Meg in Seattle

I (eric) just got back from a long weekend in Seattle visiting my friend Meg. In four days I managed to take about as many pictures (I need to work on that). We spent our time hanging out at her place, amazing each other with our wit and charm (our long standing favorite activity), and watching way too much Olympic coverage. (Dear Michael Phelps, enough already. Love, eric & meg). Meg lives out on the peninsula so our trip over to the city involved a 40 minute ferry ride. She does it every day and didn't find it quite as impressive as I did. Go figure. Here are some photos of us contemplating life and its mysteries while heading west across the sound. Her place is great--right across the road from the sound--and she even has her very own pair of bald eagles living in the tree above her house. I would have been more impressed with the eagles if they didn't have such a wimpy-sounding cry. I want something glorious, you know, patriotic. And so our other main activity was trying to teach the eagles something a little more appropriate. As they flew over head we called out, "liberteeeee," "michaelphelps," and "neoliberalism." You know, really American stuff. This activity left Meg feeling very proud of her effort on behalf of all Americans. This is what such pride looks like:

A final moment of fun came when I spotted Meg's judo gui in her closet. Here I am teaching the eagles about American diplomacy. 

moms!

I don't want to spend too much time dwelling on it, but I would like to acknowledge that we are the worst bloggers in the world. There. I said it.

Our moms came to town! Val (eric's mom) was here for 5 days, and Gloria (anne's mom) was here for 10 days. In all that time we managed to make our way around the Bay Area, and see a little bit of everything.

Happy in the sunshine at Thai Breakfast.

Anne and Gloria admiring our feast at Thai Breakfast in Berkeley. We got a wonderful sunny day and sat on the grass to enjoy great food and people watching.

Anne and I up a tree on the beach in Carmel. We hope that it is obvious that this particular pose/setting was mom-initiated.

Anne and Gloria braving the Carmel summer. Though there were plenty of people running around in shorts and playing in the surf, Anne felt sure that she would die of cold at any minute.

Val and Eric taking in a fountain after a wine tasting in Napa. We tasted. We chatted. We paid too much. It was the Napa experience.

The ladies at the Giants' game. The Giants lost. Nothing new.

Gloria striking a pose on the pier with the Bay Bridge in the background.

All in all, it was a great visit. Conclusion: We don't get to see our moms often enough.

A Hike & A Tea Party

Some photos of Eric's Sunday morning hike in Mt. Diablo State Park (about 30 miles southwest of Berkeley).





Anne threw her second tea party last weekend. We forgot to take pictures before the event, but here are some partly devoured goodies: lemon merengue pie, peach/apricot/cherry pie. Yum.

Summer, So Far

Our summer is off to a lovely start.

Eric's coursework is officially over! He turned in his last term paper (EVER!) at the end of may and is in full-time exam prep mode for the next year. Books, books, books.

Eric was awarded a summer fellowship and will begin taking an intensive Spanish course at the end of June. In the meantime he is working on exam prep and picking up odd jobs when he can find them. He found the most interesting one after advertising his writing and research skills on craigslist. He is helping a 78-year-old man write his autobiography. They have a great working relationship and it has been a blast thus far.

Last weekend we took a little road trip with different destinations. Anne dropped Eric off at Castle Crags State Park in northern California for a three-day backpacking trip along the Pacific Crest Trail. It was a wonderful three days of quiet in the woods. (Photos of the Crags and the view of Mt. Shasta below).

Anne continued north to Jefferson, Oregon (just outside of Ashland) for a weekend visit with her friend Alyssa. Alyssa has been working as an intern on an organic farm. She pitched a tent on the homestead, fed the kids (baby goats) clover, and spent a day hoeing. That is, weeding. The trip also involved a long breakfast at the local gas station/store/greasy spoon discussing hay bale housing and other such homesteading tips. Good to know. Below are pictures of Anne's friend Alyssa and the guy who owns the farm, hard at work.

Moving to Oakland

We are officially the worst bloggers ever. After sitting in front of our computers all day long, we just haven't been able to bring ourselves to sit down and write regular updates. But we're going to work on it.

The big news from our part of the world is that we're gearing up for a move down to the Lake Merritt neighborhood of Oakland on July 1st (which also happens to be our two year anniversary!). Berkeley has been grand, but there is much more life down in Oakland—more diversity, more activity. And it has the added bonus of having fewer students and fewer crazies than Berkeley. Our new place is great. We're just half a mile from Anne's office (she is so excited about being able to walk to work) and only a few blocks from Lake Merritt. My bike commute will be a little longer, but I'll still be able to make it to campus in under 30 minutes. No complaints.

The area is very urban, as you can see from the photo (that is downtown Oakland just west of the lake), but it has a lovely park along the northern shore and a jogging path that runs around the entire lake. There are also plenty of shops and restaurants near by, and a Whole Foods just down the hill. Perfect for prospective visitors (hint, hint).

(The photo is a view looking west out onto the Bay. Our place is just to the right (north) of the lake near the little arm in the middle of the photo.)

T-Mac's Sixth 30th Birthday Party

Our good friend Theresa celebrated her sixth, 30th birthday on March 27th. Theresa (lover of all things themed and kitsch) invited a group of friends to join her at the Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge for huge bowls of drinks and flaming cocktails. Good fun.

Kayaking with Otters and Seals

After a blistering hike (literally), we decided to take the day off and go on a half-day kayaking trip in Morro Bay. We had a *very* exciting, up close and personal experience with an otter swimming about four or five feet from our Kayak. We also had a few run-ins with seals, a flock of white herons (who are quite loud when they squak), and tons of water foul. Half-way through our trip we stopped for snacks; we sat alone on a desolate stretch of beach separating Morro Bay from the open Pacific. In the distance of the last photo, you can see Morrow Rock, visible from Valencia Peak on our hike the previous day. It was all around dreamy.

Wild Poppies

Anne was taken with the wild flowers all week long. The poppies, in particular, lit the fields with color.

Montaña de Oro

Our day trip to Montaña de Oro to hike Valencia Peak and Oats Peak was full of gorgeous views throughout our 9 mile hike. The hike was stunning with coastal views to the west and rolling hills and peaks to the east swathed in blooming wild orange poppies.

Avila Beach

Our timeshare had a lovely view of Avila Beach. We enjoyed our slow mornings waking up with coffee and gazing in wonder at the early morning beach volleyball games. While we did not spend much time in Avila, it served as a great place to begin and end our days with coffee and walks on the pier.

Spring Break in the Central Coast

We took advantage of Eric's Spring Break and Anne's vacation days to spend some time on the Central Coast. Thanks to Eric's mom's timeshare time, we stayed in Avila Beach, a small tourist town about 15 miles southwest of San Luis Obispo. From our home base in Avila, we drove all around the area: hiking in Montaña de Oro State Park, Madonna Mountain (sadly, it is named for an explorer, not the pop idol), and to the Gaviotas Hot Springs near Santa Barbara. The view from the Hot Springs was great, but we didn't get in: too many naked strangers. We also drove north about 20 miles to do some kayaking in Morro Bay—that is where the intimate shots of otters and seals come from. Our drive south also included a short trip to Solvang, the Dutch capital of the west (as if you didn't know). We did some drinking in the middle of the day in Solvang—that is what culture looks like in wine country.

All in all a lovely trip. We are working on our relaxing skills.