Sacramento Dining Out Trip

The original purpose of this trip was to take a look at the bike I found on Craigslist. I have been looking for a Raleigh mountain bike with 26" wheels for myself and have not been able to find anything used locally. In reality, it was another reason to get out of town. This time I invited my colleague Jenn who late was not only the witness of me getting a traffic ticket, but also became a partner in eating competition after we discovered that the bike was not good enough for me.

Speaking of eating, Sacramento is a great place to find reasonably prices restaurants and dessert shops. One of the places we visited was Mikuni Japanese Restaurant.

Read Christy W.'s review of Mikuni Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar on Yelp

For coffee we went to The Mill, a hipster-like coffee shop with nice "woody" atmosphere.


Read Christy W.'s review of The Mill on Yelp

Dessert was a must! And in two parts. First dessert place we stopped by was Ginger Elisabeth Chocolates where I acquired a delicious piece of chocolate mousse cake.


Read Christy W.'s review of Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates on Yelp

Gianduja is what I tried, AMAZING!

We did not stop there, we needed gelato! Devine Gelateria & Cafe fit the bill.

Read Christy W.'s review of Devine Gelateria & Cafe on Yelp

Fort Ord National Monument Badger Hills Trail Head - Salinas, CA

I haven't hiked in Salinas before. I didn't even know that there were any trails, like Fort Ord National Monument Badger Hills Trail, to hike in Salinas. It was a nice surprise. Interesting, that this trail could be as short or as long as you'd like. It is not shaded, so it's best completed in the fall or spring. Very open and offers lovely views.

I ended up hiking 8 miles total with about 1200 feet of elevation, which was theoretically not a difficult hike, but in the sun makes you feel more tired than you really are. There were a lot of people in the beginning, but pretty much nobody after the first 2 miles.

Love this goat!

Marble Fork Trail to Marble Falls in Sequoia National Park - Incomplete

This does not happen very often. When I start hiking a trail, it is my honest intention to complete it successfully, which is why I always research the difficulty of the hike, elevation gain, length and other factors (for example, a trail might state "elevation 900 ft", but in reality it could consist of constant switchbacks making it more difficult). I even check the air quality, which is what I did on the day I hiked Marble Fork Trail to Marble Falls in Sequoia National Park in mid-October. One thing, I knew the air quality was bad because of the fires, but hoped that in the mountains it would be a bit better. Wrong!

As I approached the entrance to Sequoia National Park, I could smell the smoke, I could see the smoke; the air was so heavy that the sun had a halo around it. I decided to give it a shot and at least start the hike. Parking was relatively easy and was located in the depth of the campground. I ended up just parking near the front entrance sign instead of the small dirt-road parking lot. The trail is well-marked once you find the trail head.

As I started hiking, flying insects thought I was a meal. There were so many of them in the first mile that I wanted to give up just from that. Nevertheless, I continued. But not for long... The further up I went, the denser the air became to the point when I had a hard time catching my breath. This was the turning point of my hike. I knew I did not want to suffocate to death, at least not yet, so I turned around. Sad, but ultimately the right choice. I will have to come back...

Tokopah Valley Trail in Sequoia National Park

I created a list of trails that I want to hike in the nearest future using info from Alltrails. Who knows how long I stay in Fresno, so I want to cover as much as I can. About a week ago, I decided to check off my list one more trail. Tokopah Valley Trail to Tokopah Falls. Described as an "Easy" hike, it was a bit over 4 miles from the parking lot. The parking lot is located near the camp site, actually, it is right next to the campsite. Elevation gain is minor, maybe 600 to 700 ft, and you literally hike next to the falls pretty much the whole time. I saw deer grazing in the forest (does "grazing" even apply to deer?). The waterfall was really cool, but I was unable to take any decent pictures because of the sun right behind it. I wish I brought my SLR camera with me...

An awesome deer who did not care about humans being around

A cool rock overhanging the trail creating a nice "window" to nature

That's right, it took about 20 shots to get this right

My new pants I got at Goodwill are amazing!

And this is my new backpack that is awesome too!