Where has the time gone?

My last general update was April 9th - camped out in the Troxell backyard.

Here is what I have been up to since then:

Felton (April 8th - April 13th): The Troxell's backyard and downstairs office was perfect for getting organized, despite the flood. While there, I did some trailer upgrades and added a memory-foam mattress-topper from Costco to the GeekPod, turning the bed into a very comfy nest.


Lyle & Wyatt Troxell working on my electrical system....


Tab vs. Winebago. Both of us seeking higher ground from the flood waters. I think I could have parked INSIDE that monster!

Pacifica (April 13th - April 15th): Beautiful cliffside camping in Pacifica. While up near SF I finished organizing my storage unit, and sold my chairs - wrapping up my Purge Sale. I also did some shopping at REI (I love that store!), and met butterfly_smile for dinner... (More pictures in this post.)


Cliffside camping in Pacifica...


It's been years since I've had a window office. Two laptops, a Treo, and a view. What more do you need to be productive? (Oh yeah, the scanner and printer are in the under-seat storage area...)


Cupertino (April 15th - April 19th): Back down to Cupertino, pitching camp at Rebekah's again. Who can resist a beautifully landscaped campground (ok - driveway) with such great company, and WiFi. Nice party Saturday night at cortneyofeden's place. Easter dinner Sunday with Rebekah and David - yummy ham and cheesy movies. Monday, taxes. Tuesday, recovery.

Treasure Island (April 19th & 20th): The sun was AT LAST shining, so Wednesday afternoon I stopped by West Valley Flying Club in San Carlos to spend an hour doing pattern work to keep my flying currency - just in the nick of time before it expired. Wednesday night I ended up missing connections with my friend Casey, so I decided to camp out on Treasure Island in the hope of hooking up with him the next day. I then spent all the next day exploring the island on bike - taking many awesome photographs. Treasure Island is an amazing and very surreal place - still in limbo after having been abandoned by the military, but not yet redeveloped. One interesting highlight - running into the Bay Area Backroads crew filming an episode on the original "San Francisco International Airport" - when Treasure Island was used by Pan Am Clipper flying boats.


SF and the Bay Bridge by night from Treasure Island.


SF and the Golden Gate Bridge by day from Treasure Island.


Bay Area Backroads filming on the roof of the original SFO.


View of the new and old Bay Bridge, from the backside of Treasure Island...


The flowers and plants on the island are beautiful...


But Treasure Island is slowly rotting away.


The north side of the island has a great bike path along the levy, running past generic former military housing that is now available for rent from the city of San Francisco. Not all of it is habitable though... It feels so wrong - these places have million dollar views of the Golden Gate bridge and city skyline - but some of them don't even have windows pointing in the right direction!


I really enjoyed spending the day exploring every corner of the island on my bike.


There are bizarre sites to see. This "house" is burned down repeatedly by the SF Fire Department for training.



The most interesting thing I discovered was the old base pool - now covered with beautiful graffiti art. The floating cans and lids in the water made for a very colorful and otherworldly image.

Point Richmond (April 20th & 21st): I caught up with my friend Casey, and we went out for the most amazing Sushi dinner. Up way too late having much fun and good conversation with Casey and his housemate - enjoying the amazing view over the Bay back towards SF and Treasure Island. The next day, I spent time researching solar and AV with Casey offering much advice on how I could build a mobile media server. (But I'm not sure I will have the power budget for an always-on server if I want to focus on solar power....)


Casey's condo has a stunning view - looking back across the bay towards Treasure Island of all places...

San Leandro (April 21st - 23rd): Down to House Weirdness for a visit with akienm, dawnd, klrmn, and the ever-amazing Allegra. Allegra thoroughly tested out all systems on my trailer as only a nine-year old can, and everything seems to have survived. Saturday Lindsay came down from Sacramento for a lunch (Chicken and Waffles) and movie (The Sentinel) date, and then Saturday night was spent at ravenslost's 30th birthday party. Seeing Raven duel her father over who could describe the best meal as the audience cheered was much fun - it is VERY clear now where Raven's passion for food comes from. Hearing Taz's food porn submission was also rather amazing. Second best - this amazing bit of Apple Fritter worship.

Sunday day was spent at the Maker Faire, and then I drove up to Sacramento last night.



Allegra and friend testing out the durability of my Tab...


Next up is some (hopefully) minor tweaking of the clamshell hatch at the dealer. And then I'd like to head up into the Sierra's for some skiing while there is still some snow left.

It's been three weeks - its about time I escaped from the Bay Area. Its just that there are SO MANY cool people to visit... I could probably bounce around for another month or two before I even started to run out of cool driveways to park in.

*grin*