I normally park at Alpine Inn so we can end there for dinner but the parking lot was already full at 4:30p!!! Insane! When we stopped at the meet-up point, I watched a mosquito come in for a landing on my knee. I promptly killed it. I could be wrong, but I think it was the striped species that's supposed to carry all the bad diseases like Zika and Dengue. The new section of Dirt Alpine that replaces the old bypass trail is much nicer than I thought it would be. I was expecting fire road like the rest of the new trail but it's pretty flowy and pretty single/double track. Not as technical or as steep as before and I didn't get to descend it but I feel like I'll probably enjoy it as much as before and on days where I don't want to kill myself up the steep, rooted, singletrack from before, I'll enjoy it even more. Monte Bello was gorgeous as always. I was worried it was going to be cold and cloudy on the ridge but it was clear and warm. The grass and vegetation has grown much taller and thicker since I was last up there a few weeks ago. Luckily, Maxime and family got to Alpine Inn ahead of us and put their name down for a table. When we got there it was a mad house but supposedly it was a 35 min. wait. It ended up being much longer, maybe closer to an hour. While in line we saw Kate Courtney and Co. go in ahead of us. I've been thwarted by long lines twice before so I'm glad we were able to eat there. I almost forgot, while we were waiting outside, with the temperature dropping, Natalie put on her Amazon delivery vest and tucked her arms inside to try and stay warm. :P