Moab makes me happy. The insignificance one feels amongst its enduring landscapes is both decompressing and peaceful. Ahhh…the dramatic cure for the ego-driven modern pace. This April Jason and I kept up our biannual Moab tradition. We had a delightful trip, save the sand, but I’ll get to that shortly.
The Sovereign Singletrack offered every type of terrain.
Who can resist posing a picture like this when such a boulder exists?
The vistas on Sovereign were expansive.
Our first day in Moab we biked the Sovereign Singletrack. This 10-mile expedition involved a lot of uphill grunting and technical maneuvering. It was tremendous fun until we decided, per our guidebook’s suggestion, to take a jeep road as our route back. This ATV path was practically a sand dune…and thus the villain enters my tale. (Dun, dun, duuunnnnn.) Those blasted particles slowed our movement more than molasses on an arctic expedition and I repeatedly had to dump sand piles out of my shoes that were so massive they made my sneakers two sizes too small.
Sovereign had enough slickrock to satisfy.
The beauty of Moab lies not in its lushness but in its harshness.
After Sovereign, we detoured to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. We took a 1.8-mile trail to some viewpoints above Upheaval Dome, a 5-km circular impact crater of mysterious origin. This route was quick but the scenes it passed were pretty impressive.
1 setting sun + tons of blazing stone + 2 energetic rascals = this.
The hike to Upheaval Dome’s viewpoints was easy but it still had a touch of adventure.
Upheaval Dome is a spherical oddity that can’t be fully appreciated unless seen by the air.
And so ended our first day in Moab and the first part of my story. Next week our clash with sand continues.
Jason and I have been to San Diego many times but we find ourselves continually returning. This February, Jason’s employer scheduled a management retreat to that temperate coastline and we were obligated to attend. We felt constrained to stay a couple of extra days after his work commitments were over to make the trip worthwhile. Yes, life truly is suffering and sacrifice.
Purely due to chance, we got one of the best rooms at the Hotel del Coronado. We were right on the beach and our patio looked out onto this.
Jason had all-day meetings scheduled for half a week at the Hotel del Coronado, a Victorian beach resort on Coronado Island. All of his management team and their spouses were booked at the hotel while these company discussions were taking place. Given the surroundings, it’s too bad that Jason’s work group had to, well, work. While they were engaged, I didn’t waste any opportunities to read a book near the surf or get a massage at the spa. It was relaxing but without Jason it was definitely lacking.
This Dragon Tree, located at The Del, is over 100 years old and was used as a backdrop in the Marilyn Monroe film Some Like It Hot.
Our nights were spent eating. Yes, just eating. It took hours to feed our massive group at the upscale joints we patronized. The cuisine at Chez Loma, Brigantine Seafood and Oyster Bar, and Primavera Ristorante was pretty tasty though.
Coronado Beach, in my opinion, is San Diego’s nicest shoreline.
Hotel del Coronado, a beautiful Victorian beach resort, was built in 1887.
Since chomping became a prolonged pursuit on this trip, it’s fitting that my favorite activity we did with Jason’s coworkers extended mealtime even further. We took a dinner cruise across the San Diego Bay aboard a private yacht, the Quiet Heart. This 82-foot vessel was pretty posh and its route was definitely scenic. We admired the underside of the Coronado Bridge, the twinkling shoreline, the hull of the USS Midway, and the swirly bay waters as we feasted.
From the deck of the Quiet Heart, San Diego Bay was a swirling dance of water and light.
After Jason’s business obligations were over, he and I spent a couple of days by ourselves at Paradise Point on Mission Bay. We were right on the beach again, which was rather fantastic again. Jason was exhausted from his meetings and ready to take it easy. I, on the other hand, had been taking it easy for days and was ready to take it somewhere else but I accepted my fidgetiness as a side effect of his prescribed relaxation.
At Paradise Point we stayed in a beach bungalow nestled on North Cove.
We rented bikes and rode them along the bay, walked on the beach, read books, and gobbled lip-smacking chow. Tidal, a highly-rated seafood restaurant, was just a ten-minute walk away and their seafood stew was amazing.
We rode bikes along Mission Bay our last afternoon in San Diego.
San Diego was a different experience for us this time. For me, it was quite possibly the sedatest vacation I’ve ever taken…maybe a little too restful for this energetic girl. For Jason, it was a blend of productivity, fun, and fatigue; at least fun was in the mix somewhere. I’m certain that we’ll be seeing you again soon San Diego!
Earlier this month, I headed to Japan for a few days of work. I was prepared for the business and technical aspects of my journey but I wasn’t as prepared for what it would be like to actually be in Japan. There are quite a few differences between the U.S. and Japan, especially for a computer geek such as me.
Viewing the Tokyo landscape from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, all I could see was structures to the horizon and beyond.
Tokyo was my first stop. Tokyo is one massive city, the largest on the planet. There, the buildings sprawl out without end and the streets seem to go everywhere. You don’t really understand just how big this city is until you observe it from the top of one of its huge skyscrapers. I went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which has 360-degree views, and all I could see in every direction was skyscrapers, concrete, and more buildings.
Senso-ji is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, dating back to 628.
You’d imagine that the WiFi access would be excellent in such a place, where so many people are packed into a small area. Well, there was WiFi hotspots everywhere in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read any of the SSIDs and had no idea which ones were safe and secure and which were fake. Working in computer security has made me very cautious/paranoid about connecting to potentially malicious hotspots. My solution was to only utilize WiFi at the hotel and use cellular data as little as possible to save on my phone bill; it still ended up being over $400.
Mount Fuji offered the only hint of nature’s presence beyond Tokyo.
I also traveled to Sapporo and liked it more than Tokyo. Sapporo wasn’t quite as big but it was still a massive stretch of buildings. It had a very interesting underground mall, the largest mall I’ve ever been in. The people in Sapporo were extremely friendly, although practically no one spoke English. Everyone was willing to help any way they could and you didn’t have to go far to see a lot of sights.
This was my absolutely favorite meal in Japan. Who wouldn’t want delicious Sapporo Ramen for lunch?
You can tell I really did enjoy the miso ramen.
Do you enjoy and eat seafood? What would you envision if you were asked this question? I thought of flakey halibut and roasted salmon. Let’s just say that “seafood” means something else in Japan. I went out with some business associates to a very nice seafood restaurant in Sapporo. The meal consisted of 10 courses of authentic Japanese-style seafood: raw fish, tentacles, octopus eggs, sea urchins, and who knows what else. I probably wasn’t the best person to take to a fancy seafood restaurant like that.
Imagine this Sapporo TV Tower as a cartoon character. That is how all the signs represent the TV towers in Japan.
Overall, my business trip to Japan was interesting but I’d much rather stay in the US. Japan was a crazy and hectic place, although very welcoming even when incomprehensible. It’s a different feeling being in a city with millions of people and yet not being able to speak to a single one. If you do go to Japan, I’d recommend learning a bit more Japanese than I did before going, which was none.
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