Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Bay Area Trip July 2009

When I went to the bay area I was having such a great time visiting with everyone I didn't take as many pictures as usual. I decided to group what pictures I did take into 3 collages.

The first collage I titled "Papa's Garden in Belvedere". Their backyard looks out onto the Belvedere lagoon where people canoe, sail and swim. My dad loves to garden and when they moved here a few years ago he created a few different gardening areas in their backyard. I love the flower in the middle, it looks like a star burst. The flags hanging off the porch in the backyard are Norwegian and Danish, part of his ancestry.

We lived in Belvedere up on the island 1970 to 1975, when I was 12 to 17 years old. Those 5 years were the longest time we stayed in one place, we moved around alot. This area holds alot of good memories for me, it's where alot of "firsts" happened, first kiss, first love, learned to drive, first serious boyfriend, etc. So when I visit my parents I often think about the time we lived here and smile.

Kris Werner, a friend from my freshman year at Redwood HS found me on Facebook. When I go to the bay area at the end of this month we're going to get together and reminisce, though her memory is alot better than mine. She's going to bring Redwood HS yearbooks, mine got lost in the many moves. Talk about a blast from the past!


This collage I call "People and Places in the Bay Area". I visited a few times with Darcy and 3 month old Ruby in Redwood City, what a precious gift she is. When I visited with Melanie in the East Bay we went to Caspers Hot Dogs http://www.caspershotdogs.com/ . I'd heard of them from a friend here in Coarsegold so I had to go. We went to the one in Hayward and I'm eating a Kraut dog, it was really good! My last visit was with Jerrold, we met at his place in SF and went out to our favorite Italian restaurant we found about a year ago. It's called Paradise Pizza & Pasta http://paradisepizzaandpasta.com/ and they have THE best pizza!!


My last collage is titled "Canine's and Feline's of the Bay Area". Friends and family are a big part of my life but so are friends dogs and cats. The yellow lab is Buffy and I've known her since she a puppy, we go way back. Every time I visit Gerri and Dennis in MP she starts wagging her tail when she sees me. It's amazing to me that she remembers me and my voice, even when it's been over a year since I last saw her.

The top picture is of Jerrold and his precious Tess, he got her from the pound when she was 11 months old and she's now almost 11 years old. Tess has moved with Jerrold alot over the last decade and she's been a great companion to him.

Mila is the black dog and Brian and Divina got him from the pound too. Her prize possession is the tennis ball which she is either playing with by herself or waiting for me to get off the computer so I can throw the ball for her. The picture of Mila in the upper right hand corner is when she's spotted a reflection of light on the ceiling or the wall. She's so funny, she stops dead in her tracks to looks to see where the light is moving and then she'll run after it. It's too funny for words!!



Hope you enjoyed the pictures and narrative. I'll be going to San Jose at the end of the month to pet/house sit for 10 days. I plan on taking alot more pictures and blogging as I go, at least that's the plan!

6 comments:

  1. What great pictures, Kristen! I love your father's garden. I'm so glad you got to go and get away from all that stress of moving and unpacking for awhile and just relax and have fun. Everyone needs that from time to time.

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  2. You're right Kay, I didn't realize how much I needed it until I was in the Bay Area. I wasn't as stressed about being unemployed and everything. I love my dad's garden too :o)

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  3. You took some really great pictures! Glad that you came out to visit and can't wait for your next visit too!

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  4. Thaks Mel :o) I can't wait to visit again too, I'll be back in 9 days and I'm going to take more pics of everyone including you.

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  5. Casper's Hotdogs are the best! Glad you got to find out! Love, Ellen

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  6. They were very good Ellen, thank you for mentioning them to me :o)

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