I wake up. I’m lying naked on the bed – must have been another hot night… Indeed, the heater is at top speed and Matthis shivers feverish under a huge amount of blankets. Inside it has 100°F, I suppose.
And what about our plan to go to Lake Tahoe – camping and hiking? It falls through! It’s still raining!
With the invention Smartphone I check the weather forecast for the lake:
Freitag: ? 55° / 33° rain
Samstag: ⛈ 53° / 33° thunderstorms and rain
Sonntag: ? 50° / 32° little sunshine, strong wind
Mean! A feverish man and this weather forecast – who wants to go camping?!? Right.
So we sleep late and after having a decent waffle breakfast we drive home.
A bit much cream – but the waffle is hilarious!
On our way back home to Sunnyvale we come by Berkeley and revel in the past…
“Do you remember our nice trip to Berkeley in March?” I ask Matthias.
“I suffer from fever, not Alzheimer’s.” and a disapproving glance I get as an answer.
I laugh. “And I still think Stanford is much nicer then Berkeley!”
“Much!” Matthias confirms. “Maybe for students it’s a bit more fun to study in Berkeley as the campus is located next to the city Berkeley and it is pretty close to San Francisco. And in Stanford…well…you have Palo Alto and California Street…meh…!”
“But the weather in Berkeley is shitty! Always this fog and always several degrees cooler compared to us in the south… So I am happy to live in Sunnyvale – although there a few less sightseeings… hihi.”
Berkeley was founded in 1868 and therefore is 23 years older than Stanford
Berkeley is also one of the most prestigious universities in the world. But unlike Stanford a state, and not a private university.
And this is the campus of Stanford:
Worth mentioning:
University of Berkeley: On a total area of 500 ha one finds over 37,000 students. The tuition fees are $ 13,000 per year for residents and $ 41,000 for non-residents.
University of Stanford: On a total area of 3310 ha you can find over 16,000 students. The tuition fees are over $ 40,000 per year.
And both have a tower! Admittedly I only mounted Berkeleys Sather Tower – and the view IS great! Among others one can see the Golden Gate Bridge in SF:
But eventually I should mount the Hoover Tower in Stanford as well! From there you can “only” see the campus.
Both not only accomodate a tower but animals too! In Stanford you find squirrels and rabbits and in Berkeley squirrels and bears – the fotballteams mascot (if I understood right…). But Berkeleys squirrels are much cuter and tamer!
On the other hand Stanford has “The Dish” – a fenced area next to the campus where students and non-students walk, photograph or run… The loop is about 3.7 miles long and there is no shortcut. To stray off the pavement is forbidden and I would stick to it. Because in the wild live ground squirrels and rabbits who wanna live in peace, but also rattle snakes, mountain lions or coyotes – and in this case I want to live in peace.
Depending on the season, the dish looks rather sparse and sometimes rather lush:
Ground squirrels in September – and in March
Recently I walked the dish and first met a cute bunny…
…and then the H O R R O R !
Two biiiiiiig birds shuffle only a few meters away in the meadow. Mesmerized I stop. Oh wow! I have never seen something like that before! The colourful head of this birdie reaches my neck. What the hell is it?!? It’s too colourful for an ostrich. Do Kiwis live here?!? Actually those two guys look more like turkeys – but so big and colourful?!?
Anyway, the bigger one approaches me. Great, then I can watch it from really close! Really slowly he comes closer and patiently I await his arrival. He comes closer and closer and closer. Emmm. Isn’t he afraid of me? Maybe it’s like with the ducks in the parks: they are used to be feeded by humans and therefore tame.
When the lad is only two meters away from me, his shape changes: He spreads out both wings to the maximum span, ejects a shrill scream, and then he rushes towards me with a wide-open beak.
Okay. Maybe THIS is the sign to go on the run. So I run. And Klick Klack Klick Klack Klick Klack I hear my pursuers claws on the concrete. Shit, this birdie is pretty fast!
I remember warning signs in case you meet a mountain lion: Don’t run! And if attacked – fight back! Maybe it’s the same with this crazy chicken?
So I stop and do it just like feathered enemy: I spread out my arms and scream as loud as I can. Impressed the bird stands still, but still staring at me (and not very friendly I can tell!) and ruffles his feathers to become bigger. Man! That’s big! So I continue nagging, waving my arms. And slowly I back out.
Yes! That works! He stands still! And as soon as I am far enough away, he turns around comfortably and joins his mate in the meadow.
Afterwards I find this warning sign:
I knew it! Turkey! But wow, if you serve this one for Thanksgiving you could feed whole Sunnyvale…
In the meantime, I learned: Don’t play around with a wild turkey – it is not a ducky to be trifled with…! Are they angry they flap their wings and then jump with their claws in your face. A chicken’s scratch already hurts…! And the whole chicken is only as big as ONE foot of this monster. But just don’t stop to watch them and ignore them, then they (hopefully) will not be angry … 🙂
When we arrive Sunnyvale, we do not find any summer temperatures either – but at least it does not rain.
At home I put Matthias to bed and unpack the car Carsten …
Lake Tahoe? At another time 🙂
Postscript. One week later we spend the whole afternoon in an air-conditioned coffee shop as it has 106°C!!!