Travels With Heart: On the Homefront
- Annie Bowler
- Jan 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 12
By Annie Bowler, January 1, 2026 Volume 30
A road trip in early December across California reminded me of how lucky I am to call this
diverse, gorgeous state my home. But all this beauty creates challenges: I’m often
tempted to stop to take in the views and explore; just ask my travel partner, John.
My first such stop was at the stunning San Pablo Wildlife Refuge, home to birds, birds,
and more birds. This refuge is an amazing example of how preserving wild lands near
urban areas benefit us all. Click here to check it out.
I was headed to Sausalito’s Heath Ceramics a very interesting ceramics factory & shop. Arriving there proved difficult because seawater, which comes up during winter’s “King Tides,” filled the roads on the way to their ceramics factory. According to locals, these high tides are getting worse as the seas rise. Seawater is horrible for cars, so I had to turn around a half a dozen times before I finally found my way to the shop. Phew!
My goal was to find some tile for remodeling project at home. I couldn’t find anything
that worked in their “Overflow Tile Shed” so I left empty-handed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed
spending time admiring Heath Tile’s handcrafted plates and bowls.
Before leaving, I just had to walk through Sausalito’s houseboat villages for old time’s
sake. My cousin Bonnie lived in a houseboat in Sausalito long ago. As a teen, I
fantasized about such an idyllic lifestyle and still feel it could be a cool place to live.
My main motivation for this road trip was to spend time with my youngest, Jacob, who is
heading off on the adventure of his life soon. It was good to spend time with this
wonderful young man! We enjoyed lunch at the awesome Cafe Leita in Berkeley.
The road trip home wasn’t easy. No surprise, I encountered another part of California: it’s crazy traffic! Arriving home, I found dinner waiting and that Christmas has
arrived.
John sells the Flower Farm’s mandarins and the other varieties of citrus we grow to the
Tahoe Food Hub. The Food Hub picks up all kinds of produce, including our citrus, in
Penryn each week. This non-profit connects North Tahoe communities with local,
sustainably grown food from farms from Nevada and Placer counties. Our mandarins
are served on school lunches throughout the North Tahoe region, which makes John
and I quite happy.
The Tahoe Food Hub hosts a fabulous holiday party each year with live music, lots of
interesting, locally made products, and of course, we sell our mandarins. This year was
extra busy, the warm weather brought the whole town out; we came home with an
empty truck and not one mandarin!
A major highlight of our year was the birth of Kimberlee Ann, aka Millie, in March. John
and I live next door to Sarah and her kids. We feel lucky to be able to watch Millie
develop new skills day by day at a startlingly rapid pace; one day she can’t sit up, but
soon, she’s standing, and now doing her version of a dance and taking her first steps. She feeds herself finger foods now which she loves, though our dogs faithfully hover waiting for a few bites. Millie is tenacious; she wears herself out trying new tricks but after a catnap, she’s back at it again.
We love that Millie is very comfortable with John and I, though obviously her number one
person is her mom, Sarah, with her big brother, JT, a close second. Our closeness to this sweet family has made this year especially poignant.
Nine-year-old JT got a bike for Christmas. For a variety of reasons, JT hadn’t ridden a
bike since his training wheels days, so when we headed out to Bicycle Emporium in
Auburn to pick out his bike, JT was nervous as heck.
JT gulped when he saw the size of the bike that shop owner, Tony Marengo, said he
should get. Tony knew nothing of JT‘s misgivings, but he seemed to intuitively understand
how he felt. Tony taught JT about using the breaks, the gears, and how to dismount safely, all with a kind, reassuring tone. Out back behind the shop, Tony carefully steadied JT as he started to pedal first attempts. Tony shared his struggles when he was first learning to ride a bike. JT wobbled on his first attempts around the bike shop yard, but he had a determined look in his eye. Pleased, we headed for home with a new shiny bike.
We live on a long quiet street that’s perfect for bike riding, so we soon set off. JT utilized
the skills that Tony taught him and by the end of that first ride, he was ecstatic, even a
bit cocky, riding through puddles like a champ.
By now, we have a trail-riding, puddle-loving biker. We are grateful to Tony for his
thoughtful encouragement! As they say, it takes a village to raise a child.
Our youngest son, Jake, and his fiancé, Fátima, are off on a true adventure; they are
moving to Minnesota in January. (Yes, you read that right.) Fatima will be working as a
Psychiatric RN at the Mayo Clinic and Jake, who's an EMT, is hoping to land a job there too.
We are excited for this sweet couple who have maintained a close, long-distance
relationship between Toronto and California for over three years. Being a Canadian
citizen, it hasn’t been easy for Fatima to navigate the US immigration system as well as
nursing regulations to get a job here in America, but they persevered, and in just a few
days, they will live together for the first time.
Interestingly, my parents met as college students in Minnesota. It was the end of the
Depression and there was a little work in Minnesota at that time, so my parents headed
to California hoping for better job opportunities. It seems ironic that Fatima and Jake will
soon head to Minnesota for amazing job opportunities. We will miss them but hope their year is full of love and many great adventures!
We were supposed to have been up at our cabin last week, enjoying the snow and
cross-country skiing. Unfortunately, my heart has been misbehaving a bit, (Nothing too
serious, so please don’t worry) but spending time at elevation was unwise. I’ve been
needing to take it a bit easy which frankly isn’t my normal speed. As things work out, it
was good to be home and spend time with family and friends. Like Dorothy said,
“There’s no place like home.”
I have heard from many of you that you enjoy reading more story each month. I thank
you for sharing life’s journey with you. John and I have some exciting travel planned for 26 so stay tuned!
May peace, hope, and civility reign for us all in 2026,
Annie
Annie's travel stories are delightful! While she enjoys basketball analysis, I find that strategic thinking is equally fun in tabletop games. For those who enjoy mental challenges similar to sports tactics, playing this 麻雀 s a great way to relax and practice concentration during a break.
Mình rất thích cách tác giả kể chuyện một cách gần gũi và chân thật. Mỗi trải nghiệm đều mang lại cảm giác ấm áp, giúp người đọc thêm yêu gia đình, thiên nhiên và những khoảnh khắc giản dị trong cuộc sống. Chúc tác giả sẽ tiếp tục có nhiều chuyến đi đáng nhớ và chia sẻ thêm nhiều bài viết ý nghĩa. Ngoài ra, mình cũng thường xuyên theo dõi sxmn để cập nhật thông tin nhanh mỗi ngày.
The mention of King Tides flooding the route to Heath Ceramics in Sausalito really drives home how coastal communities are already adapting to rising seas. I've been experimenting with an AI music generator to score ambient videos of tide cycles for a local conservation project.
I appreciate the depth of research and clarity in your writing. The way you presented complex information so simply is remarkable. merge fellas
geometry arrow combines fast-paced gameplay with impressive level design to create a truly entertaining platforming experience. Taking inspiration from The Impossible Game, it evolves the concept with creative ideas that make every stage exciting and unpredictable.