July 18, 2023 - Visit Bodega and Traveled to Berkeley

This morning we were preparing to travel back to Jeff’s house in Berkeley. Before we left Bodega, the kids played ping pong games, and adults were busy with packing and clearing the rental AirB&B.  

Then we drove to Bodega town, which is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed the 1963 movie "The Birds". Most of the film's exterior scenes were filmed around the two towns of Bodega (a small inland village) and Bodega Bay (a larger village on the bay). 

We went to the Saint Teresa of Avila Church and walked around for photo opportunities. We also spotted the nearby court house used in The Birds movie. 

Then, we walked to the town which is just about one block of the street.  It was interesting to visit such famous place and enjoy this quiet and extremely small town.

Then, we drove back to Berkeley and arrived at Jeff’s new house around noon. We had rice triangles from Oori Rice Triangles in Rockridge. Rice triangles are Japanese rice balls also known as onigiri. They are wrapped in seaweed with a variety of fillings and flavors. This was our first time to try it, and we all loved it.  

In the afternoon, we all walked around the neighborhood to Monkey Island Park, which is Winnie’s afternoon walking destination. In addition to showing Jason and Theresa around the  neighborhood, the kids also had a lot of fun in the park.

In the afternoon, we had a happy hour with treats including cheeses, chips, and a special watermelon drink made by Jennifer and the kids. We had pasta made by Jennifer on their wonderful backyard porch. With the California weather and the treats, it was truly enjoyable. In additional, Jeff and Jennifer have done a lot of work to remodel their new house and they definitely did a wonderful job.  It is very homey and comfortable home for their whole family.

After dinner, some of us found a new hobby of playing Benjy’s VR toys.  Everybody had a wonderful time trying this new high tech game.  Maisie was too young to play, however, she had good time by just singing and performing for some of us.