At the ballpark

The night before we flew home to Raleigh, Sun-Ling's brother and I attended at Giants game at AT&T Park. Beautiful evening for a game even though the Giants lost to the visiting Royals.

Muir Woods

We visited Muir Woods way back in the 90's but were eagerly looking forward to a Monday trip there with Sun-Ling's brother's family. It did not disappoint. On the way home we stopped for lunch in Sausalito and for a view above the Golden Gate Bridge.

Headed through The City on our way to Muir Woods.


We were warned that parking was tight at Muir Woods and it was, even on a Monday. The main trail was kinda busy with visitors, but when we headed up on the 4.2 mile Bootjack Loop Trail we were alone.






Our group on the trail.




The view from Sausalito to San Francisco. Plenty of tourists in Sausalito.


Magic Bus.


Lunch = Veggie Tacos.


And finally some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin County side.

27 hours in Davis

Once again it seemed as if our European travels were continuing as we hopped on the train in San Jose and rode it north along the eastern edge of the waters of the greater San Francisco Bay, through Oakland, Richmond, Martinez on our way to Davis where we hung out for 27 hours with old friends from Chapel Hill, NC.

We pulled out of San Jose Station on time even though there was a false fire alarm.


Passing Levi's Stadium in Sant Clara, the site of Superbowl 50.


South Bay Salt Works.


Oakland Coliseum.


The wind is blowing and the sailboats are out on San Pablo Bay.


About 15 trains per day run the Capital Corridor from Sacramento to Oakland.


The Benicia–Martinez Bridge: the railroad drawbridge is sandwiched between 2 vehicle bridges.


San Francisco Bay estuary north of Martinez, CA.


It's pouring in Davis, but we are inside at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.


And the rain had stopped when we left the museum.




A visit to the UCDavis Law School.


And it rained on drive back to Saratoga.

Santa Cruz

We drove an hour west to Santa Cruz with Sun-Ling's sister and nephew for some coastal hiking; plus a visit to the famous Santa Crux Wharf. After all the winter and spring rains, the wild flowers along the Wilder Ranch trail were amazing. Not to mention the rugged coastline which reminded us of Spain and Portugal. And just one mile north of the Santa Cruz Wharf, we came across the 2nd surfing museum of this trip. Wow! The first was in Nazare, Portugal. Wow! How many surfing museums can there be in the entire world? .....Twenty, according to this article at SURFERTODAY.com/

Wilder Ranch State Park












And farther south along the coast.


The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.


Surfing Museum (right) and surfers in the water (center).


Santa Cruz Wharf.


On the way home we stopped for a stroll on the boardwalks at Neary Lagoon Park.


And last, Sun-Ling's mother made some very tasty dumplings for dinner.

Graduation!

The main impetus for this California visit was my oldest niece Nicole's high school graduation. The day Nicole started kindergarten my brother was taking John and me to the airport after the drop-off.  The image of Nicole with tear streaks running down her little face is still vivid in my mind. I wasn't sure leaving her behind was harder for me or for my brother....Here she is, graduating from high school, starting in Material Science at Cornell in the fall.

The graduation ceremony itself turned out to be a fascinating experience, many firsts for John and me.

1. We had cloudy weather for the 5pm ceremony instead of blazing California sun. It even sprinkled enough for some people to break out their umbrellas, in June!
2. For a California public school, the 300+ grads were 45% east Asians, 40% south Asians, 15% white.
3. To curb the competitiveness, academic achievements were solely in print in the ceremony program, and nothing more.

• There were no speeches by the valedictorian and such. Instead, speakers were selected based on speeches they had submitted.  
• Diplomas were given out first to class officer and speakers, then strictly alphabetically to the rest of the grads.
• No honor cords or stoles were allowed. Caps were not supposed to be decorated, though everyone ignored this one rule. 

4. The names of the students were read by class officers.

Nicole was a little bummed that she did not get into MIT. After Saratoga High, Cornell may be a blessing in disguise.

It starts to sprinkle.


Sun-Ling and sister-in-law watch the festivities.


The new grad with cousins and grandparents.


Grad, sister, and parents.


Grad, cake, and parents.

Sunday in San Francisco

My sister had a friend in town for a family wedding. The four of us had an outing in San Francisco.

1. Land's End
2. Legion of Honor
3. Lunch at a popular Chinese restaurant in Sunset
4. De Young Museum & Golden Gate Park

I couldn't believe our travel is still continuing; museums, scenic trails, restaurants.... After four months, I did miss Chinese food more than I realized. On the other hand, San Francisco didn't do much for me, considering twenty years ago for the first three or five times I visited, I wanted to move there after each visit. Whew, I am glad that I have that behind us.

Hiking the trails at Land's End.






Legion of Honor Building and Museum.










The de Young Museum.