February 2011
3 posts
6 tags
Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo State Park
Melissa, Lilly and I went to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo state park near Santa Cruz last Monday. Our tour started at 9AM so we left the house around 7:00 just to make sure we would get there in time. As it turns out, it only takes about an hour to get there if you drive like I do, which meant we had plenty of time to hang around in the lobby area.
We left on our tour at 9 and it took...
5 tags
Tahoe Trips Round 1 - Heavenly, Squaw Valley &...
Since we’ve never skied Tahoe and we’re looking to get a winter share next year, we were really hoping to check out as many different mountains as possible during 2010-2011 season. So far, so good. The first round of trips included Heavenly, Squaw, and Northstar. I’ll break down the pros and cons of each below.
Heavenly
Pros:
Amazing views of both Nevada and Lake Tahoe
...
4 tags
Point Reyes Hike - Bear Valley Trail
Finally found sometime to catch up on blog entires today! The first of the series of updates from trips over the last few months is of our January trip to Point Reyes. We found a nice trail called Bear Valley, which apparently also happens to be the most “touristed” (i.e. crawling with tourists). Nonetheless, the rumor is that this trail is well traveled for good reason, namely,...
January 2011
1 post
3 tags
Half Moon Bay
We finally made it over to half moon bay a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was a bit too cold to enjoy much of a hike, but, we ran into some excitement involving a grounded ship. Apparently auto-pilot combined with falling asleep at the wheel is a recipe for disaster. Noted.
December 2010
3 posts
8 tags
Castlight Health: Healthcare Services Shopping
Although a bit overused these days, the adage “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” seems so fitting for Castlight Health that I just can’t resist. The three year old Health 2.0 startup based in San Francisco is taking a page directly from Justice Brandeis’ playbook by shining some light on the historically opaque world of healthcare services pricing and quality. Their web based platform, only...
5 tags
Loggly – Logging as a Service
Log management may not be the sexiest problem in IT today, but it sure is an important one – and Loggly wants to solve it. The company is building a cloud based logging service that takes the pain out of log collection, management, and processing and offers it on a subscription basis. The product is currently in private beta, but will soon be available to the general public (btw –love the...
8 tags
AirBnb and a Lesson on Building Two Sided Networks
I just finished listening to Brian Chesky’s talk for Startup School from a few months ago. If you haven’t watched it yet, you’d be well advised to do so (find it here). Aside from being hilarious and entertaining, it also provided a unique view into the will, determination, and scrappiness that it takes to start a company. There were lots of great lessons, but one thing in particular...
November 2010
7 posts
4 tags
A Case for Throw-Away Mockups
I’ve read a lot of great posts recently on the future of wireframes and if the low-fidelity mockup should go the way of the dodo. In one post, the writer advocates using the technology framework itself for creating a mockup – or in other words, producing web-ready HTML/Javascript/CSS (and corresponding graphics from Photoshop or Fireworks) to create a semi-close-to-real-world model for...
5 tags
Opinionaided: Real-Time Advice on the Go
New Jersey based startup Opinionaided wants to help you get advice and opinions in real-time. Their platform allows you to pose questions to the world or to your personal network, and crowdsource “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” feedback instantly. Want to know whether to purchase the iPad with 32GB or the cheaper, younger brother? Or, whether it’s worth heading to the movies to watch the new ...
9 tags
Three Ideas for Improving Google's Hotpot
Hotpot, Google’s new product for local search and recommendations, was released a few days ago to mixed reviews. Some were great (Mashable) and others were less than stellar (Wired, GigaOM, SEW). Personally, I like the idea behind Hotpot and think there’s potential. Personalized recommendations for places to go to, businesses to patronize, and interesting things to do is something that would...
4 tags
Installing Typekit on Tumblr
If haven’t used TypeKit yet, you should definitely try it out. TypeKit allows you to add creative and professional looking type faces to your website - beyond the basic fonts supported by most browsers/OSs. The service packages the fonts and sends them directly to the end user’s browser, enabling your website to provide a consistent visual experience across browsers and operating...
3 tags
Twin Peaks Hike
I hiked up to Twin Peaks yesterday with Lilly on my back. We started from the East side in Noe Valley around 29th and Church. Since we got going around lunch, we stopped at St. Paul’s Market to grab a bite to eat before heading up the hill. I’ve never been to St Paul’s before, but holy crap, what a sandwich ($5 bucks for a 2” stack of meat). Lilly ate half the...
6 tags
Skyara.com - "Do Something Awesome"
Just got back from a “lunch with the Skyara founders” event that I discovered and purchased through their website, Skyara.com. Well worth the $20.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, Skyara is a local-activities website where you can find exciting things to do around the city. For the moment, that includes activities as varied as marksmanship training with an army...
Destination Wedding - Riviera Maya
This was our 2nd trip to the Riviera Maya. The first was to earn our scuba chops in Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen. This time the trip was for Meghan and Tyler’s wedding. Melissa and I have decided we absolutely love this area. Consider our retirement location finalized.
We flew into Cancun and took the shuttle to our resort, the Barcelo Maya, which is an inclusive resort located south...
October 2010
1 post
3 tags
Baker Beach Presidio
Ever since we arrived in San Francisco, we had been wanting to check out the shoreline of the Presidio and Baker Beach. It’s not much of a hike and is a fun afternoon get away if you only have a few hours to kill - which we did. We loaded up the car at about 2:30 on Sunday, packed some snacks for Lilly, and headed over to the Presidio. We parked right off of Lincoln Ave next to a World...
September 2010
1 post
5 tags
Stinson Beach Loop
After a little research, we decided to head to Stinson beach to do the Matt Davis, Steep Ravine, Dispea trail trifecta loop. Stinson Beach is accessible via highway 1 heading west about 9 miles from Mill Valley. We got an early start and left the house at about 8:30, which put us at Stinson right around 9:15. We found great parking right next to some basketball courts near the center of town...
August 2010
3 posts
3 tags
San Bruno Mountain Summit Loop Hike
Got a chance to check out San Bruno Mountain state park yesterday with the family. Overall, I was pretty impressed. The Summit Loop trail is a solid 3.1 miles winding up and around the top and sides of the mountain. The view from the top was killer. Though, I could have just as easily have done without all the cell phone towers and buildings on the summit. Overall, it’s a great way to...
2 tags
Montara Mountain Hike
Amazing weather in San Francisco and the peninsula compelled me to drag the family to Montara state beach for the McNee Ranch hike up to the North Peak. We got the gear ready and the car loaded so we could just grab the “Oof” from her crib, put her in the carseat, and head out with hopefully minimal interruption of her nap. That actually went incredibly smoothly. The drive there...
5 tags
Muir Woods Tourist Club
Took a nice trip with the family and some good friends to the Tourist Club in Muir Woods this Sunday. If you’ve never heard of it, the Tourist Club is a hike-in members only club situated in Muir Woods. “Hike-in” meaning you can’t reach it by vehicle and “members only” meaning that you can’t get into the place except on a few key weekends when they open...
June 2010
3 posts
6 tags
Chi to SF - Day 3 - Yellowstone!
Yellowstone is the most amazing place I’ve ever been - both in terms of wildlife and landscape. Jon and I started out heading directly to Old Faithful to meet Alexis and Emily (friends from B-School). Not even half an our into the park from the Eastern entrance, we came to a dead stop behind a line of stopped cars. As we were in a bit of rush to make our rendezvous, we pulled around to...
8 tags
Chi to SF - Day 2 - Badlands and Mt Rushmore
We knew Day 2 was going to be just as crazy as Day 1 in terms of how far we needed to drive. So, we decided to head out early and put as many miles past us as possible in the hopes of making it to Yellowstone before end of day. We had briefly looked at a map and noticed the Badlands national park was on our way. We passed it around noon and decided to stop and check it out. The Badlands...
1 tag
Chi to SF - Day 1 - Cornfields and Thunderstorms
We got on the road at 1:30PM, which was later than desired, but not terrible. The idea was to haul ourselves as fast as possible across the corn fields of the mid-west so we could enjoy a little more time out west in areas like Yellowstone and Yosemite. Given that we were already on the south-western side of Chicago (in Countryside, IL to be exact), we decided to head south on I-55 to I-80...