5K Champions

After a late night in Sacramento made it back to San Francisco a bit before 1am to stay with my friends Nicole and Dan who conveniently live near Golden Gate Park - where we were racing at 8am this morning!

Having never ran more than 1.5miles in my life, and having complained very much when I did, I'm not sure how I let Nicole convince me to do a 5K with her. Other people call this a fun run... I call it torture. Turned out to not be that tortuous, Nicole helped me keep a nice pace so I didn't tucker out. And you can see how happy/ridiculous we look crossing the finish line. Ignore that a small child is finishing the race right behind us.

Then we got to enjoy the free goodies while we waited for Dan who completed the 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours. Way to go Dan!

Then we enjoyed some yummy brunch with Dan's parents who were in town, before I headed back to Vacaville to watch the superbowl with my dad/stuff my face and completely counteract my running.

Travel: Point Reyes - Tomales Point Trail

As part of my New Year's Resolution I wanted to be more outdoorsy. Taking quick hikes whenever I can. Today was one of those days.

Despite the rain, decided to go hiking with my friends Nicole, Dan and Lucy at Point Reyes.

Though it was pouring on the drive, turned out to be a beautiful day in Point Reyes.

Even with a little rainbow!

Lucy (a non-Californian) was very excited to see her first live snail.

The Tomales Point Trail is the perfect quick hike, it's pretty flat and offers a great view of the coast. Though it is a little windy.

And there's Elk along the trail, but thankfully mainly at a distance.

Though some were a little close as we were driving back!

When the rain started coming down a bit, we were able to huddle under some trees and eat some tasty treats prepared by Nicole.

But the rain quickly passed as we were back in action, champions!!

Thanks so much to my buddies who helped me make good on my resolution... I'm so outdoorsy!! ;-)

Diamond S Ranch

To scout the location of a wedding I'm going to shoot next year (yes, I've finally caved into shooting weddings) of a family friend, my mom and I headed up to the Diamond S Ranch.

Passing by Donner Lake. One of my favorite stomping grounds as a kid.

Originally we were thinking we would try to snow shoe, but there wasn't quite enough snow. So we ended up hanging out at the ranch.

Though we did take an ATV ride in the morning. Blog post here.

I used to be so connected to my phone and internet, the thought of missing one email drove me crazy, but now I find myself treasuring the occasional disconnect. To be somewhere where this is the view from the front door. Not bad at all!

Made it back on the road to check emails, and just in time for Dan and Nicole's homemade beer and homemade empenadas party! Good to be back in the city, refreshed and renewed!

Thanks so much to Coral, Jim and Maylou Smith, Chris and gang for making it such a memorable trip. And of course Mama Cox for making the trip with me. I'm ready for Christmas and looking forward to what the New Year has in store!

Benicia Community Arts - Port Costa

Headed over to Port Costa to be a substitute teacher for my buddy Karl Neilsen's photo class through Benicia Community Arts program.

For the day, the photo class was taking a field trip through Port Costa.

A town just on the side of the Carquinez Bridge past Crockett, and despite being just 40 miles from San Francisco, it's the town that time forgot.

We walked around and I tried to explain different camera settings, what things I look for, like light wrapping around leaves.

And how I frame certain things.

Near the end of the class we went inside the Warehouse Cafe and old dive bar that is just too cool!

They had blues playing and random decorations everywhere.

Including a stuffed polar bear!

Fun day for me and hopefully some of my insight was useful to Karl's students.  http://www.karlnielsenphotography.com/

Festival of the Trees - Beary Christmas!

Headed back to Vacaville for a few hours to put up our mini tree for Festival of the Trees!!

Festival of the Trees is one of the largest fundraisers for the Opportunity House in Vacaville (In addition to their thrift store  where my mom volunteers and was awarded volunteer of the year!) The Opportunity House provides shelter, food and clothing for Vacaville homeless for up to 60 days while they assist with permanent employment and housing.

I've been involved with festival of the trees since I was in junior high. Every year my sister and I decorate a mini tree which this year is on display starting November 29th for silent auction until December 1. Our tree is #210 and titled "Beary Christmas" So to anyone near Vacaville, go check it out and bid on our little tree, or someone else's, and support this great event for a great cause!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Happy Birthday to my mom, Colleen! She's always working hard behind the scenes as my business manager, motivator, therapist, fan AND official editor of this blog, cleaning up my grammar and sense of humor ;-) Thanks Mama - Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me =)

Today is my birthday! Hurray! Thanks to everybody who made today (and the entire month) so special. Officially two...dozen =)

Cal Alumni Club Water Polo vs Olympic Club in McCovey Cove

Before the Cal Football game vs Presbyterian, stopped by McCovey Cove for some water polo. That's right, water polo, in the bay.

My buddy Mike Sample, helped organize it and tipped me off on the event. Though I had to shoot some pre-game of football warms ups, I just HAD to stop by to catch a few shots of water polo.

The idea was based upon the tradition of seeing a water polo match at Spieker before heading up the hill to catch the football game. But with Memorial Stadium under construction, that tradition had to be modified. Though it wasn't an official NCAA game, there were a number of recent NCAA players, and national team members. As well as a few who haven't played collegiately in maybe a while ;-)

Last year when I kayaked to McCovey Cove for World Series Game 1 (still one of my favorite experiences) there were some water polo players, shooting around with one net, in wetsuits... I took some photos with my point and shoot, and the blog had a lot of hits, and the photo even popped up on Fun Cheap SF. sf.funcheap.com/1st-official-mccovey-cove-water-polo-att-park/ But this was different!

Though this game was on a nice sunny day, they were in speedos, not wetsuits! And they weren't just out there shooting around but playing a full four quarter game!

Though I've been photographing water polo for years, there's still people who have never seen a water polo game so here's one way to get noticed! And what a crowd they drew!

Very cool, fun and random event!