Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
After a few very quiet days, we resolved to be more active. "More active" turned out to be a reasonable goal.
I started with a catch-up diary for the previous few days and in the Starbucks parking lot I parked next to a California classic 1969 Karmann Gia, complete with surf board and "air conditioning". Larry, the owner, saw me taking pictures and came out to chat. He was obviously very proud of the old Volkswagen. He said his mother had bought it new and he had received it when she passed. Nice legacy and memory of mom.
Back home, we had breakfast and took our two charges out for a walk. I'm afraid their lives with babysitters are way more boring than with their regular family. Oh well, it had been raining, so we had an excuse. They really are pleasant companions and they enjoyed their first exercise in several days.
Our next activity was watching the 2024 eclipse. Years earlier, we had traveled up to Eastern Oregon to see the 2017 event, but we settled for TV and YouTube screen views this time. We really should try to hit another one and Spain in 2026 sounds about right. We'll see.
After lunch, we headed up the Peninsula to the Filoli Historic House and Garden, a destination we had talked about over the years, but had never had the time to visit. This trip, all we have is time.
William Bowers Bourn opened Filoli in 1917, when he was likely the richest man in California due to gold mines and, later, a water business. ("Filoli" comes from "Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow Man. Live a god life." Very California.) The Bourns lived here until their passing in 1936, when the Roth family took over the 54,256 square-foot, 56-room house for the next 40 years.
The massive house was decorated with period furniture, with each room set out as it might have been in its heady 20th Century life. The effect was to give the sense of a real lived-in home, albeit on a grand scale.
The 654 acre estate features 64 acres of formal gardens. During our early April visit, tulips were brought in from the gardens to decorate the house, while the gardens featured a wide variety of blossoming trees. It was easy to imagine the changes the gardens must show throughout the seasons. We need to come back.
So, it was a good, active day. Tuesday was still unplanned.
It turned out that the rest of our short week in Monte Sereno was really very quiet. So quiet, that I didn't even decide to write anything at the time! This entry was made tens days later, with the only memories arising out of pictures left on cameras. If there are no pictures, it didn't happen.
My Tuesday pictures came from our shopping trip to Santana Row. Window shopping. We stopped by the Tesla showroom to see a Cybertruck up close. This one was wrapped in snow-white vinyl, more impressive than the cold steel of the factory finish. (However, this addition adds five or six thousand dollars to the $100,000 + original price.) We are glad I decided to turned in my reservation. The beast is just too big. The red Model Y looked more like our future, if we ever need to get rid of our "old car".
Wednesday pictures started with the peaceful pool scene at the Rahimi Resort. Nice, but pretty soon we were off on the drive home. South Bay traffic was OK, but things bogged down in Pacheco Pass when we encountered road repair work. This section of the trip has absolutely no alternative, so we just puttered along. (I suppose electric cars don't "putter", but you know what I mean.)
And that was the end our dog-sitting adventure. Nice enough, but not very exciting. We need to pick up our traveling game.
John and Marianne