Mount Tamalpais

Think Bank Holiday Monday in the UK.  That's a decent place to start.  We spent almost three hours in the car yesterday on our trip to the Flea Market on Treasure Island and dropping Faye and her buffet back to Sunset.  The traffic in San Francisco has been horrific all weekend so when I saw the sign on the Golden Gate Bridge telling us that Muir Woods carpark was full then I figured we were probably in for a crowded day.  Fortunately for us, everyone did indeed stop at Muir Woods, apparently nobody was keen on Mount Tamalpais (Mount Tam to her friends).

It's pretty big at 2574 feet and the great thing (for us with young children) is that there's a car park 0.3 miles from the East Peak summit which is kind of cheating I know....  After the customary toilet break and quick snack, we set off on the walk / climb to East Peak.  Things didn't start all that well with Isla dragging her feet, collecting stones and walking back down the slope whenever I looked away.  Jo took over the "difficult" one and I tried keeping up with Rose (who now loves real rock climbing apparently) and Owen.  Jo's motivational skills worked a treat and they were not too far behind us, still finding time to collect stones of course.  The trail started as a gently sloping boardwalk, then steps.  Next came the rocky path and the last 30 metres or so was full on rock climbing.

The summit offers truly spectacular views of the bay area: San Francisco, Oakland, Golden Gate (the top of one tower), Bay and Richmond - San Rafael bridges, Larkspur, Angel Island, San Quentin State Penitentiary, Alcatraz, Marin Headlands, Mount Diablo, Point Reyes and the Pacific Ocean - a total 360 degree view.

We stopped for a hearty picnic lunch although persuading Rose to remain seated instead of pursuing her (now) lifelong dream to become an internationally recognised rock climber proved rather challenging.  Jo tried (in vain) to explain the dangers of falling from the rocks.  She just informed us that she wasn't going to fall so all the potential dangers were pretty much irrelevant.

Owen then lead us around the mountain top, following a few small trails and paths.  Rather than descend along the same route we saw what looked like a likely route back to the car park and set off down the "landslide" route (according to Owen - he'd rather we'd have taken the other route).  Fortune favours the brave however and we made it back down safely.

After another toilet stop and a further small snack (it had been at least 20 minutes since lunch), we headed off round the more leisurely Verna Dunshee Trail.  I thought this was pretty amazing.  It's a wheel chair accessible, mile long circular path 100 feet or so below East Peak.  Some of the things we saw included:

- The white radar dome on the West Peak which was originally built be the US Air Force but is now used by the FAA.

- Mount Diablo which rises to 3890 feet and is 35 miles away.

- Plenty of Turkey Vultures flying around and below us.

- Lake Lagunitas and Bon Tempe which are man made lakes created and operated by Marin Municipal Water District which provide 65-75% of the water for the region.

  

At the very top is the Gardner fire lookout which is manned voluntarily during the "fire season".  This site was previously home to an observatory to signal the approach of incoming ships.  The current building was constructed in 1935 and contains maps and appropriate instruments to allow the warden to pin point a fire from many miles away.

American Cupcake Strikes Back...

We revisited American Cupcake this week for a totally indulgent Saturday 'lunch' with Halcyon. She'd read the guidebooks, seen the blogs and chatted to Helen and this was on the list of 'Things to Do'. And I don't blame her. It is a total experience like nothing I have ever seen in England.

We opted for the Flights and Pairings menu. 'Flights' is a term used by wine tasters to describe a selection of wines usually between 3 and 8 glasses. Ours happened to be accompanied by mini cup cakes and very yummy.

Halcyon's Choice

The Tunnel of Love:
Chocolate / Vin Gris Rose
Red Velvet / Sonoma Brut
Red Hot / Cabernet Sauvignon








Jo's Choice

The Fun House:
Bubblegum / Pinot Grigio
Cotton Candy / Syrah Rose
Pixie Stix / Brut Rose

My favorite was the Syrah Rose, a beautifully light, almost white, red wine. Halcyon just liked them all!

The cakes were exceptionally nice, really light and fluffy with very scrummy icing.  3 mini cakes and 3 glasses of wine at lunch time left us feeling slightly squiffy but nothing that a good walk around pier 39 and the smell of the sealions didn't sort out!

Love Jo x

Halcyon's Favorite Shop

This is what my girls have renamed Benefit. Rose, ever since arriving in San Francisco and walking down Filmore Street, has wanted to go in and explore. So when she found out that Halcyon was coming to visit and we could plan activities, this was on the top of her list of things to do.

We took them in on Halcyon's first day and Rose stood in the doorway wide eyed not sure whether she should go in or not.  The staff were lovely and let her and Isla try on lots of eye shadow and face powder and generally oohed and aaahed over the girls.  Rose came out with a eyebrow brush which she proudly used on Dave when he arrived home!

Love Jo x

Its a bugs life

"Only our souls can comprehend what our eyes can see."

We took a trip to Yosemite National Park for a few days and even the children were in awe of our surroundings.
Our drive to the Park took us along a road which followed the Merced river cutting its way through the hillside. In areas the river looked calm and peaceful but in most parts the current was strong and the water crashed over the rocks and fallen trees. Mini waterfalls ran down the mountains finding their way to the Merced. At one point in our journey we are diverted across a temporary bridge to avoid the huge landslide that covers the original road entirely.

The weather was so warm (82 degrees) that all the snow on the tops of the mountains was melting. This in turn produced the most magnificent waterfalls we might ever see. Yosemite Falls itself is the tallest waterfall in the United States and the fifth tallest in the world. That fact alone gained a gasp from Owen. The Falls are spectacular. The Upper Falls cascade down in quite a clear gush (not nearly a powerful enough word) from the top of the mountain to then disperse into spray half way down.  We followed the Lower Fall trail which took us to the base of the falls. Standing on the bridge over the river literally took my breath away. Surrounded by such immense beauty as this natural creation it is sometimes hard to imagine that we, as the planets intelligent life force, can destroy it so willingly.

At Bridle Falls, which is situated opposite the famous El Capitan, the water is so fast flowing that the river is just not wide enough to hold all the water so it is finding new ways down the mountain via the hiking footpath. Owen and I went up as far as we could and came down looking like drowned rats who had stepped out of the shower.

On our 3 days at Yosemite we tried to see as much as we could and that we were capable of achieving with a 2 year old. We spent all of our time in the valley and were able to take very accessible footpaths on trails to meadows, rivers, bridges, waterfalls, the foot of mountains and through pine forests.

On one of our walks, we heard Owen shout and run from the wooded area off the path. It turns out that he had crossed paths with a snake! I think I would have run away too. After calming down we went back to investigate to find a small black and yellow snake in the protection of the twigs and pine needles on the forest floor. Knowing nothing about snakes we were unsure of its nature but luckily for a school party and guide were passing who picked it up to show the class. Turns out it was a garter snake, perfectly harmless.  The most interesting fact (for us and the school party) was that it poos on its assailant when under attack!

Yosemite Bug

Years ago, Dave and I went on a long backpacking holiday to Canada. We stayed in so many different places but Le Balcon Vert in Quebec really stuck in our minds. Yosemite Bug has had the same effect on us. The family cabins, tents and dorms are dotted around on the side of the hill propped up on stilts, little verandas run round each cabin and from the trees below us is a suspended hammock. The cafe is lively yet cosy producing locally sourced and home grown food with an exciting menu for hungry explorers.

Our room is small with five beds squeezed in but there is still room for old sewing table, a wireless, a cute little dressing table and iron beds with eiderdowns. Quaint and rustic.

As I am sitting writing this there is a little caterpillar making its way in the dark across the decking to a nearby tree.

Mother's Day at the Presidio

Its Mother's Day here is sunny California so I was up bright and early with the children who were lovely and showered me with homemade cards and gifts, made and chosen by them. Rose and Isla insisted on making my breakfast and I had some lovely cut up strawberries and banana.

Mother's Day activities are my choice and I have been wanting to explore the Presidio for a little while now. The Presidio is part of the Golden Gate National Parks and on our doorstep just a few blocks from the house. It is a huge area and was a military post for the U.S Army for over 148 years.

We started our walk at Fort Scott and were following the Presidio Habitats Quest designed for young people. There was a bit of everything for everyone; map reading, questions to answer, listening, observing, running, searching, collecting and resting.

This shows troops gathered at Fort Scott when it was in operation between 1912 and 1946.

This shows Fort Scott today, along with a few yellow chairs and 3 little children. There is currently an art installation exhibition in and around the Presidio entitled 'Habitats'.  Artists were asked to produce work that reflected the wildlife and history of the area. These 8 yellow chairs of differing heights and angles have been placed around the parade ground inviting the seated to be 'Patient' and become part of the surroundings. We were lucky enough to see a Great Blue Heron and loads of Barn Swallows all feeding on the wing over the meadow of wild flowers.

I'd packed a paper bag for each of the children to collect nature bits that they found interesting and wanted to bring home. We are now the proud owners of about 20 giant fir cones and a couple of dead daisies. Isla collected so much stuff in the first 5 minutes that she couldn't carry her bag any more but wanted to empty it out every time we stopped.

Our walk took us past many beautiful sites but the most impressive was at Immigrants  Point Overlook. We could see the Marin Headlands and Light house (where we visited last weekend), the Golden Gate Bridge of course and the sea crashing on the coastal rocks below us. Lost on the children.....











A lovely day with the family and home in time for tea.

Happy Mothers Day to all my lovely girl friends
Love Jo xx

Ladies who Lunch

On the corner of Steiner and Union in Cow Hollow there is the beautiful Rose's Cafe and last week, as promised, I took the girls there for lunch and hot chocolate.

Rose and Isla had been helping me in the house all morning and this was a special treat for just us girls. They were very excited and on their best behaviour. I was expecting a regular Californian coffee shop serving all day breakfast and sandwiches but instead we were greeted by a bustling bistro. Everything on the menu sounded delicious so we ordered buttered pasta for the girls with parmesan 'on the side' and hot chocolate and a clam and fennel linguini for me! It was absolutely divine and I can't wait to go back for some more.

In fact Rose, Isla and I have been making a habit of going out for lunch. We have been trying to have one day a week where we go off into the city to explore new places and this usually ends in lunch and bus ride home in time to collect Owen from school. We have visited a greek cafe in Pacific Heights, a wonderful organic restaurant call The Plant down on Chestnut in the Marina district and another a few blocks away - The Fish Grill. This is where I had a large bowl of brown rice with grilled Mahi Mahi and a teriyaki sauce and the girls ate fish and chips with chop sticks!

We've had salads from italian delis, sushi and noodles in Japan town and pain au chocolat at La Boulangerie where the walnut demi pain is the best I have ever tasted, not to mention out very own roof terrace restaurant at home.

I am hoping that our next culinary adventure will be Dim Sum in china town.....

Love Jo x