Pooks Canyon

 Wednesday I finally did the “bike ride plus wet suit swim” adventure. Epic. I did have a concerned kayaker question me (and/or my sanity) which was kind of amusing. It was so much fun even though my wetsuit was too big and the sleeves took on water when I did freestyle strokes. I took a picture before I got in the lake, unfortunately that photo will never be seen. Public service announcement: do not submerge your dry bag inside your wetsuit during a one hour swim, your iPhone will be dead by the time you return to shore. This weekend, while Jon and I got to go down to Monterey and see Leah, Axel stayed back with Mimi who took him to his lacrosse game in Granite Bay. Stampede won 12-8, yay! Thanks Mimi for all the meals, pancakes, bonfires, and sporting transportation. On Friday I walked from the hotel over to Leah’s place and hung out with Leah, Michael, Sansa (pictured) and Sonny (next picture). Sansa had just gotten flea medicine and was sporting a 1950’s house dress to keep it ...

Last Tuesday I flew back to Sacramento from Honolulu. Robert gave me a lift to the airport and Jon picked me up. Such sweet Baker men, thanks fellas.  On Wednesday I realized how much I miss surfing and swimming and the water so I ordered a wetsuit from Amazon and resolved to swim in the lake even though the water is still cold. I hatched a wild plan to ride a bike to Lower Scott’s Flat Lake via the DS Canal trail and get into the 50 degree water right at the lower dam. The idea was to don the wetsuit from a backpack, lock up the bike, and swim a whole bunch, then, when finished, reverse the process. Today was the day I attempted that. It was a failure. I did not listen to Jon and rode my road bike instead of the mountain bike. About 6 miles in, and only 500 meters away from the lake, flat tire. Then I discovered I had no pump. Luckily Axel was home and answered the phone and rode a pump out to my location on his eBike. What a guy. With all the uncertainty surrounding the flat tire...