This has been a really long, and interesting week and a half since I got back from my wwoofing trip. It feels like it has been a whole lot longer. I am going to just run through the days, but this will likely be a very long post. I need to push myself to update this more often, now that I don’t have the routine of the farm to push me to write a daily post.
On the morning Friday July 22, Ellie drove me to Portland, Maine. We had a good drive while listening to Simon and Garfunkel. Once in Portland, we walked down the streets of downtown, poking our heads into the interesting shops there. I was excited to visit these two shops that sold local pottery, but was sadly disappointed. The first shop was all manufactured using slip molds or jiggers, everything was perfectly uniform and identical.
The glazes were still really cool, but overall, the craftsmanship and artistry was missing. The second shop we went to had lots of unique pottery made by local artists, but I was amazed by the prices. I had never seen a store with such high priced pottery. I’m all about the artist and their galleries earning a good income, but these prices made everything prohibitively expensive. Hopefully, someone else is willing to pay those prices and keep this place, and its artists in business.
After walking around downtown for about an hour, we went to the Portland Head Light park where we got lobster rolls at a busy food trucked called “Bite into Maine.” We picnicked near the lighthouse, and then went for a walk around the lighthouse and fully enjoying the beautiful Maine coast. I thought about my Aunt Carol and how it was a shame that I had been here for a month and had not gotten in contact with her for a visit.

Ellie dropped me off at the airport. Funny enough, there were two men who had just been at “Bite into Maine” being dropped off at the same time, and they were also flying to San Francisco, but on a different flight. It’s such a small world. The flight was fine and I arrived early in San Francisco. Because of how early I was, I took the BART home rather than having Joshua pick me up.

Saturday started with a waffle breakfast at Ole’s in Alameda. It felt so good to be home to something so familiar as a waffle breakfast with Joshua. Then I was motivated to do something that I have been talking about doing for over a year, shampooing my carpets. For almost all of Saturday and part of Sunday morning, I washed the carpets in my home! Nathan and Barbara stopped by for a few minutes and we chatted about Defcon and our future plans.

Monday, July 25th was the start of a busy week. I started off my monday morning by driving to Lake Tahoe. Why would I drove to Tahoe on a Monday after a long trip, you may ask. While I was in Vietnam a few years ago, I befriended a Dutch man named Sven while on a cruise in Halong Bay and last year while I was in Europe, we met up in Rotterdam and talked about hiking. He told me all about his dreams to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that runs along the eastern side of California. I told him that I’d be happy to help him out with his trip. So Monday was the day that I picked him up from the 1100 mile point of his journey and transported him to the bay area to prepare for his second leg of his 6 month hiking trip, in Japan. The drive up to Tahoe was beautiful and I enjoyed spending a few hours there. We ended up pulling off the road at some point and walking up a small crest to see the views. Tahoe is so magnificent and I need to remember to go there more often. This Tahoe adventure took almost all day.

Tuesday, July 26th was all about showing Sven the sites. We had an early breakfast and headed out to Muir Woods. Everyone had been telling him that Muir was the most beautiful place in California (and I agree), but with all the beauty he had seen in the high sierra, he needed to see it for himself. I can’t remember ever passing up an opportunity to see Muir Woods, so we drove over at 7am. It was as awe inspiring as it always is. We decided not to hike but rather just to walk the crest trail. By 10am, the tour buses had arrived, and we were on our way out of the park. We then went to Stinson Beach, which was covered in a hazy fog. Sven was amazed since he had never seen a beach covered in fog. We had sandwiches at the cafe near the beach and then moved on to the Golden Gate Bridge. We didn’t bother to walk all the way across the bridge, but got to about half way and decided that we’d seen enough.

Wednesday, July 27th was another day of touristing. It’s always a little amazing to me that people come from all around the world to see the place where I call home. Sven and I went to the Embaradero Ferry Building at around 10am to meet up with a few friends he had met on trail. We went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf to see the sea lions and enjoy being a tourist. We ended up having lunch at Boudin Bakery and Cafe where they serve chowder and sandwiches on their famous sourdough bread. After lunch, we went to Ghirardelli’s Square to have ice cream. We went for a little walk to the 28 bus and road it past the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge over to Golden Gate Park. We walked through the rose garden to the Japanese Tea Garden where we walked along the paths, and had tea. Afterward, we walked through Golden Gate Park to the Haight-Ashbury, and strolled along to see all the silly shops. We then took the 7 bus to downtown and walked around china town. I happened to bump into an old friend from college named Tony while riding the bus, and it was so nice to see him. We had dinner in China town and then walked back to BART.

Thursday, July 28th was calm in comparison. we spent the majority of the day getting errands done and making sure Sven was ready for his last leg of the trip. But the evening was again a trip into San Francisco to attend a Giants game. This was my first ever baseball game. It was more fun and about as interesting as I had expected. The Giants lost to the DC Nationals 4 to 1, making most of the game uneventful, but it was a good time either way. Sven’s friends joined us and explained the rules and traditions throughout the game.

Friday was another slow day. Sven spent most of the day packing boxes to mail to himself and carefully packed his suitcase. We went to the Pacific East Mall where I had red bean boba tea, and bought taro cakes and quail eggs. We had pho together at the Vietnamese place to commemorate the first time we met.

Saturday, July 30th was pretty chill. I drove Sven the SFO International Airport since BART was messed up, and then spent the day in the studio. I made a box with wood texture, and some cups.

Sunday, July 31 was lazy in the morning but then I went to Benicia in the afternoon to visit with my parents. I missed them quite a but, seeing how I hadn’t seen them since May. I had a sushi dinner with my mom, James, and Carolyn (my sister.) Afterward, I went to my dad’s house for a little while to say hello.

On Monday, I had intended to go back into the studio, but I babysat for my friend Sarah while she was at work instead. The kids and I played for a a little while before lunch. After lunch, the kids and I decided to go to The Little Farm in Tidlen Park to feel celery to the animals and get a little exercise. The kids played on the play structure for a little while, after which we went to the Flowerland nursery to buy some new plants. Several of my herbs did not survive my trip to New England so I will have to replace a few of them. We purchased mint, thyme, cilantro, and strawberry’s. Afterward, I took the kids to the El Cerrito recycling center where we looked into the community swap area to get some free books for the kids. Madi found several chapter books that she was interested in. We went back to their house and played until Sarah got home from work. Joshua had an early and quiet night at home afterward.