Mt. Tamalpais - a day trip

We took a trip through the Mt. Tamalpais preserve in San Francisco two weeks ago with San's uncle.

From there we visited Point Reyes for the third time in ten years. This time it was a thursday and could take a lot of stitch shots, thanks to it being just me and San's uncle at the lighthouse.

First we went to the vista point on Mt. Tamalpais where you can see stinson beach and the entire lagoon! (we lucked out because the visibility was really good)

Then we went down back on route 1 to the Point Reyes Seashore preserve and after driving for another 45 minutes we got to the lighthouse. For the first time, tried a composite box stitch shot. Came out okay. Will have to learn and perfect this. (note that you have to eyeball where your last shot was on the Rebel XT! The old powershots will actually split the screen and show you the first shot to align the second one)

You line them up..

Hit Merge on Photostitch ..

and abracadabra..

From the lighthouse we went to Drakes beach, one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to!

Although Chitappa was in two consecutive shots, it stitched him in one piece! Lucky shot..(there are 14 images from which this one was made)

This sweep is from 17 images..

The rock side goes all the way to the ocean

and juts out like some dinosaur leg. Reminds you of Great Ocean drive in Australia.

We also saw a lot of birds and animals we do not see usually when we go on these trips. They were probably out because it was a weekday and there was no traffic.

We saw foxes, hawks, eagles, elk, deer, woodpeckers, cows!

These are not the greatest photos, but because there was this one lane road with no stopping, we had to rush it.

Happy cows come from California. Truly believe it now. If I got to graze on a hillside with such scenery in the background, I would be a happy cow too..

All said and done, a day well spent. Strongly recommended for a one day outing if you live in the bay area!

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And the Academy award goes to....

The California Academy of Sciences !!!

For engaging and educating Jr. and the little one for an entire afternoon.

For now will leave you with these photos. Very busy at work and will possibly spend 15-20 mins every night to update this one post..

Will be lucky if it is done by Friday.

In the heart of San Francisco, there is Golden Gate Park
In the heart of that park is the California Academy of Sciences
In the heart of that is a swampland exhibit
In the heart of that exhibit lies....

see you later..

Albino alligator!

ps. Reader does not do justice to these photos.. please see them with the intended background here...
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Bike rides

Now that the whole family is chipping in to make daddy healthy again, we have a routine. Mom drives the kids to some local park while daddy gets to bike to the same park, spend some time there and bike back. If daddy is too tired, they just throw the bike in the van and everyone drives back.

We did this four times in the last seven days. While most of the parks are only 1.3-2.5 miles away, it was still an ordeal for the biker since he was so badly out of shape and was still on steroids. (there was an advice from the doctor to not have any heavy exercise till the end of the dose)!

Now that the tablets are all over, today the family decided to go from Cupertino to Sunnyvale to visit Ortega park. Daddy made it in one piece after driving almost 8 miles.

On the one hand it is a crying shame, that a guy who, just six years ago, had a wolf stomach, and was athletic enough to win dance competitions, is now declaring that he is happy enough to be able to bike eight miles on local roads. This is just a start! Hope is that some day, this post will be looked back and laughed at, when the eight mile drive is a breeze.

On the other hand, this post is a reminder to all those who in the name of other priorities, forget to exercise, then blame it on kids, work, lack of time, stress or whatever other creative reasons they can come up with, only to realize late in the game that they only have themselves to blame for their poor health!

Don't wait for the clouds to open and an "Asariri"(oracle, voice from heaven) to come and tell you to start exercising again! It is really not worth the wait.

The side effects of the drugs have all been right on, when it comes to what the pamplet said. Euphoria, insomnia, rage, weird hair growth, depression, hyperactivity, etc. etc. The whole gamut of what one can put a family through, in the name of a cure! San and the girls were prepped though, for all the side effects, and being all girls, they helped cope with daddy's side effects by doing more of what they do with daddy.. Ignore him!

The little one says "Daddy, you are sleepy because you ate Manduru?". She doesn't know how to say marundhu(Tamizh for medicine), and instead says Manduru.

The girls love to pass daddy in the van as he is on his bike and scream "come on daddy, catch up" or "faster daddy, faster".

All said and done, we are all thrilled. The wheezing is gone and the Diamondback Insight simply rocks!!

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