When I got there people were milling around socializing. I asked Inks how it feels to be an incumbent. He said there is a lot of reading that needs to be done, and every week they have to make lots of decisions. There is also a steady stream of events like this one, so he is keeping very busy.

Before long Mayor Abe-Koga took the mike and started the official proceedings. After saying a few welcoming words she introduced all of the incumbents and former Mayors of Mountain View that were there.

          

Gallioto..., Bryant...., Macias...., Kasperzak..., Means... Inks and Siegel were there to, but I didn't get their pictures for this line. Every one of them got a nice round of applause from the crowd.

        

Then she introduced a few other dignitaries among us. The woman in purple with the sunglasses was the one that got the Friends of Stevens Creek going, and got the first piece of the trail, from Shoreline Park to L'Avenida to happen. She had come up from San Diego just to be at this event.

     

Then Kevin Duggan, the City Manager thanked the hard working city staff that did all of the work necessary to make the bridge (and the event celebrating it) happen. They to got a nice round of applause. Then the City Council unveiled the plaque commemorating the event.

  

  

Then we had the ribbon cutting ceremony.

        

After than we used the bridge to cross Moffett Blvd. It was a noticeable hill, but that was a small price to pay for not having to wait for the light to change.

The guy with Alaska was the first person across the bridge.

        

The first woman across (in blue above) went by soon after he did. It wasn't a race or anything like that, I just wanted to document the good souls that went across AFTER the ribbon was cut. Then there was more hob-nobing.

  

Then we hiked to the other end of the trail for the Sleeper Ave. dedication and plaque unveiling.

  

When the dogs got near the water fountain they both got a drink. The guy with the smooth coat is very familiar with these water fountains. I would say he was telling Laura "can I please have a drink" by looking at the fountain and pointing his ears at it when we got near.

  

     

Once we got to the other end there was more hobnobbing. Jac has a bike with gears in the hub of the back wheel. Bikes like that are unusual in my world nowadays. Julie is looking for a good granola bar recipe. Any ideas I can pass on to her?

  

The Lasaters have a new grandchild. They are thrilled. Bonnie showed me pictures of her other two grandkids to.

        

Once again Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga began by honoring all of the dignitaries in the crowd.

Then she mentioned that last Tuesday the City Council had voted approval for the funding to make the final piece of the Stevens Creek Trail in Mountain View. Then it will be up to Sunnyvale and Cupertino to fill in the rest of the journey to Stevens Creek Reservoir up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's already a much loved piece of our town, but then it will be a regional connection for bicyclists and hikers.

     

Once again the city manager said nice things about the work of his staff.

The guy from the Water District read off some impressive sounding numbers. It sure sounded like there is a lot of money tied up in infrastructure.

  

Both plaques were unveiled at the same time. Unfortunately, I had to take one picture at a time.

     

This time when they did a group shot I stood with the crowd. I figured the photographers needed their moment of fame to.

     

Then the dedicated the park by the trail head that Intuit had made possible.

  

After that I walked home. I could have taken many more pictures, but these give you a feel for the trail. Beyond that tan wall is an apartment or condo complex. The switchbacks there are so that the approach to the freeway bridge will be gradual enough for bicycles. Thank you, whomever it was that did that.