The title is maybe a little misleading. When you look at the population (~117,000 in 2021) it sounds big but there are some parts that don’t feel like it at all.
I work at UC Berkeley and parking around campus is painful. The days I do take the car to work (because I need to pick up my son from school or aftercare right after work or because I have a doctor’s appointment or need to do grocery shopping or…) I park in a free parking zone where I can leave the car for the day. That leaves me with a 30 minute walk each way if I don’t want to take the bus what is totally fine with me. I always try to exercise more but most days lately seem not to have enough hours to make it to the gym or to go for a run. This is my little trick to get at least some more steps in. On days when I have some extra minutes, I may take a little detour and explore. Berkeley has some really nice areas especially up in the hills. Leading up to our house getting painted I was wandering around taking pictures of houses I liked, and I still do that sometimes always having the next house project in mind. Berkeley’s hillside is dotted with secret staircases that still surprise me. Just google it and you will see.
Yesterday was a beautiful morning and I decided to visit one of the rock parks to enjoy the view for a moment. I meant to walk to Grotto Rock Park but ended up at Cragmont Rock Park instead. They looked close enough on the map and I guess I did not really pay to close attention. I am so glad I didn’t though. Cragmont is a little higher up, so the way ended up longer than anticipated. It was a new to me park and the views were amazing. The pictures don’t really do them justice but maybe you get the idea? It was such a clear morning. During the day the view hazes over and in the evening we sometimes get the fog so this was perfect. We had the first real rain of the season on Tuesday and Wednesday (hopefully many more to come, we need it) and that means clear skies on the following days. I said for a long time California does not have a real fall, but that is not true. It’s just different. We even turned the heat on the other day and the evening light in the fall is just magic. Do you like fall or do you prefer another season?
I ended up getting to work later than planned but it was so worth it.
Home here and there 