Levi Loves the Sharks

In honor of the Sharks' success so far this season, Levi donned his gear...

East Coast Road Trip

This past week I embarked on a long road trip for work. Starting at 4am on Monday morning, I proceeded to fly to Raleigh, North Carolina (with a layover in Phoenix). I met a co-worker at the airport, then we drove 30 miles to our first destination. After a supplier meeting on Tuesday, we drove over 300 miles up to Salisbury, Maryland. Fortunately our rental Subaru Impreza was more fuel-efficient than we anticipated. We repeated the pattern on Wednesday, meeting with a supplier all morning, then driving approximately 300 miles to Stratford, Connecticut. On the way there we saw the President's helicopter entourage, believe we uncovered the end of the earth crossing from Delaware into New Jersey, and stopped to visit my friend Debbie in New Jersey. Debbie and her husband Dan (my first manager at BSC) recently moved to the Garden State and also had a baby in December. It was wonderful to catch up with her, meet Freddie, and enjoy lots of affection from their yellow lab Tobey.


On Thursday, we again started the day with a supplier visit, then drove up to Marlborough, Massachusetts that afternoon. We visited the BSC R&D center in Marlborough and then had a supplier dinner that night. Our last supplier meeting was Friday morning, then we proceeded on to BSC headquarters in Natick. My travel buddy then headed to the airport, while I stayed to catch up with all the people I used to see every day in Natick.

And then the Boston/non-work portion of the trip began for me! Just like the good ol' days, "Car Pool Man," aka Anthony, picked me up from BSC. We met up with Chris, Matt, and Leslie at Grafton Street in Harvard Square and I had a great time catching up with everyone and just unwinding from the week.


After dinner, I met my mom at the Hyatt in Cambridge. What a treat that she was able to come down from Maine and join me for the evening. We had breakfast Saturday morning, followed by a short walk - it was short due to the wind and cold along the Charles. I can't believe how cold it still is in Boston! (FYI, there was a snow storm in Maine and New Hampshire on Friday.) Mom and I then said our good-byes and I met my friend Emily for brunch at the Fireplace in Washington Square in Brookline. We had a great time, then I met my friend Maria for tea at Finale in Coolidge Corner. And then it was time to head for the airport!

It was most certainly a wonderful week - fantastic to see friends and Boston, and the work meetings went very well. I am, however, most definitely happy to be back in California. I even found myself thinking of this state as home during the long flight back...I think I have hit an important milestone - and it only took 6 months. But in case I have any twinges of homesickness, I will be in Maine and Boston the last weekend in April!

Wine Country

The weekend portion of my parents' visit was spent in wine country. On the way to Napa, we stopped first at the Sunnyvale farmers' market so Mom and Dad could get a sense of the fresh produce offered out this way. Needless to say, they were jealous! The weather also continued its stunning pattern, staying at 70 and sunny the whole weekend.

Once we arrived in Napa, we had lunch at Fume Bistro, then were joined back at the hotel by my friend Mackenzie, in from Pittsburgh for a couple of days for work training. And thus began the wine tours. We spent Saturday in Napa, visiting Trefethen, Monticello (why did I not buy the Pinot Noir here?!), and Jessup (shout out to our new friends Rex and Ben for the recommendation). The day concluded with a divine dinner at Bistro Jeanty - the best French food I have had in a very long time. Thanks for the recommendation, Matt! (and sorry we didn't make it to Cuvaison this time)

At Trefethen with Mackenzie

Mom and Mackenzie by lemon tree at Trefethen

Orange trees at Trefethen

View from Trefethen

Monticello

View from Monticello

Me and Mackenzie at Jessup

Mom and Dad at Jessup

Me and Mackenzie at Bistro Jeanty

We were very leisurely Sunday morning, partially due to all the time adjustments and partially because we didn't think we were ready to start tastings at 10am. Our plan of attack was to drive to Sonoma, where our first stop was B.R. Cohn, which featured not just wine but also olive oil and other food products. After that, we went to Imagery, which had the most open tasting area and also the prettiest bottles in my opinion. We then stopped for a late lunch at Cafe Citti, a great trattoria recommended by the people at Imagery. Our last wine tasting ended up being at St. Francis. We probably had time for 1-2 more stops but we were pretty overwhelmed by wine tastings by that point. So we drove some of the back roads around Sonoma to take in more of the scenery and the beautiful day, then it was time to head home. I can't wait to return to wine country soon!

View from B.R. Cohn

St. Francis

View from St. Francis

My Parents are Here!

On Wednesday night, my parents arrived and they will stay through next week. This is the first time people from my East Coast world (outside of co-workers) have been to my new world. It's kind of strange but I am so happy to have them here!

As I was working yesterday, my parents took a trek down to Monterey, which included a long visit at the aquarium and exploring Cannery Row. I think they are still in shock about the sunny 70 degree weather out here, particularly given the ongoing onslaught of snow storms back in Maine.

I took today off and the three of us ventured up 280, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to Marin County. The weather was very cooperative, although San Francisco looked a little hazy:


We made the journey in my parents' rental Prius. Is there anything more fitting for California? But given the amount of day trips that will be occurring, getting over 50 miles per gallon is a boon indeed.



The classic shot in front of the bridge...

Near the bridge is a memorial to the "Lone Sailor." Here is a shot of my dad by the statue as well as the Navy plaque. Both my dad and my grandfather were Navy men; my grandfather had far too many trips to San Francisco during WWII.

After crossing the bridge we drove to Sausalito, a beautiful little town right by the water where all the chi-chi people seem to live. It was a bit touristy but we loved shopping and eating there as well as seeing the panoramic view of the city. From there we began our winding voyage around the area, seeing Mill Valley, Belvedere, and Tiburon, which we loved (see photo from Tiburon below). The voyage on Paradise Drive was harrowing but absolutely beautiful. I need to go back and see this area on bike! All in all, it was a great day and we agreed that this part of the Bay Area absolutely reminded us of southern France. I almost had the sensation of being in a different state on vacation even though I was only a little over an hour from home!