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Mandy booked us a tent cabin at Costanoa for my birthday.  We took Friday off and took Liam down the coast for the weekend.

We took Liam to Butano State Park for his first camping trip.  We joined Susanne, Emma, Sascha and Elizabeth, and Cara and Sam.  Susanne had the foresight to reserve campsites well in advance for the 4th of July weekend.

Eric called me at work on Friday afternoon and asked if I wanted to go look for sharks in the Farallon Islands at 6:00 the next morning.  He knows a guy who runs trips out there who had had some cancellations.  I eventually came to realization that the opportunity was too good to pass up.  We only caught a few glimpses of great white sharks, but we did see quite a few humpback whales on our way in.  Floating around the Pacific isn’t a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

(Thanks again Eric!)

Mandy, Monica, Wuy and I hiked around the Marin Headlands on Memorial Day. Even when the weather is crappy and foggy it is amazing up there.

Mandy and I went camping at Butano State Park.  There were redwoods, banana slugs, and campfires.

Mandy and I spent the weekend at the Ripplewood Resort down on the Big Sur River in Big Sur. I proposed to Mandy on Saturday on Pheiffer Beach.

Okay, we camped near Point Reyes at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. We spent Sunday hiking around at Point Reyes. Monday we drove back down Hwy. 1 and made a few stops along the way like Stinson Beach and the Muir Beach overlook.

Mandy, Monica, Wuy and I went up to Big Basin to do a little hiking. The weather was beautiful. We ended up with a nice campsite in spite of the park being totally full. Aside from the loudmouths next to us it was great. We went on a nice long hike Sunday on our way out.

Mandy and I joined Monica, Wuy, Brian and Alison for a trip out to the Farallon Islands to do some whale watching. It was a rough ride out but we did see a bunch of whales out at the edge of the abyss.