Hi Zuzu,
Well I made it out to California just fine, and stayed in Frisco last night at Fisherman's Wharf. Of course since it was Valentine's Day the restaurants and hotels were mobbed, and it took a long time just to wind through town to get from the airport to the hotel. Plus, there was a city-wide pillow fight, and the streets were mobbed with hundreds of kids walking to some designated park with pillows under their arms for the big event. Never seen anything like it, and had no idea what was going on till the hotel clerk told me what it was. But I got settled into my hotel, and then went out to the wharf to get a very nice dinner, and enjoyed the carnival-like atmosphere. But being three hours ahead on internal NY time, I turned in around 9:00 PM, and awoke this morning to a fogged-in city (no surprise there). I headed across the SF Bay Bridge about an hour ago, and the fog was so dense I couldn't see much of the the bridge as I crossed it. Once I got up to Novato I pulled off at a Starbucks to get a cup of joe and use the WiFi to check my email, and here I am!
I can't begin to describe how nice it is to be somewhere warm and green. It may seem like winter to the local population, but it looks and feels like spring to me, with the mild temperatures and some of the trees in bloom. What are the beautiful yellow trees - is that Witch Hazel by chance? I've never seen it (though I use it), but assumed that might be what it is since I've read about their yellow leaves/blooms appearing in February. And are those red buds I see blooming, too? Wow, we won't have those in NY for another two months.
It looks like the sun is trying to burn off some of the fog -- I can't wait to see what everything looks like once the sun breaks through. I can't believe how green everything is! We're getting another 8 inches of snow back home tonight, so I picked a good week to come out here!
Well I guess I better get back on the road and head up to the Walker Creek Ranch and Conference Center. Here's a photograph of it.
Talk to you soon!
Mike
