[MikeD]

Well, we're finally here!

After driving cross-country with two cats in the car and shacking at my cousin's in a quaint Oakland house near the Fruitvale BART (!), in a bittersweet moment, we signed a lease on a place in Walnut Creek.

It's not quite what we'd been planning on, but in measuring our needs for space, amenities, tolerance for some freaky potential landlords, safety, and proximity to BART (which I'll be taking to the office most days, or I'll be using a work car to drive outside of rush hours or to locations not in the city), we found this place to be our best bet in the short time we had to search.

We'd have loved Rock Ridge or North Berkeley, but nothing panned out there in our price range, nor did the wierd and competitive open-house apartment showings work very well for us.

Any good riding out in the hills and the heat? The hills are pretty nice to look at...too bad my bikes won't arrive until the 3d week in July. (Along with the rest of our stuff...)

See you all on the trails very soon...your advice was much appreciated.

-Mike

 

[dump]

eek - walnut creek?! It's tough looking for a place under time constraints...

anyway, good to have you around... we'll have to link up when you get your bikes.

 

[MikeD]

eek - walnut creek?! It's tough looking for a place under time constraints...

anyway, good to have you around... we'll have to link up when you get your bikes.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by Walnut Creek...but the decision was really my wife's. She's going to be living there alone quite a bit of the time while I travel for work, so I wanted a place that made her feel safe and happy, gave her support for maintenance problems when I wasn't around, and gave us things like a washer/dryer and dishwasher so that we didn't spend our limited time together doing chores...and so that I could ride more. Don't think I'll be able to do as much as I used to.

The place does provide for a decent amount of bike storage in a locked room off the 3d-floor balcony, though, which will be nice...and I can put my workbench out there next to my grill.

It was kind of a gut-wrenching decision to choose amenities over lifestyle...we'd made fun of people who did that for years. Now we're more damned suburbanite commuters. Hopefully it works out well for us...if not, we can move.

Definitely looking forward to a ride with you all when we can get it together. Is there a good resource for scoping out trails in the area besides MTBR and secret knowledge from you guys?

-Mike

 

[kidwoo]

Come to tahoe.

Unless you're 6'13" or 3' .5", I can find you a bike to ride. Find that hippy ohio for drinks after work.

You might have to reveal your secret identity though. He invented a pair of bifocals that controls NSA databases.


oh yeah: welcome to hella norcal and all that.

 

[HarryCallahan]

MIkeD,

when you are whizzing along on BART looking at the folks parked on the freeway, Walnut Creek will seem OK. And there are some very nice restaurants there, and you can hop on BART to have dinner in SF whn you want.

 

[partsbara]

hey d... i m back from korea on the 5th of july... wanna ride / drink ?? maybe a trip up to tahoe to see wooster ???

i ll pm ya my cell #...

later
parts

 

[MikeD]

MIkeD,

when you are whizzing along on BART looking at the folks parked on the freeway, Walnut Creek will seem OK. And there are some very nice restaurants there, and you can hop on BART to have dinner in SF whn you want.

That was pretty much our reasoning, too. We were actually impressed w/ downtown Walnut Creek's restaruant selections; it's not all big-box chain restaurants like we'd expected. Unfortunately, we still have a quick bike ride or drive to get there...we're further away than we wanted, but just couldn't find a 2-br anywhere close enough.

MD

PS Woo, be careful what you wish for... (I'll be up ASAP!)

 

[Brian HCM#1]

WC has some great resturants!!!!! If you like Mediterranean food, Pomegranate is VERY good

 

[kidwoo]

PS Woo, be careful what you wish for... (I'll be up ASAP!)

I ain't skeerd.

 

[dump]

what's this kevin!?! You never extended that offer to me?!?!

 

[MikeD]

WC has some great resturants!!!!! If you like Mediterranean food, Pomegranate is VERY good

Yeah, we've been sampling quite a few of them...haven't hit Pomegranate yet, but will soon.

There's a place which refers to itself as a "Kebab Lounge," too, which I find kind of funny. But we must try it.

Where's the best Mexican out this way??

MD

 

[HarryCallahan]

Can't help you with the Mexican, but there is this Italian restaurant with an attached wine shop that the wife and I had a fabulous dinner at. It was my brother in law's 50th b-day. Dinner took about 5 hours from appetizers to dessert, and we probably had 5 different wines. Good thing we had a hotel a few blocks away to walk to.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Yeah, we've been sampling quite a few of them...haven't hit Pomegranate yet, but will soon.

There's a place which refers to itself as a "Kebab Lounge," too, which I find kind of funny. But we must try it.

Where's the best Mexican out this way??

MD

The best authentic Mexican restaurant (non Taqueria) is Casa Orozco there is one in Dublin & Livermore. They just opened the rebuilt one in Livermore last year, real nice place & the margaritas on the rocks are nice & strong. The food kicks ass!!!! I live in Danville about 10min from WC.

 

[Lucee]

Yeah, we've been sampling quite a few of them...haven't hit Pomegranate yet, but will soon.

There's a place which refers to itself as a "Kebab Lounge," too, which I find kind of funny. But we must try it.

Where's the best Mexican out this way??

MD

There's great Mexican everywhere you look! I owe you an e-mail, I apologize. We've got a lot to catch up on, and I'm assuming your'e in the area all ready? I'd love to catch up. I have no one to ride with anymore... Get back to me via email...Hope you & Stephanie are doing well!

 

[kindtrails]

The bay area is not nor cal

 

[OGRipper]

The bay area is not nor cal

Only if you think small.


Welcome MikeD.

 

[dump]

The bay area is not nor cal

hmm... what?

 

[East Bay Rich]

i just discovered Los Panchos and their 2 lb delux burritos for $7. It took me two sittings to finish mine. All to-go. One in Pacheco across the street from the Casino (2 miles north of Sun Valley Mall), and one somewhere in San Ramon.

Was someone talking about Ephesus kebab lounge?(www.ephesuslounge.com)

For WC, there are spots here and there... we rode some WC (sub)urban downtown last night. The usual stuff. little wall rides, side-hills, bump-jumps, etc. One thing WC lacks is jumps. Limeridge back in the day had 'em. The park n' ride jumps don't get no love... The Crossings jumps @ Cowell don't have enough shovel power... San Ramon BMX is a good bmx track, but pedally... Pleasanton BMX/jumps is really fun, but kinda far... SHR is still 40 min away... DVC is under construction, but has some interesting stuff (except the step-up to sidewalk near the ceramics studio, which is now blocked by a handrail- rail hopping that would take tremendous speed!)... Mt. D is closed to cars for a bit (right?)... Shell Ridge is fun XC... same w/ Briones... Orinda supposedly has a small underground FR hill somewhere... same w/ Martinez & Benicia (if you were at the last SHR race, the kid that won the Fox fork is part of the benicia crew of shovelers)... WC skatepark isn't very big... Lamorinda is even smaller with more kids... Antioch skatepark is fun but summer weekends they hire security... Concord skatepark is fun, but right near the police station- and it's gated like WC's...

sorry- i blab... i finally moved here to WC after working in WC for 2 years.

 

[stoney]

WC? Damn dude that sucks. I guess you're old enough to be domesticated... Let me know if you are heading out to the City any time soon, I can direct you to MANY good restaraunts.

 

[James]

There's great Mexican everywhere you look! I owe you an e-mail, I apologize. We've got a lot to catch up on, and I'm assuming your'e in the area all ready? I'd love to catch up. I have no one to ride with anymore... Get back to me via email...Hope you & Stephanie are doing well!

Holy Crap!

 

[Brian HCM#1]

There's great Mexican everywhere you look! I owe you an e-mail, I apologize. We've got a lot to catch up on, and I'm assuming your'e in the area all ready? I'd love to catch up. I have no one to ride with anymore... Get back to me via email...Hope you & Stephanie are doing well!

Damn...............Where the hell have you been?

 

[MikeD]

Hey, what can I say...I bring the ladies out of the closet...er, I mean, um, nevermind.

MD