Hi - I'm totally new here too! I just signed up today.
My surgery is schedules for December of this year, so I start a diet tomorrow to start losing weight before the surgery.
I used to live in the Bay Area (SF, then Oakland, then SF, 20 years total) - absolutely loved it there! If you're able to exercise, its a great place to be active. I don't know a lot about arthritis, but it sounds like it could make it difficult to do anything too high impact. Is walking/hiking doable?