Screw the Rain, I gotta Have a Stairway Walk! What Would Helen Mirren Say?

We took Gus to the vet this morning, and she was delighted with his progress! He is doing great, and we can start the prednisone taper, carefully. We are so happy, for Gus, and for the potential for some sleep now for us. I realized later that I had a mood change, I felt carefree, and thought perhaps this is relief about Gus.

We then saw a break in the light rain, and headed for Mill Valley for some stairway walks. These are Pat's obsession, as you all know, and she couldn't stand it any longer. It wasn't raining when we began, or, I should say, UNTIL we began, but it was a light rain, and the stairways were short. They were both in Mill Valley, hidden away, and really nice ones. We have a map of all the stairways and paths of Mill Valley, there are about 352, and no, I am not going to do all of them. The map also talks about the importance of the stairways; they are mostly all the old paths, by-ways and short cuts throughout the town, and the way for the townspeople of old to get around to the main roads, as it's so hilly there. It also mentions how important these paths are as an evacuation route in the event of a fire, or other disasters. So they really have a purpose.

The first one was called, the "Bernard Steps"! (this is my maiden name, if you all didn't know) So of course, we did that one, and Gus actually came with us. This was charming, as it was fairly narrow with railroad ties, I think. But what was unique were the little things on the side all the way up, that people must have left. I am including a picture of a few There were just things, like small Xmas stocking, a little Buzz Lightyear figure, ornaments, sayings, gnomes, etc.

The second walk was the "Madrona Walk." It was near the first one, and connected by a dead end street. It was completely different, but interesting in itself as it was hedged by bamboo trees. In one of the trees near the bottom, there was a stuffed Panda bear with an umbrella, sitting in his bamboo tree. As I was taking his picture, the owner of the house came up the steps. His name was Darryl, and he was so nice and friendly that I took his picture too. He told us that he had actually built these steps, which are brick. He gave us lots of history and information, and then asked us about Michigan, as he has to make a trip to Allen Park soon. So these cool things happen so often on these walks, and I find so much more than I expected.

I do like the stairway walks in San Francisco better, as they are longer, more involved, and one will lead to another around an entire neighborhood. It is so much fun to explore this way, and if the rain continues, I will just bring an umbrella, and be careful of it being slippery.

Later, we returned to Boca, a restaurant nearby that we really enjoy. On Tuesday nights, they have a happy hour in which you can get appetizers and a bottle of wine half price. They have excellent wines and excellent food, so we have been enjoying this.

We later went to a theater in San Rafael that is part of the California Film Institute where they have film festivals. This festival is "Almost British", and the film tonight was "The Age of Consent", a 1968 film with James Mason filmed in the Great Barrier Reef off of Queensland with a 35 mm. camera. The female lead was Helen Mirren, in her first film role. She was nude in quite a bit of it, by the way, and we wondered what she'd think of that now. The movie was really pretty corny, but it was fun. http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0063991/

It was practically sold out, we actually got the last 2 seats. San Rafael is quite lively, as once again, people get out and do stuff all the time.