New Year's Eve

I took the kids to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito to meet Gabby and her daughter Keeva today. It was freezing cold and every other Bay Area parent/child combo was there today for the celebration. The line at the cafe had a 30 minute wait, so we got the kids hot chocolate and Gabby took them while I waited in line for food. Stormy and Keeva look like a pair of Manhattanites on the street with their lattes. 

more about the bike

Joe Bike founder, Joe Doebele set out to make a Bakfiets-style bike made to handle the hills in Portland. Traditional Dutch Bakfiets weigh around a hundred pounds unloaded and are fine for hauling kids, groceries, and the occasional sofa on the pancake-flat roads of the Netherlands. Portland has hills, so Joe hand-made this bike from American Steel. It weighs around 55 pounds with the cabin, has an internal 8 speed Alfine belt-driven hub and burly disc brakes. While I am sure it will easily conquer the Portland hills fully loaded, WE live in Marin County, at the top of a 14% average grade with a 22% switch back just before the end. Add 70-80 pounds of kids and mamma is pretty buffed. I think the e-assist will be added soon. 

finally...

Liz did a ton of research this Spring and we ordered this cargo bike from Joe Bike in Portland. It was supposed to be here in July- but it finally arrived late October and we put the cabin on today for its maiden voyage. The kids will ride in the front an we'll eventually get an electric assist hub to get them up the 22% grade on our hill. So far- worth the wait. 

Hog Island Oyster Company at the Ferry Plaza

I had a late afternoon meeting today in San Francisco at our architect's office. It was beautiful out, so I decided to call it a day and walked over to Hog Island for a late lunch. A pint of Prankster, half a dozen oysters and grilled cheese at the bar looking out over the bay- doesn't get much better than that.

The rain finally ends...

The sun came out today, for the first time in about a hundred years. I texted my friend Erik, (texting is how Dads with kids communicate on the weekends to see what's up, without waking babies)
to see if he wanted to bring his Daughter, Maisie who is six months older than S&R on a hike with us on Pam's Blue Ridge Trail above our house.

As you can see, it was absolutely gorgeous, and all that depression that inevitably creeps in during the Winter months just melted away. We hiked and talked and watched the kids frolic with Lucy, his Lab. Liz shot video and I shot stills. We had a picnic in the meadow. It is days like  today that remind me of how fortunate I am to live where I live despite the high cost of living, declining home values, high property taxes and entitled teenagers driving around in Daddy's Maserati. Despite how much I enjoy places like Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago and NYC- I would never be able to make it through the Winter months.