“… blogging about life, travel, books, food and the outdoors”
Finding history and wild pigs in ‘private’ state park
While it’s called Peace Valley, in some ways it is still contentious land. That’s because this state park in Northern California is surrounded by private property; and some owners would just assume the state not be involved. The park doesn't even have a name even...
Fishing captures another side of Lake Tahoe
Music. It’s what makes a fish bite. Just ask Tyler Chia. While everyone else had dinner chilling on ice, he didn’t have so much as a nibble. Then Capt. Zach Gordon asked Chia what tunes he wanted to listen to. The country got eighty-sixed, as it wasn’t helping anyone....
Giants honor players from World Series era
When Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval took to the field at Oracle Park magic happened. If only history would repeat itself. For a brief moment earlier this month the five returned to this San Francisco ballpark. All were being...
Book review: ‘The Secret of Secrets’ is a page-turner
The Secret of Secrets (Doubleday, 2025) is a whodunnit that will keep you coming back for more. This is a long one. So long that I needed to get it twice from Libby in order to finish listening to all 23 hours. Author Dan Brown is known for his detailed novels. He...
Volunteers keep Tahoe trail system functioning
Lopers, picks, shovels, mallets, McLeod’s, saws, carts and other items dotted the hillside. Instead of this lineup of tools being employed to build something, they were used to decommission 1,300 feet of social trails in Van Sickle Bi-State Park in June. Finding a...
Giants games starting in 2027 will sound different
Next to being at the ballpark, listening to baseball on the radio is my favorite way to experience a game. I’ve never met Mike Krukow or Duane Kuiper, but I feel like I know them. For the last 36 years they have been the voices of the San Francisco Giants. Krukow is...
No snow melts Vail Resorts’ coffers
Winter came and went in a blink of an eye. For Vail Resorts it was a black eye. During the third quarter earnings call in June “challenging” was one of the most used words. Lack of snow translated to fewer people hitting the slopes, which meant challenging sales of...
Russian River Brewing Co. blends beer, sustainability
If you’ve heard of the beer Pliny the Elder, then you know Russian River Brewing Company. What you might not know is this Sonoma County brewery was founded in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville. Vinnie Cilurzo was hired 40 years ago as the first brew...
U-pick peach event at Chico State a sweet endeavor
I figured out the best thing I can do with 23 pounds of peaches is to just eat them. No cutting, no cooking, no canning. OK, so while that is the best way to enjoy a peach, it’s not the only way. But first, why are there so many peaches in the house? Because I finally...
Imagination of flight through hot air balloons
It didn’t matter that the marine layer prevented the hot air balloons from taking flight. Just watching the early morning ritual was spectacular. The Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic in July was my first hot air balloon festival. The two-day event at the...
Book Review: ‘Of Mice and Men’ remains relevant
The last and probably only other time I read Of Mice and Men (Penguin Group, 1937) was in high school. So, a long time ago. I recently listened to this novella by John Steinbeck. I had forgotten how sad it is. It made me wonder why it would have been a classroom...
Amen!!
Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing ... I have no idea if we were near Likely! It was all new to me.
Well put.