Trip to Tilden Park

Michael did some research online and planned an outing for us. We trekked over to the East Bay (we actually went there on purpose instead of just driving through), to Tilden Park. Michael and I have been there together before, but it was Juliet's first time. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. Our first stop was the steam train. This little train may just be the cutest thing ever. You can pick out the local kids when you go, because they arrive wearing striped engineer hats and Redwood Valley Railway t-shirts. We will have to get one for Juliet next time. Must instill that fear of looking like a tourist in her early! It costs just two bucks each and the ride is 12 minutes long. Juliet didn't quite know what to make of it at first, but was grinning ear to ear and kicking a few minutes into the ride (a sure-fire indication that she was excited about the trip). It is well worth the trip to the Raider Nation. We will definitely be back.


After the train ride we headed over to the Botanic Garden. What a gem hiding behind the unassuming entrance! The garden is absolutely beautiful, and so much larger than we expected. There are so many nooks and crannies and on a sunny day there are loads of places to set out a blanket and lounge in either sun or shade (we chose sun!). After taking a somewhat thorough tour we felt as if we had gone on a mini-hike. One could spend hours in the garden investigating all of the different types of plants, all of which are labeled. They do tours, but we decided that next time we have to bring Grammy Linda with us to teach us about the properties of all of the different plants.



After the garden, we were off to Solano Avenue to Zachary's Pizza to see what all the fuss is about. They have yummy pizza, but we couldn't figure out if it is "that good" or if the yummy quotient was increased due to the fact that you have to wait 35 minutes for it...