Our hike into the Devil's Punchbowl

Outside the nature center at
Devil's Punchbowl, April 29, 2009.

Four years ago today we hiked the Devil's Punchbowl in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest. As you were only a couple of years old, I carried you on my back as we walked down into the punchbowl and then back up it.

Snow melt flowing from the higher San Gabriel Mountains - standing about 8,000 feet above sea level - cut the deep canyon that is the punchbowl. Uplift and pinching from nearby fault lines turned the sediment layers up to 80 degrees on their sides. It's truly a fantastic place!

When we got all done with the hike and had a snack, you played with my trekking pole in a pine grove near the nature center. After seeing the trees' fallen cones, you got a little confused and started calling them "pineapple trees"!

Then we went into the small nature center there, where they have live animals caught in the park, usually poisonous snakes. You were super fascinated by that and in the weeks ahead kept asking to go back to see them again!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

Our first visit to Calico Ghost Town

Four years ago today we went to Calico Ghost Town near Bastow, Calif., for the very first time! It's an Old West town that used to actually exist near a silver mine!

We went on a train ride near the mines. Afterward, we went into the mines themselves!

Then we went shopping at the various stores. You also got to pan for gold! You got about a thimble-full.

Following our visit, we went shopping at the outlet stores in Barstow. I remember buying you whole bunch of new summer clothes!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

Recall our hike along Lake Piru?

Watching a bug cross the road near Lake Piru,
Calif., on April 28, 2010.

Three years ago today we took a hike along Lake Piru, a reservoir near Santa Clarita, Calif. The water is held in a canyon, so the mountains rise straight out of the water in a really cool effect!

For me, the highlight of the hike was seeing a condor fly overhead. We spotted one searching for food near the lake; even at 500 feet above us, its wings dwarfed those of the raven that sat on the road just 20 feet away.

For you, though, the highlight was watching this huge bug cross the road in front of us (see picture at above right)! You must have spent close to a half-hour following it and were so disappointed when it finally disappeared into the grass!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

My email to you for week of April 21-27

Here is my weekly letter sent to you on April 27, 2013, in case you do not receive it:

Dear Kieran,

How are you doing today? I am doing fine, though I am sad that we were unable to get together on Friday as planned. I want you to know that I was not the one who cancelled our visit and that I was looking very forward to seeing you. I miss you every day, and there’s not an hour that goes by in which I don’t think about you. The good news is that we are scheduled to get together again on Friday, May 26, and that we will see one another again before then, though the exact day has not been worked out yet.

How is school coming along? Have you finished your unit on oceans? What new things are you learning in math? What interesting books are you reading? You are almost done with kindergarten – that must be exciting, knowing that you’ll be in first grade next year! I saw a children’s book at the book store called “First Grade, Here I Come!”, and I think I will pick it up for you so we can read it at one of our visitations during the next month.

The weather finally has turned nice, and I bet the last thing on your mind the past couple of days has been sitting in a classroom. There are lots of exciting outdoor places to go in the Twin Cities that mom and your grandpa and grandma can take you now that the weather is nice. I bet you can’t wait to go back to Como Park Zoo with the penguins. Although I bet the penguins don’t like the warm weather!

Now that the days are warm, I plan to do a lot of hiking, just like we used to do when we were together. I am writing books about the places I’ve hiked. There are many interesting places near the Twin Cities to hike. At one of them, you can walk across basalt (lava rocks) that are 1.1 billion years old! At another one of them, you see an interesting rock formation that looks like an old man’s face. Another park has a waterfall that is 168 feet high! So far, I’ve written four hiking books and three books about being a writer. Each of them are dedicated to you, and you are on the cover of two of the hiking books!

Since the snow is still melting in some spots, I probably will run into mud during my hikes. In fact, I recently read a great book about mud, which I bet you would like as well. The book was called “Mud” (What else would it be called?) by Mary Lyn Ray. It has lots of colorful pictures of people walking through mud. Each of them must avoid stepping on the blades of green grass that increasingly pop up in the mud with each turn of the page. I bet you can find the book at your school or city library.

I am getting very excited not just about hiking but the new “Star Trek’ movie. It comes out May 15. No one knows who the villain is in the movie, but there will be Klingons in it. Of course, with a new “Star Trek” movie means there will be new “Star Trek” toys! I can’t wait to go to Toys ‘R Us and see what the new toys are for us to play with.

Well, that is all for now. I love and miss you very much! I hope to see you within a few days.

Love,

Dad

 

Remember going to the LA Zoo?

At the L.A. Zoo play area, April 26, 2011.

Two years ago today we were at the Los Angeles Zoo!

After looking at the animals from Australia and the Africa savannah, we went to your favorite spot at the zoo: Neil Papiano Play Park. It as a huge play area with lots of animal statues that kids could crawl all over.

One of your favorite animals to play on was the hippo, which was "submerged" in a soft blue covering that helped cushion kids' falls. Another part of the play area you liked a lot was the "water slide" - a slide molded to look like a waterfalls.

In many ways, you liked the play area more than the zoo animals!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our trip!

Past the big trees and the big waters

Kieran, 10-12 weeks old,
Crescent City, Calif.

Caught the end tail of a televsion program about Redwood National Park and instantly thought of you. You were born in Eureka, Calif., when we lived in Crescent City, Calif., wich is where Redwood National Park is located. Redwood State Park near Crescent City is where I took you on your first hike when you were just four months old.

Both cities were on the Pacific Ocean. Eureka was the larger of the two cities; the Eureka-Arcata area had about five times as many people as Crescent City, so about once a month we'd go shopping there at the larger stores and mall.

Whenever we'd go to on the trip, I'd say to you, "We're going on a big trip past the big trees and the big waters to the big city!"

You'd just smile back!

Our day at the Poppy Festival in 2010

Carrying your bubble gun at the knights exhibit.

Three years ago today we went to the Poppy Festival in Lancaster City Park together! You were just three years old but had a great time.

We began by going on some of the carnival rides. I was very impressed that you didn;t mind going on them by myself, as usually you wanted me to go with you on all of the rides at fairs (Which was difficult for me to do because I was too big for many of them, but we managed!).

One of your favorite carnival attractions was the fun house with its mirrors and glass maze. The carnie girl running it thought you were cute and so let you go into it over and over without a ticket!
You also got a bubble gun and were carrying it around blowing bubbles everywhere. When we got to the car show area, some of the car owners thought you looked so cute with it that they called you "Bubble Boy" and asked you to blow bubbles arounf their cars! You happily obliged!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our say at the festival!