Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Today was supposed to be our day to walk across the Golden Gate bridge as the weather was supposed to have cleared, however the walk got called off on account of fog. It was certainly a nice sunny day but unfortunately you couldn’t really tell once you got close to the bridge. Instead we decided to give Marin Heights a try. Marin Heights is the hilly peninsula on the north approach to the bridge. Chantal and I have been up there before and know what a spectacular view it provides of the Golden Gate bridge along with San Francisco, Alcatraz, and the Bay bridge as a backdrop to it. There are many vista points as you navigate the serpentine road that snakes along edge of the rugged terrain as you make your way up to the top. The first vista point is arguably the most impressive. As you walk up the hill toward the bridge the north tower dwarf’s you with its imposing presence. It is so close you feel you can reach out and touch it. I thought the kids would find this so cool, however, this part of the headlands was completely fogged in and we could see nothing but white mist. Every now and then the fog’s thickness would diminish just enough to barely see part of the huge cable heading up to the top of the tower. I finally got A-P and Morgan’s attention at the right time for them to see this and they were shocked to realize just how close we were to the bridge yet we couldn’t see a thing (check the video). One unique benefit of this perhaps not so unusual effect was that we got to experience the sound of ships’ fog horns as they were trying to make their way through the soupy mist down below. We returned to the car to see if the view would improve as we ascended. Chantal thought we were wasting our time but I thought we should at least give it a try since we had already driven this far. At the next stop we were just able to see the top part of the bridge poking out through the dream-like cloudiness enveloping the rest of the bridge. As we progressed to the next vista point further up we were starting to be able to see the skyline of San Fran straining upward above the fog in the distance in behind the peaks of the two towers we could see. When we made it to the top of Marin Heights we were presented with a magnificent view of San Fran, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz and a Golden Gate bridge which seemed to be floating on a cushion of fog. If you turned to your right you could see the Pacific Ocean which was blanketed with it as it was spilling into San Francisco bay through the headlands and past the bridge. Although I did not get the crystal clear day that I had waited for, and hoped for, I think we lucked out by getting a more typical San Francisco day which presented us with a surreal, heaven-like view from one of the world’s most impressive overlooks.
Next, it was off to Martinez, California to do something I have never done in my entire life. I was finally going to meet my long lost aunt and her husband (my uncle, right?), live-and-in-person. You see, my father was adopted and so it wasn’t until my sister started trying to track down my father’s biological mother 5 or 6 years ago that we found out we had this aunt. If you are still following me after that description, you are probably paying closer attention than I thought. Now, if you think about it, meeting a new-found relative can be a scary experience. Who knows what they will be like. And once you make contact, whether things go the way you want, or not, they are still your relative from that day on. Luckily I didn’t think too much about that otherwise I may not have made the trip to Martinez. The reason I was not too concerned is that my father and my two sisters had already come out to California and met with them so we knew they were very nice people. But since I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting my aunt yet, and since I was right here in California, I thought we should try to get together. When we arrived and I first saw my aunt Cynthia in person, I was a little surprised how I immediately saw a resemblance between her and my younger sister, Steacy. And one of the first things Cynthia said to me was how much I looked like my dad. Rather than ask, I just decided to take that as a compliment. She, and my new uncle Ken, welcomed us into their home. We got the official tour, which, for me, was highlighted by some chocolate brownies! Did someone already tell her that I had a sweet tooth? It wasn’t long before, we got talking about family and they pulled out some photo albums including some photos of her mother, which would, of course, be my biological grandmother. This was my cue to pull out my photo album (which happens to be my computer) and we checked out the pictures that we thought might be of interest to them. We end up hitting it off really well and we all decide to head out for dinner. My new aunt and uncle, Cynthia and Ken, are wonderful people and it was such a pleasure finding out about each other. We all really enjoyed finally getting together and the time just seemed to fly by. I am not sure when we will be able to get back out to California for another visit but hopefully it will be soon. Then, on our way back to the MoHo our drive took us right passed California’s notorious San Quinten maximum security penitentiary which seemed a harbinger of what was to come the next day.


Today’s word:

harbinger \här-b&n-j&r\, noun
1 archaic : a person sent ahead to provide lodgings
2 a : one that pioneers in or initiates a major change : PRECURSOR b : one that presages or foreshadows what is to come