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Backpacker | 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

November 23, 2016

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Backpacker Magazine
November 23, 2016

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Filed Under: Author, Backpacker Magazine, Gear, Outdoor Adventures, Travel

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@eo_thesnowboarder is competing at @usasasnow @cop

@eo_thesnowboarder is competing at @usasasnow @coppermtn in @visitcolorado by himself. Poor guy had to share a team house with coaches only. Hope next yr some @teampalisadestahoe #sbx teammates can stay at our team house. I wish his dad or I could’ve taken him but @ko.snowboarder was home from @uofwa just long enough to remind me how nice it is to have a #daugter who anticipates my needs and offers an extra hand without my asking.
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I feel like one piece of my heart is in Washington state and the other is in Colorado and then theres another 2 pieces that are at school today on a dreadful snowstorm day. It’s so hard to be a parent. Nobody tells you that your entire job is to prepare your kids to survive without you.
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#resilience #sbxlife #boardercross #boardercross🏂
M #snowboardlife #snowboarding #snowboarding🏂 #snowboardingisfun #snowboardingisfun🏂

Year 3 of @nthsflyfishing club partnership with @m

Year 3 of @nthsflyfishing club partnership with @marvin.racine.7 and @mattheronflyfishing @casthope !

My kids and I are holding a 2 million yr old #fish that only lives in @pyramid_lake ! This is the first #lahontancuttthroattrout we have ever held since we started in 2022 to brainstorm @ko.snowboarder @girlscouts #goldaward !! (And no, we have never caught one). Gratitude to Kendrick and Samantha Miller (Numu) and their kids (8 and 5) — who both received #flyrods from us on March 15, 2025 — for letting us hold this magnificent fish. Who do you think caught it??

As you can see, we are so excited and overwhelmed with emotions that we completely forgot what Matt taught us about how to present a fish to the camera. Instead Im embarassed to say that I turned into mother hen ! My kids overheard me saying “my baby” and they claimed I held the trout like one. Lol. I got fish slime all over my hair.

Why is this fish so special? After decades of #overfishing #dams and #waterdiversion the #lahontancutthroat nearly became extinct. Anglers from all over the world try to catch the record-sized ones. They used to be around 80 lbs but nowadays its around 40 lbs. The one we are holding is 10 lbs.

All of Kyra and @eo_thesnowboarder efforts for the past several years (raising awareness among their peers that the Truckee River watershed begins with Lake Tahoe and ends at Pyramid Lake) have been about protecting this #trout. And it is only due to genius solutions by #summitlakepaiutetribe and #pyramidlakepaiutetribe who manage a #fishhatchery where the trout are spawned and raised until they are juvenile #lahontancutthroats and reintroduced to #pyramidlake.

After wrestling with a schedule I had in mind for

After wrestling with a schedule I had in mind for this @writingdowntown #residency, I finally surrendered. Only then did I begin to manifest an #idea that I first tried in 2018.

@elizabeth_gilbert_writer described ideas in #bigmagic as “disembodied, energetic life-form. They are completely separate from us, but capable of interacting with us—albeit strangely. Ideas have no material body, but they do have consciousness, and they most certainly have will. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual.”

Ideas usually grow impatient and desert me while Im driving a kid to school or cooking. Even when I am writing, ideas dont like sticking around because I cant execute before somebody derails me. In this special space, I could finally catch and tame an idea.

As much as I love my family, I realize (in convincing them that I needed this residency) how important it is to fund programs like this.

#lasvegas also offers plenty of experiences to catch #ideas :
- @regalmovies #cinebarrepalacestation … had no idea that these #movietheaters existed. At first, we were quite confused. A theater without a concessions stand? Who knew that you could only order food & drinks at your seat? Check out the #drunkenoreo (ole smoky cookies and cookies and cream liqueur, Stoli #vodka , #oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream)…and the sweet n chill pizza.
- @cirquedusoleil KÀ innovative #storytelling about two twins on a quest with fire that can unite or separate, destroy or illuminate.
- @chefroychoi #bestfriendsrestaurant …tell me if you like his kimchi carbonara or fried chicken
- @jabbawockeez dance crew never ceases to amaze me … pushing the limits of what humans can physically do
- @excaliburvegas #tournamentofkingslasvegas wowed me w/pyrotechnics , sword fights and jousting.

Whats the first thing you would do? For a long ti

Whats the first thing you would do?

For a long time, I have been stuck on the opening of my #memoir . I hung my #writersblock on grief, the loss of several of my mother’s siblings who took care of me after my mother died. Thanks to @writingdowntown @plymptoninc @thewritersblocklv I was gifted 2-wks to face my demons.. Send me your muses and prayers !!

Heres what I am working on…

At twenty, I had white water rafted, spelunked, hiked, and ridden on horseback through nearly all the national parks in the United States when I lost both my mother and eighteen-year-old brother to the same disease. Known as the “silent killer,” #hepatitisb is an easily preventable disease commonly passed in #asians from mother to child during birth. Before she died, my mother asked my father to take me to the parks in Alaska and finish what we started. However, alienated by my father’s #chinese cultural beliefs to save face, move on, pretend nothing bad happened, I turned to the natural world and the indigenous people most intimate to these places for answers. Fireweed: A Memoir is a story about making sense of this world when you lose everything that made sense. It’s about finding a place or home to anchor yourself and your descendants to even if it doesn’t belong to you. It’s about resilience, finding some way, however messy, to deal with catastrophic events that advance and retreat or ebb and flow unpredictably through our lives. What matters is how we adapt.

Next door is the delightful @thewritersblocklv #bookstore . Owners Scott and Drew created an artificial #birdsanctuary and space for free creative writing classes for kids age 5-18.

Whats the first thing you did here? @fancifulnance ? @ok_bah_bye ? @joseph.v.lee ? @musicalmakiko @rche_types @liz.iversen

Stay tuned for scenes from a 2-week long @writingd

Stay tuned for scenes from a 2-week long @writingdowntown #writingresidency hosted by @plymptoninc and @thewritersblocklv . This invitation could not have come at a better time. The kids just happened to have ski/skate wk and Thomas was able to request telework for the following week. At the same time 2025 began with an unexpected loss of a steady paycheck while my freelance work picked up and there was an urgency to wrapping up a memoir which had been sidelined by my commitments as wife and mother of four!! While my family is the source of my creativity and joy and happiness they too are very distracting to my #writingcareer .
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This was a great opportunity to also test the cleverly designed @peakdesign #travelbackpack in Coyote X-Pac® Ocean Edition VX-21 Fabric made of 100% fishing nets which comes in 2 sizes both of which are carryon-approved.

Items to pack for a #writersresidency :
-#postitnotes
-#highlighters
-#pajamas
-favorite books
-@lululemon underwear
-#toothbrush
-meds
-#kindle (i did but forgot the micro-usb cable)
-keyboard and mouse and all the usb 3.0 and 3.1 C and usb 2,3,and 3.1 A and laptop chargers!

Gratitude to my family and supporters @writingdowntown @jenny8lee @plymptoninc @thewritersblocklv @electricliterature @apublicspace @grubstreet @wwborders @catapult catalyst@nevada_humanities @nypl @submittable @penamerica @goodsi.de @therubysf

10 years ago when I first postholed up the side of

10 years ago when I first postholed up the side of #snowboardcross race courses to film @ko.snowboarder and @eo_thesnowboarder navigating #rollers #wutangs and turns at speeds up to 65 mph, I thought … this has gotta be the worst sport for parents ?

Just as my toes and fingers froze standing for hours in blizzard conditions (on 2/7 it was 23 degrees, windy, 32 mph southwest with gusts as high as 55 mph) worried that every plume of powder was my kid crashing…I comforted myself with the thought that my kids will leave home one day with these mad skills. Thanks to their brilliant coaches @mortttyyy @nateholland @ridepage @axlsnows

Here’s what Coach Mike called the #trickledown effect.” Each kid learns quicker and becomes more #resilient !

- Anything is possible so just go for it
- #dreambig
- #bekindtoyourself and your fellow competitors.
- Learn how to be a role model from your older siblings and be a role model for the younger siblings
- Ride in blizzard or rain or white out conditions…no problrm

#resilience #sbxlife #boardercross #boardercross🏂
#snowboardgirl #snowboardlife #snowboarding #snowboarding🏂 #snowboardingisfun #snowboardingisfun🏂 #outdoorwomen #sbxgirl #sbxgirls #bekindtoyourself💜 #bekindtoyourselfandothers

Day 3: #huntingtonbeach where you can #surfandski

Day 3: #huntingtonbeach where you can #surfandski on the same day

Only @ko.snowboarder and her youngest sister (8 yo) dared to sign up for #surflessons in the winter. They were rewarded with private lessons with @rockymckinnon, a #professionalsurfer and #shaper and owner of @mckinnonsurfandsuplessons ! Rocky is not only known for the innovations he has made to adaptive surf but he embodies #livingyourpurpose and #doingwhatyoulove and #sharingwhatyoulove .
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We learned about how low tide causes faster and more powerful breaking waves and west southwest swells means we will drift towards the pier. I loved understanding how to read a wave’s shape, speed, and when it will break. Do waves transfer water or energy?
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#poolcabanas @waterfrontbeachresort can be reserved from 10am -7pm. It comes with a bonfire and butler service from @cabowabobeachclub . Highly recommend the #flanksteakfajitas but be sure to ask for extra tortillas. We also loved the butter poached #lobstertacos🌮 with onions and cilantro and the #tempurabatteredshrimp #tacos .
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We squeezed in a #hottubsoak and #waterslideruns with a late checkout of 2pm. None of us wanted to leave.

Day 2: #huntingtonbeach Less than 100 feet from

Day 2: #huntingtonbeach

Less than 100 feet from #HuntingtonBeachPier, (site of the U.S. Open of Surfing), tucked inside this @hsssurf look for @javapointhb where you can grab acai bowls, donuts, bagels, avocado toasts, and a cup of coffee and wander around the nation’s first imprint collection of legendary surfers. See if you can find the first dog that was inducted in 2024. #sugarthesurfingdog was originally found as a stray, then turned into a rescue dog before becoming a 5 time World Champion, 5x HB Surf City Dog Champion. #surfershalloffame celebrated its first induction in 1997.
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We started our day here and then met @yogawithchanda on the beach. The sound of her voice in harmony with the break of waves upon the shore lulled my family into a rare hour of peace and quiet. I could hear my own thoughts for once. And dwell upon the idea Chanda planted…that we should push ourselves towards discomfort until it feels comfortable. Avoiding things that make you uncomfortable prevents you from growing and exploring new opportunities.

Interesting fact: Chanda started @yogaonthebeachhuntingtonbeach several years ago to meet people who love yoga. Now its grown into a donation based #yogaclasss offered several times a day!
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For lunch, right next door to #javapointe we built our own #quesadillas and #tacos @primecutaqueria . Yum!

Then we rented three tandem #kayaks from @huntingtonharborboatrentals_ just when the sun came out. For Thomas and I it was a leisurely paddle but for @ko.snowboarder and @eo_thesnowboarder who paddled their younger sisters they not only got blisters but everyone got drenched!!
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The day ended with @beachbrossharing setting up the best #bonfire we have ever experienced on the #beach . Im not sure what I appreciated more? Not having to set up or take down any of the lounge chairs, giant connect 4, giant jenga, cornholes. The kids loved the giant marshmallows, specialty chocolates for #smores & lightup frisbee, and fire changing color packs. Mostly we are grateful to Craig for going out of his way to find an allergy free chocolate bar for Riley. She said, it was the first time she ever had a smore w/chocolate! And that shes missed out.

@joliehuntingtonbeach #newrestaurant on the 2nd fl

@joliehuntingtonbeach #newrestaurant on the 2nd floor with 180-degree views of surfers catching a wave #huntingtonbeach

1️⃣ Picanha: we fought over this dish…flat iron steak dressed in chimichurri, arugula salad and fries sauteed with chunks of garlic.

2️⃣ Braised Short Rib: garlic thyme mashed potatoes, asparagus and carrots.

3️⃣Maple Glazed Double Pork Chop: garlic thyme mashed potatoes, grilled onions and fried brussels sprouts (incredible taste and texture)!
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#happynewyear #surfcityusa #behere #VisitHB

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