We spent a restful November and December in California, celebrating the holidays as well as Andy’s December birthday. Andy and Charlie also attended the USC/Cal football game in Berkeley, a family tradition of seeing the Trojans play when they visit the Bay Area. Andy played in the USC Band in his college days, so they enjoyed sitting near the band during the game.
We rented a small guesthouse in Lafayette, an upscale town in the hills just east of Oakland. It was a very pleasant spot and only a 15 minute drive from Andy’s apartment in Oakland, so we enjoyed frequent visits with him. We especially liked daily walks at the Lafayette Reservoir, a quick 5 minute drive from our apartment. The trail around the reservoir is 3 miles and it affords beautiful views of the reservoir and of the many birds that live there. Click on the first photo in each block to view the slideshow.
One day during our stay in Lafayette we took BART (the Bay Area subway) into San Francisco and visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). We had visited SFMOMA in the past but it had been completely remodeled in recent years and we wanted to see the new facility. We enjoyed seeing the museum and also seeing the Christmas decorations in the city.
During the first week of December we took a 3-day trip to Paso Robles to visit our Food Group friends. We are a group of about a dozen friends, all originally from Ventura County, who have been getting together for 36 years. Many of us have scattered across the country but we still manage to congregate several times a year. Always lots of laughs and lots of love.
About a week before Christmas we left Lafayette and moved into a guesthouse near Camarillo for a couple of weeks. We still have family and friends in and around Camarillo so we wanted to spend Christmas there. Andy came down for a few days and stayed with us for Christmas. He also had time to catch up with one of his close friends from high school.
After New Years Day we headed north and spent a long weekend in the Bay Area on our way to our next pet sitting gigs in Oregon in January and February. Sunday was a rare sparking clear day and we took BART over to SF to explore the new Salesforce Park. SF recently replaced its old bus station and transit center, and the new center has an urban park on its 4th-floor roof. It is adjacent to the Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in SF, and there is direct pedestrian access from the building to the park. The park features small botanical gardens, each dedicated to one of the world’s Mediterranean climate regions.
that was fun, thanks, I went over to the sales area last summer but it was still not open yet. Now I will try again. Especially the gardens.
your travel life is admirable……..enjoy oregon. I am picking up clues on how to downsize, ie: just have the Christmas stockings.