Oakland waterfront

A tall ship at the Jack London waterfront after picking up Gina at the airport. Evenings are somehow better in the beginning of fall...

Little Yosemite

 

 

Or so they call the area of large boulders and summer creeks running in the Sunol Regional Wilderness about 45 minutes south of Lafayette. Large trout were swimming in the clear pools, along with frogs too quick to catch. It must be an amazing sight after the winter rains and more water rushes around the boulders and through the carved valleys.

Trip to Edmonds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…or should this be titled: Summer in Seattle? A four-day solo trip to see Mom & Dad was met with perfect weather. The kids would have loved the crepes, Theo chocolate tour in Fremont, and the tiki torch & laser light show outside of Edmonds' amazing Epulo restaurant.  I learned that most major ships can be easily tracked online, and that Edmonds has one of the best gyms anywhere. A great time with two of my favorite people. I'm looking forward to coming back during the holidays with the full family in tow!

Trombone

Today was the first day of trombone practice! Boy, it's large.

Sibley!

 

 

 

Gina and I continued our hiking this week by taking a trail from Canyon up a ridge to Sibley Regional Volcanic Preserve. Along the way (and before we saw the rain showers developing in the distance), we came across a very pretty baby Pacific Gopher snake. Gina emptied her backpack, we headed straight down the trail (while using our phones to research the viability of a gopher snake as a pet), and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the Berkeley Vivarium picking out a tank, heater, thermostat, grape branches, etc. Sibley's head is so tiny we had to also buy frozen baby mice, which she will only eat when everyone has left the room. As Nate said, "This is the best day of my life!"

Night Ride

On Saturday I strapped miner's lights on the kids bikes and took them on a nighttime ride down the trail and through the woods of the community park. No strange noctural animals spotted, probably due to us whistling and singing to scare anything away.