Join the cool cats of the "summer of fun" at the San Jose Jazz Festival. This free Festival brings 80+ traditional jazz, blues, salsa, and Latin jazz acts to over a dozen different stages in downtown San Jose. The complete Festival schedule is online at http://www.sanjosejazz.org/. We will meet Saturday at noon in front of the main entrance of the Tech Museum in downtown San Jose. Plan extra time for parking, if you are driving directly to the festival. Those who wish to carpool are asked to meet at 11:30 am in the parking lot of St. Simon's Church located at 1860 Grant Road Los Altos, just off Foothill Expressway. There is a jazz mass at 4:30 in the Cathedral and all are welcome to attend. After getting something to eat at the festival or a local, casual eatery, the fun will continue on into the night. This year marks the opening of a new "Jazz Beyond" stage. Performances will be from 8:00 pm to 1:30 am on Friday and Saturday. Jazz Beyond will feature artists who push boundaries of jazz, using both traditional live instrumentation and electronic sampling, DJ turntables, looping and other effects.Please contact Cheryl at Predella@aol.com if you are planning on joining in the festivities. Please indicate if you will be at the Los Altos meeting point, or if you will be going directly to San Jose. If you can't come early, please join us later, since this will be an all-day, into-the-night event.
Please bring a side dish, something to grill, or a drink to share. RSVP to jddarcy@sonic.org.
Our hike on Saturday, July 16th, starts at the majestic redwoods of Muir Woods. We will walk along a mountain ridge by the Pacific on the scenic Dipsea trail, and finally cool our heels at Stinson Beach. The hike itself will be about 4 hrs, cover about 4.5 miles, with about 1200 ft of elevation gain... and loss. If we are lucky to have a clear day, we'll have great views of huge redwoods, the ocean, the beach, and perhaps see bits of the city from the ridgetop. This will be a full day trip, 9am to 10pm. BYOSL (sack lunch), but not dinner. We'll grab dinner in SF on the way back.Send your questions/RSVP to Andrew at andrewf@stanfordalumni.org
DIFFICULTY OF THIS HIKE: Moderate/Strenuous, approximately 4.5 miles, 1200 ft elevation gain. [Difficulty Ratings: Easy (suitable for beginners); Moderate; Strenuous; Very Strenuous; Extremely Strenuous]
WHEN: Leave 9:00 a.m., Saturday, July 16, 2005, RAIN OR SHINE! Return approx. 10 pm.
ESTIMATED TIME: 4-5 hours of hiking... with a few hrs at the beach and for dinner.
WHERE: Meet at top of the stanford oval. Carpools leave at 9:15am.
BRING: ~$20, Water, lunch, snacks, windbreaker, sun block, hat, sturdy hiking shoes, beach stuff, and whatever else you may need. Restrooms at the trailhead.
COST: ~$20 for parking, toll, entrance fees, and dinner.
Details:
Destination: Sonoma Wine Country
Transportation: We'll travel in style by bus. No exact amount yet, but I would assume it will cost $25-35 per person.
Wineries: We'll visit the the beautiful Valley of the Moon winery where we will get a tour and then a tasting of all their wines inside their historic barn. Later, we'll taste various kinds of dessert wines and port, including chocolate port at Portworks. Finally, we'll tour scenic Cline cellars and taste their large selection of wines. All together the wine tasting/touring fees will be $15 per person.
Lunch: We'll stop at a local deli and you can buy your own lunch, or if you like you can bring a sack lunch.
Other stops: We'll spend some time in downtown Sonoma before dinner. It is full of cute shops and there is the Sonoma cheese factory which offers free tastings of its many cheeses.
Dinner: We'll be dining in style at the "Park Bistro" right on the Sonoma square in downtown Sonoma. It will be a fixed-price menu of $35 per person which includes a tasty salad, choice of 3 entrees, and a dessert. Standard drinks are included in the price, and so is tax and tip. I will send out another email soon asking those who are already signed up to pick which entree they would like.
Again, please RSVP today to wildcatman1@earthlink.net if you are interested in going and haven't already signed up. Spots on the bus are limited and are going fast!
