Saturday In The Park (Tilden Park -Berkeley)

With our busy schedules, my husband and I can't get away on weekends even though we feel like we need to very badly. We have to run errands, clean the house and do other chores. When we have a couple hours to ourselves after all these tasks are done, we run away to the many parks near our home. After an hour or so, we find ourselves energized. Just like a trip away from home. And much, much cheaper.

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Tilden Park was the park of choice that weekend. I like the road climbing up the hill. This park is very popular with bikers.

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He parked on the side and wanted to take this path, but this was fenced in and has a NO TRESPASSING sign. He wanted us to jump the fence but I convinced him no :)

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WE stopped again by the roadside where we can sneak a peek at San Pablo Dam/Reservoir. We wanted to see whether all the rain we had this winter has raised the water level. It looked like it did, and the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada hasn't melted yet.

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WE drove and drove some more and found ourselves near the Botanic Garden. The Regional Parks Botanic Garden contains the world's most complete collection of California native plants, including rare and endangered species.
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The Botanic Garden is free of charge. It had been years and years since I last came here, not the park, but this section of the park. So I was pleased to see that nothing had changed.
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We walked and walked.
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I am partial to the redwoods section of the garden.
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It was too early in the season, but I managed to capture a few of the early bloomers.

Then there was a booming announcement overhead that can be heard all the way in the back where we were when the announcement came on. It said the garden is closing so we have to hurry back to the front.

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And so we went back on the road - not ready to go home yet.

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We found ourselves stopping at Lake Anza, where during the summertime the lake is teeming with swimmers.

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While he contemplates on the rising cost of fuel, I took a photograph.
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The trail that led us to the car.

I will share with you more Saturdays in the park in the coming days.

This is my entry for MY WORLD (#115) this week. Show your world here.

Comments

  1. After our big trip to Norway, Maria, we're basically staying near home for awhile, just to make sure we get through all our images before we start another outing. So I know what you mean. I love what's in your backyard, just by driving on a Saturday. Good for you. For me, I'd say the house cleaning can wait. :)

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  2. wow! the third photo actually reminded me of calaguas. oh those hills!

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  3. Now *that* was fun, I feel like I just went on a jaunt out...especially like the shot looking down over the rolling hills to the lake/res!

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  4. wow! i hope we have something like that here. love that kind of sceneries!

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  5. i'm not keen when it comes to exploring trees, what with all the lamok and whatnots, blame the pheromones. ^0^
    but when the place just spells beauty all over, you can' help but be wowed by it.
    they're enchanting! ^0^

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  6. Love those early bloomers. So nice you have all these lovely places to visit within driving distance. But agree the gas prices are out of this world!

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  7. What a fantastic park to explore. I enjoyed your photographs very much!

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  8. What a fun way to "escape" for a little while! And such a gorgeous place! Marvelous captures! I love them all! Hope you have a wonderful week! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  9. What a festive post.
    Lovely photos and such distinctive scenery.

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  10. Good hike!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  11. Great post and I loved the photos. What a great place to visit, the views are very pretty. I love the Redwoods too and the flowers are gorgeous.

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  12. i'm glad the cost of fuel didn't discourage you to drive around. these are beautiful, especially the view of the dam. i love the green rolling hills. gorgeous flowers, too!

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  13. so beautiful...thanks for sharing!

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  14. So nice to see wild strawberries already in flower, they will provide a nice little snack later in the season.

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  15. a wonderful look at your world. i enjoy all your photos very much.

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  16. That looks like a beautiful area - great shots. I love how green everything is.

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  17. Fantastic photos! My favourite has to be the verdant rolling hills.
    My husband and I have the same dilemma. Finding time to just relax is a challenge, and finding a park or a place to go to is another one. We don't have parks like that in Cambodia that are a short-trip away :(

    Inside Cambodia

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  18. Wonderful place full of beautiful nature! This is the best place to relax and recharge your energy. I enjoyed tour with you. Thank you for sharing.

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  19. i love the pic of your hubby looking at the water, which looked like it had ridges on it. beautiful!

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  20. The Bay Area is blessed with so many wonderful regional parks I am a bit envious. They must make up a bit for the crowded cities there.
    I hope your nephew realizes his dream of being a geologist, it is a very interesting subject.

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  21. the 3rd photo looks like taken somewhere in calaguas!
    ay nako, you have no idea how hot is it here in pinas. ang init ng summer! hehe

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  22. that was lovely! visually invigorating!

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  23. What a beautiful place to re-charge your batteries!

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  24. That's surely a nice way to unwind and relax yourselves. Early bloomers' modest and quiet color and shape are welcome relief compared to the loud ones. I've enjoyed accompanying you. Thank you!

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  25. Wonderful and relaxing views of the park and very beautiful collage of flowers!

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  26. Wonderful nature - and yes, we are all contemplating the cost of fuel.

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  27. What a beautiful place to visit! My dogs would love to join on such a hike!!

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  28. Beautiful park, very scenic.

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  29. I would do the same without the bike. The drive is so scenic. Flowers gave the good promise of spring!

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  30. great captures! my fave is the rolling hills. It looks so much like Batanes. Have a good HOly Week!

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  31. the photo of the dam reminds of the Lord of the Rings, the Shire. i laughed at the photo of your hubby contemplating about rising gas prices...lol.

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  32. It's beautiful! The third shot is my favourite.

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  33. How pretty! We're lucky to have so many cool places so close by!

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  34. Lovely parks - I haven't been around to Berkeley in any of my SF trips. I think of the area being urban, but there is a lot of nature if you know where to look.

    Isn't there a botanical garden in San Francisco as well? I had hoped to get there on my last visit but the timing didn't work out.

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  35. PS I'm not so good at identifying birds I see either, but after a while I do recognize the ones I see all the time. The teals were a bit of a challenge since they aren't so common to me.

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  36. Indeed, we don't have to travel so very far to see beautiful things - even our own backyards can be a minefield of sights and experiences.

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  37. Beautiful park and scenes!
    Thank you for sharing.
    Regards.

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  38. What a great and beautiful park, it looks like mountains their, very nice. Seems that you have a lot of fun.

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  39. Buena aventura , deporte y naturaleza¡¡¡¡ Saludos

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  40. A fine series with such nice variation. I like all those attractive paths and places to walk. The flowers look so good too. Altogether... a fine post.

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  41. wonderful... one more month to go... I would be seeing these things :)

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