Spring Bike Trips - 2009

Springtime brought two great bike trips. The 9^th annual Foothill Bike Trip saw us riding through the wide open foothills between Mariposa and the Central Valley. We ride with our kids’ best friends, and always seem to hit great wildflowers somewhere along our route. Some years we’ve gone for 3 or 4 nights with all the camping gear. Other years we just do an overnight. All the kids are pretty good riders now, and managed a 35-mile day on their own the last couple of years. Lupin, of course, still rides on the “Trail-Gator” attached to Dad’s seat post. After about 30 miles in the seat, her legs weren’t tired, but she asked “Dad, do you know something actually that my butt hurts so much?” At one point she began to fall asleep on her handlebars…. The only way I knew was that she suddenly stopped her incessant chatter. I looked back, and there she was, on her bike, but laying her head down on the handlebars. We had to stop, get off, and do some running around, snacking, and hydrating. I just had to keep her awake for the last 5 miles, as she would NOT get into the little kid-trailer! We always try to conclude with a stop at Marco’s Taco Truck in LeGrand to refuel!

We really wanted to do a longer ride this year, right out our door, across the Central Valley, and all the way to the ocean…. But our school vacations didn’t allow us enough time… this time! So we had amped up the kids for “riding to the beach,” and had to fulfill that promise. We started in Cotati, and spent 4 days camping and riding through Sonoma County and out to the coast. We stayed with friends in Bodega, camped a couple of nights, and braved the narrow busy stretch of Highway 1 from Bodega Bay up to Jenner. It rained on us quite a bit, but the girls had great raingear. Lupin had the option of riding in the Burley Trailer, but refused. She wanted to ride out in the elements just like her big sisters. Some highlights included the livestock along the way, gorgeous rolling hills, and the leisurely wandering pace that only a kid-centered bike trip can offer! If they aren’t having fun, then WE aren’t having fun…. So we stop at every horse corral, cow barn, and banana slug garden. The more stops the better! At this rate we did cycling days of, I think, 30 miles, 20, 7, and 10? Something like that. It was quite mellow, and concluded with an amazing Indian feast at the Sizzling Tandoor in Jenner. And then the wild and windy seal-infested beach at the mouth of the Russian River. Our kids are begging us to return there someday!

Spring Fun 2008

We had some snowy days and some sunny days but in all weather we love being out in it! In the sun, the snow, the rocks, the wildflowers. We are so blessed with fabulous
friends and family to play with!















One of our annual traditions is to get on our bicycles, (configurations change each year), and find places in the Sierran Foothills to explore and camp while rolling along quiet roads with lots of green grass and wildflowers. Every year is a bit different as the girls add their own miles to the previous year's adventure. In the early days, the babies rode in the Burley trailers... Then graduated to "ride-a-longs" of some sort. Now most of them are riding their own bikes. Last spring the 7 & 9 year olds rode about 30 miles on their own!!! (with a little help from bungee cords on a few uphills!)

It is an amazing thing to see our kids riding through this landscape that is their home, and loving every minute of it! It is a sacred ritual that we share with some of our favorite expedition partner/families - The Canaparys. Andrea, Edward, Maya and Dawn have been essential family friends since our kids were born.
We look forward to this trip with them every year!

The wildflowers are often the best anywhere!













Still have a kid in the trailer...sometimes! Lupin only likes to ride in there after she has already fallen asleep while on the "Trail-Gator". That can be a bit scary... She gets super tired, but refuses to stop "riding." She'll eventually stop talking and starts nodding off. One of us rides alongside, watching her, and the moment she puts her head down on the handlebars, we stop and load her into the trailer.


Seeing horses...just makes everything more special for Maya and Eliza.



Riding downhill for lunch at a central valley taco truck, like Ramon's (in Planada) or Marco's (in LeGrand), makes everything more special for ALL of us! YUMMY!!!

Yosemite Winter - 2008

Let's have a snowball fight!

We did have some of the rare and luscious snowy days in El Portal!

These are some of our dearest pals and neighbors: Maya, Makayla, Eliza, Dawn and Sylvie. Always ready for adventure...and snowballs!






Eliza ready to go...Lupin just
waking - must be her turn to
make breakfast!


On trips over 1000 miles Paul has to pull Lupin in the sled. Pretty good workout. Lupin can cook dinner while she rides. A good efficiency measure. Hah! Wouldn't that be cool!



Here is Eliza at Dewey Point!

We did a few snow camping trips but this one was especially fun because our friends Jefferson, Maggie and John White came too...we had a blast trying to keep warm by Chant Dancing! Lots of hot chocolate helped too.











..and some ski fashion to liven things up a bit.




The Hutte...The Ostrander Hut that is.
This is an annual trip that Paul and Karen hate to miss.
We get to ski out to this cozy hut, eat things not usually found in the region like Kim and Matthew's sushi, and play music and square dance with hut folk that love all of the above, execute amazing backcountry ski adventures, and savor great company and lots of laughter too!



Winter is one of our Four most favorite seasons and we were happy not to miss all of it. We filled the days with some pretty good adventures.



Enjoying the Sushi...you can imagine how amazing that tasted, prepped by these fine chefs, but especially out there after the storm!





There were many days of skiing at Badger Pass - the oldest ski area this side of the Rockies!
Hmmmm...come try out your boards, whatever kind and ability, Badger is perfect for families and...most lovers of quieter winter experiences. Quiet until that marching band shows up.

The Sierra is at its most serene and romantic in winter...we think.

Eliza Celebrates at the Mall

Yahooooo!! Looks like a new road ahead and we are sooooooo thankful!

The whole world looks different. Brighter. More vibrant. Hope is an amazing lens. We are ecstatic about this new view and hoping it lasts and lasts. Hope. No matter what, we are on this new path together. There is no going back.

Welcome Home from INDIA!!!

Blink blink blink...did we really go live in
Bangalore?
Seems so suddenly we were in the arms of our loving, beautiful family in San Francisco! Thank you for the warm welcome HOME - Gramma Choo Choo and Papa, Gramma Carole and
Babu, Wendy, Pete and Jill and Sebastian, Manuela, Katrina and Emily!! We are so happy to be safely home with you all!!






There is no place like HOME!
We were welcomed back to the Yosemite region by the community of friends and family that make this place our HOME. What blessed beings we are to have not only a real live marching band to celebrate our safe return, but to be able to live out the daily adventures of work and play and parenting and exploring the wild things that we have right here!

We LOVE our people!

Wrapping up our experience in India

Well, the India chapter was such an important chapter in 2007-08 for us all, I just couldn't close it without a few more images of ways we spent much of our time. Birding. The birds, no surprise, one of the biggest gifts of our life in South India. they acted not only as sirens for Karen, but as liasons introducing all of us in the end to some of the coolest and best humans on the planet!! Incredible naturalists too! Yes that is a big ol' granite dome just a handful of kilometers from Bangalore...they are everywhere! In fact, the city is built on top of several. Talk about connection to Yosemite! It really IS the same planet! Many weekends (often just one day as Paul and the school girls were in school 6 days a week! Not so sustainable for us weekend warriors) found us in new places near Bangalore looking for new bird species. They were all new to us. What pure joy to watch our kids learning to get excited about their favorites and try to get closer and see better.
There are always cups of hot chai and great snacks at the end of the morning too!

One one of these outings I found myself in a car getting a ride home with a guy who overheard that I live in Yosemite. He said that he had just been there this past summer. He explained that he was in a remote part of the park...that of course turned out to be - Tuolumne Meadows! Only there for one noght, but he just happened to attend MY campfire there!! Ravens...Everything is so connected. Especially with migratory birds! Small world!


Some of the folks we were so honored to hang out with are pictured here with us at our kitchen table celebrating Sylvie's 7th birthday! Hansa and Miko are friends of a Tuolumne friend that were teaching in Bangalore too! We of course hit it off with them and spent as much time together as we could... Also at the table is Marya Carr!! She is our friend & neighbor here in El Portal and was our housemate for 2 months in Bangalore!! What fun!

These beautiful folks are some of our neighbors in Bangalore. Vishu spent most days after school at our house hanging out and playing with the girls. Her Mom owns the beauty salon next door! My hair never looked so good!! We all miss them a lot!

These are our most vital neighbors Col. Murthy and Satya who helped us with just about everything! They took care of us so well and taught us so much about how to deal with important things like getting water delivered to the house and how to complain like a true Indian when
things fail to be delivered properly and how to cook amazing food. I wish I could imitate the recipes that we were treated to at Satya's table. Yum!! It seems second nature for women to cook food that is so perfect every time. We felt so lucky to feast often...

Then there was school... Kendriya Vidyalaya MEG and Center Bangalore, where Paul taught Maths and zaniness to students in middle and high school. Eliza and Sylvie also went here! See our India blog for some pretty cute photos. What an EDUCATION for all involved!



Then there were the school goodbyes. What a send off those students gave their beloved Mister Paul Sir! Gifts and dancing and so many flowers! Tears and hugs and heartfelt smiles and sentiment were all such lasting treasures from the time at Kendriya Vidyalaya School. We would go back in a second!




Well...look what Santa brought to Kerala for us all!! More time together with Marya, AND all the way from Dresden, Germany...Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Joanna!!! What more could we want! The nearly 24 hour drive to Kerala with Chris and Joanna was so much more an adventure to enjoy than a carsick challenge because of their presence. Our kids will laugh and smile through anything as long as they have their beloveds along. Which is one of the many reasons we LOVE to travel with friends! So here we are on Christmas morn. in Varkala, shocked and in awe at the sacred gifts that found us there in that remote corner of the globe.
New Year's Day...spent shopping for and scoring pressure cookers!This beautiful lady is Deepti Diwakar - former Miss India and award winning dance teacher...and dear friend. Many walks and teas were spent together with Deepti. Eliza took home some great dance steps too. Just ask her to perform them next time you see her.

We are enhanced and changed for life. The people and wildlife and landscape and culture to bind everything together are now embedded in our rich tapestry of life experiences. Our kids are part of something even greater than we could have imagined after the time spent in school, travelling, eating, loving and living in this beautiful country. We are forever grateful to all who made it possible.

To see more, go to our amstutzindia blog! This is just a tiny photo summary.