Berkeley Days

We still had two days of riding before reaching San Francisco. Actually, we planned to stop just short of the Golden Gate Bridge to spend several days with old friends from Atlanta, Keith and Marcia Kreycik in Berkeley, CA.

For Jay, the first day of riding from Gualala to Bodega Bay on CA-1 was much like any other day over rolling terrain with some challenging hills requiring 3,200 feet of climbing. During the ride, Jay stopped at the Fort Ross Visitor Center.  Who knew that Fort Ross was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841?  We need to get out more!

Long Distance Cyclists

Jay has encountered many long-distance, self-contained cyclists, typically young and full of adventure. Today, he met a fellow senior citizen. Steve, 69, is a self-contained rider traveling from Vancouver, WA to San Francisco. Steve's support on his trek was an electric assist bike. His two batteries give him enough “juice” for a 50-mile ride. He charges them each night and begins anew the next day.  Jay shared his "support" was Helen driving the Prius with our gear.

Jay Goes Missing

Helen, who typically sees Jay at the start and end of each day, tracks his progress on an app called Life360. If Jay's icon on the Life360 app keeps moving, he's okay and she's not worried. Today, Jay's icon stopped moving. Cell coverage was quite spotty so there was no quick way to get an update. Helen, who had already reached the end point of the day's ride in Bodega Bay, turned around and began driving down CA-1 looking for Jay. 

On the way, she saw a cyclist coming from the other direction, slowed way down and yelled, “Have you seen a rider in a yellow jacket?” The rider, to Helen's great surprise, responded, “Jay?” It was Steve on his electric assist bike who then surprised Helen again and asked, "Helen?"  He assured her that Jay was okay and resting in Jenner 10-miles down the road. In Jenner, we checked in. Jay then continued riding to Bodega Bay where Helen had booked a hotel with a grassy yard where we lounged in Adirondack chairs looking out over the bay.

The ride from Bodega Bay to Berkely was the last day of Northern California hay and cattle country. After descending a huge hill, farmland changed to coffee shops. Rough country roads changed to well-planned urban bike lands that Jay followed to Imagination Park in San Anselmo. There, Helen sat waiting for Jay in the company of statues of Indiana Jones and Yoda. It is said both characters were conceived in this city. We mounted the bike to the car and drove 40 minutes to the Kreycik’s house, where we spent several days resting, visiting and touring the Berkeley area.

Sailing San Francisco Bay

On our first day with Keith and Marcia we switched our mode of transportation from cycling to sailing. The Kreyciks own a 36-foot monohull sailing boat called Luna in which we spent three hours bounding about in San Francisco Bay. Hardy gusts of wind frequently heeled the boat over to unfamiliar angles and, quite frankly, a bit nerve racking for us landlubbers. Keith, at the helm, was undaunted as we passed under the Bay Bridge to loop around Treasure Island, always within sight of Alcatraz.

The Kreyciks are excellent sailors. Marcia took the helm when we entered the marina. When the sails were lowered, Marcia nursed the electric motor with skillful care and guided the boat perfectly into the marina slip. Once in the slip, she brought the boat to a dead stop as Keith tied up the boat. It was quite a sight to see.

Life in Berkeley

We know Keith and Marcia from our days in suburban Atlanta; they are now Berkeley urbanites. They share their time between living on their boat in the marina and upstairs in the house where their daughter-in-law and grandchildren live. We spent our time with them in that house.

Berkeley has its own eccentric charm. The house we stayed in was first built in 1895, but repeated

renovations have transformed the dwelling to modern standards. An artist has occupied another nearby home for 45 years and has transformed the backyard into a tropical wonderland of trees and plants sharing space with a coy pond, her many sculptures and, of course, a liberal collection of old bowling balls. We're in Berkeley, we are going with the flow. It is hard to fully explain, but it all works to form a quite serene experience in a bustling city.

Even the nearby grocery store, known as The Berkeley Bowl, has its own unique, quirky identity as a former bowling alley turned into a full-service grocery store. There is ample car parking, but in Berkeley there is also room for bicycles converted into cargo carriers.

The most emblematic example of Berkeley's continuous recycling of old to new is Urban Ore.  Urban Ore collects and resells all sorts of urban detritus from clothes, artwork, doors, windows, vacuum cleaners, CDs, bathtubs, and, of course, toilets. Its motto "to end the age of waste" says it all. 

Other trips included a visit to a house on Matthew Street built in the shape of a fish. Helen also got into the Berkeley flow when she joined Keith on a tandem bicycle and Marcia rode another bike to Cesar Chavez Park, the marina, and Fourth Street market, where they looked at some tiny houses on display. 

Golden Gate Bridge

We left Berkeley Sunday morning and resumed our travels south. Jay cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge and continued a 50-mile ride to Half Moon Bay. Before departing Berkeley, Helen searched for Unitarian Universalist churches on our route, hoping someone would offer home hospitality to fellow UUs. Dianne in Half Moon Bay responded quickly and added that she would be attending the theater around our arrival time but said she would leave the key under the front door mat.

We are fortunate that in a denomination as small as Unitarian Universalism, there is a sense of common affection that allows strangers to become instant friends. Diane's daughter in Miami was not keen regarding her mom's decision to welcome strangers into her home. Her mom sent our picture taken at the dinner table with the added comment, "All is well, but you need to send a million dollars in gift cards." Ha! Her daughter's response was, "They look okay." The gift card thing was a long shot.

Marcia in front of the fruit section at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket.

                                           The outside of Urban Ore. It's a huge place!

                         There is an outside section where there are loads of items that don't mind getting wet.

The outside of the Fish House, or Eye of the Sun. Not visible in this photo are some fins on the back side.

In tiny Imagination Park in San Anselmo, there are statues of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Yoda from Star Wars. San Anselmo claims to be the home of the originators of these two characters.

              

The artist around the corner from Keith and Marcia collected over 200 bowling balls from defunct bowling alleys over a number of years. Many were cracked, but they definitely lent charm to her eclectic collection of ceramic, stone and other materials for outside artwork.

There were strings of ceramic beads hanging from a number of trees.

No mold here . . . these are ceramic decorations.

Plants, found objects and carved art fill every nook and cranny!