Staying local

Even when we are not sleeping in the van, we are up with the sun. Mario gets the apple juice and all the laundry from the campervan, and we have our morning glass of juice while the rest of the house wakes up around us. We follow Lesley on a morning walk through the neighbourhood to Kennedy's school, then head out to downtown Redwood City for breakfast.

Lesley takes us to Mademoiselle Colette, a French Patisserie that has done remarkably well since the pandemic, even opening up a second storefront recently. And with good reason, the pastries are pure French buttery deliciousness. Oh, and the capuccino is the best coffee I have had all trip, not to mention the fluffy, rich Brioche French Toast, with fruit and whipped cream and REAL maple syrup - I am in heaven with every bite I take. Mario and Lesley both order the Avocado Toast (classic), and are equally happy with their choice. It's good sustenance for the rest of the day's activities, but we make sure to get a couple more pastries to go - just in case.

Lesley takes us on a tour of the downtown, with its quaint village feel, beautiful architecture, palm trees and Christmas decor, and ALL THE RESTAURANTS! Things are starting to regain traction since the pandemic, but so far, only the restaurants have managed to make a serious comeback. This downtown area is in serious lack of shops, boutiques, stores, anything! Even a couple of art galleries could benefit the feel, but Lesley says there are often events held in the square in front of the restored courthouse that draws families in the summer, so steps in the right direction. 

Lesley, our unofficial tour guide of Redwood City

Courthouse square, and Fox Theatre across the street

We head out to Stanford (yes, the University), as it turns out they have a giant Satellite on a hill that is all their own, and there happens to be a hiking trail that winds around the hill, and up to the satellite dish! You didn't think we would take a day off of hiking, did you? 

It's a sweeping 6 km long trail with some good steady climbs, but also amazing views of the surrounding towns, Stanford, Alta Mesa, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and far beyond, all the way to San Francisco!

And of course, there is a SATELLITE. In fact, there are several, including the one big one and several smaller ones, since this is one of the tallest places in the area. They are impressive, and we spot 2 Peregrine falcons perched on the rim of the largest dish, looking out over what is likely all their territory.

Peregrine falcons	The satellite is well-protected
Coyote crossing our path	You can see all the way to San Francisco!

Further along the trail, we spot a coyote poking at holes in the ground. It then saunters across the path right in front of us, into the grasses, and goes about its day. And so do we. Towards the end of the trail, the hills are more and more full of holes, and funny little ground squirrels poke their heads out here and there and everywhere. I would hate to be one of the homeowners with their property backing on the park, with the way these little creatures are destroying the ground with their burrows and tunnels! Forget about ever trying to grow a garden around here!

After the hike, a quick trip to REI, the US equivalent to Mountain Equipment Co-op, and all of their cool outdoorsy clothing and gear. Mario wants to get one of the National Parks check-list t-shirts, since we are starting to accumulate quite the list of parks visited after 3 trips. I get a new belt and hiking socks.

Insert here a relaxing afternoon intermission, with a little laundry, a good amount of snacking on charcuterie and wine, and a whole lot of good conversation. 

After collecting Kennedy from her day at school, we all climb into the car and drive into the hills far above Redwood City. Tonight, we visit Filoli, a large history house/palace/castle(depends who you ask), built as a retirement plan of a gold/spring water baron. The place is gorgeous inside, with its old Georgian-style interiors, so many rooms, halls, and kitchens, are all fully furnished. Even better, and why we are visiting, is that the place gets decorated top to bottom, and inside out, for the holidays, including at least one tree in ever room, thematic music, TV shows playing in the background. And outside, there are so many lights, the gardens could rival the work done at Disney World! Imagine: 360,000 individual lights! I am speechless at the sight of it all, and wander like a child, through the house, through the gardens, through the light tunnel, eyes wide, taking it all in. It takes all of my willpower to not break down and run through the tunnel, giggling all the way. Kennedy does it enough for all of us!

Check out the trees in the Ballroom!	Frosty playing on TV in one of the parlours
Reflections in the Sunken Garden pool	It doesn't get any better than this!
Chinese lanterns float above the rose gardens	Heading through the Walled Garden
Columns of light at the Pool Pavilion	Tunnel of Light - there was even movement and patterns!
Kennedy running through the tunnel	Drawn to the light balls

As promised at Christmas, we make Midnight Pizza. This is a tradition that happened randomly many years ago, after one of our multi-course Feast of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve dinners. As we played Clue late into the night, all of the seafood we had eaten was long gone, and somewhere around midnight, we were hungry again(amazing, I know). I mentioned being able to throw together pizza in about an hour, which elicited positive responses, so I proceeded to make dough, garnish and bake pizzas in between rounds of accusations. By the way, it was Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick, if anyone is still keeping track. And with that, Midnight Pizza became a thing, and I have made good on that promise on each visit to Lesley and James in California. 

I left the dough to rise while we were out gazing at all the twinkling lights, and upon our return to the house, I scrape the dough onto the well-floured counter. Kennedy helps to flatten out the dough into circles, smear tomato sauce all over them, cover them with slices of pepperoni and mountains of cheese. She also massages extra flour into the cheese, just for good measure, and tests the pepperoni several times before sitting down to eat her own little pizza. After that, she fades quickly, but the rest of stay up late, reminiscing, drinking good wine, and attempting to make a dent in all that pizza. There might be leftovers, but no promises. 

Good times.