There is apparently a heater built into the air conditioner in my hotel room and I did not suss out how to use it so I was a bit cool Friday (and Saturday) night in the room. But it was no cooler than our house in Bellevue so I felt fine.
Saturday morning was clear, cool, bright, sunshine and I jogged before breakfast.
The pool looked very inviting in the bright sunshine.
Breakfast at the Tri-Valley Inn Pleasanton consisted of coffee, corn flakes, orange juice, milk. . .
Toast, muffins, donuts, and margarine. Kumar was cheerful and helpful.
Robert topped by after my jog and first breakfast and we went to “Zorn’s” for second breakfast. I bought Robert his favorites and I had eggs with hashbrowns.
The birthday boy gets treated to breakfast at Zorn’s.
Mitch in front of Zorn’s: Pleasanton’s original family restaurant.
Robert dropped me in front of the BART stop and I pumped about $10 into a ticket. I accidentally left my laptop in Robert’s car so my pack was lighter but I could not blog.
The machines are fast, simple, and efficient.
The BART station was empty on a Saturday morning.
Changing trains at Merit for the Fremont line.
Eventually I arrived in Fremont.
. . . at the foothills of Mission Peak, with
. . . green fields, parks, and Lake Elisabeth in the middle of town.
I approached the lake trail from the library.
a squirrel
.
Lake Elisabeth
The lighting was very high-contrast and the sun was warm.
There were very few Canadian Geese because Fremont hires doggies to chase them away.
Willow tree along the lake
Walk in the park
I finally arrived at the Fullers’ house and was greeted by Jon, Bryneth, and one of their three cats.
Jon looks very well
Ian is 6’7” tall now and is destined to grow to 7’ tall. Bryneth is also tall but not nearly as big as Jon.
Here is the biggest (fattest) and the shyest of the three cats.
. . . And here is their third cat.
I had a delicious lunch at the Fullers and caught up on what everyone is doing. Debbie is getting produce from “Full Belly Farms” and it tastes great!
Arnold picked me up from the Fullers’ house and we drove to Berkeley.
Berkeley is such a great tourist town.
If you set off a nuclear bomb in Berkeley you will be fined by the city.
The people who live in Berkeley are so wonderful. It is always very entertaining and fun to walk or drive through the city.
Eventually the GPS navigated us to the Lawrence Hall of science and we had a great time touring inside. The DNA molecule outside did not have as many kids crawling on it as I expected.
They have converted some of the 1960’s sound-proof phone booths to cell phone booths (no phone inside).
Others still have a phone in them but I don’t know if they work.
It was a “contrasty” day; the golden gate and bay bridges are offset against the bright sky.
Golden Gate
Berkeley Mastodon fossil.
Largest lizard I have seen live up close for many years.
The nano-tech exhibit was for very young children.
I am one billion, seven hundred fifty-two million, six hundred thousand nanometers tall.
Amelia and Mitch
We played variations of Nim and Kalah.
We built really cool buildings with the wood slats.
Eventually the museum closed and the de Leons drove me to Simeon’s house on their way to the gymnastics competition in Petaluma.
Simeon lives in a tiny little room in a nice apartment. He seems well-adjusted, contented, in good health.
He has a tiny little desk and keeps his books under his bed because the room is so small.
Eventually I BART’d home (changed trains in Oakland) and went to sleep. It was a very long, wonderful day. Robert brought my laptop back to my room but I was too tired to do email.
