From Mission Peak to Shore Line on Divyas birthday

I have no idea why the bee flew over and stung me on my left hand, as I was walking right in the middle of the route. It is not like I got too close to the bushes, or disturbed it's hums. Still hurts, bee!

The next thing to hit us as we continued on the trek was how deserted the trail was. Not a soul in sight or sound. It was as if Abil and myself were the only ones left in the  species.  The uneasiness built on for at least the first thirty minutes.

A little later, a couple jogged down past us, breaking the spell. 

Soon, fog settled in, with a gentle earthy smell that reminded me of the smell of rice water that comes from nicely maintained tourist steam trains. It is interesting how toning down the sights with fog made them more beautiful. 

We had walked up for a bit and were now at the lower edge of the clouds. Sun had also joined us, making for some more spectacle, and out came the phone cameras, something that rarely happens as we try to complete the long walk up.

In a few more minutes, we were over the clouds. 



Abil had always mentioned about the potential for these foggy days when the views get interesting. Today was when I got to witness it first hand.

I had forgotten to wear my trekking shoes, and instead was wearing my normal shoes with poor grip. While gingerly climbing through some rough patches, the back lit grasses hit "breathtaking" for an already visually exciting day. I took out my phone camera yet again and did a quick black and white video of the grasses in front of me, rotating over to the clouds below me on the other side. 

It was already much more than we had bargained for. Just as we reached parking, we see a coyote cross the road. He waited more than enough to let me get close and do some more photography. 




That was today morning. 

Today evening,  Diyva,me and kids drove to Shore Line Park to meet Sheeja and Cyril, as a celebration for Divya's birthday an hour from now in US time. The park had lots to offer with the water on one side, and greenery on the other, birds to add even more color,  the walks, the boats ,and sails for even more fervor.

We got two pedal boats, and pedaled for an hour. While Divya and me were the ones who started the pedaling, it was Kittu who did the finishing. He won the "man of the match" award for his enthusiastic pedaling. An hour of good leg exercise, some fun, some nature, some water, some steer. Easy stuff - except Sheeja slipped and hurt her leg, bleeding a little while exiting their pedal boat.  Cyril arranged bandages from the ticketing office, and all was fine in a while. 

Kittu listening in as Cyril speaks to the emergency nurse on tetanus injection for Sheeja.. 


Next up - dinner from Castro street in Mountain View.  Birthday treat for Divya from Sheeja.  The experience of just walking through a street with a bunch of open restaurants on both sides felt like time travel to Before Corona times.  Outdoor dining of Gyros, Kebabs, Suasages, fries, burgers, etc.  After having our fill, as we bade goodbye at the parking lot, Divya received her birthday gift from Sheeja, and the festivities for the day continued in the form of fireworks as we drove back home fast through the empty highways..


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tracy Hills Xmas 2024

In the middle of the night, heavy rain pouring, a woman walked towards the house. She had draped a cloth over her head . She was holding something with both her hands. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning, and heavy thunder... the temple bells rang wildly..  Divya opened the door and kept the arabian bread pudding that Ramshi had brought into the fridge. How are you going to hang stars in the middle of a hall with a vaulted ceiling? There is no way you are going to reach the roof even if you were a circus athlete who could balance on two ladders. You just tie two twines diagonally from the walls and hang the stars and snowflakes on it. Once done, some things are just so perfect that they fail to impress.  The decor team had started the work at 10:00 AM with the plan that everything would be done by lunch, and we can all come back in the evening.  Against the original plan, we decided to keep the stage to align with the hall design.  The stage back drop work was re...
Read more

Tracy Hills Onam 2024 - Boat story

Image
  Boat story. We had our first meeting at the Star Cross park. Banerji's drive for a grand and impressive backdrop infused the project from that meeting. He had come in with this blue print that he and Chris had drawn out. There was a touch of grandness and an "all in"ness in everything he said I had brought in decor items from the koottu onam group that had happened a few weeks back.  Banerji did not want to use it as is, we tried to see if the happy onam circle can be be formed using the koottu decor but that was not working out and that got dropped. Vipin Vishwanathan was initially not in the decor group. I knew that he was the right person for the job as I had seen the pooja room work that is in progress at the garage.  Vipin Das, a recent thaaram to join tracy hills had ideas about printing the maveli from walmart. Starting with that drawing, we estimated how big the vanji needs to be by looking at the cement squares on the park floor, and decided on two 8 X 12 sheet...
Read more

Dinner delay

 White spots on the dining table. Light through the patterned black doors of the oven. Timer sound. Three plates on the table.  "Kids .. time for dinner.". I call out.  Niya walks up with a beaming smile to the table in her navy blue long sleeves and jeans.  "Where is Kittu?" I ask her.  "I don't know. I thought he was downstairs" "Must be sleeping.. " I said to myself, crossed the wooden flooring on to the white carpeted steps calling .. "Kittoo.. ".  Varied inundations. Multiple calls. From the staircase landing to Niya's room. Look around the room. Back through the landing section.  Then I walk through the master bedroom .. "Kittoo.. ", then to the office room. Monitors, office chair, speakers. Then to Divya's office room.. white table, chair, periodic table, globe.  Hurried steps downstairs. Carpeted landing to wooden flooring to carpeted guest room.  Cozy looking grey sheets. Walk back to kitchen. "Niya, ...
Read more