Christmas Vacation: Colorado and California
We started off the Christmas holiday with a short visit from Dan's Dad and Anita in the bay area. They used to live out here so we stuck pretty close to the Stanford campus for the weekend. Dan took them on a forced walk ALL the way around campus and we watched the Stanford men's basketball team cream Northwestern University. We also visited the new California Academy of Sciences which is amazing! It has a huge planetarium, aquarium, and rainforest dome ... lots of neat exhibits, but a bit pricey.
The "natural" roof of the California Academy of Science's 
After another week of work for Dan we headed out to Colorado for Christmas and a lot of family, friends, and food. All of the neighbors were home for Christmas which meant that the "kids" were still at the "kids" table (you have to realize I am the youngest "kid") and it felt like not a whole lot had changed over the years. Other highlights of the trip included completing a puzzle of the world and taking a trip up to Cripple Creek for poker and a cute melodrama, "Miracle on Bennett Avenue."We headed back to the Bay Area just before New Years and drove straight up to Northern California to visit Dan's mom, brother, and grandparents. Dan's aunt, uncle, and cousins from Idaho were also in town visiting so the days were full of card playing. We also got a special treat from Dan's mom ... homemade pheasant soup (delicious!).
Good Hikes
The weather so far in January has been gorgeous ... sunny and 60-70s. We've been taking advantage of the weather and have gone on a few new hikes in the area. The Coal Mine Ridge trail is just about 10 minutes up Alpine Rd. and winds back into the hills overlooking a valley. Yesterday, Lindsey and I went to check out Edgewood Park which is just up I-280 and although it does sit right next to the highway it is suprisingly secluded and has some great views.
Our Orange Tree!
We are also very proud to report that our little dwarf orange tree actually produced oranges!
Well ... now its time for the SuperBowl ... GO .... who's playing again??Take care everyone!
