exploring and catching up...

I'm now done with two out of my ten weeks.  According to my clinical instructor, I'm "ahead of the game."  I'll take that as very good news!

I got off about an hour early on Thursday, so I decided to find the nearest beach.  After a brief tussle with Google (apparently there aren't any beaches "near Bonita, CA") I ended up at Chula Vista Bayside Park, a nice place to watch the sunset, although the beach itself left a little to be desired as it wasn't the cleanest and I wouldn't have wanted to walk barefoot there.

looking across san diego bay to silver strand

Friday evening, I had plans to meet a friend from Cal, Wynne, and his family for dinner in the historic Gaslamp Quarter.  I once again got off work a little bit early, so I got to the Gaslamp Quarter just after 4:30.  I parked my car and took off walking.  I checked out the San Diego Convention Center where I will be tomorrow for the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) Combined Sections Meeting.  After wandering around a bit, including observing a couple lowriders cruising the streets, I spent about 45 minutes in a Starbucks before meeting Wynne and family for a delicious dinner.

sculpture on the bay side of the san diego convention center

sunset over the marina

view from the convention center

gaslamp quarter

good to catch up with wynne!

Saturday I made a mini road trip to Orange County.  I met up with another Cal friend, John, for lunch in Huntington Beach.  After lunch we went south to Crystal Cove State Park and enjoyed the warm sunshine and beautiful views.  We got back to Huntington Beach in time for sunset, then I headed back to Bonita.  I was hoping John might want to take a snowboard trip to Big Bear with me sometime before I move to Tuscon - but he had just ruptured his Achilles tendon a month before and is out of commission for the next several months.

at crystal cove state park with john

female western bluebird at crystal cove state park

gorgeous sunset from huntington beach

i put my feet in the water - it was cold!

Sunday afternoon I went to Silver Strand State Beach since I'd figured out where I could find free parking instead of paying $15!  It's supposed to be a seven-mile stretch of beach - I probably walked a couple miles of it.  The beach is nice walking and running sand - softer away from the water but firm near the water, with lots of shells around the high water line.  There were a lot of different birds around.  In addition to seagulls and brown pelicans, there were at least three sandpiper-type birds - I tried to identify them later but couldn't get them all.

sanderling

i think this is either a common sandpiper or a marbled godwit

pretty sure this is a western sandpiper

another beautiful sunset

On Monday, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  As I was getting back into the car, I noticed what looked like a really bright star very close to the moon.  I stared for a bit, waiting for it to move and prove itself a plane or a helicopter.  It didn't move, so I pulled out my camera and took a photo.  After I got home, I saw that a couple friends had posted on Facebook "13 Must See Stargazing Events in 2013."  Number one on the list was January 21: "Very Close Moon/ Jupiter Conjunction."  I didn't have to look hard to find out what it was I had seen.  My photo surprised me - I'm very happy with the quality of my new point-and-shoot camera!!

jupiter visible near the moon

one week in so cal

Last Saturday I packed up my car, said goodbye to my parents, and drove off.  I picked up Belinda at her aunt's house in San Jose, and after chatting a bit with her aunt, we headed south.  We made a stop at Casa de Fruta in Hollister.  Everything there was SO expensive, but they had a deal going on fudge so I splurged.

belinda at casa de fruta

We made it to Judy's place in Valencia in good time, enjoyed dinner with Judy, Debbie, and the Chans before going to see the movie version of Les Miserables.  After having seen the Broadway musical version three times, I was still definitely impressed by the movie.

velda, dominique, judy, deb, bel, sam, me, and gary

Bel and I stayed at Judy's that night, and the next morning we drove the rest of the way to Bonita.  I emptied my car into the house, met the neighbors and friends, dropped Bel off at the airport to return to Northern California, and did my best to settle in.

view from the back patio

you can see the ocean from the street right in front of the house

The next morning I went to Paradise Valley Hospital for the first day of my acute care rotation.  My clinical instructor is an energetic, teaching-focused PT.  I believe I will learn a lot from these ten weeks, whether or not she succeeds in her goal of converting me into an acute care PT.

outpatient pavilion of paradise valley hospital

sunset view across the street from the hospital

Saturday I slept in, then took a walk to the post office 2 miles away.  Along the way, I passed a fire station that had a cool old fire truck parked behind it.

cool old fire truck

I also passed a mega-church, Bonita Valley Community Church, that looked like it had about 3 acres of parking - since it had a Saturday evening service, I checked it out that evening.  It wasn't as crowded as I expected, but the next morning there were a lot more cars in the parking lot as I drove by on my way to Bonita Valley Baptist Church.  There I was able to reconnect with a soccer teammate, Kendra, from AYSO soccer during my senior year of high school.  Kendra's husband is the youth pastor at Bonita Valley Baptist Church.

Later Sunday afternoon I took a walk to the Von's about a mile away, starting out by walking briefly uphill to check out the view before heading down, and explored a trail that took me way out of my way.  I walked back up the hill for the sunset and got some pretty nice shots.

view from the nearest cross-street - the house is the second down the hill

panoramic view from just up the street

sunset view from up the street

happy new year!!

New Year's was a quiet affair - another rip-roaring game of Chinese Checkers, this time just four of us while poor sick Enzo slept.  As soon as the clock struck twelve, we said "Happy New Year!" to each other and trotted off to bed.  I got up "dark and early" at 5:30 am and drove off to Tahoe.

Happy New Year to me, indeed!  I drove straight to Sierra-at-Tahoe where the sun was out, the snow was still fresh and soft, and the lines were not long at all.  I rode for a couple hours, including a couple runs with Megan and her dad, then headed down into South Lake Tahoe.

can't complain for a second about that new year's view!

In town, I was happy to have a chance to hang out with a couple of friends I hadn't seen in a while - Carrie from Sierra Community Church and Geoff, a friend from back when I started teaching snowboarding at Sierra.  Geoff treated me to dinner AND gave me a comp ticket to Heavenly!

catching up with carrie

I used that ticket the next day, meeting Marissa and two others up at Stagecoach for a few hours enjoying the snow on the Nevada side of Heavenly.  We had lunch at the Fox and Hound and headed down to see the menagerie down at the ranch in Minden.  After visiting the donkeys, goats, and horses, I made my annual visit to the dentist.

fun in the sun with marissa

view from the ranch

max the donkey hoping i still have treats for him

After the dentist, I headed back up to South Lake Tahoe where I spent time with a few more friends at 3 different locations, ending the evening swapping stories with Michelle, my former co-worker at Emerald Bay PT.

with michelle after a couple hours talking!

the hostess with the mostest - thank you, lisa!!

incredible sunrise view from lisa's back deck

On Thursday morning, I dropped by Anna's place before going back up to Sierra-at-Tahoe.  Her 3 year old is a bundle of energy!  On the way up to Sierra, I picked up Nora and Lauren - more kids I know from competitions - and rode with them until about 3:00, when I packed up and drove back to Cupertino.  It was another day with near-perfect conditions: sunshine, good snow, and bearable lift lines.

anna and talia

lauren, me, and nora

In Cupertino, I worked more on organizing and packing for my upcoming move to San Diego, then Friday my father and I took my mother's car up to Walnut Creek to be serviced.  We hung out in the Walnut Creek Library, then walked conveniently across the street to meet my old boss times two (mcg architecture and MDM Architects), Jim.  It was fun hearing about all the changes that had transpired since we had last had a chance to catch up.

lunch with jim mcclelland!

winter break

By the afternoon of Boxing Day, the house had cleared out - back to just my parents and me.  Queenie left the previous evening to head to a Christmas party with friends.  Elizabeth woke up with a fever and stayed in bed a while longer.  Enzo and Alan played with Enzo's new Lego to pass the time.  After lunch, they all headed off to Santa Cruz.

who is that funny guy in the background?

I spent the next few days visiting friends, organizing and sorting through my belongings, and just relaxing around the house.  On Saturday, Alan returned, and Shannon and Paul brought Elena and Cowboy down to spend the afternoon.  Unfortunately, my mother and her cousin Carol were both under the weather and unable to join our dim sum lunch, although my mom was able to participate in a pleasant time chatting at the house in the afternoon.

cowboy, alan, bupa, me, shannon, paul, elena at joy luck palace

Sunday I visited Chinese Independent Baptist Church in Oakland.  Dave and family led worship, and it was fun to see so many old friends at one time.  Even better, Marj and Hanford were visiting that Sunday as well, since their nephew was getting baptized that afternoon.

only in chinatown: outdoor group exercise - to cantonese opera music!!

susana, dave, isaiah, and caris leading worship

 That evening my dad and I made a big pot of duck green curry - and the Anvicks joined us to eat it.  After dinner we played a long game of Chinese Checkers, Alan and Enzo arrived just after we finished.  It was now Enzo's turn to be sick, so he was put to bed in hopes that rest would cure him.

post chinese checkers: mama, bupa, alan, keith, scott, and janet

The next day we went to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum.  Although Enzo was still sick, he definitely enjoyed it until he got tired and hungry, and I bet would've spent quite a bit more time there if he had been well.

with papa in the fire truck

playing with soapy water and bubbles

I got myself a new point and shoot camera just after Christmas, and have been playing with it to assess its capabilities.  My parents have some birds that regularly visit, so they made good subjects (MamaCez, you'll have to show these to Emily!).

california towhee eating multigrain rice

the other california towhee (can't tell male from female)

probably a female costa's hummingbird, sticking its tongue out!

i'll be home for Christmas...

The day after I arrived in Cupertino, I took off again - this time for Tahoe via Walnut Creek.  I got my "new" car serviced by my trusted mechanic Mike, and learned from his shop that I had a damaged tire that could have blown out any time while we were driving, especially at high speeds or while the car was overloaded.  I am so thankful that didn't happen on Judy's and my mostly freeway speed trip across the country with an overloaded vehicle!  I went straight from the mechanic to a tire place and got two new tires, then proceeded to Libby's.  We ate dinner before heading out to Vanessa's school Christmas concert.  Vanessa plays flute in the 7th grade concert band.

vanessa playing flute in the center of this photo

vanessa, libby, tori

The next morning, I headed out at the same time Libby took off to take Tori to school, and drove straight to Sierra-at-Tahoe with clear roads and barely a trace of snow falling as I arrived.  I put on my boots, grabbed my board, got a pass and headed out to ride for a bit.

feels SO good to be home!

The wind picked up a bit and snow began to fall in earnest, and I ended up getting a bit cold, so I drove down into town and visited my former workplace, Emerald Bay Physical Therapy.  I dropped my stuff off at Lisa's and changed clothes before meeting Tiffany for dinner at Orchid's.

tiffany and me after thai dinner

The next morning I braved the storm and went back to Sierra.  I got a pass again, and borrowed John Rice's jacket to wear over Lisa's down vest, and was therefore able to keep warm.  I ran into Megan, one of the kids who used to compete in the same events I did, and ended up riding powder with her and her family.

saying hi to jim - he and i started teaching at sierra the same year

riding powder with megan

My car got stuck when I tried to leave AND highway 50 closed toward South Lake Tahoe, so it took me several hours to get back to Lisa's.  At least I got to spend most of it indoors in the lodge.

sierra's parking crew snowblowed out the berm left by the plows

Once I finally got back into town, Lisa and I just ended up spending a relaxing evening hanging out at her place.  I also made the decision to leave early the next morning in an attempt to beat the next wave of the storm - I had been told to expect a 6-12 hour window ending mid-morning.

lisa about to head out to ride more powder, me heading home

It turned out to be an excellent plan - I had mostly clear roads, only light snow which turned to light rain in lower elevations, and no one in front of or behind me through all of chain control.  Once I passed chain control areas, the precipitation increased until it became a solid steady rain with occasional bursts of torrential downpour.

sugar loaf in kyburz

I stopped at Pearl's place in El Dorado Hills to catch up and give my legs a stretch.  An hour or so later I stopped at the Vacaville Factory Outlets for some last-minute Christmas shopping.  The rain continued, or if anything, got worse, so that I drove through some flooding on the freeways in the last 20 miles of my drive.  I made it back safely, with plenty of time to organize and prep my room to accommodate a second person when cousin Queenie arrived the next day.

pearl and me in her kitchen

Christmas Eve was spent preparing the house for the arrival of Alan and family as well as Queenie.  After Queenie arrived we had dinner at the Anvicks' next door, until my parents headed up to SFO to pick up Alan, Elizabeth, and Enzo.  Queenie and I attended West Valley Presbyterian Church's Christmas Eve service with the Anvicks.  Once the Madison Ngs arrived, we borrowed a box of K'nex from the Anvicks, and Keith came over to demonstrate for Enzo.

enzo, mama, and keith playing with k'nex

Christmas morning, Enzo was up early, chomping at the bit to open his Christmas gifts.  We opened our stockings before breakfast, and the rest after breakfast.  We rounded out the day with a family Christmas picture and a delicious ham dinner.

enzo was pretty excited about a chocolate bar in  his stocking

me, mama, alan, elizabeth, enzo, bupa, and queenie