Muir Woods National Monument

One of the things I am enjoying so much about this visit to the Bay Area, is being able to take the time to do so many of the touristy type things one never has the time to do when actually living and working here. Taking a stroll through Muir Woods is one of those things I'm glad we took the time to do. If you are a tree lover, this is the place for you. This is one of the most ancient coastal redwood forests in California. Many of the trees here are over 600 years old. The tallest trees here rise 252 feet into

the air and the widest tree is 14 feet across. The smell of the air is so alive and the undergrowth of mosses, ferns, redwood sorrel, and wildflowers like trillium, clintonia, and redwood violet grace the forest floor and make for a fairy tale type landscape. You can imagine the little Hobbits and Gnomes chasing fairies between the trees. There is something profoundly spiritual that touches you when you walk through this forest. If you are ever in Marin county, do this!

Wine Country - Napa and Sonoma

I couldn't leave the Bay Area without a visit to the wine country. Charles, Kevin and I chose the most beautiful of sunny days last week to take the short drive north from Marin to Napa and Sonoma. Our first stop was the French Chateau winery of Domaine Carneros/Tattinger, in the heart of the Carneros region

of Napa county (Yountville). They are famous for their sparkling

wines, so it was a perfect way to start the day. We ate on a tasty

selection of perfectly matched cheeses, fruit and toasts while sipping our selection of outstanding sparkling wines. We then traveled west to Sonoma county to check out a few much smaller boutique wineries. Our next stop was Loxton Cellars near the Kenwood region. When we arrived, we were the only ones there (a much different experience than at Domaine Carneros).

This provided for a very intimate learning experience with the owner/winemaker Chris Loxton,

an Australian brought up on a Shiraz vineyard in South Australia. Chris' focus is mainly ultra-premium Syrah and Zinfandel wines in a very limited production. What a treat to taste (and buy) some of the best wine I have ever had and to be able to spend an hour talking and learning about how Chris makes his wine. The tasting room was right in the small garage where the wine barrels sit, so we were able to walk around among his future offerings.

Our next stop was next door to Wellington Vineyards where we tasted more Zinfandel and other reds. We couldn't get out of there without purchasing more wine too :o). Our last two stops were also in the Kenwood region - Muscardini Cellars, a double gold award winning winery and Ty Caton Vineyards. We thank our dear friend Charles for being the designated driver for our wine country adventure. Next time, the driving is on me!

Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

I decided right away that a trip to the new Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park was number one on my list of things to see in San Francisco on this trip. It just
re-opened in 2009 after the 1989 Loma Prietta earthquake made the old structure unstable. What an amazing piece of architecture. It is a platinum level, LEEDS certified green building, that incorporates every green building technology available. It's a 400,000 square foot structure that houses an aquarium, a planetarium a natural history museum and a 4-story rainforest all under one roof. I will share many photos of what we saw inside out outside the building starting with the AMAZING rain forest and aquarium.

I have been going to the Academy of Sciences since I was a child and I must say, that I've never experienced such variety of species, and beautiful architectural design in one place. The butterflies and tropical birds and frogs and plant life in the rainforest dome are really something to see. Everything just flies, hops and crawls around you in the same space. Something they would never allow when I was a kid. I will now include a bunch of photos, as they will speak more than my words can.

The glass tunnel for the fish was just fantastic. These were HUGE amazonian fish. Bigger than

a pick-up truck!

They have added huge glass walls to view tropical fish, just like in the aquarium down in Monterey.

The reptiles and frogs are my favorite. So much personality, in a twisted, prehistoric kind of slimy way. Just fascinating! I remember chasing lizards and snakes down the river where I grew up here in California. I now know this is the kind of place I will volunteer to work after I retire.

This is by far the biggest sea bass I have ever seen in my life. Not sure if I will ever eat one again. Imagine these giants being extinct from our oceans! Reminds me of my second grade teacher :o)....and she was my favorite teacher in my life!

The roof of the Academy's new building

uses soil as insulation Architect Renzo Piano achieved this in his design for the Living Roof. Not only does the green rooftop canopy visually connect the building to the park landscape, but it also provides significant gains in heating and cooling efficiency. The six inches of soil substrate on the roof act as natural insulation, and every year will keep approximately 3.6 million gallons of rainwater from becoming stormwater. Surrounding the Living Roof is a large glass canopy with a decorative band of 60,000 photovoltaic cells. These solar panels will generate approximately 213,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year and provide up to 10% of the Academy's electricity need. The use of solar power will prevent the release of 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emission into the air. f you have a chance in your lifetime, go see this place.

You wont regret it. More tomorrow............

Sausalito

Our craziest friend on the planet has to be Charles. He is a voice actor for numerous cartoons and most famously for the game series Mario. Going anywhere with him, you will end up bent over in laughter most of the time. He came and

whisked me away from El Cerrito for a stay at his 'Pink House' (yes it really is a

pink house). The house was built in 1879 in Austria for the Frederick Schiller family. Schiller wrote the words to Mozart's 'Ode to Joy'. The house was dismantled and shipped around the horn to Sausalito in the 1890's. It was then brought up the hill piece-by-piece on horseback. Just an amazing bit of history for this old pink house.

Charles is an old AIDS Ride buddy of mine, so we really enjoy taking drives around Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino counties on many of the roads we used to ride our bikes on. It's so invigorating to smell the sea air and be surrounded by the lush green hills on this side of the bay.

Sausalito is such a wonderful town to walk around in. So many spectacular views of San Francisco from just about anywhere. The boats in the harbor are just fantastic and the fresh sea air intoxicates me. Food! How can I NOT talk about food! The best burgers on the planet come from Hamburgers (yes, that's what it's called) on Bridgeway Blvd., just down the street from Charles house. Every beefy, cheesy bite is like being in heaven. Especially when it's eaten looking at this view of San Francisco in front of you. We haven't skimped on the cooking front either. Our other good friend, and AIDS Ride buddy, Kevin Young has been hanging out with us to enjoy our eating adventures too (see photo below).

Kevin and his partner Wayne joined us for dinner one night and we couldn't resist a silly moment photo. Of course, no visit to Charles house would be complete without someone wearing the lampshade as a hat. I am usually the one to do it. So, here it is! :o) It really is fun to never lose the ability to act like 12 year olds. What fun!

Stay tuned for more later..............

El Cerrito

Jenni's parents dropped us at the Pleasanton BART station the morning of Jan. 8 so we could head to El Cerrito and our friends Tim & Dave. When we arrived on the platform the train schedule sign said there was a 15 minute delay to check the tracks due to another earthquake just 30 minutes ago. Of course, no visit to California would be complete without at least one earthquake! This one was a 4.5. Too bad we didn't feel it as we were in the car when it happened. I LOVE earthquakes. Rowan doesn't!

Dave, Tim & Ted Lisa & Rowan Jenni & Brian

We spent the next 3 days with Tim & Dave watching endless NFL playoff games (just like old times) eating fabulous food whipped up by Tim and catching up with our friends Brian, Ted and Lisa during a lovely dinner party put on by Tim & Dave (See photos). The pork tenderloin was TO DIE for! Brian brought another FABULOUS ice cream dessert from his family's ice cream parlor, Mitchell's Ice Cream, in San Francisco. These are the times we really miss since we moved away from the Bay Area. We are blessed to have such a great group of longtime friends that we still have so much fun with. Rowan went off to Southern California on Jan. 10 to begin some collaboration's with other colleagues for her sabbatical. Jenni's next stop will be Sausalito to see our friend Charles. Stay tuned..................

California - First stop Stockton

We boarded our flight to Oakland at 6am January 4th. Not knowing what to expect since there is now "heightened security", we packed for our months stay using only roll-aboard suitcases and a small backpack each. We will see how traveling light for a long stay will work, as we will try to travel this way to India as well. We zipped right on through security at the Indy airport as if nothing had really changed. Just shows how hysterical news reports can cause unnecessary stress. Our first week was spent in Stockton with Jenni's parents. Jenni and her dad had great fun watching many college football games just like old times. We had a fabulous time eating great food (seems like this will be a theme during our travels!) and spending time with lots of Jenni's cousins (see photo). We are lucky to have a family that enjoys each other and loves to spend time together.

We didn't rent a car for this trip to see how life without one would be (we have no plans to have one in India either). We boarded the BART train back to El Cerrito on Jan. 8. I'll pick up from there in my next blog.

A Little Catching Up

Our sabbatical adventure started back in October 2009, so I will begin our blog with a little catching up.We spent 2 months in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where Rowan began working with an ophthalmologist friend, Graham Quinn (see photo), at the University of Pennsylvania Children's Hospital. She was very excited to have the chance to observe Graham performing eye surgeries in the O.R. as well as doing some in-depth statistics education with Maureen Maguire at the Scheie Institute. We were able to stay with Rowan's old UC Berkeley lab mate Ben and his partner Carl in their fabulous old Georgian house on Locust Street in downtown Philly (see photos).

I was overwhelmed by the opportunity to shop for food ingredients and prepare some of the most fabulous food I have ever cooked. Walking the city to collect fresh pasta and anti-pasta

from the Italian Market District (see photo) and finding the perfect scallops and fish and organic meats from the famous Reading Terminal Market was a nearly daily event for me. We

must have walked 5 miles a day throughout the city. We all had such a good time coming up with the next fabulous thing we wanted to cook. Our favorite thing to eat was spanish white anchovies with martinis. YUM! (see photo)

We also spent some time absorbing the history of the city and going to museums and seeing incredible art. We highly recommend a visit to Philly if you have never been there. It truly is the city of brotherly love. The night before we were getting ready to head back to Indiana on December 18, we were covered with 16 inches of snow. We went out to Rittenhouse Square with the boys that night and had a great time playing in the white stuff (see photos).

We are glad we had the opportunity to spend this much time in such a wonderful City. We are now setting our sites on the next leg of our journey to California for the month of January. Stay tuned to see how many miles we walk in our shoes during our stay out west.