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The 53 Town Pledge:
Cities & Towns
San Pablo - Walnut Creek
CDPs
Acalanes Ridge - Bayview
Last update: February 18, 2021
San Pablo 5/8/19 (pop 29,139) This wonderful bunch of folk (Julie, Alan, me, Lorna, David and Lindy (not shown are Larry and Zone) get together on Wednesdays to try lunch spots, generally on or near Solano Ave. in Berkeley/Albany. This one is a bit farther out. It's called "Aqua Terra" and is part of the Contra Costa College culinary school in San Pablo. The food is excellent and the prices utterly unbeatable. Service? Well, they're learning. Today, they messed up the dessert orders so they comped us and my bill came to all of $6.75. I can't do lunch at McDonalds for that, and this was definitely NOT McDonalds.
San Ramon 5/17/19 (pop 75,931) People near me call it "San Remote". This place is also a golf course with a thoroughly evil 13th hole, but a good friend plays here so I join him. Today he cancelled and tried to let me know. Obviously, we never made contact. Dang. But having the foresight to bring my camera, I took in some of the southern towns of Contra Costa!
Acalanes Ridge 5/18/20 (pop 1,137) No sign to mark when you get there, I trusted to my GPS which told me this is the center of this CDP. What a bustling metropolis! Note the heavy traffic I had to contend with. No, wait. That's my car.
Walnut Creek 1/21/21 (pop 64,173) This is one of a few softball fields at Heather Farm, Walnut Creek's big recreation park. I had a bunch of friends in Walnut Creek and we played our games here (OMG) 30+ years ago . I was actually going to Bancroft Garden for my Walnut Creek shot, but I got nostalgic and stopped here first. I later did visit the garden, but it didn't do anything for me. I'm still in touch with my Walnut Creek friends.
Bay Point 10/20/20 (pop 21,349) Big for a CDP, it was called West Pittsburg until 1993. Good choice. It was lunch time and this was just a wild dart throw. Talk about a bull's eye. Big Daddy Ross hsd a small outdoor area and breakfast all day. I had a nice crab omelet with hash browns and a book. Perfect! The other customers were two guys, one of whom took a call from a warranty salesman. "Which car are you talking about... I own 23... My Lamborghini? I don't want THAT one to expire..." It made my day.
Bayview 8/29/19 (pop 1,754) There is another Bayview in Humboldt, so don't get them mixed up. I tried but could not find a view of the bay in Bayview. So I settled for a pic of what my GPS deemed the center of the CDP, a commercial hub if ever there was one. The commanding presence of the USPS and Xfinity is obvious.
Alhambra Valley 2/18/21 (pop 924) Alhambra Valley is tucked between Pleasant Hill and Martinez, very rural. I ran across a real estate ad with what looked to be a housing community, but when I got here, it was just one, rather interesting, hillside house. Given the millions of people who view this website, I won't give the address, but it was about half a mile from the CDP center which, like far too many, was a street sign. This stop has the distinction of having been the last on the 83 Town Pledge.
Alamo 1/21/21 (pop 14,570) This is Hap Magee Ranch Park, a joint venture between Alamo and Danville. It doesn't have a line drawn to show when you go from one to the other, so I just drove the length of the 17.2 acre facility, and figured I must have been in Alamo at some point, even though the address is in Danville.
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