Putting the pin in the map

Honestly, when I put a pin in a map to find San Francisco before we moved here I was about 5,000 miles out.  And Id been here before so had no excuse! And even when we first got here I struggled with my bearings (I think its a female thing, I'm convinced men are born with a compass in their brains). I love that the roads here have numbers as well as names (the Sat Nav voice actually repeats the name after telling you the number) and I'm amazed at how cities and towns blend into each other, so that having driven out of San Carlos you are immediately in Belmont, there is no stretch of road in between. When invited to join my new friend Tara on a night out in Redwood Shores recently I packed my bag, got my map ready just in case, and took a deep breath before setting the Sat Nav to start my long journey south.  And 5 minutes later I had arrived at the hotel. If only Cardiff and Thatcham could have been reached in such a quick way. And surely we would have won any bid to name the M4 'The Griffin Highway' after the miles we did on it?

Having finally found a house (hooray!) many of you are asking us where we are living, so here commences the geography lesson. And Im going back to basics for those of you who keep asking whether we live close to New York (yes, you know who you are!!).  We are on the Pacific coast, as far west as possible about 6,000 miles away from the UK. Take a quick look at the map below and note the top of the peninsular where the city is, the Golden Gate Bridge that crosses to Sausalito as well as the island of Alcatraz (centre left of map). Now cast your eye a bit further south east and note Foster City where Dan works. And if you look a little to the left of that you will see the College of San Mateo which is close to where our house is.  

The city is a 7x7mile area made up of the famous steep hills and cable cars. Take a look at how enormous the San Francisco Bay (water) actually is. So if you're told that someone lives in "the Bay Area" its a huge stretch of land (1600 square miles).  It's actually an estuary, not a bay, but that didn't sound as cool when Otis Reading sat at the dock and wrote a song about it.

Our house is in the hills of San Mateo. It's a nice area; safe and friendly. To give you an idea of proximity, it takes us 30 minutes to drive 26 miles north to the Golden Gate Bridge and it takes Dan 8 minutes to drive the 5 miles east to work in Foster City.  For us to drive down south to Palo Alto takes about 20 minutes.  We haven't been to San Jose yet, I need to ask someone the way.

We're renting a house, and having found it an incredibly competitive market we've struggled to stay within our budget and widened our search area to find something suitable.  When we first arrived I was excited to hear that many people lived in "the mountains".  Now, to a Welsh girl this conjures up images of big hills, covered with fresh green grass and white fluffy sheep.  So I was slightly disappointed when Dan pointed at a steep hill with some houses on and told me that they were the mountains. Our house is in these mountains, and Im pleased to say that the birds eye view is much more impressive than the worms eye view! The views are fantastic - they stretch across to the city, and my ears actually 'pop' when we drive up the hill towards the street. Alas, no sheep.

View from the bedroom window of our house, city in background

Having secured the house only days before our temporary accommodation expired (phew!) we were told that the ship containing our furniture is delayed so we now have a house with no furniture!  We have extended the temporary apartment and divide our time between the two.  An empty house makes a fantastic place for a family game of hide and seek!

Sitting Room, kitchen to rear

Playroom/Dining room, patio leads to decking overlooking Laurelwood

Kitchen

I took the children to the Californian Academy of Sciences last week in the Golden Gate Park and enjoyed a wonderful Thai lunch with Annie and Tom. Service is something else here.

At the Academy of Sciences

Dan and Tom, note the Spurs Babygrow

Eating Blood Oranges

Tom tucks in too

A day trip to Palo Alto

Lunch in Palo Alto

Tom enjoys his gym class,'Moms' hang out in cafe area behind

Annie at her second home

A back flip

Mum has booked her flight out here for 13th March for ten days, which should coincide with us receiving our furniture and being able to move into the house. I am so excited to see her and show her all that we have found since we arrived a month ago and I know she will love the house. They might not be mountains, but I think I will feel at home living in the hills. Its fresh air, friendly people and breathtaking views of the hills and valleys.  Surely any girl from Wales has got to find comfort in that?