China Camp Campground

On February 19 of 2022, I wrote that that morning I woke a few times but at at seven my boys were up and I so I made us a meal and I told them to watch TV.

Once the boys were settled I put a bag on the GSD and put it outside. Then I collected equipment and food – the total was 66 pounds. When I was done packing up the bike I realized I still needed to go to the store.

We to Valencia and down Market. It was initially hard on market but the green lanes were good and the boys were really fast on their bikes. I sometimes rode on the street while they were on the sidewalk. As we were nearing fifth I had the boys ride on the sidewalk. That was really hard but it seemed a bit safer. The city had blocked off the BART escalators so the path was really narrow. Around first Street I had them come back out onto the roadway.

My concerns over missing the ferry were quickly dispelled when we discovered that the boat to Larkspur was late. There were six additions to our crew for this leg and they were all on the pier when we boarded. Once the bikes were situated, we all went on the deck and took pictures.

When it was time to disembark the attendant said that they would have us roll off downstairs. I led the boys to the landing and everyone followed. Once there I got Starbucks and everyone else got a sandwich. I looked for a way to get things at the supermarket but knew I would have to split with the group. However when I met up with everyone again there were four additions who let me know that they had gone to the supermarket for us.

The boys played at the playground. I was amazed that they both climbed on the big log because they had trouble doing when they visited previously in July. When we left I led the way to Cal Park Tunnel. The ride up Anderson was OK but the transit center was terrible. I yelled at the boys the whole time for directions. I also noted that the climb before Las Gallinas was hard for them. They both lagged and lead there but in the end had to walk to the top.

From there the descent was hard for the boys and the other members of the group really helped. At Merrydale and N San Pedro Road, some of us lost the group but we shepherded the boys under the freeway before riding in the lane all the way to the 7-Eleven at Meadow drive. It was hard because all the motorists wanted to pass us.

At 7-Eleven we rested and I tried to address my kid’s demands for toys and candy. I did my best to minimize their demands but it only made things worse.

When we continued, we found a secondary street to follow and after that and it was great. We managed to get to China Camp Campground pretty quickly. One of our group was waiting for us when we got to there. We found a good spot to put our tent up and the boys did a lot to set it up. We had to do each step one at a time. I got the table set up and dinner prepared.

Sometimes I don’t get any rest but I did have a beer. Beyond a few basic problems, we were able to set up camp fine.

Near bedtime a few people we knew turned out to be in a nearby campsite. One of our group made Frito pie and I made the boys Ramen. I gave them chocolate milk before bed. The group really helped. I had fun sitting around the fire and some of the group went next-door with to say hi. I chased raccoons around until everyone went to sleep.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Riding on The Mountain

On February 4 of 2022, I wrote that in the morning of the day that I wrote this my companion woke me at 6:15 and I was ready to go at 6:50. However things were frantic getting to the bus. We got to the ski resort at 7:20 and we got some coffee before going to the rental shop for wax and skis.

After that we got tickets and boarded a gondola headed to the mid mountain. We rode a bit and then rode another lift to a high spot. We took pictures.

We rode down to the base of the mountain even though we didn’t want to because I had us take a wrong turn. After that we rode to the middle of the mountain again and had a sandwich and a drink.

My companion was going really slow but I didn’t mind. I had texted my father and a few other people. Our other companion sent us a message. We rode down the backside. I nearly wiped out and then we returned to the top for a few more rides for the day.

We met a couple from Minnesota or Wisconsin and a few other people on the lifts. My companion got worse at riding on the mountain. We stayed mid mountain for some of that segment but eventually made a break for the bottom.

When we arrived at the bottom I returned my skis but ended up with the wrong shoes. The manager bought me new ones at the apparel shop. I had a drink with my companions then we took the bus back to Truckee.

Later we went to The Alibi and Bar of America. We saw trains. We played cards in the hotel common room.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Hotel Truckee

On February 3 of 2022, I wrote that I went to bed really late and slept normal. I woke to the normal alarm and 25 minutes later discovered my companions had texted. I got up and grabbed my backpack. However I still had to do a couple of things. I walked to Market at Valencia and caught an L bus to Peet’s. Indy the barista helped me.

My companions met me then and we walked to Mission Street. We got on the bus and when we got off the wait for the train in Emeryville wasn’t long.

I took a photo of the train and sent it to my father and sisters. On board it was exciting. I cleared out stuff under the seats and drank my coffee. We switched seats with at Richmond Station and I took pictures to send my family. We had bubbly wine and whiskey.

By Martinez I had spilled coffee on myself. We discovered that the drawbridge was up. I asked about Mayscamas and at Davis we saw some new housing. We got pictures of the golden bridge. I told them about how I had ridden the causeway. We sat in the lounge car for Sacramento and Table Mountain before we had lunch. The conductor was nice. Everyone liked my Amtrak sweater.

When we entered emigrant gap we returned to the family room we had rented and toasted the ride. We couldn’t agree where Donner Summit was. We progressed through Soda Springs and passed train five at the pass. We got off soon after.

We unloaded at Hotel Truckee and called the hotel manager. Then we took a bus to 50-50 for a beer which was OK. We had barley wine. There was cauliflower and artichoke sauce. We went back to the hotel through the snow. My wayfinding was bad and I made a meme about it. The pedestrian bridge was a breath of fresh air.

After we stopped at the hotel we walked around and got some fish tacos. Later we explored the town’s nightlife. We had beers outside of Bar of America. We saw two cargo trains. The second one went east but was 120 cars with five engines - two mid train.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.