WHY:

I can nearly feel my shoe on the accelerator of my nearly-new Toyota Echo, the wind rushing in the open window, blowing my already-greying hair, and me harmonizing with then-unknown Nelly Furtado. “I’m like a Bird, I want to fly away,” deliberately messing up Nelly’s lyrics.

In a couple of weeks, I was going to Berkeley, California for a month’s “work” out of the US office of ICLEI, the international environmental NGO I was working for. I say “work” because, well, there really was no good reason for me to go there. I think my boss was tired of me whining that I was Cindercelia, left at home as my colleagues jetted to exotic locations. As the Admin Director, my glamorous role was to make sure the machine kept running at home - you know, contract oversight, monitoring employment relationships, and keeping on top of corporate governance. In addition to offices in Germany, Korea, Australia, Santiago, and Harare, we had an office in Berkeley, and that was the least expensive trip, so that’s what was proposed.

“Go there and see how we can work together even better,” he said.

“Hang out in the Bay Area,” I heard.

WHEN:

May in Ontario is the the month when spring really takes hold - the temperature can edge up to the “hot” zone. I was expecting Berkeley to be high teens Celsius at best. And damp. But that year they had a hot, dry May. Primo weather for my adventure.   

WHO:

Because we had an office, and this was ostensibly a work trip, I bunked in with the office director, Nancy, and her partner. Not quite in her house but in the garden suite in her backyard. I had a bed and living space and shared the kitchen and bathroom. I also had built-in companions among the office staff there. ICLEI attracted a remarkably social bunch or the work environment created it - not sure which. Regardless, having 15 or so others also in their 30s to hang with in my off time was great!

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:

One weekend I went with my host and her partner to a rehearsal of Orquestra la Moderna Traditión, a Cuban dance band they had some connection to. It was remarkable. The ensemble was so tight, and this was just rehearsal! I took away a copy to their CD, treasured to this day.

Nancy was well-connected in Berkeley, having been a City Councillor for a time (she went on to be in the State Assembly and eventually the California Senate). Knowing I was coming, she’d used her contacts to book a table at Chez Panisse, Chef Alice Waters famed Berkeley restaurant that was an early example of the farm-to-table movement. I was beyond excited! Until the day of when I came down with some horrible virus and was bedridden for two days. My memory was of lying under a down comforter, sweating, but chilled at the same time, feeling miserable and missing out on the meal of a lifetime.

Another weekend I drove south with some colleagues as far as Carmel-by-the-Sea, the town made famous, to the municipal nerd that I was, for having Clint Eastwood as its mayor.

WHAT DID I LEARN:

One weekend, I rented a car and drive north up Highway 1. I sat on a picnic table at Bodega Bay where Tippi Hedren had her Hitchcockian encounters with birds. I drove further north thinking I’d find a reasonable place to spend the night and then come back down through Sonoma Valley the next day - a nice weekend circuit. Never occurred to me to pre-book accommodation. We didn’t then. Imagine my surprise to find nothing on that highway but breathtaking scenery and tight curves. Finally I rounded a corner to find Timber Cove Resort, a high-ish end place hanging on the ocean cliff. With nothing else around, I managed to secure a room, despite it being Mothers Day weekend (I’d forgotten). With no-where else to eat for miles, I also convinced the maitre de to give me a table and for some reason, I got one with an ocean view. I sat reading a Margaret Atwood novel drinking good wine and eating excellent local food. Memorable? Hell yeah. An occasion when I was grateful for a VISA card. But I book my hotels ahead now.

Loved the Bay Area. Would return in a flash. But for my resolve not to travel to the US for awhile anyway!

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