BLOGS Peace of Mind 

Fall break in San Francisco’s Bay Area

Diane Ako 0 Comments

We spent Olivia’s fall break in the Bay Area. The last time we took a family vacation out-of-state was four years ago!

We picked it because it’s relatively close and easy, and I lived there for ten years, so it’s comfortable. I have a fair number of family and friends there, and we stayed with one of them – a college friend, Lori, and her family in Redwood City.

We built a light agenda which turned out to be just the right balance of stimulus and downtime for our preferences. We don’t like to pack the schedule. We also wanted to leave time to socialize with our hosts.

This was our schedule:

Day 1: South Bay: Meander south along El Camino Real to my old neighborhood, Campbell. Family dinner with calabash cousins.

Day 2: Tour of Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville.

Day 3: San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Lombard Street.

Day 4: Aunt’s 90th birthday lunch, and birthday party for hosts’ daughter

Day 5: California’s Great America

Day 6: Girls’ Day: Lori and I shopped with daughters, then dropped them at home, got a massage, and took a haunted tour.

Details to follow in the coming blogs!

Diane Ako

Peace of mind By Diane Ako I like to reflect on life. Sometimes it’s philosophically. Sometimes it’s humorously. For all its beauty, life is far too difficult a journey to take alone. You need the support and connection with others to help carry you along the way. Writing brings me that connection– within and without. It clarifies my thoughts and feelings. It helps me reach out to others for advice, wisdom, or feedback. Your thoughts become your actions. Your actions become you. A wise yogi- Patanjali- said, “Speak what is true. Speak what is pleasant.” Let’s speak of things pleasant to one another and seek some peace of mind along the way. ABOUT Diane Ako joined Hawaii: In Real Life in October 2016. She likes being part of a community of local bloggers – people who like writing and sharing, like she does. Ako is an anchor/ reporter at Island News (KITV4 – ABC) in Honolulu. She previously anchored and reported at KHON2 (FOX) and KHNL (NBC), and at stations in California, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. She freelance writes for NMG Network's magazines. In between news jobs, in 2017, she launched and ran her own p.r. company, Diane Ako PR. From 2010-2014, she headed the public relations department at Halekulani Corporation, which oversees luxury resort Halekulani and boutique hotel Waikiki Parc. She’s been blogging since 2009 – before Hawaii: IRL, she wrote for The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the state’s largest daily newspaper, where her stories garnered a dozen journalism awards and an Emmy nomination. Ako has a BA in Communications from Menlo College and an MA in Political Science from University of Hawaii at Manoa. She volunteers as a board member of the Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation, a Shinto shrine maiden at Daijingyu Temple, a citizen-scientist studying shrimp, and a yoga teacher at a senior center.

Diane Ako has 274 posts and counting. See all posts by Diane Ako

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