CuriOdyssey

We are well into Month 2, I have been consumed with the seeking of employment. Resumes, interviews, high-heeled shoes, image-making.

But then, last week, a high school friend's husband died, at 45. And Oliver Sachs wrote this beautiful essay to announce his diagnosis with terminal cancer (9 years after "beating" an ocular tumor; utterly frightening).

I'd been thinking about it, but really, today, I'm changing my tune. There is no reason to obsess about job-seeking as it will not hasten its progress or its outcome. It is valid to want to experience life via work and the interactions and effects you can have with and on people there and through the experiences work opens up to you; I don't feel guilty about that. What I do regret is having difficulty filling the available, job-free (and finite) time I do have on earth with other things that qualify as "engaging with life." Yet there are so many ways to engage with it. I hate my own head, I really hate it.

The kids have been my client, and there are every-weekends and days out of school. On those days, it's my agenda, and we have been hustling. Though the routes for getting there are often ugly, long, and strewn with strip malls and gas stations, the destinations are almost always surprisingly lovely, slowly building us some bones for this place. It's not "home," nowhere near that yet (perhaps never will be), but we are learning what we like.

The kids are now enrolled in most excellent classes in Music (Mozart School, Palo Alto) and tap/ballet (Veksler Academy, Mountain View), so we are up and out of the house Saturday mornings, free for the weekend from noon. One of our first finds: CuriOdyssey, in San Mateo.

This is a great name, sounds like a chapter in a Robinson Crusoe tale. It is actually a small science museum and "zoo" on a point jutting out into the Bay with view to the City and covered with eucalyptus trees. There are walking and bicycling trails plus a playground and a marina. I liked it so much, I bought a membership.

CuriOdyssey is a bit like a small Exploratorium on the inside. Hands-on science exhibits are, in fact, very popular here in all kinds of kid-friendly destinations it seems; no need to pay $40 pp to have very similar experiences at various places here in SV. There is a theater where we caught a "birds of prey" show featuring an owl and a turkey vulture, as well as a bee colony and a variety of fun things the kids wanted to try over and over and over like foam objects flying in and out of vacuum tubes (pictured). Outside, there are around a dozen habitats for animals, from sea otters and bobcats to tortoises and golden eagles. Small, clean, contained, but spacious and airy, and right in the middle of the point so that the walking trails are right outside and the water view is about 50 yards away from the parking lot.

Why buy a membership here when many of the local "kid" attractions have the same reciprocal membership benefits? Well, it includes free parking/admission perks at Coyote Point, so if you want to just go to the area to hike, bike, jog or sit on the little sand beach, parking is free for CuriOdyssey members. One thing to note: there are snacks in the gift shop but no cafe. Best bet: bring a picnic.

Coming: Children's Discovery Museum, Carmel, Vasona Park, CalTrain to San Francisco, Hoover Tower at Stanford and "The Little Zoo" of Palo Alto.

2066 Crist Drive

I was searching something else in Los Altos on Google when "Steve Jobs' house" popped up in the suggested search bar. Of course I clicked on it and found that his boyhood home, where he actually founded the first iteration of the Apple Computer company with Steve Wozniak, was up the street from our house. 2066 Crist Drive, Los Altos.

I drove there after dropping the kids off at school, which is about a mile up the road the other way. Here it is:

The remarkable thing about this experience is how unremarkable it was, not that the house itself needs to be important or interesting, but that the street was quiet, no one there but me and a couple of gardeners, and it's right off a main thoroughfare near a shopping complex with a Trader Joe's. The house itself was protected as a "historical resource" by the Historical Society of Los Altos in late 2013 and the only indication that you are in the right place once you get there is that there are small, discreet signs in two or three locations on the property that indicate that your presence is being recorded by surveillance cameras.

Jobs lived there from 7th grade through high school and assembled the first set of Apple 1's there in 1976 -- with Woz. You can't help but wonder what synapses fired in what sequence in his brain as a result of living here, but the connection between Apple and the orchards is, according to Steve himself, not a coincidence.

From Walter Isaacson's biography: "On the naming of Apple, he said he was 'on one of my fruitarian diets.' He said he had just come back from an apple farm, and thought the name sounded “fun, spirited and not intimidating.”

It was the All-One "commune"/farm in Oregon, where Steve had friends and visited on occasion. They grew apples there. To me "Apple" also suggests portability, accessibility, simplicity and color. Branding genius? We'll never know whether it had anything to do with Apple Records (marketers know, brand confusion CAN work in your favor); whatever it was, it works.

Places in the Pale

I went to Deer Hollow Farm. It was a lovely 1-mile walk from the trails entrance by the main parking lot at Rancho San Antonio Park. There were huge pigs, chickens, sheep, bunnies... and openings for docents. I thought about it.

There were also signs on the fences that had pictures of chickens and pigs and said things like "What We Get from Chickens: Feathers, Eggs, Chicken Meat," for kids who visit from area schools. They also grow vegetables and herbs, including eggplant, sage, asparagus.

A few days later I went back and met a friend there for a longer walk, past the wild turkies, the deer, the Bay tree, the farm and up into the hills. Three hours passed like nothing. We walked out of the park into the residential neighborhood behind park boundaries and saw some lovely homes, met some nice people who told us how to get back in. My only wish is that they had a little cafe by the farm, I think it could make a killing. Other than that it is one of my favorite finds here so far, entirely pleasant.

We have had two weekends since then, and though there were frustrating moments of disappointment in the quietness of this area, we did make a few finds, which I will list in efficient fashion:

1. Lulu's. Fresh Mexican on Main Street in Los Altos, open (reasonably) late, with a fantastic menu, a little on the unconventional side. You order at the counter, eat in or take out. Kid-friendly seating. However, a little more pricey than I'm used to paying for Mexican. Still, good, fast, healthy, and open.

2. San Pedro Square Marketplace, downtown San Jose. An indoor eating mall, hip styling, good options, including woodfired pizza (great for kids) and crepes. Also beer, if you're so inclined, and a couple of bars, good for friends. Noisy, but not too big, so not overwhelming. Two "wings" - one with great dessert options, like Treatbot, a karaoke ice cream truck. They have horchata ice cream (!) and a bunch of other delicious-sounding flavors but the kids opted for vanilla. Convenient to get to, and parking garage across the street. It is built next to the oldest building in San Jose, the Peralta Adobe, built in 1797 and named for Luis Maria Peralta, a sergeant in the Spanish Army who lived there with his family when he owned Rancho San Antonio, one of the largest ranchos in the East Bay.

3. Ikea, East Palo Alto. On a weekday, fabulous access to parking where you can wheel your giant cart load out to your car and fiddle around with various configurations for getting your loot to fit in your car all day long if you want to. This is a great improvement over the one in Burbank, where you got a 15-minute "pickup" spot for that and everyone stood around watching and waiting for you to get in and out.

4. Corner Bakery, El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Not that it has the fabulous Pasadena/Lake Ave layout next to Macy's and Trader Joe's with the kid "boat" play sculpture or anything but it still has all Liv and Wyatt's favorite kid-foods and is easy, easy, easy. For a few mins., it felt like we were "home."

5. Hoover Tower, Stanford campus. Free parking in visitor parking area on the weekends, then you can explore the campus to your heart's content. We made an adventure out of spotting and advancing toward the tower, paid our $4 per ticket to ascend, and went up binoculars and all to view the Bay from the observation platform. The kids also enjoyed playing in the shady tree area adjacent to the tower and roaming the halls on campus. There were several open eateries and cafes we will be frequenting in the future, more like a little town than anything else I've discovered with a little bit of bustle and a lot of prettiness.

6. Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose. I am not sure this was fun for ME, but the kids loved it, especially the fire truck and the water-play room. The Pin board was also a hit. We may go back, but not on a holiday. Parking is in an awkward spot across the train tracks and the dining inside is pretty terrible.

7. Carmel Bay: Need I explain? We loved Carmel before, we still do. In winter it is even better as parking is more plentiful and restaurants are a little more layed back. We had brunch at an old-school establishment called Little Swiss Cafe and hung out on the beach for an hour. From there we drove over to Monterey and walked from the Marina to Cannery Row. Plenty of sea anenomes and other creatures. Ice cream in waffle cones at Ghiradhelli made for a nice day about an hour and twenty mins. from home.

8. Hidden Villa, Los Altos. I only list this because it is, indeed, a free and open farm experience kids will probably enjoy (yes, goats, yes, sheep), but I am pretty sure mine will think it's too boring. It is an open space with an organic garden, class spaces, a youth hostel, the original hand-built yellow villa the Duveneck family lived in on the grounds, and yes, farm animals.

9. And finally, the Los Altos Library. I have heard that the libraries here are ALL pretty great (and was urged to check out Portola Valley stat) but I have to say, our own little local library here in Los Altos is pretty fabulous. You can tell there are taxes at work here. The library is split nearly down the middle - with one side devoted entirely to kids. There are computer stations - at least 8 of them - and free-use iPads loaded with educational apps. There are legos, YA fiction, manga, and parenting books. Plus an ongoing book sale to raise more money for the library system and special event book sale at the end of this month -- $5 for a bagfull. And yes, even a cafe.

Impressions

We had our first "normal" Saturday after a break in unpacking period -- it seemed it would never end (and it hasn't, btw). I looked up Things to Do with Kids on this local service called "Google" and took a shot on Shoreline Park, at the end of Shoreline Drive, just past Google HQ, in Mountain View. Lucky break. It was beautiful and amazing: wetlands with a boating/paddling lake and excellent cafe that bakes its own bread and desserts. There are a series of walking/biking trails weaving around the waterways, a "pirate ship" play area, and all kinds of bird life -- pelicans, cranes, egrets, geese. We had a great brunch and took a stroll-hike -- the four-year-old version of a hike, with sound effects.

The Silicon Valley, it turns out, has a feel that is much like living in Connecticut or maybe New Hampshire, with more traffic amid smatterings of tech companies of all shapes and sizes. Since this all started here among the orchards in the 70s, there is this bizarre blend of the old culture, which still dominates, at least aesthetically speaking, and the new -- industry, consumerism, strip malls, Ikea. This may be the closest to being a pilgrim that I will ever feel. At Shoreline Park, the clientele was all kinds of everything -- languages from all over being spoken, puffy coats from around the world, and many people had that "lost" look like they were still trying, like me, to figure out where they are and what this place is all about. They're humans, after all.

There is this narrow swath from Redwood City to San Jose that is developed between the Bay itself and the Santa Cruz mountains, but there is also so much preserved state park land that as you drive the freeways or even just take a right or left turn someplace, suddenly you're in the rolling hills or the wetlands. It makes it feel strange, these opposing worlds and ideals, existing right next to one another. It is interesting to witness an area like this in its in-between stage; you can see that Mountain View is building up -- most similar I suppose to Burbank or Pasadena, but San Jose is the real "city" down here, probably very similar in feel to say, Providence or Portland but without the diversity of the population (no young hipsters. None). And much less respect, at least from the outsiders.

The landscape itself is pretty, agricultural with lots of mountains and hills. I have seen at least 8 deer in the past week. Yesterday I found the Mulholland Drive of the area driving into Los Altos Hills, and the vistas are beautiful, clearly laying out the mix I've described in the landscape. This morning, I dropped the kids off at school and decided to take a walk in the hills of the adjacent Rancho San Antonio Park. In my jeans, I walked about a 3-mile loop, and the trails were lovely, and packed -- more hikers on those trails here on a Wednesday than I think I saw in 15 years on the trails in Malibu or Eaton Canyon in L.A.

Tomorrow, I may decide to wear the right pants and keep going to Deer Hollow Farm, a straight shot, one-mile hike up to a 160-year-old farm that's still there, in the preserved park land. Chickens lay eggs there. There is WiFi.

Santa Cruz

A friend who moves frequently with his family told us that to make our relo easier, we should make a list of the things we'll miss about Los Angeles and then go and find their "replacements" in our new locale.

Santa Cruz is astonishing. Not only does the place itself provide the beach we lost -- the boardwalk of Santa Monica, the cafes of Manhattan, the beauty of La Jolla and perhaps even Malibu in some parts -- the journey to get there is also mysterious and suspenseful, the mountain scenery unfolding before you as you wind down the 17 South from the 280 giving you the sense that the world is much larger than you are or will ever be, and there is deference.

On a whim yesterday morning, we drove the route -- less than an hour from here -- and started our day at the Beach Boardwalk. Rides and food carts don't open until noon, so we had an hour to get our bearings and the kids were thrilled. An empty boardwalk with full view of the kiddie rides, funhouses and series of roller coasters hanging overhead made them start running in circles like excited dogs do for the entire gap of time between our arrival and the opening. We bought a $20 points card -- double points that day -- so 40 points total, and most of the little-kid rides are 3 points per child. Forty points was plenty for a morning on race cars, helicopters, the swing.

From there we drove along the coast over to Natural Bridges beach then up to Delaware Blvd. in search of lunch. We found Kelly's French Bakery at 402 Ingalls, in a shopping complex of converted industrial warehouses that now houses a brewery, wine-tasting rooms, several chic boutiques, and Kellys. Another stroke of luck on a drive-by: kid-friendly and delicious, with a counter full of French pastries, quiches and fresh bread in addition to a full menu, with plenty of seating inside and out, great for noisy four-year-olds.

But the highlight of the day was what we did next: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. It looked fairly close on the map, so I suggested we drive up and see how big the trees were. Santa Cruz, like I said, is astonishing, because just 5 miles from the beach, you're breaking into wilderness. The entrance to the park is next to a 1-mile loop through some of the most incredibly beautiful, majestic scenery my kids have ever seen -- redwoods as tall as 300 feet just steps from the parking lot, at the edge of deep woods, accessible and close to bathrooms and snacks. This would be quite enough but adjacent to the loop, there is a footpath to another attraction we hadn't heard of: Roaring Camp Railroad.

The history behind Roaring Camp is a combination of practical needs for the logging industry in the 1840s and the growth of a tourist population in the area. As logging threatened the redwoods it was recognized by some that people might actually be willing to travel to see them. So, a grove was preserved, miraculously and train service was established between the beach and the trees in 1875. Roaring Camp itself became a place to preserve steam trains from around California and today several are in use and housed at Roaring Camp, with daily service from Santa Cruz Boardwalk to Roaring Camp/Felton to Bear Mountain. It's incredible to me that this exists.

We arrived too late to take the train yesterday but it will be near the top of our list for the future. We did have the opportunity to romp through the expansive grounds, which include a couple of food and souvenir shops, a covered bridge, a duck pond, a covered wagon, kids' play barn and a BBQ pit.

As we drove home, it became clear that proximity to this area is a big reason to consider living in one of the more southerly towns in the South Bay, like Los Gatos or Saratoga. The shape of the geography forces you to choose between proximity to this, or the City. Today, it feels like a close call.

All I Want Pho Christmas

My kids are going to turn into noodles. Another find, courtesy of Uncle Hiten: Phở Wagon (ok, bad name) in Sunnyvale, where they seem to welcome children. They actually offer a children's menu including kids' phở and kids' vermicelli, and they serve Martinelli's apple juice. There's another branch in San Jose.

One thing pilgrim families relocating to the Bay Area need not worry about: food. We aren't really even trying to find kid-friendly eating establishments. They're just there -- and what's great is that it's all kinds of cuisine, from Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean to Italian, Indian and In-and-Out (yes!). Cultivating colorful palates -- not a bad thing. But after eating out at least once a day this week, dinner selections have been tending toward the bland: bagels, Rice Krispies, yogurt smoothies.

We're subconsciously veering away from one food group specifically: Mexican. All I hear is that for SoCal transplants, it's nothing but a letdown up here. If anyone has any tips on this one, soy todo oídos!

Go North

We made it. We moved. We're here in the "San Francisco Bay Area," otherwise known as "the Bay." And presumably, some specific place within it will come to be known to us as "home."

A memorable holiday: we vacated our 1200-sf cottage in Pasadena on Tuesday, Dec. 23, and drove to San Luis Obispo to sleep, then pressed on to arrive midday Christmas Eve at our destination: Sunnyvale. Our beloved little SoCal home of 8 years-plus is to be put up for sale in a week or two. Here, we are in a corporate apartment amid office buildings and strip malls as we wait for our belongings to arrive at our rented 2100-sf Los Altos ranch. What we lose in charm we gain in square feet.

After dinner with friends in Los Gatos we slept in on Christmas and spent a late morning at the house tearing through our Christmas presents in the wide-open space, pre-decorated by my husband with a huge tree and lights. We ate chocolates and treats from our stockings. Then we got in the car and drove up to San Francisco, scavenging, and found a busy, most importantly, open, Vietnamese restaurant. Christmas pho should be an annual tradition for sure. The kids wore their new headlamps as we walked along the waterfront to Ghirardhelli Square, beautiful and bustling with a million tourists. Then a ride through North Beach to Union Square before heading back to Sunnyvale.

Day 1 as regular residents: explore. We headed to Menlo Park for a breakfast stroll. We found Stacks -- possibly the most kid-friendly restaurant in the area. Stroke of luck! Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse pancakes? Chocolate chip oatmeal? Score! The kids loved it; we strolled the cute main street -- Santa Cruz Ave -- and played on the carved fallen tree in Fremont Park amid the beautiful Cedars. Spotted more than a few classic convertible cars, which makes the boys happy.

Fortunately, we like exploring. I mean, headlamps! When you move, it turns out, you get to do quite a lot of it. We'll find our people, our places, our pancakes and pho, accessible routes to the City. If we can ALSO figure out how to send our kids to school, we'll be just fine.