Point Reyes national park

North Beach on Pt Reyes

Day out with the family in Point  Reyes State Park.  After a quick jog in the morning with Lizzie, we set out for the state park alongside Pacific Ocean. It looks just like Scotland but with the sunny weather. The lack of trees and vegetation is due to the cold winds and salty atmosphere which are a feature of this area.
The local town is called Inverness which is appropriate. We went to North Beach which has rough sand and a lot of signs warning of sharks, rip tides and the like. Lily got her feet wet but didn't like it - too cold I think.  It was lovely kicking the ball around the beach, with views to the North and the South, and high waves crashing on the beach.  A few guys were surfing, but seemed to spend more time in the water, than riding the waves.
Back to Point Reyes Station, which we've driven through before,an interesting place with a mix of warehouse style buildings, and outpost style shops.  Quite busy and the road to the lighthouse was chocker with daytrippers so we headed off back to Novato.
The way back was full of lovely views across the channel.

The following day was spent trying to give the family some space, and us exploring the area by foot and cycle.  After we'd facetimed mum and dad and then Laura and Emma,  I went on a run up the block and then further on to the Miwok Trail, named after the Native American Miwok Indians.  The views from the top from a short, steep climb were great- across the sierra as far as the Bay of San Francisco.  It made me realise how close they are to the sea, and the city.  Wouldn't mind going back to SanFran on the ferry again.
In the afternoon, Ian and I cycled up to the Cheese Factory, about 20 miles round trip.  Ian continued on to Nicasia, whilst Lily had her afternoon sleep and mum and dad relaxed.
Our last day altogether tomorrow, so Xmas presents and birthday presents to wrap and hide away!

Trying to convince reluctant Lily to edge of water

Cycling around Sonoma

West Dry Creek Sonoma Valley

The local paper announced that this year's vintage is one of the best they've had for a long time, because of the weather.  We noticed that there are lots of new vines being planted all over.  Sonoma is more recent on the wine scene than it's more well-known neighbour Napa, just 10 miles or so away.
We booked two road bikes with a nearby bike shop, Spokefolk Cyclery in Healdsburg. We cycled along quiet vineyard roads on West Dry Creek Rd, up to Lake Sonoma, then on to a lunch stop for a sandwich at Geyserville, then along a lovely stretch of road called Red Winery Rd to Jim Town Stores where they did great coffee and cookies, in a vintage store full of hand made crafts.  Then eight miles back to the cycle shop.  We'd been out for about forty miles, fairly easy riding through the main wine-growing area, and felt we'd got to know it quite well.
On the way back to the family, we made a little detour up Adobe Canyon Rd, to Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.  Plan to go back there in the future, where there are a number of walks with views out to the sea or over towards Napa Valley.  Called in for lunch at Finnegans Bar in Downtown Novato, and organised a bike to hire at the nearby bike shop.  On this occasion only able to hire one bike for Ian, but took his details for the future.  We'll give him more notice next time!

Jimtown Stores Nr Healdsburg

Around Sonoma

What a lovely way to waken up with little Lily cuddled up next to me!  She has a cute way of putting her hand under yours!  She lies there and babbles, attempting to answer your questions about where are her eyes, ears, nose etc. What was she going to do today?  Was she going to play with her friend from the library group, called Yokari?
Packed and then we were off for a few nights in the vineyards of Sonoma, Russian River and Dry Creek, not far from the better known Napa area.

VJB Vineyards

We pulled in at our first vineyard, VJB, an Italian family vineyard, which pride themselves on enjoying wine in a sociable way, with family, friends and food.  We particularly liked the atmosphere there.  Relaxed and informal, without intimidating stuffiness you sometimes get, a lovely sunny courtyard, where you could sample wines, or just buy a glass or bottle, with sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and herbs, olives and artichokes.  Really nice place and again just up the road from the family.
On to the Hampton Inn in Windsor, a great place from which to explore Sonoma, with a reasonably priced Applebee's next door.

The forecast for the following two days wasn't great.  Hurricane Sandy was bashing the coast near New York, bringing two feet of snow to West Virginia.  Chicago has certainly been a lot colder since we left, so we were very lucky.  It was going to rain heavily this afternoon.  So exploration by car today.  First up to Russian River.  Wooden shacks hidden deep in the huge redwood trees, quiet roads, thick mist over high hills, it had a very different feel to it.  Apparently in this part of Sonoma, it's usually misty in the morning, and this burns off by lunchtime.  Perfect for growing.  Today the mist would develop into heavy rain.  Russian River is very scenic and atmospheric, littered with historic villages from the 1850s.  Bohemian and quirky.
We called into Bodega Bay for clam chowder, and watched a pelican coming in to land on the jetty, and a seal poke his head out of the water to see if any easy food was in the offing from a nearby fishing boat.

Dry Creek Valley

We hadn't been to many vineyards, so decided to pick one which looked interesting.  Quivira vineyard, recently awarded for its excellent Zinfandel, or colloquially Zin, is surrounded by acres of vineyards, undulating up the many surrounding hills.  Autumn is a great time to visit, with the vines changing colour as well as the trees.  The area is ablaze with red and gold.  Quivira sells vegetables as well as wine.  Raised beds, carefully tended support chard, rhubarb, squashes, beets, herbs, and several varieties of chilis, salad leaves to name a few.  Wine tasting has become much more expensive, doubling in price.  A 10$ tasting gives you small tastes of a lovely citrus Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache, Zinfandel, Grenache/Mourvèdre blend and a Syrah.  They knock the price of the tasting off the price of a bottle, if you buy.  We bought a bottle of the Grenache blend, Elusive, which is very good, but at 30$ average it's quite expensive.  Wine in the supermarkets is still very reasonable, but drinking wine in vineyards and restaurants is still high-end and special.  So different to Spain and France, where most wine is inexpensive.  Wine=wealth and status in the US!  That said, reall impressed with the area.  Very hilly, green, full of forests around the river, rustic, historic buildings and, best of all, very quiet roads.
Back to Windsor, via Healdsburg, another very chic, pretty town with a square, like Sonoma, with a Mediterranean feel.  Pretty individual, expensive shops for the well-heeled from San Fran, visiting the wine area.
San Francisco Giants have just won the World Series Baseball, so "Go Giants"!

Cycling by Car!

After an aborted attempt at cycling, with a puncture!, I took Lily for a stroll in the pram into Novato.  It had been busy with Halloween celebrations last time, so I was looking forward to a quiet stroll down the street, just me and Lily.  It was really quiet and pleasant ambling along in the sunshine.  Christmas lights were being strewn around the trees that lined both sides of the street.  It looks really pretty at night.  We made our way to the great little toy shop, on the Main Street, where I bought Lily's Christmas present and birthday present.  The shopkeepers were quite happy to have this little girl excitedly pottering around picking things up, with little squeals of joy!

Marshall Oyster Shack

A bit of lunch with Lizzy, and then Ian and I drove past Lakeside, on to the hamlet of Marshall on the sea inlet, looking across to the park of Point Reyes.  Almost like a fjord, this narrow channel of water is dotted with shellfish shacks.  We stopped at a crab shack, and ordered 6 oysters and a beer.  It's a really lovely unspoilt place, which we found to be much less touristy than some of the places on the coast further North, made more busy by their proximity to the wine-growing areas.  It's great to have this just on the doorstep of Novato.

Cheese Factory

Later we called in at Lizzy's favourite spot, the Cheese factory, home of the famous Rouge et Noir cheeses, produced by the same family for generations.  They've even won awards in London, beating French Bries!  We bought Triple Cream Brie and blue Brie to take back to the family.  We're under strict instructions not to buy any more cheesecakes, which are delicious!

San Francisco

A 45 minute ferry from Larkspur took us to San Fran.  A beautiful, sunny, chilly morning promising another hot day ahead.  The Bay is superb, with views of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.  The Golden Gate stands out red against the bright blue sky.
The ferries don't run as regularly at the weekends, as they do for the commuters during the week, so we couldn't set off until 10am.  Earlier would have been more impressive in the early morning fog.
Where to start, when you're plonked down in the port!  Well, the Market at the Port is a great place to start, with warehouses full of food and chic items!  Then a long walk along the front to Fisherman's Wharf.  Not really impressed with this part- just full of gift shops and typical visitor fare!  But we did get to see the dozens of sea lions, basking in the sunshine, on pontoons floating just out from the wharf.  We moved on to Boudin's Sourdough Museum and Bakery.  Operating since the 1850s and run by the same family, it is unique to San Fran.  It's been using the same sourdough Mother Starter, yeast starter, since 1850s, and that mixed with the foggy air of the San Fran Bay makes a bread specific to the area, and yet hardly gets a mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook!  The highly informative talk and presentation by guide and boards makes the trip to the Bakery fascinating.  The massive Kenwood-style mixers are a joy to behold, mixing bread that was a feature of Greek and Roman times.  They even reimburse you the price of the admission to the factory, $3 each, if you eat on the premises, which is a treat anyway.  Clam chowder in a sourdough bun, which comes in two different sizes, so you don't need to feel over faced - unusual in US.

Famous SF Cablecar

A tram back to the port and then a famous cable car up to Union Square.  An ingenious way of being pulled up the high street, which is no mean feat here, as the streets are so steep!  Great fun travelling on the cable car, and a pleasant rest after all the walking about.
Apart from visiting Chinatown, which we'll do in the future at night, we felt we'd seen enough now and headed back.
It was wonderful to be greeted by Lily with a big hug and be pulled into the room!

Meeting the Family

Reunion with family in Novato, San Francisco

the balcony at Andrews and Lizzies

Another walk around the leafy and very chilly streets of Chicago, before we make our way down to the airport.  The temperatures had plummeted overnight, and a mere 8deg this morning.
The journey time to San Fran is a comfortable 4 1/2 hours, but with 2 hours time difference  it was about 6.30 pm, as we left in the hire car.  Unfortunately we were stuck in all the rush hour traffic, got a bit lost and ended up skirting the bay, and finally drove over the Golden Gate Bridge in the dark, so couldn't see anything.  Finally arrived at the the apartment at 7.40pm!  Lovely to see everyone again and after a brief moment's shyness, Lily was at ease with us.  She seems to have grown a few inches since we last saw her and accompanies most of what she does with a little babbling commentary.  Adorable!  She cuddled up next to us on the sofa, and sat on our knees.
The new apartment in Novato, north of San Fran, is in a much quieter area, surrounded by pine trees, and overlooking a house with a small holding, with apple trees, a large fig tree and other fruit trees.  All the buildings in Novato are one or two storeys high, and you can see small hills rising up in the distance.  Very leafy and quite quiet.  The shops are individual and attractive, rather than just functional.  The cheaper brands like Ross and Target are out of town, and a short drive away.  There are numerous attractive restaurants and coffee shops.  I made a note to return to one of the cafes for a pecan pumpkin pancake.  They do the sweet stuff so well!!

On Saturday am., we all walked down to the Main Street in Novato for a Halloween gathering, put on by the shops and community.  All the children, of all ages, from babies to adults were dressed in fancy dress.  Lizzy borrowed a pumpkin costume from a friend for Lily to wear, with a cute little hat.  Shopkeepers were handing out sweeties, lollies, toothbrushes and even little books to fairy princesses, ghosts, cartoon characters and little cute pumpkins!  A trip to a superb Wholefoods Shop, was followed by a Mediterranean lunch, cooked by Andrew and Lizzy, - pimientos, meatballs, dried ham, cheese, dates in bacon, figs and tortilla.  They really spoilt us!  The afternoon was hot and sunny, about 28deg, but the flat gets all the sun in the living areas , whilst the bedrooms face north and stay nice and cool.  The architecture is interesting, less concrete and more wooden, clapperboarding.  Almost Wells Fargo style, outpost town, with wooden terraces and porches.

US Trip Oct 2012

USA trip October 24- November15  2012

The Cloud

Actually I came over to visit the family on my own in March, but it's our first trip together this year.  The family came over for a few weeks and stayed with us in August, whilst renewing visa, and it was great to be back together again in the UK.  Particularly special as I now have wonderful memories of Lily wandering around the garden, picking the heads off flowers, climbing the steps in search of more blackberries, standing on the platform at the top of the garden and shouting down to us, spending time with great grandma and visiting great grandparents in Lancashire - the list goes on!
The decision to fly via Chicago started off with a need to avoid the four hour journey to Heathrow and the following eleven hour flight.  Although longer flight time overall, at least we would break up our journey with two nights in Chicago.  Ian's been there before, but it would be the first time for me.  Much more than a diversion, we instantly felt relaxed and at ease in the city.  It is beautiful, with the trees all yellow and red, several open spaces and parks.  The city is particularly good for walking and cycling, with paths running for miles along the river and the shores of the mighty Lake Michigan- more like a sea than a lake!
Famous for its impressive skyscrapers, it has four of the biggest eight skyscrapers in the USA.  The city feels quite small and compact, and most places we wanted to visit were within walking distance of our Holiday Inn Express, the Hotel Cass, in the main shopping area off Michigan Ave.
The first day we walked down to the lake front and along the lovely river walk, past the Trump Tower, and on to the John Hancock Tower(second tallest).  You ascend the 94 floors in a few seconds, with ears popping on the way up! The views over the city are amazing.

Chicago

The second day started early, wide awake at 5.30am, we bought a ticket to go around the loop on the train which runs above the road and then walked back through Millennium Park to marvel at the installation, "Cloud" , by Anish Kapoor.  A massive, highly polished steel cloud shape, sitting in the square, in which you can see reflections of the sky and clouds passing overhead and passers by gazing at it.  Absolutely awesome.
Back to the river, and we'd booked to go on a boat trip, about which Ian had heard good reviews, a guided tour of the architecture of Chicago from the river.  So what's there to learn about skyscrapers - they're very high and that's it!  How wrong could I be!  One of the most informative 90 minutes on Art Deco, Gothic, Modernist architecture, as we floated gently along the river, staring upwards.  We learnt of how modern architecture, like the Aqua building, designed by a local woman, manages the stresses and strains of winds in an aesthetic way, so wavy open balconies act like fins and break up the destructive force of wind, and look beautiful!  We both said we'd do this trip again, because it was so fascinating.  We'd missed the city by night yesterday, because we'd been awake for 18 hours and were in bed by 7pm, so went back to the hotel for a snooze for an hour, with the intention of staying up until dark!  We'd been lucky so far, it had been bright, sunny and very warm, unseasonably warm 80deg f.  But a blast of cold north air was forecast to bring heavy rain and a drop of 30deg f tonight, as we set off to Keefers Restaurant, one of the top 20 steak restaurants in town.  I had a delicious steak salad and Ian had fillet, with a delicious grilled octopus salad for starter.  We hurried back to the hotel through the chilly wind and rain. Well done we'd managed to stay up until 9.30 pm!