Wanderlust during COVID-19

One of the advantages of “sheltering in place” is that you can catch up on things — like posting on your blog you’ve been neglecting since last year. 

One of the disadvantages is that you can’t travel. Here are some places I wrote about last fall for the L.A. Times that are worth checking out (once you’re able to leave the house again):

“Mirages? No, these California desert oases are real yet magical”

Now from hot to cold: “Are you tough enough to take the polar bear plunge? If so, try these” 

With NBA and MLB games being postponed indefinitely, here are some other sports worth trying: “Everybody’s getting into the ax at ax-throwing clubs” along with some unusual games played with a ball.

And a few Gold Country getaways:

Preston Castle

“Visit a haunted hotel and creepy castle on a weekend trip to Ione”

“There’s gold (rush history) in them thar California saloons”

“Hop on the Polar Express train on a weekend trip to Jamestown, Calif.”

Along with an old favorite hangout: 

“Your guide to Monterey: Tide pools, tacos and more”

More travel topics

Here's some more L.A. Times travel articles I wrote just in time for summer:

How to safely share the highway with semis 

Heading to Yosemite? Consider a weekend escape to historic Groveland

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is hidden in Yosemite National Park's northwest corner.  

Wapama Falls

Eat your way up and down California 

These luxe places take the ‘ugh’ out of camping 

Take the plunge in these California swimming holes to keep your cool

Mountains 2 Beach

We started this summer with a trip to Ventura over Memorial Day weekend so I could run the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon. Now, three months later — just in time for Labor Day weekend — here's a story about our trip: Explore Ventura's beaches, shops and family-friendly restaurants on a weekend escape (also in Sunday's L.A. Times).

Moss Landing

Hope your New Year is off to a good start. Here's a link to a new travel story (also in this Sunday's L.A. Times) about a different spot we checked out on the Central Coast: Escape to California's quaint Moss Landing for a family weekend filled with kayaking and fresh seafood. We visited there back in October for Ediza's birthday and we actually just got back from the area for Amber's birthday.

Summer blues

Here are some photos from over the summer....starting with Ediza getting blue hair extensions at the Mammoth Reggae Festival.

Returning to the blue waters of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

 Gus celebrating his birthday with some blue icing. 

And blue skies at Lake Ediza on our 11th annual backpacking trip to Ediza's namesake. Each year is a new adventure and this year the footbridge just before the lake washed out so we had to cross through the water. Can't wait to get back there next year.

Anniversary

We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary back at the beach (notice the ring pop).

For Father's Day weekend we headed into the mountains and back to Mammoth. Below are some photos from a stop up near Tioga Pass. President Obama was in Yosemite Valley at that time so we didn't end up running into him (unlike when we came across Bush eight years earlier in Paris).

Monterey

Baby Augustus checking out the moon jellies.

Not only did we have a new baby, but we also moved to a new house. And when we want a weekend escape, here’s where we go: Monterey's historic sights, seafood and simple pleasures turn into lasting memories.

Ediza in her element. 

Augustus

Baby was born in August and named Augustus (Augie or Gus for short). We recently returned from his first trip to the coast to celebrate Ediza’s 9th birthday. 

 There was a magical sunset the night we arrived.

We returned to Monterey, where we had lunch overlooking the water before making our way back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

When the baby was born he looked like an old sailor named Gus so I think he really enjoyed his first encounter with the ocean breeze. 

Central Coast

We recently escaped to the cooler coast for our last trip before the baby. Our first stop was Capitola, which can be summed up in last Sunday’s L.A. Times Travel piece: A train depot B&B, family-friendly beach, and moonlight cliff walk in Capitola

Breakfast in bed(room)

We then continued down the coast to visit a friend in Monterey. Along with the beach, we returned to our favorite thrift store, playground, bakery, and of course the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

 

Summer's last hurrah

My parents came to visit earlier this month and we went everywhere from the mountains of Mammoth Lakes to the skyscrapers of San Francisco. Speaking of Mammoth, here's a link to my new L.A. Times travel piece about our trip there last month — Weekend Escape: Off the trail and into a soft bed in Mammoth Lakes

During their visit, we also checked out the wineries of Murphys, the latest play at the Fallon House Theatre in Columbia and an outdoor movie at the Pinecrest Amphitheater. 

Here are some pics from San Francisco, where we stayed with Airbnb again:

A selfie in front of the "Painted Ladies."

A playground that rivaled those in New Zealand. 

Blondes on the beach. 

Santa Cruz

We spent last weekend on a family getaway to the coast, where we stayed at a beach bungalow in Santa Cruz. Above are some surfers just down the street from where we stayed. 

Below is Amber, Ediza and Sheridan (the Australian exchange student we're hosting) walking to breakfast. We ate inside of a yellow van at a place called Paula's (I know, only in Santa Cruz).

 The reason we were in town was to cheer on Amber, who played roller derby against the Santa Cruz Harbor Hellcats. It was her team — the High Country Hellcats — who won the cat fight. They take their derby seriously in Santa Cruz (their players are even on trading cards).

While Amber warmed up, we hung out in downtown Santa Cruz.

                 Thanks again to Sarabek Images for the pics!

L.A. Marathon

So I may have gotten in over my head with the Antarctica Marathon, but I was able to raise thousands for penguin conservation and I still followed through with running a marathon. This past Sunday I ran the L.A. Marathon — 26.2 miles from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica.


The day started at the stadium in the early morning darkness with Flea (the legendary bassist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) asking me if I knew the time. From that moment on, the day was a blast! The crowd had a great energy and I felt unstoppable on the course, which went through downtown before heading to Hollywood and Beverly Hills (probably the only time I'll ever be on Rodeo Drive) and on to Santa Monica.


It was there where Ediza took a bagel that was handed to me at the end of the race and fed the pigeons with it. Wearing my medal, she posed with Amber at the pier. Amber got to show us where she used to live across from the pier when she was Ediza's age.


The beach was super windy and cold (although probably a bit warmer than Antarctica).

Exploring the coast

We took a little trip to Monterey earlier this week so thought I'd post some photos. This time around we camped at this great city park with easy access to everything Monterey has to offer. Our friend who lives there, Maggy, set up her VW Vanagon named Brownie for us to camp in. Here's Amber and Ediza in the camper van and Ediza climbing a tree at our campsite.



Monterey is such a family-friendly place with so many fun activities for kids (which I'm in the process of writing about). While at the elaborate Dennis the Menace Playground we were approached by a couple we met in China (he ran the Great Wall Marathon with me). They had just moved to Monterey with their kids four days before. Once again, it's a small world.


Of all the things we did in a short amount of time, Ediza was probably most impressed with the beach. She ran around chasing seagulls and collecting sea shells. We also saw jellyfish, sea lions and lots of hermit crabs in tide pools.




We hope everyone has a great Earth Day today and a Happy Easter this weekend. We'll be having an egg hunt with all of our chicken eggs!