SMILE! (from yesterday's Fine Arts Street Fair in Danville.) 
See? You just can't make this stuff up!
Yanni and I were able to fit in one last hike before my China trip. I was thrilled to go to Robert Sibley Volcanic Park and also Huckleberry Botanic Park. They sit almost side-by-side in the Berkeley hills and each has its own claim to fame.
Robert Sibely Volcanic Regional Park was home to a big friggin' volcano 10 million years ago. That must have really made the evening news when that thing blew. As we pull into the parking lot, we can hear the din of happy screaming kids from my car . Lots of din, lots of happy screaming kids. We grab our packs and hit the trail.
One small problem: its freezing! Cold fog is blowing in and its nearly raining from the heavy mist. I have no windbreaker since 1) I'm an idiot, and 2) I've been hiking in 100 degree weather for the past several hikes! Yanni says he forgot his as well, but then pulls out an alpine survival jacket. Its 40 degrees out and he tells me, "Don't worry, this baby's rated for ten below! I'll be fine."
We were hoofing it pretty good, when I turn around and see this. Or rather, hear the roar. Their leader, a volunteer geologist, told us we'd best get way ahead of him or we would suffer eardrum damage. (This same guy later told us that he was in a geology club where they sit around and talk about rocks. He tried to explain the local volcanic geology of the park, but my eyes glazed over when he said, "Long ago...")
Sibley is an interesting East Bay park, and has all the usual stuff that I like to see. However, every picture and story concerning this park talks about the mazes or labyrinths that exist there.
There are many stories about the origins of the mazes ranging from aliens to Indians. We stop at a lookout point and begin to feel the mystic cosmos aura seeping up from the center.
Yanni talks me into climbing down the hill to get a closer look. The center of the maze is piled up with various items that hikers have left. We saw Beenie Babies, coins, candles, flowers, notes, and photos in a bottle. Everybody left something. Yanni, swept up in the moment and feeling the power of Moses being channeled through him, reaches into his pack. He tells me that he is going to leave his energy bar and begins to unwrap it. He then eats 4/5th of it and places the rest on the pile. The SF Chronicle wrote a great story about the mazes in Sibley. You can read the article here.
Sibley, like its sister park, Huckleberry, has beautiful wildflowers. My favorite, Chaparral Pea, is here.
I see a Banana Slug, but Yanni says it looks like a male body part that rhymes with weenus.
There always seems to be so much going on in the woods and lots to photo. This peacock feather was in the center of the maze.
Speaking of the maze, I forgot to show you the other big maze. This one is shaped like a heart. OK, here's the kicker, especially if you read the SF Chronicle above: No one knows how or why the mazes were created? Ancient tribal rites? Aliens?
We continue our hike and wander around this cool area. We stop at a good spot for lunch which we think is the site of another volcano. We then drive 1/4 mile to Huckleberry Botanic Preserve for a two-mile hiking loop.
Here's again, lots to see and learn about. I try to explain to Yanni about the mating habits of the Eastern Yak, but he has some "inner glow" from the maze and won't stop chanting. He says he's going to sell everything and move to Tibet, but I doubt he'll get past Mongolia.
Our second hike of the day sadly ends as we work our way back to the trailhead.
At this point, Yanni is still chanting, glowing, pulsing, spinning, and ZAP! He morphs into a Pink-Flowered Currant shown here. I clipped the plant and put him in a vase with water. I named the plant "Yanni" and gave it to his wife. He's actually doing quite well.
OK, another post. This one is on our annual winetasting trip to Keenan Winery with our friends Fee and Chris, who know a lot about winetasting. I would like to point out that this is my 50th post! What better way to celebrate it than to talk about our fun trip to Keenan with our buds!
Fee and Chris are very cool people. In addition to us, they invited Chris's brother Nate and his wife Linda. Nice folks. Fee's son Russell and his pretty fiance' Kelly joined us as well. To accommodate the gang, Chris rented a 9-passenger van. She supplied it with chocolate chip cookies, water (get this: sparkling and fresh) and cherries! Fantastic!
So, we pile into the van and head north, ready to taste the great Robert Keenan wines and sample the wonderful foods at the annual event. Here's our gang.....
Everything about winetasting, and this event in particular, is fun. You head for the winery, get your glass and beat feet for the Chardonnay. After too many tastes, time to try the reds! Tough work trying to decide if you like the Merlot, Cabernet, or Chardonnay better.
We grab a table and sample some of the food as well. Fresh oysters, cheeses, vegies, fruits, lamb, sausages, chicken & beef filled tortillas, and satay skewers. Tough work.
And, at every turn, some woman saying, "Would you like to try the Cabernet?" Umm....well.....ok.
We hang out at the outside tables and enjoy our friends, the view, the wine, the food, and the fact that life is good. You can see Lisa sitting at our table in the center of the photo.
We head upstairs to the "more wine" section and try, uh.... more wine. Seems like it would be rude to not do so.
What a great day. We hang around tasting great wines (one that we kept going back to was $95.00 per bottle Cabernet. We didn't buy it, but we did go back to the "pour person" 4,654,917 times.
Robert Keenan Winery is a nice place to taste, tour, and hang out. Like most wineries, it has a certain smell to it of wine, must, and fermentation. We loved it.
While at the winery, we run into Mellissa's friend Patti "Pop." She is a fun person and here she is pretending to break Mellissa's wine glass. After 6,456 tastes, things like this are uproariously funny. I like Patti Pop and she seems to have the same sense of humor as I. Poor Patti Pop.
After tasting wines all day, this place is very popular! By the way, standing in line, I hear two women talking. One says to the other, "Hey! How come they don't call it 'Judy on the spot' for women?" The other one says, "I don't know, but after we pee, let's reload and head back to the food!" Priceless.
Speaking of food, here's what was really motivating the winetasters:
Unfortunately, our combat battallion begins to take casualties. One poor soldier is shown here, fallen by too much grape.
I'm back in the saddle again. 
Haven't been hiking for a couple of weeks, so it was great to get back on the trail with Yanni. Yanni is funny, has good perspective, and is very smart. The local college gives me three credits for just hanging around him.
Now, we are in Tilden Regional Park on this specific hike. (Photos and description are within.) For our 6.3 miles, we hit Jewell Lake after a mile or two and stop to check out the wildlife. Surprisingly, this little "lake" gets an abundance of various animals, fish, and birds. I have some shots of the egrets and herons in a previous blog on Tilden.
We're cruising along and see these - get this - "Red-Eared Slider Turtles." (Remember them as pets?) They are about 8 - 10 inches across and can live to 30 years in the wild. There's a few sliders on the log in the previous pic.
Kids were playing in the water trying to catch these guys.
Check out the Wood Rose. On all the hikes we've been on, we had not seen one. Very exciting.
And of course the Teasel. Despite the bum rap this plant gets, I think it looks cool and like a pineapple. This one has a flower skirt and reminds me of Hawaii!
We hiked past this cool flower and upon looking at it, immediately stopped talking about Sports, Guns, and Chicks. We loved it's soft pedals and pretty color. It is a Chaparral Pea.
I should point out that this is a very strenuous hike with a 1,000 foot elevation gain. Only the fittest hikers could make it through this difficult trail.
Yanni likes to keep hiking even after we've reached our destination. In this case it's the top of the hill to the Rotary Club's Peace Grove. 
Good views abound, but it was hazy on our day.
Bull Thistles are everywhere and every single one is required to have a bumblebee on it. And every photo of a Bull Thistle must include the bee. It's the law.
We work our way back through the 95 degree heat for our ultimate destination.
Great to be hiking again and to get out among real nature with exotic and rare creatures.
