Well, I figured I would post a little tree picture on my blog, I had a wonderful dinner for the holidays and I was with a great group of friends. We even did the white elephant gift giving, stealing game , which I was shafted on. I was number one to pick from the pile of gifts and eventually people took my gifts from me a few times. Oh well, all is fair in love an war esp around the holidays. I did end up with this crazy puzzle that is nearly impossible to put back together with out cheating

I hope everyone is having a great holiday and enjoying some time off and to all those crazy people out their leave me alone (inside joke)

My new house,
originally uploaded by Gate-Way.

Well I finally broke down and bought a house, its not the one I wanted but well as far as housing prices in Marin California go this was a good deal. It only cost me $299k but its well worth it, parking is a bit of a bitch but I manage. My underwater James Bond car which you cant seen is parked on the right side.

Where Am I,
originally uploaded by Gate-Way.

I was lost for days and I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, luckily my trusty head lamp didn’t give out after being stuck in this coal mine for what seemed like 20 minutes

This picture was taken in the Prospect Tunnel in Somersville, CA a coal mine community back in the 1860’s.

“From the 1860s through the turn of the last century, five coal mining towns thrived in the Black Diamond area: Nortonville, Somersville, Stewartville, West Hartley and Judsonville. As the location of California’s largest coal mining operation, nearly four million tons of coal (”black diamonds”) were removed from the earth. The residents of the mining towns were from all over the world, and their life was characterized by hard work and long hours. Occasional celebrations and a variety of organizations and social activities served to alleviate the drudgery of daily existence.

The coal mines had a significant impact on California’s economy. By the time operations ceased due to rising production costs and the exploitation of new energy sources, much of California’s economy had been transformed from a rural to an industrial base.” - ebparks.com

The Stewartville Hike goes by this section and the whole hike is about 7 miles long. If your in the East Bay I would defiantly recommend this hike but in the fall because it would be way to hot in the summer.  You can download a pdf map from here.