The last time I was camping in the Sierra was 20 years ago, but when I saw this kayak camp-out on MeetUp, I took a chance and carpooled with a woman I had never met. Lori Parmalee was a great driver with a solid truck who knew the territory and was a congenial companion for the four-hour trip to Blue Lakes near Carson Pass, not far from Kirkwood Ski Resort.

At 8,000 feet in mid-July, we were delighted when the predicted thundershowers cracked open, just as the hikers returned from 4.6 miles along the ridgeline with a 1000 ft. elevation gain/loss. The rain washed out Saturday kayaking but gave us a rainbow at sunset, reflected in the calm lake, as we walked along the beach. Sunday kayaking was beautiful and I saw a marmot!

Carl Inglin and Isabelle Saint-Guily are a joy to camp with. Relaxed but prepared, they covered the picnic table with a tarp when the showers began and we all enjoyed dinner together on Saturday night as the sprinkles continued. Campfire conversation with Lisa and Mitch, Bill and Wendy, Lori, and Jonah was interesting and lively. The campground and location were beautiful. Great trip! Click on the images to see the gallery.

Saturday, May 3 was the Drought Edition of the Great Russian River Race. We drove to Healdsburg and took a bus to private property five miles upriver. We parked our boat next to the Flamingo Team. Other contenders were Marmot Activewear, Murphy-Goode Winery and Camelbak. Categories were ment’s singles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

We knew before the boats were in the water who the winners would be. There was a light Kevlar boat with aluminum fittings, and a really fast looking racing boat with a red top.
I was right. The Kevlar boat was on the shore and dry when we arrived. A frustrated and upset-looking Coast Guard guy came over, saw the water in our boat and asked to do a Safety Check of our boat. “The race is over,” I commented. “Checking it now would be a sequencing error,” but Howard said explained that the water was from when we went over… the boat didn’t leak. The Coast Guard guy was in a snit because the Race leaders blocked him from playing Safety Nazi beforehand… the race start was on private property. Howard signed the Safety Report and got a “if found please return” label for the boat. We dragged our heavy tandem boat up a steep hill with the help of a kind teenager.

The red-topped boat was in the parking lot already and the man, Tim Styles, was showering from a sprayer marked “insecticide.” What an ironman! Then I found out he only fills it with water and that he and his wife Nancy had run the race in just 50 minutes. It took us 12 minutes longer, in part because we went over in one of the three really gnarly spots that were cluttered with overturned boats. Our time was better than half the men racing in fast solo boats!

Great fun. Next time, I will rent a boat so that I don’t have to drag the tandem up that hill!

Sunday Jan 19, 2014 was the big football game between the 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks to see which would play in the Superbowl. Even though it was a shirtsleeve-warm sunny day, I knew that most loyal San Franciscans would be in front of a TV, so I booked a Segway tour for my sports-phobic husband (I TiVoed the game for myself). We used the Electric Tour Company which offers four tours. We did the Wharf and Waterfront — usually choked with tourists and buses on a Sunday afternoon.

The tour company had us watch a training video and gave us a group training, then they hung a little yellow radio around our necks and gave us an earplug to hear the commentary from our guide, Cameron. He was cute and his patter was good, but my radio was crackly and hard to hear. He told us about the history of the places we were seeing, recommended the best spots to eat and those to avoid. Saw a great shopping street at Grant and Green Streets. We stopped for a break (photo left) at Washington Square in North Beach for a delicious slice at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana at
1570 Stockton St.

Cam pointed out that Scoma’s has a fleet of fishing boats that go out to sea every day and that you really can get fresh local seafood at their Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant. We went around the Cannery and Ghiradelli Square, and spent some time zooming around a pier near the Dolphin Club. When the tour was over, we walked half a block back to Ghiradelli for some great ice cream. We also checked out the Spy Shop on the wharf — the place to go for your own lock pick set.