With the only backcountry
adventure of the year behind me, the remaining
summer weeks are being filled with mountain biking,
dinners with friends and a few naps on the back deck.
Simple summertime joys.
Oh and lots of work on the current house project too.
But without the pressure of planning the 'next Sierra
outing' I'm enjoying being the summertime homebody:
My neighborhood is very quite these days - free of the
typical busy activity except for the many birds. Many neighbors have left
for summer visits and vacations - leaving the hawk's screetchy conversation above the canyon
to break the mid morning silence - as well as the jibber jabber
of the
yellow finch family living in the palm tree out back.
On any given Friday evening, I've been joining the usual
gathering of mountain bikers (& beer drinkers) that make the
ascent to the summit of Mt. Verdugo to watch the sun
slip below the ridge to the west. The emerging pink
afterglow and city lights become the
backdrop for conversations of upcoming rides and Sierra
hikes. Who's going where, what week is good,
what time on Sunday. But eventually the crushing
of the last can of beer starts the countdown before
helmets are strapped, lights are flicked and knobby
tires begin spinning down into the night.
Virginia and I have been
bike riding
the steep hills in Griffith Park. We've also done Stough Canyon of which the first few turns are brutally
steep and rugged. She is becoming a stronger and
better rider - it's great to see!
I had nice lunch with Chuck the other day.
Subs on my back deck with a nice breeze under the patio
umbrella on a quiet Thursday afternoon. Life
is good. Virginia and I also caught up with our friends Al and Lyz for
dinner on the other side of Tujunga. Al cooks this amazing Tri-Tip
steak that is delicious! He sent us home with a whopping
doggie-bag too. Life is really good.
July means Tour de France and this years race (July
5-27th) was a bit frustrating to watch. The cable channel that had all the daily coverage had been
removed by my wonderful cable company (Time-Warner). The website
that had all the coverage was not that great, and with
the time change between California and the Pyrenees
often delayed the posted video and write-ups a day
behind. However Team Columbia and my fav
George Hincapie did well this year.
Nothing signifies simple summertime fun more than a day
at the beach.
We had a really great beach day at
Bolsa Chica State
beach with Virginia's family. Tommy, Lizzy, Chris,
Elder, Virginia and I made our way down the coast with
bikes & blankets, snacks & swimsuits.
(roll mouse over each image...)
And Finally - Another Chance to "Escape To Yosemite"
(all you need is 9 minutes, 32 seconds)
Due to the nature of using cutting edge technology
(Microsoft Silverlight) as
well as a few other reasons, I'm RE-posting my Yosemite
video using a different format.
The Microsoft Silverlight format was causing some of you some
frustration, so let's try Vimeo instead.
Although Silverlight will stream at a higher quality
(and I'll still continue to use it in the future) it
doesn't always agree with moderate to slow internet
connections.
If you prefer, the Silverlight version of "Escape to
Yosemite" is still posted here.
You'll notice that the video quality is much better.
Back to Vimeo.
Vim wha?
Vimeo? Huh? Yes, I know that it's tough to keep up with
the latest online services. Go
here to check out the Vimeo video
streaming service and click below to watch Escape to
Yosemite in the Vimeo format:
