A couple of weekends ago, I took a quick road trip to see the snow in the mountains. When I got there, I didn’t find much snow so I kept on going into the Nevada Desert. From there, I headed south to Las Vegas and headed home from there.
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I recently made a business trip to Austin, TX and my return flight connected via Denver. However, due to the late departure of my flight from Texas, I miseed the connection. United wanted me to take an early flight the next morning but I manageged to talk them into re-booking me onto the last flighjt of the day. This would give me plenty of time to go exploring the Denver metropolitan area. United paid for my overnight stay at a very nice Marriott and I picked up a cheap rental car from Hertz.
The next day, I headed west to excplore the old gold towns of the Rockies. I finished the day with a quick walk around the downtown area’s of Denver.
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Over the New Years weekend, I made a surprise visit to my friend in Orange County. I arrived a bit late so decided to spend the first night at The Inn At Laguna Beach. I could hear the crashing waves right outside my window – ALL night! Didn’t get a wink of sleep but still very nice hotel…!
The weather was a nice mild 75F and we made a visit to the Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood hills.
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During thanksgiving week, I decided to take a flight back to Florida to use a flight credit I had from Virgin America. This time, I stayed in Fort Lauderdale at The Atlantic Hotel for 2 free nights (courtesy of hotels.com). A very nice hotel right on the seafront. More detials on the hotel can be found here. After exploring the beaches between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, I headed into Orlando and stayed at the Floridays Resort. Again, a very nice hotel obviously catering for families and the theme parks but being out of season, bargain high quality suites. I was given a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen and jacuzzi bathtub!
I then headed for Daytona Beach with intentions to stay overnight. However, upon arrival, I decided it was just a dead seaside town. After a drive on the beach, I headed back to Orlando this time to stay at the Marriott Habour Lake Resort. A very average experience for the same price as the Floriday’s resort. I will have no hesitiation in returing to Floridays on my next visit!
I explored Kennedy Space Center in the rain and then headed to Naples on the Gulf Coast. I used the Doubletree Suites in Naples as a cheap overnight stay before splashing out for my last two nights in Florida.
The next day, I went exploring up the coast to Clearwater. After dark, I heded back to Naples to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. I spent the last couple of days messing around on the beach and exploring the Naples area.
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Following a busy two w
eeks at OpenWorld, Karoline, Harry, Andy and I took a week off.
We started off in South Lake Tahoe. After a nice stay at the Marriott Timber Lodge, we headed south to the ghost town of Bodie. That evening, Bishop was our destination where we stayed at the Best Western. The next day, we headed into Death Valley and had lunch in Furnace Creek. We spent the next two nights in Las Vegas at the MGM Signature. Harry, Andy and I tried out some dirt biking in the Nevada desert while Karoline enjoyed the spa facilities of the MGM. From Vegas, we headed to Palm Desert and stayed at the Marriott Shadow Ridge Resort. We relaxed by the pool and also took the Palm Springs Aerial tramway too look out over the valley floor. After two nights here, we headed back towards the Bay Area with a night stopover in San Luis Obispo. From there, we took the PAcific Coast Highway back to SF.
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Last weekend was a holiday weekend here in the US. I took the opportunity to extend it by 2 days and make a roadtrip to the ski resort of Whstler in British Columbia.
I picked up a rental car here in Redwood City and loaded my mountain bike into the back. I left Thursday evening and made Redding my overnight stop about 250 miles from home. There, I had a very comfortable night at the Hilton Garden Inn which only cost me $26 for the night as I had a coupon from Expedia!
The next day, i took the nice way to Portland in Oregon via Lassen Volcanic Park. I made the Riverplace Hotel my bed for the night. Located on the river with a nice views of the cities, it was a bit pricey at $199 a night. I felt a little ripped off when I found there was no parking around the hotel and I was forced to pay their $30 valet parking charge! The only alternative parking was a parking garage that had a nightly rate of something like $10 but you had to vacate by 7.30am or buy a new ticket at that time. You couldn’t buy this ticket in advance! I’m not an early riser so reluctantly paid their valet charges.
The room was very comfortable, modern and it was quiet! That’s all I ask for in a nice hotel but I don’t think it was worth $199 a night! I was disappointed the free WiFi internet which did not work. I made some calls to their front desk where the only advice they could give was to turn my PC off and on again. Useless! I told them to turn their WiFi off and on again but I don’t think they took me seriously. At checkout I made a point about the lack of Internet and they waived my valet parking charge!
I woke up to a very wet morning and headed north out the city on the back roads before making my way to Seattle in Washington state. The weather cleared up and I spotted a familiar sight, a British Airways Concorde parked near the original Boeing factory! I paid my entrance fee and took a quick look around. I then made my way to Pike Place market in downtown Seattle. From there, I headed north to the Canadian border stopping off for dinner in the city of Burlington where I found an Asian restaurant being run by Kiwi’s playing country and western music. Very strange but nice meal.
At the border, Canada’s drive-thru immigration service found it very strange that I was driving and not flying. After about a thousand questions, I was granted access to British Columbia. A further 2 hours later, I arrived in Whistler Village at the Pan Pacific Village Center hotel.
Again, parking was a problem and I settled for their $25 valet charge which included secure lockup for my mountain bike. The valet guy kindly offered to take my bike out the car, put the wheel back on and put it safely away. Great service which was rewarded with a good tip but being half asleep following my long drive, I forgot where I was and gave the guy $5 in US dollars! Hope he can change it!
The room far exceeded my expectations. It was a 1 bedroom suite costing $150 a night with separate living, sleeping and kitchen areas. Free WiFi internet and a huge walk-in shower with good water pressure sealed my final approval.
The next day, I awoke to the sound of heavy rain but enjoyed the hotels complimentary breakfast of fresh fruits, cereals, and green tea. I then went for a stroll around the village which was punctuated by periods of rain and dry spells. I ended up at the base of Whistler Mountain where the ski-lifts are located.
Whistler is a ski resort during the winter months. During the summer, its a mountain bikers paradise! There I spent some time watching all these fully togged-up bikers with their full face helmets and body armor loading their bikes onto the ski lifts and disappearing up the top of the mountain.
I did some mountain biking before at Mammoth Mountain in California but that was very tame in comparison with this. These riders had full suspesion downhill bikes. This made my mountain bike look like a kiddies toy so I made some enquiries at the nearby rental shops where they were very willing to rent me a full downhill MTB, helmet, body armour and gloves.
It was Sunday and it still kind of raining and most teh riders were coming down very muddy. I made a decision to stay an extra day to see if the weather improved so I could have a go. I was planning on heading back home the following day in order to be back by Tuesday night. Instead, I called the car rental company and arranged to drop off the car in Seattle and bought a cheap one-way ticket back to SFO with Virgin America. This idea allowed me to enjoy another day in Whistler so I spent the afternoon exploring the trails in the valley on my mountain bike.
The next day, I awoke to dry but overcast conditions. I had a lazy morning walking around the village and headed over to ski-lift area around lunchtime. I made a visit to Summit Sports who fully kitted me out with a full suspension mountain bike, body armor, gloves and helmet. They were very helpful and even swapped the brakes over as for some reason, all the bikes around here have the brakes back to front.
I set off fully togged up and with my bike over to the queing area for the lifts. They had 2 queues, one for groups and one for single riders. This allowed friends to share the same chair lift and single riders like myself to just hop into a chair lift when room permitted. A great system. However, I did have to spend 10 minutes just watching everyone loading their bikes onto the special chairs which go ahead of the chair you eventually settle down into. Its all about the timing, the chairs don’t wait for you, you have to wait for the charis and they dont stop! If you dont get your bike properly mounted, it’s either going to fall off half way up the mountain or cause them to hit the emergency stop so you can retreive your mangled bike from the loading area.
I managed to successfully push my bike into the special chair-lift without causing the whole system to grind to a halt and sat down in the following chair-lift. It was a 5 minute ride to the top but I found it strange how there was no seat belt or barrier to hold you in. I’m not scared of heights or anything but I did find myself holding tight to the side of the chair as my feet passed inches over the tops of the trees ascending the mountain.
Once at the top, it was easy – two guys grabbed the bikes off the chair in front and all you had to do was hop off. From there, you can chose from a variety of trails based on your abilities. As suggested by the guy at the rental store, I went for the easy one just to get used to the bike. It took about 25 minutes to get down this dirt track but still found it challenging and saw some great views. I eventually progressed to a run called “Crank it up” which was full of narrow trails of various dirt conditions through the trees and dirt jumps where I could get some air between my bike and the ground. The last ride up the mountain was just before 5pm and I managed to get about 6 or 7 descents that afternoon. It was great fun!
That evening, I finished off with a leisurely ride around the valley on my mountain bike and a nice gourmet burger and salad at a nearby restaurant. I was then trying to work out what time I had to leave Whistler to get to Seattle by 4pm for my flight back to SFO. I then realised I had a problem. How was I supposed to get my mountain bike on the plane? I called VIrgin America and they told me they would not allow me to check in or take my bike on the plane! I made a few frantic phone calls to the car rental company and canceled my plane tickets and ended up driving back.
I worked out Grants Pass in Oregon was about my half way point (500 miles from Whistler) and Tripadvisor said the best hotel in this town was an old mom and pop motel called Motel Del Rogue. I was a little hesitant as I’m mostly used to the usual chain hotels but I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained. I arrived at the motel at midnight where I was welcomed by two friendly cats and the owner who then showed me to my room. It was like a step back in time. This motel was built on the original north to south road before the Interstates bypassed everything. Its 1930’s style still showed but was very well maintained with a comfy bed and great setting against the river Rogue.
After a comfortable night, I headed home via US101 rather than I-5. US101 is a lot more interesting with plenty of places to stop and enjoy the scenary.
All in all, a great few days away and I found a sport which I really liked and will look to do again!
Enjoy the photos!
Last week, I took some time off and spent a week in Florida.
I flew into Tampa and picked up a rental car. From there, I headed to Naples and spent 3 nightsd exploring the area and hanging out on the beaches. I headed down old hwy41 and spent another 3 days exploring the keys. A final night in Miami Beach finished my Florida holiday before flying back to San Francisco from Fort Lauderdale.
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It was July 4th, independence day and I was feeling very independent and took a cycle ride into downtown Redwood City to see the festivities. After spending an hour looking around, I noticed it was almost time for the San Francisco Caltrain to come in so I put my mountain bike on the train and went into San Francisco. I headed down to Fisherman’s Wharf where the roads were closed and full of people walking up and down the streets. Lots of strange characters and live bands! I didn’t stay for the firework display and decided to head back to Redwood City. I was just in time for their display so managed to cycle to the port and got the best view in the house while everyone else sat in traffic! Click the photo!
I never been to a motorcycle grand prix before and Antwan orgainsed great tickets on the start line at Leguna Seca. Click the photo!
