San Jose

I wrote this post on the plane headed home from San Jose after a great weekend of basketball at the HP Pavilion. It's great to see the Huskies make it into the Sweet 16! If they continue to play like they did over the weekend there is no reason they could not make it to the final four - I'm just saying! It's time for everyone to humble up - time to admit that most sold the Pac-10 short! It's seems more likely that the Pac-10 basketball teams were not lousy as much as well balanced. Except for WSU of course! :-). Again toying with the idea of heading east to Syracuse for the next round! Not sure that will happen - it's complicated by work, Toby (who has been kenneled two weekends in a row) and travel logistics.



We did not have as much time on our hands as we did in LA but we still managed to get a few things in between games.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went directly from the airport to our hotel. Kent found a great Courtyard that was perfect for us. It was right along the light rail that dropped us off at the HP Pavilion, there was a Chipotle Grill within a few blocks ( if you've yet to check out Chipotle Grill and you like Mexican food you are missing out) and best of all it was located within 2 blocks of the Los Gatos Creek Trail! I had a 7 mile and 15 mile training run to do while in San Jose so to find such a great trail worked out perfect!

The Los Gatos Creek Trail is one of the most extensive running/cycling paths in the South Bay. Consisting of approximately 11 miles of paved, two-way travel, the Los Gatos Creek Trail travels through some of the best scenery in the region, such as Campbell Park and Vasona Lake. The southern portion of the trail turns to gravel and begins to climb from downtown Los Gatos to the summit of the Lexington Dam in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The trail has enjoyment for all, from runners looking for a relief from traffic, families looking to enjoy a pleasant outing to mountain bikers seeking to improve endurance.

The total length of the paved trail is 8.5 miles one-way from Meridian Ave in Campbell to Forbes Mill in Los Gatos. The unpaved section from Forbes Mill to Lexington Reservoir is about 2 miles one-way. The most scenic portion of the trail between Campbell Park and Vasona Lake is about 4.5 miles in length one-way.

Hours: 7:00 A.M. to sunset.

Trail Conditions: The paved section is mostly level with occasional hills. The dirt section from Forbes Mill to Lexington Reservoir gradually climbs to Lexington Dam with significant climbing the last 1/2 mile. All trails are two way.

Location and Map: The Los Gatos Creek trail covers a large area between the city of Campbell and Lexington Reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Most of the trail follows along highway 17 and Los Gatos Creek. The trail passes through many local parks, including Vasona Lake and Campbell Park.

Vasona Lake is a great place to start on the trail. Parking is usually available and the lake provides great recreation, such as a small children's train, picnicking, lake activities, rest rooms, and more. A vehicle entrance fee is collected year-round.

Another good place to start is Campbell Park. The extensive playground provides a good environment for children to play. Parking at Campbell park is free.

Still a work in progress, the trail will eventually end at confluence with the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose. What a find!

Before the game on Thursday we joined other Husky fans at a local bar for a pregame party - another star f#*<#^* opportunity - I got to meet John Brockman and Atrium Wallace who both played for the Huskies last year before graduating! John now plays for the Sacramento Kings. Real nice guys - tall.

Since we had no games on Friday my parents drove down from Anderson along with my Aunt Midge and we had lunch and made a quick trip to the zoo in Sacramento. It was great to see them and fun going to the zoo.

 

 

The drive between the bay area and Sacramento at this time of year is incredibly beautiful! The hills are so green.

 

 

We got back to San Jose and used a new iPhone app called Local Eats to find a place to eat. We ended up in Los Gatos at the Los Gatos Brewing Company. Great environment and goodfood.

 

On Saturday we watched Butler play Murray College before the Dawgs played - great game. Following the Huskies win over New Mexico we went to dinner to celebrate Kent's 46th Birthday and a Husky win!

All in all it was a great trip that I'm glad we decided to take last minute.  Go Dawgs!  I'll keep you posted if we decide to head east!

Later -

Jim

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