When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the bay I want to be there in my city, Ooh, Ooh (Journey)

The stage is set

Wie geht's?

And so to the wedding of 2007 - Jesse Rowbotham and Samantha Purdy in Marin County at Jesse's mum's stunning place with views of Mount Tamalpais and the bay.

Americans have some different traditions when it comes to weddings, such as a pre Wedding get together called a Rehearsal Dinner. Of course, I thought this meant a rehearsal of the wedding - who stands/sits where, who says what and so on. Nope.

Instead, both sides of the family mix and mingle over drinks and a meal in a semi-formal fashion. An ice-breaker, really.

Then it was the wedding in the beautiful Californian sunshine at Cathy and Dan Kennedy's house. First - pre-wedding drinks by the pool.

And, finally, on to the post wedding photos.

Next post - post wedding knees up and wash up of the SF trip.

Love and peace - Wozza

Okay, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here (Meatloaf)

San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Coast Highway

Wie geht's?

Yes, after the previous posts look at my reading pile, this one's a continued look at the 2007 San Francisco trip.

While there we stayed with Mike and Karin at their home on the Pacific Coast Highway and a beautiful art deco motel around the corner.

Mike's place

view right 

view left

Today's focus is on the bike ride Mike and I took up Mount Tamalpais, lunch with Karin and her dad, our neighbourhood diner, a visit to watch the Giants, and the arrival of some whanau for Fanfa's wedding.

First up: Mike Rowbotham and I went on a mountain bike trek up Mount Tamalpais, enjoyed the views and a band playing in the top hut, along with the best homemade lemonade EVER!

Mike, Jesse's dad, leads the way

SF in the distance to the right - next photos zoom in

The city by the bay

Great sounds and the lemonade was through the doorway

Food is always a requirement (no pictures of food though please). In SF that means outdoor food trucks and sublime diners:

Jacky and Karin (sadly Karin and Mike have since split)

Our neighbourhood diner

Jesse took us to a Giants game: 

Stop offs at Amoeba Records were mandatory

and then the whanau arrived...

To be continued!

Love and peace - Wozza

Hey hey, a sting in the tail (Scorpions)

 

Wie geht's?

This is my current 'to-be-read' pile (although to be accurate you can lop off the top three as they've joined the 'read' pile now).

It's the term 3 break so Lee Child has leap frogged to the head of the queue. No Middle Name is a set of Jack Reacher short stories.

After that I'll try something more challenging (Edmund Gosse's Father and Son) before heading back into Anne Tyler territory. She's great - easy to read, worthwhile, well-drawn characters, warmth and well written - a winning combination in Wozza's world.

Love and peace - W

If you're going to San Francisco you're gonna meet some gentle people there (Scott McKenzie)

Jade and Jacky looking towards SF from Alcatraz.

Wie Geht's?

While waiting for whanau to arrive, Alcratraz and Exploratorium were a couple of highlights on that trip to San Francisco for Fanfa's wedding.

Jesse and Samantha showed Jade, Jacky and me around the Exploratorium and then Jade came with us to Alcatraz. What an unforgettable experience that was. 

Love and peace - Wozza