Redwood City, CA

On Friday, we drove to Palo Alto to attend the Friday evening reunion dinner party, the first of the planned activities for the Sequoia High School 50th Reunion. It has been 10 years since the last reunion and it was so nice to see so many of my old classmates again.

On Saturday morning, a bunch of us took a walking tour of downtown Redwood City (where I was born and raised). As we toured the area, we reminisced about the stores that were there 50 years ago and about some of the more interesting things that we did back then. We paused for a group picture in front of the old county courthouse. After the tour, we visited the Sequoia HS Memorial Gardens where a Sequoia Tree and plaque were planted/placed by my sister and me several years ago to honor our mother (Class of 1937) and grandmother (Class of 1914) - yes, Sequoia HS has been around for a long time! Then we drove around the area, visited our family homes, Susan's high school (Carlmont - one of Sequoia's rivals ;-) ) and paid our respects to Susan's parents. That evening, we attended the formal reunion dinner with over 250 classmates in attendance!


On Sunday morning, we went on a guided tour of the Sequoia High School campus, then wandered around the "Horses to Horsepower" car show held on campus annually (several cars were owned by my classmates). We then went back to my family home (which my parents bought in 1945 and lived in for over 56 years) and found the current owners at home. They graciously invited us in and showed us the nice renovations they have done to the house.

On Monday, we spent the day in Pleasanton, CA with Susan's cousins, Paul & Michael and Paul's wife, Kathy. Paul is into woodcarving and showed us some of his award winning work. Lots of reminiscing and a delicious lunch filled the day.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast Highway. Our first stop was the Pulgas Water Temple that denotes where the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct terminates into the San Francisco water reservoir known as Crystal Springs. Then we visited Half Moon Bay and drove south to Santa Cruz with numerous stops along the way to visit such sites as Pescadero and the Pigeon Point Light Station. What beauty! After a late lunch in Santa Cruz, we headed back to pack for tomorrow's flight home. All good things must come to an end...

Sacramento, CA

You may be wondering how we got to California without any blog entries along the way. Well, we didn't drive the RV. . .we flew out on Tuesday, 9/29. This coming weekend is my high school class' 50th reunion on the San Francisco Peninsula. Before we go there though, we're spending a few days visiting with my sister, Pat, and her partner, Keith, who are both talented artists. We enjoyed seeing their studio in the downtown Sacramento area, consuming good food and all that goes with it. We also had an interesting experience while visiting one of the local stores. While talking with the sales lady, I mentioned the reunion and her eyes lit up. She asked me to wait a minute while she got the store's owner. Come to find out that she was a classmate of mine and was also going to the reunion. Small world indeed! We left Friday to drive to the reunion.