Summit Rides: a X-ride up Tam.

Did a beautiful solo ride up Mt. Tam a while back.  I decided earlier this year that I need to ride up Tam, Hamilton, or Diablo every month.  So this was my summit ride for May.  And it was a good one.  Left my house at 5 am, hopped on BART, caught the sunrise while riding the Embarcadero, and rode through some foggy, serene hills to the top... only passing a handful of hikers the whole route.  

obligatory GG Bridge shot

Headlands

grey fox = big cat food...

fireroads forever.  Perfect X-riding territory.

Muir Beach

Some fun singletrack sections...

Chased a wild turkey through a herd of deer.

One of the reasons why Mt. Tam is so special.  

Looking back at Karl & the bay...

Only if this trail was waiting for me at the top... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=225&v=5ud5T5I4XcA

Father's Campin' at Kirby Cove...

now you know where those lips have been...

That's right... our ladies figured Father's Day would be a great time to leave us dads behind with the kiddos and go up to Jenner for a Lady's weekend for Elena's baby shower por numero tres.  Somehow, Kevin managed to secure a site at Kirby Cove for the weekend so we decided it'd be a good time to see which of our kids gets injured the least... the Smiths, the Hoefts, the Dufours and the Kuwabaras all spent the night... and Dylan joined in at night as well.  On Sunday, the Metres fam showed up to enjoy a day at the beach!

carpool!  4 kiddo seats in action!

Alexis the gatekeeper for this holy campsite. 

The kids were racing around in no time... didn't take too many pics.  Basically set up camp, ate dinner, got the kids ready, and had a beer.  

Kai in his basejumping rig.  

team huddle before the day

We drove up to go explore the batteries...

We played soccer in the tunnels... which was awesome. 

Next we piled in the car as it was quite freezing up at the Battery at the top of Hawk Hill, and cruised down to Rodeo Beach.  We thought it'd be cold and windy here too... it was a bit cold, but Kai didn't mind. 

what a stinker...

... not sure what these two were doing... 

found a nice picnic table by the cars for lunch time!

back at Kirby for naptime.  Nikko happily playing in the sand box

time for a beer...

after naptime, Dylan biked over for the day.  He quickly cruised out on Alexis' SUP.

young bum and the the sea...

Dinner time!

Dylan took off on his bike soon after this.

The next morning, I tried to sneak off for my morning poo... but woke Nikko up.  Nikko did NOT like the outhouse...

We debated what to do, as the fog was pretty thick, some of the kids were whining... and Kevin & Hoeft were ready to leave.  Then we heard from Metres that he was on his way.  So Alexis and I decided to stay, while they left.  As soon as they left, the fog disappeared and we had another amazing day on the beach.

This guy was killing it surf fishing.  he was catching a fish a minute.  The kids loved it.  

Kai did not want to touch the fish.... let alone kiss it.  

The swing was a nice touch.  

Kai swinging high!

Logs, swings, beach... endless kid fun.  

Nikko decided he's ready.  

Beautiful day...

Weekly Pano: Kirby Cove

Kevin somehow managed to secure a site at the ever elusive Kirby Cove over Father's Day.  The mom's were all up at Elena's baby shower, so we were quite out numbered but we had a fantastic time at the beach.  The kid to parent ratio becomes smaller when the beach multiplier is factored into the equation.

Montana/Idaho 2015

Nikko testing out the Thompson's slide... 

We took another trip up to Montana this year!  The occasion this time was for Sonny's memorial service in Salmon, ID who we got to stay with on our last visit to Montana.  We flew into Missoula, where we got to meet baby Clara before driving to Idaho to see where Papa Steve grew up.  Really pretty country.  I'll let the pics do the talking.

Captain Kai!

arrival in Missoula, MT

Kai squeezing into the airport cart...

We stayed the first night at Thompson's place, where Nikko quickly made friends with their doggies.  

Baby Clara Cadence Thompson!  Sure is fun holding a new born again... 

Nikko doesn't know what to think about baby Clara...

went on a nice walk to their neighborhood park...

wow... you have to slow down to read all the signs... 

turns out they live right next to the coolest park...

Kiddos!

day 2: leaving for Salmon, ID... big mountains, big sky...

Nikko approves of the farm where Papa Steve grew up.  

little eight mile ranch

the house where Papa Steve grew up.  This farm is now owned by one of their old farmhands, who started a few car dealerships, made money, and bought the ranch from them!

The Schmidt's at the farm!

Our kiddos love pony rides.  

a old log cabin that papa Steve built

Beautiful mountains... 

Nikko is silly... 

Dinner time!

Tendoy post office...

big sky country...

We took Kai fishing at the fishing pond in Salmon.  

At the memorial service.  Sonny will have quite a view from here.  

went on a run around Salmon, and caught this double rainbow... 

...

hi cow.  

Kimbo and my boys.  

Norma & my boys at the Sacajawea memorial.  

Papa Steve and his brother!

Robin egg

Papa Steve & his siblings  

At the Tendoy store.  

At Sharkey Hot Springs with Schnoodle in the rain...

back at another playground... 

at Lost Trail Hot Springs...

One of many bald eagles we saw... they're hard to take pics of from the phone...

Driving back up north...

near Flathead Lake.  Kai & Nikko are very happy... 

On Flathead lake.  This was the warmest day we got...

Kai going fishing!

lots of group meals...

Nikko likes the saddle too!

went on a few sunrise runs... 

The ospreys we saw a few years ago were back, rearing more kiddos... 

Amazing...

Everyone loves the gator!

happy B-day!

Nikko is ready to go!

Kai wanted to take bath in the laundry room

Group pic... 

The fam with Norma.  

Nikko let me read on the way home...