TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

Last month Lou won two tickets to a Sacramento River Cats game at his Airport Volunteer Appreciation Event. The River Cats are the AAA farm club for the San Francisco Giants - a new affiliation this year. The tickets were for today & were in the fourth row just to the left of home plate....great seats!

Raley Field is a great little ballpark in West Sacramento. We've attended several games there over the years & will likely see a lot more now that the Giants AAA club plays there.

My favorite Giant's player, Hunter Pence, has been recovering from a broken arm suffered early in spring training. As the date for our free game approached, it was looking more & more probable that Hunter would play in this game as part of his rehab. As luck would have it, he did....& I was ecstatic! 

Our seats were behind the netting that protects fans from foul balls which made it tough to get good photos. The camera wasn't always sure what to focus on. Here is Hunter Pence (he's #8 on the Giants, but #9 here) at the plate. You can see the ball at the middle left of the picture.

The first five players in the line up were on the Giants roster at some time last year. This is Adam Duvall at bat with Pence on first after a walk.

Another popular Giant, Travis Ishikawa, was rehabbing a back injury with the River Cats, too. Both he & Pence played the whole game & will hopefully be back with the Giants helping them win soon.

Hunter Pence got his first hit as a River Cat & scored two runs today. He was on deck when Juan Perez knocked in Ehire Adrianza (two more Giants) to score the winning run in the ninth inning.

The River Cats celebrating the 5-4 win after Perez's "walk off" double that scored the winning run! It was such a fun game to watch & I loved seeing my favorite player up close & personal.

Of course, I joined half the people there by wearing my Hunter Pence jersey while Lou had on his Buster Posey. He had the creative idea to have the woman behind us take a photo of our jerseys while we watched the game. Love it!

A BIT OF HISTORY IN JACK LONDON SQUARE

This morning we headed out on a day trip to Jack London Square in Oakland. Having grown up & lived in the East Bay for the first 50 years of my life, I've been there many, many times but Lou had only been there once....on business.

Our first stop Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential yacht, The Potomac, which the press dubbed "The Floating White House." It has been restored & is berthed in Jack London Square. The ship is open to the public for tours & cruises.

The Potomac was originally a Coast Guard cruiser that was commissioned by the U.S.Navy to become the Presidential yacht.

This was FDR's cabin on the ship. The quilt has Scottish terriers on it in honor of his beloved dog,a Scottie named Fala, who was his constant companion.  I asked about the single bed & wondered where Eleanor slept. The answer was she never spent the night on the ship after a harrowing experience as a child & her husband's later affair.

The open air stern area was FDR's favorite location on The Potomac. He loved the sea & spent most weekends on the ship. It also provided transportation from Washington, DC, to his home in Hyde Park, New York.

The bridge which features some of the original teak wood. Most of the ship was submerged for many years after falling into disrepair & sinking near Treasure Island. 

We walked along the Oakland-Alameda Estuary & took in the sights after a great lunch of a giant hot dog, chips & a drink for only $5...the biggest bargain in Jack London Square! What can I say? I'm a cheap date. :-)

Some of the beautiful boats in the Jack London Square marina at the foot of Broadway in Oakland. Each December the owners adorn them with lights, Christmas trees & assorted decorations for the Parade of Lights.

I have no idea why the light posts were decorated with bicycles strapped to them but pretty much every pole had bikes on it - different.  

This was the site of the largest & the first Barnes & Noble bookstore. It closed several years ago & is now a beer garden & bocce ball bowling center.

No visit to Jack London Square is complete without a stop at "Heinold's First & Last Chance Saloon". It seems out of place among the modern buildings of a big city but is an unchanged landmark that attracts tourists & locals alike.

This saloon has been in operation since 1880 & was a favorite hangout of Jack London. When he was 17 he would study here & later wrote notes for several of his famous novels.

The interior & bar of Heinold's. It's a little hard to see but the bar & floor slope down - a result of damage from the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The bartender pulls lots of pranks on customers, such as dropping stuffed spiders down on unsuspecting drinkers or when a man uses the bathroom, a recording tells him to smile because he is on camera.

Of course, Lou & I had to have a beer & join in the fun. When my son & I first stopped in for a libation 15+ years ago, he announced, "I want to be a local here!"

Parts of Jack London's cabin from the Alaskan Yukon were trucked to Oakland & used in this reconstruction just a few feet from Heinhold's First & Last Chance. 

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM REVISITED

Back on Valentine's Day we wandered about the UC Davis Arboretum. It was the second time we had visited in February & we made the decision to come back later in the spring to see more of the flowers in bloom. This morning we enjoyed a 1-1/2 hour walk along the outdoor arboretum.

These are a type of giant poppies that were in full bloom. The flowers were 4 - 6 inches across. I know this because there was a sign.

There was no sign for these beautiful pink flowers that covered the bushes. We thought they might be azaleas but the leaves didn't look right. Maybe they were oleanders? 

The creek & lake were covered with bright green algae today. Back in February it was pretty clear.

I'm not too good at plant identification but I love taking photos of flowers we don't see every day.

We are planning on making this a regular half day outing once or twice a year. Each time we think we won't take many photos since we've been there before. But each time we see more & more interesting things to photograph.

This is a close up of some interesting growths on a cactus.

For some reason I loved the textures of these flowers & foliage next to the tree bark.

Another unique flower. It amazes me just how many flowers occur in nature. God really out did Himself!

Nothing but grass, algae & a tree stump but it made for a pretty cool picture.

And, of course, what stroll along the water would be complete without all the assorted critters. Another wonderful short trip for some great photo ops.

There are always turtles sunning themselves on the edge of the creek.

It must be baby duckling time. There were several families swimming through the algae covered lake. This mama duck had her hands full, but the babies seemed to line up pretty nicely.

Lou says this is a Western Scrub-Jay. It looks like a blue bird to me but it did sit still long enough for a decent picture.

This butterfly wasn't as cooperative but I was persistent. It took at least ten photos to get one that wasn't blurry or with closed wings. 

This a Green Heron (didn't even know there was a green one). Lou confirmed it in our bird identification book. It was really colorful & stayed still for his portrait.