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California is Nice

After two weeks of getting No. 1 moved to Berkeley, including driving her and her car across the country, Husband has gone back home to get back to work. The girls and I have been here in Berkeley finishing off the condo and playing. Today, I baked cookies while Eustacia painted hot peppers on canvas for the kitchen, and then we met a blog pal. Can you guess which one? Oddly enough, Katie of Katiefornia lives just two blocks away from No. 1, and she stopped by and then had dinner with us at a fun crepe place. She walked us around the nearby area to show No. 1 good places to shop or just hang out and even buy cupcakes.

Here are the two of us in front of No. 1 new place:

Yesterday, we played in San Francisco. Because we just had one day in town, we paced ourselves with only a few goals. First, we wanted to go to TCHO, the little chocolate shop that let me sample their beta versions early on. It's at Pier 17, so we walked there and bought stuff. Then we walked all the way to Pier 39. There are sea lions there that lay around on docks and yell at each other. You can stand there and watch them for hours and witness dozens of social situations among the sea lion world. (photo later)

We had chowder in sour dough bread bowls overlooking the bay. We toured a WW2 ship that landed in Normandy. We wandered around Musée Mécanique with lots of fun and weird machines. And we walked through Fisherman's Wharf. This is the closest we got to Alcatraz:

Then we headed north. And we headed north. And we headed north. Just as my legs were about to fall off at the knees, we found this:

It's by the Palace of Fine Arts and is stunningly beautiful. We sat on benches and watched families and dog walkers and ducks and swans:

After some time at a science museum, we shared a cab with a couple of people to get to Union Square, and after dinner at an Irish pub, we took the train back to Berkeley and back to the cozy place that is now feeling like home to my little girl. All in all, it was a satisfying day.

Comments

dive said…
Wow, Robyn! You sure did some walking. Katie says the route you took is "some hike"!
The photo of the two of you is lovely.
So glad the fog cleared so you could at least see Alcatraz. Maybe you'll get there next time.
It's good that Daughter No.1 is in a really great part of town and settling in nicely. She'll have a marvellous time there, and so will you whenever you visit.

See you back in Small Town. Have a safe trip!
2:13 AM
savannah said…
i should have sent you the link to my favorite chinese resto in the city, sugar! house of nanking xoxo

great pic of you and katie!
5:15 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
What a great time you're having and great to bump into Katie! So glad No. 1 is feeling 'home' now. So important.
8:26 AM
Katie said…
Such fun to meet you and your daughters! I'm glad you got out and about some (that WAS a major hike you took in SF!) and saw more than Berkeley. But hey, I think Berkeley's a mighty fine town, and I hope your daughter thinks so too. At least there are cupcakes and great pizza within walking distance!
9:33 AM
Shan said…
Hey Robyn! I was hoping you'd get together with Katie while settling in #1. Such a cute pic of you girls!

#1's condo is GORGEOUS. She is one lucky girl. I know you and the daughters had some big fun hanging out together over there. It will be nice to be able to picture everything she is doing and where she is now that you've checked it all out.

Now back to catching up on all the blogs and pics I've missed while at my mom's house with my San Fran sib. :)
11:56 AM
MmeBenaut said…
Yay for blogpals. That really is a terrific photo of two beautiful women whom I can proudly call my friends. There is no moss under your feet Robyn. What a walk. Rather reminds me of walking all over London with Dive!
6:38 AM
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