Books

• The Historical Jesus (audio) by Bart D. Ehrman- a very detailed look at the historic record of Jesus's life; extremely fascinating
• From Boy 2 Men: A Adventure in Paradise by Marshall Lubin - a fabulous worldwide adventure as told by a local author
• The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) by Mark Sisson - my current diet and exercise blueprint
• ART COLLECTING 101: Buying Art for Profit and Pleasure by Alan Klevit - a nice primer on art collection, especially for prints
• Ray Way Tarp Book Essentials by Ray Jardine - a primer for tarp camping; bought along with a tarp kit

Dixon Lake Camping

Bengt and Troop 774 spent the weekend at Dixon Lake in Escondido.  It was a great location, very close and overlooking the city.  We did some fishing (but didn't catch anything) and training the new scouts.

Big Island Vacation

I recently got back from a week vacation on the Big Island in Hawaii.  It was my first trip to that island and thought it was awesome.  Very different from the others.
We stayed the first four nights in Volcano Village.  This little town right outside of the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is over 4000 feet in elevation so was fairly cold and rainy (more like Oregon than Hawaii).  This location allowed us to visit the park and the eastern side of the island.  We stayed at the Volcano Country Cottages, a great little bed and breakfast run by Garret and Sandy.  We loved the roomy and cozy bungalows and the wonderful breakfasts.
For our first day, we hit the park to check out the volcano.  Kilauea is the currently active volcano and it has two areas of activity.  One is a big hole that is spewing toxic gases.  This is easy to see from the lookout at the end of the road to the west.  The gases are the reason the road is closed so you can't drive all around the crater.  We also stopped by the steam vents which were very interesting. Later in the day, we took a ranger led hike down into the crater. The crater surface is unworldly, kind of like a desert floor but all black.
On the second day, we went to the Puna area.  A quick stop at Lava Trees State Monument to see lava covered trees and then we hit the Wa'opea tidepools for some snorkeling.  The pools made it like swimming in a pool but with corals and plenty of fish.  We ate dinner at the wonderful Kiawe Kitchen in Volcano Village.
On the third day, we again went into Puna.  First up were some waterfalls and then lunch at Hilo Burger Joint in downtown Hilo.  We did the same snorkeling trip and then drove to Kalapana in the evening to see the lava flows (the second point of Kilauea activity).  Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see, just some far off orange glows;  apparently the flows lately have been sporadic.
On the fourth morning, we checked out of the B&B and headed back into the park for the short hike along Devastation Trail.  We then headed south and west along the way to Kona.  Our first stop was Punalu'u Black Sand Beach where we saw some turtles resting on the beach.  Lunch was in Na'alehu at Hana Hou Restaurant (the southernmost restaurant in the US, with good food as well).  We then took a detour to South Point, the southernmost point in the United States.  The drive down there was like being in Texas with the grasslands and cattle everywhere.  This side of the island is much drier so doesn't have the lushness of the east.  We also stopped at Ailani Orchards to pick up some organic mac nuts and great Kona coffee.  We got into Kailua-Kona in the early evening and checked into the King Kamehameha Courtyard Marriott.  The hotel is located across from the street from the start-finish line for the Ironman.
Our first day in Kona started with breakfast at Island Lava Java.  We then headed to Honaunau Bay for some snorkeling.  They call this spot "Two Steps" due to some ledges along the lava that allows for extremely easy access to the bay.  The fish and corals were fabulous but the depth was a bit too deep to get close up.  We then drove by Kealakekua Bay to check it out for a future excursion.
On the second day in Kona we went to Kahalu'u Bay for more snorkeling.  The sea was rough but fish here were the best of all the places we snorkeled.  We were supposed to do a night dive with manta rays but it was canceled due to the swells.  Everyone was bummed.
ON the third day in Kona, we headed to Kealakekua Bay and rented kayaks.  We paddled over to the other side of the bay where the Captain Cook Monument is.  You aren't supposed to beach your kayaks but we had a hard time tying them up to the nearby trees so we just snorkeled off the boats.  Our trip was cut short when Jaya stepped on a sea urchin!
That afternoon we headed back to Hilo for our red eye flight back to LAX.  We took the Saddle Road route.  It led through Parker Ranch and some more Texas-like terrain.  We stopped at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy vistor 9,200 feet up the mountain.  It was chilly there but the view were spectacular.
A slideshow is here.

Encinitas to Old Town Hike

I took a 24 mile urban hike from Encinitas to Old Town. Here is the track plotted on Google Maps. The hike from the Encinitas train station through Del Mar was nice and pleasant even though I was alongside the road. Almost the entire path south of Del Mar was ugly, dangerous or both. The short cut through Pacific Beach was particularly bad due to the heavy traffic and complete lack of pedestrian amenities like crosswalks. Here are some pictures from along the way:

Books

* Trail Life: Ray Jardine's Lightweight Backpacking by Ray Jardine - ultralight backpacking classic
* EatingWell One-Pot Meals (EatingWell) by Jessie Price - some great one-pot meals
* The Backpacker's Field Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Backcountry Skills by Rick Curtis - comprehensive but some stuff out of date in this first edition
* The Occasional Vegetarian: 100 Delicious Dishes That Put Vegetables at the Center of the Plate by Elaine Louie - too many recipes with grains
* The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes by Jennifer MacKenzie, Jay Nutt and Don Mercer - a great book on dehydrating * Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook by Mary Bell - a decent book but the Bible is better
* Great Battles of the Ancient World (audio) by Garret G. Fagan - a fabulous lecture series on ancient warfare from Mesopotamia through Rome

Mud Caves Trek

Troop 774 headed to the desert again for a short backpacking trek to the mud caves.  We left the church Friday night and camped off the road the Bow Willow campgrounds.  It was quite windy but everyone made out fine with no tent mishaps.

Saturday morning, we drove up the road to the head of Arroyo Tapiado.  We parked and hiked 2.5 miles into the canyon to the campsite.  We setup camp and then explored the mud caves.  The scouts had a great time squeezing through all the tight twists and turns.
We broke camp Sunday morning, did Thorns and Roses and then hiked back to the cars and drove home.  It was another great event and it was great to see the kids getting more comfortable with backpacking.

My brother and his family were in town and we had a big visit at my parent's house.
Kevin is into endurance sports now and we did the Tustin Leprechaun Leap 5K on St. Patrick's Day. I finished 14'th overall (of ~700) and 3rd in my division.  I attained my goal of finishing in under 20 minutes. Kevin finished 4th overall.

Weekend Activites

* Bengt and Jaya both shot at the monthly Youth Trap at Escondido Fish & made a stop at the Lake Wohlford Cafe on the way up
* Jaya's piano testing
* Pack fitting at REI for our upcoming Mud Caves backpack

Books

* San Diego Noir (Akashic Noir) by Maryelizabeth Hart - a nice collection of dark short stories centered around San Diego
* Building Wealth One House at a Time: Making it Big on Little Deals by John Schaub - a good introduction to single family real estate investing; better advice than most books and seminars
* The Best Damn Sales Book Ever: 16 Rock-Solid Rules for Achieving Sales Success! by Warren Greshes - not sure why I bought this but it does have some OK tips on salesmanship and self-motivation
* Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific by Robert Lecke - a fabulous first person account of the First Marine division in WWII; a must-read for Pacific War aficionados

HALTT

I finished my High Adventure Leadership Trek Training this past weekend. We met up at Mataguay for a 6.5 mile loop backpacking trek following up several class sessions. Learned a ton, especially about ultra lightweight backpacking. I am going to start a G4 kit soon as well as start making some primal backpacking menus.

Palomar Observatory in the distance

Lake Henshaw

Vulcan Mountain

Weekend Activites

• Whale Watching with San Diego Whale Watching on the Privateer - saw hundreds of dolphins but no whales
• Merit badge day at the International Print Museum - great time and extremely well organized
• Short walk downtown with the dog

T774 Snow Camp

Troop 774 hit Mt. Laguna for a snow camp.
* The weather was cold (the overnight low was 30) and there was some rain, but no snow
* Water was freezing on the trees and when a gust of wind passed by, a shower of small ice cubes came raining down!
* Our new gear (rain pants, jackets, gloves, base layers, wool caps, sleeping bags, et. al.) worked great; I was comfortable all weekend
* Roger, John and myself plotted a great orienteering course around the small pond.  The kids did great learning how to plot headings and walk given directions.  On a shorter course, they learned how to measure height and width.
* Bengt completed the axe and saw work for his Totin' Chip.
* Dinner was a bit of a challenge as the fires were hard to start due to wet wood.  We also gave the kids a crash course on dishwashing.
* After breakfast, we broke camp, had Thorns & Roses and heading home.

Hackers Run Amok

It seems that almost every website is being hacked (or had mysterious hardware failures) these days.  Some of the ones I frequent that have become victims include STRATFOR, Bigger Pockets, and Howling Point.  The new plague is upon us.

Weekend Activities

* 10.7 mile urban hike from home to the library, around San Eljio Lagoon to home; here is the track of this and the 7.5 mile hike from Jan.
* Date night at Wine Steals in Cardiff
* Kids ski trip to Big Bear
* Dog hikes at San Elijo Lagoon

Books

• End the Fed by Ron Paul - great treatise on the moral, economic and constitutional cases for ending the Federal Reserve



• Building Real Estate Wealth in a Changing Market: Reap Large Profits from Bargain Purchases in Any Economy by John Schaub - a good beginning book on investing in single family homes, a bit light on details though



• Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll - a dramatically written account of the people and events from Pearl Harbor through Midway; light on military and tactical details and heavy on personalities; enjoyed the Japanese perspective

Weekend Activities

* 7.5 mile urban hike from home to the library and back
* Scout service project at SDUMC

Books

Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don't by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump - A decent book on entreneurial skills; Kiyosaki's contributions are somewhat better than Trump's

Deeds for California Real Estate by Mary Randolph - good primer on the confusing subject of deeds

Desert Backpacking

Bengt and I went on our first backpacking trip with Troop 774.  We drove out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on Friday night and camped at Bow Willow.  We woke up Saturday morning, ate a moderately quick breakfast and hit the trail.  Earlier in the morning, the Scoutmaster and I had drove to the intended campsite to cache some water since the site was not an established campground.  The hike was 4.4 miles in and was a moderate uphill grade since we were heading into a canyon.  The kids all did great and were very relieved to get to the site.  Once there, we had lunch and some relaxation.  We then did an afternoon day hike to further explore the canyon.  The patrols then cooked their dinners which were nicely packed into zip bags for easy identification and preparation.  I hit the sack quite early while the kids burned off their desserts.
Sunday morning saw an early cold breakfast and then back to the trail for the hike back to Bow Willow.
Everyone had a great time and I can't wait to get some more backpacking treks in.

Weekend Activities

• Brewed up a nice batch of beef jerky on my new dehydrator. Turned out great!
• Checked out the big waves at Cardiff with the family and Sophie.

Death Valley

Much to Jaya's dismay, we took a family trip to Death Valley NP over the New Year's weekend. We left home early in the morning and drove up the 15 to Baker. We stopped there for gas and some delicious Alien jerky. We then took the 127 to Shoshone. From there we took the 178 into the park. This route enabled us to see the southern part of the park on our way in. We made stops at the Ashford Mills ruins, Badwater and the Natural Bridge hike. We ate lunch at the 49'ers Diner at the Furnace Creek Ranch before hitting the temporary visitor's center. The regular center was still under refurbishment and we were a very bummed since the temporary one facility not have any exhibits or much other information, although the rangers were very nice. After setting up camp at the nearby Furnace Creek campsite, we head up the road to see the Harmony Borax Works ruins. After that, it was back to camp for dinner and an early night (especially since we couldn't get a fire going).
The next day we started by visiting the Devil's Golf Course which was very strange. Next, was Artist's Drive. At our next stop, Golden Canyon, we ran into a friend from San Diego, Terry Sheehy. His son was very happy to see Bengt and we met up again at camp later at night. Then we headed out of the park to visit the ghost town of Rhyolite. On the way, we stopped at Beatty, NV for lunch. Beatty is a small, dusty town but the food and service at KC's Depot was excellent. We also completed our first Geocache Challenge at the town clock tower. Rhyolite was a fun ghost town with some pretty substantial buildings. Bengt also wanted to the check out an old mine and there were plenty to choose from. Rhyolite is also home to the outdoor art project called Goldwell. I liked the phantom statues. On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Salt Creek trail but failed to spot the elusive pupfish.
The next day, we finally got a fire going thanks to Terry's donation of a fireplace log. That seemed to get the moist wood we bought at the general store going fine. We were able to do a couple camper pies and get warmed up in the morning cold. After breakfast, we broke camp and headed for the dunes. We stopped briefly at the Stovepipe well marker. The Stovepipe dunes are truly amazing. Bengt and I hiked to the top of one of the higher ones. The sand felt good on our bare feet. We then had lunch at the Stovepipe Wells Saloon and then headed to the Eureka mine. The mine and small ghost town was really neat as much of the equipment and stuff was still there. The spot is pretty remote so it doesn't get a lot of visitors. The last stop for the day was Mosaic Canyon. This hike was up a wash that is lined by polished marble-like stone. We then checked into the Stovepipe Wells Inn for a nice, hot shower and relaxing evening.
On the way back home, we exited the park to the west along 190. We made a quick stop at Panamint Springs to see what was there then headed south along Panamint Valley Road. We were expecting to stop at Trona for food, but Trona turned out to be a miserable place and nothing seemed to be open. We kept on going along Trona Road to hook up with the 395. We stopped for lunch in Adelanto, got onto the 15 and headed home. The drive along 395 was not as nice as the drive in.
It was a great trip. Next time, we will do some backcountry excursions with a 4x4 vehicle. We really want to see the Racetrack which is only accessible via a long dirt road.

Elf Yoursefl

The kids made a elf yourself with anyone or anything that was near the webcam.

Books

Some more books are read:

• Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money
  by Robert T. Kiyosaki - Kiyosaki's best book in my opinion


• The Works: Anatomy of a City
  by Kate Ascher - a fabulous book on the systems (water, trash, commerce, etc.) in New York City


• The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures , Revised and Updated
  by Richard Duncan - a decent book on how international trade imbalances and the lack of a gold standard cause economic stability; could use additional explanations of assumptions and less repetition


• Rich Dad's Advisors®: The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read -- and Invest In by Garrett Sutton - a good primer on business plans from the Rich Dad Advisor Series


• Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money by Robert T. Kiyosaki (audio book) - more of a summary of Kiyosaki's other books


• Rich Dad's Advisors: Own Your Own Corporation: Why the Rich Own Their Own Companies and Everyone Else Works for Them by Garrett Sutton - a good collection of tips on entities, but a bit light on LLC's

Where in San Diego?

Where can you find these gifts from Japan?

Weekend Activites

* Troop 774 Trap shooting at Escondido Fish and Game - this picture shows Bengt hitting a clay (the white streaks are the pieces)

* Jaya's Christmas parties
* Good hike along San Dieguito lagoon with Sophie

Where in San Diego?

Where are these fisherman pulling this tuna out of the grass?