Move over Mormons. Utah is MY "promised land".

"Red Canyon"

I really love Utah. Well, maybe not all of it. I've never been to Salt Lake City. Never really been to the northern half of the state. But ooooh, the southern half. I was there two weeks ago and I already want to go back.

I quit my (new) job at the end of November, and my brother finished school the first week of December, so I was able to talk him into going on a road trip with me. In case you for some strange reason want the blow-by-blow, here it is. Or, you can just look at the pictures. Whatever. 

Day 1: Drove to Vegas. Lame. Vegas is a highly concentrated area of everything that is wrong with the world. But it's an easy place to stop for the night. 

Day 2: Drove to Zion National Park. Yay! Hiked to "Hidden Canyon". 

Well OK, it's not really that hidden. 

It was cold - had to wear my earmuffs.

After exploring Hidden Canyon, we drove out the eastern side of Zion (super beautiful), to bunk up in a hotel in Kanab for the night. (Holiday Inn Express - hot tub and free breakfast - holla!)

Day 3: Hiked to "Red Canyon", just outside of Kanab. The off-road drive to get to the trailhead is pretty hairy. We decided to abandon the car and hoof it most of the way through the sand.

I am the sand that will eat your car. 

Found the wash and followed it into the canyon. Sweet! My brother's first real slot canyon experience. 

Look Ma!

Then drove a few miles up the road to "Sand Wash" for another slot canyon. This is the entrance:

It was dark inside this one. 

You have to ford a stream to get to the trail, and let me tell you, the water in that stream was frickin' freezing, so we were hopping around like idiots once we got across. Plus I lost a sock crossing the stream and had to do the hike with only one sock. Luckily on the way back, an old rancher gave us a ride in the back of his pickup. Awesome. 

Day 4: Hiked to "The Wave". Its in southern Utah, in the Escalante National Wilderness, almost to the Arizona Border. This is seriously wilderness - no other cars on the road, no towns, no running water, no real trails. You follow washes, ridges and other landmarks to find The Wave. The navigating is half the fun. 

Many navigational challenges lie ahead. 

Wavy. 

Navigating The Wave. 

You can totally envision water flowing through the rocks millions of years ago, and maybe some dinosaurs hanging around and whatnot.

You get the idea. (And more earmuffs!)

There is still more navigating to do. 

After getting our fill of the wave, we bushwhacked a bit down into a gully to find Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon in Utah. 

We explored a bit and then headed back to the car via a narrow feeder canyon, where we had to climb over a few obstacles, including one boulder jam where I had to let my brother step on me to get up, then he pulled me up after. I think they call that partner climbing in climber lingo. 

Day 5: Storm's coming in! Gotta head out. We drive the scenic route through basically every protected area in Utah:

Bryce Canyon. So cold. 

Escalante Wilderness. 

Capitol Reef. 

I would have liked to stay and play around more, but a huge blizzard was coming in, and I had to get my brother to the airport in Denver. So we drove to Grand Junction, CO for the night. 

Day 6: Some hiking at Devil's Canyon, just outside Grand Junction, then hit the road. 

Snow covering the mesa. 

The drive to Boulder was pleasant enough until we hit the snow. And the ice. And the freezing cold temperatures after dark. Apparently we were going over some crazy-huge mountains or something (Vail Pass = 10,600 ft). Made it to Boulder though. Rewarded with -10 degree weather (not so awesome) and a huge plate of spicy ribs at a local brewery (yum). 

Day 7: Some hiking just outside Boulder. High of 2 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Double earmuffs. 

Drove my brother to the airport with one minute to spare. Just my style. 

Day 8: Attempted to hike a giant loop trail just outside Boulder. Turns out the loop is about 8 miles, and I am cutting it close before the sun goes down. 

Mile 3 - frozen river gorge. Possibly some mountain lion tracks. 

I lose the trail with just over 2 miles left and an hour before darkness. I decide not to risk it and beg a ride off a girl walking her dogs. Thanks again to the nice lady who drove me to my trailhead! Dinner with a former colleague. Yay for a home-cooked meal!

Day 9: Snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountain National Park with a friend. 

Them is some rocky mountains. 

We hike to several frozen lakes and walk across them like it aint no thang. Dinner and then I hit the road on my long slog home. I drove to Cheyenne that night.

Day 10 & 11: Much driving through snow. Bad coffee. That about sums it up. 

I am Wyoming - land of sucky coffee. 

I get home (after sitting in traffic for an hour to get across the stupid Bay Bridge - welcome home!). 

Almost there! Little do I know how much traffic lies ahead.

I am grumpy for like 2 days. But happy to see roommates and my doggie. And have good coffee again. 

Just another winter day in California.

I am wearing flip flops. Something is just wrong about this.

Annual gathering of klutzy, large-nosed people

As my cousin so eloquently put it: "if you're part of this family, you've got two left feet, a big nose and a dorky sense of humor".

Every Thanksgiving, this gifted group of people meets up somewhere near Mt. Shasta for a weekend of food, hiking, and nerdy games (no one plays Boggle like my family plays Boggle).

I think the highlight of this year's trip was the hike up to Castle Crags. About 5 miles round trip, and you get to play around on the rocks at the top. And of course there are some nice views to be had:

The hiking is always my favorite activity because you get some quality family-time, without having to play dorky games (this year was Charades-free!).

Sometimes it's fun to be lame

I guess I am officially an adult now, because instead of having a "let's wear slutty costumes and get hammered" Halloween party, I had a pumpkin-carving party at my house this year. And I have to say, it was pretty damn fun. 

I made some kick-ass (if I do say so myself) chili, and we spiked the apple cider with bourbon, because we're not totally lame yet. A couple of my friends displayed some surprisingly good pumpkin-carving skillz. 

Everyone was all proud of their creation, so we took some pics:

Pretty fancy, huh? 

Oh, and if you weren't yet convinced that I am really embracing my inner lameness, I even made my dog wear a costume, and am posting on my blog for all to see. Plus I know how much the guys who created Blogger LOVE how so many people use their blogs to post pictures of their pets.

Lola loves her dinosaur costume so much, that she tried to eat the caveman sitting on top. 

Happy Autumn!

Election Excitement

Nevada went democratic - I feel like I made a difference! 

Last night after the Presidency was called, the streets of San Francisco seemed to erupt in celebration. Cars were driving down the main streets, honking their horns, and pedestrians were cheering on the sidewalks. I have never seen people so excited about an election. 

I hope the momentum carries on through the next few years and people are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to actually achieve long-term change. 

Getting political - in Reno

I have pretty strong political beliefs, but I haven't gotten involved in a political campaign since I ran for student body president in Junior High. However, I have been so fed up with the situation that we (the US) have gotten ourselves in, that I decided it might be time to do something. 

So, that is how I found myself on a roadtrip with my coworkers last weekend, heading to Reno. Luckily, the drive is not too long (4 hours) and there are some excellent places to stop along the way (In-n-out & Ikeda's Tasty Burgers). I can't quite speak as highly of the hotel that we stayed at in Reno (they gave me a room that was already occupied, so a woman screamed as I started to open the door). 

Anyway, the number of volunteers who showed up to canvass for Obama was very impressive - the line went to the back of and I spent a day and a half going door to door in Sun Valley, talking to people about voting early. I missed my dog a bit, since everyone in Sun Valley seems to have several Pit Bulls in their front yard. Some of which were friendly, some of which...not so much.

I never got yelled at or spit on or anything else that I was afraid of, so I am going to consider the effort a success. I guess every little bit helps.

And hey, we went out for dinner at the Oceano restaurant at the Peppermill Casino, which was decorated in an under-the-sea motif. It was so over-the-top, that it was awesome! And the food was pretty good too. 

Overall, I'd say the trip was a success. I tried something new, I hopefully made a tiny difference in the election, ate some tasty burgers on the road, and got home early enough on Sunday that I had some time to relax a bit. Not too shabby. 

My super-secret startup is no longer a secret

nextstop.com is live!

Check it out. 

I made this guide to my neighborhood:

There's plenty more where that came from. 

Every time, it feels a little less like I am going to die

Or, "Ascent of Mt. Tam #2". 

Two weeks ago, I climbed Mt. Tam on my bike for the first time. I went with my local cycling club, Mission Cycling. If they hadn't organized the ride, I doubt I would ever have done it on my own. But for some reason, I decided to give it a shot and go with them. And I actually made it to the top. But once I was there, I was not sure if I would be able to make it home. I was pretty spent. In the end, I did make it back to SF, but I was pretty worthless for the rest of the weekend. 

So this weekend, I thought I would try it again, and see if I could make it to the top with a bit more energy left over than last time. I'm happy to say that I made it to the top, and back home, feeling good the whole way. Woohoo! I'm still really slow, but just doing it at all kinda makes me feel like a badass. And this time, I took photos to document the ride. 

Riding along the bike trail just north of Sausalito. I am at sea level. Mt. Tam looms in the distance at around 2,400 feet high. Can I really do this?

Beautiful weather...

View back down to SF - I started my ride back there somewhere. 

Almost there! This last stretch is pretty brutal - a long steep climb at the very end, when you are already really tired. 

Made it to the top! It's peanut butter jelly time. 

Riding back into the city. 

The Perfect Sunday

Ok, so I didn't do my laundry, get my tires changed or go to the grocery store (all things I need to do). Instead, I had the Perfect Sunday. It went like this:

Woke up at 9. 

Got coffee at Mission Pie at 9:30 (yum)

Went to Fort Funston with Lola and played until 11:30. No fog today! See:

Big brunch with friends at my house at noon. My brother (I call him "uncle Bob" to Lola) stopped by for a bit too. 

Biking in the Oakland Hills in the afternoon. 

Capped off with one of my favorite dinners: Pho and fresh coconut juice. Mmmmm.

Jealous? 

My dog is weird.

I looked down the other night while watching tv and found my dog
staring at me like this.

I biked to the top of Mt. Tam!

Last Saturday, I joined the Mission Cycling gang on a ride up to the top of Mt. Tam. I was not sure whether I would make it the whole way, since I have never really climbed up a mountain on my bike before, but I figured I could turn around at any point and coast home if I needed to. But I was feeling pretty good that morning, so by the time I started getting really tired, I was only a few miles from the summit, and decided to just go for it. 

I made it!!!

Granted, I fell off my bike in the parking lot once I got there, but that's beside the point. Also, I didn't bring my camera, so I wasn't able to capture the moment, but it was really a beautiful day and some Mission Cycling peeps took pictures that you can see here: http://www.missioncycling.org/wp/?p=468

I thought I would never want to do it again, but... I kinda want to do it again. 

Lovin the veggie garden in front of city hall.

As a part of Slow Food Nation (a festival celebrating sustainable farming and food sourcing), a veggie garden was planted in front of the San Francisco city hall. The idea is to show that there is really a lot of space within cities and towns - in the form of lawns - that could be used to produce food. I have to admit that I find the veggie garden a lot more interesting than the lawn that used to be in front of city hall. And I've always thought that all the front lawns in America are a waste of space and water. No one even uses them! They are just there to distance your house from the street. Anyway, I don't know if planting veggie gardens all over the place is the answer, but it's certainly interesting, and I enjoyed seeing the plants in front of city hall. 

Radiohead at Outside Lands

Despite some technical glitches, they were great!

Pics from my vacation in Bend, Oregon

I had 3 weeks off between jobs, so Lola and I took a little road trip up to Bend, Oregon to hang out with my aunt Liz and uncle Tom. Bend is situated smack in the middle of Oregon, in the high desert just east of the Cascade mountain range. That means that it's hot and dry in the summer, and snowy in the winter. Fleas can't survive there because it's too dry, so it's a great place if you have pets. Also, it's a great place if you're into outdoor activities, because Bend is surrounded by mountains, rocks, and other outdoor goodness. On my trip, Liz took me climbing and hiking, and I did a scenic bike tour too.

Full set of pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/juliej/BendJuly2008

New Job!

After 6 years, I decided to leave the comforts of the Goog, and join a tiny startup in SF. I am the first official employee, working with 2 founders. So far it has been a blast, and I am really enjoying the small, collaborative environment. We even got a real office when I started:






Buying supplies at Costco for our office move-in:

I'm not sure I heart New York

In June, I traveled to New York for 5 days to soak up some big city energy, and of course, sample some of its food. My friend Shawn now works at wd-50, so I was excited to use that as an excuse to visit the restaurant and try their cutting-edge style of food.

My friend Dave and I went there for dinner on a Thursday night, and had a great time. We ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings, so it was quite a long (and filling) event. Here is a pic of me, feeling somewhat overwhelmed near the end of the meal:


Dave mentally preparing for the meal:


My favorite dish - a riff on eggs benedict. The hollandaise sauce was made into a cube, breaded and then deep fried so that when you bit on it, the warm sauce burst out:




We also hit up the MoMA, traveled to Coney Island for a stroll along the shore, and ate an entire pie from Brooklyn's Difara Pizzaria. This was definitely one of the best pizza's I have ever eaten, on par with some from Italy, and definitely at the top of the heap for NY. Surprisingly, some of the recommended NY pizza places were not that great. But a few (Difara and Artichoke) really stood out.

Hanging out at Barramundi, the bar across the street from wd-50. I really enjoyed this bar, and it's open till 5am, so we were able to stay there until we had to go to the airport on our last night:



Followed by a still-somewhat-tipsy breakfast at the airport. Mmmmm, never has a McMuffin tasted so good:



All in all, I had a great time, but I was really glad to return to SF - a little smaller, a little less dirty, a lot less hot, and a little more quaint. I'm not dissing NY, I just don't think I would want to live there.