From the Leafy Streets of Atherton to...Little Michoacán


We live right next door to Atherton, one of the wealthiest communities in the country. Average home price is $4.5 million, and many of the homes stand behind tall walls or iron fences. Streets are marked with signs that say “No Through Traffic.” This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T drive through...it just means that they don’t WANT you to drive through. Well, for a year I have driven through anyway, enjoying Atherton’s leafy greenness from my battered minivan.



Only a part of the house shows in this last picture. They’re building a new wall to protect it from Middlefield Road.
The trees are so thick along Middlefield Road, they have to be trimmed to form a tunnel for the traffic. When I bike north on Middlefield Road through Atherton, the trees give way at the Redwood City line, and suddenly you are in Little Michoacán.


At the Redwood City line, the trees are gone, and we are in Mexico!


This is my favorite taqueria: Gruellense #2. Tacos $1.10 apiece. And so yummy!

Muffler shop and florist.
This is my favorite place to buy fruit, vegetables, and Mexican groceries: Ayar Produce Market on El Camino Real. I will miss tiny avocados, 4 for $1.00, Manila mangoes for 50 cents apiece, and the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth pastries.

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