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| Museum Window (Escalon) - San Joaquin County 2026 |
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| Mural (Escalon) - San Joaquin County 2026 |
I used to drive straight through Escalon on my way to the mountains, but recently I've stopped and walked around a little.
That mural has been shown before on the blog, but this photo is better.
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| Oak Tree (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026 |
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| Labyrinth (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026 |
Photos taken during my hike high above Fairfax:
- A dramatic backlit oak tree, and
- a folk art labyrinth with Mount Tamalpais in the background.
Towards the end there was a steep descent into more familiar territory and back home.
Yikes, 29 flights climbed!
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| Apple Watch (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026 |
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| Meditation Pergola (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026 |
Hiking along the ridge trail above Fairfax, I spotted this cool meditation site along with a depiction of Guru Rinpoche.
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| Guru Rinpoche (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026 |
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| Casa Lola - Sacramento 2025 |
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| Streetcar - Sacramento 2025 |
Casa Lola photo taken while walking back to our hotel after a restaurant meal.
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| Mural, Peruvian Restaurant - Sacramento 2025 |
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| Street Mural - Sacramento 2025 |
We experienced a botched Uber ride to the restaurant, but it turned out to be close enough that we could walk back to our hotel.
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| Building Art - Davis 2025 |
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| California Republic - Davis 2025 |
We just meandered around the central section of Davis, admiring the interesting and diverse food scene.
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| Mural, Dumpster - Davis 2025 |
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| Flyers Mural - Davis 2025 |
So, as far as dumpsters go, I saw some artistic dumpsters in Canada in 2024.
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| Statue (Carmel Mission) - Monterey County 2025 |
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| Yuccas (Carmel Mission) - Monterey County 2025 |
"Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo (English: The Mission of Saint Charles Borromeo of the Carmel River), first built in 1797, is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Located at the mouth of Carmel Valley, California, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark."
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| Baby from Japan (Fairfax) - Marin County 2025 |
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| Baby from Japan (Fairfax) - Marin County 2025 |
Baby brought back from Japan by next door Kate. At times I go over to feed her cats when she's away: I put the cat food out, but never see the cats. But that's when I see the baby.
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| Utility Post Art (Japantown) - San Francisco 2025 |
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| Wall Art (Japantown) - San Francisco 2025 |
Our next cat sitting assignment gave us the opportunity to revisit San Francisco's Japantown. (Last visit, according to the blog, was in 2016, the year of the monkey.)
Main purchases this time were some bento boxes at Nijiya Market.
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| Soju Ad (Japantown) - San Francisco 2025 |
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| Open Studios (Mike's Setup) - Marin County 2025 |
Two weekends in May. Attendance was somewhat sparse . . . sold some prints and cards, so I possibly made back the entry fees. (I didn't bother to check the figures.)
The black and white photo at the left has been featured on the blog previously . . . taken in Glacier National Park.
Of particular interest to me: the artist opposite my exhibit, Cathy Tran, was livestreaming on Instagram while she was creating a new work. Wow! That's ingenious! (Check out her website.)
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| Cathy Tran - Marin County 2025 |
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| San Francisco Skyline (Sausalito) - Marin County 2024 |
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| Last Supper (Sausalito) - Marin County 2024 |
Taken during a Dining Group visit. We had thought that we would be able to eat outside, but no - too wet.
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| Kansai Airport Ad (Osaka) - Japan 2024 |
We departed Japan through the Kansai Airport in Osaka, where we had arrived some weeks earlier. Quite a jumbly experience! Of course we had to lug our suitcases up and down escalators and through crowded shopping displays.
Then an uneventful flight home.
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| Farewell to the East (George Wunder) |
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| Kyoto-Kansai Airport Express (Kyoto) - Japan 2024 |
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| Railcar (Kyoto) - Japan 2024 |
OK, so now we had to deal with our fully loaded suitcases, taking a taxi from the hotel to Kyoto Station, then navigating intricate corridors and escalators to the correct platform.
But we did it!
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| Window Display 1 (Kyoto) - Japan 2024 |
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| Window Display 2 (Kyoto) - Japan 2024 |
Nicely done window displays seen during our walks.
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| Window Display 3 (Kyoto) - Japan 2024 |
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| Cat Statue (Takayama) - Japan 2024 |
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| Morning Fog (Takayama) - Japan 2024 |
Last morning in Takayama: chilly and foggy. After visiting the morning market, we checked out of our hotel, walked over to the train station (without luggage, which was on its way to Kyoto) and boarded the train (somehow unaccountably late) for Nagoya.
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| Gingko Tree (Tanekura) - Japan 2024 |
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| Shrines (Tanekura) - Japan 2024 |
That was the only gingko tree in the vicinity. We didn't find out that much about the shrines, but they looked to be well-tended.
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| Itoya Entrance (Tokyo) - Japan 2024 |
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| Akihabara Station Ad (Tokyo) - Japan 2024 |
November 4th, 2024. Breakfast at Starbucks, then, at Margaret's request, a shopping expedition to Itoya.
"Dating back to 1904, Itoya is an institution like few others in Tokyo and one of the city’s most beautiful and well stocked stationary shops. The main branch, situated on Ginza’s busy main street, is spread over two buildings and 18 floors in total, offering anything from pens, paints, craft materials, canvases, paper, cards, travel gear, two cafes and even a greenhouse."
We took the Yamanote Line to the Yurakucho Station, passing through Akihabara, then, using Google Maps directions, walked through the Ginza's heavily crowded streets to finally reach Itoya. I guess as could be expected, Itoya was itself heavily crowded. But we were able to buy Margaret's readers for her, and had an unexpectedly pleasant lunch on the top floor.
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| Itoya Lunch (Tokyo) - Japan 2024 |
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| Tenjinbashi (Osaka) - Japan 2024 |
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| Osaka Hall Sea Series (Osaka) - Japan 2024 |
"Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street in Osaka’s Kita district stretches a whopping 2.5 kilometers long. More importantly, it’s home to over 600 shops and restaurants to browse. Its mix of old and screamingly new might prove to be sensory overload at times, but it’ll give you a great insight into one of Osaka’s oldest merchant areas."
"Osaka Hall" is a pachinko parlor. This area was where our food tour was located! (The only food tour of the trip.)
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