Monthly Hike: Bald Mountain

New year, so I think it’s time for a new monthly feature. Victoria and I used to go hiking all the time, but had fallen off the wagon a bit in recent years. In 2009, we want to do more “hardcore hiking” again. We started yesterday, with a hike up Bald Mountain at Sugarloaf Ridge, one of Sonoma’s prime state parks. We had hiked there before, but we’d never gone all the way into the park and taken the trip up Bald Mountain. We went without expectations, got much more than we’d bargained for, but found a trail that was totally worth the effort.

Although only 2729 feet high, Bald Mountain affords amazing views of the surroundings when you get to the top. Mt Tam, Mt Diablo, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Angel Island and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge are all visible. You can even see the snowy silhouette of Pyramid Peak, 10,000 feet high and 129 miles away in the Sierras. Getting to the summit takes a bit of stamina: the 2700 foot ascend stretches across (only) 2.8 miles and has some steep sections. The way back down (via the Gray Pines trail) might be even trickier, because loose rubble turns even steeper sections into a serious balance challenge. We had a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful (74 degrees in January!). The only downside was that we didn’t bring a real camera, so all of the following photos are low-res iPhone pictures.

Impressions From Germany, Part 3

Germany is experiencing a rather convincing cold spell at the moment and my brother sent me these images, which I found too cool not to share. These were taken in Straelen, home of Bofrost. Bofrost is the world’s biggest distributor of frozen foods. Now you know why

Impressions From Germany, Part 2

To round out our trip to Germany (and Holland), here’s a second gallery of images, which were mostly taken by Victoria and Missy.

Happy New Year!

Hope you’re feeling the same way about the new year.

Impressions From Germany

As I did four years ago, here is a gallery of images from our Xmas trip to Germany. This year we traveled around quite a bit, visiting Münster, Köln and as a bonus, across the border to Amsterdam.

The Year That Was: 2008 (Part 2)

Here’s part two of my “Hey, 2008 was pretty crappy but there’s a lot to be thankful for!” list. Read part one for the first four entries.

Green Card

This year I was (finally!) granted permanent residency for the US, after having lived here for over 10 years. And that makes everything a lot easier! I was lucky enough to receive an O-1 visa when Ritual Entertainment first brought me to America, and that made it possible to stay indefinitely (and switch jobs twice) with comparatively minor headaches. But it also brought the pressure of having to be employed without a single lapsed day, annoying immigration procedures at the airport and bi-yearly trips to my favorite heavily fortified building in all of Frankfurt, the American Consulate. All of those things are in the past now, and I can enjoy life in America with one less monkey on my back.

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The Year That Was: 2008

Let’s face it: 2008 wasn’t a great year. Between the record economic downturn, the mortage crisis, the shrinking job market, and a financial stimulus package that didn’t seem to help anybody who actually needed it, this year won’t enter many people’s memories as one to remember. But even though 2008 wasn’t great, and even though the outlook for 2009 isn’t necessarily better (yet), Victoria and I were lucky to not encounter any real hardship during the last 12 months. So with New Year’s Eve is approaching, I decided to look back at the good times that we had last year. Here’s a few things that were decidely cool about 2008:

A Race Season at Sears Point

2008 marked the first year that I received a hard card for Infineon Raceway, and it made for a great racing season. We had easy access and parking to all events; I stood right next to the track as thundering race cars were shooting down the esses at 100+ mph; I filmed some great footage like the NASCAR time lapses; and I got Victoria and her dad backstage access to the prerace festivities of the IndyCar race. I also filmed many of the driver appearances and tests at the track, and in using that footage I gained a lot of experience as a movie editor. The 40 Year documentary was quite a big accomplishment, and the mini promos for the NASCAR and NHRA events were fun. I’m still not doing anything earth-shattering with my movies, but it’s very decent film-making for the web. And it’s a great hobby to balance all the game development stuff that I normally do!

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all you who celebrate it! I hope that you have a good time with your family and loved ones, and find some relief from the crazy world out there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’d like to wish a happy Thanksgiving to all my of American readers! I hope you have family or friends to celebrate with, and still find plenty of things to be thankful for in these rather difficult times.

Europeans might find it hard to understand what all the fuss is about. When I first arrived in America, I didn’t appreciate how momentous this holiday is. So let’s just cover a few basics: Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas. Everybody tries to celebrate this holiday with their family – and because America is such a big country, that means a lot of travel. In Germany, I was used to the idea that you can get pretty much anywhere by car in a matter of 8 hours. In the US, it takes 5 hours by plane to go between the east and west coast. On Thanksgiving the roads are packed, and the airports are busy.

But really, the best way to understand the magnitude of Thanksgiving is to be single, without a family in the US, and trying to do anything on Thanksgiving evening. Like me when I first got to America. Thanksgiving might be the only day of the year that America shuts down. No stores are open, no restaurants (or even fast food chains) serve food to the unprepared newcomer. Xmas is a walk in the park compared to Thanksgiving.

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Impression From Maui

Who would have thought that Costco is the best travel agent for vacations to Hawaii? Last year, Victoria and I booked our honeymoon to the Grand Hyatt on Kauai and absolutely loved it. The same package was available this year, but we decided to try something different. After a bit of soul searching (Dominican Republic? Puerto Rico?), we settled on a similar deal for the Hyatt Regency on Maui. Similar deal from Costco, including a rental car and other amenities. It was fun! A few memories from the trip:

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