Pinnacles National Monument hike

Pinnacles National Monument is in central California, 50 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and 140 miles south of San Francisco, and today we went hiking there. It is a strange place- rolling hills, rock spires, monoliths, canyons and even caves. An unspoiled wilderness. It is the remains of an ancient volcano- proclaimed as a National Monument in 1908.

It was quite a steep hike to start with- from the eastern side of the park, uphill to the ridge, and through the high peaks trail which meant clambering up steps hewn out the rock. Back down a meandering trail. Six quite strenuous but interesting miles. Beautiful.

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Shrimp Artichoke Pizza With Cilantro Pesto

We are die hard home made pizza fans, and make one once a week- usually Friday or Sunday nights. They normally consist of a pizza base made in the bread machine, with toppings such us onions, peppers, mushrooms, and some kind of sausage with a good layer of fresh mozzarella. For a long time, Dick has tried to convince me that shrimp is good on a pizza, but I just didn't even like the sound of any kind of fish on pizza. If I've ever had shrimp on pizza it was a long time ago and they were small and hard after being baked. Yuk. However, last weekend we both ended up listening to a story on NPR about a winning pizza recipe in New York. It actually sounded good even to me, and tonight we made it, and it was lovely!

Big Move Narrowboat Adventures- Marina life

The best parts about being in a static spot are the small facilities onsite. Toilets and a laundry make life just a little more simpler. We do have a very small washing machine onboard the boat but it drains the boat battery very quickly, and therefore, can only be used when the boat is actually moving and at the lowest temperature setting. The machines onsite were bigger and had more than one setting. A great opportunity to wash bedding and towels etc. I use a clothes horse to dry the clothes outside although they do have a dryer if necessary. I did hang out the clothes like the photo below one day and came home to find the whole lot in the marina water next to the boat! The washing before it all fell in after the wind blew it over. More excitement when a small boat had to be removed from the canal nearby. The owners had refused to register the boat and pay the CRT fees, and had deliberately holed it to partially sink it in a very awkward place. Some people are just idiots. ...

Travelling to Kauai

So this week, my blog entries will also be a diary of my holiday in Kauai, and a photo or two, although most of the photos will probably be on my Flickr page. We left home yesterday early from San Jose airport, which was not a pleasant experience- one word sums it up- queues! We only just made the plane and arrived at the airport over an hour and a half before the flight. The flight was on Hawaiian Air, and they too, are squeezing every penny they can, from having to pay to check any bags, to renting headsets and movie players on board. The flight was a long one; extra time for strong headwinds meant a 6 hour flight just to Honolulu. We did make the connection in time and the 30 minute flight to Kauai was so short it was laughable. It was also really windy in Kauai but it was warm and slightly humid with partly cloudy skies. Perfect. We arrived at the rental home a few hours before Joel and Stevie and found out very quickly why they love it so much here: and the view from the house was...

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