A last minute trip to round up 2021 hiking

The skies opened and we got a chance to do a last minute trip to enjoy the day. The plan was to drive all the way to Limekiln State Park (which is almost near San Simeon, 3 hours away), spend time at the falls, see the stacked stones and stop at McWay falls on the way back. 

Have to always put a picture up front in the blog so it gets picked up for the preview in other media! Really wanted this to be the pic for this post and possibly a summary for the entire year! Our friend Priya took this shot.. watching the waves even if for a few minutes and just enjoying the moment is what life is about!

We didn't know that all trails in Limekiln were closed and the falls were inaccessible. It was a bummer.. so we just took a photo at the entrance and turned back.

There was also a landslide which we had to cross. We waited for a good 15 minutes for the area to clear and started back. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the vista points on scenic Route 1 on the way back. You can see some of the pano's. 

There is this private beach between McWay and Limekiln that also has a waterfall going into the ocean. We were told there are only 4 falls that go to the sea in the continental US and two of them were in CA and they were McWay and Alamere.. guess that is not true! 

The view of the bridges and Route 1 itself as it bends around the mountain side is in itself a treat to watch!

We stopped at Mcway falls, ate a packed lunch and found that here too landslides had made the path restricted. we could only go so far on the trail. Luckily we could get a view of the falls.

We walked through this tunnel to see McWay falls and I got a rush of old memories.. of taking a picture of Jr. with her cousin as they walked through the same tunnel many many years ago! 

The photo and smiling faces is the trip highlight..

We decided to stop by Paddington Cove on the way back. It was a really good trek down and we enjoyed the little waterfalls, the coves and the water going into the sea! The photo below is from the creek that goes to McWay falls.. we were a crisp red after being in the sun for an hour..

The walk to the cove is along the creek and there are many little falls that make it beautiful! 

Then I tried to do Yoga on the edge.. 

and almost slipped trying a toe stand

and the group let out a shriek.. I promptly balanced myself and said "that is my last try" .. and the group was happy again..

It was six plus hours of driving between 7:30AM-4PM and some hiking but was worth it all!

These days the kids don't show up for hiking trips and that is that..

2021 has taught me to accept a lot of things.. Hope 2022 is a better year!

Here is to a healthy and happy new year to all of you!

Kayaking in Monterey bay

A few weeks before we hit Lemony Snicketts in this house, there was a nice trip to Monterey Bay to Kayak in the open ocean for a few hours.

It was during Daddy's dedication to Yoga getting in the way of taking the kids out on weekends.. what with doing double classes on Saturday you see..

So one afternoon the kids go "Daddy, you have to take us somewhere today!" So off we went to Monterey, after being inspired by our friends who took their little one through this adventure just a few weeks prior.

It was 63 F out there and the water was cold, but we had a light breeze going and didn't get too wet and had a ton of fun.

Our tour guide was a student who had immigrated from Russia and she really loved the water and the creatures in the sea.

After giving us a crash course on Kayaking, we went on the water in three teams of two. The little one insisted on doing everything herself and she did an outstanding job! There were times when I was just sitting there letting her kayak me out.. it was fun.

We saw Seals, Sea otters playing..

We got to handle starfish and also learned that nothing sticks well to the top surface of the starfish because it has a bunch of hooks that are active. We put the starfish on our head and it gripped on to our hair (in my case whatever was left of it!)

There was one small mishap! We were advised not to bring a camera on the trip as there was a high probability of getting it wet. Having taken cameras safely through other adventures, parasailing included, I decided to take the camera in a small pocket in my life jacket. The camera survived a safe return to the beach without getting wet.

In my eagerness to tip our guide before leaving, I put the life jacket, which happened to have the camera in the pocket on the life jacket rack and went towards the car. The cleanup crew quickly came, dunked each jacket in a bucket of cold water and put it on another rack to drip dry! I almost cried when I realized what had happened.

Luckily the camera started working again after drying it out at home with a hair dryer over time. It still works but has a white balance issue. Maybe more drying will fix it. For now it has become an art camera!

Next time.. special ziplock bag for camera going on such trips and curbing the enthusiasm for tipping good tour guides.

Would strongly recommend Kayaking on Monterey bay as a family outing.