6/16: SF: Walking along Oyster Point & Golden Gate Park

Steven and I had arrived in San Francisco the afternoon before to meet our first grandchild, the beautiful Max who was almost a month old, but I know we weren't biased one iota! We were staying in Oyster Point, about a 20-minute drive away, and had made plans to see Max and her parents, Alexander and Cory, each afternoon for a few hours so as not to overwhelm them. Our hotel literally backed right up to a fabulous walking path on Oyster Point so it was a great way to get some exercise each morning before lots of cuddle time with Max.

We walked as far as Brisbane Marina where there were 580 slips for boats and a 280-foot-long guest dock.

If you've been to the City by the Bay, you know that San Francisco is a city of many hills!

After spending a delightful afternoon with Max AND shooing her parents out the door for a well-deserved break from parenthood for some alone time, Steven and I drove to our daughter and son-in-law's apartment near Golden Gate Park. We were so lucky two of our four children were in SF! 

Luckily, Nina, our eldest, was able to leave work a little earlier than usual and suggested a walk to Golden Gate Park, one of the city's treasures made possible by John McLaren, a Scottish landscape gardener who was the park's superintendent for an astonishing 60 years! We can credit McLaren for transforming the former windswept site that had consisted of sand dunes and scrub oak trees into an oasis of trees and plants dotted with man-made lakes. Though the park was once beyond the city's western outskirts, it has since become a serene haven in the middle of the city, full of world-class museums and numerous sports facilities. 

The National AIDS Memorial Grove was a living tribute to all people whose lives had been touched by the terrible disease. 

The de Young Museum was created when the Egyptian Revival Fine Arts building of the 1894 Mid Winter Exposition was given to the Parks Commission. The museum began when de Young, the founder and publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle organized the 6,000 objects left over from the exposition, and added items from his own collection as well as thousands of items donated by San Francisco families. 

The California Academy of Sciences has led the way in sustainable architecture concepts with recycled blue jeans used for wall insulation and a 'living roof,' a 2.5 acre carpet of native plants! On a future visit to San Fran, I am sure Steven and I will make time to visit both the de Young and Academy of Sciences in between seeing Max grow up.

I was charmed by the individually painted benches near the park that were part of the Public Bench Project as we'd never seen anything like that in any other city! Wouldn't it be great to see other cities adopt such a program!

This was the most impressive collection of hens and chicks I could remember seeing.

Next post: A walk around more of San Francisco's Oyster Point and Mission District.

Posted on August 30th, 2020, from Grayton Beach State Park on Florida's Panhandle. Steven and I hope you stay safe, strong and connected during these continued troubling times.

6/15: UC Davis Arboretum & Meeting Max!

 Since Steven and I had a couple more hours before we were expected in San Francisco to see our son, Alexander, his wife, Cory, and their newborn daughter, Max, we drove just fifteen minutes down the highway from Sacramento to the town of Davis to while away some time at the University of California, Davis Arboretum and Public Gardens. They were a living museum comprised of the arboretum and the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve, a rare local ecosystem.There was a 3.5 mile loop through the arboretum, with each location shaped by university staff, faculty and community volunteers.

One of the prettiest bathrooms and the only one I could remember that had mosaics everywhere!

These gorgeous white flowers were double white oleanders.

The bed of needles was so, so comfy to walk on beside Putah Creek.

We read that we were walking along part of the UC Davis Nestbox Highway, that had been established in 2000 to provide a breeding habitat for important species. This was one of eleven nestboxes  in Shields Oak Grove, one of several nestbox trails. The boxes were all monitored weekly during the breeding system and chicks color banded to assess species productivity, population dynamics, dispersal and survivorship. I wonder if nestbox trails were unique to this area of California or whether they also existed in other parts of the state and country. Does anyone know?

The Oak Circle of Life was created in 2011 by a collaboration between students and community members. Each circle in the mosaic surface seat wall depicted a milestone in the life of a mighty oak tree beginning in 1210.

The immense tree providing shade to the seat wall was a Persian Oak.

Interlocking mosaic circles showed the relationships of living things that depend on live oak trees for food. 

We were so fortunate to have our time at the pretty arboretum almost exclusively to ourselves.

At last we arrived in San Francisco and met our firstborn grandchild, our entire reason for the road trip! As a friend rightly said, I fell in love all over again holding Max for the first time. Alexander and Cory, the happy but tired new parents of almost one-month old Max, were lucky to have several months of parental leave. After getting lots of cuddle time with Max, the four of us went out for a walk in the city's Mission District near their home. 

Next post: A walk along San Francisco's Oyster Point prior to spending time with Max.

Posted on August 29th, 2020, from Grayton Beach State Park in Santa Rosa, on Florida's Panhandle. In these troubling times, I hope you will stay healthy, stay strong, and stay connected.