Father's Day Weekend, El Dorado Hills, CA

This was my first visit to Darcy & Jeff’s new home in El Dorado Hills, a 144-mile 2.5 – 3 hour drive from Half Moon Bay, roughly 30 miles east of Sacramento off Hwy 50. An added bonus of the weekend was a concurrent visit by Jeff’s son and daughters. They have found a wonderful home in a great location, a mere 10-minute walk from Jeff’s office, and they are well moved in already.

On Saturday afternoon, we hit the road to visit a couple of local wineries, the Sogno Winery in Shingle Springs

and the Gold Hill Vineyard in greater Placerville,

followed by dinner served family-style at an Italian restaurant on Main Street in Placerville.

On Sunday, after playing with the Wii a little bit, we headed into Sacramento for a little bit of tourism in Old Sacramento, overlooking the Sacramento River,

a bite to eat at the River City Brewing Company, and a tour of the State Capitol Building.

Prior to Sunday, I was completely unaware that Old Sacramento existed – it was a nice visit, a little touristy.

We returned to Darcy & Jeff’s in time to watch the conclusion of the 4^th round of the US Open and Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Upon the conclusion of the golf, Darcy and I began considering making the trip down to San Diego for Monday’s playoff; we concluded that we couldn’t make the logistics or economics work, but it was fun to consider it (and exemplary of the freedom that my sabbatical gives me). Instead, we watched the playoff on the tube on Monday – what a thriller! – before taking a short drive over to Folsom Lake, where D&J will keep their boat and jet skis. Given the drought, and the current water levels, it’s going to be a short season this summer, unfortunately, but what a beautiful spot, and very close to their home.

Monday evening, I joined Jeff for a business dinner at Bistro 33 El Dorado Hills; great dinner and company.

It is a blessing to have family so relatively close, with D&J’s relocation, and a very nice way to begin my sabbatical, visiting and catching up with them and with my nephew and nieces.

Last Friday was my last day of work before sabbatical. After having engaged in many discussions with work colleagues over the past few months, talking them through their denial about the fact that I’d be leaving in mid-June, I ironically found myself, late morning last Friday, unbelieving that it was my last work day of the year. I had been running in 4^th gear most of this year, making myself available to my employer at least 6 days per week leading up to my departure to assure as smooth a transition as possible, so it’s a little bit of a challenge to disengage – though I am up to the task, no doubt. I hope visions of spreadsheets and documents to be proofread will be less a part of my dreams as the days pass.