Montclair Reunion

Wai-Kiu and Hanh are our closest friends from our residency days and have lived in a lovely part (Montclair) of the Oakland Hills since graduation.  We've stayed with them so many times over the years. At first, it was just Kelvin and me driving down from Humboldt (often when flying out of Bay Area airports); however, in the last decade, we've added a dog, and then two kids, which (along with a pandemic!) has made our trips to the Bay Area far more infrequent (I think we last saw them in 2018); however, they still always greet us with open arms and a comfortable guest bed, and we were so thankful to spend a night with them and their two kids (Mason [just shy of twelve], whose birth I attended as a resident, and Sophia, age nine). 

Iver was super enthusiastic about playing board games with the "older" kids, including chess and Monopoly.

They also did "art." Niall was enthralled with their huge library of loft books and toys.

Group lunch

We enjoyed dinner with some of our residency buds, Serena and Sonia (Sonia and her husband Jim had visited us a few weeks ago and live in SF).

The kids were happy to eat ice cream and watch a movie while we adults caught up, one and a half years (and counting) into the pandemic which has worn us doctors all out thoroughly.

Katherine had gotten K these matching shirts for his birthday and, for my day, added mine (in slightly different font and shading but still very cute).

Wai-Kiu and Hanh are Oakland Zoo members and took us along on Saturday during a timed entry.

"Niall the Navigator"

The gondola ride to the "Native California" area was a hit. 

Gray wolves were Niall's favorite

Black Bear

Lovely views over the city

Beloved bison

Grassland beasts

(Iver was thrilled to see an elephant urinate and defecate)

We then headed the five hours home after a lovely time reconnecting with our friends. When I asked the kids what their favorite part of the Thanksgiving week road trip was, they both replied unequivocally, "Playing with Mason and Sophia. When can we go back?!"  

Jelly Belly Factory!

 

On "Black Friday," we made the drive from Sacramento west to the Bay Area to stay with the Lees. Kelvin chose the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield (about halfway) as a destination to take the kids. I'd been to the factory twice during residency but it was pleasant to return.

While the factory was non-operational on Friday with the candy workers having a much-needed holiday, we still did the self-guided tour, where the kids enjoyed viewing jellybean art, playing games, and viewing the production parts (of course, they mostly wanted to eat Jelly Bellies, but eating was not allowed on the tour).

"Whack the bean" or something

"Belly flop" (misshapen jellybean) game

We learned that apparently Jelly Bellies were a favorite snack of not-our-favorite President Ronald Reagan (who apparently really loved the black licorice ones, which are also Kelvin and my favorite flavor in an odd coincidence). We also learned that Cherry is the most popular flavor in the United States.

A president we can more get behind

We came away with a few sample bags of beans and gifts, and not too much of a sugar high (Kelvin had pre-purchased some black jellies at WinCo for adult snacks prior to our road trip).  If you're driving West on the I-80 between Sacramento and San Francisco, stop for a sweet tour and treat! 

Thanksgiving Trail: Mt. Judah Loop

I recently listened to an episode of Glennon Doyle's "We Can Do Hard Things" podcast on the topic of "Happyish" Holidays and it hit home so hard.  Somehow, despite the frustrations and stressors of travel (especially with young kids), traffic, cooking (which I detest), we sometimes get trapped into "holiday traditions" that don't bring us joy or peace.

This year, being out of town on a road trip but still far from family and expecting very few things to be open, we opted to spend Thanksgiving hitting a new trail near Truckee (North Lake Tahoe) with our good residency friend Char, and it was a beautiful, peaceful, full (in the best way) day that, I think, may inspire a Thanksgiving tradition for years to come. 

Due to it being winter and due to weather earlier in the month, we weren't sure how the temperatures and snow cover would shake out, but Char, a seasoned hiker, was watching the temps and trail conditions/reviews, and felt that the 5-mile Mt. Judah Loop near Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest, one of the options I had suggested, was worth a shot!

We picked her up in Auburn (about 40 minutes east of Sac) and drove about another hour to the trailhead. We spotted a beautiful lone coyote on the way.

The trail started on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) near Sugar Bowl Ski Resort and we took the loop trail to the summit of Mt. Judah, which gave us great views over Lake Mary, Donner Lake, and surrounding snow-capped peaks. While it was cold to start, soon we were shedding layers and Iver hiked in basically a t-shirt. On the way up, we had to walk through/on some decently sized snow patches and some ice, but, other than walking at elevation and carrying small beings (Kelvin carrying Niall and me our dog, Pepper), the ascent wasn't technically too difficult.

"Frozen Waterfall" at the start

View of Lake Mary

Everyone loves (to eat) snow!

Iver had, by far, the most energy of any of us!

Pepper (who actually likes snow!) did a little walking but mostly was carried by me

Who looks the most tired?!

We made it to the summit (elevation ~8,200 ft), where we enjoyed lunch overlooking Donner Lake.

We welcomed descending...

... until we came to an extremely steep, snow-covered "backside of the mountain" (icy and dicey!) which we discovered actually was the trail. We basically had to slide down it on our behinds, which was rather exciting and a little bit scary because of our carried charges (this was the only time during the whole day that Iver struggled, as his bum and hands got cold).

However, he bounced back quickly and was back running up and back on the trail in front of us. We got back to our car about four and a half hours after we started hiking.

We ended the day with a lovely and relatively peaceful meal at Char's-- including Instant Pot chicken (slow-cooked while we were hiking, then broiled to perfection) and gravy, roasted veggies, cranberry sauce that Iver and I made and brought, and sparkling beverages. 

tuckered out Pep

On the drive back to our hotel, I asked the boys what they were thankful for. 

Niall's response (in grouchy threenager fashion) was "nothing."
Iver said, "That we didn't die coming down the mountain today." (It's a start).

We did Thanksgiving a bit unconventionally this year, but it was a beautiful, restorative day, which is all that you can ask for for a holiday. We are extremely thankful for our health (& vaccines!), stable jobs and financial privilege, our families (although far away), good friends we've missed, and the beautiful California outdoors that we enjoyed on a much-needed break from the intensity of work.

Our bellies are full, but our cups are even fuller. 

Happy Thanksgiving!