On our final day in Yosemite we decided to do something slightly different- a water colour class. As a part of the National Park education programme the Arts Centre just down the way from the main Visitor Centre runs free art classes. All you have to pay for is the materials; brushes, paints and paper. The course on this day was water colour landscapes, run by the artist Steve Curl a resident of the bay area. The course lasts for four hours inside the art centre starting with learning the fundamentals of water colours. Never having painted with water colours before we definitely needed this instruction. By lunchtime we were veritable experts and had painted the Yosemite Falls from a photograph – our first attempts were not so bad. For the afternoon session we were “on location” which meant sitting outside on the path near one of the park ranger buildings and painting the classic view of Yosemite Falls. Having practised our techniques in the morning it was quite simple to translate these to the real life subject and overall our paintings turned out to be very credible. Steve was a wonderfully patient teacher and we learned so much – perhaps a hobby we could carry on.After two lovely days in Yosemite it is time to head West again, this time to one of our favourite places, San Fancisco. Rather than staying in San Francisco we opt to stay on the Pacific coastline on a campsite located 10 miles South of the small town on Pescadero (about half way between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz). No sooner do we pull in with the motor home
than we have to leave to go to Girl Scout meeting in San Mateo some 45 miles away, and then after that we have to travel another 30 miles or so to take Jack to a Boy Scout camp deep in the redwood forests. Poor Emily and Jack have had so little opportunity to socialise with children over recent months this is a great chance for them to do so. Emily, as usual ,fits right in with the girls and makes instantaneous new friends and by the end of the meeting they were all hugging her good bye – she is amazing at fitting into new groups like this. The troop leader Lynda Davidson is so welcoming and Emily particularly hits it off with her 13 year old niece Annie. Emily somehow seems to be able to relate to older girls and many a teenager has taken her under their wing.
We grab a quick sandwich and head for the hills- literally. Jack’s scout camp is in the distant town of Boulder Creek. He is joining Troop 156 for the weekend Scout Camporee. There are lots of activities planned including fire making, first aid, scout values, knots, trebuchet, log carrying and rifle shooting. It is not too easy to find a camp in the woods especially with sketchy directions and the night falling. We finally found the parking lot and fortunately were met by a scout leader who pointed us in the right direction. So after a short search we meet up with the troop and their Scout Master, Jim Latimer. We could not have been made more welcome, Jim was a true gentleman and the scouts and their parents were wonderful, making Jack feel part of the patrol for the weekend. Once Jack was settled in the rest of us left – secretly he was looking forward to having his own “space”.The teddy Jack is holding is travelling the world with a variety of Scouts in sucession!We inherited him from a German lone scout at our last camporee and he has been with us for a month of travels.
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