Weekend Update

So, we're back! After a busy month or so, I've finally gotten around to sharing some of the awesome things we've been up to. First up: our surprisingly busy weekend. It's amazing how much fun stuff you can do when you don't have a whole house to take care of!

This weekend was so busy in part because our neighborhood hosted the Eat Real Fest, an amazing spread of food vendors of all types.

We walked down to the fest for lunch on Friday and Saturday, and had some tasty food:

Lamb poutine--smoked lamb, fresh goat cheese, tangy spicy gravy and fries--so glad Michael and I got one each!

Vietnamese beef pho rolls--spicy beef with herbs in a noodle wrapper.

There were all sorts of stalls with goodies, from chocolates and wine to salsa and pickles. Speaking of which, Michael got a whole bowl of pickles to sample from Happy Girl Kitchen Co--his idea of heaven!

On Sunday, to counteract thus gluttony (did I mention there were popsicles and pastries involved as well?) we went for a 9 mile hike at Lake Chabot Regional Park, which had some lovely views for a park a mere 20 minutes from our apartment:

It was a fun, and a little tiring, weekend. As we get out more I'll try to post more--and maybe one day we'll actually have this apartment in a fit state to be photographed!

Introducing our new neighborhood

Since we've been here for over a week, I suppose it's high time I talked about our new neighborhood. Our little patch of Oakland is called Jack London Square, right on the water across from Alameda Island. It's a former dockyard/warehouse district that is slowly becoming trendy/residential, although there are a good number of warehouses--mostly retail and food-related--still around. This means there's a fair amount of truck and delivery traffic during the day, but at night and on the weekends the streets are quiet.

I'll do full pics of our apartment when stuff is unpacked (and I get something to hang on our walls--tall ceilings are nice, but there's so much empty space!). But, here's a view out our dining nook window:

You can see the fancy condo building in the background--it's easy to tell which buildings are owned condos and not rentals, they usually have nicer landscaping.

Jack London Square has a lot going on, socially. The first weekend we were here, they hosted Pedalfest, a cycling extravaganza that featured stunt biking, wacky homemade bikes, and lots of gear for sale. We spent 2 hours in the sun taking in the sights--such a pleasant way to avoid unpacking! Here's Michael enjoying a New Holland Ranger IPA:

Yes, those are palm trees. They're just part of the landscaping around here. We're in danger of having far too much fun out here, as this weekend there is not only a music-festival-and-bbq-cookoff, but also a wine fest!

So far, we really like this little neighborhood, it seems like a good combination of residential quiet with easy, fun stuff to do. I know its been a while since I posted--I'll keep updating as we explore the area more, so the blog isn't dead yet.

Driving Day 5: A Fruitful Loss

I'm back in the world of the internet, thanks to some very nice Comcast technicians who set up our router today. Hooray! Since I'm basically sitting in the middle of an empty apartment, I thought I'd share some pics of the last leg of our journey, where we cross the Sierra Nevada  mountains into California and saw some stunning scenery:

Then, we were stopped at the infamous agricultural checkpoint, which supposedly protects California from evil pests. Despite being warned by Bay area friends, I had forgotten about this little ritual, and thus had to sacrifice half a bag of Floridian clementines to the Californian citrus gods. Oops!

Then, we got stuck in traffic from about Sacramento onwards--this state is too full of people. :) We managed to get to our new place just fine, with the usual administrative confusion over garage remotes not working, etc. Now we're just anxiously awaiting for our stuff to arrive--once we're unpacked, I'll share some pictures of our new apartment.

Driving Day 4: Of the peculiar effects of nothingness on the mind of the author....

Today we crossed a lot of brown, scrubby desert. I have to admit, I was a nervous about being out in the middle of nowhere. The Nevada nowhere-ness seemed more extreme than that of Wyoming, or Nebraska, though that may have been partly in my head. Or maybe it's because Michael kept pointing out landmarks relating to the Donner party (yes, we basically followed their very ill-fated route through Utah and Nevada). Regardless, I was gripping the steering wheel very tightly after lunch (although Michael did most of the driving today) and I was very happy to see the outskirts of Sparks-Reno, with its gas stations and emergency services within easy reach. :)

We survived and made it to Reno and even had time to stop and take pictures of the salt flats in Utah, which were certainly impressive:

Tomorrow is our last (and shortest) day of driving, and we hope to be in Oakland around lunchtime. I'll be without internet for a few days, but hopefully that will give me time to put together a few more pics of our trip and our new neighborhood in Oakland!

Driving Day 3: On mountains, basins, and excellent Mexican food

So we made it to Salt Lake without incident, thank goodness! Except for the usual construction, the freeway was clear and the driving went quite quickly today, probably because we only covered 440 miles. Michael ended up doing most of the driving, because I really don't like driving through mountains. Michael informs we me that we crossed the Great Divide basin and the Continental Divide, amongst a number of other mountains and basins.

We saw a lot of awesome scenery, though we couldn't really stop too often (too hot for Sophie in the car). Perhaps next time I should buy her a carrier with wheels and drag her along like a suitcase. I'm sure she'd love that!

When we got to Salt Lake, we had enough time to scout out a certain well-known Mexican restaurant with a funny name, and it more than lived up to expectations. Look at the carnitas Michael ordered (and I stole off his plate):

Definitely a better day today than yesterday, let's hope things continue to improve!

Driving Day 2: On Trials and Tribulations

So, the bloom is most certainly off the rose for this portion of the trip. Day 2 was certainly a weird day. It started with me realizing that I have no idea where 2 of my most prized pieces of jewelry are--I think I left them in our rental house, but our landlady can't find them, so I have no idea what's happened. It's entirely possible I left them somewhere stupid, but for now, they are irretrievably lost. The loss is more sentimental than financial, but after 4 days of packing, moving, and driving, this has really thrown me for a loop, emotionally.

My personal problems were quite minor, however, compared to the news that greeted us when we reached Cheyenne at 5:30 Mountain Time: Semis collide, fire closes down I-80 near Wyoming border. So, we're honestly not sure if we can drive to Salt Lake as planned tomorrow, or if we're going to have to head (back) south to Denver and take I-70 to Utah.

That all being said, western Nebraska and Wyoming have some dramatic, sweeping scenery as well as excellently paved roads (I am becoming a connoisseur of concrete this trip).

And, I've been so happy with how well Sophie has taken to travelling: she's reacted quite well to being in a different hotel room every evening:

And she really liked having a king bed to share with us last night.

So, please send us good thoughts for tomorrow, as we cross our fingers I-80 stays open so we can get to Salt Lake!

Driving day 1

We hit the road this morning after giving our house one last clear out and clean. Here we are saying good bye:

We had a relatively uneventful drive, crossing the Mississippi after lunch and heading straight through Iowa, which was surprisingly hilly compared to Illinois.  Everything out this way was beautifully green, no doubt because of all the rain the Midwest has had. 

We're hoping to make an early start tomorrow, where we'll be driving across Nebraska all day.