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!
Above is our first guest Pomchi, who is the same mix as our own Timber shown below.
Shoulder rides are free!
Other guest dogs this month:
Here’s a picture of the above “guest fluff” after I pulled back the hair from his eyes:
This gallery represents a typical day “at the office” for me is looking at my far wall (which is Zoom background-ready) to see our dogs and the occasional guest dog like neighbor Sashi (white with brown spots) and the Vizsla named Zsofi, who we’ve known for years. Our dogs here include Yorkies Montague and Capulet, Isabella Dachshund named Bella, and PomChi Timber.
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.
John was our housemate in Hayward, but he still takes time off in part because he loves our dogs so much (especially Monte).
Uncle John gives Monte a bath!
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
In the dark and in the light…
Some of our guest dogs and us hanging out:
This is a combination of later December guest dog videos so forgive Shando saying in one of them that it’s not for customers/public viewing. He probably thought I didn’t want to be in the video when I was gardening, but that’s fine.
Just met today, but Chorizo and Zeus are FAST friends! I wonder if it was because they recognized a family resemblance?
One of Shando’s clients gave him these really cute cookies, one of which he took a bite out of….only to find out they are SOAP! Tsk tsk.
Knowing I’m a big sci-fi geek, Shando got me my own baby Yoda!
