Our family’s ‘third’ place: parks and community garden

Shelter-in-place affects the way that we can work in our community garden

I’m taking a course in Sociology through Santa Rosa Junior College, and a recent discussion assignment asked, “Where is your ‘third’ place?”

Multi-use paths, closed to bikes but not pedestrians?

With parks closed in Sonoma County to prevent spread of COVID-19, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition raises a fair concern: why are multi-use paths off-limits to cyclists, but still available to pedestrians?

Utility wagon for visit to the nursery

Our cloth-over-steel-frame wagon was the perfect choice for a walk to the nursery to buy pots for an olive tree and succulents. This wagon has turned out to be one of our best investments, great for hauling larger loads than are feasible for on-foot or bicycle.

Pokémon GO ‘Adventure Sync’

What could be in this egg, which we incubated while walking via mobile-game Pokémon GO? Actually, we hatched MANY eggs, spending yesterday almost entirely on-foot.

We began our day with a walk from our apartment to Santa Rosa’s transit mall. We had Route 4 drop us at Maria Carrillo High School on Montecito Boulevard. That’s in easternmost Santa Rosa, right off Calistoga Road.

We walked 3 miles for a Walk MS fundraiser, then headed down Brush Creek Trail and out along Mission Boulevard.

Our route then took us down Montgomery Drive for a rest at Montgomery Village, before continuing on our walk back to Santa Rosa downtown.

While in the downtown, we stopped for “Free Comic Book Day” at Outer Planes Comics and Games, before walking the remaining few blocks back to our apartment.

Altogether, we walked about 11 miles (according to a step-counting app). We used “Adventure Sync” to help incubate the eggs when not running Pokémon Go.

‘Walk MS’ in Santa Rosa, California

Walking has ALWAYS been Team Darkhill’s thing, and wherever we lived, we’ve looked for ways to harness that power for good.

In Lake County, California, we walked each year in the “Vineyard Run for Literacy,” which benefited Adult Literacy at the Lake County Library. In Ashland, Oregon, we supported Ashland schools via the “Monster Dash.”

As of yesterday, we each walked 3 miles in the Santa Rosa Walk MS event. Our route began and ended at Maria Carrillo High School; it took us past Rincon Valley Library, through Rincon Valley Community Park and along neighborhood streets before heading back along Montecito Boulevard.

Walking has been such a core part of our lives, you might even call it our “super-power.” It feels good to channel something that we enjoy so much, into making the world a better place. Jonathan and I will be looking for additional fundraiser-walks, as well as continuing to walk nearly everywhere during our day-to-day travels.

Feel like contributing toward Walk MS? You can share a donation at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/cynthiaparkhill

Geocaching expedition through S.F.’s Golden Gate Park

Caught Golden Gate Transit​’s Route 101 down to San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 29, for an adventure in geocaching. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency​’s Routes 28 and 5 brought us out to Ocean Beach, and we then made our way through S.F.’s Golden Gate Park​, hunting for caches as we went. Our final geocaching stop for the day was outside the de Young Museum​, near its “Pool of Enchantment.” Cool, overcast weather made a great day for traveling through Golden Gate Park on-foot. We’re looking forward to further geocaching expeditions aboard the area’s public transit.

Trackable geocaching tokens

CityBus pass and PathTags token

Bought a couple of all-day CityBus passes, and headed out for geocaching adventure. First stop, “Good Grief Sparky!,” which requires the user to visit a Santa Rosa landmark — where, using information we obtained on-site, we were able to obtain the coordinates we needed to locate a hidden cache.

Geocaching

Jonathan and I have embarked on an outdoor treasure-hunting adventure! Geocaching involves using GPS to locate a hidden object.

With so many phones now equipped with GPS, participation can be as simple as downloading a free app and creating an account.

Caches come in a range of sizes, and shapes. This one had an appealing “hand-crafted” look, sort of a paper-collage effect.

The caches generally include a paper “log” for finders to write their names, but some of them also carry little “prizes” and even trackable tokens. If you take a prize from the Geocache, it’s nice to leave something too, for the next finder who comes along.

Jonathan and I went around to some local thrift stores and assembled a “stash” of trinkets, less than $1 each. Later, we might also purchase tokens from the Geocaching store.

I especially like combining Geocache with a ride via public transit or a trip on-foot or by bicycling. Yesterday, we caught Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit from downtown Santa Rosa. We disembarked in Cotati, and then used our apps to look for nearby caches.

Commute by-bike for summer school

During the summer, I’m working for “summer school” at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa. My work-days this week each began and ended with a bicycle ride. It takes me a 15- or 20-minute ride to reach Montgomery High School from our apartment.

Pacsafe Metrosafe LS450, essential for daily commute

For my daily commute as a non-motorist, I rely on the Pacsafe Metrosafe LS450. This roomy, but not overly-large, pack is suitable to my small frame. It’ll hold my lunch, it’ll hold my reading glasses and maybe a book or two. It has water-bottle pockets on each side of the pack to hold my reusable bottle.

Once at work, if I need to travel with a laptop to another part of campus, the bag ensures that I can carry it hands-free, without risk of dropping the laptop.

For those occasions when I find myself part of a pressed-in crowd, the pack has several security features that make it resistant to theft. There’s wire mesh embedded in the fabric and wire-reinforcement in the straps. And security clips make it more difficult for a thief to un-zip the bag's pockets and reach inside.

Possibly best of all, during most occasions of use, the pack is comfortable to wear. The straps have an ergonomic cut to them, molded to the neck and shoulders. I’d have liked the bag to include a sternum strap to help with heavier loads, but for the typical load I carry during commutes, the bag lets me travel in comfort.

Fortunately, it was easy to add a removable sternum strap. I also have a reflective and waterproof backpack cover to keep pack contents dry, as well as to provide greater visibility when I wear the pack while traveling by bicycle.

San Francisco via train, bus, and ferry

Took a library-themed day trip to San Francisco this week, to celebrate my birthday. Rode aboard Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit to the San Rafael Transit Center, then caught Golden Gate Transit’s “Route 31” free shuttle to the Golden Gate Ferry.

Once in SF, we walked to the closest branch of the San Francisco Public Library, which offers a free library card to any California resident.

Our trip wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to Readers Bookstore Fort Mason, operated by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library; with book-laden packs we then made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge Visitors Center, where we caught Golden Gate Transit’s “Route 101X” back to downtown Santa Rosa.

(Image depicts a view of Golden Gate Bridge from the Batteries to Bluffs Trail along the San Francisco shoreline.)

Motorists need to safely ‘share the road’

Tina Panza, education and Safe Routes to School director with Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, recently made a presentation to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office about training and resource options. Her recent visit is the subject of a post by “Sonoma Sheriff” on Facebook.

‘Walk and Roll’ to school today

Here's a friendly reminder of "Walk and Roll" each Wednesday at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. If you haven't already, perhaps you'd give it a try?

The intention behind "Walk and Roll" is to promote alternatives to students commuting to school by car, which is why, every Wednesday, we close the gates to the school parking lot.

(Our school is located just a couple blocks away from bus stops on Mendocino Avenue -- a main corridor both for Santa Rosa CityBus and Sonoma County Transit. There are also places to park your vehicle just a couple blocks away, if you have a younger child or want to ease into the idea of not simply driving your child to school.)

With fewer cars pulling in and out of the driveway, safety is enhanced for those students (and adults) who want to travel to-and-from using "person-powered" transportation.

We admit after-school programs' vans, and people with disabilities who have DMV placards. But we ask that other motorists park safely and legally on the street.

Crossing guard at-risk from cars in Santa Rosa intersections

Santa Rosa crossing guard Mario D’Olivo says he “could have retired long ago if he had a dollar for every motorist who has zipped through the crosswalk despite the red traffic signal overhead and the stop sign in his hand, or who’s breezed by in clear violation of the no-cellphone-while-driving law.”

Living in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Our first weekend in our new apartment in Santa Rosa, Calif.! Having secured a home in the same community where I work and where we like to hang out, we really enjoy our recovered ability to walk, ride our bikes, and take public transit.

‘Walk and Roll,’ school gates close each Wednesday

School is out this week, in observance of Thanksgiving, but I want to reinforce “Walk and Roll” each Wednesday at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts.

‘Walk and Roll to School’ Wednesdays at SRCSA

Wednesdays are “Walk and Roll to School” days at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts! For the first time this week, we closed the yellow gates to the school parking lot on Wednesday; I was out in my bright yellow-green, reflective vest helping to redirect motorists.

Sacramento River pedestrian trail

To escape the fires in Sonoma and Napa counties, we’ve been staying in the Sacramento area. When we checked in to a local hotel, we discovered an unexpected amenity: access by gate to a pedestrian trail along the Sacramento River. Walking along the trail, it took only a few minutes to reach Old Sacramento and the downtown. I could envision us returning, under less-stressful circumstances, and maybe bicycling the length of the trail from one end of Sacramento to the other.

SMART multi-use pathway: construction and safety concerns

Officials with Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit are advancing proposals to fund construction of multi-use pathway segments in Rohnert Park and Petaluma (as reported by Derek Moore, Press Democrat).
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Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts

Every Wednesday is “Walk and Roll to School Day,” at the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts in Sonoma County, Calif. I’ve accepted an offer of employment there, and look forward to starting work in May.