November 1 - December 3
Written November 2 and later
Dear Diary,
This is the story of our America Trip - California edition. (This visit is mostly family stuff, baby pictures and such. If you are looking for a "travelogue", this may not be interesting. Now I feel you have been fairly warned.)
We arrived in Los Gatos on Thursday, November 1, the day after Halloween. After half a day of good fun with Ava and Sam, we celebrated Marianne's birthday, again, with huge steaks, her favorite, and some of Gabby and Mamal's good pinot noir. A good start on a California family vacation.
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Everyone got dressed up and pretty.   Pizza, cake, and kisses for Alan on his birthday.    The newest of the new generation.   |
Saturday weather was perfect for getting outdoors, so we decided to go to Roaring Camp and ride the 100-year-old steam train. Getting our crew up and fed and pottied and dressed and ready takes some time, so it was 11:00 before we made it out and it was almost time for lunch already! I really don't know how young families accomplish anything beyond the eat-food-etc part, but they do.
Just in case there was some take-along lunch we could take advantage of, we stopped at some "food trucks" parked nearby. This is a craze that has not hit Germany, so the colorful mobile restaurants were novel for Marianne and me. In the end, however, we decided to pass on the offerings, but we'll be back!
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The good news was that the weather remained perfect, the redwood forests were as impressive as ever, and there was plenty of happy-kid sounds as families waited for the steam engine to return from an earlier excursion. Ava was part of the happy-kid sound-makers. Sam, who was missing his nap, was more subdued but as cheerful as any of the little people he was looking at. The bad news was that the old steam engine broke down before it could return from its first trip. Bummer. Oh well, we'd had an hour of fun in the California sun.
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Sunday? Nothing special. Shopping while the little family went to a birthday party. This place sure does have lots of birthday parties.
Monday? Nothing special. More shopping. More playing with kids. Monday Night Football for me, something I get to see about 2 or 3 times per year max. Political discussions of just how CLOSE the US presidential election seems to be.
Tuesday was more of the same -- plus the election. First, we played with Ava and Sam and I took a few snaps of them playing with the new neighbors. California "winter" weather remains pretty darn nice.
   Ava doesn't like Sam's help on her bike.    Nice blue eyes, all around.  |
Meanwhile, we will spend our vacation worrying about grandkids rather than a new US government.
Thursday (8th)
We
left the grandkids for a visit with Marianne's brother Tom's family in
Albany, up in "the east Bay", but first we had lunch at Station 1 in
Woodside with friends Malinda and Scott. It's a long story, but
we connected on an airplane via their interest in Germany and Marianne
and I now have another California couple that we need to work into our
US trips. Uniquely, we can also get together when they manage to
have some time at their place in Nuremberg. A nice connection all
around. Our evening was spent with Tom and family at Kensington Circus Pub, listening to "Bangers and Grass", one of the bluegrass bands he plays in. All five band members are local and extremely talented. (See recent newspaper article.) Bill, on the banjo, casually noted that his latest CD had gone to number one on the national Bluegrass charts this week. A fun evening for sure.
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Friday was a long drive to Fresno, after a meeting in Novato with
our financial planner - important for retirees. The advisers, a small company call Equius,
have a wonderful office space inside an old airplane hanger at Hamilton
Field. Nice place. Nice people. But most importantly,
they seem to make sense with their plan for financing our retirement.
The drive was a pretty boring four hours, as needs to be expected for a
trip down the Central Valley. I often remark about how crowded
the San Francisco Bay area is, but how empty these farmlands seem to
be, other than crops and a few windmills.
We are starting a
week with Mamo, Marianne's mother. That will be the whole next
sub-chapter.Friday dinner: pizza and conversation. Fun for us. Fun for Mamo.
Saturday was dinner at Babi's, Marianne's sister's house. Nice dinner and a good chance to see her family, husband Ruben, son Henry and his girlfriend Scarlett, Max the dog and Penny, the egg-laying pet chicken. I actually brought two cameras, but managed to forget to use either one. Next time.
Except for a Monday trip to Yosemite National Park (see below), the week has been nice and slow, with meals out or at home and not enough exercise between them. A bit of shopping or looking at Open Houses doesn't count as much exercise. Watching TV counts even less. I thought keeping fit at home was hard, but this is even harder. We need to think of something.
Misc. Pictures With Mamo - breakfast and window shopping   
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Thursday (15th) -- Gabby and the kids arrived this afternoon for a few days with Mamo. Was fun for all. Mostly we just hung around the house, but we did have one cloudy-day Friday excursion to the zoo.
Hanging around the house  The Fresno Zoo  Zoo visitors -- all cute          Zoo's feathered residents -- some more colorful than others         |
On Monday (12th), we drove up to Yosemite National Park. It's only about an hour to the park entrance from Fresno. Although Mamo has a lifetime pass, the park entrance rangers waved us through saying entrance was free because Monday was Veteran's Day. No vets in our car, but we'll take free anyway.
Track to Yosemite Entrance - Snow blocked some parts   
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Wawona     
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The rest of the drive took more than an hour, plus time for photo opportunities along the way. We had a bright winter sun for lighting, so the Yosemite Valley was as picture-worthy as any place we've visited. The high granite cliffs did remind us of our recent trip through the Italian Dolomite mountains. The pictures turned out OK, but can not properly describe the day, surrounded by dramatic cliffs, looking at fall colors and snow-white accents, and visiting the famous Ahwahnee Lodge at the end of the drivable road. I didn't even mind the two-and-a-half drive back down to Fresno.
Valley Pictures -- From 'Tunnel View"     |
Scenes from the valley     |
Full 360 pan. |
Around the Ahwahnee lodge     |
Finally,
on Monday, we did have to leave Fresno, something that is always a bit
sad. However, this time we could say "See you in a few days, on
Thanksgiving!" Another story.Regards,
John and Marianne