Vám všem!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
White Christmas?
I was not really crazy about this particular Santa, silly-jumping skinny...probably a recession-friendly one. Though it was not a bad idea to spend the afternoon in a cozy Irish pub and have 'Lunch with Santa'.
Last week was actually the coldest period of our stay here in the Bay Area.
The heater has been on every day.
Rain showers changed to hail and when the clouds cleared, the tops of Mount Diablo and Sunol were dusted with snow.
What a pretty sight! Just perfect for the season.
PS: Another bike accident today...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Speaking of Biking
It's already dark when Rob returns from his work.
Tonight he 'almost' had an accident with a car.
The driver was about to turn right and obviously didn't see him.
Rob saw the car though. So he braked suddenly which caused him to fly over the handlebars.
Luckily he 'only' ended up with a bad scrape on his knee (and pants) and his front light is probably broken too.
The driver apologized and offered him 20 dollars to make amends.
This is not Holland after all...
Tonight he 'almost' had an accident with a car.
The driver was about to turn right and obviously didn't see him.
Rob saw the car though. So he braked suddenly which caused him to fly over the handlebars.
Luckily he 'only' ended up with a bad scrape on his knee (and pants) and his front light is probably broken too.
The driver apologized and offered him 20 dollars to make amends.
This is not Holland after all...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Mikuláš
Some of you already know that here, far away from Czech Republic , we still celebrate our traditional Mikuláš.
For the occasion of Saint Nicolas Day the local Czech community organized a CHILDREN'S PARTY.
Maarten was very excited to meet this mysterious Mikuláš /Sinterklaas in person at last.
And there he was all holy and shiny, wearing cloak and mitter (even not red as usual) holding his big golden crozier, accompanied by a beautiful angel and a friendly devil.
Maarten was so impressed.
He did sing his Sinterklaas kapoentje song to them but not as loud as he did before to us.
There are probably no bad or naughty children here in the Bay Area. No one received a lump of coal or a potato in the stocking and the devil didn't put any child in a sack (if he had any).
I hope Maarten understood well that Sinterklaas (the Dutch one who brings presents during the night) is gone to Spain now and Maarten will no longer look in his shoe at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Indeed, I'm dying for a good night's sleep.
For the occasion of Saint Nicolas Day the local Czech community organized a CHILDREN'S PARTY.
Maarten was very excited to meet this mysterious Mikuláš /Sinterklaas in person at last.
And there he was all holy and shiny, wearing cloak and mitter (even not red as usual) holding his big golden crozier, accompanied by a beautiful angel and a friendly devil.
Maarten was so impressed.
He did sing his Sinterklaas kapoentje song to them but not as loud as he did before to us.
There are probably no bad or naughty children here in the Bay Area. No one received a lump of coal or a potato in the stocking and the devil didn't put any child in a sack (if he had any).
I hope Maarten understood well that Sinterklaas (the Dutch one who brings presents during the night) is gone to Spain now and Maarten will no longer look in his shoe at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Indeed, I'm dying for a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Happy Looking-Out!
I really hate visiting dentists but there are still good things about it.
They are reconstructing my mouth and because I have to wait there for hours (seems pretty normal here) I have plenty of time to read magazines.
That's how I learned about the possibility of renting fire lookouts. Last summer we visited one and we found the idea of spending a night up there pretty exciting.
There are many structures like this atop Sierran peaks. Some are still in service during the fire season, some are abandoned and some are in fact converted for public rental.
The one we visited this weekend was built in a special WINDMILL STYLE once popular throughout California. I appreciated the thirties pictures above each of the wall-to-wall window explaining the panoramic view in every direction. And what a view!
Some previous visitors suggested the trees be cut to improve the 'original' view but I hope the rangers won't listen to such thoughts. The scenery is just perfect. Forested hills, purple-pink glowing sunsets, the wide flat Sierra Valley with its tiny towns shining in the dark... even Maarten got poetic watching the valley's lights deep at night...instead of sleeping!
Actually for the most part the nights spent up here turned out to be a real nightmare. Maarten stayed awake almost the whole night. This was not because of Tuesday night's storm when the whole tower was shaking, the broken windows in the attic rumbling with heavy squalls of wind making loud passing-train-like noise.
And no, Rob and I were not waking up romantically in each other's arms watching the beautiful sunrise...
You see, the cabin wasn't pet free as advertised and therefore Rob spent nights in the car.
Anyhow the stay at the lookout was a delight and the day adventures made up for it for sure.
We did some awesome hikes in the area.
There are so many LAKES here. We hiked past Long Lake, Silver Lake, Cub Lake, Big Bear and Little Bear Lake, a more than 5 mile trip.
I was afraid Maarten would not enjoy the lakes without splashing in the water, but there was another big trigger to keep him walking. Snow and ice along the trail!
It would be too boring to spend both days admiring the local lakes. We set off to hike to the top of SIERRA BUTTES. I had some serious concerns about taking Maarten up there. I wasn't sure how difficult and safe in particular this hike would be. We decided to give it a try. We'll just drive to the trailhead and see.
Once we saw the lookout at the top of the buttes we couldn't resist it. And it was really worth the climb even though Maarten and I spent only a moment at the scary lookout atop. Climbing the steep stairs is compared to climbing Half Dome, but some find it even scarier. My knees were really weak and shaking. Because of the steep climb or fear? I'm not sure. Maarten was behaving and stayed calm. He even tried to comfort me that looking through the grated walkway around the lookout isn't scary at all.
It seems pretty safe if you behave.
But the tiny teddy bear and silk flowers tied to the railing are a reminder of someone who probably didn't.
They are reconstructing my mouth and because I have to wait there for hours (seems pretty normal here) I have plenty of time to read magazines.
That's how I learned about the possibility of renting fire lookouts. Last summer we visited one and we found the idea of spending a night up there pretty exciting.
There are many structures like this atop Sierran peaks. Some are still in service during the fire season, some are abandoned and some are in fact converted for public rental.
The one we visited this weekend was built in a special WINDMILL STYLE once popular throughout California. I appreciated the thirties pictures above each of the wall-to-wall window explaining the panoramic view in every direction. And what a view!
Some previous visitors suggested the trees be cut to improve the 'original' view but I hope the rangers won't listen to such thoughts. The scenery is just perfect. Forested hills, purple-pink glowing sunsets, the wide flat Sierra Valley with its tiny towns shining in the dark... even Maarten got poetic watching the valley's lights deep at night...instead of sleeping!
Actually for the most part the nights spent up here turned out to be a real nightmare. Maarten stayed awake almost the whole night. This was not because of Tuesday night's storm when the whole tower was shaking, the broken windows in the attic rumbling with heavy squalls of wind making loud passing-train-like noise.
And no, Rob and I were not waking up romantically in each other's arms watching the beautiful sunrise...
You see, the cabin wasn't pet free as advertised and therefore Rob spent nights in the car.
Anyhow the stay at the lookout was a delight and the day adventures made up for it for sure.
We did some awesome hikes in the area.
There are so many LAKES here. We hiked past Long Lake, Silver Lake, Cub Lake, Big Bear and Little Bear Lake, a more than 5 mile trip.
I was afraid Maarten would not enjoy the lakes without splashing in the water, but there was another big trigger to keep him walking. Snow and ice along the trail!
It would be too boring to spend both days admiring the local lakes. We set off to hike to the top of SIERRA BUTTES. I had some serious concerns about taking Maarten up there. I wasn't sure how difficult and safe in particular this hike would be. We decided to give it a try. We'll just drive to the trailhead and see.
Once we saw the lookout at the top of the buttes we couldn't resist it. And it was really worth the climb even though Maarten and I spent only a moment at the scary lookout atop. Climbing the steep stairs is compared to climbing Half Dome, but some find it even scarier. My knees were really weak and shaking. Because of the steep climb or fear? I'm not sure. Maarten was behaving and stayed calm. He even tried to comfort me that looking through the grated walkway around the lookout isn't scary at all.
It seems pretty safe if you behave.
But the tiny teddy bear and silk flowers tied to the railing are a reminder of someone who probably didn't.
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