Fun in California

Having a great time in California!  I have kept very busy since arriving last Friday---oh where do I start!  Last Saturday we went to the Lake Merritt Farmer's Market and many places in Berkeley including a fish market where we bought oysters and three kinds of Tuna---had a wonderful meal that night!  Also went to a rose garden.  On Sunday we drove across the new Bay Bridge and went to an antique market in SF and hit the Costco store to stock up on food.  This is where I discovered It's -It ice cream bars---LOVE!!!  We also went to Lake Merritt again and went out on the paddle boats.  On Monday I went in to SF with Chelsea---we had to deliver their 1993 Volvo wagon to SF---it is going to be used in an HBO film being shot on the Bay Bridge this week---so after going to where Chelsea works I took off on foot and walked to the ferry embarcadero and then to Fisherman's wharf and through Chinatown and places that I don't know where I was.  I did go through a wonderful Britex store with very expensive woolens.  Here is a store window that I took a picture of.

I worked my way back to the Bloomingdales' mall and got a tour of the store and went to lunch...then I took off on foot through Nob Hill and several other areas before making it to Japantown and then back to Bloomingdales and then taking the train and the Bart back to Oakland.  The next couple of days my legs were killing me.  On tuesday we took the Bus to the Bart to the Ferry to Vallejo where we were picked up by Platypus tours for a wine tasting tour in Napa---it was a great day.  It is a small world when it turns out that one of the members of our tour turned out to be a girl that was in my high school graduating class in Lawrence Kansas---what are the odds of that!!!  the ferry brought us back to a different pier---so more walking---ouch!!!

Wednesday became my day of rest---very much needed!

Thursday we rented bikes and rode all around Alameda and visited the Pinball Museum where we played Pinball for an hour---now that was fun!

 At the end of the day it was Happy Hour time at the Tiki bar before returning home for dinner.

This morning I am going to get my run in---think my legs have recovered enough to do it.

We have had a great time preparing many wonderful dinners and making many memories.

On a sad note Chelsea's cat "Jackson" said goodbye to the world.  He was a wonderful cat who had been enjoying the good life in the country the past couple of years with Noah's parents.

This  was a picture I took of him when he lived in New York---rest in peace, Jackson.

That is it for now...looking forward to the biennial next week.