Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Bay Area

Hindu calendar is lunar based calendar and all of our festivals are celebrated according to the waxing and waning phases of moon.
But Hindu culture is also very permissive and inclusive as well. We adopt things and put a label on it like nobody's business.

One such example is that each day of the week is devoted to a deity. The Weeks and Months are part of Gregorian Calendar and has nothing to do with Hindu Calendar but as we were accepting a foreign calendar in our country we were molding our rituals and traditions to continue to incorporate our religion and culture into our everyday life.

Today is Tuesday - Day of Hanuman ji, he is the monkey faced God and Son of Wind and also referred to as 'Pavan Putra (Son of wind). He represents ultimate strength and energy as well as unyielding devotion to  Ram and selfless devotion to serving what is right and inherently good. He can get rid of all demons in your life. When he's on your side, nothing and nobody can harm you....

I think because of all the funny and inspiring stories built around the life of Hanuman ji, he is easily the first God that most kids connect with. I know I first connected with him because he was so silly and yet he was God. My grandma would tell me stories from Hanuman ji's childhood and life and later during one of her travels she brought me a story book with all stories of him.

Recently, we visited the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir in the San Francisco Bay Area (picture above) and I decided there couldn't be a better day to share the pictures from the temple than a Tuesday. The temple is located at a hill top in the middle of a forest, it is a meditation and Ayurvedic center along with a Hanuman Temple. It's often known shows up as Mount Madonna in internet searches.
Take a peak:

Beautiful chandelier with Raag- Ragini

Ornate column, looks like Tibetan inspired to my untrained eye

A hanging diya adorned with roses, interesting touch for day time decorations

Loved this panel so much, I need this reminder often...

A Ganesh ji (elephant head God) panel

Ganesh ji is the remover of all obstacles so he's prayed to first...

Standing outside the main temple pavilion

Another interesting Ganesh panel, he's rarely shown as blue so I found the color combination unusual 

SMART Rail Service...

SMART- Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit service starts tomorrow between San Rafael and Santa Rosa in Northern California. It is an exciting moment for all working in the transportation industry.

The first day of revenue service begins on Friday 25th August although if you are from the area you are probably already used to seeing the train running through its various test phases.

 The first day of service is free for everyone to try and I'd highly recommend it. They are Clipper card only system so for anyone coming up from Bay area, it would be a breeze but for people new to this cashless ticketing system it would be a bit of learning curve.

 I really like that their platforms are high and afford on level boarding rather than climbing into the coach car. Designers often think of level boarding as an accessibility issue for those who use wheel chair but I think it is good for all travelers specially moms, kids, elderly, people carrying luggage... so many reason to provide good accessibility.

 After the first free day on Friday, the service is discounted 50% till the labor day weekend. So, if Friday is a working day for you and you can't make it up there, hit it over the weekend for all the wineries and breweries that scattered throughout the rail route.

 The interior is very comfortable and equipped with a snack bar.

 The views are breath taking and there are walking/biking trails along the train route that would be good for exploring the area.

 Please keep your dogs on leashes and collect your trash after you. Its a beautiful setting and it would be a shame if humans with their negligence ruined it for the flora and fauna and of course all the future humans as well.

All these pictures are straight out of my camera phone, I didn't have the time to edit them and also share this post by the time SMART starts its service so timely sharing won over perfect pictures.

 Hope you have a pleasant ride and next time you'd consider transit (train/bus) over highways for your family vacation.

 

Norcal Beaches: Stinson Beach

Stinson beach is one of our favorite beaches in northern California. It has good road access, plenty of parking and very family friendly.

We discovered it by accident one time when we took a turn in the wrong direction heading out from Tamalpais State Park and reached the Pacific Ocean.

Pardon the fact that the pictures are unedited but I really am trying to post something everyday and even though its hard I'm choosing regularity over perfection and consequential delays.

The water at Stinson beach like all Northern California beaches is cold unlike the Southern California Beaches or that of the tropics. But once you get over the fact that the water is cooler than typical beaches, it can be a lot of fun to just wade in water, splash in it or go for body surfing.  

There are a lot of coal barbecue grills for open use and there were large outdoor tables and benches for family picnics close to the parking lot just beyond the beach entrance. Pets are allowed in certain portion of the beach only and are required to be on leash.

It is a good spot for picnic, people bring tents and hammocks and picnic blankets. You can either bring food from home or carry out from the eateries on the road. The road had breweries and sandwich places along with coffee and ice creams too. 

Spotted these beautiful sunflowers at the entrance of the shops and restaurants.

We bought ice-cream for the ride back and one of the option was to have a shot of espresso over vanilla bean ice-cream and that of course was my favorite...

A Solitary Sroll in Long Beach, California

Sometimes you don't need a whole lot of words to convey what a few pictures could say...

It was a work trip last week but oh! so thankful that it took me to a beautiful place. Most of these were taken along Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.

 

Camping in the Sierra Foothills

This would count to be our first summer in California in the true sense of the world. Last summer, we were in the moving phase and emotions were raw and memories too fragile to stop calling Minnesota home and settling into the California life. This year besides sightseeing which is plentiful in California, we slowed down our weekends to enjoy a few camping trips.

Hike to Lassen Peak

Towards the end of summer vacation this year in July, we decided we want to tackle a summit hike and since we didn't have a lot of time to train, Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park seemed like a good hike. Its about 2.5 hours drive from Sacramento on I-5 driving north.

You can partake in the experience of our hike through the video at the end.

Harry Potter World - Universal Studios LA

Last long weekend of summer is just around the corner and even though kids are already back in school, it is hard not to take advantage of the long Labor Day weekend and make one more road trip before Fall weather sets in.

I think I’m still in Minnesota mind set where winter road trips were a major challenge and even though in California, travel is pretty much year round, summer season and summer vacation hold special place in our lives. At the beginning of the summer, we took a road trip to LA to see the new Harry Potter exhibit at Universal. I thought I’d share it here and inspire you to take a trip.

 If you are a Harry Potter fan or have read the books or watched all the movies then you would love this place. If you are on the fence about visiting the park, I’d say give it a try, it is totally worth it.

Here’s a short video of the whole experience to give you a glimpse.

At the entrance of the Harry Potter world is the Hogwarts’s Express locomotive, beautifully staged with loads of luggage, steam/smoke from the chimney and even a conductor/engineer/driver.

 

 

Bouquets to Art - de Young, San Francisco

A couple weeks ago I took a solo trip to the de Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco. I had been to de Young before but this trip was solely for visiting the Bouquets to Art. I was missing Minnesota and the MN Institute of Art usually hosts a similar exhibition in last week of April, the Art in Bloom. So, while I was setting out to experience something new in a new place, the trip was instigated by a very warm place in nostalgia.  

I came back with almost a thousand pictures between my DSLR and mobile pictures and it was an enormous quantity to share them all without them loosing their intensity. So, I picked a few that really spoke to me and also served as a good inspiration for trying to create a vignette in our home around the art work that we love. Hope these set of pictures inspire you to create with a new perspective...