Day 22 - Beware of the Hair

Today started with another round of the unofficial 'packing challenge'; a highly competitive event that takes place everytime we have a change in accomodation location. The challenge? Cram our ever-increasing amount of stuff into our stretched bags. The competition? It's us versus the suitcases. Once victorius (though narrowly so), we moved onto the real essentials - a good dose of cereal, a quick online surf, and a discussion with Arthur about the day's oncoming schedule.

First on the list was a visit to a relatively local chocolate factory ('Scharffen Berger', for all you cocoa conuisseurs). Welcoming any further food-related expereiences, we went along eagerly, anticipating our free samples. Our eagerness, however, was topped by that of our tour guide for the day - an enthusiastic individual who went by the name of Danny. Whilst his facial hair may not have been to everyone's taste - the chocolate provided certainly was (we tasted from dark to light, for the sake of our pallets...apparently), and we spent a thrilling half an hour being educated on the ins and outs of chocolate-making. Then, of course, it was time to see the machines themselves, and for this we donned some exceptional headwear/chinwear (one net covered standard hair, another the lower region of the face to guard against facial hair malting possibilities). Making sure that we were adequately quarantined and posed no conceivable risk to the hygene of the factory, we stepped in and took a quick peek in the melangeur, amongst other intruiging contraptions (as we don't recall the names of any others though, they were evidently not that intruiging). We then took a quick scan around the gift shop, resisted, and made an exit.

Following a brief tour of the local area - which included such modest sites as Pixar HQ, and a main office of 'Wham-O' (the company that patented the Frisbee...if you're reading this blog you really ought to know that already), we quickly went back to base at Arthur's to collect our cases. We then preceeded to our lunch option for the day...a true American-style BBQ held by John - not our John, obviously (he couldn't cook a BBQ!), by a friend of Arthur's, who was hosting a get-together to celebrate moving into his new studio. The place itself looked great, and the food achieved a hypothetical full marks from both of us.

Our potential afternoon jam had been sadly called off due to high winds and high temperatures (a 'hot hurricane'), but after enjoying the grilled chicken on offer, we compensated with a round of disc golf (for the unfamiliar...the clue's in the name). We played at Arthur's local course in San Leandro, where the wind was less due to a more sheltered location, and had a surprisingly enjoyable round, speaking as hard-core freestylers. We went out initially with some freestyle discs for saftey, but soon graduated to the real deal, and were driving and putting proper golf shots all over the shop (though not all went in the baskets, admittedly). No plans to retire from freestyle quite yet though - so all fans...relax.

Once replenished with yet another Starbucks beverage, we said our final farewells to Arthur. Although our stay with him has been a relatively short one, it's been one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip so far - and at least his great personality makes up for his somewhat limited freestyle abilities...only a 6-spinning scarecrow at the beach? Pah! He dropped us off at the BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit...not inspired by Homer's son), and we enjoyed a smooth ride up to Orinda, where Alicia collected us and drove us back to her place.

It's great to be back up around the bay area, Alicia is a perfect host, and we're looking forward to spending a relaxing week between here and Marin County, with many trips into 'Frisco on the cards. We've spent the evening relaxing and watching the classic and highly relevant 'Escape from Alcatraz' (no, we're not planning an escape...but we may well visit the actual prison).

It's time to leave you there for another day,

Happy September! (Best wishes to everyone re-starting school back home...)

J / J