June Gloom is a catchphrase on the Central Coast. Often there is fog, though almost never rain. It can also be cool, by which I mean low 60s instead of high 60s.

This year, we had the Gloom, if you want to call it that, mostly in May, so when our niece visited for a week mid-June, she had pretty nice weather. Most of our visitors have been from New England, and some are disappointed to find that Central Coast does not have Baywatch weather. Ever. Being from southeast Texas, our niece was happy to have a break from the heat, and even found the Silicon Valley weather–insufferable 80s to us–pleasantly lacking in humidity.

Here she is at Rio Del Mar. It’s a long way from the bayou.

San Francisco has all-summer Gloom, since the fog just sits on that city most of the season. The day our niece visited, the Golden Gate bridge was relatively visible; often you can’t even see the towers, and occasionally you have to say to people, There’s a 70-story-tall bridge right over there, believe it or not.

She had a good time anyway.

I was surprised to find that Google allows employees’ families to tour the Googleplex. Google comes from googol, which is 10 to the 100 power, more than the number of atoms in the universe. The Googleplex is an lovely campus, though not quite as mind-blowing as the googolplex, which is 10 to the googol power. It was fun to see where our son works, works out, eats, shops, gets his hair cut, and socializes during the workweek.

Most summer days, instead of Gloom, we have the most amazing Blue Skies I have ever seen. Here’s a shot from our back yard. The picture doesn’t do the depth of the blue justice. It looks like every atom in the universe is glowing blue.