Category Archives: Bay Area Travel

NorCal Tough Mudder Weekend in Tahoe

The Nor-Cal Tough Mudder course at Northstar Lake Tahoe:

tough-mudder-northstar-course.jpg

tough-mudder-everest-northstar-tahoe-2012.jpg

tough-mudder-entrance-northstar-tahoe-2012.jpg

tough-mudder-nor-cal-2012-northstar.jpg

For all those that completed the Tough Mudder course this weekend, congratulations! You have earned the right to wear your bright orange headband, the Tough Mudder finisher “medal”. Just like in the ancient Olympics of Greece, there is no actual metal finisher medal for this obstacle course run. Your badges of honor are your hard earned scrapes and bruises and the pride of knowing that you helped your fellow mudders over the obstacles as they helped you over the course. And in place of the olive branch of ancient times you get a bright orange Tough Mudder Under Armour headband as your prize.

tough-mudder-headband-tshirt-2012.jpg
The Tough Mudder finisher headband and Under Armour t-shirt.

Under Armour is a big sponsor for Tough Mudder. Their Tough Mudder related goodies can be found on their site here.

While you don’t have to donate your shoes after you tough it out through the muddy course of Tough Mudder, many take the opportunity to offload their mud soaked footwear before heading home.

Tough-Mudder-Nor-Cal-2012-Shoe-Donate-Pyramid-pile
You can donate your Tough Mudder mud soaked shoes at the end of the course. They are washed and donated to charity.

 

if-you-have-to-sign-a-release-form-its-probably-worth-doing-dos-equis
Probably The Most Interesting Man in the World

You can find your official Tough Mudder photos here:

http://www.toughmudderphotos.com/ 

If you were lucky enough to get any shots from the official photographers, they only found  me for 2 pictures on the course.

Ready for the 42nd Annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival?

Is it fall yet? The 42nd Annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival is coming!

Half-Moon-Bay-Pumpkin-Festival-42nd-2012-logo
Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival 2012 Logo (image credit: Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee)

 

Dates and times for the 2012 Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival :

Dates:  October 13 and 14

Time:   9 AM – 5 PM

Location:  Historic Main Street in the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California

 

 

Website:  http://www.miramarevents.com/pumpkinfest/index.html

Expect large crowds and lots of food and crafts. And of course pumpkins galore. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin weighing, pumpkin runs, pumpkin beer…

So get there early!!!

Here’s a few photos from last year’s Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival:

Half-Moon-Bay-Glass-Pumpkins-2011
Some of the crafts available at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival include glass pumpkins of every size and shape.
(These are usually much cheaper and just as good as the ones at the Stanford Mall)

 

Half-Moon-Bay-Giant-Pumpkin-Carved-2011
Giant carved pumpkins are part of the festival. These are some of the biggest pumpkins on the planet.

Mumford and Sons and their vests

Mumford-and-Sons-and-vests
Mumford and Sons playing at the Monterey Fairgrounds on a misty night in Monterey, CA Aug 25, 2012

A great night at the Gentlemen of the Road tour stopover in Monterey, California.

 

Silicon Valley Running Events

While all of the technology and digital widgets can be fun, sometimes you just have to get outside and do something physical, not virtual.

Here’s a list of a few local running events around Silicon Valley and the Bay Area:

In the heart of Silicon Valley in San Jose is the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon on October 7th 2012

rock-n-roll-san-jose-half-marathon-2012-finisher-medal
Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon 2012 finisher medal. No word on if this is a mix tape from the 80’s.
rock-&-roll-san-jose-finisher-medal-cassette-tape-2012.jpg
The cassette tape medal turned out to be slightly smaller than the classic 80’s cassette tapes. Not quite a micro cassette, but since it’s solid metal it probably won’t play in your retro tape deck.
san-jose-rock-and-roll-finisher-medals-2011-2012-t-shirt
San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon finisher medals from 2011 and 2012 on the 2012 t-shirt. (image credit: SiliconCali.com)

 

san-jose-rock-and-roll-half-marathon-finisher-medals-2011-2012-t-shirt
Another view of the San Jose Rock & Roll finisher medals from 2011 and 2012. (image credit: SiliconCali.com)

 

Further out in the mountain playground of Lake Tahoe is the Tough Mudder Nor-Cal.

To prepare yourself for the 25 military style obstacles, you can train like this guy:

 

And one that’s not quite in the neighborhood:

disneyworld-marathon-medal-mickey.jpg
The full marathon finisher medal from the 2011 Disney World Marathon
Image credit: SiliconCali.com

The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend includes a 5k, Half Marathon and a Full Marathon in Orlando, Florida in January 2013. You can also choose to run the “Goofy”, Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge. A 39.3-mile run that combines the half  and full marathons on Saturday and Sunday (12-13 January 2013)

Disney-World-20th-Anniversary-Medal-2013-Marathon
Special 20th Anniversary 2013 Disney World Marathon Finisher Medal
Image Credit: Disney

Note the quote from Walt Disney on the front:  “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”  Apt words for the dreamers here in the Valley

Disney-World-2013-Medal-Half-Marathon
2013 Disney World Half Marathon Finisher Medal
Image Credit: Disney

The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend is again offering free runner tracking through this site: http://live.xacte.com/wdw/alerts/   Track your runner via SMS text message, email, Twitter or other social media with their Xact Event Alerts.

walt-disney-world-2013-half-marathon-finisher-medal_sc
The 2013 Walt Disney World Half Marathon finsher medal

And coming up next year is the 2nd annual 408k 8K road race in San Jose. This race starts from downtown San Jose and runs to Santana Row. The “Race to the Row” is on March 10th 2013. #run408 Bring your running shoes…and your credit card!

Inspiration Point in the Presidio San Francisco

image

Panorama of the city by the bay with views of Alcatraz and the Palace of Fine Arts from the Presidio’s famous Inspiration Point.

View_of_Alcatraz_and_Palace_of_Fine_Arts_from Presidio_Inspiration_Point
View of Alcatraz and Palace of Fine Arts from The Presidio’s Inspiration Point

Chick-fil-A coming to San Jose

Chick-fil-A is hiring for positions at the soon to be open location at the North First Street development just off of 237.

Chick-fil-A will be open in San Jose exactly 10 days from today on Thursday, August 16th 2012.

Well, it looks like the Chick-fil-A in San Jose grand opening has been pushed back a week.

chick-fil-a-san-jose-opening-in-7-days.jpg

image

Chick-fil-A will be joining Chipotle, 5 Guys Burgers, Panda Express, Panera Bread and a few other quick food spots. Can’t wait to hit them up for those tasty Chick-fil-A breakfast biscuits! The only other Chick-fil-A locations any where near Silicon Cali are in Fairfield and Rocklin on the way to North Lake Tahoe. Nice to have one in the heart of the valley.

Scheduled to open on Thursday, August 16th 2012,

 Chick-fil-A Restaurant First Street San Jose Location

53 Headquarters Dr
San Jose, CA 95134

Opens: August 16, 2012

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/Openings

The first 100 win food for a year!

 

Heat Wave hits Silicon Valley

Feeling toasty? The temperature will be hitting 100 degrees here in the Silicon Valley area. Stay hydrated today! Looks like a good day to hit up your local Pink Berry for some cold refreshment.

Sun Breaks Through the Clouds in Portland, OR

SiliconCali and friends are taking a quick weekend break north of Cali in friendly Portland, Oregon. Where the air is cool and refreshing, the city is dog and bike friendly and the legendary local brews of coffee and beer await sipping with friends.
The sun may just peek out from behind the clouds and shine down on Portlandia.

portland-blue-sky-crack-in-the-clouds

HUB-IPA-beer-Stumptown-cold-brew-coffee-Portland-OR
Homegrown Portland, OR brews of beer and coffee. Taken with the Samsung Google Nexus Phone Camera

Two local brews enjoying the city scape of Portland in the late afternoon light.

A hoppy IPA from Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) and a stubby bottle of Stumptown Coffee Roasters invigorating Cold Brew Coffee. If you like cold black coffee, you can drink this one straight from the stubby bottle. No bitterness at all and absolutely nothing like any canned coffees found in convenience stores. Just the smoothest, pure coffee flavor that you can find in an ice cold coffee. You’ll have to try Stumptown’s Cold Brew.

Stumptown Coffee is available in the Bay Area at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley

Hopworks-HUB-IPA-Stumptown-Cold-Brew-Coffee-Portland-OR-Nikon-P100
Same Brews taken with the brighter flash of the Nikon P100

 

A must stop at Powell’s Books:

Powells-City-of-Books-Portland-OR
No trip to Portland is complete without a visit to Powells City of Books. They have a massive collection of new and used books on every topic imaginable.

 

Alaska Airlines puts on a show with their Sled Dog Float in Portland Oregon’s 100th annual Grand Floral Parade

When you’re in Portland, don’t forget to check out the Hopworks Bike Bar beer menu, 10 beers on tap all the time and all organic. You can even help power this sustainable brewery with the “Golden Lions” stationary bike generators with pint holders to securely hold your brew while you pedal. 

Rare Annular Solar Eclipse to be Visible from Bay Area May 20 2012

A rare annular solar eclipse will be visible from Bay Area and SiliconCali on May 20 2012.

This animated map shows how much of the sun will be covered by the moon in different parts of California. The center line of the solar eclipse will pass by north of Eureka but will be at least partly visible throughout the state.

 

Taking Virgin America Across the Country Again

virgin-america-at-sfoAnother flight out of SFO on Silicon Valley’s own tech friendly airline. Complete with USB plugs, power plugs and a touch screen entertainment system that runs Linux.
virgin-america-google-maps
And in-flight Google Maps!

virgin-america-mood-lighting-at-night
Virgin America’s purple and blue mood lighting brightens up the cabin at night.

How many domestic airlines have mood lighting?

A good way to begin your flight from SFO’s terminal 2 is to hit up Pinkberry for some swirly goodness while you fire off a few quick emails on SFO’s free wireless before boarding. While you can use Virgin America’s on board Wi-Fi service to get some work done, you can’t use it until the plane gets up to cruising altitude, so you’ll have a brief period of disconnected down time. Cherish this brief moment of Zen and collect your thoughts.
pinkberry-sfo-terminal-2-airport

If you don’t feel the need to spring for the GoGo in-flight WiFi on Virgin America, you can still browse a few things using the free WiFi service on the plane. The flight tracker is interesting and a little more configurable than the Google Maps on the headrest screens.

Virgin-America-In-Flight-Tracker-WiFi-Map
Virgin America Flight Tracker Map with weather layer via free in-flight WiFi

I uploaded this screen shot while high in the sky on the flight and the connection speed wasn’t too bad. Sometimes the WiFi internet connection is intermittent, but syncs right back up once the ground based signal is strong again. GoGo in-flight internet uses the ground based cellular network, so the signal has to be passed from antenna to antenna just as it would if you were using a mobile phone in a car, but it has to work at 500 miles per hour 8 miles above the antennas. On a flight that is not quite full the connection remains about as fast as DSL. But if everyone on the plane starts watching YouTube, then the shared connection will slow to a crawl.

Virgin-America-Protein-Meal-Black-Star-Beer
Dinner is served Virgin America economy style
Virgin-America-purple-mood-lighting.jpg
Soothing purple mood lighting bathes the subtle grid pattern on the interior walls of the Virgin America aircraft.