This week the world was introduced to iPhone 6. Last week I had my credit card number compromised which meant I wouldn’t have to stay up all night to order a phone that won’t even ship to me until October. I did, however, get a new card in the mail yesterday and the phone which I have been anxiously holding off through three generations of iPhones (four if you count the 5c) will finally be on it’s way in just another week. The photos I’m going to take are going to be amazing… I can’t wait.
Some might argue that spending so much money on a new Apple device would actually be much better spent on buying Apple stock. The $500USD that was spent on my first ipod (the iPod Photo 40gb) would have been a better investment in Apple stock considering that same $500 would now be worth $12470. While I really loved my iPod, it wasn’t worth $12.5K.
So this time around, I decided to have my cake and eat it too. I invested in the spring and so far I’ve made enough to pay for my iPhone just out of earnings. The tough part is deciding to pull my money out now or to let it ride for the long haul. This little chart, What if I had bought Apple stock instead? would suggest I should let it ride.
Of all the wonderful things we did on this vacation, our hike into Deep Creek Hot Springs will probably remain the most memorable. The drive from Palm Springs presented some spectacular views! (Unfortunately the photos don’t do it justice).
We began our journey with the GPS pre-programmed to take us to the Kinley Creek Bridge. That may not have been the best idea because, while we wanted to get to the bridge, we didn’t need to wind through so many residential roads when sticking to Grass Valley Road would have been a better route.
Located along the Mojave River, (sometimes called Deep Creek) the hot springs welcome people of any size, age, and colour. Speaking of colour, I think we (especially me) got a bit too much sun exposure this day!
Unfortunately for us, our sun screen was not as full as we thought and by the end of the day, the sun had burned my back into a splotchy mess of red and white. (I’ll be the first to admit that trying to apply sunscreen to your own back is a rookie mistake).
Though some sources say it’s about 40 minutes to an hour to reach the end of the Bradford Ridge trail, we took our time checking out the wildlife and photographing flowers and I felt myself getting a little frustrated as we broke the two hour mark, but it just made the reward all the sweeter when we were finally able to soak in the hot springs.
We waded across the river (unnecessarily, it turns out) and soon found ourselves bounding from pool to pool testing our stamina against each of the various springs’ temperatures. The waters within the four(?) pools varied between 39c to 47c (102f to 117f). The river itself, unless swimming near a hot springs outlet, was quite brisk.
Our group soon expanded from the two of us to about 12 sitting and chatting in The Womb and the pools below it. Although many (most?) of the folks decided to go au-naturel, the people we met were lovely, happy folks, mostly from the area and we spent a long time getting to know one another. A bit of a motley crew, they included a very sun worn dude with two dogs (though he claims only one dog is his own), a cute set of twins from L.A. (celebrating their 25th birthday, it was their first time at the springs and also first time skinny dipping), a couple of local regulars, and another young couple who were also here for the first time.
A little grey bird caught our attention as it fed its young in the nest attached to the walls near the shower below the Anniversary Pool. We didn’t even notice the nest until the parent showed up with some food and the little chicks chirped their tiny little beaks off. So cute to see nature happening right before our eyes.
The fellow with the dogs showed off his slack line skills crossing the river with ease and later he began filling sandbags (long ones that he brought himself) and placing them below the hot spring run-off. It’s anyone’s guess how long it will last but one of the twins suggested they call it the Goldilocks Pool because, the spring water mixed with the river water created a mixture not too hot, not too cold, but just right.
We loved every second of the river and the springs (and the company) but the setting sun pressured us to get going. After all, we felt that our hike back on the Bradford Ridge Trail would be considerably more frightening in the dark. We opted for a different, less steep route, and it made us worry we’d lost the trail but we soon found it again and made haste to get back to Palm Springs.
Day two at Disneyland. Because we hit the park hard yesterday we felt it in our legs today. That didn’t hamper our spirits though and we strolled over to the park after a couple of continental breakfast pastries. I was thinking about an early morning dip in the hotel pool but it doesn’t open until 9am pretty much guaranteeing any serious ride goer like myself won’t be taking advantage of their facilities.
Today was a chance to catch-up on rides and attractions that we missed on day one. We were not disappointed! Rides we went on today included:
On our third day in California, we rose bright and early to hit the road pretty much exactly when the rest of Calfornia was on their way to work. While I knew that it was going to be a driving adventure, navigating that many lanes (at times as many as 8 going our direction) was something I hadn’t totally expected. Luckily we arrived without incident.
Once in the park, the secret to getting the biggest return on investment is knowing which rides are worth waiting in line and which are better to get a Fastpass. The newish Radiator Springs Racers Cars is a very popular attraction, so first things first, we found the Fastpass station and got hooked up! The thing about Fastpasses is that you’re only supposed to be able to get one at a time, however, we raced over to the line for Fastpasses to the World of Color because I had read that it isn’t on the same system as the other Fastpasses and, just like that, we were already working the park like pros!
Having secured our afternoon and evening at Disney’s California Adventure, it was time for our first ride and since we were standing next to the 110-foot Grizzly Peak, it was an obvious choice. Our first ride would be Grizzly River Run, the white-water rafting adventure at the mountain’s base.
Being early in the day, and a bit cool still, meant that we wouldn’t be waiting in line for very long. After a mere 10 minutes we found our selves strapped into the giant rubber rafting tube, slowing ascending the rickety conveyor belt, wondering who would get soaked first.
I came away from the ride only a little wet, Andrea got it worse than me, but one of the other guys on our raft was almost completely soaked. It was a lot of fun.
The rest of the day was great too. Next we popped over to Disneyland and discovered we could hold Fastpasses for one of the attractions in this park at the same time as we held them for DCA. We made some great memories as we hit up:
The Jungle Cruise
The Pirates of the Caribbean
The Haunted Mansion and
Splash Mountain
Then it was back to DCA for our chance to race one of the cars from Cars.
Probably my favorite ride of the day was California Screamin. Here’s the video.
The last ride of the night was Space Mountain and then it was a well deserved rest back at the hotel so we can do it all over again tomorrow.
The power went out earlier today. Six hours later, the neighborhood is still very dark. I hope it comes back on in the middle of the night and gives my toys iPhone and iPad their well needed overnight charge.
Q “And after you held me down, I asked you, ‘Why did you do that?’ And then, what did you say?”
A “I did not hold you down and I believe I apologized if I might have because, if I did, which I firmly believe I did not, it was completely unintentional.”
I went to Castle River Rodeo Campground again this year with my good friend Andy for the long weekend kayaking festival. This was my 6th year participating in the event and once again it was a really good time.
Photo by Janson Smith
Organizer, Chuck Lee, and his crew of volunteers put on a great event each year with all sorts of river runs and clinics available for paddlers of all levels. Andy and I hit up the “Upper-Upper Old Man” and also the section known as “The Gap”. We also ran the Castle River Falls and the Castle Canyon run. Here’s a video from near the headwaters of the Old Man River shot on the GoPro HD Hero 960 that I was given for Christmas. (Which I love by the way).
Each year they have a boat stacking competition — we were eliminated in the semi-finals — which is too bad because the winning team each got a brand new helmet. Here we are in a round where we did NOT get eliminated.
Photo by Janson Smith
This year I helped start a new tradition that they’re now calling H2O Limbo. Just Liquid Sports provided the prizes in three contests — one for men, women, and kids and I came in second in the mens which earned me a new pair of neoprene gloves! (Thanks Rob) The guy who beat me must have been about 65 years old and could limbo better than just about any guy I’ve ever seen.
Photo by Janson Smith
Some dude ran Lundbreck Falls again this year — I did not. Luckily there were no injuries at the falls. Here’s the photo I snapped: