A Day to Myself

I'm trying to take a day a week to myself - no work - just trying to do other things and enjoy myself. Of course hiking has been a big part of this an today I went for hike on a trail circuit that I had never been on. I was fortunate to get one of my clients who likes to hike to come along. This was a really fun one about 11 miles with an altitude gain of around 2000 feet. The hike is a loop that starts on the east side of the mountains where I rarely go. Here is the link for a good description of the hike with the contour map. It starts with the biggest climb of the hike going up most of the gain in just over 2 miles. You pick up the rest of the altitude over the next 2 miles and then take a long descent before going back laterally across the mountain to the starting point. This last section was a bit of surprise because it looks like a strait shot but in fact requires going down and up three canyons. The trails are much nicer and easier on the feet on the east side because of the moisture and we saw tons of butterflies of a types of colors.

Getting back around 1 PM, I had lunch and showered and then relaxed with my trusty iPod in the "Hole" (my den). I am really getting into classical music again. I find the headphones allow me to listen to all the intricacies of the music without having to turn the volume way up. This is the first thing I found that really lets me let go of everything and relax. I listened to two symphonies in a row.

Then it was on to making dinner. I am playing around with a technique I first read about in a book MR gave me which is used for pasta sauces but I think can be used for making other types of flavorings as well. The sauce turned out pretty good but my application of it left something to be desired.

I'm on my way to Salinas, CA on Monday and Tuesday to do some work with my very good friend Steve. This is a very fun project which I will write about when I get back and has the added benefit of allowing me to spend time with Steve and Diana.

How was your weekend?