New Years Day! We sometimes bicycle past Morgan Territory Regional Park at the top of a high ridge from Mt. Diablo, but we've never explored the park. On New Year's Day, we drove out with the hound to hike the park. We were shocked at how nice the park is! Among many other birds, we saw a ton of acorn woodpeckers, handsome devils in black tuxedos wearing black and white clown makeup and bright red beanies. We settled into some sun-warmed west-facing rocks for a picnic lunch with meadowlarks for entertainment. Driving out, we saw a juvenile golden eagle, a pair of white-tailed kites, a pair of kestrels, and a harrier hawk. Very exciting!

Michele put us back on the bikes this afternoon. With our friend Gunnell, we took BART out to Castro Valley and pedaled home along Redwood Road. Two big hills to build our strength on.

Back to work tomorrow. A chance to rest.