California Days

After a week’s return from the East coast, I flew to the West coast! The purpose of the trip was to assist daughter Emily on her first business trip with 10 month old Penelope. The four hour flights to and from went surprisingly well though she slept only about an hour. She adapted well to all the events of the trip with the slight exception of the rental car child’s seat! We were first in the “Silicon Valley” surrounded by Tech firms. Emily’s visits included Motorola, Apple, and Google. We stayed in the town of Sunnyside which had a delightful downtown area filled with a variety of shops and restaurants. Dining “al fresco” was a real treat coming from the cold Chicago area. We toured the impressive Stanford University Campus and Penelope and I enjoyed the large park near the hotel with the mountains in the background and a noontime soccer game by area workers. Friday night we were in Davis, west of San Francisco, home of UC Davis and my niece Anna and nephew Evan who have found it a great place to live. Anna’s walking tour of the campus and town were a testament to this. She served us a wonderful dinner outside in the backyard of her rental house. With good wine and conversation, the evening ended all too soon. The next morning we sampled the large Davis farmer’s market where I purchased some locally grown almonds before the drive back to the San Jose airport for the flight back to Chicago. (Note: The rental car center elevators have the same voice as the one here at The Admiral.) It was a real treat to spend time with my granddaughter and daughter away from our everyday lives. I hope we’ll have the opportunity again.