eventually drifted off to sleep.

HIKE!!!

There is a part of my being that can only feel truly alive when I am spending time outside in nature. Working for myself and/or working from home in a log cabin in the woods for the past several years has afforded me plenty of opportunity to be outside. Also, Lindsay and I have spent a large majority of our free time in normal live and almost all of our vacation days outside. The fear of losing this freedom to stay connected to nature has always been part of the reason I’ve shied away from a more traditional office job.

Losing free time as a family was also something that I was afraid I’d lose. Spending time with the people I love is something that I treasure.

Moving to Los Angeles for a job was not a decision made lightly. I was very afraid that a requirement to be in an office for a certain amount of time every week would mean a certain loss of time spent out in the woods and time spent with Linds and Sen. I may have miscalculated 2 variables though. 1, almost 100% of the weather here lends itself to being outside. 2. there is LOTS of state and national land around that is free to use and absolutely beautiful.

We’ve been spending a lot of time outside. It is good for me. It is good for all of us. Something that we seem to have passed on to Senya is a love for being outside. She has recently learned about how fun hiking is. When we go out on family hikes, she can’t wait to get out of the backpack and the second her tiny little feet hit the ground, she starts yelling “HIKE!!!…. HIKE!!!” and running down the trail like a little marathoner.

It is a surreal feeling. A deep love of being outside and the incredible, unexplainable love that comes with being a parent combine in these moments and bring a kind of satisfied joy I never knew I could experience.

Why motorcycles are awesome if you live in LA

I bought a motorcycle the summer that I was 18. It was cheap and I thought it would be cool. I have used it a fair amount over the years, but now that we are living in LA, I am SO glad to have it!

Here are some of the reasons why:

Weather:
It is just about always nice riding weather here. There’s something wonderful about being out in the sun and ocean breeze.

Gas:
Gas is expensive here. My motorcycle gets better mileage than a prius. Score.

Fun:
I live 6 miles from the beach up a windy canyon road. Anywhere I go feels like a destination ride.

Parking:
Motorcycles park for free in CA parking garages (even at the airport).

Traffic:
You’ve probably heard horror stories about traffic in LA right? Double what you’ve heard and you might be getting close (people who live here like to say things like “It really isn’t THAT bad” but they are lying… or putting a positive CA spin on it… it IS that bad). Every morning, the traffic from the stoplight that is 6 miles away backs up past my house. Yes, you read that correctly. 6 miles for 1 stoplight. In a car, that is a nightmare. On a motorcycle, you just pull to the side and zip past the entire 6 mile line of traffic. Believe it or not, that is legal here. Similarly, when the freeway backs up, there’s a fancy little technique called lane splitting that motorcyclists employ here. This is just what it sounds like. The white dotted line becomes your new best friend and you fly up between the lanes of stopped traffic and go on your merry way as though there is no such thing as delay. I save at least an hour per day by riding my motorcycle to work.

I have always liked riding my motorcycle, but now I love it.

A funny fact about my bike: When I bought it, it was just a cheap old bike. 2 months from now it will officially be considered an antique.

Finding Fall

Today this little pennsylvania family set out in search of some some fall color. This is no easy task in our current setting. We weren’t sure what we would find, but we were confident that we would have a generally wonderful autumn day.

We drove east to the San Bernardino National Forest and hiked in to find the golden aspen trees shimmering amongst the towering conifers. The blue skies, golden leaves, and crisp air truly felt like the fall we were hoping to find.

Hiking into the forest.

Playing in the trees

Being cute.

Looking good.

Inspecting the tree bark

It passed

Such a cool little tree

Golden Aspen Trees

Scattered in amongst the giants

After hiking in the fall leaves, we were in the mood for some apple cider, fresh doughnuts, and carmel apples. We found an orchard that had all of the fall treats one could dream up.

Yum

Three cheers for finding autumnal fun in southern California.