Blogs are dead. Many fewer people read this blog than before, for example. Matt thinks that social networking sites like Facebook are replacing blogs. So we decided to write more words in this blog, in order to regain your interest. But in all likelihood we'll start using Facebook like everybody else.

We went to the Pacific Northwest of the US.

On Wednesday 12 September, Pat and Diane took us to the circus dinner Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco.

Pat and Matt had taken Patricia to lunch in Stockton that morning.

On Friday we ate burritos and played crazy golf with the Forneys around Contra Costa.


Above: Bryce watches Aria Forney put.

On Saturday we had breakfast with the Ferns in Berkeley, saw a reggae concert in Yerba Buena Gardens with Butch Akbarian, and had a Mexican dinner with Willy Zuniga, his girlfriend Katie, and Butch near Lake Merritt in Oakland.


Above: Butch in Yerba Buena Gardens. (Clare is near the tree trunk.)



Above: Clare and Matt in Union Square. (Photo by Butch Akbarian.)

On Sunday we went to the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk with Pat and Diane.


Above: Clare dancing in Santa Cruz.

On Monday we visited Patricia in Stockton and Russell and Verneda in Brentwood.

On Tuesday we took Diane to Chez Panisse for her 60th birthday, a few months late.


Above: Diane at Chez Panisse.

On Wednesday 19 September, we visited the O'Gormans in Cloverdale. Chris showed us his winery in Napa. We also met the O'Gorman children.

On Thursday we camped in the Redwood National Park.


Above: Clare in Ferndale near the redwoods.



Above: Elk on Highway 101 in the redwoods.

We spent the weekend with Brian and Karen in Jefferson State, between Oregon and California. The four of us saw a Tom Stoppard play and went white-water rafting.


Above: Karen and Brian in Ashland.



Above: Brian fly fishing.



Above: Clare on the river.



Above: Matt on the river.

We returned to Martinez on Tuesday, left California on Wednesday, arrived in London on Thursday, and returned to work on Friday.

Straight from work, after spending just one night in London, Matt left England again for Rich Warner's stag do in Wales. He and the other men went paint balling, quod biking, and night clubbing.

Pictures of the stag do might be on Facebook, if you hurry.