The Biddulph Diaries: California Here We Come--Year Five

After returning from Australia, we began work in San Ramon, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 25-mile Iron Horse Trail (built on what was once railroad tracks) was only a short walk from our apartment, and we used it nearly every day. Ted walked to work, and I jogged on the trail in the mornings. On weekends, we took long bike rides or went into San Francisco to visit the art galleries, Redwoods, and beaches. Ted entered Escape From Alcatraz, his first of many ambitious, often unusual, athletic events. The race started at the famous island penitentiary on Alcatraz and involved a 1.5 mile swim in freezing, shark-infested waters. Of course the whole point of the prison location was that it was supposed to make escape very difficult, but Ted was determined to give it a try. He trained for months in our apartment swimming pool, doing hundreds of laps back and forth and always wearing his bright pink snorkel and scuba mask so that he didn't have to lift his head for air.

In the fall, we took a trip to New England, where we had a splendid time visiting Plymouth Rock, seaside Salem where the witch trials occurred, the homes of Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harvard and Dartmouth Universities, Revolutionary War sites and enjoying the stunning lakes, fall foliage, and quaint villages. We thought we'd be interested in moving out East if the opportunity arose.

Ted and I began to think it was time to start a family, and in February 2000 we were thrilled to find out we were expecting. We'd had a late night attending the Chinese New Year festival in San Francisco, and when I came home I took a pregnancy test on a whim. I was so surprised by the positive result that Ted went to the grocery store in the middle of the night to buy two more tests to confirm the findings.

My brother Brent and soon-to-be sister-in-law Ronelle were getting married the next week in San Diego, and so we told my family our exciting news in person. While my mom, dad, and sister Michelle were having breakfast with us at the Tickled Trout, I gave my dad an early birthday present, which contained some itty bitty baby booties. He started pretending they were ear warmers, but it took everyone a while to catch onto the purpose of the gift. We didn't want to upstage Brent and Ronelle's wedding with our news, but Ronelle guessed within about 5 minutes after meeting us that we were harboring a secret and what it was.

Ted made ski trips to Colorado and Utah so he could tell his brothers Miles and Nathan our news in person. Miles predicted we'd have a girl and suggested we play a lot of music for her, and Nathan correctly guessed it would be a boy. We found out very early that we'd be having a son, which was a good thing because it gave me some time to adjust since I'd only imagined myself with a daughter.

After a year in California, we decided to take the opportunity to move once again. The Bay Area was too pricey and fast-paced for us. We couldn't stop thinking about our trip to New England, and EDS had a position open in Pennsylvania, which we thought might have many similar attractions along with warmer weather.