Saturday 28 April - A walk in Point Pinole

Started the day with some delicious, home-made-from-scratch pancakes, courtesy of Mike. Had them with some butter, maple syrup & more delicious California strawberries.


Lounged about for a bit, snacking on some Trader Joe's air popped popcorn and then had a small salad of broccoli slaw with tomato, soy sauce & rice vinegar before heading off for a nice long walk in Point Pinole.


Mount Tamalpais from Point Pinole




Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park in Richmond, CA. It is the site of many defunct dynamite & explosives factories, the remains of which are still dotted about in the forest. It was great strolling along the shore line with the dogs and L&M. Saw some nice sea birds and plenty of wildflowers - there is also a nice view of Mount Tamalpais, the name of which always puts me in mind of the song "Tamalpais High (At About 3)" by David Crosby. Clocked up about 4 miles, according to the pedometer, so a reasonable walk.

Had a little look around Parchester Village on the way back, a planned community that never really took off when locals found out if was planned to be racially mixed. It ended up as a more or less all black gated community, although from what I have read recently, it now also has a fair sized Latino community.

Anyway, had to get home and neighbours Henny & Priscilla were coming over for dinner. We had a delicious spread. Made some guacamole for a starter (one without garlic for Lyn, who suffers from IBS) and Henny & Priscilla brought some delicious marinated olives and cheeses. We noshed through these with some yummy soy & linseed tortilla chips (also from Trader Joe's) before settling into the main course, cooked my Mike with me acting as sous chef and salad maker. Lyn & I picked up some sea bass and prawns in the market and Mike quick sauteed them with mushroom, white wine, butter and herbs. The fish was accompanied by some brown rice and a massive salad, along with a selection of breads. Then for afters we had angel food cake with a sauce provided by Henny & Priscilla (strawberry & orange with honey) and some Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream. All washed down with lashings and lashings of wine - far too much! But a lovely evening in great company, anyway.