Biking

Yesterday was exactly our 2nd month of being here in Northern CA and we are loving it. This past weekend's weather must've been the nicest of all weekends that we've been here. It's too bad Angel was in L.A. and couldn't enjoy the weekend with us.

Ed came over with his bike. I dusted off Rafael's rear bike seat after months of just being kept in the garage. We started off riding towards the entrance of the Kennedy Grove Park along Olinda but the entrance is actually closed on weekends. So we headed back and turned right on Castro Ranch heading uphill towards Pinole Valley. It wasn't an easy climb to say the least. Having thick tires didn't help but mostly, it was because we're out of shape. Rafael wasn't too thrilled either. We left just shortly after noon and that is usually his naptime. We stopped at the peak of Castro Ranch just before you head down to Pinole Valley. I knew that if we went down that path that we would need to come back up which we weren't ready for.

The ride back was a lot easier. We were rewarded with a nice downhill path. I could feel the nice cool wind on my face. Rafael must've liked it too as we realized he fell asleep on his seat. Overall, it was a good workout for us and hopefully the start of a few more rides this summer.

Just before we left, I took a few snaps of our future rider




We stopped just before you head down to Pinole Valley. I rode down this path a few weeks ago and the ride back up was not easy. I had to stop a few times.




When we came back home, Rafael woke up and wasn't in a very good mood. When this happens, I usually ask him about his toy trains and his mood just ligthens up. Ninong Edwin asked him to name his toy trains and he gladly obliged.

Diesel engine

Gordon

Henry

The photos were taken with Grandma's $100 Nikon Coolpix using its macro feature. The camera takes very decent photos!

Afterwards, Ed suggested we drive around to explore the area. We drove further South of San Pablo Dam Road towards Orinda. We saw signs pointing to Tilden Park and we curiously took it. We were not disappointed. The narrow road takes you to the park hidden inconspicuously behind old trees. We were surprised to see a good number of cars parked. It's a perfect place to hike, bike or to picnic. Reading more about it now, I'm surprised that Tilden Regional Park is actually a part of Berkeley already.