Saturday, 12 December 2009

The books I have read: The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is an amazing love story between a woman and a man with a genetic disorder that makes him time travel randomly.

Main characters:
Henry DeTamble - a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago
Clare Abshire - artist, makes paper sculptures

The novel is narrated in first-person, switching between Clare's point of view and Henry's. Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward relative to his own timeline. He is unable to control his travels: when he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trip will last. His destinations are tied to his subconscious—he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. Henry cannot take anything with him into the future or the past; he always arrives naked and then struggles to find clothing, shelter and food.

What I like about this story, is that it starts with older Henry time traveling to 6 year old Clare. She simply believes him that he can travel in time, and thus their love story begins. When Clare is 20, she finally meets Henry from her present, who does not know her and has not lived any of the moments from Clare's childhood. It is a story about discovery, love and relationships.

Beautiful love story.......very sad!

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Motorcycle Trip 18

I found this ride on www.southbayriders.com.

Route:
Santa Teresa Blvd - 6.1 mi.
Right on Bailey Ave - 2.3 mi.
Left on McKean Rd - 2.4 mi.
McKean becomes Uvas Rd - 7.4 mi.
Stop at Uvas Reservoir
Continue Uvas - 2.3 mi.
Right on Watsonville Rd - 3.6 mi.
Right on (152) Hecker Pass Rd - 5.2 mi.
Stop at Mt Madonna
Continue Hecker Pass Rd - 4.5 mi.
Hecker Pass Rd becomes East Lake Ave - 1.7 mi.
Right on Holohan Rd - 1.5 mi.
Holohan Rd becomes Airport Blvd - .6 mi.
Right on Freedom Blvd - 4.9 mi.
Right on Day Valley Rd - 2 mi.
Valencia Rd - 2.6 mi.
Trout Gulch Rd - .5 mi.
Right on Soquel Dr - 3.6 mi.
Right on Porter becomes Soquel/San Jose Rd - 11 mi.
Left on Summit Rd - .2 mi.
Stop at the store on right - .2 mi.
Continue on Summit - 2.5 mi.
Right on Old Santa Cruz Road - 5 mi.
Stop at the Fire Station on the right
This is the end of the ride.

Length: 170km / 106mi
Duration: 3h7m


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Sunday, 4 October 2009

Trip around East San Jose Hills

Before taking the bike back, Nicu and I did a shorter trip around the Eastern San Jose Hills. We did basically Motorcycle Trip 5.

We started at 8a.m. and went towards Milpitas on the Calaveras Avenue. This continues into Calaveras Rd, then Felter Rd and Sierra Rd. We got a very nice view of the San Jose downtown in the fog, from the top of the Sierra Rd.


We then went onto Hwy 130 towards Mt. Hamilton, then Quimby Rd. The Lake Halls Valley was almost dried out, but that's normal being at the end of summer, just before the rains start.

Finnaly we went on to San Felipe Rd and Metcalf, then onto Monterey Hwy and back to return the bike.


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Saturday, 3 October 2009

Trip around Santa Cruz

Today was a fantastic day! First trip on motorcycle!!

I rented a Harley Davidson Softail Heritage and went with Nicu on a trip to Santa Cruz and back. We really took our time. First we went to Alice's Restaurant to have lunch. On the way there, in the mountains it became very cold very quickly. Although we had protective gear, it wasn't enough.


At Alice's I had some huge burger called a "Honda"... It's funny as all their burgers have motorcycle names. There were at least 50 motorcycles in front of the restaurant. Lunch time ;)

We took then Hwy 84 down to the Ocean. Awesome ride. Full of twists. Very low traffic. Then we took Hwy 1 South to Santa Cruz. We visited the Lighthouse, then tracked back to Bonny Doon Road. Took Hwy 236 to Hwy 9 and back to Saratoga. Then all the way back home.

Up in the mountains on 236 it was again super cold. Bluejeans are definitely not enough. I need to buy some proper gear... mainly against the wind.

Anyway today's ride was about 9 hours long all in all. We did about 257km (160miles) and it was pure awesomeness. Again!

This was basically Motorcycle Trip 1.


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Motorcycle Trip 17

I found this trip on calmoto.com.

It will take you through beautiful Sonoma County from San Jose to I-280, Golden Gate, Olema, Tomales, Bodega Bay (Tides Wharf Inn), Stewarts Point, then back on Tin Barn Rd, King Ridge Rd, Duncan Mills, Nicasio Reservoir, Hwy 101, and back home on the East side of the Bay.

Length: 516km / 321mi
Duration: 8h8m
Difficulty: Intermediate


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Friday, 2 October 2009

Motorcycle Trip 16

I found this trip on calmoto.com.
This is similar to Motorcycle Trip 9, only that it can be done with a street bike.

Length: 392km / 244mi
Duration: 7h
Difficulty: Beginner/Intermediate


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Thursday, 1 October 2009

Motorcycle Trip 15

I found this trip on calmoto.com.

This is a day trip to Tenaya lake in the Yosemite Park.

Length: 690km / 430mi
Duration: 12h


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