Monday, December 28, 2015

Doheny SB ~ Packing List

So, we're doing our first bicycle camping adventure!  It's not a full-on wilderness campsite, being just 1 mile away from the urban center named Dana Point, and less than 4 miles from Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, and San Clemente.  I wanted to write about what we plan to take in order not to over-pack.

1) tent
2) sleeping bags
3) yoga mat
4) cycling shoes
5) swimsuit?
6) long underwear
7) matches/lighter for starting fire
8) towels
9) camping lantern/headlamps
10) bike tools (pump, tire irons, patch kit, etc.)
11) reading materials (coloring book, colored pencils, journal, yoga poses)
12) hat/sunglasses/sunscreen

It's hard to bring many electronics that would need to be recharged.  Obviously we need to bring our Metrolink Monthly Passes.  Our plan is to take the Ventura County line train 104 (departs 7:37am from Glendale, arrives 7:50am at LA Union Station) and Orange County line train 600 (departs 8:00am from LA Union Station, arrives 9:23am into San Juan Capistrano).  After the train trip, we will ride 3.7 miles from the station down the San Juan Creek Trail to our campground.

Loaded with Christmas Cheer
We did a big Christmas ride loaded down with gifts to practice riding with loaded bikes.  It was a great way to explore the Pacific-Electric trail.

IE Metric Century: total ascent of 2600 ft 

It was also fun to ride Historic Route 66 through Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Claremont.  We picked up the trail at Monte Vista Ave.  It ended at Cactus Ave where we dropped down to Rialto Ave, cruised by the Rialto Metrolink Station, and dropped into Riverside on Riverside Ave.  The journey took us 9 hours and we never stopped to have a sit-down meal.  We did use the restrooms at the Taco Bell (140 W Huntington Dr, Monrovia, CA 91016) which were clean!  That was about 17 miles into our trip (2 hours) and we got a burrito and a Dr. Pepper.


I definitely don't want to bring a camping chair strapped to my back to Doheny, we will have a picnic table for sitting.  There are areas to explore, well described here.  We have all day today to pack and get the house in order so we can come home in the new year to a clean tiny house.

Friday, December 18, 2015

2015 Year In Review

When the year is winding down, it's nice to do some retrospection.  For me, this gets quantitative.  I found some infographics that show how the average american family spends their income.



I periodically download all our bank transactions and create a graph comparing us to the average American family.  The way we managed to survive in 2010 was by keeping our transporation costs extremely low.  We shared one car that was paid off and maintained liability-only insurance.  Also, we almost never drove the car.  We rarely ate out and made most of our meals from scratch.  We spent next to nothing on clothing and appearances.  We didn't make any donations to charities.

HOS = HOUSING When we were living in two separate places (Riverside, CA and La Jolla, CA) we spent 48% of our meager income on rent!  Now even though we live in a relatively expensive area (Glendale, CA) in terms of housing (3.59 x the national average) we spend less than the average American on housing costs.  How, you may ask, do we achieve this miracle?  We live in a tiny house.  Our rent includes utilities.  We do pay extra for a storage unit off-site, but even accounting for that, 24% of our spending goes to housing.  I'm not sure how the Average American Family numbers were calculated but that means in 2010, we spent 28% of our income on housing.  Now, we spend 18% of our income on housing.  Turns out we spend almost EXACTLY the same amount on housing, but we're making more money.

TRA = TRANSPORTATION Now, we still spend less than the average American family on Transportation.  Even with keeping our bicycles running in top shape, paying insurance on one vehicle, making car payments, and driving the car periodically, we're spending less than the average family.  I guess it's easier for us since we don't have a large family (no kids).  Also, CSUN gives us a sweet discount on Metrolink monthly passes, which get us around on weekends for free!
FOA = FOOD (DINING OUT) Here's where we really suffer.  We eat on campus all the time and when we're home, we eat out and get delivery all the time.  Out of 1,317 total transactions, 52% of them were eating out!  We eat out 1.9 times per day!  An average "dining out" cost is $12.37.  Sometimes that's for 1 person and sometimes for 2 or more.  But mostly for 2 people.  This is literally eating up 9% of our income.
FOH = FOOD (DINING IN) Out of all transactions, 5% of them were going to the grocery store.  We go to the grocery store 5.4 times per month.  An average trip to the grocery store is $70.  I feel like this semester (FA15) I had more free time so I did more cooking, but certainly not as much as I did in 2010.  We were living very cheaply, shopping in bulk from Winco.




INS = INSURANCE We're spending about half what the average American family spends for insurance.  This is probably because we don't have to pay homeowners insurance and we only have one car.  Glendale, CA is considered the WORST city in California, where drivers pay 62% more than the average Californian for the same coverage.  If we lived somewhere else, and when we get the SmartCar paid off, this part of our expenditures will decrease.



OTH = OTHER I really have no idea what this spending is about.  I put all ATM withdrawls into this category because obviously we don't know where or to whom that money went.  Some goes to buy groceries at the Farmer's Market and some goes for tips to service professionals (our Massage Therapists for example).  Why this category takes up 19% of our spending, I couldn't say.  I put all our random travel expenses in this bracket.  Taking out identifiable fun trips and academic expenditures, 8.2% of our spending is still uncategorized.  I guess that's why it's good to put everything on plastic, so that you can look back at what they were.



HEA = HEALTHCARE We are blessed not to have had to worry much about this category.  I think next year we'll see a further reduction since dear husband has stopped his membership in a Martial Arts gym, and I've stopped my membership to Bella Fitness.  Not because these weren't good things, but because we weren't really using them and they were costing us $150 and $70 per month, respectively.  We're still getting our massages every month, and maybe we can put those other monthly things we won't be doing in the future into dentist, podiatrist, and women's health care visits.



ENT = ENTERTAINMENT This includes movies, plays, musicals, and Netflix.  I also put our phone and internet bills into this category.  It's only 4% of our income.  I guess we're doing well here.  Or should I say that we could spend more here.  I still want to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific down in Long Beach.  Also we discussed buying an Annual Zoo Pass for next year.



APP = APPAREL (or Appearance) This includes clothing, shoes, and haircuts.  We saved money in 2010 by doing homecuts.  We also didn't buy hardly any new clothes or shoes.  Now, we definitely spend more freely in this regard, although not lavishly.  I've purchased quite a few new shoes this year, and so has my husband.  I get new clothes almost every semester, due to wear and tear and the fact that I can't seem to maintain a constant weight.



DON = DONATIONS I put all the donations to various organizations into this category.  We've been fairly generous this year: our nephew's Surf team, The OC Marathon, RailPAC, Steel Wheels Conference, CalBike, Rail User's Network, Ride 2 Recovery, Cal Bike Summit, LACBC, The Climate Ride, and others.  Compared to the average American family, we could give a bit more.  In 2010, we didn't really have any money leftover to give to charity.



ACA = ACADEMIA I had to make a category especially for us.  Because being an academic has associated costs.  I'm sure other industries have business-related expenses, but this year we made it to two conferences and purchased various books and supplies directly to facilitate our learning.  We also renewed our memberships in professional societies, which again I'm sure other professionals do too, but I don't think there's an American Housewives Network that has dues of $100 per year.

You may be wondering: are you really that nerdy that you enjoy looking at your personal financial data and posting a blog about it?  The answer is: yes, I am that nerdy.  But also, we've been giving some serious consideration to getting into the real estate game.  We're trying to pinch every penny and sock it away to use as a down payment.  The funny thing is, we calculated this weekend that for homes in our area, we'd have to gather $80,000-$100,000 before getting the process going.  We have saved nowhere near that amount.  So this analysis may lead me to discover where we can save and redirect that part of our income to savings instead of spending it.

P.S. I did the drawings myself.  I think I'm suffering from whiteboard withdrawls.

References

Source: NY Times Feb 10, 2008  Accessed: June 10, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/02/10/opinion/10op.graphic.ready.html

Accessed: December 14, 2015
http://www.creditloan.com/blog/how-the-average-us-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/2014/03/11/16046/report-glendale-has-the-highest-car-insurance-in-c/

Monday, December 14, 2015

Zion ~ Hiking Report

Our trip to Zion NP was awesome!  Below is a photo of the items that were necessary for the trip.

Camelback Daytrekker Hiking Backback + 2L hydration reservoir
Sunglasses, case and cleaning cloth
Swimsuit
1L drinking bottle
Heavy winter coat, hat, scarf, gloves
Heavy sweater, fleece pullover
Performance (thin) socks, 2 pairs
Ski (thick) socks, 2 pairs
Heat holder socks, 1 pair
Performance (thin) long-sleeved shirt
Long underwear, tops and bottoms
Hiking pants, tights, yoga pants
Tank top with shelf bra
PJs, sweatshirt and sweatpants
Windbreaker jacket
Clif bars, 3
Sunscreen, toothpaste, lotion, facewash, toothbrush, SPF chapstick, comb
Camera, extra battery, battery charger
Cell phone, charger
Things packed that were actually used
Hike #1: Angel's Landing  NPS Description:  (4 hours) 5.4 mi Round Trip, 1488 ft Elevation Change.  Long drop-offs. Not for young children or anyone fearful of heights. Last section is a route along a steep, narrow ridge to the summit.

Angel's Landing
From the picture here, it's difficult to see the people.  Maybe if you zoom in a lot.  This hike was a steep climb.  Someone else posted the hike on MapMyFitness and the grade was 15-20% for a significant portion of the hike.  It is an out-and-back with lots of switchbacks.  There's no way to get lost on this popular trail, in fact we ran into some old friends on our way down.

For this hike, we brought some muffins and grapes to eat at the turnaround point.  We didn't go on the part of the hike that required holding onto a chain.  We instead enjoyed the sunny vista-cum-picnic area just before the chain part started.  It was great to relax and rest our knees before heading back to the FREE park shuttle.

Hike #2: Lower Emerald Pool Trail - Kayenta Trail - The Grotto Trail  NPS Description: (Lower Emerald Pool) Minor drop-offs. Paved trail leads to the Lower Emerald Pool and waterfalls. Connects to the Kayenta and Upper Emerald Pool Trails.  (Kayenta) Moderate drop-offs. An unpaved climb to the Emerald Pools. Connects The Grotto to the Emerald Pools Trails.  (The Grotto) The trail connects the Zion Lodge to The Grotto. Can be combined with the Lower Emerald Pool and Kayenta Trails to create a 2.5-mile loop.

Emerald Pools
I have no idea which parts of these trails we hiked, but we spent the afternoon out there.  I think we started and ended at the Zion Lodge because we got a To-Go coffee there between Hike #1 and Hike #2.  As you can imagine, we were pooped after two big hikes in one day.  Also, someone slipped on the ice near the waterfalls and that was difficult to watch.

Zion NP is not a great place for those who have a fear of heights.  Although, there are some trails with less elevation change than others.  We stopped at the Emerald Pools to take some photos, which are some of my favorites from the whole trip.  The juxtaposition of desert and running water was so stunning.  There were also some areas along that hike that opened up into green meadows.  I loved the "weeping rocks" where water flowed through the porous sandstone, supporting ferns and other plants you wouldn't normally find in a desert environment.

Hike #3: The Narrows via Riverside Walk  NPS Description: (8 hours) 9.4 mi Round Trip, 334 ft Elevation Change.  Read page 5 of the park newspaper and check conditions at the visitor center before attempting. High water levels can prevent access to The Narrows.

The Narrows
I don't think we hiked the entire length of the Narrows but we may have reached "Wall Street."  We rented drysuits from Zion Adventure Company. This $53 package includes a short orientation video, drysuit, canyoneering shoes, neoprene socks, and a walking stick.  I was scared before we actually got into the water: scared of the cold, scared of the rocks, scared of the current.  But none of these fears were ever realized.  From the moment I started walking in the water, I realized the neoprene socks were very insulating and the suit was completely water-tight.  The only downside was that it was difficult to disrobe to relieve oneself.  We also ate some grapes on this hike and some powerbars.
We stayed at the Cliffrose Lodge.  We used the pool and jacuzzi every night.  They have a fantastic continental breakfast.  The lodge is within walking distance to the park entrance.  There's a movie theater and Zion Canyon Brew Pub (where we ate after Hikes #1 and 2).  We ate at Wildcat Willie's after Hike #3.  Overall, it was a magical trip!

The elevation of Springdale, UT is 3,900 feet so a bit of low oxygen training would be useful.  Glendale, CA where we live is 522 ft.  The most useful thing we bought at Canyon Market was bottled water.  We reused the 1 Liter bottles continuously to stay hydrated on and off the trails.  Our souvenirs of this trip were a couple of postcards and EO Handsoap in French Lavender, which was in our rooms at Cliffrose Lodge.  The handsoap is available for purchase at the Lodge's giftshop.