Hi Hello, Haile!

Thursday afternoon Laura Haile arrived in San Rafael.  Still in a night shift stupor, I drove to pick her up from a conveniently close airport shuttle stop, then we went to breakfast/lunch at Theresa and Johnny's.

Later in the afternoon we went shopping at some of San Rafael's thrift shops and spent money on other people's unwanted clothes. In the evening we went to San Francisco, more specifically the California Academy of Sciences for their Nightlife.  Every Thursday they have cocktails and exhibits until 10pm. Most evenings also include a themed dance party, sometimes swing, blues, jazz, or for our visit, a local DJ.

We grabbed a drink and walked around the huge aquarium, first. 

I really like aquariums.

And this one was really great.

 The feature in the Planetarium for the evening was about Earth's adventures and history exploring space.  Very interesting.

When we exited the theater it seemed like there were way more people at the museum than earlier.

We made our way to the dance floor where they were having a "silent dance party".

They gave everyone that entered the dance floor headphones which played the DJ's music.  This decreased sound pollution, but still allowed people to dance and have a good time.

It was so bizarre to see all of these people dancing to no music, then you put your headphones on, and it made total sense.

 We made our way through the dance floor and left to explore more exhibits.

We left the museum and the scientific dance party, got some frozen yogurt, then came back to my apt and crashed.

Friday am we got up and left San Rafael early for a special wine tour with the winemaker at Iron Horse Vineyards.

It was a beautiful day today, we couldn't have asked for nicer weather.  It was only four of us that went on the tour; me, Laura, and a retired couple from Ohio (small world). The wine maker drove us around the vineyard in his truck and told us as much as he could in, laymen's terms, the basics of grape growing and wine making.

Wine making is fascinating.  And wine tasting is delicious.

The winemaker was really interesting and let us do and see all kinds of things.  The couple that was also in the group was really friendly and asked great questions that Laura and I never would have thought to ask.

After three hours we had to stop, for two reasons; one, we were hungry. Two, a few more samples and we would have been feeling a little silly..

We stopped for lunch at a local place, then ventured north again to Lynmar Estate Winery. 

This place is just gorgeous. 

We moved on again, this time driving due West, to the coast. 

We found Bodega Bay, but most of the shops were closed.  The beach was lovely, but with gale force winds blasting sand in our faces, we couldn't do much exploring.

Next we went South down the Pacific Coast Highway.  While in Southern California much of this roadway is directly on the coast, it's more inland up here for a bit. For about an hour, Highway 1 wound through farms and state beaches.  

We had beautiful views of sounds and bays, but the ocean was separated from us by hills or trees. Until we reached Stinson Beach.

We watched the sunset for a short time because the freezing cold wind pushed us back in to my car.  But what we did see was beautiful.

There are tons of these bushes on the beach full of these purple flowers, so I took a few for my table..

Back in the car, we took the windy and narrow PCH inland, go on the freeway, and arrived at my apt for the evening.  Tired from a day of wine, driving, and beautiful views, we ordered pizza, watched a movie, and crashed.

spring sunshine

It's good luck to start a blog post with a picture of a black cat.

Thursday and Friday we took advantage of the sunshine and tried to stay outside as long as we could.

After running some errands Thursday morning, we went into the city to hang out with our friend Aaron.  We met at his apartment and rode the MUNI to the East Bay.

At first we were laughing and enjoying the ride and our personal space, but we accrued more people as we went through each stop, and ended up loosing sight of Ashley through people's armpits and backpacks.

We got off and walked around for a little, then hopped on another form of public transit full of people.

We wandered around with no set plans, just enjoying the area and the chilly blue sky.

Aaron pointed out that we were close to Coit Tower, which is an observation tower on a hill in the city. We decided to go check it out.  Someone suggested we take these stairs that wound around houses and apartments on the hill to get to the tower.  It was faster than walking on the sidewalks, they assured us.

 There were so many stairs we couldn't even count. Every time we thought we were close, the walkway would turn and we'd see 5 more steep flights of stairs.

We made it, and the view just from the base of the tower was beautiful.

But we knew we had to go to the top.

$7 and a wait in line for a rickety elevator led to a great view..

East Bay, Bay Bridge, Oakland

West side, Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge

S'my penny^^

isherman's Wharf, San Francisco Marina Park, Alcatraz

After taking in the view, we walked down more steps, a crazy steep hill, and into Little Italy.

We got dinner and drinks at The Stinking Rose, a place known for it's tastefully excessive use of garlic.

After a great meal we got back on the MUNI for almost an hour and rode toward Aaron's apt.  Ashley and I got off early for a round of drinks at a local bar, then left the city for the night.

Friday we went for a little hike around the Golden Gate.

I don't know what this place is, but it was cool.

We were watching the Easter episode of Unwrapped the other day when they mentioned a great place for Easter petit fours, Divine Delights. They described the process of making and hand decorating these tastey treats, then mentioned at the end that it was based in Northern California.  We googled the company only to find it is based right off of the 101 in Petaluma, which we pass every time we drive to work. 

Needless to say we placed an order and picked up the Easter set for our dinner tomorrow.  We may have also gotten a little foretaste for night shift last night... 

Tomorrow will be yet another holiday spent away from home.  Today I realized that this year I have missed every major holiday; Thanksgiving, Christmas, now Easter.  Luckily I had the New Year with my fam. I will miss most of our Spring birthdays, but have plans to celebrate my sister Erin's in DC in May. Then after this assignment in June I will go home for a big party to honor my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.  I'll stay through July 4th for a family vacation, and then after that my future is yet again unknown. 

Although I'll be missing out on another family gathering and feast, I am glad to celebrate Easter.  It's the basis of my faith and my salvation. No matter where I've gone or will go, whether alone, with family or friends, my faith is always there. God is always with me. That's the one thing that does not change based on location, situation, or feelings. That's what keeps me from panicking when I think about the fact that I don't know where I'll be next. That's what keeps me from feeling lonely when I am alone. Easter honors what Christ did to secure my eternal future, and gives me no fear of death. That is a cause for celebration!

Happy Easter!!