Goodbye beard....hello California!

A tribute to Eli's beard and hair..bye bye!

We stuffed our first week and a half in Napa with lots of good eating, beautiful site-seeing, downtown walks in beautiful weather and yes, some work as well!  The first couple days we arrived to Napa, we spent a good bit of time cleaning out the home we are renting and putting our personal touches in it while exploring local restaurants such as Downtown Joe’s, The Fish Story, and Butter Cream Bakery and Diner.  I began work last Wednesday at Golden Living which is a skilled nursing facility.   I had to hit the ground running without much of an orientation so was initially just trying to keep my head above water, but now that I have my feet on the ground I think this is going to be a great opportunity for professional and personal growth.  I have found I really love this population as they have a variety of diagnoses and physical challenges to address mixed with the opportunity to appreciate their diverse backgrounds, wonderful life stories, and great sense of humors.  Speaking of work, that same Wednesday that I began working, Eli received a phone call from one of the jobs that he applied for as they wanted to interview him on Thursday.  Without enough time to get a professional hair cut, I was able to talk Eli into shaving his head AND beard to look “professional" for the interview.  Yes…I was very glad to have an excuse ;)!!  Eli went in interviewing for a summer counselor position and left a co-director for the City of Napa Parks and Recreation Summer Camp. Eli will be helping to organize and run around 400 kids and 30 counselors in the traditional camp as well as manage 20 specialty camps for the summer.  He has already started work doing planning for the summer and interviewing for the counselor positions.  He is enjoying the people he is working with and excited about this opportunity.

Our first Sunday here, we packed the pups in the car and headed to Stinson beach.  It was our first experience on Highway 1 which was beautiful but consisted of tight, congested, winding roads alongside steep mountainous cliffs.  Once we arrived to the beach we immediately noticed a huge difference between the Oregon and California coast….PEOPLE.  The tiny bit of beach, while beautiful, was packed with sunbathers, kids, families, and friends enjoying the sunny day.  This beach did not allow the dogs on the beach, so Eli and I did not spend too much time on it, but did take a nice walk along the water.  We drove further on Highway 1 to a place where there were lots of people standing with cameras so figured we should pull off.  When we looked out we saw lots of seals in the distance swimming.  We went to pull the camera out to capture this and….our battery was dead!!  So, no pictures but it was fun to watch them play and swim.  After more exploring, we headed back home to begin the first full week of work.  

This weekend we ventured into San Francisco.  We got up early on Saturday morning and drove to Vallejo where we rode the ferry to the Fisherman’s Warf.  As we walked off the ferry, we were initially overwhelmed by the amount of people and choices of things to do!  I think you could spend a whole year there and never do everything, so we just began walking and did whatever fancied our attention.  It was a bright sunny day, but much cooler and much windier than we had been used to in Napa, so we began with coffee on Pier 39.  At the end of the pier there was a great view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.  While looking out we heard loud barking and as we walked towards the noise we saw hundreds of seals and sea lions on the docks right by the pier.  Some were sunbathing and others were wrestling.  Also on Pier 39 was some WWII exhibits, including the Pampanito, a submarine that served in the Pacific. We toured the submarine and were amazed at the insanely tight quarters in which the crew lived and worked.

Since San Francisco is the home of the sourdough bread bowl, we thought we should honor it by getting a yummy clam chowder bread bowl.  While eating along the street we saw various ways to tour the city and decided we would take a Duck tour to get a better idea of the layout of the city.  It was an hour and a half tour that took us all throughout the city including Ghirardelli Square, China Town, right by the Giants stadium, and into the bay.  Eli even got to drive the duck boat a bit when we were in the bay!  After our tour, we walked to Hyde’s Pier, went in a few shops, and to Ghirardelli Square where we found out that there are 4 chocolate shops.  If you walk in looking interested, they give you a free piece of chocolate so of course, we had to go to each one!!  We then made our way back across the Fisherman’s Warf to grab a coffee milkshake at The Fog Diner to give us a boost to hike up the Coit Tower.  We were blown away by the beautiful views of the city, the bay, and the pretty flowers along the way. 

View of Bay Bridge from the Duck tour

Coit Tower

View from Coit Tower

To finish up the day we walked to the Market Place where we enjoyed fresh shrimp quesadillas.  One of our favorite parts about the city was the live performances along the streets.  We saw a group do a mini-circus act that was amazing and that as a physical therapist had my stomach in knots!  Today, we have been taking it easy enjoying our backyard with the dogs, a work out, and a walk downtown to people watch over a glass of wine. Today we would love to be home celebrating our wonderful mothers and grandmothers as we are both blessed for these women in our lives who have been amazing influences and whom we love so much. Happy Mother’s Day!