Memorial Day

Today I went up to Nashau to visit Jaime and Russ...it was my first visit to their apartment in NH. We had a BBQ over at a nearby park and had ice cream. It was a great afternoon!

BarnTipping

Yes. My family is odd. But we all like it! For Memorial Day weekend, we trekked home to clean out the family barn. It was built back in the early 1800s, like our house, and my parents decided to historically refinish it. This meant that we needed to totally clean out 20+ years of boxes, tools and stored wonders. It was a mess :)



It took the better part of the weekend, but we managed to pull down all the stored boxes from the loft, clean out the downstairs, and figure out just what exactly needed to be done.


We also had to clean up oodles of old latex paint. It took a long time. And a lot of kitty litter :


When we picked up a bunch of old tires, we found this disgusting, unidentifiable creature:


But most of what we found was old woodwork from my grandpa, which Zach and Annie and I split up and cleaned everything up. We put it all in boxes for when we have our own houses and barns:

Venturing Beyond

Me and my Zipcar went on an adventure outside of San Fran today! We met up early in the morning and zipped right across the Golden Gate:



Then we cut over to Sonoma and the delights that are Californian vineyards. Our biggest stop was at Cline, where I found some tasty wine to bring home.


As the sign says, it was awesome.

Eventually we made our way over to Armstrong Redwood Forest. Along the way we passed some interesting places:



The forest was at the end of a very windy, narrow, dirt road. I almost thought I had taken a wrong turn. But I prevailed! And got to explore the forest, through all sorts of huge redwoods.





It was well after noon by this point, so we turned back toward San Fran via Hwy 1. My parents had suggested this day trip, emphasizing the drive along Hwy 1. They didn't do it justice. You drive for hours right along the coast. Literally.


When you are driving southish back to the city, you have rocky cliffs along the passenger side of the car. It was ridiculous! And the road was super curvy.


But it was a beautiful, sunny day and when you looked out over the water, there was a slight haze that made it all the better. I almost wish I had someone else with me, who could have driven, so I could have just soaked it all in.


Regardless, I made a lot of stops and enjoyed the quiet drive back.


It was my last night in the city, so I had dinner with Louis, Shauna and her brothers.

Very tasty rubbed chicken and far too much wine...somehow a fitting end to my little vacation to California

Alcatraz & Coit Tower

Since I was out there, how could I resist a visit to Alcatraz?? I went back down to the Embarcadero and hopped a boat over to Alcatraz Island on a very sunny morning. Lucky for me, it wasn't too crowded. It had been awhile since I'd been on a boat on the open water, but it was just as nice as I remembered.


There was an audio self-guided tour that took you through the facilities. The whole place was very rundown and smelled used (for lack of any better way to describe it!).


I was surprised by the amount of plant life that had been cultivated on the island by the wardens and inmates while it had been in service, and even more surprised to learn that the wardens' families often lived on the island too -- and didn't lock their doors ever!


Back in the city, I walked over toward Greenwhich and Filbert Streets and found my way up to Coit Tower, which overlooks the city.


The Tower has historical scenes depicted through frescoes that wrap around the interior walkway of the building.


From the top you had 360 degree views of the city:


And walking back down to the main streetways, you got to walk down crazy stairs...I felt like I was in the middle of some bizarre urban jungle retreat:


There were lots of pretty flowers there too:

Louis's Wedding Delight

One of many good reasons to visit California: Louis and Shauna's wedding party in San Francisco! They held it at Terra, a contemporary art gallery of sorts right in the city. One of my favorite parts was seeing them around all their family and friends; everyone seemed very content and happy. I also had the chance to catch up with high school friends that have moved out of Duxbury and whom I haven't seen in ages.

They had a neat slide show of pictures running in the background, fun food, and very very entertaining music. The whole event was a delight :)

Touring San Fran

I had a bunch of time to explore the city and the bay before the wedding party. It was awesome weather and I didn't mind a solitary adventure, since I needed time to clear my head after the end of a long year of school. The first night I walked over to Chinatown after checking into my room at the Mosser by the financial district.


The next morning I had the day to kick before the wedding party, so I walked through the Yerba Buena Gardens to the SF Museum of Modern Art:



Then I walked through the farmers' market to the Ferry Building down by the Embarcadero and walked along the water:


I stopped and watched the many sea lions lounging and playing down by Pier 39:

There were so many of them making quite a lot of noise. I could have stayed there for a much longer time, watching them do their thing. Instead I kept walking
past the Fishermen's Grotto, until I came up the Dungeness Crab vendors



Yumm!


I also had a chance while in SF to have an adventure adventure with my Aunt Cathie. We went for a walk in the sun to an organic, local restaurant called Lettüs. The food was ridiculously tasty and very filling. Then we walked along the far end of the harbor for awhile. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Zach's Graduation!

And it was time for Zach to graduate too! So the family met up in Baltimore for the ceremony and festivities. We ventured down to the market for some classic crab cakes and half shell delights.




I think we grossed out Annie though!

Jess B's Graduation Party!

So Jess is finally all done with her MBA aaaaand has decided to move into a place of her own instead of staying in the house we shared when I was back in Princeton a year ago. Brilliant time for a graduation party and summer special edition celebration! It was a very busy weekend, since I tried to make it something like my own mini 'reunions.'

I tried to see all my Pton friends and catch up, from Teacher Prep to Tower to people around town. I even went into NYC to see Ann and Megs and to Philly to see Maria and Anuj. There was plenty of good food and laughter :) But it was a long weekend with lots of popping back and forth. It's an odd feeling to realize that it was the last time I'll really know people who are still undergrads in PTC. Curious.