People keep asking me

‘Are you excited to go home?’
Home??!
My home is still here in San Ramon! How can I be excited about living in Ghent which I know only from The Ghent Festivities?

But yes, somehow I’m excited and frightened simultaneously.
What’s wrong with me? I used to love the excitement of change and I didn’t mind to start again.
Now I feel tired and dull.
I live in a kind of grey world, I feel like I can’t enjoy it anymore here and even though I’m anxious, I’m very curious to learn what’s about to come out there.

Anyway, I really try my best not to make this moving a big deal. Maarten is quite a sensitive boy so it should be better without any 'big goodbyes'.
But we still had to prepare him for the change.
He is looking forward to live ‘close’ to his grandmas and all the friendly uncles and aunties, but...there are a lot of ‘buts’ and 'whys'.
And I've already noticed ‘some’ changes’ in his behavior.

Quite understandable since California is where he grew up. His home is here, even though he actually was born in Belgium.


As the experts say, growing abroad has a lot of advantages for our children. They may learn foreign languages and their exposure to varieties of cultures may add to more respect and tolerance for different norms and values.
But how about their friendships? They have to start again and again. Will their relationships remain shallow because they know it’s only for the time being?

As for Maarten, I guess, we don’t have to worry about that. Not yet.

Change isn't scary - it's growth. And growth is the essence of life. Getting sentimental?

My mom enrolled me into a German class when I was about 8 years old. Despite the fact that she was partly German, my mother was never allowed to learn the language.
I had to do that instead of her.

I hated it but there were some nice parts as well.
I liked my teacher who was originally from West Germany. She used to tell us about her travels in the 'distant West'; about skiing in the Alps and about the huge trees growing only in California!
I still remember all those dream away stories.

Then the year 1989 came and suddenly we were actually allowed to travel wherever we wanted to.
I did a lot and I also scanned the bookstores in search for guidebooks about all my dream countries.
Once together with books about India and Australia I also bought one about California.

Unfortunately I didn't have a travel buddy then...you may guess, the money was the issue!
Thanks to one of my colleagues I came in touch with her ex-schoolmate and we were planning on going together. To California!
But then at last she made up her mind and decided to put her money into her wedding and into a house she was about to build with her fiancé!
How could you choose settling down over a trip to California?!!

Continuing travelling and moving around I kept my guide books.
Then, four years ago, while we were packing again to move to the Ardennes I found those books and seriously considered to throw them away.
As a fresh mom I was not that much into travels anymore.
But, maybe out of nostalgia, I kept them.

Only one month later Rob came home with this job offer and so... here I'm, living in one of my dream-to-visit countries, hugging the huge trees myself!!


After the years the places on the pictures in my guidebook don't seem to me that exotic as before.
But don't get me wrong! California is definitely a place of indescribable natural beauty and it was worth using the opportunity of living here.
Even though I'm ready for the change I'm going to miss California immensely.

But cheer up!
There are still some unused guidebooks left!

They are back!

Playing, cooling off with their flippers up or just floating and relaxing.
Some were swimming quietly along looking at us for a while and then back under the water to reappear some place else a little later.


If it wasn't so foggy and drizzly I could sit and watch them all day long.

Sadly, we found again four more sea lion corpses!




We walked the beach all the way to the historic distillery.
It's fun to hop on the slippery rocks, though some places were difficult to pass because of the drift seaweed.
Many birds were feeding there.



Along the bluff and on the beach there are still some remnants of the Ocean Shore Railroad once following northern California's coastline. You can still see the bridge support, rusted iron, bricks and concrete walls.
The rest has gone into the sea...

One morning at the beach

I like the foggy mornings at the beach.
We are trying to get there as early as possible to explore the tide pools. Sometimes we are lucky to see the abundant marine life on the exposed rocks.
We did not managed to be there during the low tide at 6:30! this Sunday, but there is always enough to do and see on this beach anyway.


There are usually many sea lions resting on the reef at a safe distance.
But this time there were none.




We noticed some of them swimming curiously around and playing hide and seek with us.


Couple of death sea lions washed ashore may be the reason.
Did they die of natural causes?

Our little diver

Maarten used to refuse swimming with his head down when he was asked to do so by Mister Rob, the swimming instructor.
Naturally he could, but he simply didn't see any reason for doing it.
Why should I put my head down when I can keep it up!
Sooo stubborn!

One year later nothing is more fun to him than swimming underwater.
And he can swim all across the pool by himself!
What a relief.

Santa Barbara (7 - 9 August)

Many find Santa Barbara worth paying a visit for it's pleasant coastal climate, Spanish architecture and youthful vivacity.
This is a real holiday area.
With hills on the background and beaches lined by palm trees, the pretty town looks rich and prosperous.
Even though this first impression may change if you take a stroll outside the historic State Street area.
I haven't seen so many homeless together in a long time. Often accompanied by dogs they wander the streets pushing grocery carts loaded with junk.
So sad!


We enjoyed the beach and pool at our hotel
but we couldn't miss the old historical Mission.







It felt a little strange seeing historical buildings like those here in California.

Last weekend Santa Barbara was even more crowded because of it's Fiesta.
The original noble purpose of increasing presence of police to avoid incidents during the celebrations shifted obviously to hunting for confused tourists lost in the chaotic downtown's traffic. The unlucky ones had to add a traffic ticket to the price of their Santa Barbara stay.
The police beacons red and blue lights were flashing all over the place.

I'd rather not comment on that any further but it was quite a relief to leave Santa Barbara on Sunday morning.


We stopped in the kitschy Danish town of Solvang traditionally to buy European bread and pastry.

Our trip home went smoothly.
But then just past Fremont we got accompanied by this strange acting police car.
The car was being driven in an aggressive erratic manner across the freeway switching lanes continually.
The police behaviour in this country still puzzles me.

Wildfire along Crow Canyon Rd?

Last summer we had to spend many days inside the house.
Not because of the heat and burning sun but due to the omnipresence of smoke from the wildfires. Besides that the idea of quickly spreading fires was kind of scary and the grey smoke irritated your eyes and caused difficult breathing.

In the beginning of this week I thought this summer seemes to be not that bad.

Yet, today while driving Maarten to his swimming class we saw several fire trucks
with lights and sirens rushing through the traffic in our neighbourhood.

Later I heard on radio about a wildfire along the Crow Canyon Road.
'Only' a grassy area is burning and there are no constructions in danger.

I hope the fire is under control right now since this is really pretty close to our house.

Who is eating my tomatoes?!

This is how I keep finding my garden every morning!
The tomatoes, some still green when attacked, are carried off and then discarded after being nibbled on.

John Muir Wilderness (July 27 - 31)

It's supposed to be hot with temperatures above 100 °F in the Bishop Area. I must have missed that part announcing the afternoon thunderstorms.
Well, one should bear in mind that we were not camping down in the Owens Valley but above 8000 feet.
As the high-mountain weather is often unpredictable and can change quickly, our mornings started with sun and heat followed by thunderstorm in the late afternoon.

And yes, we got really soaked once which partly destroyed our trip to the falls in Big Pine Canyon.

On our way back to the campground we stopped in Bishop at the famous Erick Schat's Bakkerij to buy yummy 'Dutch' bread.

Thunderstorms used to frighten Maarten but now he has gotten used to it. He didn't have much choice.

After a day of hiking in the heat the showers brought a welcome relief as temperatures dropped as well when the rain began.


There is so much excellent hiking in the area. It was hard to choose where to go. But you have to be in the mood for hiking up if you want to experience this breathtaking alpine scenery. And all the suggested trips in our guide book were from 7 miles and up which might be too heavy for our little hiker.


We choose a loop trip leading along many rock-lined lakes. There are lakes everywhere! Starting the Bishop Pass Trail at South Lake, we hiked to the scenic Long Lake, then turned to Ruwau Lake, we climbed steep uphill to the ridgetop to overlook the Chocolate Lakes and after passing the round Bull Lake we rejoined the Bishop Pass Trail again.


We had to cross streams many times and after climbing the steep rocky sections of the trail, Maarten could swim in the ice cold water. And there was still some snow along the path at certain places.
Hence, the best way to keep Maarten going.



We couldn't miss the beautiful Sabrina Basin. But our trip to the Blue Lake was not that fortunate. The trail we took had a dead end by the waterfall that feeds Lake Sabrina and we almost got eaten alive by hungry mosquitoes.

The scenic Blue Lake surrounded by impressive granite peaks was worth the climb at last.


It got a little cloudy in the afternoon.
In an ideal world the clouds will shade the exposed steep and rocky switchbacks while climbing up and it will clear up again at the destination to take the perfect picture.




Well, this world is simply not ideal.

Is our stay in California coming to an end?

I really have to share this and I will do my best to keep this post short.

We are probably going to leave the States before the end of this year!

Even though all the years here we were never certain how long we are going to stay, this came as a shock to me.

Honestly I've never planned to die in California and I do miss our family and friends.
It can be a bit lonely over here...

Yet thinking of moving again and overseas with a 4 year old makes me feel nauseous.
O.K., let's start again in another country! But for how long for this once?!