Winter is rainy season here in the Bay Area, and I've been told that
this winter was one of the worst in recent memory, which resulted in
tons and tons and tons of rain hitting the small mountains/large hills
surrounding the Bay. The copious amounts of rain led to the hills
being green rather than their normal yellow/dirt colour.
I got here just after the worst of the rain storms, so I've only seen
the incredibly green hills and I was reminded of Maui - from a
distance, the verdant hills surrounding Fremont look similar to the
tropical rain forest covering the side of Mt. Haleakala.
Here's a snapshot I took during my drive... it really
doesn't do the hills justice - they're really much bigger when you see them in person. :)
(click the pic for the larger version)