Saratoga area Visit

Sammy, looking out over the creek at Saratoga Springs

Thurs (Feb 16^th) – We parked at Saratoga Springs Picnic and RV Park for the weekend.  It was quite rainy but nice to be so close to the hills and in such a beautiful setting.  The campground was full, which was quite different than the last time we were here in 2010 – which was even the same time of year!  We were the only ones in the campground that trip.  It seems to me that most people are here for the long-term and working in the area.  Many had quite permanent looking set ups.  The small creek that we remembered running through the property is muddy and more like a raging stream than a small creek, but it was never in danger of flooding while we were here, so that was GOOD!  It was quite loud, however, which definitely affected the comfort zone of the cats. 

Sam, out for a walk with his Dad

Sam went out briefly every day, but Tawny didn’t set foot outside once after the initial jaunt between the truck and trailer when we first arrived. She got spooked earlier that day at Jim & Lisa’s place.  John was trying to back the trailer down the driveway, and I had both cats out for a walk.  The wind picked up and Tawny took off, on one of her “I’m Going to China” bolts.  She just picks a trajectory and heads that way until one of three things happen:  a) she hits a dead end (whereupon she stops); b) someone steps on her leash (whereupon she stops); or c) presumably she ends up in China (which thankfully has never happened).  This time, she ran up against a water reservoir on my family’s property that blocked her path so she sat and waited for someone to find her.  The thing about Tawny is that she is completely camouflaged in 95% of all outdoor environments, so the trick is to look for the 10-foot neon hot pink string that's attached to her leash, and hope that there’s still a cat attached to the leash. After 45 minutes of crawling around on my hands and knees through manzanita bushes, I found the string, and thankfully, Tawny too.  It took some coaxing to get her back to where we could pick her up and carry her, but we did and she was relieved to be in the truck and on our way (ditto for us!).  So when we got to Saratoga Springs, I did NOT let go of her when she leapt out of the truck and headed for China. This time, however, she spotted the trailer and decided she wanted in the trailer more than another China adventure. She didn’t go outside again for four days…

It was raining pretty heavily that Thursday night (Feb 16^th). We got set up and turned on our heaters and candles to warm the place up.  Nora and Dana came to our trailer with snacks, and we had a very nice visit, hanging out with the cats.

Ray and I at Nora's house

Friday (Feb 17^th) it was still raining heavily, so we aborted our planned hike with Nora and Dana, instead opting to just sit in their living room with the fireplace going, and had a lovely visit.  Nora’s son, Ray Monahan – a long time friend (since Kindergarten!) came over for dinner and brought lovely bubbly and roses.  He’s a sweetie and it was nice to see and reconnect with him.

Tawny with the lovely roses Ray gave me

The magnolia trees are in full bloom in Saratoga

Nora & I overlooking San Jose area

The "Birdhouse" tree we found at Montalvo

Saturday (Feb 18^th) we all went for a long hike/walk up to the Montalvo Music and Art Centre above Saratoga Village in the afternoon, then drove to San Jose after dinner for a live theatre production of “Disgusted”, a play about the challenges of being a Muslim-American in today’s post-911 American society. 

Nora and Dana at the entrance to Saratoga Village

Sunday (Feb 19^th) we hiked over to Hakone Gardens, a beautiful Japanese Garden designed by the gardener to the Emperor of Japan, and built in the early 1900’s above the highway that goes out to where we were parked in Saratoga Springs.  Both Saturday and Sunday, the weather held enough for us to get our walks in, but it was very cool and misty-rainy in general.  Nora made a lovely citrus roasted chicken and root vegetables dinner on Sunday that suited the weather perfectly, and capped off a very nice weekend in the Saratoga area.

These look like yellow "ocean spray"; they're in bloom all over Saratoga!

Nora & I at Hakone Gardens

Camelia bushes in full bloom at Hakone Gardens

Nora & Dana

Hunter (aka "BB" for Buddha Belly)

There is a lot of flooding all over California, and it's not just the mudslides forcing road closures that are affecting us... we went 4 days in Saratoga without cell service at our campground, and have not had internet service since then.  Blogging is difficult when there is no internet!  I'm going to publish this as is and add pics later when I find a strong internet connection... the challenges of technology...

On our way to Yosemite area - highway flooded; note the water running off!