Fun Things to Do in California

I guess I feel like writing about travel now, so I will continue with a post on California. I had been to Yosemite National Park once five years ago and once four years ago. Five years ago, I did the Upper Yosemite Falls hike with Manyam, Suchi, Matt and Stephanie from IBM. Four years ago, I did the Half Dome Hike but didn't make it up in time to do the ropes up to the Half Dome and frankly I would probably have chickened out if I actually did make it there. I would like to go back and do the Half Dome Hike again, this time not chickening out! Honestly though, I think this summer, I was not in good enough shape to do the Half Dome hike, but maybe next summer or the summer after that after all my working out at Healthworks with Minh! As my friend Esha says, the good thing about national parks is that they are still there for you to come back to next time! :)

Probably farther away from the SF Bay Area are the Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Park and the Redwood National Park. Those probably have some fabulous hiking and amazing trees to look at! I did see some nice redwoods in Muir Woods, but I bet that the ones in this park are even bigger! One nice thing about Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Park is that they are less crowded than Yosemite. Also, Sequioa National Park has General Sherman, the which is 2,500 years old, which must be pretty amazing... Apparently the redwoods in Redwood National Park are taller but the sequioas in Sequioa National Park. Redwood National Forest represents only about 1 percent of the original forest since redwoods make for ideal lumber since they are resistant to both termites and rot.

I have also never been to Mount Shasta and Lake Tahoe, which both have really nice hiking! I guess when I think of Shasta I think of rock climbing and Tahoe I think of water sports in the summertime and skiing in the wintertime, but they do indeed have nice hiking. Tahoe a 165 mile trail around the lake rim, which may be just a little ambitious! Perhaps I should learn how to rock climb because Shasta is supposed to be do-able for in-shape beginners! Perhaps I should try rock-climbing at the gym first!

Of course there is Point Reyes also which I was really stupid for missing!

I think Point Reyes is a day trip from the south bay, Yosemite, Tahoe, and Sequioa + Kings Canyon are weekend trips, but Shasta and Redwood National Park are long weekend trips :) Apparently there is a 211-mile trail that connects Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequioa National Parks along the backbone of the Sierra Nevada. How cool! Again, too ambitious for me, but fun to know about.

I did have a lot of fun during my time in California. The highlights of my summer were hiking in Muir Woods, Rancho San Antonio, Castle Rock (which was sort of on the way to Santa Cruz), and Angel Island (I love boats and the water looked so blue!). I also enjoyed eating out on University Ave and eating yummy desserts at Cafe del Doge. I had fun going to Yoshi's for the jazz show and bumming around Berkeley. Reading Harry Potter, watching Harry Potter and watching Stardust were also a lot of fun, though I could have probably done that anywhere. And then there was a trip to Napa Valley though I'm not sure I will do that again since there is only so much wine that you can drink.