Vacation Day 6: The East Bay
Thursday: My plan for Anne and Jordan's final morning here in the Bay Area was to drive around the East Bay hills near where I live and then walk along a lake before having lunch and heading to the airport. I should've stuck with the plan.
Instead, while looking the map over the evening before, I decided to go somewhere new. I'd done the drive/walk with my mom when my folks were here a couple years ago but I'd never driven up Mount Diablo though I'd been to its foot when a friend was in a bike race there many years ago. It didn't look too far away so we set off in that direction.
Jordan turned 16 in December so we thought we'd give him a opportunity to drive my Prius before he went home. Perhaps this wasn't the best place. The roads were narrow and twisty and Anne and I began to feel nervous about the state of the edges of the road the further we got up the mountain. At the ranger's station, we decided we'd had enough of it. Jordan said he didn't have a problem with the roads but I was also concerned about how much time it was taking us to get anywhere.
Anne said she'd choose a body of water over a mountain any day so I decided to take them down to the marina and walk in the park along the bay. We let the navigation system dictate our route from mountain to bay and went through an area with lots of warehouses and industrial-type places, including the national headquarters of Otis Spunkmeyer. Of course, we had to stop for cookies, fresh out of the oven. So we got two each and a day-old bag for their trip home. I had the red, white and blue cookie (cranberry, white chocolate chunk, blueberry) and a cranberry oatmeal cookie. Both were excellent. We ate them as we took a quick walk by the water watching the planes lining up to land at the airports.
A new Chili's recently opened near my BART station and I was glad to have an excuse to try it out for lunch. I had the grilled margarita chicken and garlic & lime shrimp (which inspired my own Orange & Green Shrimp) with steamed broccoli and a side of black beans. It was yummy.
And then we were off to the airport, and hugs and goodbyes.
I have to say that this visit was entirely sucessful. My guests were accomodating, helpful and cheerful. They could sleep on any surface at the drop of a hat. And our activities (for the most part) were varied and interesting and a heck of a lot of fun. Thanks, Anne & Jordan!