JulieNachtwey.Blog

My whole family loves our all-wheel drive hybrid!  And we’ll learn more about new eco-friendly vehicles this Saturday, Sept 17…at the GREEN DRIVE EXPO. It’s happening from 10am to 5pm at The Craneway Pavilion in the Richmond Marina District www.cranewayblog.com

“Whether you’re an enthusiast or just curious about eco-friendly vehicles, this event will be a fun and educational experience,” said Green Drive Expo Founder Eric Powers.

Test drive some of the latest green cars: Toyota’s Prius v and Camry Hybrid.  And it’s the North American debut of the 2012 Prius Plug-in hybrid.

WHAT:                       Green Drive Expo
WHEN:                      10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17
WHERE:                    Craneway Pavilion

                                     Richmond Marina District

                                     1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond

ADMISSION:              Adults $10; kids under 16 FREE
INFO:                        http://www.GreenDriveExpo.com

Speakers include Felix Kramer of California Cars Initiative (CalCars), who will discuss the future of plug-in vehicles.  Ron DeLong of SanGuage will give tips to help consumers save up to one-third of their fuel costs.

“The Bay Area is a known hotspot for green car activity, as evidenced by our large turnout last year,” said Powers. This is the second annual Green Drive Expo.

Celebrating John Muir at The Oakland Museum

Press a button and smell the scent of pine trees or hear winds during a mountain storm.  This multisensory station is part of “A Walk in the Wild…Continuing John Muir’s Journey.” http://destinationsmedia.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx  It’s the latest featured exhibit at The Oakland Museum.

As Oakland Museum members, we attended the preview of  John Muir’s Journey. He was perhaps our best-known and most outspoken environmentalist.  We highly recommend visiting The Oakland Museum to learn more about Muir and his relationship to the natural world.  The show runs through Jan 22, 2012. By the way, museum membership couldn’t be more affordable http://museumca.org/.

Hiking in Yosemite

When the exhibit opened, my husband Fred was about to leave for the High Sierras of Yosemite.  He and a small group of back-packers would be hiking through some of the places Muir described.  In fact, for six days they followed a 45-mile loop trail including Tuolome River, Vogelsang Meadow,Rafferty Creek & Florence Lake.

Hikers Jaime, Chris, Rob, Fred, James and Alex

Hope you enjoy these photos, taken by our son Rob Nachtwey.  Our Son James Nachtwey is a fishing enthusiast whose efforts were appreciated at dinner.  The fearless leader was Chris Woodward, a family friend since days of North Oakland Little League.  Two of his sons, Alex and Jamie, shared the mountain adventure.

Showers and clean clothes at UC LAIR of the BEAR Family Camp; Chris, Rob, Alex, James, Fred

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/travel/lair-golden-bear

Women Leaders Needed for a Democratic Future

Jessica Schulberg and I attended the most inspiring “Summer Salon” in San Francisco and I want to share some of the experience.  Keynote speaker was Donna Brazile http://donnabrazile.com/, Democratic Political Strategist and author of a book about politics, Cooking with Grease.

Women are disproportionately represented in elected offices on all levels of government across the country.  So EMERGE was formed to provide women with the tools and training they need to run for public office.  Interviews for women who would like to make a difference are being conducted this month in counties around the Bay Area. http://www.emergeca.org/

Exact location details will be posted online after August 8^th.  The application deadline is Monday, September 19^th.  Direct any questions to contact@emergeca.org

Of course this program costs money so donations are appreciated – and essential to get more qualified women involved in creating the future of our nation  www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/03/MN901KITO3.DTL

Jessica Schulberg showed off her autographed copy of Donna Brazile’s book while chatting with Catherine McGuire at the EMERGE luncheon.  McGuire is an intern at EMERGE and this fall will be a junior at UC Berkeley.

Check out Emerge here: http://www.emergeca.org/