mDale.com v2

Summer Adventures

Matt | August 15, 2005 at 10:43 am | In General |

I’ve been really busy this summer. Between a major computer system upgrade at work and numerous vacations, I haven’t had much time to work on this site. I have finally updated my photo gallery script to version 6.0 of 35mm gallery. This means that when the photos are sized down for thumbnail view they will be cropped to preserve the same aspect ration (no more squashed heads!). You can check out those results by visiting the photos section of this site.

I’ve also posted a new series of photos from my different adventures this summer. Check this gallery of summer photos here.

In the first three photos, you’ll see Alden and me dressed up in genuine WWII flight gear for a B-17 bomber squadron. Ed Nored of Magalia, CA asked 10 local guys to help him “bring to life” his flight gear collection. Ed found out that the B-17 “Nine-o-nine” flown by the Collings Foundation would be at the Chico airport on June 6th, so he quickly put together a flight crew of local young men (of very specific waist sizes and heights) to wear his vintage gear. We also had two Red Cross girls join the party. Overall the photo shoot was a success–everyone got a good idea how long it took to get “suited-up” and I don’t think I’ve ever worn that much wool at one time ;)

The next major event of the summer (that I have photos of) was my trip down to SoCal to visit André, Dave and Joe. We hung out over 4th of July weekend at my grandparent’s condo in Palm Springs. We watched a ton of movies, walked around downtown after dark, swam in the pool, and generally had a great time. Unfortunately, because we were having such a good time, nobody took any pictures. Oops!

After the guys left, I took off to the Taylor Guitars factory in El Cajón, CA. Photos 4-10 were taken on the factory tour. If anyone lives within driving distance of El Cajón (near San Diego) I would heartily recommend taking the tour. I especially enjoyed the sign on the bathroom door (cf. photo 10).

After stopping off at both grandparent’s houses, I returned to the TAC campus, my old Alma Mater. While there I took Joe and André out surfing. I don’t think they had a great time because the waves were pretty bad, but I hope that they try it again sometime. I also met up with my friend Matt Gilbert, who just graduated from West Point, and hung out with him in the Ventura area for a few days. I also had the pleasure of teaching 5 girls from back home how to surf. We went out on a Sunday evening and Monday morning. Monday the waves were awesome, and I’m pretty sure that everyone had a good time (even though some of the party got a little seasick). Overall, I managed to surf 7 days out of an 11 day vacation.

Upon returning to NorCal, I immediately left on a backpacking trip with Matt Gilbert. We hiked up in the Gold Lakes Basin. It was great to catch up on what is going on in his life. We managed to take a few photos during the trip, so check out photos 12-14.

We came back on a Thursday, and left to climb Mt. Shasta on that Sunday. Our initial ascent began around 4:00 p.m. Sunday. We climbed the “Avalanche Gulch” route. Sunday night we camped at 50-50, about 1000 ft. below Helen Lake (a popular camping spot). We left camp Monday morning at around 3:30 a.m. and began the final ascent. I would have to say that it was the most grueling hike I’ve ever been on. Of our party of six, two turned back at the top of Red Banks (about 12,000 ft.). My dad, Alden, our friend Dave Feldhaus and I made it to the top around 11:00 a.m., and enjoyed not having to climb up any more. A nasty trick that Shasta plays on climbers is a series of false peaks. You look up and see what you think is the peak, but when you get there, you see another peak. That happens at least 3 times during the climb. I almost couldn’t believe it when we got to the very top. Overall, the conditions were perfect.

The best part of the climb was the descent. At the top of Red Banks, we sat down on the snow, put our ice axes under our arms (as brakes), and glissaded (slid) all the way back to Helen Lake. The ride took about 15 minutes. It was awesome! To see the pictures from the Shasta trip, check out photos 15-25.

The next major event of the summer was Alden and my trip to Spirit West Coast, Monterey. We saw 19 of bands over the 3-day festival. My favorites were Starflyer 59, Mat Kearney, MuteMath, The Myriad, and Matthew West. Check out photos 26-32 for images from SWC.

After SWC, my family went on vacation together to Crescent City, CA. We spent our days surfing (at least, Alden and I did), reading books (mostly P.G. Wodhouse and Ellery Queen for me), walking on the beach, and relaxing. We also drove out and saw the Trees of Mystery and another grove of redwoods to the East of Crescent City. The one downside to this trip was the lack of decent restaurants. Of all the local eateries we visited, the Denny’s was the best. Yikes! Check out photos 33-39 for pictures from our Crescent City vacation.

The latest adventure of the summer was a day-trip to the California State Fair to see Los Lonely Boys in concert. I went with my friend Danielle Buss, and we both enjoyed ourselves. There was a “beach party” theme to the fair this year, and I especially enjoyed the surfing history exhibit. In addition to the surf exhibit, we saw the livestock pavilion (cf. photo 40), the new products buildings, and just about everything else at the fair. The concert was great. Los Lonely Boys put on a great live show (think Stevie Ray Vaughn), and their bluesy-Texican rock sound is great.

I’m looking forward to finishing up the computer upgrade here at work, getting a few websites finished up this summer, and heading out to Focus on the Family Institute in a few weeks. I’ll do my best to keep this site updated with my latest escapades. If you want to get in touch with me, drop me a line!