Heading north again

It was hard to say goodbye to Ben and Julia this morning, but they'll be glad to have their house back! We're looking forward to coming again to explore more of their favourite places in the city. They treated to a fun breakfast at Bette's and presented Jim with an early birthday gift before we piled into the car. We made good time and are overnighting in Grant's Pass. Mt. Shasta was completely snowcovered just like it was when we were going the other way in December. The last photo proves that men on the road talk softly and carry a big spoon.

Visit to the Zs and Wights

Our good friends Todd Zazelenchuk and Helen Wight live in San Mateo with baby Sam. We showed up for supper tonight and had a good catch up with them. Our timing was impeccable; we arrived just as Todd got out of his car with pizza. Fourth-month-old Sam is, of course, adorable and tolerated being passed back and forth. We are again reminded what good friends they are and how we wish they were closer.

San Fran

Having fun, cooking (see the beautiful artichokes we got at the market?), walking, eating! So much to eat in this city! Julia showed us how to use Bart (Bay Area Rapid Transit) trains, so we don't need to use the car much. Rick, Karin and Jim walked to Berkeley campus yesterday (there was a protest of some sort) and on the walk home, stopped to pick up some basil plants. We're rehabilitating the kids' backyard garden. Ben's old high school friend Tony just got back from an extended stay in Thailand, so he came by last night looking very calm and Jesus-like and we all swapped travel stories. Jim wrote a postcard to his YMCA coworkers and one to Jon to drop in the mailbox today. Beautiful sunny day and blue skies so a good day for more gardening.

Cooking at Ben and Julia's

We made it to San Francisco in good time yesterday, and arrived about 5 p.m. Julia made one of her famous roti-dahl-choka dinners and we all pitched in to help. Had a great evening! Jim is bunking on a great air mattress, we got the kids' room and they slept out in the shed :) Their house is very cozy and feels happy!

Heading north after E.B.

We're packed up after a great visit in San Diego. Car is full and ready to start the leg north, at least as far as San Francisco on Sunday. We can't leave until after Xander finds out what E. B. (Easter Bunny) has left him and by the sounds of it, that will be EARLY! Jim is already in SF with Ben and Julia so we can make the miles tomorrow if we don't hit traffic. Ben came down for a family get-together around Jim; we left it as a surprise for Xander until the last minute. He thinks Uncle Ben is a god, so he couldn't believe what a good day it was! His knock-knock joke prowess alone almost outdoes Bobo (of course, if it's an early morning, he cheats with the Internet). Did an array of 'grandparent' things like walking Xan to and from preschool, going to the San Diego Zoo, helped make a secret fort, went out for barbeque at Phil's, helped out with gardening and landscaping, shampooed the dog, took Xan to the grocery, dyed Easter eggs, etc. Xander says, "Amma and Bobo, I can go with you and live at your house!" I think we'd get tired :)

Sad news about kids' grandmother

Oddly enough, we were at a family gathering around Jim last night when we got some sad news. The kids' grandmother, Maddy, passed away. She has just turned 90 in March and died quietly at home. Char and Larry were there as were Char's brother and Jim's Uncle Ned, Aunt Helen and cousin Nicole, us, Erin, Benjamin and Jim. We were glad to be around for the kids, too. Maddy was a wonderful person who always made us feel welcome. Rick has cherished memories of times they spent together over bagels when he was part of the Davis family. We loved her stories about the business about as much, we suspect, as she loved telling them. Erin found a really good (and accurate) piece in the LA Times tonight.

Hikes

Yesterday we did our second Hermit Gulch hike and made it to the top in record time, just about 40 minutes. It was oddly unclear with fog, but very sunny. We were greeted at the summit by a little gecko, who found us fascinating. We walked up to the top of the Conservancy the other day (first two photos) and it's good to see the hillsides a lot more lush and green than our last visit here after the horrible 2007 fire. Turns out, a guy from Indiana owes some money for that. Other than a blackened tree here and there, you'd never know it happened. Only one more day here and we're back to San Diego. We don't want to leave!