Harlem Globetrotters

 Oakland Arena

Oakland, CA

Friday, January 14, 2022

Several months ago, I received an email with a Pre-Sale code to purchase Harlem Globetrotters tickets in Oakland. I would prefer a Sacramento date, but it wasn't on their schedule (it would be added later). Oakland isn't that far from us, so I asked Lisa if we should get tickets for the girls as part of a Christmas present. We decided that both girls would enjoy it and I went online when the tickets went on Pre-Sale. 

I started looking for wheelchair options and quickly found a section midway up the arena. I was close to selecting our seats when I noticed the four seats on the court next to the Globetrotters bench were available. They were more money, but we haven't attended any events in almost two years and I knew the girls would love the action so close to them. 

The timer was counting down and a decision had to be made quick. Lisa and I decided to get the courtside seats. We were not disappointed. The tickets were worth the little extra to be right there so near all the action. The girls got to high five several players and Egypt had her picture taken with their mascot.  It was a great game, evening, and experience that will be hard to match in the future. 

I would like to thank all the staff at the Oakland Arena who took care of us and treated us like VIPs. As we approached the entrance, a security guard led us the the wheelchair line. From there, a nice lady escorted us through the process of security and ticket scanning. She also led us to the elevator that would take us deep inside the arena to the floor level. A man was there when the elevator doors opened. He looked at our tickets and started leading us to the floor. As we walked and wheeled onto the floor, another person met us to walk us to our seats. The same process was repeated on our exit and everyone was so pleasant and kind. I even imagine they were all smiling under their masks.

Traylor Ranch Bird Sanctuary & Nature Preserve

Blog Post Format One - Just the Facts and the Best Picture 

How to Blog Rugged California - 52 Trails - 2022 Challenge?

How am I going to share our Rugged California 52 Trails 2022 Challenge?

Do I share very little like I did when I was working on Rugged Access for All? I only gave periodic updates and shared an occasional picture but saved all the text for the actual book. Do I blog the book? This is where the blog is basically the first or rough draft of the book along with pictures and all supporting information. There’s a third option that falls somewhere between sharing just a little and posting everything.

I don’t want to give the entire book away online, but I also don’t want to keep a year’s worth of adventure from family, friends, and other followers of Kellisa’s Path. After careful reflection, I’ve decided on the third option this time around.

Charles Dickens famously wrote, “Make them laugh. Make them cry. Make them wait.”

I intend to follow that advise in how I share our next project. Hopefully, if the story unfolds as hoped, there will be some giggles and tears shared along our path and just enough left unknown to leave readers wanting more.  

I’ve detailed our hiking goal for 2022 and now my approach to sharing our stories. I will go one step beyond by describing the blog style I’ve decided to use for this project. Each of the 52 trails will be shared on Kellisa’s Path in the order we complete the trails. Each post will go up within a week or two of completion, as time allows.

We will have three different posting formats.

The first will be the simplest, the best photograph from the trail and the basic who, what, when, where, why, and how of the trail.

The second will be posting the best picture or perhaps several, and a brief chapter summary along with the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the trail.

The last format will have a fully written chapter in addition to the pictures and who, what, when, where, why, and how of the trail. The chapter won’t be the final draft because it won’t be fine tuned and edited until after all the hikes have been completed. This will allow for making changes as our story arch develops over time. What might not seem important to mention at first, may become necessary to share as part of the story months later.

Kellisa and I completed our first trail of 2022 on January 2^nd. You might be thinking, “Why didn’t we go out on the 1^st?”

Well, Kellisa stayed up past 1am to welcome the new year and proceeded to sleep until 3:30pm. With the sun setting before 5pm, we didn’t have enough time to head out on the first day of January.

The Clock Strikes Midnight 2022

Over the next few days, maybe even a week, I’ll post three versions of our first hike to show the above defined formats for clarity.

We will share only one format for all subsequent hikes. I’m not sure if we will rotate evenly, let time dictate how we post, or decide which format is best for each trail so we can hopefully leave you laughing, crying, and wanting more!

Digital Content Creator

 Kellisa's Path is happy to announce we've taken a giant step in 2022 by hiring our first paid employee. We've created the position of a Digital Content Creator to focus on improving the quality of our videos. We didn't have to look far, Kellisa's sister, Egypt has accepted the position and will be responsible for creating all Kellisa's Path videos. Egypt's main focus will be sharing these videos on TikTok (@kellisaspath) and Instagram (kellisaspath). We are excited to have Egypt join us in an official capacity. 

Before this opportunity, Egypt was gaining valuable experience by creating her own videos and those with friends. Impressed with the quality and creativity, it was an easy decision to offer this position to Egypt. 

We look forward to the many videos Egypt will creating for Kellisa's Path.

2022 Challenge Details

 

The Goal: Hike 52 Trails in California during 2022.

The Benefit: Reconnect with Kellisa and return to an active life in the great outdoors.

The Rules: Have fun and be safe.

The Guidelines:

1. No repeating a trail, unless hiking in different seasons.
2. At least 1 trail in all major regions of California.
3. Backpack 5 trails.
4. No more than 5 paved trails.
5. At least 1 trail with Egypt.
6. At least 1 trail with Lisa.
7. At least 1 trail with a friend.
8. Not a race. 

The Aspirations:

1. Experience wild California.
2. See unique natural features.
3. Observe fauna & flora in their natural environments.
4. Capture the journey in photographs.
5. Improve our video capabilities.

The Dream: The challenge will form the outline for our 2nd book.

Kellisa - Humboldt State Park, CA 
August 2019

2022 Plans

 

From Kellisa's Path - HAPPY 2022

 

From Kellisa's Path - Thanks for a great 2021!

 This is our 72nd and final post for 2021. It was our 4th most posts in a year, but a record year as far as unique visits. Kellisa's Path topped 87.7K visits and we thank everyone who has ever stopped by to check us out. Thank you!

This blog started in September 2011 as a way for Kellisa's grandma and a few others could follow her travels and adventures. It has grown to include Egypt and our reach is worldwide with over 333,000 visitors. Much appreciation! 

I don't fully understand how so many people from other countries find Kellisa's Path and for the first time, the United States came in second place for the most visits, and as you can see below, it wasn't even close.

For the first time ever, we are setting goals for the new year. We would like to achieve new records by having at least 100 new posts and top 100K unique visits!

Indonesia	41,638
United States	11,171
Germany	10,326
Sweden	6,073
Israel	5,043
Hong Kong	2,565
Russia	2,406
Ukraine	1,211
China	987
Canada	907
Turkey	691
France	511
Netherlands	505
Singapore	268
Belgium	259
United Arab Emirates	194
Japan	168
United Kingdom	139
Pakistan	125
Other	2,487

Christmas 2021

 

It's Officially A Christmas Tree Tradition

 For the second year in a row, we got a permit to cut down a Christmas tree in select areas of the Tahoe National Forest. Like last year, Egypt was my partner and she selected the perfect tree after driving down a few snow covered roads. The tree didn't look so big when compared to other, far more mature trees in the forest, but after a few clips here and there, it was a dream come true type tree for our house.