It was a good day to hike this park since it was cool, windy and also foggy in the early part of the hike.We had at least 4 elevation gains and losses so it was a good workout. Claudia, Muff, Bobbie, Shirley and Aleta joined me on the hike.

There is another trail that goes further into the hills, an out and back trail we will take another time. The loop trail circled above the trees except when we had to cross over the creek, which isn’t running now. The crossing was at a condo complex, we were on a paved road for about a block, then into the trees. The creek crossing is under ground.

Nice to have another park close to us. At the beginning of the hike we viewed the new homes from above, not all are completed yet. We had many comments about their looks and sizes. After leaving the homes you are back in the hills.

Trekking the Wilds
Fran

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Today we hiked the Summit Trail at Mt. Diablo. The day started off cool with interesting clouds around the Summit as we drove up to our starting point on Wall Rd near Rock City. The trail started off with an immediate climb but soon tapered off. We then began our mostly downhill hike which took us through Madrone and dry grasses. We hiked by Sentinel Rock and then by some sandstone wind caves, stopping to take photos by each. We then continued down for about 45 minutes. We anticipated it might take longer to hike up the about 700 ft. elevation we had lost. We actually did it in about 55 minutes with not many stops on the way back up.

Today’s hikers were Aleta, Barbara, Judy A. (great to have one of our original hikers back with us–she’s preparing to climb Yosemite’s Half Dome), Cheryl D., Muff C., Claudia W., Shirley A., Bobbi J., and Sharon K.

After our hike and a few cool down stretches we headed down. Thank you Cheryl for driving. Afterwards we all enjoyed lunch at Bagel Street Cafe.

Happy Trails, Sharon Kovar

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In July, the Gad Abouts toured a sculpture display in downtown Pleasanton.  Pictured L-R – Barbara, Jan, Pat, Dee, Sondra, Pam, Terry, Bernice and Marion.

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WHEN:  THURSDAY, AUGUST 26,  2010

WHERE:  THE OUTLETS IN VACAVILLE

TIME:      9:30 SYCAMORE PARK AND RIDE

PRICE:       NO COST

WE WILL MEET AT THE SYCAMORE PARK AND RIDE AND CAR POOL TO THE VACAVILLE OUTLETS FOR A DAY OF SHOPPING AND LUNCH.

VOLUNTEER DRIVERS NEEDED

FOR RESERVATIONS PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL EITHER BERNICE P 365-1059, bernice.pelicas {at} comcast(.)net OR  SONDRA M 968-1201 labelssf {at} comcast(.)net

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No meeting in August.

September: The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama

Gail Tsukiyama’s latest novel is a gorgeously rendered work, steeped in politics and ancient Japanese tradition. Spanning three decades during World War II and beyond, this engrossing tale captures the lives of two ripped-apart Tokyo families as they struggle to make ends meet after losing nearly everything during the war. With fortitude and grace, Tsukiyama weaves a meditative story full of love and loss that will weigh on readers’ consciences long after the last page is turned.

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If you are about enjoying our beautiful weather, stop by Draeger’s Wine Bar at Blackhawk.

Featured tastings for July are held from 2:00 until 5:00 P.M.

Saturday, July 17th.- Pink Rules-Draeger’s best Rose picks for this season

Saturday, July 24th.- An Afternoon with the wines from Clos Saron; a unique Vineyard producing wines of distinct character in the California Sierra Foothills.

A flight is generally $8.00 for 5 tastings.  Shared tastings are allowed.

After your wine tasting outing, enjoy a late lunch or early dinner at one of the many great restaurants!   Wendell & I attended the June tasting-the Wine Stewards are highly knowledgeable and engaging.

Grace A

Draeger’s Markets has been selected as the 2008 National “Retailer of the Year” for Wine & Spirits by the Editors of the Wine Spectator and Market Watch magazines This prestigious award is presented annually in New York to only one retailer in the U.S. for excellence in marketing of Wine and Spirits. The winner is selected from a survey of retailers, distributors, importers and the magazine editors.

Draeger’s is the first wine retailer on the West Coast to receive the award.

Our Wine Department boasts a selection of more than 3,000 of the world’s finest wines, with rare and older vintages kept in temperature and humidity-controlled conditions. We feature a selection of wines chosen for their quality and value and spotlighted in our Wine Newsletter.

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Yesterday, July 2, the Newcomer Friday Hikers hiked for 4 1/2 miles up and down through the beautiful, cooling Redwoods at Redwood Regional Park. We hiked up to Redwood Peak and then down along the fern lined French Trail. Hikers were Fran M., Bobbi J., Barbara J., Muff Curry. Lois T., and Sharon K. We hiked at a good pace and covered the hilly trail in a little over 2 hours 15 minutes.

Happy 4th of July! Sharon

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This looked like one of the older Muir Heritage parks, all the interpretive signs were weathered. The whole trail was in the sun and mostly a dirt road.

It cleared up some and the views at the top included rolling hills forever and great view of the bridge and mothball fleet. The parking is along the road right before the entrance to the fairly large horse ranch.

Trekking Always
Fran

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The Gad Abouts had a tour of the Paramount Theater in Oakland followed by lunch at Pecan’s Restaurant.

Pictured are (L-R)  Marion G., Bernice P., Bobbi J., Arlene D., Susan B., Sondra M., Barbara A. and Jean S.

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Friday 6/18/10 we hiked the new Fernandez Ranch Preserve of the Muir Heritage Land Trust that just opened about 2 weeks ago.

It’s about a 3.5 hike and about 700ft elevation gain in about 1.3 miles. Trails wind through forest and grasslands and connect to other trails including the Carquinez Strait Scenic Loop Trail of the Bay area Ridge Trail system.

I am excited about the trails I found included in the Muir Heritage Land Trust. Look forward to other adventures in this land trust.

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