To the other side of the mountains

Stanford's tower

I love the gold mosaics. The designer was inspired by the mosaics in Ravenna Italy (on my bucket list)

Love the sandstone carvings

Not only does the art museum feature Rodins, there's patches of them on campus too

This horse is made of metal, not driftwood as it would appear. Looks like something from ArtPrize 2012

These are plates

pretty flowers all around in downtown Mountain View

Skyline Drive  On one side, the foggy side, the Pacific. The other side the Bay

narrow path.my brother and Steve up ahead

local dangers for our hike

Stanford church. It is spectacular inside too but it was closed 

Steve and a Rodin

Gates of Hell

On a Mountain View storefront

Thus spoke the Raven

My SIL and I

largest weed..the eucalyptus

Yesterday we went over the Santa Cruz Mountains for my SIL's class in Redwood City. The climate is much different there..sunnier, warmer but they did have a frost that killed lots of plants a few months ago. The plants look more like those in Southern California. According to her gardening class, it is considered spring here with fruit and nut trees flowering. Lots of cherry trees though some could be almonds.

Most of California is suffering under an extreme drought. The whole country will feel its pain with increased food prices. No grassfed cattle. Unemployed farm workers. On the peninsula that we have been staying on, particularly on my brother's side, the drought is not so obvious. The coastal fog covers up a lot of the damage. Things are still green.

While she was in her class, we walked around Stanford's campus in nearby Palo Alto. It was parents' weekend with lots of redshirted people of a certain age wearing red ribboned name tags with their heads buried in maps. The campus is stunningly beautiful, particularly the gem...their church. We went back to the Art Museum where I had been ambushed by my family last April.

After we picked up my brother's wife, on to Mountain View full of restaurants for the high paid tech workers all around. A pretty place with lots of flowers and cute restaurants. We ate in a patio of an innovative Mexican place. Then gelati at another.

Up the mountains to Skyline Drive which is on top of the ridge. Pretty views on both sides. We took a hike where we had great view. Then we descended to the other side through Redwood forests back to the sea coast. A fun day.