Fourth of July in California
Thanks to Linda's four-day week, we were able to parlay three days off work into a great ten day jaunt to California, flying in on July 1 and back on July 10. That gave us plenty of time for our favorite activities, eating a lot, and a chance to take in the delights of both San Francisco and the scenic upper coast of Mendocino county.
Our frenetic schedule included:
- A San Francisco Giants baseball game: Linda opted to help Marilyn take care of the twins while the rest of us watched two mediocre teams (Barry Bonds was injured) see who could lose. Our seats in the View Mezzanine had a great view ... of the bay.
- Dim sum with old Rice chum Julia Baskett and her BF
- A magnificent meal at Rivoli, a terrific Berekely eatery
- A great salmon dinner at Charles and Amy's after a day of birding the other side of the hill from Berkeley
- Birding our way to Fort Bragg in Mendocino county, with a stop off at the Trentadue Winery in the Alexander Valley
- Two nights at a romantic B&B in Fort Bragg, the self-proclaimed cultural capital of Mendocino County
- A fabulous evening watching Mike Stevens, a biological researcher feed four mice to a male Spotted Owl he'd been studying
- A short drive down highway 1 with a stop in Russian Gulch State Park, where Wilson's Warblers
and Swainson's Thrushes were abundant. We had to cut the drive short when we found we'd managed to go 18 miles in six hours. 
- A trivia contest in San Rafael, where our three member team (Charles, Linda, Jim) took second place, beaten only by a team with 12 people
- A couple of nights in a beach house in Stinson Beach, a dynamite spot near Bolinas, home to the famed Bolinas Lagoon birding spot and an army of unreconstructed hippies. Nearby Audubon Canyon Ranch had a small pond where we got a picture of a Flame Skimmer.
- After checking out Point Reyes National Seashore, we ran out of time.
Just your average quickie vacation.
