#94 Hike Every Trail at Point Reyes

Palomarin Trail
1.2 miles round trip

It was going to be a screaming hot day, so I decided that it would be great to to knock out a beach hike at Point Reyes. The Palomarin trail head is really popular because it leads to the 4 mile Alamere falls hike. But, we opted for a short hike, so we could get to the beach as quick as possible. Getting to the beach was the easy part, all downhill (which of course means that the way back sucked!). The beach is always beautiful, but this one had no sand, just large rocks. No biggie, as long as I heard the waves crashing I was a happy girl. On the way back we ran into a bobcat. Unfortunately, it ran before I had a photo opportunity...Darn!!!

#2 Completed! Swim with Dolphins

"An amazing experience that I would highly recommend!"

How I did it: I recently went on a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Besides sitting on the beach drinking Pina Coladas & eating chilaciles, swimming with dolphins was the only other activity on the agenda. Lucky enough, my girlfriend & her boyfriend sat through the torture of a 3-hour time-share seminar (God bless them!). They were able to score 4 tickets to the Dolphin Experience at Vallarta Adventures for $130! The usual cost is about $120 per person.

The dolphins were kept in large pools (similar to swimming pools). I was worried that it would make me feel sad that they were contained, but they seemed to be having fun. A few were just playing ball with each other with no trainers around. We stood on a platform in the pool and, for all you wimps (myself included), the water was cold! I sucked it up because I couldn't wait to swim with Dolphins! We were able to ride the dolphin, get a kiss, dance and feed it a slimy fish. For more money there were more intimate experiences available, but I was pleased with the interaction we had. Everyone with me agreed that we don't need to do it again, but it was totally worth it!

The only bummer is that they don't allow cameras in the dolphin area, so their photographer took all of the photos & you had to purchase them if you wanted any record of your experience. We paid $99 for 8 photos on cd. I felt kind of ripped of, but couldn't pass it up.

#24 Completed! Try to Rappel

"Rappelling was thrilling, but would have been better if I could have gone down faster!""

How I did it:
I always try to do "something I will remember" for my birthday. This year I selected rappelling from my bucket list. It was a 3 hour drive from my home to the Moaning Caverns in Murphys, CA. We all were required to watch a short video that gave you the dos & don'ts of rappelling, followed by a 2 minute lesson. That's it! The instructor hooked us into our harnesses and led us to the rope into the cave. The first portion of the rappell was like rock climbing backwords. The second part was more of a free fall drop (the fun part). Next time, I would opt for something faster and longer!

After the rappel, we went to eat in the town of Murphys, CA. The quaint downtown offered several nice restaurants & 20+ wine tasting rooms. Couldn't have ended the day any better!