Mission Bay and Achilles Point

December 14 in Auckland, Allie and I spent some more time with her cousin in Mission Bay for lunch and some ice cream.  We headed over to Achilles Point afterwards. While taking some photos from the overlook, another person approached me with his significant other and made a comment about my performance earlier in the week. Allie and her cousin were thoroughly confused. However, it is not an uncommon event for me to be recognized as someone I'm not. It did take me a second, but I quickly commented with a smirk to the man (while half addressing Allie), "You think you know me!"  I then politely explained to him that I wasn't who he thought and that others often confuse me for other people too. At first the man was suspicious that I claimed to not be who he thought I was, but Allie's confusion at the whole engagement allowed the interaction to end with a light chuckle by him and me.

Allie and I ended the day with dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant back in CBD called Amano, where the food and drinks were great.

Homebound

The next day, we went for a morning walk to a breakfast spot. I spotted a black and white bird.  Later that day was our our flight home. Delays to this flight involved a replaced plane since the scheduled plane had maintenance issues. However, we still made it back to San Francisco on December 15.

Also see

• Queenstown Dec 3-5 - Gondola and Central Business District
• Queenstown Dec 6 - Lord of the Rings Filming Locations Tour
• Queenstown Dec 7 - Extra day in town
• Auckland Dec 8-9 - Arrival and Exploration
• Auckland Dec 10 -  Auckland's Harbor and Newmarket Mall
• Auckland Dec 11 - Rotorua, New Zealand
• Auckland Dec 12 - Auckland Zoo and Horse Races
• Auckland Dec 13 - Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
• Auckland Dec 14-15 - Mission Bay and Achilles Point, then Home
• New Zealand South and North Islands Adventure

New Zealand South and North Islands

⁂

With Allie (and sometimes her cousin) at Queenstown, Frankton, Queenstown Airport, Provenance Cafe, Frank's Eatery, Pantry By Frank's, Ma Boulangerie Bakery, New World Supermarket, Kawarau Bridge, Kawarau River, DoubleTree By Hilton, Water Taxi, The Lake Counter, Wakatipu Grill, Stacks Pub, Hilton Queenstown Resort, Queenstown Beach, Remarkable Gifts, Jellycat, DF Souvenirs, The Outpost Souvenirs, Global Culture, The Station, William Rees Statue, Finz, Real NZ Visitor Center, Anita Gelato, Skyline Gondola, StratosFare, Skyline, Kiwi Park, Mavora Lakes, Manapouri Community Hall, Lake Manapouri, Manapouri, Frasers Beach, Anduin River (Waiau River), Te Anau, Auckland, Auckland Airport, Auckland Harbour Bridge, Westhaven Marina, Auckland Zoo, Kingsland, St. Kevin's Arcade, Bestie Cafe, Myers Park, Four Points By Sheraton Auckland, Queen's Head, Sky Cafe, Sky Tower, Odettes Eatery, Typo, Market Square, Remarkable Gifts Auckland, The Christmas Heirloom Company, Auckland CBD, Oji Sushi, Origino Bistro, OK Gift Shop Auckland, Pier 11, Atrium On Takutai, Amano, Auckland Harbor, Mission Bay Beach, eSarn Wok Mission Bay Thai Eatery, Kapiti at Mission Bay, Mission Bay, Achilles Point, Robert Harris Cafe, Karapiro Dam, Hobbiton, Te Puia, Rotorua, Polynesian Spa, Sulphur Point, Lake Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

⁂

Also see

• Queenstown Dec 3-5 - Gondola and Central Business District
• Queenstown Dec 6 - Lord of the Rings Filming Locations Tour
• Queenstown Dec 7 - Extra day in town
• Auckland Dec 8-9 - Arrival and Exploration
• Auckland Dec 10 -  Auckland's Harbor and Newmarket Mall
• Auckland Dec 11 - Rotorua, New Zealand
• Auckland Dec 12 - Auckland Zoo and Horse Races
• Auckland Dec 13 - Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
• Auckland Dec 14-15 - Mission Bay and Achilles Point, then Home

Japan Vacation 2024

Allie and I travelled around Japan from Sept 15 to Oct 1.  We visited Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (including Mauka Market) on a layover in Honolulu while heading to Japan.

Fukuoka

Fukuoka Airport, Fukuoka, Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, Nanzoin, Solaria Plaza, Yoshinoya, Gyushin, Hakata Seafood Restaurant Uokichi, Mitsukoshi, Fukuoka Tower, Shin Shin, Hakata Kawabata Dosanko, Grand Hyatt Fukuoka, Canal City, Kits, SoftBank Hawks game at Mizuho PayPay Dome, Hakata Station, Kokura Station, Amu Plaza, Bookstore at Amu Plaza and Hankyu Ferry from Kitakyushu to Osaka.

Osaka and Kyoto

Aloft Osaka Dojima, McDonalds, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Craft Burger Co, Osaka Castle, Pablo, Sanrio Gift Gate, tutu anna, Canon Plaza Osaka, Kame Sushi, Naruto Taiyaki Honpo, The Warehouse, JP Tower Osaka, Kitte Osaka, Sugi Bee Garden, Osaka Station City, Hanshin Dept Store, Ichiroku Saryo, Kiddy Land, Snoopy Town Stop, Hankyu Dept Store, Shin-Osaka Station, Kyoto, Kyoto Station, Shichimiya, Niomon Gate, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Asahido, 株式会社 山本商店 龍栄堂, snoopy chocolat, Soba Shiki and Osaka Station, Kintetsu Railway ~ Hinotori ~ Osaka-Namba to Kintetsu-Nagoya.

Nagoya

Courtyard by Marriott Nagoya, Nagoya, Oasis21, Donguri Kyowakoku, Beep! Aichi, Harry Potter Magical Spot, Nigiri No Tokube, Baskin Robbins, Naka Ward, Buruburu Aiai Bookstore, Nishinomaru Okura Museum, Nagoya Castle, Hommaru Palace, miffy style, Delica Kitchen, Rope Picnic, Cascade at Esca, Meitetsu Dept Store, Nagoya Station and Mermaid Cafe.

Tokyo

Shinagawa Station, Tokyo, Ginza, AC Hotel Ginza, Ginza Six, Tsutaya Bookstore, Uniqlo Flagship, Imperial Viking Sal, Tokyo Skytree, Koconoha, Chums, Neue, Donguri Republic, Plaza, SoraTora-ya, Ginza Itoya, Ueno Station, Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo, 3coins Ooops!, Kyukyodo, Shibuya Stream, Kaldi Coffee Farm, Kobe Teppanyaki Hakushu, Tsutaya Bookstore Shibuya Sakura Stage, AC Bar, Ginza Karen, Denny's, Bic Camera, Akihabara Radio Kaikan, K-Books, Hub, Shinjuku Station, Kizuna Sushi, NewoMan, Lumine Est, Giant 3D Cat, Godzilla Street, Krispy Creme, Ginza Food Garden, Kabukiza Theater, Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Hyakuzen, Saryo Itoen, Observation Deck and Sky Lounge.

Yokohama

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, NeNe Chicken, Lamplit, B-Side Label, Yokohama World Porters and Yokohama Air Cabin. 

Select Photos

Japan Vacation Photos Part 1

Japan Vacation Photos Part 2

Eki Stamps from Japan Vacation 2024

(Facebook, backup)

OMG! Meteor

 

Allie and I spotted this meteor while driving with headlights on while going down a well-lit road.  It was a nice surprise.  Of course, the meteor was a lot brighter to our eyes and what the camera actually saw.

Trail 10 - Shady on a hot day

This past weekend, Allie and I drove a bit.  The destination was Meyer Ranch Park (backup link)  From the book, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles for Denver and Boulder, this is entry #10. Though the book lists this trail as being in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains, for all intents and purposes, this is in the Rocky Mountains.  The entire park is west of the Legault Mountain Peak (9045ft).  The drive here is a bit longer than places I would call "Foothills".

Meyer Ranch Park is worth the longer drive.  This is a great place for a hot day.  Most of the Lodge Loop Trail (that forms a full circuit at this park) is shaded under tall trees.  The trail itself is very well maintained.  The uphill portions aren't steep.  Overall, Allie and I really enjoyed this location and will definitely consider coming back.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWgk9kl4fd/

Though Allie and I originally intended to visit this park earlier in the year, we were unable to get out to this beautiful location until the very last day of Spring (or the first day of Summer by a certain reckoning).  However, this was the perfect day.  With temperatures in the 80's and 90's in Denver, a shady hike in a wind cooled valley exceeded our expectations.  

By my information, a visit to this park comes with a likelihood to see wildlife.  Unfortunately, on this day, we did not catch any glimpses of mountain critters.  

As an unexpected coincidence, we finished our hike at nearly noon.  After our hike, we headed back into Denver Metro for lunch.  We decided on a famous restaurant that we haven't tried yet, Cherry Cricket.  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWqbafl3KK/

The burgers at Cherry Cricket were good.  I did something that is surely a sin somewhere to someone; I tried the Impossible Burger (veggie) with bacon strips!  Yummy.  Also, while we dined, this sucker visited us in the adjacent fish tank:

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWp-yulTLn/

Things that aren't happening right now

There's a lot of things not happening right now due to covid-time. For me, I've not seen family in a year.  However, it seems there's many who are actually planning gatherings for Thanksgiving.  I hope many reconsider, especially in light of the recent surge in both COVID-SARS-2 cases and related hospitalizations.

Allie and I were lucky to be able to visit Sydney, Australia late last year.  Even still, the Australian fires, which kicked off this crappy year in late 2019 and early 2020, were already starting to consume large regions.  The fires got much worse after we returned home from our vacation.

Allie did get a chance to visit family in Asia in February.  She was very lucky to get back home before things got covid-crazy.  Since then, we've been keeping mostly to ourselves.  Multiple plans to spend time with friends and family were cancelled.  We have no plan to meet other people until covid-time is over.  

That's not to say we've been hiding indoors as shut-ins.  Face masks and copious amounts of the appropriate hand sanitizer are always ready for our visits to the store and other necessary locations.  I've also been working from home almost 100% of the time, only going into the office (after site approval) a couple of times to access specific stuff on my work desktop computer or paperwork at my desk.

I am weary of the need to keep vigilant against the nasty virus.  However, out of love for my neighbor (and of course, family members), my resolve is not weakened.  

Month	Event
January	Australia fires
February	Africa locust plague begins
March	COVID-SARS-2 explodes
April	Relatively minor events
May	George Floyd's horrific murder
June	Worldwide protests about George Floyd's murder
July	Multiple natural disasters in Asia
August	Beirut explosion
September	Western US fires
October	Terror attacks in France
November	Massive COVID-SARS-2 resurgence
December	Arecibo Observatory collapse
January 2021	Riot on Capitol Hill

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 4)

Even with the current world crisis, and the lack of things to do regardless of where you might go, it was great being able to stay in the Colorado Springs area to see the wolves at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.  It was also great to explore the Garden of the Gods for an afternoon.  That said, our original plans included a bit more.  There are still places to explore.  We'll be back.

Places we missed this time due to covid-time, that we'll try to do next time we are in the area:

• Pikes Peak
• Manitou Incline and other natural trails near Manitou Springs
• Colorado Springs Downtown
• The Broadmoor Seven Falls and restaurant
• Royal Gorge

Series:

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 1)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 2)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 3)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 4)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 3)

Wolves don't really need an excuse to howl.  Strange noises from humans?  Let's do this!

Series:

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 1)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 2)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 3)

Of Wolves and Rocks (Part 4)

Garden of the Gods Park - May 8

Colorado Springs Wolf Encounters

  

 

 

On May 8, 2020, Allie and I enjoyed direct interaction with wolves and foxes at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, CO. Also explored Garden of the Gods. (Facebook, backup)