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My first stop in this neighborhood, which has been mostly Latino since the 60’s, was Peralta Hacienda Historical Park. I knew the house would be closed but the grounds are still worth a look. They’re part of the 44,000-acre Rancho San Antonio, a land grant from Spain in 1820 that went from today’s San Leandro […]

August 14, 2024. This time I wanted to go somewhere that felt far away without being toooo far away and Grizzly island fit the bill. It’s not a park, it’s part of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. There is no visitor center nor benches or bathrooms. And it was closed. Darn. I had

July 31, 2024. I found too much to put into one expedition! There will be a Part two at some point. I started at the new-ish section of the Emeryville Greenway running southwest from Powell and Hollis. This sculpture is called Windspire but I didn’t see any other info about it. The route is lined

July 24, 2024. This fountain, decorated with four cute little pot-bellied bear cubs, has an interesting back story. In 1907, 45 percent of the state’s population lived in the Bay Area, and Berkeley’s population was on its way to tripling, partly with earthquake refugees from San Francisco.  A local developer announced he would donate land

July 17. The Fun Park store was kawaii overload. So many cute plush faces! Also weird Japanese humor, like a dog sitting on the toilet reading. A Shiba lying on its side eating a potato chip is fine, though. Laziness seems to be a key component to this kind of animal humor. This is demonstrated

Yes, another location selected for its bearable temperature. At 12:30 it was a sunny, perfect 68 with a light breeze. I headed for the Golden Gate National Cemetery from the BART station, half an hour on foot. There’s no bus service in that direction and San Bruno lacks bike share.  But I had to stop

Because of extreme heat warnings, I planned this expedition to hit the coolest spots. Of course, I could have just stayed home since Berkeley rarely gets too hot. When I passed through San Rafael around noon, the car thermometer said it was 90 degrees. In Tiburon it was only about 80.  The Tiburon Railroad &

June 26, 2024. Today I walked a section of the Double Cross Trail, companion to the Crosstown Trail. The trails create an X across San Francisco with the Double Cross Trail going from southwest to northeast. I started at the southwest corner, the overlook near the hang glider area. I love this warning sign where

June 12, 2024. I started by visiting two of the four Andy Goldsworthy pieces in the park, Wood Line and the Spire. The Wood Line is a 1,000 foot + snaking S curve of tree trunks that’s very hard to photograph well in dappled sunlight! You’ll have to look it up online.  I visited it

As locals know, Colma is a city south of San Francisco that is mostly cemeteries. About 1500 people live there along with about two million deceased. Why? The gold rush increased San Francisco’s population quickly and more cemetery space was needed. But the city needed that land for housing and businesses and wouldn’t permit more