Just Pictures:
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
What a Difference 12 Years Can Make
49ers and Jaguars
JAX 10 SF 9 (12.18.05)
SF 44 JAX 33 (12.24.17)
We were season ticket holders for the Jaguars in 2005 and watched the 49ers game when they visited Jacksonville from Kellisa's hospital room. It was a rough fall/winter for Kellisa as she endured brain surgeries in October, November, and December. Always the trooper, she was able to attend every home game except the 49ers and that's only because she was still in the hospital. Back in October, we went to a Monday night football game the day after she was released from the hospital. After being trapped in the hospital, Kellisa was more than ready to get out and have some fun. It helps that the Jaguars won that game too.
Fast forward to 2017.
We no longer had season tickets, no longer lived in Jacksonville, and Kellisa had a little sister for the past 7 years. We moved to the Sacramento area in 2016, but remain diehard Jaguars fans. When the 2017 schedule was released, we were disappointed that our "local" Jaguars game 2 hours away at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA was scheduled for Christmas Eve. Afraid that it would interfere with holiday plans, we did not purchase tickets.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Sunday, December 17, 2017
The Placer County Big Trees Grove
Big Trees Grove
Tahoe National Forest
December 2017
We have traveled far for specific trails, but I don't think we've ever driven so far off any beaten path as we did to reach the trailhead for the Big Trees Grove in Tahoe National Forest. After leaving tiny Foresthill, we drove 25 miles on a beautiful two lane road that zig and zagged as it climbed and descended many ridges of the Sierra-Nevada foothills. There was not a single straight or flat section for the entire length. Also, you do not pass a single house, business, or really anything other than trees and sweeping views. I didn't keep track of how many cars we saw on this part of the drive to the trailhead, but I'm confident it would have been far less than five.
Not surprisingly, we were the only car in the parking lot at the trail head. My Garmin told us our elevation was just under 5,600 feet above sea level. The temperature was 40F and there was a pretty good wind whipping through the forest. The sign for the trail was missing, but it was fairly obvious and we started our lollipop hike down the ridge. The trail was littered with large pine cones which are not a friend to the person pushing the Hippocampe. However, Kellisa loves these little annoying obstacles because she either bounces over them or lunges forward a little if they lock up a wheel.
The highlight of the trail is of course, the big trees. There are six giant sequoias in this small grove far from everything, including other giant sequoias. In fact, these six trees represent many anomalies: smallest grove, northern most grove, and most isolated grove. If you count the two giant sequoias that fell in 1861, the grove actually has eight trees.
We enjoyed our hike and found it well worth the effort to reach this remote trailhead. The trail was wide enough for Kellisa's chair and we enjoyed the challenge of the elevation changes we found on most of the trail. There were a few rocky areas in addition to the pine cones, but the trail was mostly friendly to us. Despite the grove's desolation, it was only a little more than an hour from our home just outside of Sacramento. On our way out, we couldn't resist going off-pavement on a few forest roads. Kellisa loved the "bumpy" as she bounced up and down and around in her seat.
I made a note to count the cars on our 25 mile drive back to Foresthill and that number would be one. I pulled off at large parking area to give Kellisa some water through her g-tube and one car passed us from behind. This was the only car we saw on this Saturday afternoon and if I didn't stop, we probably wouldn't have even seen the one. Kellisa was hungry by the time we reached Foresthill and I stopped at a gas station to get her a Clif Bar. As I was getting out of the Pilot, a kind woman asked if I knew that my "bumper was hanging off?" No, I didn't know and was surprised since I didn't hear anything dragging while driving. Maybe the music was a little loud?
Thankfully, it wasn't my bumper, it was just the skid plate that protects the engine. I wasn't thrilled, but I was able to crawl under the car and kind of "pop" it back in place. It held the rest of the way home and I'm hoping it's mostly fixed, but will look at it closer in the near future. A small price to pay for an amazing afternoon out with Kellisa.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Airports Visited
Airports Visited:
Chris- 113 Kellisa- 52 Lisa- 44 Laurel- 37
Lisa visited Idaho for the first time in 2017 bringing her states visited total to 40 something and it was the first calendar year that Chris, Kellisa, and Laurel didn't have any new states to cross off their "visited/hiked" list. As the year is coming to its end without any trips planned, I felt the need to update some kind of list. While thinking about the possibilities, I realized that I added several new airports visited for my "mostly" Monday-Friday job this year (Calgary, Bismarck, Omaha, Wichita, Tulsa), so I started to think about Lisa and the kids. I pulled out my trusty road atlas and started making lists of airports visited.
Laurel visited four new airports in 2017: Boise, Columbus, New Orleans, and Dallas- Love Field. Lisa added three: New Orleans, Dallas-Love Field, and San Diego. Kellisa only added one to her total- Columbus.
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