Well, it’s the end of January and seems to be warming up a bit here, slowly but surely! It’s been bike-able in the mornings (I define bike-able as over 40F/5C, which seems to be my threshold), and downright beautiful in the afternoons, getting up to 72F/20C on a frequent basis. I was running some errands this afternoon and (ecstatically) put the top down!!   Last weekend we decided that instead of a hike we’d go for a long bike ride. We chose the Coyote Creek trail because it was close, paved, had good reviews, and we could go a total of 35 miles / 56km round-trip if we wanted to.…

Last weekend was another beautiful one with sunny days and highs around 23C/74F. I wonder if we’ll ever get used to it. I know everyone in Ottawa is laughing at me right now, but I do find that I miss the change in season from winter to spring. I love those first few days of spring, with temperatures warm enough to open windows (anything above 10C/50F counts as “warm” after a winter of -20C) and go outside with only a light sweater or jacket. I also miss the smell of spring – of the snow melting and new things growing. Still, I suppose the tradeoff is that one never has…

It’s been unusually cold in California this winter, but it’s been warming up over the past couple of weeks. Last weekend Nick and I went and played catch in the park on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon, and had to wear sweaters. Even though it was only 55F/13C, an ice cream truck drove by! We went and played catch again today, and it was about 68F/20C. No sweaters today! We wore tshirts. But also no ice cream truck. The locals are telling us that it is most certainly still winter here, but we feel like this is spring weather (and it seems like so do a lot of people –…

All of the snow we experienced in Ottawa reminded us that we live in a region where it’s possible to be active outdoors almost 365 days a year, even when it’s “cold” (it rarely gets below freezing here – and even then, only early in the morning). I need to get better at biking to work (it’s a 15 minute bike ride along nice wide paved roads that aren’t too traffic-heavy), and we both need to get better at getting outside on the weekends. That being said, our first weekend outing was on Saturday. We found an awesome website called AllTrails that has a whole database of hiking and cycling…

Nick and I were super excited to go home to Ottawa for Christmas. We really miss our family and friends, and were really looking forward to spending lots of time with them. But perhaps most of all, we were excited for two things……Canadian beer, and Caesars!! We had a two-hour layover in Toronto and the first thing we did was go find a bar (that actually sounds really sad, but perhaps if you’re Canadian you will understand the draw of a Caesar after 4 months of Bloody Marys). We were also pretty excited for the snow. There’s no snow in San Jose, just a lot of rain, and this one…

I of course use the term “winter” lightly 🙂 We’ve been on a few outings since November, including a 10-day trip back to Ottawa, where we got our fill of snow for another year. First, here’s a shot from our friends’ home in Belmont. They live at the top of a hill and you can see all the way to San Francisco. They are surrounded by eucalyptus trees, which means the air smells amazing, and deer will often traipse through their back yard.  Next, some shots from Christmas in the Park here in San Jose. Christmas in the Park is a little festival that the city of San Jose puts…