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Met up with Shane’s cousin Mike and his partner Joseph for some dinner and beers in Berkeley. We caught up with them for a few hours, discussing the Heath heritage and other hot topics. Great to visit with them! Headed from there to San Mateo, where we were graciously taken in by our friend Brian’s family for a couple nights. We caught up with Jess and Brian for a while, then conked out. Went into San Fran the next day and did a touristy tour of the Academy of Sciences and Museum of Modern Art. As typical for such museums, there was some interesting things and some real crap (to our untrained eyes). We then met up with Jess and had a delicious Indian lunch with her coworkers, who were treating her (and inadvertently us) to a farewell lunch, as she is soon leaving for two years in Ethiopia. We ate until stuffed and then wandered around the city some more. Headed back to San Mateo, where we cooked Brian’s parents some dinner and enjoying a great meal getting to know them. Played some hardcore dominoes with the fam for a while, and called it a night. Next day went
back to the city for some more touristy explorations. Took a while to find parking (particularly where it didn’t look like our truck would get broken into), but eventually made our way down to the Ferry Building and farmer’s market for lunch, walked to the Aquarium of the Bay, where we got to see the sharks getting fed, and spotted a lurking octopus among other cool marine life. We stopped at Pier 39 and watched the sea lions for a bit, then hit up Ghirardelli for an ice cream sundae. Delicious.
Met up with Jess and after dinner headed up to Inverness near Point Reyes National Seashore, where Brian’s family has a beautiful second home. Brian got in shortly after we did, filled with many vaccinations for their upcoming adventure, and we had a nice night. Headed off to explore Point Reyes in the morning. Walked around Abbott’s Lagoon. It was very windy, so not great for relaxing on the beach, but a good walk, including a daring rescue of Shane’s sunglasses, which he dropped off a bridge over a marsh. Brian’s brain and Shane’s long arms eventually led to their safe return (via flinging back to shore). We explored
more of the area, which is beautiful and agrarian, with lots of ranches and country-style winding roads. We picnicked at a historic farmstead, napped in the sun (Jess and Brian coming around to the lifestyle of the temporarily unemployed) and then went for a great hike along the Chimney Rock trail. The trail followed a high bluff overlooking a bay and the Pacific. Saw a horned puffin through some guy’s scope (he’d spent two hours finding it, crazy man), and saw some elephant seals along the coast. The water was a gorgeous turquoise. Spent the night playing Pass the Pigs and Sequence, and feasted on enchiladas and Jess’ homemade pie. Next day tried for a kayak in the bay (and much hassle getting two kayaks safely secured onto Brian’s truck) but the area was closed for harbour seal pupping season. Instead we headed to Drake’s beach, where we spent a long day playing in the sun. In the company of hundreds of middle school kids. Lauren joined Jess and Brian for a frisbee/beach workout, which was good fun, and we ended the day with some bocce, and Shane came out victorious on the last throw of the day. Another fun
night of games and movies, and the next day it was already time to hit the road for the northern Cali coast. An awesome visit catching up with Jess and Brian before they head off to the other side of the world…
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Kim
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Hello from SCI!
It is so fun keeping up with your travels and your pictures are AMAZING! Very envious of the "I-have-no-job" lifestyle...have safe travels!