This section of the Napa River between downtown Vallejo and Mare Island is a jewel of our town. It was recently named in honor of Barbara Kondyls.
This is a montage of videos from that day. Snowball was nervous in the car, but he just LOVED rolling in the grass. It doesn’t make sense for us to have grass at home, so I am glad he appreciates it!
These photos are just a small sampling of the marina down the hill from us where I row with the Solano Rowing Club on a whaleboat.
This particular Marina in Vallejo has been rated one of the ten best in the United States! The “Lighthouse” building is an event space, but the natural setting and meticulous landscaping help make it a site to behold.
The marina has its own vineyard and there’s a beautiful senior living facility just up the slope, with several businesses and then our neighborhood. The layout is fabulous, with parks all the way along the waterfront and lots of million-dollar views. More galleries are available on GlenCoveVallejo.com. Here are just a few I took on this glorious January date from the pier.
Some people think I’m crazy when I noticed that January is when things “start warming up” for Spring in California. The roses always blossom in January and the days literally start getting longer from the Winter Solstice in late December. I remember feeling this way even as a child when I lived here. I’m so appreciative to live in this amazing climate; one that I very conscientiously picked to move to, and to a city I knew had the diversity and beauty I wanted to boot.
Before we bought in Vallejo, I literally studied meteorological reports and compared them to Hayward where we rented. I did this because we did not want to lose the ideal conditions of cool nights and warm days without experiencing scorching weather for months. We are happy to VISIT the heat and snow as it suits us.
Our drive down to Palm Springs via the scenic route whenever possible (especially during the daytime) with a stop in rural, coastal Santa Barbara County.
My parents lived in the Lompoc area before I was born, and my dad is from Monterey originally, so it’s always particularly nostalgic to stop in Central California, where I still have a ton of relatives on my dad’s side. Pebble Beach has this amazing Monarch Butterfly Grove. We were there when most of them were still asleep, but it was still a nice place to pause on our trip down.
Santa Barbara County is magical. I forgot to take pictures of us having tea with Oprah, Harry and Meghan, but you can imagine they were delighted to receive us again. It was great seeing the kids too.
While I was working Shando took a hike in Palm Springs:
Had dinner with good friends Richard Kraft and James from BC.
I also ran into the identical twin brother of my friend Rob from Princeton, New Jersey (they both live in San Diego now). He happened to be in town at the same time as me. I had never met his brother in person. Unfortunately the picture is out of focus, but what a small world!
Crow on a palm tree in downtown Palm Springs
Took a quick trip to the Glen Cove Waterfront Park near our home in Vallejo with a bright moon. The Yorkies had gone along for a ride with me. You can spot at least one of them in these photos if you look closely.
John and Harvey and I go back decades. They were my upstairs neighbors in Brooklyn at one point and moved back to California after years in New York City within months of me while either of us knowing the other was moving. I have since seen them many times in the Bay Area and in various parts of southern California. Harvey took most of these pictures, so unfortunately we have any with him!
Many people may not know that I have been affected by the risk of fire at least four times in my life. My mother’s home was destroyed by fire in 2016 which prompted her, my brother, and my nephew to move in with us for months. Even more unfortunate, my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was lost just a few months thereafter, and never got back into her house again.
In addition, three times while living on base in New York City’s Governors Island, the apartment across the hall from us on the top floor (the 11th) had a pyromaniac little girl who caused emergency evacuations and running down the stairs (usually at night), only to return back to find holes in our walls from firemen’s axes and the stench of burned drywall. It’s no wonder I’m very on edge about the risk of fire, even with my own daughter during her teenage years between candles and hot combs, with which we had some close calls. There were even a few times where fire extinguishers were needed in my own kitchen when two different friends in different incidents caused fires that could have gone out of control.
I’ve been living in Glen Cove for over a year at this point, but after more than 11 years without this area having adequate fire protection despite literally being in a cove with few arteries of traffic in and out, we had the grand re-opening of Fire Station #26 officially take place on Saturday, November 6, 2021! This was personal to me, particularly given the armageddon-like fire seasons we’ve had of late with surreal orange skies that were well-documented in the region.
Make sure to check out the website of the Glen Cove Community Association, which I’m on the Board of, at this site!
GCCA lobbied hard to make sure we got this re-opened with many others and me speaking at a City Council meeting. Citizens of Vallejo also sent hundreds of emails to the Mayor and City Council, some with a boilerplate hyperlink I developed creating an email with all pertinent addresses and relevant content to let the Council know how welcome this Fire Station would be to re-open in our area. It serves not just Glen Cove, but South Vallejo and other adjoining areas for a faster response time to our underserved but high-risk fire area. This fire station’s presence even alleviates the demand from Benicia’s fire department.
This was our second vacation/road trip since the beginning of the Covid Era. We spent a long weekend in Palm Springs and drove back and forth so we could bring our own kitchen, not have to mask up on a plane, etc.
We did get to see our good friends from the Bay Area Ken, Kevin, and Rich who now live in Palm Springs. Of course, they tried to convince us to move down, but we don’t see that happening. We want to keep visiting often though!
On our way back we stopped for milkshakes in Valencia, a very cute town. However, that was not a good idea for my tummy I soon found out. We made a pit stop in Santa Barbara as we took the scenic route home, but sadly sunset happened so quickly it wasn’t all that scenic for much of it. I still think on a Sunday evening it’s faster to travel that route than being backed up on the 5, but it was a good nine hours.
Hot tub finally hooked up! Most of these are of the side yard, but we also are showing the front porch and the back yard in some of these.
As first-time homeowners, Shando and I are very invested in our community. Having moved during the Covid era and during fire season, we have spent a great deal of time on home improvement, but we have not been able to meet and socialize all that much with our immediate neighbors. Now that many are vaccinated, I’m hoping that will change.
Toward that end, I came across the newsletter of the Glen Cove Community Association, which had some very interesting content. I emailed them about my interest in the organization and they asked me to consider being on the board after I attended a few meetings. I did so and was very pleased with what they are doing to improve the quality of life. There are 3,000 homes in the various developments of this relatively new area of Vallejo, so that constitutes a lot of people with a lot in common.
Little did I know at the time I started attending the meetings, the that previous owner of this same house we bought had been on the same board, so it’s a wonderful tribute that I am resuming her duties. I’m literally filling her seat as one of two representatives of this development.
I’m very happy to start getting involved and the people I have met on the board (as well the neighbors we’ve all met in general) have been so wonderful. The Nextdoor.com website was very helpful in getting to know a bunch of people in advance, especially since we were on lockdown, but many have been very kind to stop by and introduce themselves.