Lake Arrowhead

 

Photo credit: Mark Whitfield

Washington DC

I'm in Washington for a few days for the starting meeting of a new committee to which I've been appointed.  It's a challenging assignment.  In brief: how do environmental chemicals interact with the human microbiome to influence health?  This work is sponsored by the USEPA and National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.  It's being conducted under the auspices of the National Academies.  Their building is just north of the Capital Mall.  On Saturday, I had some walking time in the afternoon and strolled along a large portion of the Mall.  The new museum of African American History and Culture had just opened and there was a large crowd to visit.

 

Cycling to Sacramento

We rode to Sacramento yesterday.  Departure from home at 9:40 AM (later than intended).  BART to Pittsburg/Bay Point.  Ride east to Antioch and cross the bridge over the delta on CA 160.  Meander mostly following the Sacramento River.  Final ten miles mainly on city streets.  Arrive at our hotel (Embassy Suites adjacent to Old Sacramento) at 5:45 PM.  Total distance (including a few wrong turns): 72.3 miles.  Seat time of 5:43.

Not shown in the photos are the long stretches of riding under challenging conditions: shoulder almost unrideable; shoulder nonexistent; and when we found blissfully quiet roads, they had bad surfaces.  Some of the scenery was quite pleasant.  (I especially liked the bridges.)  Weather was excellent.

We had a nice evening in Old Sacramento.  We decided to take the train back.  (Great to have that option!)  We spent Monday morning walking to the Capital and along the Sacramento River waterfront before checking out in time to catch a noon Amtrak train back to Emeryville for the 4-mile ride back home.

Delta de Anza trail heads east from Pittsburg BART station

Antioch bridge was intimidating (steep look and loud traffic)

Three Mile Slough Bridge — no shoulder, so we walked

Blissfully quiet W Twitchell Island Road

Bucolic vegetation along the Delta waterways

At Locke, remnants of the century-old Chinese immigrant town.

Paintersville Bridge crossing the Sacramento River

No traffic on Rd 145 along Elk Slough (but bad road surface).

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Freeport Bridge, our last crossing.

Tower Bridge, Old Sacramento

Capitol Dome, Sacramento

Golden Spike Trail

We discovered an almost new hike today, in Redwood Regional Park.  Amazingly, the trailhead is only 4 miles from our house — literally a 10 minute drive.  We had been on a part of this trail once before with Daniela.  This time, we did a bigger loop, starting on Golden Spike Trail, then Toyon, then West Ridge, and finally Dunn.  Altogether, it was about a 6.5 mile hike and took just a bit over two hours.  The weather was pleasantly cool (surprising for early September).  Very nice!

Applesauce!

We have a bumper crop of apples this year.  Maybe it is because of one year's decent rain after several years of drought.  Ingrid can't bear to see any of the apples go to waste.  So now, several times per week, she makes a batch of applesauce.  Sometimes I help, or maybe Daniela does if she happens to visit.

The whole process takes about 90 minutes, half active and half cooking.  Chop, peel, and slice.  Put the apples into a pot with a bit of sugar, cinnamon, and water.  Simmer on low heat.  Delicious!

Bicycling to Point Reyes Station

We took two days off for an out-and-back ride to Point Reyes Station, about 45 miles each way.  The route took us through urban San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, along side streets in neighborhoods of small towns in Marin, and finally through the more remote rural landscape of west Marin county.

Starting the ride along the Embarcadero

GG Bridge beyond Fort Mason

Warming Hut at Crissy Field

Alcatraz!

Through Marin wetlands N of Sausalito

10,000 Buddhas, rural Marin County style.

Living room at the Pt Reyes Station Inn

We rode back through SP Taylor Park

No salmon over 20 tons allowed on this bridge!

Historic park in Corte Madera

Always scenic!

Looks like we're alone, right? … guess again.