Annemarie and I headed up to Arcata today for a few days of catching up with friends (her) and hiking (me). We had our usual stop at BurtoNZ in Windsor to pick up bread and New Zealand food – I got a sausage roll. I can’t wait to actually have one in New Zealand soon!…

Went on a butt kicker of a hike today with my hiking buddies. We started at Samuel P Taylor Park and hiked the Ridge Trail up and over San Geronimo Ridge and then down White Hill open space ending up at Browns Bridge. It was an 11 mile hike with almost 2000 feet of elevation…

We celebrated two birthdays – Annemarie turned 25 today and my nephew, Cameron, turned 11 yesterday. It was the first time in over two years that my Mom and all of my sisters were able to all be together and most of the nieces and nephews were there too! Cam had a few friends over…

On this morning’s walk I saw a boy riding his bike to school with a helmet so big he had to tilt his head way back so he could see out of the helmet that was sliding over his eyes. Also saw a preschooler still in his PJs helping his dad sweep the leaves off…

Had a lovely day with Annemarie today. She made breakfast sandwiches for us with her homemade bagels which were delicious. We went for a walk around the Lafayette reservoir. It wasn’t crowded and was great to amble around while we talked about our plans for the rest of her time here and when I come…

I found a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond in a little free library – it was one of my favorite books as a kid. I went out for a walk right before sunset on Halloween night so I could see all the kids in their Halloween costumes, though there were just as many…

Started the day having breakfast with Annemarie at Sherry’s Kitchen in Pleasant Hill. A great place that seemed very popular with the locals. My linguisa scramble was delicious and huge- I’ve got enough for breakfast tomorrow! On the way back to mom’s we stopped at a roadside attraction next to the freeway in Corte Madera…

One of my college roommates sent me this adorable handmade Halloween card-she is so creative, also makes amazing decorated cookies. Started the day with a hike in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area near my mom’s house. I went on the Oakwood Meadow trail to the Oakwood Valley trail up (a lot of up!) to…

I’ve been keeping a secret that I can finally tell now. I had originally planned to head to New Zealand in late October to spend time with my daughter, Annemarie, but ended up delaying my trip until mid November because Annemarie decided to come to the US for a visit! I couldn’t say anything about…

Last night Mom and I watched Jeopardy and one of the answers was ‘What is an Eisenhower jacket?’ This prompted mom to tell me a story about a time during the war when her two older sisters were fighting over who got to wear an Eisenhower jacket. They only had one and both wanted to…