i can now geocache!! :-)

dec. 26
the kids got me the hand held gps for christmas! i am so happy because i thought i would have to wait longer for it!! mike and i also got some cool walking sticks! gotta be that serious hiker and treasure hunter now :-)
i picked out 4 geo cache sites to venture to in american canyon area just for the test of it. shauna, jimmy, mike and i went looking. we didn't find anything :-( jimmy and shauna keep teasing me that it is not really a thing and i made it up! one site we couldn't get to. one was at kirkland ranch and we looked at the obvious but couldn't find anything. got to see kirkland ranch up closer though and it is pretty. one site was by the grape crusher statue at the entrance of napa. we also couldn't find that one but that was the first time i went up close to that statue and sitting area. the last was by the napa airport and nothing there as well. that one had garbage around it and it kind of smelled. i think i will go back to both the statue and kirkland at some point to look. that is if the geocache site answers my response to looking and tells me it is still there. there are a lot of sites out there so loads for me to venture and and look! and several in skyline so next time mike and hike there we can put several locations in the gps. maybe today!

another walk in the park

dec. 23 - napa river walk. walked for 1 hour with ella and jimmy and shauna. same ole flat paved walk only this time i had the privilege of being with shauna and jimmy :-) they came up the previous night from Lancaster. we had some great conversation and it was a pleasant walk. ella chased a rather large jack rabbit -- she was so excited! havent' walked for a bit so it was nice to get out!

more of a play date with Ella . . .

saturday - dec. 13 - mike, ella and i set out to do liken the hiken #2 -- going a bit further up through skyline park. as we got there though we noticed the hiking path volunteers at the gate putting up a new sign and we knew they would probably inform us we couldn't take ella in so we opted for going toward the river to do the flat, paved river path. we entered the path by the pond and realized it was a great playing ground for ella with all the ducks!! so we stayed and watched her play around -- how happy and energetic she is when running wild!! she ran those ducks into the air --- she ran them over the rail road tracks -- she ran till she was so tired and till she was very thirsty :-)
and wet and very stinky and oh so very pleased with herself !!!











she still had energy to boot and we walked and hour by the river on the paved flat path -- turns out mike and i didn't really have the energy for the longer more energetic paths in skyline!!! but it was a fun day. and yes, kelly, it was chilly -- mike called it cold -- i called it brisk --with a wind. but still pleasant! and you are more than welcome to come on a walk with me anytime!!

I liken the hiken!

That is mike's idea for a title :-) sunday dec. 7
a little late -- but last sunday we went for a hike on the napa river to ridge. it is the extension of the previous blog on the napa river. instead of going by the river we parked in the college parking lot and crossed soscol -- this takes you to the entrance to Skyline park. it was a gradual up hill hike - a little muddy in one part -- mostly a narrow path through bush and trees and then opens up as you get higher. you can overlook the city of napa. this has felt the most like hiking so far -- so i guess I can truly call this one a hiking blog instead of just walking :-) we did about 2 hour and 45 minutes. we turned back as we got deeper into skyline park -- more out of time than out of energy. i must say 2 things about this day -- one is that we had a work party the previous night and i think i did too many tequila shots :-0 and didn't feel great that whole day but i felt the best while walking (making sure I drank lots of water)! and we did bring Ella inspite of the sign at the entrance that said no dogs. :-0 i guess i was a bad girl that weekend!! this proved to be a good walk/ talk with mike. he has been so busy and 'gone' with his new job -- but we had the chance to discuss 'things' and pray for concerns.
he just informed me this morning that he would like to head back up there today and go longer and deeper into skyline. there are a few different paths you can take to make it worth it.
this is also an extension of the Bay area ridge trail. the one I learned about on our benicia hike. on the internet I learned this about that trail:

Description: The Bay Area Ridge Trail is a planned multi-use 500-mile ridgeline trail that encircles the San Francisco Bay Area through nine counties. When completed, it will link more than 75 public parks and open space preserves along the ridgelines surrounding San Francisco Bay.

i figure this may be a good trail to do in sections through the year. if I plan right and start driving further than my close area of napa and benicia.

well, i better get going if we are to walk longer today!!

a nice brisk napa walk

Dec. 4 (thursday) napa river walk.
today I opted for a brisk 1 hour walk along the napa river trail. i have walked this trail last month and placed pictures and my thoughts on this trail so I won't do that again. suffice it to say it was a nice, flat, and quick paced walked along the path. i didn't go as far as i did with mike when we had that lunch once we hit Napa. I did go with lesley and ella though. nice walk and talk with lesley.
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i call these little outings on paths like these walks because after all there really is no hiking involved but hey, I was out there! still looking forward to the times I get our for some real and longer day hikes!!

Wandering around one of my favorite places!

Fri. Nov. 21 : Santa Barbara - the weather, variety of place to go, the beauty, the peace, the healthy environment; memories of young motherhood and marriage -- such good memories!! I am thankful for a lot of things - yet one in particular is that I had the opportunity to live here at one time, and now to visit occasionally. It gets harder to leave each time!
today mike and I (and ella of course) ventured out to find a good walk/hike. now I have planned for the past few years to do some good hiking here when I have the chance and even have the map of hiking places in SB. yet this visit was a last minute thought and hiking was not the priority so I was not really prepared. didn't have the map. i took a quick look on the Internet, asked a friend where to go and off we went not really knowing the path we would take. we started up painted cave road in the SB hills hoping to find good path (as my friend told me we would see them off the road). after getting to just about the top of the mountain and some good winding and turning; and a quick stop to actually peak inside a rock cave with actually paintings from the Chumash indians from a long time ago , we came to a parking spot and found a trail. the trail was a nice one with some different vegetation than napa. the path came to an unexpected end with a great overlook of the city and the ocean. although this day was a bit overcast so the view was a bit obscured -- still pretty. because the path ended before we were ready to stop walking we needed to find another spot. this trail gave us about 40 minutes with 2 good aerobic hills. after winding off painted cave road we realized we were half way to Cachuma lake and decided to see what good walk that had for us. Cachuma lake is pretty and with very clean water ) i learned it is actually the water SB uses in the city and therefore there is no swimming for people or dogs. they have 4 good hiking trails with different distances. because it was getting late and we already walked we decided to take a smaller trail next to the lake away from campers. (yes, it has a good campsite and I would consider camping there in the future). it turned out this trail was too short but enjoyable! for today as far as hiking goes it felt a bit scattered and too short but the day was excellent with mike -- the driving, the mystery of where we were actually going :-), the calm and peaceful feeling.
Next time in SB I will bring that hiking map and plan a good long day hike - maybe a few :-)!!

Sat. Nov. 22 Coastal hike : before heading back home we wanted to take a good walk with nikelle. so seth, mike, nikelle, and ella parked in Goleta and took the coastal hike. this was a very enjoyable hike. it took us through a neat little forest of trees. not really sure the name of the trees -- yet they were real twisty. and out to the top of a hill above the beach. following this trail along this hill gradually brings you to beach level. after a quick romp on the beach (ahhhh the smell, feel and sound of the ocean :-) we headed back. all together I believe the walking was about 30 minutes each way. and a wet and dirty little time for ella!!









it was a very good thanksgiving weekend!! and 26 year anniversary for mike and I -- 16 years after our renewal celebration!!

Benicia - bay ridge trail

<---west view, and below is east

Sat. nov. 22 - Benicia - bay ridge trail -
another nice day!! it is dry and i want the rain but in the mean time I am enjoying this weather!! this time mike, ella and i drove in to the end of the pavement to the water and walked a longer time on the trail.
we were out 2 1/2 hours with a nice lunch (of safeway sandwiches) overlooking the water for about 20 minutes. i need that GPS to count miles instead of minutes. I also think about the caches we could find if we had the gps tool. instead we found a big treasure we didn't know was around there until we saw it. a nice home from about the '20s that was boarded up and had a walkway to the water. a passerby told us it was an old horse ranch house. the overgrowth made it hard to get a good picture. we made it to the water for a bit. just long enough for me to venture onto a mossy slanted rock in the water only to rapidly slip hard onto my left side. i am lucky i didn't really harm myself. ella took to the water also. this water smelled and isn't the best to have on your being. for the rest of our hike me and ella dried to a brown and green color. thankfully the pains didn't last!! silly me. why is it always funny when people fall -- you know it is if you watch funniest home videos -- when ever anyone falls or a guy gets hit in his privates everyone always laughs!! why else would they put it in every comedy movie!! oh well, i giggled again with myself as i got into the shower at home. on the way back on the trail mike needed to go number 2 (is that too much info?) - so i went on ahead. the trail takes a good turn uphill and when mike started back Ella ran fast -- like a bunny hopping in the weeds between us several times -- brings us joy :-) till we have grandkids!!











overall it was a nice walk and day -- slight hills -- i guess i would give the trail a 5/10. that rating is average leaving room to find above average hikes as time goes on. as for the day with mike i would give it a 9/10 -- you've got to leave even a little room for something new :) i did find a site online that has lists with descriptions of good bay area hikes with dogs. and i guess when i get to hiking Mt. Tam i will have to leave ella home as they don't allow dogs.
with that said the day of pics would not be complete if i didn't show how ella likes her water at the end!!

now we sit on the couch with a blanket over us and ella asleep with her head on a pillow next to me. she always gets between mike and I :0 ( i still have a slight cough and sore throat).
mike on the other hand had lots of good energy today as he slept deeply through the night without any pharmaceutical help. thank God -- he does so much better that way. kind of like those babies that mom's are tying to get to sleep :-)
anyway his work days are long with a commute (not hard though) just early there and late home. he likes the work though; and this gets him sleeping better at night.
a good days walk!

short and sweet

friday -- ella and i took a quick mid-day jaunt on the ac exercise hill. still such great weather!! it was only 40 minutes; but considering I have had a slight bug all week and haven't been out for several day i will take it. and thankfully this spot has the steep hill and a medium hill to get my heart going. unless it is just my imagination i think ella was a bit slow also today. I figure if my walks are no less then 40 minutes than it is worth it. i have been researching bay area hikes and there are so many to choose from -- i need to get going :-)

Napa Valley River Trail

Sat. 11.15.08 mike, ella and I went to the napa valley river trail today. why have I never walked this before? I found it to be a delightful walk :-) -- we parked in the park hidden back behind the college by the water. it ended up being a 1 - 1/2 hour walk for us. the first loop brought us next to the river and then around the small soccer players; passing the 10 year old bmx riders on a really neat dirtway they made for them, and then the small motorized airplane site for kids. it made me wishing I had a young boy or tom boy -- and made me think of setho boy at those ages!! we did that motorized airplane thing for a bit with him. and there was a small girl named bonnie on the bmx bike -- so cute! well there is still time for zeke and maggie :-) after that loop the trail brought us along the river. very peaceful and enjoyable. out away from civilization and hardly any passerbyers. although by the picture you can see at one point there was a 'harbor' like neighborhood across the river. we kept going until the path ended -- which was by (below) the Imola st bridge. eventually this trail will bring you into the town of Napa by trader joes and the new outside amphitheater. and I think they have plans to bring the trail from american canyon up to here! that will be fun! so, for todays purposes we crossed the railroad tracts at the end of the trail and walked up to the home depot shopping center on Soscal. we had a nice break and lunch outside at applebees. (nice reward for a good walk :-) and then walked back.
it was flat and therefore not much of a 'lung stretch' but after the brisk walking i could feel it in my thighs and hips ( i am not getting any younger and really need to keep limber with these walks -- with or without the longer goals I have). by the end, ella -- as usual -- had her christmas trees ears -- fur filled with little brown burrs - and the added affect of yucky brown water on her legs and underside.
we discovered that there is a river to ridge trail which i intend to check out soon! it takes you from this river trail up to the top of skyline park. which means the trail runs by the outside of the college; crosses over Soscal and runs along the fence line of napa state hospital and then uphill into skyline. skyline park was where I did a lot of preparation for my Yosemite hike. i hope to check this out with seth as he has walked it with me in the past and this is the one thing outside that i enjoy with seth as well. so this was approximately 1 and 1/2 hours -- maybe more? and not sure how many miles -- i need that GPS soon because then I can clock my miles and ya never know how many treasures of cache I am missing out on in these areas!!
and oh my gosh -- the weather was the best you could ask for!! a really warm november fall day! although I did think of and pray for all the la/sb fires and those affected by them -- we need rain and cooler weather for that reason and california drought reasons!
smoking -- sorry friends -- i had a few this week :-( one day after work I just felt I "needed' one! and had a few through the week! but maybe after a few good hilly walks I will really want no more?!! don't hate me just keep encouraging me to stop this most ridiculous habit! i didn't even want to mention it but i need to be accountable, truthful, and blogging my progress - or lack there of!
and is a nice surprise that mike wants to walk now -- in fact he had been walking more than me the past month. in the past because of his hard working days he wasn't interested. he started his new job this week. he likes it. he is supervisor for job sites with a company called Tru green. he won't be doing the hard physical work and therefore looking forward to hikes/walks on weekends.
till my next walk . . . .

quickie

oct 11 (tues)
did a quick ac hill exercise -- about 40 minutes of a quick round about. starting at my home with ella and mike. still out of breath -- still a ways to go -- but my feet are moving. it was another really nice autumn day again and this time we went up the hill as the sunset started (pretty) and finished in the dusk. forgot that camera again -- could have been a nice sunset pic up there!!
i can feel my endorphins coming to life again :-)

wow - what ever happened to a pen and notebook!

ok, so -- i wanted to make some adjustments to my new blogging world and then add a hiking thought for today ... hours later, here i am just writing today's blog!! I think keeping a good old fashion diary (might as well make it a 70's flower cover version, that has a lock and key that doesn't really keep anyone out) is a bit easier! but then you don't have all the bells and whistles that the good ole internet has - huh?! with all the pretty things you can add and all the other blogs you can spy on ..... but yes, that still leaves us hours after we started. good thing i don't have young children cause i know me -- they would be starving (food and attention)! how do you do it kelly jenny and michelle -- my younger heroines that I will always look up to!! :-)
about the whole diary thing --- who really wants to read about my hiking thoughts anyway?! but that is ok -- cause it is for my purposes really. and I add this thought after writing the next paragraph -- it sounds like a boring commentary on hiking and where to go that no one is really interested it -- ya never do know though -- if i am boring whoever is peeking in - sorry -- this is for my growth if ya want to know the truth :-0 and if I ever have a future really great revelation from God on a hiking trail -- or a really fun or funny story -- i'll let you know :-)

ok already -- back to the hiking :-0
nov. 10th -- another really lovely day out -- don't really feel all that good so i opted for an hour walk in the nearby hill -- I'll explain this hill and refer to it as AC exercise hill. it is directly behind my home. mike and i usually drive with ella
and park behind the school down the street though. i will tell you why -- ella is a wonderful hiking dog but not a very good lease dog! so, we get to where she can run free without the worry of cars!
as far as scenery goes the AC exercise hill isn't the best - maybe 2.5/10 -- i give it that because once you get to the top you can turn all around and see a pretty shot of AC (american canyon) and the grape hills leading into napa on 29 and then to the west the view of the water that runs through from the SF bay (not sure what it is called?) i leave the rest of 2.5 open so i can judge other hiking views as I walk them. and i need lots of lee way as i am hoping to see lots of great sites!! (anyone know the correct spelling of lee way?)
as far as exercise goes I will give it a 8/10 because it has a few great grades that i can go up and down; or i have the choice to take the path where is more level. this added to the fact that it is so close , ella is so free to run and i have never seen anyone else there makes it a good place to get my legs a movin!

that whole number judging is a funny thing -- I have to use it at work when I ask the patients about their pain level -- then I medicate accordingly. every time i ask I wonder how accurate the number game is! sometimes i will have a sleeping patient and they will wake up and say their pain is a 8 or 9 and they are as calm as can be -- same number a moaning tense faced patient might give me. and then there is the run of the mill general prisoner we get -- we can usually always count on them to be 10's no matter what they look like or even if they had some local anesthesia --- oh, that morphine!
today i wonder what mike would say the exercise and scenery number is at the AC exercise hill?? I'll ask him.

so, today i did 1 hour with mike and ella -- 4 good up and downs. the guy at the Minn. REI gave meg and me some good hints - one of which was to go up and right back down the same hill so that the opposing muscles are getting the same exercise. i was a bit out of breath (but still no cigs for a week now :-) and like i said I was already feeling a bit under the weather.
mike has been doing this much more than me -- the last few weeks he has been at that place with ella 1 -2 hours each day. ella always comes out with her furry ears adorned with weeds and thistles!
now I just need to bring a camera with me when I hike new places so that I can keep the places in the blogging. I also think i will start to carry a light pack with my water bladder and extra water for ella. she works herself up to a good thirst.
next goal --- checking out good hiking spots i can plan once or more times each month around the area. and use the ac exercise hill for getting ready between nicer hikes. if I am really good at this checking and planning then I can post all my planned hiking events one day and anyone can join me where ever i am at.
oh yeah -- another goal -- obtain a GPS so i can find good fun hikes that have a geocach :-)

oh my gosh -- i just found out another benefit to blogging as opposed to using a pen in my bad handwriting in that flowered covered 70's locked diary -- this has spell check!! i still think of my mothers comments every time I write something -- you know - the one about my spelling :-0

today is the first day of the rest of your life . . . (how cliche!)

11/8/08 6 pm - original post
I love autumn and i dislike the fall'ing feeling sometimes given in the season of autumn; but today is a rising feeling and a good day to start a blog on hiking :-) (anyways, i think I secretly like the falling feeling ... it leads me to gloomy days with a blanket; heat on, or even better a fire; introspecting, dissecting, .. besides you can only go up from a fall)
oh, back to blogging on hiking ... i am not sure why i stopped hiking after my yosemite trip of summer '07 (but I did, like stopping so many other things i start) -- anyway my trip to wyo/minn gave me new game to start again -- aside from just the wonder of spending time with loved ones.
it kind of gave me a jump start to getting off the couch -- thank you meg and jen for not having tv!
while i didn't really hike/walk a great deal -- i did start some movement and now hope to keep up the momentum!! nice walks in the autumn colored hudson, wis with meg -- walks, bikerides, geocaching with swansons. i especially liked the riverbank walk the last day. my sweet friend, jenny!

so, today i again dawned my hiking boots and went for a brisk, not to hilly, 4 mile walk through the benicia park -- found that a trail from there goes around the bay -- i mean around the bay -- over both bridges and through the city. I'll have to check that one out -- not saying i will walk it!! i will use our everloving internet though to check it out. mike and ella accompanied me and it was a lovely autumn morning with a great benicia view of the water front. the rain sprinkles started just as we ended. we love walking with our ella -- she is at her happiest and fun to watch! and an obedient wonderful walking pet.

anyway, this is hopefully my start ... i re-realized my goal to one day hike the appalachian trail (part of it anyway) -- and to my fun surprise meg would like to join me. and to another fun surprise vilma just bought a house at the base of the mountain trial in georgia. so I bought meg some new hiking shoes to get her out of the hippie old sneakers and get her ready to get serious.
and now i need to be serious.
this is my attempt to start a hiking blog -- my end goal : the appalachian trail; my daily goal: to set my mind and feet in the right direction; my goal this week: i stopped smoking 4 days and 12 hours ago :-) and as far as a blogging goal goes -- well, i have never been good at this but well just have to see.......

as for now -- i am going to have my homemade chili and homemade bread that has been cooking up a great autumn fragrance as i sit on the couch with my doggie and blanket and a good book alternating with word challenge :-)