Hakone Gardens

July 27, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 1 Comment

I recently went down to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA for a few hours. It was a lovely little day trip getaway.

Japanese Gardens

Hakone Gardens is a Japanese garden. In fact it “is the oldest Japanese and Asian estate, retreat and gardens in the Western Hemisphere”. I really love Japanese Gardens and enjoy exploring the differences between them. I’ve been to Japanese Gardens here in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, in San Diego’s Balboa Park, in Los Angeles and in Buenos Aires. And now in Saratoga.

Bamboo Garden

Santa Cruz Silliness

July 21, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 1 Comment

The Santa Cruz boardwalk always feels so much like “summer” to me. It’s on a beach where people actually go in the water. It’s the kind of tourist attraction that you go to when you’re not from California and you want to see California. I don’t go often but when I go I like to play there.

Laffing Sal
Inside the mini golf

Channel Islands Seaside Beauty

July 18, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 1 Comment

Back in April I went to Channel Islands for a birthday trip. I shared most of the photos from that trip back then but recently came across some that were on a different camera. It reminded me of how beautiful the island and the water surrounding it was.

A Hike With Lucy

May 19, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | Leave a comment

I recently took Golden Retriever Lucy on a hike to the Lake Chabot hiking trails, which I hadn’t been to in years. This area in the East Bay is beautiful with some great long trails that aren’t too strenuous. Lucy did great. She was able to go off-leash and she stayed right on the trail. It was lovely.

USC Bookfest

April 28, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | Leave a comment

When we were down in LA for my birthday weekend (to camp on Channel Islands) it was the time for the annual USC Bookfest, one of the largest literary festivals anywhere. We decided to spend a day there, where we listened to an interview and some poetry, visited lots of booths, bought some books on sale, added our hand to some art and ate out of the food trucks.

Making a Book

We went to a booth where we made our own little book. First we wrote a paragraph based on a prompt. Then several copies were made and added to a pile on a table. Then we were able to pick four other people’s on the table to create our story, which we pinned into a book. I had my boyfriend and sister help me with all the parts. It was fun

Channel Islands Historic Machinery

April 26, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 1 Comment

This week I’ve been sharing some of the photos from our trip to Channel Islands, like the whale we saw and the wildflowers that dotted the island. But did you know that the Santa Cruz island that we were on used to be a sheep ranch at the turn of last century? They still have some of the vintage machinery on display on the island.

Us on Channel Islands

April 25, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 1 Comment

This week I’ve been sharing some of the photos from our trip to Channel Islands, like the whale we saw and the wildflowers that dotted the island … but I haven’t shared many of us yet. The trip was with both my brother and sister and all three of our partners.

More Channel Islands Beauty

April 24, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | 3 Comments

This week I’ve been sharing some of the photos from our trip to Channel Islands, like the whale we saw and the wildflowers that dotted the island. Here is some more of the beauty of the island:

Channel Islands Wildflowers

April 23, 2014 by Kathryn Vercillo | Leave a comment

The whale I shared here the other day was the magical highlight of our Channel Islands camping trip but I have to say I also really loved that it was wildflower blooming season on the island.