Three years ago today at Vasquez Rocks

Hamming it up for the camera, Jan. 29, 2011.

Three years ago today, we hiked Vasquez Rocks, which you also referred to as "the Kirk Rocks"! Except this time instead of visiting "Star Trek" sites, we went searching for sites used during filming of the first season of "The Bionic Woman" (which you really enjoyed watching, by the way)!

We had just purchased "The Bionic Woman" on DVD, and while watching it, I noticed that the episode "Canyon of Death" (which takes place in the desert portion of the "Ventura Air Force Base"), took place at Vasquez Rocks. Since we'd hiked it several times before looking for"Star Trek" filming locations, I was fairly familiar with the county park and figured we'd have little trouble identifying where the scenes occurred.

By the way, you wore a Starfleet Academy cap for the hike!

I put together a photo gallery of our hike including photos from "The Bionic Woman" episode!

Hiking Vasquez Rocks four years ago

"Kieran to Enterprise..."

Four years ago on Saturday (April 20), marked the second time we hiked Vasquez Rocks (which you called the "Kirk Rocks"). Four different "Star Trek: The Original Series" episodes were filmed here, most famously the episode where Captian Kirk battles the Gorn.

We'd gone hiking there before in January 2009 but didn't really know our way around! So I did tons of research and found where all of the show sequences were filmed and mapped it out.

We started by going to the "Friday's Child" episode rocks then we did "Gorn Rock" where the famous fight scene was filmed. We brought along our "Star Trek" toys to take pictures of at each sight!

Here's a bunch of pictures from adventure in 2009!

Our many, many hikes together

Vasquez Rocks, April 2011

This week I released my third book about hiking, "Headin' to the Cabin" (It's all about hiking trails in northwest Wisconsin and is dedicated to you!)). I always enjoyed taking you hiking with you when we lived together in California, and hopefully soon we will go hiking together across Wisconsin, Minnesota and many other states!

The first hike we ever took was when you were four months old. We took a trail on a ridgeline behind our house through a redwood forest.

When we lived in Lancaster, we usually hiked in the desert during spring and autumn but then when the temperatures got hot in summer, we'd hike in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest near where we lived.

Your favorite place to hike was Vasquez Rocks (You called them the "Kirk Rocks"), and you often asked to go there. You also liked just about any place that had sign posts so you could find and count the numbers!

RVs, So Cal roads/hikes and Seve Austin

Last night I watched a DVD of "The Six Million Dollar Man" and was taken back to all of the drives and hikes we took around Southern California. The episode involved Steve Austin driving around an RV, and bad guys were trying to capture him.

The countryside they drove around looked alot like the area around Agua Dulce, Calif., near Vasquez Rocks (though the "Kirk Rocks" never were shown) and the an area north of Santa Clarita in San Fransquito Canyon. We've driven and hiked both areas! But the episode was filmed in 1977, and the area has changed a lot in the past 35 years!

The RV also brought back memories of you. I'll always remember how much you liked to go to RV shows and check out those cool "homes on wheels"!

'Star Trek' book makes me think of you!

This past week I've been reading a most wonderful book about a mother and her two sons who all became "Star Trek" fans and the lessons in life they learned from the TV show. They discovered a lot about themselves, their love for one another, and the world around them as they watched the show together and went to places like "Star Trek" conventions to enjoy their newfound common interest. The book was called "Love Letters to Star Trek."

In many ways, their adventures reminded me of stuff we had done together. For example, we'd go to Vasquez Rocks (which you called the "Kirk Rocks") and climb around where the Gorn and Captain Kirk fought or where our intrepid captain fought the Klingons. Another time we went to the air show in Mojave and met the actor who played Worf (He signed your Worf action figure!).

And of course we played and played "Star Trek," taking our action figures on adventures, sometimes playing "monster" that attacked our crew members, other times having them explore strange new worlds.

I can;t wait until you're a little older so we can discuss the finer points of "Star Trek" and go on even more adventures together!