America Trip 2013 Part Six - San Jose

The next part of our trip was spent in San Jose. Following the usual pattern, we played games, laughed, watched funny movies, laughed, ate delicious food, laughed, listened to music, laughed, talked and laughed.

Most mornings, we enjoyed breakfast on the patio with a view of the lemon tree, lavender, and hummingbirds. One morning I saw at least four, and sometimes they hovered over the yard and seemed to be watching me. As one hummingbird flew near the lemon tree, the early morning sun reflected in its iridescent feathers so brightly that it looked like a small flash of red light in the sky. It was truly beautiful.

We learned an outdoor game that was new to us. The name is "kubb" (click the link if you want to read more on Wikipedia). We played several games together throughout the week, at the Haggerty house, and also later at the beach during our Santa Cruz ocean trip.

Enjoying the back yard. You can see lemons on the tree behind the lavender.

Playing kubb together.

The Haggertys' backyard is just big enough for a kubb court.

America Trip 2013 Part Five - Casa de Fruta

After a wonderful family reunion in an amazingly beautiful place, we had to say goodbye to family members and Yosemite Park and traveled to our next destination, San Jose. Much of the trip between the two places crosses land that isn't really very interesting. There are many many miles of farms that grow many many different crops, but when you're traveling at highway speed, the scenery starts to look the same after a couple of hours.

One stop along the highway that WAS fun and nostalgic was the famous (infamous?) Casa de Fruta tourist trap attraction (if you want to know more, click the link to the Wikipedia article). I have many happy memories of stopping there during family vacations in the past when we were traveling between San Jose and Yosemite. We stayed there for a couple of hours, reminisced, ate a snack, and then continued our trip. The last picture was our dinner later when we arrived in San Jose, my favorite hamburgers: In-N-Out Burger.

Two very enthusiastic customers!

Everything at Casa de Fruta is Casa de...something, so the children's train ride becomes "Casa de Choo Choo"

A group picture as the Casa de Choo Choo Casa de Travels down the Casa de Track.

The sign that shows you how to go to Casa de.... somewhere...

Can you find the hummingbird resting in the tree? I had never seen one that wasn't flying.

All I can say is: yum yum yum yum yummy yum yum!

America Trip 2013 Part Four - Oregon

Returning to the start of the trip:
We arrived at PDX and had a short but fun visit with Edmund & Carol. We talked about current life and past teaching together and the students we know. As jet lag started to set in a bit, they graciously dropped us off at our hotel for a nap so we could recharge before the next activity: dinner at the Porter-Aguilar house. Thanks for a "sabroso" Mexican meal, but especially for a relaxing, encouraging time together!

The next day was filled with more good visits and more delicious food! Doran & Vineeta, thanks for the wonderful brunch, Janelle, thanks for the backyard teatime (Scott, sorry we mostly missed you) and Robertson clan, thanks for the great Gustav's get-together!

Activities in Springfield and Eugene included fun & games (as usual!) and even more delicious food. We were able to see all of the siblings in various combinations, locations, and eating arrangements-we had KFC and strawberry shortcake (a very early "Japanese Christmas" dinner) in Springfield and a great side trip to Salem for home-cooked BBQ. Thanks again to everyone for hosting and fitting lots of activities in a tight schedule.

Nozomi, Carol, Edmund

Visit with the Porter-Aguilar family

Family portrait in Salem (and one of the cheesiest smiles I've ever achieved)

Nozomi wore her yukata (summer kimono) one afternoon

The gazebo was used a lot during our visit

Hiking in the nature area behind Jane's house

Japanese crickets

Two nights ago, we heard insects chirping outside our front door. That's nothing new; we often hear cicadas, and sometimes they fly up to our sixth-floor apartment (and last week, a cicada landed on the railing outside my office window-THAT was loud). What WAS new, was being able to actually see the cricket while it was chirping. We saw two sitting on the fluorescent bulb just outside the apartment door, next to the elevator. I thought at first that they would run away if we got close, but I grabbed my phone, started to take a video, and it just kept singing! It was quite amazing to actually be able to see the wings vibrating to make the sound. The lighting is a bit strange (aiming a camera directly at a fluorescent light doesn't usually produce very good effects...), but you can see and hear the cricket.