Bay Area Visit

Coming to see Ian in the Bay Area was the primary reason for this road trip. Everything up to now has been a bonus of travel.

The last couple of days have been really nice.  I can lounge around our friends' house in my pajamas until we embark on our plans for the day, and the plans may not be that elaborate.  On our first day, we tooled around Alameda, where we're staying.  Being on the water and near Oakland, a major shipping port, you get to experience the beauty of industry.

We went to the decommissioned naval base that now houses a couple of wineries, a vodka distillery, movie studios, and so forth.  For me, the base really resonates because although my father was in the Army, there's an immediate sense of familiarity and even "home" in these spaces.  I didn't take a lot of photos of the buildings (I loved the ghost town feel of it) but did manage to snap this one.

One of the reasons we went is because Don, one of our hosts, wanted to check out some wood flooring at the woodworking collective also housed on the base.  As you'll see, one of the things I'm also responding to is old signs as well as text.  Like this return to Kalamazoo (one of the woodworking machines) -

In this one, I like not only the obvious vintage aspect of it, but the fact that they use an adverb correctly.  Go grammar!

Yesterday we spent the day with Ian.  You know how when you visit family, there's often that sense of "Okay, what are we going to do today?," which some might translate to "Do we actually have to interact?"? (Note: while I think the punctuation in the previous sentence is correct, it looks a little weird.)  Well, we like just hanging out with the boy, and I decided one of the best things I could do as a mom was to make sure he had the food that reminds him of us.  So we actually just hung out at Ian's place, made meals to freeze (lasagne, tuna noodle casserole (Liss' speciality), and vegan chili (to include Ian's roommate), and played video games.  Yes, sometimes we like to chill out like we're 23.

   Shopping for groceries at the Berkeley Bowl threw me into a desperate fit of jealousy.  Look at these vegetables!

I mean, c'mon - this is standard fare for California.  Even looking at this photo I'm getting jealous.

Ian lives in Oakland and not too far from his apartment I found these great signs.

Quite honestly, I'd be happy to retire right now.  Why not hang out with the people you love and enjoy each day on its own merits?