San Ramon Valley Newcomers Club
Hiking, Arts & Crafts, Wine Club, Book Club, Cooking, Golf, Poker, Bridge, Bunco, Luncheons
Archive for July, 2007
July 24, 2007 at 8:18 pm · Filed under President's Corner
Hi Gals = we have just passed the halfway mark of summer, gotten through a heat wave, pulled out sweaters to ward off chill and have traveled for wonderful vacations, the gas has stayed under $4.00/gal and all is right with the world.
The groups that were on summer hiatus are getting ready to start up again. So check your favorites for info in Newsletter.
Special thanks to Candace, a fairly new member, for taking on circulation. This club couldn’t make it without our great volunteers , and we have such fun at our board meetings.
Sharon M. and Tina D. have planned several Gad A Bouts in advance, so watch for schedule coming soon to our web site and newsletter. They all sound like fun trips and lunch afterwards is a nice relaxing time to sit back and enjoy friends.
On a personal note, my continued thanks to those who are still helping me navigate with my walker. From rides, golf carts to Crow Canyon CC Mah Jong, steps to get into homes-all of it deeply appreciated.
Looking forward to seeing you soon and hope you are still enjoying summer.
Hugs, Myrna
July 24, 2007 at 3:34 pm · Filed under Hiking Club
Hi Friday Newcomer Hikers and Guests,
Today we hiked at Redwood Regional Park along Down Stream Trail and up French Trail. The hike is about 6 miles of substantial ups and down and we did it in about 2 1/2 hours. We had guest Bunnie Quint join us today along with new member Cindy. The other hikers were Lois T.(our driver), Barbara J., Shirley A. Celia M., and Sharon K. The weather was perfect for hiking - in the low 70’s. On the drive up the view along Grissly Peak was very clear. We passed a herd of goats grazing along the hillsides as we started our hike.
We didn’t see many wildflowers blooming except for a few sticky monkey flowers but the ferns and redwoods were magnificent. The creek was almost dry but everything was green as opposed to the goldens hills in our backyard. In the parking lot were a group of Mantilla poppies that begged to be photographed. I obliged before my battery went dead.
Afterwards we all had lunch at Bagel Street Cafe. It was nice getting to meet you, Bunnie. We are glad you have joined the group Cindy. Welcome to both of you.
It was good to be back on the trails. Until next week, Happy Trails, Sharon
July 16, 2007 at 6:49 pm · Filed under General, Hiking Club
Hi Friday Newcomers,
Marlene Taber and I hiked two hours this morning at the Shell Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek. Beginning at 8:30 and ending at 10:30. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we were blessed with cool breezes and clear vistas. We could see as far as Concord, the Delta and beyond.
We did the Briones to Mt. Diablo Trail picking up a new trail for me, the Ridge Trail which was beautiful and circled around and took us back to Briones.
We didn’t see any wildflowers or many critters other than squirrels and hawks. We saw lots and lots of poison oak and many young oaks that had been planted by volunteers. LIFE IS GOOD!
Happy Trails,
Barbara
July 5, 2007 at 2:20 pm · Filed under General
For those of us who don’t get the “Times” and don’t know Joan Morris, here is an excerpt from her column. – Myrna
Excerpt from article (San Ramon Valley Times, July 2, page C3):
A lifetime deal for ‘temp’ diet
There comes a time in every dieter’s life when she or he must ask: “When does it end?”
The dieting, I mean. When do we stop counting calories? When do we say we’ve reached a perfect weight and no longer need to monitor the fat grams?
And the answer, of course is never. Feel free to curse and kick something now.
Even though I’ve been doing this for a while, it’s still hard to shake the secret dream I harbor that one day, I can be “normal” again.
(…) That’s a tough concept for dieters to accept, and one of the reasons I get complaints from people that I shouldn’t call this the Times “Diet” Club. Diet implies short term. It shouldn’t, but it does. We shouldn’t even consider the short term. We should be talking about eating this way – eating the healthful way – for life.
(…) “Diet” should be just another word for life. This is our diet; this is our life. We make healthful choices. We work to cut the fat. We exercise. We eat to live, not the other way around.
(…) We have to be aware of what we eat and what damage or benefit we may do to our bodies. We may not like it, but we can’t go back. This is now our normal.
(…) We may never be able to leave the house without making sure we have low-fat snacks in our pockets and there’s plenty of salad in the fridge for tonight, we also don’t have to live with the consequences of eating all the wrong things just because we can.
July 5, 2007 at 2:16 pm · Filed under Hiking Club
Hi Newcomer Friday Hikers,
Today, June 29th, we hiked along Alameda Creek in Sunol past Little Yosemite, the W Tree and to the park boundary. The day was warm and the grasses dry with the sign indicating extreme fire danger when we entered the park. We hiked for about 6 miles in the two hours that we hiked in and back. There wasn’t too much to take in the way of photos (at least that I haven’t taken before!). The red poison oak was about the only color that we saw other than the golden hills that were shadowed by dark green oaks. The creeks were still flowing under the bridge and very lightly through Little Yosemite but further down the trail the stream bed appeared dry. The water either comes from underground to feed Little Yosemite and below or it comes from runoff that we couldn’t see. We didn’t see any flowers–even the sticky monkey was gone.
Today’s hikers were soon to be new member Cindy, Marlene T., Marlene M., Judie B., and Sharon K. We met Barbara J. for lunch afterwards at the Bagel Street Cafe.
Thank you for driving today Judie!
FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS I WILL BE IN ATLANTA VISITING MY DAUGHTER and in South Carolina visiting former Newcomer Hiker Mary Ann G. Claudia W. will be planning a hike for you next week July 6th. Another unsuspecting friend will be leading the hike July 13th. Please look for their e-mails and respond as you do to me.
Until we meet again - Happy Trails to you!
Sharon
