High on sketching

iPad sketch from Bernal Heights

I recently joined MeetUp.com. It's a site that lists groups you may join that are doing things you like to do. They are basically free, and you join, and then show up at the designated place. I've found a book group, a hiking group for over 50's, and last weekend I found a sketching group.
So I drove to Bernal Heights (look up on google maps) and started sketching with my iPad. It was sunny and beautiful! and the veiws were to-die-for. We met @ 4:00 for coffee and shared our sketches with the 7 people + group leader who showed up. The leader said 62 people had clicked to join the group. That's a lot in 3 days. The group was very diverse and so friendly and willing to share their work and their tools. I learned there is a water brush that keeps its own water inside the brush for painting without having to bring buckets of water with you.
We posted our finished sketches to our MeetUp site and this morning the leader emailed me that she had sent my iPad sketch along with another watercolor sketch by a group member to the Bernal Heights blog.
What fun!

http://bernalwood.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/art-on-the-hill-work-from-saturdays-artist-meetup/

We're not in "Kansas" anymore

As I booted the computer this morning to start work on the class I'm writing for EDCO, I noticed the weather.... on the iGoogle dashboard - also out the window. Amazing. Yup. It's clear, sunny and jacket weather. The wind has kept the fog "at bay" and our view seems to have had a window wash. We went to a Meetup Sunday for a new iPhone App - Mobile Adventure Walks - and learned how to create a guided walk using an iPhone with GPS. I can't wait to get our new phones to write a walk for my neighborhood in Kensington. There are no walks yet for the East Bay and I already know some amazing ones with views to rival those in SF. A shout-out to Aaron who lead his Meetup and taught us how to use the App. We sampled the walk Aaron had created for us. Within one mile in North Beach, we saw the Vesuvio Pub, a hanging book sculpture near the City Lights Bookstore, a 3/4 sized model of a chapel from Assisi, Italy, hilltop views of SF Bay, steps down Montgomery St. on Telegraph Hill, a back alley in Chinatown to a fortune cookie factory with yummy, fresh, samples, then back to our starting point for a group photo. The weather may be somewhat unchanging, but the city has all the diversity anyone could ever seek.

Noted events in SF

 The music is everywhere and wonderful. I can't finish the unpacking at home because there's always something else to go listen to. Yesterday we heard John Prine - one of my favorites at the 11th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate park. There were clearly lots of people who called in sick - all ages, with their dogs, bikes, kids and picnics. The multiple stages had packed audiences but we heard pretty well from an overlooking hill.

On Thursday night we got tickets at the San Francisco Opera House for Lucretia Borgia starring Renee Fleming. We sat somewhere near the roof in the upper balcony in separate locations as there were hardly any tickets left. Fortunately there were large screen TV monitors hanging for the balcony. But we could hear and see the action and she is the diva her reputation claims she is. She was beautiful and passionate and her voice is sweeter than melting chocolate.

 Last Sunday there was a free performance of a simulcast of Puccini's Turandot by the San Francisco Opera at the Giant's AT&T Park. No baseball was played, but the stadium was packed and the opera was displayed on their large monitor. What an amazing setting! The fog and light misty rain cleared and the view over the bay only added to the experience. San Franciscans take their opera very seriously and the turnout really showed this. O.B.T.W., the story is good, too. Turandot, a Chinese princess is angry that she has to marry an unknown prince just because he answers her riddles. After some drama and an amazing aria by the winning prince they work it out and she calms down to her fate. Maybe the Red Sox could use a few arias to add to their operatic drama. But that's another sad story.

Identity Change

The wagon had an identity change today as did it's two drivers. We spent the morning at the DMV. We had to get a SMOG inspection, too. But they took our MA plates and drivers licenses and also registered us to vote. Did you know it's totally illegal to use a cell phone while driving here? Unless ur making an emergency call. I really felt a wrenching of my roots today as we made this huge adjustment.

Lemon crop

These lemons were just picked from the tree in our tiny backyard. A squirrel is busy with the crab apple tree and the hummingbirds love the agapanthus flowers. Can't wait to find my clippers and trowel and do some gardening out there. I don't think they have "end of the season" sales here ... We unpacked and washed 5 dish and glassware crates yesterday. Ugh! I'm thinking I'm now old enough to use these "good" dishes more often. Still missing our favorite Cutco scissor and the rest of the utensils and knives. But they have a wonderful IKEA for replacements.

View from bedroom @ sunset

And beyond the hill to the left is the GG Bridge which is barely visible through the fine film of fog. That's Mt. Tamalpais just in front of the setting sun.

September 1 - moving in day

The truck arrived this morning @ 9:00 AM and unloaded all our stuff to 219 Stanford Ave, Kensington, a tiny village in the Berkeley Hills just north of the UC campus. We are surrounded by boxes but our computer connections are up and operational thanx to Comcast. Mostly all seems to fit into our 3 bedroom house thanx to all the unloading I did on Craigslist prior to this move - Craig is my new hero. The huge moving van blocked our narrow hillside street for a good part of the day but the two tiny guys put every box in the right room and reassembled beds, desks and our dining table. Nothing broken and all accounted for even though we can't get to the refrig. Check out the view at sunset from our bedroom - the next blog pic.

Scene from a Gondola

That's snow on a distant mountain beyond Lake Tahoe. The lake's water level is much higher than last year - I was told as I was sitting in the water on a submerged granite rock. A woman told me the rock was high and dry on the lake's beach last summer. So I'm guessing there was a ton of snow out here last winter. And some is still up there. We took the Gondola up to the Heavenly ski lodge and hiked around the top. We could see into Nevada. Gotta come back and try the powder they talk about.

Emerald Bay

Lake Tahoe's jewel tucked away near Bliss State Park. We drove to Tahoe to spend the days before we can move into our rental house on Sept 1- Thursday. We walked down 1 mile to the water's edge to visit Vikingsholm - a mansion built in this bay in 1929 and designed in the Scandinavian style. It included a tea house on that tiny granite island- the only one in Lake Tahoe.

A California strawberry

We bought the same brand back in Market Basket. They were huge and mostly were tough with big hallow middles. Here the big box costs $2.50 on sale today and, oh boy! They are small and perfectly heart shaped. The leaves look so perfect you'd think them phony and the taste is sweet with a little tart thing going on in the background. No bad ones in the box - not even on the bottom. I saved this one to show you. I won't go on about the lettuce, green beans and the CORN! Let's just say something happens all those hours in the trucks goin East.

Hatch Shell alias Stern Grove, SF

We like free, but this is free with a cherry-on-top. We're about to hear an opera hi-lights concert at Stern Grove which is a Tanglewood like setting of Redwoods and eucalyptus trees. We got here @ 12:30 for the 2:00 performance but there are still spots along the stone and grass terraced ledges that create an amphitheater up the slope. As we entered the park the grove of eucalyptus gave off that only-available-in-California smell. I love it. It's a direct "feed" back to my 20's and hiking in Marin. Now I'm getting psych'd for what we're about to hear. The fog is air conditioning the setting and I'm wearing t-shirt, cashmere sweater, quilted jacket with gloves ready in the pockets - jeans, socks and sneakers. ? August in SF. NICE.

Map of the Journey

Last Monday night as we were driving back to Mill Valley, just after finding "our spot" and confirming by phone with the owner, a very wonderful thing happened on the Richmond Bridge. I was on the phone with Dave (son living in SF) asking him to watch for the lease that would be mailed to his address, and handing Bert the $5.00 toll for the bridge. Bert waved away the toll. The lady in the toll booth just told him the driver in the car ahead of us paid our toll. Wow! They had seen our license plate? I'm guessing, "Yes".
I've been thinking about that incident for the past few days. Apart from the fact that everybody we meet is just so sincerely nice and friendly, I think that maybe people don't drive clear across this country with a Thule on their top. The days of covered wagon travel are over - these days people fly and ship their car. So, I decided to map all the daily stops and neat places we visited to see what the journey looks like on a map. If you click the link under the title, you'll be able to access my Google map, too.

Naked Ladies along the highways

They are everywhere. They stick up in little clusters in the driest of highway medians and also in lovely landscaped yards. I finally asked the owner of an apartment we were looking at what they were - she had a beautiful garden and I guessed she might know - and she told me they are a bulb that spreads by seeds and just pops up. There are no visible green leaves, just the tall stalks with intense pink flowers. We looked up on Google, of course, "naked lady" and these are an Amaryllis Belladonna, with every part poisonous. They are from South Africa and seem to like it here. They look like an Amaryllis.

Feeling Good

I can relate today to that little golden buddha that is sitting on the balcony of our temp apartment in Mill Valley - We found our spot yesterday evening! We have yet to sign the lease which was mailed by the owner - he lives in Mendocino - but we think the deal is done. It's one of those little houses in the Berkeley Hills, actually in a village called Kensington. (Sarah, it's very near Solano Ave.) There's a view of the GG Bridge and SF, a tiny back terrace, new baths, kitchen and a master suite big enough for our desks, too. And best of all two additional bedrooms for guests we hope will visit. I'll send a pic and the address as soon as we sign the lease.... I'm superstitious that way. It took us one week of 24-7 house hunting. We were on Craigslist constantly and I even had an iPhone app that sent updates during the day. With the help of technology - the GPS - the iPhone - Craigslist - this was an amazing experience of modern day connectivity. Just had to get that tech-toot in there.

Mill Valley

It's been a week since we got to Mill Valley and the temp sub-let apartment. We are using Craigslist and hunting everywhere for our "spot". Last night after another weary day we found this deer pair in our backyard near the BBQ and behind the redwoods. They wandered across the main street awhile later. We think we've found a section of Oakland called Montclair that we like. Lots of cliff-hanging houses with amazing bay views. It's a good thing it doesn't snow here-the streets would be murderous.

Coasting along Big Sur

We left the fog behind and enjoyed the views along Highway 1. Anna Ben and Dave were with us at our picnic in Pfieffer State Park. They go on to Yosemite - Bert and I to Mill Valley.

You Otter Sea Them

Sea Otter in Kelp off Monterey, CA

We rented double sea kayaks yesterday and paddled the shore front along Monterey from the rental beach to the Monterey Aquarium. These are pictures taken from the Kayak site, but we actually were able to get this close to otters, and also to sea lions and seals that were resting on nearby rocks. The golden kelp strands caught in my oar as we crossed the large kelp beds. I had no idea how large an otter really is. They are seal size and yet they can be fully camouflaged in the kelp. The whole coast from San Francisco down past Monterey is a protected wildlife area and a real treasure. 

Finally in SF

And the fog is rolling in over/under the GG Bridge. We found a temp apartment in Mill Valley for the next 10 days - we'll move in on Sunday and start to look for a more permanent apt for a year.

It happened again...

I walked into a restaurant and as the people looked up I wondered if my license plate was showing on my bum. ???? Seriously it's happened twice now. Stranger in a strange land I guess.

Pebble Beach 17 mile drive

Oh Deer! Are grazing beside the road and on the edge of this world famous golf course.