Charis: We made it! Long ole flight but made it in one piece. Used the opportunity to watch a lil trashy romcom – Anyone But You. Then got recommended Bros, which is a bit less PG-13, make sure to check who’s behind you! Also finally watched Wish which was alright, but actually felt a bit sorry for the bad guy who was just being a bit over-protective and (SPOILERS) ends up stuck in a staff for maybe eternity? Bad luck pal.

Anyway, after about 21 hours of traveling we made it up to Derek’s parents’ house in Calistoga and crashed pretty hard. The morning brought the beautiful typical Californian sunshine and after the traditional tomato/avocado toast for breakfast we started our relaxing with a good book in the hammock.

Headed out in the afternoon to the Santa Rosa Symphony who put on a stupendous Rhapsody in Blue, followed by a tribute and new composition by Conrad Tao, a fabulous pianist who was guest starring in Santa Rosa. Thoroughly enjoyable!

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Derek: We’re off and it’s all started! We had a great last week in Cardiff packing up the house and seeing even more of friends than usual. We’d been planning, cleaning, and preparing for so many months that the actual work to leave was less than I expected, but I’m glad we had a week to spread it out over. We didn’t have to fully pack the house or move out so mostly it was a deep spring clean. By the end of it we felt we should do this more often as the house is as clean as it’s ever been.

Catching the bus to Heathrow, flight to San Francisco, and bus north is all familiar, if long. We arrived at my parent’s home very late Saturday evening and went along to the first special event the next afternoon, the aforementioned Rhapsody in Blue concert. The second half also had a long symphonic work composed by Duke Ellington?!

The first few days of the week were adjusting to the timezone and climate as well as gathering many of the remaining bits and pieces before really hitting the road. Sunscreen, journals, a dress shirt, misc medications, and even a pencil sharpener were all ticked off the list.

Hitting the road does require a car for this leg of our trip, from California to the Canadian border. Through some great fortune, Craigslist, and a day long expedition to Sacramento I now have the keys to a lightly used convertible that we’ll be delivering to a good friend outside of Seattle. I’ll say they’re getting a good deal out of it with free delivery and me giving it a solid test drive, but really it’s clear that we’ve lucked out on this one.

Not only was I born in the south Bay Area, but both a close friend from undergraduate days and the SETI Institute which I have a research position at are located there. I left Charis to enjoy a hammock and Calistoga for a few days and attended SETI’s annual Drake Awards event (Congratulations to Andrew Siemion!) and spent a day and a half with my friend.

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Charis: Back in Calistoga, I took the opportunity to check out the recently opened Calistoga Depot – a series of bars, restaurants and shops spread throughout buildings, gardens and some beautifully renovated old train cabins. The Distillery does its own gin and vodka, and the Nova Terra vegan kitchen was really fun to try out, particularly as it offered its own nut based cheeseboard, delicious!

With Derek back at the weekend, we used the opportunity to head out to Forestville to see his cousin Aleta, her partner and their new baby boy. Aleta has an incredible fruit and vegetable farm and took us through their crops getting to try fresh mange tout and strawberries and even leaving with a goody bag bursting with greens (never knew garlic scapes were a thing until now!). They live and farm in an incredible little community, with 12 households, a community centre and pool and many acres of forest with trails and a fabulous lake. We both found this trip really inspiring – we’ve been envisioning some sort of co-housing community situation back home in Wales for years now, and seeing a reality of it was so heartwarming. Got lots of thinking and planning to do when we get back!

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Derek: Next stop, off to the coast just near the town of Mendocino for a week of cooler sun, waves, and redwoods. Bye for now!