California, 2011

Earlier this year, we decided to visit in the fall 3 couples of friends who live nearby in California. Very cool that they  hosted us, three days each.

On Saturday Oct 8, the night we arrived in San Jose, the airports were totally empty and quiet. Amy and Kathleen came to pick us up – handy: they live 5 minutes from the airport! On Sunday we went with A+K to Santa Cruz, seaside town, where we walk in a park full of trees and wonderful views, and spend time watching the surfers catching the wave. Also went to the Mystery Spot, a place where they say they have strange gravity and magnetic forces. It was fun and reminded me a lot of a “fun” house, place I loved when I was a kid,  in a children’s park, near Sao Paulo.

We also got ice cream (delicious) and walk on the beach. That night we dined in Los Gatos, where our other friends Matece and Gary joined us. Delicious dinner and good to see our friends together.

Then we went to M+G house, where David worked the first two days while I talked a lot with our hosts. I did yoga twice with Matece, and loved it. She is a very active and vibrant pregnant, due in late November. We cook together, and we had very calm and relaxed time there.

On Wednesday we all went to Berkeley, where we walked in a delicious trail around a pond. We also saw a wonderful view of the East Bay, San Francisco from very steep streets. I couldn’t believe whne I saw there were people biking riding in this neighborhood? What a service! We eat ice cream and pizza in two excellent places, and they then left us at Tim and Tandia’s home  in Fremont. We talked with them before bedtime, and I researched (in the guides they have borrowed us) about what to do in San Francisco.

Next day we took the train and went to the city. I chose to go to a small Brazilian market first, and bought some goodies, catupiry, but they had no pastel or snacks …. Chatting with other customers of the store (Brazilians) a very nice lady offered us a ride to a coffee shop she knew where the owner is Brazilian and where we could eat the cheese pie (pastel). It was an adventure in the truck as it was falling apart … Then we walked a lot in the Mission district, where many wonderful murals were painted over 40 years. It is a Latin American neighborhood, and several times I had the impression that David and I were in Brazil. Dolores Park was a nice surprise since there can see the skyline of the city. Beautiful view!
Then we went to the Castro district, famous gay district. Very chic and the Castro Theatre is worth looking inside.
From there, we took the Muni – and went to the north, near the docks. We walked a little, and returned to the center with the cable car. It was fun, especially because the streets were so inclined! This city is very diverse: the topography crazy!
Dinner at the Millennium: a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, which David has two cookbooks.
From there, we took the train and when we arrived in Fremont and Tim Tandia picked us up at the train station.
We spent the late-night chatting and playing Quirkle cubes.
The next day I went to meditation Tandia, and then David and I returned to SF to do a fun bike ride, where we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was great!
When we arrived back home we ate food from Afghanistan – wonderful!
The next morning, Amy Kathleen drove to Fremont where we left in a caravan to Yosemite. When we arrived there, first thing: we stamped our passports national parks:) and went to the Lower Yosemite Falls. I got in the cold water and I was happy to be in the park. The view at the park entrance was stunning and I was looking forward to a longer trail. After the picnic we went all to the Vernal Falls. We were lucky to catch the bus from where we parked the cars to the waterfall trail. (a crazy amount of people in this park! I think it’s one of the most famous U.S.) AMAZING trail, steep, but I recommend!  The trail to the waterfall is a vertical gain of 1,400 miles, a challenge for me, especially if done in 2.5 hours (specifically when going down to my knees and heart to rise). A track full of wonderful views. Arriving at the top of the waterfall walk a little more and saw the Silver Apron and Emerald Pond (a “slide” the stone that shone with the sun and water – a wonder!). From there the top you could see another waterfall Nevada Falls, about 2 more hours of climbing where we were.
The setting sun, we returned to the bus stop, and so we returned to our cars.

We went to the hotel, where Tim (luckily) had made reservations and we went to dinner in a Mexican restaurant across the street. Everyone was delighted, and went to sleep to get ready for more hiking the next day.

We went to Mariposa Grove, where he walked for 2.5 hours each in the midst of giant sequoias. VERY impressive, and fun. In it we made our second picnic where a raven in a corner lurked us….! We felt we were in a story of Edgar Allan Poe!

We went to Glacier Point, where we admire the view of the beauties of the park, waterfall hiked in the previous day. WOW, it seemed so easy and small! The half dome was really impressive. We tried to see people climbing with our friend’s super powerful binoculars, but we could not see anyone despite people saying they saw…. Maybe next time?

We left for San Jose, to end our trip. Next day we had lunch together with Amy and Kathleen, and I went to the Museum of Technology. Very interesting hands-on experiments, even though the museum is more focused on captivating children’s interests.  I felt what a 8.6 Earthquake would feel, made some changes in a bacteria DNA, and more. Also, I watched a short documentary on orphanage for elephants and orangutans (in the iMax dome) and we had  a dinner that we enjoyed in the courtyard of the house of our friends.

It was a trip very beautiful, warm (in my heart and weather), filled with  adventures, exercise, lovely people,  and rest.

It was great to spend time with my brother too – playing disc golf, games, ping pong etc. I wished we could do this more often!!

My mom even helped us a little bit with the Square Foot Gardening… Check it out!

I also enjoyed the time with my mom here, as well as visiting Washington DC – it was an awesome 3 days vacation!!!!

Thanks everybody!

May 2011 Family

Foi uma delícia, e eu tive até um tempinho sozinha pra conhecer o famoso museu!!

Christmas 2010

De lá voamos pra Seattle (costa Oeste) onde tivemos um fim de ano e reveillon com amigos – o que foi uma verdadeira aventura – sem contar o sol brilhando o tempo todo! (raro no inverno por lá)

Alugamos uma casa e 7 famílias de amigos (a mairoia agora com crianças pequenas ou bebês) se juntaram por 4 ou 5 dias pra festejarmos a mudança do ano. Cada casal ficou responsável por uma refeição, e foi tudo maravilhoso… Temos muitos cozinheiros de alto nível, e O David e eu (com ajuda do nosso amigo Eric) cozinhamos uma delícia de café da manhã, Eggs Benedict. A nossa versão tinha English Muffin ao invés de pão italiano, e servimos com e sem bacon (afinal, somos vegetarianos, né?)

Fizemos muitas caminhadas na peninsula onde ficamos (Seaview), e vimos paisagens lindíssimas!!

Depois, fomos para Seattle. Fui ao Aquarium com o Eric, e foi uma maravilha!!! Eu gosto muito de mar, e o que realmente me hispnotizou foi o movimento e beleza das medusas…. A leveza e a paz que elas me passaram foi realmente algo forte. Vejam o video aqui.

Depois, com o David, fomos fazer uma trilha no Mount Rainier. Foi um outro momento marcante.

2011 Washington

Voltamos pra casa felizes e eu finalmente senti que tirei férias este ano. 2 semanas perfeitas pra mim!

Mas algo importante aconteceu logo depois que chegamos: nosso aniversário de 3 anos de casados! Nossa, como o tempo voa!! Fomos à nossa querida árvore no Karst Farm Park e renovamos  nossos votos. Foi muito emocionante, e divertido. Primiera vez que foi num domingo, nem estava tão frio e quase sem neve. Um momento engraçado foi que uma mulher estava passando e tomou um baita susto quando nos viu na árvore! Ela disse: “nossa, eu não estava esperando ver pessoas nos galhos da árvore. Normalmente eu vejo pássaros!”

Translations will come another time….

3rd Wedding Anniversary 2011

Check the album here:

2010-08Louisville

Visiting Cleveland was also awesome. We went to the Lake Eerie, and we got a little rain and lots of wind there. We all got super wet, but it was funny. Check the second video as well – there is George getting 3 waves and making him pretty soaked.

We also went canoeing which was very peaceful, and past too fast! I even got a nice tan!

We also hiked in beautiful places – my favorite was Nelson’s Ledges. I can imagine how fun it was to bring the whole family when David and his brothers were growing up. Nice!!

As usual, we had all great/delicious meals: homemade pesto, then Italian and Cantonese restaurant, and also Indian. So international!!! And played several games (although I did not win one this time). We love chatting with David’s parents, and introducing them to new technology, such as flip video (the videos you see above) and facebook.

Here is the photo album!

Cleveland

There was a big storm in the middle, but it was fine -David and I took a long nap in the car! We had already set up the tent, so we were set for the night. The National Park campground was surprisingly beautiful, with walk-in sites, and we were almost the only ones in the campground (sleeping on Monday eve.). Until Monday morning it was busy, of course! (Memorial Day)

We loved the hikes, the dunes and the beach – it was empty on my birthday. I did yoga, meditation and swam in the morning, alone – David dropped me off there. I could thank all my blessings, and think of my future in peace: by the water and sun rays.

Have I told you that I love life? I’m happily 36. And I’m glad you are part of my life.

Pri birthday 2010