Lazarow World-Hike-About: 12.06 Mount Diablo outside San Francisco: Sentinal in Rock City, family by the bay

Irrational exuberance from our editor

We arrived in San Francisco after spending Shabbos in Merced, California. Now where is that town you might ask. It's about 90 miles west of the great Yosemite National Park. The city is quite depressed businesswise, if the number of empty buildings may be considered a good indication of activity. In the outlying areas, we have noticed over the years how things have changed. Many of the younger generation portray the same characteristics of their counterparts in the big cities. What do we mean by his? For starters, we should have invested in tattoo parlors—who needs gold?

We were in the laundry on Sunday morning before heading to meet our son, Robbie. We had the distinction of being the only English speakers in a rather crowded area. We ran into technical difficulties and were touched when not one but three men rushed to help us with the problem. In a world beset with so many issues, the kindness of strangers never ceases to move us.

We have been to San Francisco a few times but know very little about the city. Suffice to say, we spent twenty-one hours, eight minutes and a few seconds in the city...but who's counting. It was great to be with Robbie. We stayed at a fancy hotel on Fisherman's Wharf, the three of us together in a big room. Truth be told, it was great to get back to a motel again with all the comforts of home and convenience of easy access. Strange but true. We will miss Rob, as well as the walks up those steep hills with him.

We arrived in Walnut Creek, a city north-east of San Francisco. The idea is to enjoy a couple of hikes in the area before heading north. Rob suggested we hike to the peak of Mount Diablo, a local favorite. As we only had a little time today, we 'fooled' around on the boulders, always a favorite pastime of ours. We hope to do the bigger climb tomorrow. The theme of the park is 'a walk through time'. The development of the sandstone formations is examined.

We packed well for this long trip, a third of the clothing for cooler conditions, the rest spring and summer. So far it's worked out well with temperatures reaching 95 degrees today. Summer should be a blast in sweaters. Good thing we packed extra deodorant.

Every now and again or quite often, we get a little silly and like to fool around on the boulders and rocks. Today, was one of those days. You might think we were showing off and you may be correct. However, we had a lot of enjoyment instead of undergoing these 'boring mountain hikes'.