It was great to be back in Oakland and visiting friends. We had lunch with Michael and Michele at Dyafa in Jack London Square.
Our nephew Sacha came home to have surgery on his elbow, so we visited him before his surgery and met his new dog Haku.
Haku is the name of the Spirited Away character who is the spirit of the Kohaku River.
A few months ago Sacha was fostering Haku and realized what a great dog he was, so he decided to adopt him. We didn’t see Haku frolicking in the water, but Sacha told us how much he enjoys it and sent us these photos.
We had dinner with Sacha and his parents Csilla and Dale, then we went for cashew ice cream at Mr Dewies’ and they opted for frozen yogurt.
Another night we saw a shakuhachi performance through Philip Gelb’s dinner concert series. The musician was Yodo Kurahasi II and he played a beautiful solo set.
Phil is a vegan chef, and his menu featured Masumoto Farm peaches and hand made noodles with kimchi.
To protest the Trump administration’s policy of separating asylum-seeking families, we went to the Richmond ICE Detention Center.
We estimate about 3,000 people turned out, and there were great speakers and live music.
We had recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America, so we introduced ourselves to fellow members. They were kind enough to let Pete hold one of their signs.
At the protest a teacher from the SF Zen Center offered an art project of coloring Jizos and hanging them. Jizo is the patron saint of children and travelers, so it seemed particularly apt to have them here.
Our friend Ken invited us to check out his house remodel project underway in Rockridge. This is the new back of the house and deck.
We loved how he is maintaining the craftsman qualities on the front exterior, but is changing the back to a contemporary design with an operable wall of windows. This will be the kitchen looking out to the backyard.
Then we went to Swan’s Market, a collection of restaurants with shared seating, for dinner with Ken and his wife Jennifer. Jennifer brought their new family member, Max the adorable beagle.
Ken treated us to wonderful oysters from The Cook and Her Farmer restaurant and we sat outside to enjoy them.
We ordered dinner at Cosecha. We liked their Defend DACA and Protect Dreamers signs.
Cosecha serves creative Mexican fare like this mango, avocado and jicama salad with spicy dressing.
We stayed at Cynthia and Humberto’s house in Oakland, which is always a treat for us because we get to see our dear friends every day. We celebrated their oldest son Julian’s 15th birthday. Zoe was graduating from high school so we celebrated her accomplishment too.
Kristina made Julian a sweet potato pie for his birthday.
Cynthia’s friend Keegan is a floral designer who shares her extra flowers with Cynthia. This lovely arrangement was in their living room when we arrived, complete with lots of photos of Julian and Emilio as little kids.
Keegan brought another beautiful arrangement to a Friday night gathering at Cynthia and Humberto’s. We had lots of fun that evening, including dancing on their back patio (although it was too dark to take photos). You can enjoy the colorful flowers instead.
We brought our friends Pat and Sarah a bouquet of flowers as we went to San Francisco to enjoy dinner with them.
Sarah made raviolis with homemade ricotta cheese, wow!
And she made an apricot crostini that was to die for.
While in our old neighborhood of Bernal Heights, we noticed that the library had renovated their murals.
We had lunch at Red Hill Station with Catherine. We had been neighbors for a number of years, and she is still living in Bernal.
We had hamachi salads and an oyster pot pie for lunch and had a great time catching up with Catherine.
Catherine is a wonderful artist. She recommended that we check out Tracey Snelling’s Asphalt Jungle exhibit at the Jules Maeght Gallery.
We felt like voyeurs as we peeked into Snelling's sculptures to see videos playing inside.
Another day we met our friend Mya for lunch. She had recently bought herself a kayak to take to Lake Tahoe for paddling.
Mya took us up the new Sales Force Tower, as she is the project manager for the 59th floor build out. This was the view we saw.
We were so happy to spend an evening with our dear friends Paul and Julie. We went to Chris Cosentino’s restaurant Cockscomb.
The clams with smoked XO sauce were amazing.
Cockscomb often offers large main dishes for sharing. We ordered the pork with lobster supper special, which was tasty.
For dessert we had pineapple with passionfruit curd. The pineapple had been su vide and then grilled, and it was delightful.
Pete took this photo, proof that Paul took the above photo of Kristina and the pineapple.
Paul and Julie have been working on their house in the El Cerrito hills and they shared these cool photos of their new glamping area.
Here'a a closer look at their new bubble structure with Julie inside.
We went up to Sebastopol to visit our friends Sean and Paul and see their house remodel project. We stayed in the trailer.
Sean happily told us that he was selling the trailer and that their extensive house remodel was coming close to the end.
It was a joy to cook there, and we made a Japanese meal of cod soup, spinach and cucumber salads.
For years our friend and massage therapist Laura had told us about circumambulating Mt Tamalpais. We were excited to finally be able to do it together. The summer solstice hike started at 8:30 am, and the fog helped keep the temperatures cool throughout the day.
The hike was started by Gary Snyder and other Beat Poets in 1965. Laura is the hike leader now and she led us in Zen Buddhist chants at designated stops along the way.
This was Pete’s second time to do the hike. The first time was for the winter solstice in 2016, and the shorter days made it more challenging to complete the 25 kms before dark.
The fog cleared around 2 pm, but it was still cool.
It was very windy as we chanted and then walked up Eldridge Grade.
Here we are at East Peak, the top of Mt Tam. From left are Damien, Brian, Kristina and Laura.
The last 3 miles are mostly steep down hill. We took a break for a snack at Laura’s favorite spring. From the left are Brian, Laura, Damien and Pete.
As we circumambulated, the scenery changed dramatically, making the experience full of surprises.
After walking 25 kms with 900 meters of elevation we were tired. Laura opted to sit for the last chant, the heart sutra.
Then we took Laura to Fish restaurant in Sausalito to refuel and celebrate our wonderful hike. This is a steamer basket of clams, mussels, and vegetables.
We also wolfed down the salmon collar served over salad greens.
We were happy to have our tandem bike while staying in Oakland, and were able to ride three times. We bought new Biciamo jerseys, this time we chose UC Berkeley jerseys for our alma mater.
We drove up to Portland to meet our friends Connie and Gūnter from Germany. Connie is in front of their Airbnb place.
Gūnter is in their patio. It was great to see them and catch up while showing them around Portland.
They rented bikes for their week in Portland, and the next day we donned our Red Spokes cycling jerseys (in honor of our cycling trip together in Patagonia) and went for a ride.
It was the 4th of July and there were lots of American flags flying in Troutdale.
We rode on the Marine Drive bike path along the Columbia River.
There were three osprey nests and we could see the fledglings learning to fly.
That evening we went downtown to watch the fireworks. This is the Tilikum Crossing bridge.
Connie and Gūnter were trying to take a selfie, but they didn’t seem to mind when we photo bombed it.
The fireworks were shot off a barge in the middle of the Willamette River, and it was a great show.
The next day we rode on the Springwater Corridor out to Gresham.
Kristina likes being the stoker so she has her hands free for taking photos.
Gūnter would ride fast to get ahead of us, then stop and take photos as we rode by.
We went out for some good meals together. Here Connie and Gūnter are at Tiffin Asha, a delightful south Indian restaurant in Portland.
Gūnter and Kristina both ordered dosas with different fillings.
There had been a fire at Multnomah Falls last July, so we decided to hike on the other side of the Columbia, in the state of Washington at Hamilton Mountain.
We saw waterfalls as we hiked up.
Kristina tried to photo bomb Pete’s selfie, but he nicely welcomed her into it.
Here we had hiked up the steepest part of the trail and were able to enjoy the views of the Columbia Gorge.
It was past the peak of the wildflowers but we did see these lilies.
We had so much fun showing our friends Portland! Here we’re at the Vista House, back on the Oregon side of the Columbia.
We had so much fun showing our friends Portland! Here we’re at the Vista House, back on the Oregon side of the Columbia.
We reached out to Jeronimo, our Argentinian cycling tour guide. He shared his current experience: winter in Bariloche and teaching snow boarding.
On our last day together we rode along the Willamette. Thanks, Connie and Gūnter, for spending a week with us in Portland!
The Springwater Corridor took us over the Sellwood bridge.
We went to PokPok for our final dinner together, and enjoyed spicy and delicious Thai food.
Our friend Peter came up from Albany to visit us in Portland. We had gotten to know Peter in Nicaragua when we volunteered on the GRID solar project. He invited his friend Judy to join us for kayaking on the Willamette River.
Whose ready to go paddling? We are!
We paddled around Ross Island where we saw several bald eagles and ospreys.
It was warm but not hot, and we loved being on the river.
Peter has a solar company and he has traveled all over the world installing energy efficient lighting systems. One of his favorite places he visited was Georgia 18 years ago. He had heard that a Georgian restaurant named Kargi Gogo had just opened, so he insisted we go. These are the delicious mushroom dumplings we shared.
The eggplant salad, badrijani, was our favorite dish. Stuffed with walnut spread and topped with pomegranate seeds, the eggplant was really tasty.
Lance and Laura are our friends from the Bay Area. They relocated to Portland two years ago and we've visited them twice before in Portland. They are the perfect couple to recommend restaurants and enjoy meals with in Portland because they are foodies. Here we are at Bistrot Agnes, about to enjoy some oysters and good conversation.
This local fruit salad was so seasonal and fresh.
We all agreed the house smoked cod on flatbread was outstanding.
They suggested we eat at Trifecta, the third eatery of Silicon Valley ex-pat Ken Forkish who quit the corporate world to become "the real boulanger in America". Pete looks a bit left out...
But not for long, group hug in front of the bakery part of Trifecta!
Forkish apprenticed in France to learn bread and pastry making. We ordered the bread plate and especially loved the walnut levain and the butter.
We had seen the wood fired ovens, so we were eager to try some of Trifecta's other dishes.
The tomato salad is covering grilled watermelon, an amazing combination.
Since it was a warm day we chose deviled eggs. The basil-topped eggs with tomato jam were a perfect combination of savory, rich and sweet.
The grilled shrimp were topped with romesco sauce and accompanied by pickled or charred vegetables.
We also had dinner at Jacqueline, starting with a beet and apricot salad.
The hamachi crudo was cool and fresh, perfect for a hot summer day.
We all love Thai food so we went for dinner at PaaDee and had authentic and delicious Issaan cuisine from northern Thailand.
Kristina was happy with her coconut pineapple fizz mocktail.
And after dinner the four of us went back to our Airbnb house to share a Musang King durian and some mangosteens. It was the first time Lance and Laura had tried durian fresh from the husk and they loved it.
And the four of us went to a Portland protest after the Trump-Putin summit.
The two of us spent our days riding on the lovely scenic roads around Portland. Here we are on Lolo Pass road with Mt Hood in the background.
This was about as close as we got to Mt Hood.
Afterwards we went for a late lunch at Hat Yai. We shared a summer salad.
Their vegan curry with pickles and roti was rich with plenty of heat.
We rode on the Banks Vernonia rails to trails path. Pete is on the replaced trestle, a beautifully curved and long bridge.
We visited Adam and Tessa and their sons Drew and Cameron. We had met them in Peru last September. Since then they have settled in Lake Oswego and here Tessa looks like she's rolling well in her new digs.
This photo shows the park-like setting of their new home that has plenty of room for guests to stay with them.
They bought a couple of stand up paddle boards and they have been enjoying Lake O.
As we walked with Adam and Tessa into town to go to dinner, we saw this cool manhole cover.
Laura has been riding her bike to yoga class and around Portland, so she was interested in riding with us on the Banks Vernonia trail.
This photo shows the lovely, shaded path and it was a pleasure to roll along on it.
Pete is pointing to the Oregon Scenic Bikeway sign.
Kristina liked the caution sign with its skidding bike warning.
And Kristina's Mom sent her a photo of a sign with a great message she had seen in Laguna Beach.
It has been a wonderful three weeks in Portland.
Next we’re heading to the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia for a cycling tour.
