Day Twelve: It's All Transit From Here (Just Jen)

This will be a shorter post, giving a brief account of my return journey to Ontario. It wasn't wildly eventful, but it did start with a text message buzzing my phone at 12:30am. I groggily checked to find a message from Air Canada letting me know that my flight from San Francisco to Toronto had been cancelled due to a "technical issue from an earlier flight which is causing the aircraft that is schedled to operate [my] flight to not be available." As I was processing this initial message, a second one came in, apologizing for the inconvenince of the cancellation, but letting me know I'd been automatically rebooked for another flight. Except now instead of arriving in Toronto on Saturday at 7pm, I was to be departing on Sunday at 8am, routed through Montreal, and then arriving Sunday evening at 8pm. 

"Absolutely not" was the mantra running through my head while I was on hold with Air Canada and actively searching myself for alternate options. Granted, a one day delay over a weekend is far from the worst case scenario, but having no time to recalibrate before going to work on Monday gave me some serious ick. Plus, the part where it was the middle of the night. I promise I used all the manners I was raised with when I finally spoke with an Air Canada representative though. He was very kind with my asks for literally any option to get me back sooner, I'd absolutely take a red-eye if needed, and just to be sure there were definitely no direct options? Eventually we settled on a 5pm departure from San Francisco to Vancouver, followed by a red-eye that would have me arrive in Toronto at 5am local time. 

I was thankfully functioning well enough to think to e-mail my shuttle from Toronto to Kitchener of the change, and hope they were flexible with my new arrival time. I then made my best attempt to resume sleep, as Becca was taking me to the Davis train station for the 6:10am start of my journey to the San Francisco Airport. I didn't want to throw any wrenches in their family's timeline for the day as they've been so lovely accommodating me, and also didn't have it in me to rebook my train ticket at that hour. 

And so Becca and I said our goodbyes at sunrise on the platform of the Davis South Pacific Train station (in operation since 1908, with the current building from 1913). 

I took the train to Richmond, where I transferred over to a streetcar (maybe a streetcar, still unclear on that part) and eventually made my way through familiar scenery in San Francisco, and some new vantage points as well. 

I'd been a bit uncertain how busy the airport would  be, as I'd realized a couple days before that it was Memorial Day Weekend in the US. Thankfully it was pretty quiet and I made it through customs in a matter of minutes. Although, it wouldn't have mattered much as I had lots of time to spare with the time change for my departure. The wait wasn't bad as the wireless internet meant that in addition to reading and wander, I could also do some surfing and show watching. When it was almost time to start boarding, my phone buzzed with a new message from Air Canada. My connecting flight in Vancouver was delayed by an hour. I did my best to will the universe to not delay it any further, but to be honest started assuming I was in for a series of unfortunate events. Luckily my pessimism was misplaced though, as I’m at my gate in Vancouver as I write this, and the call to board has started.

Thank you for tuning in for another Trish and Jen adventure! As Trish mentioned in her last post, we’ll see where the winds take us next time :)

Day Eleven: A Day in Davis (Just Jen)

For my last day in Davis, California, we spent the day exploring Davis itself. We started off by visiting a few different neighbourhoods while Becca pointed out noteworthy locations. We stopped in at the local library, which is when I learned that I was in Yolo County (entertaining due to the youths that used to use YOLO - you only live once - as a rationale for many a questionable decision). I also discovered that free COVID tests are provided at the library, and can be accessed in an outdoor vending machine.

We made our way to Village Homes, where the streets have some delightful names (for those of you familiar with Lord of the Rings), and a very large community garden. We walked the length of the garden past artichoke plants and fig trees, grape vines and chicken coops, local wildflowers and succulents (I explained to Becca that I already knew I wasn't allowed to take any baby succulents home). 

My sincere apologies to Trish - I promise that I didn't mean to find any more cats without you, but I spotted one in the garden, and another came out to claim a toll of pets each time we walked by. 

From there we made our way to downtown Davis, stopping briefly at Cactus Corners, which, is exactly what you're picturing, but stil, see pictures below. When we arrived downtown we, of course, stopped in at a bookshop. I refrained from adding to the book count at Avid Reader Bookstore although it was tempting. 

After lunch at a Davis staple, Tres Hermanas, our next stop was to visit Becca's husband, Andrew, at UC Davis where he works. We had a small window of time before he was heading into a meeting, but I got to have a tour of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Sciences. It's made up of three buildings that house thet Department of Viticulture and Enology (aka wine school), the Department of Food Science and Technology, and a state-of-the-art sensory lab. Andrew toured me through where students make wine and beer, and one of the classes where he teaches that is set up with kitchen stations for the students to work. I'll do a terrible job of relaying it here, but Andrew explained that the sensory lab is where they can research and test food and beverage products with the human senses. This allows them to get information on characteristics like appearance, texture, odor, and taste. Some rooms can be set up as separate booths so participants can't see each other's reactions, with red lights to make it hard to determine the colour the product, and one room that includes 3D projections to help give the sensation of being in a different place. While I don't have photos of any of what I've just mentioned, I did snap a picture of the UC Davis vineyard, as obviously they have one. 

Up next Becca and I made our way to the nearby UC Davis Arboretum to walk the trail. It was originally founded in 1936 and has some 22,000 trees and plants in the 100-acres along the Putah Creek. There is a paved path loop for pedestrians, which we didn't have enough time to complete fully, but agreed we could finish it when I come next to visit. Naturally, if I completed everything Davis has to offer, I'd have no reason to come back again. We had a lovely stroll watching for turtles and trying to determine what else was lurking below the surface, spotting birds/butterflies/dragonflies, and of course the plants and trees themselves. 

On our way back, we spotted a turkey sitting on top of a car. Apparently this is a very common thing (and therefore an important Davis experience for me to have). A bunch of Turkey's live in the Davis Cemetery, and will leave their home base and sit atop cars, daring you to challenge their rightful presence there. We did not challenge the turkey. 

We took Becca's youngest daughter to her tap class, and I was granted permission by her to sneak into the class for the last 10min to watch. Becca, however, was denied permission and apparently has never been allowed to come in. So, I felt pretty special getting to see the little tap dancers, and was glad to report back that Becca's daughter was absolutely the top of her class, and incredibly adorable. Next I said my goodbyes to both of the girls, and explained I wouldn't get to see them again before I had to leave. Becca and I were heading with two of her friends to Sacramento for an escape room and dinner, so we'd be back after bedtime, and my early train meant I'd be leaving before they woke up. Both were willing to give up a hug, and it was truly so sweet how they included me in their days while I was around. 

Local sights were pointed out to me on the way to Sacramento, and I experienced first hand the oddity of their on-ramps. While the carpool lane merges on to the highway much as I'm used to, the regular lane has a stop light on the on-ramp. The theory is that this helps to stagger traffic onto the highway for easy merging, but the idea of coming to a full stop before accelerating to match highway speeds is...uh...different. We successfully completed the escape room (with some hints along the way) and then Becca and I had our first experiences at an Olive Garden for dinner (which was much akin to East Side Mario's in our opinion). I don't have a copy of our victory photo from the escape room, so instead, I'll end this post with a picture of the lobby and whatever this creature may happen to be. 

Day Ten: Stebbins Cold Canyon (Just Jen)

After walking the girls to school this morning, Becca and I headed to Stebbins Cold Canyon to hike the Blue Ridge and Homestead trails. This would be her fourth attempt to complete the trail, which did not fill me with confidence. Granted, she had made two attempts with children, but still. Her assurances we could stop as often as I wanted for breaks was equal measures  reassuring and adding to my concern. I sent a message to our mutual friends where they could find my body incase I didn’t make it back, and Becca assured them she wouldn’t leave me behind.

Along the way Becca pointed out trees that had strange bumps near the bottom of their trunks. She explained that grafting was quite common for orchard trees, to pair fruit bearing tops with the bottoms of trees known to have better root systems. We also passed a few ranches where I suggested she could send someone on horseback to retrieve me from the canyon if needed.

Becca: See that dip in the middle there? That’s where we’re going.

Jen: Oh good, the smallest of the mountains. 

Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve is part of the California Inner Coast Range, and is maintained by the University of California as an ecological preserve for teaching and research. There was a wildfire burn in 2020, likely started from a lightening storm, that swept through much of the area. Nature has been recovering though, and this past “winter” saw a lot of rain creating beautiful blooms of wildflowers. UC Davis is researching the recovery, and we saw multiple wildlife cameras along the way. 

We opted to take the trail on counter-clockwise, as this would start us off with the hardest part - a series of switchback trails leading us up to the ridge. A steeper (and therefore quicker) incline up to the ridge, versus the clockwise option of a long sloping trail to the top. 

Here we are at the bottom, with that lovely peak off in the distance being the high point of the trek.

We crossed over a creek, then began our climb. 

No pictures of the steep inclines as I was busy watching my footing and remembering to breathe. Becca may have snapped a few photos of me during this time, but oddly, they’re not the least bit flattering. Please enjoy photos of our lizard friends instead. 

Becca was very supportive anytime I needed to stop along the way to catch my breath before taking on the next section. We were Team Tortoise. It was always a good opportunity to take in the view as well, and re-confirm she was absolutely sure that really high point was where she wanted to go. She never wavered on that.

Eventually we made it to a nice vantage point, with a lovely view of Lake Berryessa. Please note this is not the summit, although we’d hit the 1h mark of our ascension at this point. I had long since stopped getting a shred of hope each time Becca said “We’re almost at the top!…of this rise.”

After a water and granola break, we took on the last part of the trail to reach the summit, which was about 460 meters up from where we’d started the trail. One of the last bits was what Becca called a “scramble” as we worked our way up through rock and boulders (less of a trail than a “choose your own adventure” rocky climb).

Ah, sweet bliss when we finally made it to the actual top! From here, we would be getting to the actual ridge portion of the Blue Ridge Trail. Becca and I decided we were now on a hobbit journey, as the scenery seemed fitting, and having the hardest part behind done had energized us. 

Although in theory we were done the ascent, I refused to be fooled. I knew there would be more hidden hills to climb, and declared there would be seven more. We had several debates during my countdown with Becca making statements like “That was only two stairs up” or “Jen, this is barely an incline” or “Geeze Louise!” (a favoured saying of frustration of Becca’s). Eventually though, we did end up encountering seven more “hills” (according to me - Becca has higher standards and disputes my count). Thankfully they were well spaced out along a long and sloping decline that brought us through some beautiful scenery of burnt trees and beautiful wildflowers, as we transitioned to the Homestead Trail.

We did it! 8.06km of trail completed, which I now know is just over 5 miles. We did it in just over 2h30min, and according to Becca’s phone we had an average speed of 3.1km/h, which tracks with the inclines and declines we had to slowly navigate for minimal slippage. Our fastest time was 8.9km/h, which I assume was when Becca kept telling we needed to “finish strong” as we neared the end. After completion she sent a proof-of-life photo to our mutual friends. 

The rest of the day was spent low key, playing cards with a friend of Becca’s (Davis Jen, as I have clearly been replaced), and ended with a second round of bedtime stories read to me. This honestly has some lovely perks! Only one more day before I make my way back home to Ontario though, so plans were made for my final day to be one of experiencing Davis.