West Coast Sojourn

[aging one]

So mid May it was time to go back to California and see the kids, along with a number of friends. Took JAL via Toyko and landed in California. The first day and a half we spend at my friends house and attempt to get over jetlag.



I had rented a Toyota Rav4 but got what was available which turned out to be a Ford Escape 2024 model which was nice and got super milage.



Drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin county and San Rafael. The weather was a bit foggy the first day but cleared with temperatures in the mid twenties.



Had a nice meal and a few shots of premium tequila.






Woke up in the morning to beautiful blue skies so took a stroll around where we stay.



Great barbecue set up we put to good use.



Nice little putting green.



Now it was time to go see our daughters, we had seen Kayleigh who lives in San Francisco in September of 2022, but had not seen Vanessa who flew up from her home in Manhattan beach Los Angeles. The plan was to walk from the Marina in SF where she lives across the Golden Gate. Turned out to be quite daunting. At the end of the day it was 31,000 steps.

First view



A little closer




Almost to the bridge



My daughters from just before you can get up to the bridge. SF in the background







Made it to Marin County.



Vanessa stayed with her sister in SF and we headed back to Marin. The next day we were going out to West Marin to meet K's boyfriends family who live in Pt Reyes.

[Mendip]

It looks fantastic mate, so no mystery where your daughters got their looks from!

[DrWilly]

Sounds like a great trip. Love the idea of walking across the bridge.

[Stumpy]

Thanks for sharing AO. Great pics and good Tequila. I will be traveling that way in November. This time of year there is perfect. Love the marine layer as it rolls in every evening.

You going to catch a Giants game?

Enjoy your trip with wife and daughters.

[aging one]

^ Back here now stumps, and not enjoying the heat.

[Stumpy]

^ Back here now stumps, and not enjoying the heat.

Sorry AO. Thought you were there now. My apologies. Well then welcome back to the humidity now. My Dad said it was 101F yesterday in Napa.

[BLD]

As usual.AO I always enjoy your threads..your all looking good bud.

[Edmond]

Lovely. Thanks for sharing.


Looks like yer buddy is driving a Bentley nowadays, does he still have the Ferrari 488 spider and Lambo Gallardo?


How was Space X?

[aging one]

After leaving Saudi at 12 years old we moved to San Rafael Ca, Marin county. West Marin is a beautiful and mostly unknown part of the bay area. Hills, beaches, reservoirs, creeks, and bay's. We were off to Pt Reyes where my daughters boyfriends parents live and then Tomales bay for a seafood lunch. A nice hike was also done.

Map of west Marin. We travelled from Santa Venetia, Marinwood, Nicasio and then Pt Reyes.



Because its near the coast its often foggy till midday or later keeping the hills green



Heading to Tomales Bay



We met the folks and took off for some nice hikes on the coast. Known as secret beach this is the most westerly point in Marin



From the 1930's through the 60's their was a Coast Guard Station with boat ramps for ocean rescue.






Windy and cool as we walked the headlands.





Off for a good lunch on Tomales bay,



Famous for their oysters, here are 4 kinds.



My favorite Cioppino a seafood stew, with prawns, clams, squid, and Cod in a tomato garlic based broth.



Photo op of the parents.



Look what was found growing on a hike around neighborhood.




More to come driving up highways 1, and 101 to Crescent City just below the Oregon border.

[Edmond]

where my daughters parents live

Looks fresh. :-)

[Edmond]

I dare say the Inverness on the map is a lot more livable than its namesake where Jack lives.

[Joe 90]

Great pics AO,glad you had a good trip.

[cyrille]

Cool pics!

My green was supposed to say 'Gonna have oysters on the brain now'.

It's one of those foods.

Don't think of them for a long time, but when you do...

[aging one]

Had the opportunity to try a lot of new IPA beers along with some wines, bourbon, and tequila. I am partial to Sierra Nevada Brewing company as I went to university with the owner Kenny Grossman.









Couple of nice wines






My friend in San Rafael collects and enjoys fines whiskeys and tequila.




Clase Azul and very nice Tequila indeed.



I had never seen big "ice cube balls" to drink your whiskey with. Can say after not drinking hard liquor for 5 years I got fairly hammered.

[aging one]

With so many sites to see we decided to drive San Rafael to Garberville, once home to California's weed industry but on hard times since legalization. From there up to Crescent city is mostly along the coast. The route.





Old downtown Garberville

[bsnub]

Your friend has a full bar in his house! Pappy family reserve is top-notch, fantastic thread so far AO! Love me a good cioppino as well as the oysters.

[hallelujah]

I'm sure this will be a fantastic thread, AO.

Keep 'em coming.

You should stick a few pictures up of the BBQs you did too.

[DrWilly]

Those oysters!!!

[Edmond]

Those oysters!!!

Yup.

Looks great.

As do the views.
The hiking trails.
And the twins.





I fear it may be a bit chilly for my ol' bones though.

[aging one]

On the road to Crescent City. A beautiful beach town in the heart of the redwoods but not well know due to the location. It was to be a big reunion with 6 of my closest friends from high school and university but Covid reared its head and it ended up just my wife and I and 3 best friends in a big 4 bedroom 4 bath beach house. We made the most of it.





The house and views.











Good friends, good food, and lots of good wine.



Cooler weather than expected but still sunny and nice. Up to Jedidiah Smith Park and the towering redwood groves tomorrow.

[bsnub]

Fantastic! Nothing better than old friends, good wine and food.

[BLD]

Must of been great to not only take a well deserved break but check out how the kids are adapting. Nice t o see. Everyone smiling. Slightly of off topic but can I ask do your kids consider themselves more Thai than western or more western than Thai? I wondered about that when we moved to Oz. But my kids definately seem to identify as Aussies. there younger years were spent entirely in Asia. Glad to see your kids going good there. Despite what people say it's not exactly a land of milk n honey. Same same Australia. Sadly

[aging one]

Slightly of off topic but can I ask do your kids consider themselves more Thai than western or more western than Thai? I wondered about that when we moved to Oz. But my kids definately seem to identify as Aussies. there younger years were spent entirely in Asia.

They are very proud to be Thai and love having dual citizenship, but at this time they prefer to live in America. They both went to top universities and want to take advantage of that. They really enjoy their jobs, Vanessa at Space X and Kayleigh the entrepreneur with her media consultancy. Its safe to say they make more money a month than they would a year year. Now looking to buy houses but that can be daunting with prices starting at over a million bucks. If they had their dream they would retire early and move back to the beaches of Thailand as both surf and enjoy scuba.

[helge]

Now looking to buy houses but that can be daunting with prices starting at over a million bucks.

Holy Moly

Surely there must be something roofed at a more human price.

Or is it a question of location location location ?

[Mendip]

^ It does seem like a huge burden to take on when so young. Long term of course it will be a great financial decision, so long as it doesn't put on too much pressure for young couples.