kc’s research group, CAIDA, held a staff retreat at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead last week (third week in March). As it was scheduled during John Michael’s spring break, he and I went along for some fun.
We were able to spend some time with kc, but less than we would have liked. The first day there, the three of us did a nice mountain bike ride from the center.
While we were at the center and kc was in meetings, John Michael and I explored the nearby area and lakeshore, played a lot of table tennis and horseshoes, and goofed around in the pool.
On the second day there, John Michael and I went to Skypark at Santa’s Village. This is a quirky (but very nice) place that has both a Christmas-themed park with rides and restaurants AND a complex and varied cross-country and downhill mountain bike park. Unlike other downhill parks, one has to ride uphill to go downhill (no lifts). John Michael doesn’t like to climb, but he was actually quite good at it, passing a lot of adults and never being passed. His highlight of the trip was successfully descending the “Arrow” trail, classified as an “Expert” trail. He left me in the dust.
On the third day, we went to nearby Crestline so that he could scooter at a skatepark. He had a good time, but like most skateparks it is not as elaborate or difficult as his home park, Clairemont.
Sometimes “skill building means failing
Scenes from our Lake Arrowhead trip
