i had this grand vision that i was going to kayak, run and bike ride in the mountains this long weekend. uma’s cold caught up to me and as i am leaving the bay area, i am sneezing and coughing my way into higher elevation. i get here around 10am, find that most of the sites are taken and drive deeper into the mountain to find something suitable just for tonight. by the time, i am all settle down and ready for a cold beer night cap. Finally, at that moment, when i am looking at the stars and feel the chill and hear the wind, i tell myself it was worth it. this trip pretty much wraps up an incredible summer of the most outdoor i have ever been in in a year. i’ve enjoyed the outdoors in so many contexts and this weekend of doing really nothing was just fine. sure, i did a few hikes to a lake or two and vistas were pretty regular too but the most part i barely sweated. i even sleep twice in the hammock looking up at the trees and smelling the forest around me and laughing as bingo numbers were spoken over a speakerphone. sure i wanted solitude in the forest but the bingo name and kids being loud didn’t bother me a bit. then tonight i sat on the world renown vista point watch the sunset over the mountains. the idea that this was the area where i should get land really just sunk in while i enjoy that moment. for the past couple years, i have been thinking about buying some land outside the bay area and be close to more trees/mountains/trails/lakes. it is precisely at the sierra foothills that all of these elements come together. it’s probably going to be like a 5 year plan but it’s coming together.