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Go West, Old Man Report and Photo Essay

June 15, 2025 by · Leave a Comment

Go West, Old Man Report and Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this Go West, Old Man Report. Because we travelled, no fishing was done by this reporter this week. Happy father’s day to all you men with children!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Monday was spent in preparation and packing.

At OIA

Tuesday Susan and I boarded a United Airlines jet headed to San Francisco. Five hours later, we were there! Maxx and Catalina picked us up at the airport and whisked us back to their house. They now have a tiny house in the yard, from which I am writing this.

View at 35,000 feet.

Wednesday and Thursday we didn’t do much, but we did visit the dumpling store in Castro Valley. Yum! I also took some photos of the local flora. Plants sure seem to love it here.

Bougainvillea

 

Hibiscus

 

Corn tassel and honeybee

 

Passionflower

Friday we got a ride as far as the hospital in Castro Valley, and walked the rest of the way to town. We strolled and window shopped, got a couple treats, and then hiked back to our temporary abode.

At the BART station

Saturday was adventure day. We drove to the BART station, got on a train, and went to San Francisco.

Headed to No Kings Day protest.

From there we got on a boat and went to Alcatraz. After touring the Rock, we went to back to San Francisco and went to a sushi restaurant in Japan Town. Then it was back onto BART, and back to Castro Valley.

Approaching Alcatraz.

 

Indians took over the island for a while, after the penitentiary closed.

 

 

 

So far, so good…

 

Lots of nesting birds out there.

 

In the Pen.

 

 

 

Not a stimulating environment.

 

The exercise yard.

 

You could buy a T-shirt, etc.

 

San Francisco is not very far away.

So we are out west, and that’s my Go West, Old Man Report. As always, thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2025. All rights are reserved.

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“Home” for a Week- Post and Photo Essay

June 5, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

“Home” for a Week

Thank you for reading this week’s “home” for a week post and photo essay. On Sunday Maxx and Catalina went away for a week. We stayed on, house-sitting and pet-sitting, our “home” this week.

One of thousands of flowers in the conservatory.

But first, on Saturday, we all went to Golden Gate Park. It was cloudy, and windy, and chilly. That did not stop the weekend parties in the park, or the throngs of visitors. There were flowers growing everywhere, even though we didn’t get into either the botanical gardens or the Japanese Tea Garden.

A six-piece jazz band, busking in the park.

 

Catalina and Susan at the water lily pond.

 

It could be the orchid conservatory!

 

We did get into the Conservatory of Flowers, though, a greenhouse full of beautiful, healthy, tropical plants. I may have gotten carried away with the camera, my little Olympus point-and-shoot. There was so much to photograph in there!

It could be the carnivorous plant conservatory!

 

Sunday, we went to the airport, dropping off our hosts in the process. See you next week!

Monday, Memorial Day, we laid low, and considered the sacrifices others have made so all of us can enjoy our lives today.

The Pinnacles.

Tuesday Susan and I went to Pinnacles National Park, a two-hour plus drive. It was hot when we took our first hike. It got hotter as we walked. There was little shade and the sun was blazing. We got to a point where we said, “This is dumb,” and turned around. The temperature was in the 90s!

She doesn’t look like she’s sweating to death!

We did see a California condor, never thought I would, and a coyote, too. But it was a long way to go to walk three miles. One hike was all we attempted.

More Pinnacles. With a moon.

We headed west and drove along the coastal highway for 30 or 40 miles, much less frightening than either further north or further south. Or maybe I’m just getting used to roads barely clinging onto mountainsides? The temperature dropped from the 90s to the 50s in less than 100 miles.

The dogs with Maxx on an earlier trip.

After leaving the dogs home alone all day Tuesday, I for one felt a little guilty. So Wednesday we took them to Rodeo Beach, a dog-friendly beach, so they could do some running. I brought cameras, thinking I’d get some pictures. HA! The dogs took 100 percent of my attention, leaving exactly none for any other activities. We ran them in the sand in the waves for a couple hours, though, exactly what we wanted to do. Get them some exercise and get them tired out, because that’s what they like. We all had fun!

Getting to the beach in the Marin Headlands. 18%!!!

 

In the BART station at Embarcadero.

Thursday, we braved the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to go to San Francisco. We got off at the wrong stop and then went the wrong way, seeing many people who were, shall we say, very street-savvy. We turned around before total immersion, and started asking directions to Chinatown. Those obtained, off we went.

If only we’d wanted to go somewhere else…

I love Chinatown! I like the buildings, the Chinese characters I wish I could read, the people shopping in the markets, they crazy things you see for sale. I like listening to the people speaking Chinese. I like the street art, and all the flags and lanterns. It’s all quite exotic, and if you get uncomfortable, English-speaking land is just a few blocks away. I like that we ended up in a place called the Spicy Shrimp for a bowl of noodle soup and a plate of chow fun. Yum yum!

The flags and the lanterns!

 

The street art!

We wandered down to the waterfront, over a mile from Fisherman’s Wharf. There were no sea lions. I guess they all work for tourist tips at the wharf. Then we wandered back to BART, and rode back to Castro Valley.

A view of the Transamerica building.

 

A different view of the Transamerica building.

BART is clean, and compared to what I’ve seen of rapid transit in Boston and New York, lightly used. The trains were on time, and fast. We couldn’t tell if this was the nature of the beast, or COVID related. When you consider the crowds of cars on the roads around here, I’m sure we’ll use it again next time we go to San Francisco.

The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

 

Show off your pride!

Friday Susan painted and I wrote for my Global Outdoors travelogue. And we’re again lying low this weekend. So thank you for reading this week’s “home” for a week post!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

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Yosemite Park and Muir Woods- A Photo Essay

May 28, 2021 by · 2 Comments

Yosemite Park and Muir Woods

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods! I’m glad you’re here!

Now, let me send you somewhere else. This reporter has been writing a travelogue for a website called Global Outdoors. The most recent one they have posted is at this URL- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com/news/2021/5/24/traveling-america-by-van-on-the-road . But the posts go back to planning the trip and building out the van, if you are that interested. The content is quite different than what you see here. If you’re bored at work, please check it out!

Arches on the California coast.

Over the weekend we drove up to Sebastipol to visit Brian and Laura Jaye, long-time friends of Maxx. Maxx took us all out to CA 1 to see the sea. I can hardly believe they put a road on the side of those cliffs. It is terrifying to anyone who fears falling. The scenery is fantastic, though!

Maxx, Catalina, Carlo, and Betty.

 

General store, Elk, CA.

 

The flowers along the coast are gorgeous. These are California poppies.

Monday, Susan and I drove from Castro Valley to Yosemite National Park. Once we got clear of the major highways, the drive was beautiful- rolling hills turning into mountains, sparsely travelled four lane highway turning into narrow, winding mountain road.

El Capitan and Half Dome.

We reached the park entrance around noon. At least fifty cars were in line ahead of us.

Susan and John in Tuolumne Grove.

Clearing the entrance gate, we entered the park and drove to the Tuolumne Grove parking lot. I wanted to drive up Tioga Road, but it was closed. We parked, and hiked down into one of only 25 groves of giant sequoias left on the planet. They are so amazing!

A tunnel was carved through this dead tree trunk.

We hadn’t gotten our bearings yet, but after the walk Susan wanted to see El Capitan. We headed towards Yosemite Valley, stopping at overlooks along the way. When we got down onto the valley floor, the road looked like a parking lot. A long line of vehicles were parked on the road, which was temporarily closed for construction We joined the line, and sat down to wait.

After 20 minutes or so, the line started to move. It was slow movement, but it was movement. Hooray!

Our first view of El Capitan was stunning. People climb that cliff?!?!? We managed to snatch a parking spot, and did what tourists do- we snapped photos. That chunk of rock, while amazingly huge and imposing, wasn’t doing much at that moment, so we got back in the car, got back into the traffic, and creeped along- right into a controlled burn.

Didn’t come to see this!

The smoke quickly affected my breathing. You couldn’t see the mountains any more. We turned around as quickly as we could and got out of there.

Smoke filled Yosemite Valley.

Entrance into the park Tuesday morning was easy- no wait! The valley was completely filled with smoke, so after a 45-minute wait due to road construction (I photographed Mercer River while waiting), we drove up onto the Glacier Point road (on another terrifying mountain road) and drove all the way to the Glacier Point overlook.

Mercer River. Methinks there might be many trout here.

 

Mercer River, view 2. Note the cars parked on the road, left side.

 

Susan at Glacier Point. The view? AMAZING.

In the meantime, the wind had come up and blown most of the smoke out of the valley. The views from Glacier Point were incredible. We stopped at a couple other overlooks, then hiked up Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome.

This walk was very tough for me. We were at such high elevation, I just couldn’t get enough air. Slow, slow, slow going, but finally I got up there.

Susan and John, somewhere in Yosemite.

The view, of 360 degrees, was dizzying. I hardly took any pictures- no way could they begin to convey the experience. The struggle up there was so worth it!

A view of the Half Dome.

We sat on the dome for over an hour. Some mental arithmetic told me that if we left right now, we’d be back to Castro Valley around sunset. We hiked back (it’s so much easier going down!) and hit the road. My phone took us through the backest roads (is backest a word?) imaginable, but got us to the interstate. We got to Maxx’s about 1930 hours after an amazing couple of days.

A redwood tree. Yes, they are very big, too.

Thursday, we hit a much closer target, Muir Woods National Monument, home of coastal redwood trees. Redwoods lack the bulk of giant sequoias, but they go straight up, seemingly forever. And it’s not like they’re small!

Redwood sorrel carpets the ground in places.

 

Susan admires some trees…

We took a leisurely hike of two miles or so, then went to Fish., in Sausalito, for lunch. Squid Caesar salad and squid over linguini, it was so good!

Lunch!

Then, it was off to Marin Headlands for views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Pacific Ocean. Great stuff! Beautiful spot, and fantastic (if breezy) weather!

The Golden Gate Bridge, icon of San Francisco.

The plan for Saturday is to visit San Francisco. Should be an interesting day!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

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Last Road Trip Report and Photo Essay

March 7, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Last Road Trip Report and Photo Essay

All things come to an end.

Thank you for reading my last road trip report. Still no fishing, so I hope it’s worth your time!

I just finished a wonderful little book, The Angler’s Book of Favorite Fishing Quotations. I wrote a review you can read here… 

My intent is to include a quote from this book in every fishing report, assuming I can remember to do that. I need to keep my copy on my desk.

Road Trip-

Maxx and I and the pets had spent two nights in Porterville so we could hike among the sequoias. That accomplished, it was time to head to our actual destination, which was Oakland.

We drove north on CA 99 through the central valley of California, where a lot of our food is grown. We drove through Selma, the Raisin Capital of the World. We drove through miles and miles of flowering trees. I did not know what they were but think there were pistachios and almonds, and maybe cherries? It seems too far south for cherries though. We passed big lots full of Holstein dairy cows that were covered in mud and manure, yuk.

We passed  through windmill farms. I’d like to get a few of those seeds!

We at last got to Maxx’s new apartment, on a mountainside in the Montclair section of Oakland. It’s strange, they build houses on 70 degree slopes, it’s living on the side of a cliff.

Crossing the Bay Bridge.

 

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Why isn’t it golden??

After visiting Oakland I can see why the city told the Raiders to build their own stadium. Homeless camps everywhere, a lot of people living in tents on the roadside. It’s heartbreaking. I hope the city uses some of the money they’re not spending on a stadium to help those folks. It will be a huge job.

 

There were all kinds of flowers along the trail. I am not familiar with this one.

 

California poppy.

 

Calla lily, a beautiful bloom.

 

Apple? Cherry? Something in the rose family I think.

 

Wood sorrel grows all across the continent.

Brian Jaye took Maxx, Catalina and I on a walk through the Muir Woods, a grove of redwoods that didn’t get logged to oblivion. It was on a Sunday. The place is very popular, with lots of languages in use there. Redwoods are not as big as the sequoias, but are still very impressive. It was a lovely day.

Do you have chipmunkiosis?

 

Catalina, Maxx, and Brian in Muir Woods.

 

Clowning around in a redwood tree.

 

The happy couple, Maxx and Catalina.

Wednesday morning I got on an Air Alaska jet, a non-stop from San Francisco to Orlando. I had a great time travelling across the country with my son, but there’s no place like home, as Dorothy said.

And that’s my last road trip report and photo essay for this trip. Thanks for reading it!

I intend to fish this coming week!

“If you don’t go fishing because you thought it might rain you will never go fishing. This applies to more than fishing.” -Gary Sow

Life is great and I love my work!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

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