Muir Woods
Rebecca was once again named to the Midwest Zone USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program team for 2017, which meant a trip to the National Championships, held this year in the San Francisco Bay area. Due to change in Alex's work schedule, he was able to come home early and join us on the trip, so the four of us flew out to San Francisco early on Friday morning. After a stop for lunch, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and out to Muir Woods. We had tried to go there to see the redwoods on a previous trip, but couldn't find parking. Our luck wasn't much better on this trip, but J. R. found a place along the road down from the park eventually and we walked back to take in the magnificent scenery.
Water Polo National Championships
We drove back to the Pleasanton area in heavy Bay Area traffic, picked up some dinner for Rebecca at Panda Express and then dropped her off at her hotel before getting dinner of our own and going to our hotel. Games started early the next morning at Foothill High School. Rebecca's team had only eight players, two of whom were goalies, which meant playing 'ironman' water polo with no substitutes all weekend. Despite that, they won two of four games, losing only to the tough California teams.
Wine Tasting
While Rebecca was hanging out with her teammates between games, the adults found a local Tri-Valley winery for some wine tasting. We tasted a few reds and whites and then hit up a local restaurant for lunch. We ended our trip with a quick visit to Fisherman's Wharf before heading home on the red-eye to Chicago.
