Friday, January 12, 2018

The Crux of our Hike



Mountain Quarry Railroad Trail

Auburn State Recreation Area
California

January 1, 2018

We planned to start the new year with a 4.2 hike on the Mountain Quarry Railroad Trail. The parking area off of Highway 49 just south of Auburn was jam packed with cars for at least a half mile in both directions. Unfortunately, there wasn't any spots for disabled parking. Most of the cars were sticking at least a little into the paved shoulder. We drove back and forth several times before we got lucky to be in the right place as the 5th car from the trailhead was leaving. The trail we had chosen was in a mountain canyon with steep drop-offs, but by far the most dangerous part of the entire hike would be going from the car to the trailhead and back after our hike. The only way to get Kellisa around the parked cars was to enter the roadway. You had to time your walk around the fast approaching cars from around the bends in the highway. I was thankful to only have a few cars to circumnavigate.




Sunday, January 7, 2018

SAC 106 - DEN 98


Sacramento Kings 106 
Denver Nuggets 98

Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, CA

January 6, 2018

Lisa was able to get 4 tickets to the Kings - Nuggets game in Sacramento from the Center for Land Based Learning. Thank you!

Since none of us owned any Kings shirts, Lisa pulled off a small miracle by purchasing shirts for all of us and they were delivered on Saturday to our house a few hours before the game. 

This was Lisa and Laurel's second NBA game (they attended a Kings game in early 2016) and the first for Kellisa and Chris. We don't follow basketball and weren't sure what to expect. We found a parking spot in advance across the street from the Golden 1 Center that had ample disabled parking. We walked across the street and entered through the VIP doors since we didn't know any better. They let us in with everyone entering for the suites. We guess the wheelchair had something to do with it, but everyone was very nice as we were guided to elevators that would take us to our seats. 

Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy New Year's Day 2018

January 1, 2018

Kellisa and Laurel both had a pretty good day to start the new year. Laurel went to a local park to play with a friend from school and then went to the movies with mom. Meanwhile, Kellisa spent the day out on a couple of local trails with dad. We're all hoping this is the start to the best year ever!




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.