tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091931409435709292024-03-05T02:29:24.764-08:00The Bay Area WilbanksesOur adventures in the San Francisco Bay Area after moving from FloridaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-60849161921953489912012-09-03T13:39:00.004-07:002012-09-03T13:41:37.927-07:00Park and RidgeAfter walking our dogs twice a day for the year we were in an apartment, we have walked them a handful of times in the eight months we have lived in a house with a backyard. They get plenty of exercise going up and down the stairs and running around in the yard, right? Feeling a skosh guilty about their lack exercise/playtime, we decided to remedy that this weekend.<br />
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We met up with some dog-havin' friends at our old dog park in Fremont on Saturday. They have two Basenjis, and meeting up on neutral territory seemed to be the best approach for introducing the dogs to one another. They got along just fine. Since we had been there last, the dog park installed some agilty-type equipment. Most dogs, including ours, decided those were fun things to run around and pee on. The dogs had a blast and were completely wiped out by the time we got home.<br />
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Since I left the car setup for traveling with two dogs, we decided to go to <a href="http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/milagra.html">Milagra Ridge County Park</a> near our house for a morning stroll with the dogs. It was totally sunny at our house in San Bruno, but within a mile of a park, we hit the fog line. We had hoped it would be clear so that we could see the ocean, but the fog had not burned off yet.<br />
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milagra_Ridge">park</a> was occupied by the Ohlone Indians and the military before becoming a park in the 80s. The concrete Nike Missile Station and the gun battery are the only evidence of the military past of the area.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nike Missile Station</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every missile station needs a watchdog, right?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creepy Doors</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creepy Close-up</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a clear day, you would be able to see ocean</td></tr>
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We will definitely be going back to Milagra as it is so close to our house. Figuring out the best time will be the challenge. The park has signs in a few places alerting you to the fact that there are coyotes and mountain lions in the area, so that puts dusk out as an option. Early morning is when it is most likely to be foggy, so the sweet spot seems to be between 10 and 4. Next time, Milagra, next time.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-82943403885790524782012-08-26T18:35:00.001-07:002012-08-26T21:25:39.247-07:00Don't Point<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a kid, you learn about the famous historical figures who played a part in your state's history. In Florida, it's Ponce de Leon, Seminole Indians, and Henry Flagler. There are lots of counties, cities, roads, and schools labeled with these famous names. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">California has its own set of names which pop-up all over the place. There is a city, high school, and numerous streets named after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Fr%C3%A9mont">John Charles Fremont</a>, former US Senator from California. Another name that crops up a lot is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun%C3%ADpero_Serra">Junipero Serra</a>. Serra was a Roman Catholic Father who founded many of the missions throughout California. In addition to high schools, highways, and parks, there is a 26' concrete statue of Junipero Serra pointing West overlooking highway 280 between San Francisco and San Jose. Serra is on one knee in an Elvis-like stance. You can get up to the statue if you stop at the rest area adjacent to the statue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Usually when I'm driving by it, I'm on the way to or from work or don't have time to stop. On the way back from San Jose yesterday, Conery and I stopped to check out Junipero. We got to the rest area and found that there was a locked gate at the entrance to the path leading up to the statue. That simply would not do. Conery walked around one side and found another locked gate. We went around to the other side and spotted a path up behind one of the rest area buildings. Knowing that I was going to go up and get a close-up picture of the statue whether he came or not, Conery came with me. :)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Junipero up close and personal.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is some speculation that he's just pointing West toward the ocean. Others speculate that he is pointing down at the Mission Trail.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or he's pointing at you?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The base of the statue has nine sides. Each side faces a prominent mission whose name is carved into that side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The view of the Santa Cruz mountains from the statue is pretty remarkable. We'll have to go back when we can stay longer.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-17181075163409144342012-08-09T14:15:00.000-07:002012-08-09T14:16:21.676-07:00The First of Many HikesOur first backpacking trip was to be a litmus test for determining if we will be making future treks. It was totally the way to go our first time out. You definitely learn a lot going with experienced people, and if you pay attention and ask questions, you can get a lot of it.<br />
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Having a good base of information about the plants and animals in this part of the country as well as good rules of thumb will make us more comfortable as we visit the State and National Parks in the area. When we went to Muir Woods last year, I decided that I would collect patches from each of the parks and roadside attractions that we visit. My backpack needed a face lift, so that where they'd go. Conery liked that idea, so he started collecting them too.
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We put in place some parameters to keep this from getting out of control.The place had to be a State or National Park, a landmark, or a roadside attraction. You have to visit the place to "earn" the patch. (No, I was never a Girl Scout, but I think the whole badge thing is rad. I also like the cartoon "The Mighty Bee" about a girl who lives in SF and is part of a Girl Scout-like troupe called the Honey Bees. She imagines that she'll be a super hero called The Mighty Bee someday when she collects all the Honey Bee badges.) So if one of us didn't go to the place, the other won't get a badge for them.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conery's backpack and mine</td></tr>
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Aside from patches and information, the big draw for us is doing things outside without real heat and humidity. And if you can do this activity under the cover of trees, it's totally enjoyable...in SUMMER (gasp)! Lugging a 30 pound pack as you hop from stone to stone across streams and traverse over and under downed trees, you'll break a sweat, but it doesn't hold a candle to the torrential sweatpour you have during Summer in the South.
There were so many beautiful vistas and magnificent lighting that you could spend your whole time taking pictures. Well, the whole time you weren't navigating a narrow path or scrambling over rocks. I found myself thinking about where my camera was, and I had to bring it back to living in the moment not documenting it.
There were a few times when we were stopped and exploring that I made time to take some pictures. The termite trails on some of the trees were systematic and beautiful, especially because that pattern was made from the path an insect ate out of the wood.
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Nearer to our camp were other trees whose outer bark was charred by a fire in 2008. Spiders decided that these trees were more hospitable to their homes than others, I guess. With the light in just the right pace, the webs covering these trees were a luminous network of armor. The camera did not do the visual justice, but here is what I captured.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure how this happened, but it's my new desktop image.</td></tr>
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And I cannot get enough of this kind of stuff.</div>
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The trip was a great experience. Now I just have to find a Big Sur patch to add to my backpack. </div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-31587996108148508762012-07-04T15:06:00.003-07:002012-07-04T16:17:10.827-07:00Hiking Trip? Yes Sur!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Traci and I have been enjoying the varied options for outdoor fun afforded us by our new locale, but haven't really seen the true outdoors. This weekend we rectified that with a little help from Groupon and Bay Area Expeditions.<br />
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BAE was founded and is run by the young guy in the foreground, Chris. In the background is our other guide, Dan.<br />
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The Groupon was for a discounted overnight backpacking trip in Big Sur, which is HUGE. <br />
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More specifically we were in Los Padres National Forest on the Mill Creek Trail.<br />
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We started out traveling the two hours to the meeting place, a Subway sandwich shop in King City. They chose that as our meeting place as it gives everyone easy access to gas, food, restrooms etc. before we hit the trail (literally). Once you leave that parking lot, cell service ends making it impossible to call for directions. <br />
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When we got there, we were informed that while BAE can't officially condone alcohol use, human nature dictates that once we have hiked all morning and made it to camp, people will want something to do and drinking is a highly social event that often happens. So off we went to the AM PM store to get a couple of bottles of wine to share at camp that night. We didn't have a wine key and AM PM was sold out, but we figured it would work itself out. We were traveling with eighteen other people plus the two guides so one of them was bound to have a way to open it (or a clever, MacGyvery way to open it).<br />
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Once we were all stocked up and ready to go, we got into caravan formation and hit the road for the last hour of our journey to the trailhead. The road to get up and over the mountain was incredibly twisty with portions of it being precariously perched on a precipice (don't you just love alliteration?).<br />
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Once we reached the parking area at the trailhead, we set about learning how to pack our backpacks. BAE provided each of us with a top of the line Kifaru internal-frame backpack, a headlamp, a blow up sleeping pad and titanium bowl and spork. We also had the option of renting a sleeping bag from them which we did rather than buying one. Since BAE provides dinner and breakfast, we all had to split up the community items and carry them in our packs. The real lesson (besides PACK LIGHT!) was in learning how to adjust the backpacks. There is a belt that buckles and tightens with d-rings as well as two "delta straps" on either side of the belt that allow you to fine tune the fit. Once you have it strapped and tightened properly, 99% of the weight of your pack is taken by your hips with almost no pull on your shoulders. Pretty amazing. Not that it wasn't still heavy, but the balance makes it feel like much less than the thirty or so pounds that it was.<br />
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At this point, Chris asked the group if anyone required the false sense of security offered by sleeping in a tent. There was no rain in the forecast and it was predicted to be a warm night, so the tipi was really not required. Not to mention that Chris informed us that we would have to shoulder the additional weight of the tipi (and also that it is a bit of a pain to setup). We all agreed that sleeping under the stars sounded great so we did not lug the tipi into the forest.<br />
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The hardest part of the trail we took, according to Chris, is the very beginning. We rounded the corner from the parking lot and were met with an uphill path with dry dirt and loose gravel making it a little tricky. Once we were past that, we started hiking. Our path followed Mill Creek (the trail's namesake) but at the start, all we could see was the dry ravine to the right which was far enough down to cause serious injury or death should one fall. The trail at this point was wide enough for both my feet side by side plus maybe one more of my feet. That sounds like a lot of feet. Anyway, my point is that we were about 12 inches from doom for the first ten minutes of our trip. It definitely solidified for us that this was not a simple walk in the woods and put us on alert that we'd need to be careful and pay attention.<br />
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Along this first part of the journey, Chris began pointing out plants of note. First he pointed out poison oak which was prolific in the woods. Along the path for the rest of the journey, we passed down the information whenever a patch cropped up. Likewise, we notified each other of poison hemlock which we saw frequently. Chris shared a story with us about an herbalist friend of his who was on a hike and pointing out hemlock and other plants to her hikers. She forgot to wash her hands after handling it and apparently poisoned herself by eating skittles with her hemlocked hand. She began hallucinating and knew what had happened. She made it to the hospital in time to have her stomach pumped and she survived. That story and others that were shared with us along the trip made us very wary and aware of our surroundings. On the happier side of plant life, Chris also pointed out edible wild strawberries (his last trip about wiped out almost all of the ones along the trail, but there were still a few to be seen), and redwood sorrel which looks like clover only bigger, and tastes like green apple skin. Surprisingly tasty!<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">We hiked for about twenty-five minutes - the sunniest, hottest portion of the trip - until we reached a clearing by the stream with room for us to take off our packs and take a break in the shade. I stepped down to the creek's edge and rinsed my hands. The water was cold and refreshing. Chris took this opportunity to discuss wilderness preparedness and emergency survival. He showed us his satellite phone and his emergency beacon, something he recommends everyone invest in prior to backpacking or hiking on their own. We split into groups and discussed in what order we would do things to ensure our survival. We went with assessing our supplies, finding water, shelter, and then some method of signaling for help. We were close. We assumed no one was injured, but the first step in survival training is treating injuries, then shelter, then water. After a bathroom break, we got our packs back on and adjusted and were off again.</span></div>
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Since this is a natural trail, there were areas where trees had fallen and other obstacles blocked the path. Often we had to climb over fallen trees, cross the creek on rocks or logs, slide down and over boulders, etc. All while carrying 30 pounds on our backs. It was tricky and just challenging enough to make us work and keep us interested, but not cocky. We traveled at a leisurely pace with Chris leading the way and Dan bringing up the rear. Both of them were armed with cameras and took candid shots all along the way. You can see them on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BayAreaExpeditions" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page.<br />
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We traveled along the creek until we reached a large clearing in the redwoods which is where we made camp. Since BAE does this trip every weekend, they already had it scoped out with a nice flat area for the camp stoves. The area was boxed in by logs, making an impromptu kitchen. We all unloaded our community items (we had all the couscous, bowls, oatmeal, and our two bottles of wine). Shortly after they had the kitchen setup, we were all trained on using the platypus water filtration system they brought along. They hung the clean water receptacle on a tree near the creek. It's a big black bladder with tubing leading to the filter with tubing leading from the filter to another bladder on the ground. Using that setup, we could scoop water right out of the cold creek, put it in the top, and in a few minutes have safe, filtered drinking water. We used that water for filling up our personal water bladders for the next day.<br />
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We uncorked our wine using someone else's swiss army knife (see, I told you it would work itself out) and then set about the task of locating our sleeping spot. We chose a very nice area right next to the creek where it flowed over some boulders making a lovely babbling brook sound. We didn't even need our white noise machine! We inflated our mattresses and inserted them into the sleeves on our sleeping bags which are made for that purpose (camping is like being James Bond, tons of cool gadgets). In retrospect, our campsite was on a slight incline and could have been flatter, but it was the perfect location other than that. There were trees to dry our socks on, rocks to lean our packs on, gurgling water to sleep by - perfect. Others scoped out their sleeping spots and then went exploring the surrounding hills. One of the guys, Anton, found the skull of an animal that we all agreed was likely a bobcat or other small cat.<br />
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Back at the kitchen, the drinking had begun. Some of the girls had purchased wine drink boxes. Genius. We didn't see those in the store which is why we opted for bottles. When I asked for cups for wine, I found out that they are not always considered a necessary item in backpacking. Multi-use items are far more efficient. Instead of cups we used plastic bowls (not the metal ones as they cause the flavor to be off). I just pretended that it was a big goblet missing its stem.<br />
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The big bowl provided plenty of aeration and the wine was actually not bad at all (considering it came from a convenience store). We shared our wine and others shared their hard liquor (someone had a flask of whisky about which I was very happy) while we waited for the camp stoves to heat up and dinner to be cooked. Dan was in charge of cooking and whipped up a surprisingly tasty one dish meal consisting of couscous, broccoli, chicken-apple sausage, and cheese. It was hardy and topped with a little Tapatio, just about the best meal you can get out of a backpack. We all sat around eating and drinking and talking until Traci and I just couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. We said goodnight and stumbled over to our campsite.<br />
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It was at this point we recognized that drinking and camping might not be the best combination. For one thing, the woods we were in were slightly treacherous in full daylight with loose rock and tree-detritus, so in the pitch black it was even more so. Secondly, drinking = peeing... in the dark... far enough away from sleeping bags so we don't have to smell it. Lastly, we were tipsy and slightly off-balance as we climbed over rocks and trees to get to our bags. Luckily we were both able to traverse our obstacles without injury and were out like a light in no time. I crashed almost immediately, but Traci took a little longer to find sleep (her mind was racing and going over the day's events). It was a beautiful scene being out in the woods with trees as your only overhead covering.<br />
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The next morning we had coffee (out of bowls) and oatmeal (my least favorite food ever) out of other bowls as we packed up and got ready for the return hike. While we took our time on the way in allowing for breaks, we hiked pretty much non-stop on the way out. By the time we reached the narrow trail that started our journey, we were ready to be free of our extra weight and ready for some food! We were treated to one last amazing vista before taking the final downhill walk to the parking lot.<br />
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We had an amazing time learning the basics of hiking and are excited to try it again soon. We will stick to day hikes for the time being but would definitely consider another overnight trip with BAE as our guides. There are tons of places out here for this sort of activity, and BAE plans trips to many of them. If any of you are interested in a trip like this, we'd welcome the company. Come to SF and see the great American West with us!!<br />
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Coneryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02875591352184072817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-91101714181886847772012-05-07T19:21:00.000-07:002012-05-07T19:21:18.811-07:00I Smell Pies in My FutureNorthern California is fully in the throes of Spring. The weather is getting warmer, which means you don't have to always carry a jacket with you. I happened to catch a glimpse of some fruit on the trees in the backyard and took some pictures. We know there are two apple trees and pear tree, but we're not sure what the fruit of the fourth tree is.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbswMxldKzIzBdyHPMeufVH5jYQ-adqjlme9pG7Bwbhs39cmnq2feRNc2tZyWXrc67SMyq_vz0hdIlQESNZL0eM0yi0nVvrrQ2JLRwFnhJa1i9IE98GaTvtbayaxezeRPiKZArDepXC39/s1600/IMG_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbswMxldKzIzBdyHPMeufVH5jYQ-adqjlme9pG7Bwbhs39cmnq2feRNc2tZyWXrc67SMyq_vz0hdIlQESNZL0eM0yi0nVvrrQ2JLRwFnhJa1i9IE98GaTvtbayaxezeRPiKZArDepXC39/s320/IMG_2743.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apples</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV5xNYzn0mkYIi3LoJAuHGFO9wZbFcU8WsvWJ0Iu4QSETLMnmAvmIocpaaFmRN3dT_yLL9HXf0XTt9wWVc3AaFDfwJRvYyloE5CEoNWT4Pnt1lO5cp9fmmRYRTxndXL-vu9QBT84TSrEq/s1600/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV5xNYzn0mkYIi3LoJAuHGFO9wZbFcU8WsvWJ0Iu4QSETLMnmAvmIocpaaFmRN3dT_yLL9HXf0XTt9wWVc3AaFDfwJRvYyloE5CEoNWT4Pnt1lO5cp9fmmRYRTxndXL-vu9QBT84TSrEq/s320/IMG_2742.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funny Third Fruit - Peaches?</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-25203657656122166722012-04-05T10:59:00.000-07:002012-04-05T10:59:19.650-07:00Looking for a Yoga HomeI checked out the other yoga studio near our house last night. It is about a 15 minute drive. Having driven about 10 minutes to the closer studio, I wasn't sure if this new place would be worth adding another 10 minutes to the process. Time is a little tight between work and yoga. I Caltrain home and let the dogs out before heading to yoga. After changing and jumping in the car, I headed north on 280. As I entered the interstate, I saw a lot of cars; it was 6pm after all. Luckily, the traffic was heavy, but it was moving. I was starting to doubt my choice to go to the further studio; that is until I took Hwy 1 South toward Pacifica. Wow...what a scenic drive. <br />
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This is what I saw as I rounded a corner. No, I didn't take this picture as I was driving; someone else captured this slice of beauty.<br />
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As you round the bend heading toward the town of Pacifica, you get a nice view of it from above.<br />
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So the scenery on the way to the Pacifica studio is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the shorter drive down a six lane road with lots of businesses and frequent pedestrian crosswalks. I parked on the street in front of the Pacifica studio unlike circling in the strip mall parking lot of the closer studio. The closer studio is also next to a Starbucks, so there are usually a lot of people sitting out front of Starbucks watching the parade of people going into the yoga studio. <br />
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The Pacifica studio doesn't have all the higher tech online purchasing features of the closer studio, or bamboo flooring, or a locker room with showers, but it does have room to stretch your arms out without hitting another person, and teachers who learn your name, and students who are kind and don't get all agitated.<br />
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The Pacifica studio has the same vibe as Skip's studio in Longwood, so I feel like I'm returning home versus being bombarded by unnecessary noise and mania.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-13061274002352588672012-04-04T09:31:00.000-07:002012-04-04T09:31:16.131-07:00Pear Tree Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The pear tree has really taken off. What a difference two weeks make!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVO0tRQMP7Pd7TrE7z8L5c2fuBcyyXnWxs5YrdTD0HyHI2VvjQj3NQKMmmLa3VZQfw7P9TGYytRXpN4aM2bc7ywPmyVuABZw4Z0KZENy65Qz2Qn-jrtXPFOSdC5N0eEy7mP5ukYOaoB6j/s1600/IMG_2640%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVO0tRQMP7Pd7TrE7z8L5c2fuBcyyXnWxs5YrdTD0HyHI2VvjQj3NQKMmmLa3VZQfw7P9TGYytRXpN4aM2bc7ywPmyVuABZw4Z0KZENy65Qz2Qn-jrtXPFOSdC5N0eEy7mP5ukYOaoB6j/s320/IMG_2640%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-65133290700821782792012-03-24T19:03:00.000-07:002012-03-24T19:03:33.676-07:00Note to Self: Gotta Buy a PartridgeThe fruit trees in our backyard were looking pretty sad, but within the last week or so, they started to sprout some new leaves. The first to really take off is the pear tree.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguq6S9ouwDEavxUixR7-LADTxV_-p57vdF4tSnK5sx7eSUedcevYjL0AosASHspNK1t6XHm5tr2DcRV-BShfbTkZdpcMFqjcj6tGxsEHBIl_ecx8EDtpcI20Uyow4pNAFgpJVMBodAsxWp/s1600/IMG_2615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguq6S9ouwDEavxUixR7-LADTxV_-p57vdF4tSnK5sx7eSUedcevYjL0AosASHspNK1t6XHm5tr2DcRV-BShfbTkZdpcMFqjcj6tGxsEHBIl_ecx8EDtpcI20Uyow4pNAFgpJVMBodAsxWp/s320/IMG_2615.JPG" title="Pear Tree Blossoms" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear Tree Blossoms</td></tr>
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There are two small apple trees on either side of the pear tree. The apple trees have a few leaves on them. Hopefully, they will follow the lead of the pear tree.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94EiCjElrjoeU2W3XHrCssP2qtBkWCS9CaYblD5LDTAfXD7ECWBbG9MbgauH3uAPE4tUlfkxFUrsCQIQn2bZ2HFrtznh5O-oWqvjkNjNwt4Wu5AEO_vhana_ZLHjX2d21vxc9xODLY8v0/s1600/IMG_2617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94EiCjElrjoeU2W3XHrCssP2qtBkWCS9CaYblD5LDTAfXD7ECWBbG9MbgauH3uAPE4tUlfkxFUrsCQIQn2bZ2HFrtznh5O-oWqvjkNjNwt4Wu5AEO_vhana_ZLHjX2d21vxc9xODLY8v0/s320/IMG_2617.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-65638179777412969782012-03-24T18:56:00.000-07:002012-03-24T18:56:48.482-07:00Grocery Store EntertainmentSince I don't do that majority of the grocery shopping, leaving the familiar Florida-based Publix behind wasn't that big of a deal. There are days when Conery longs for the place. There are a few average stores like Safeway and Lucky (formerly Albertson's). Then, there are some smaller stores with more organic and specialty items, think of them as Whole Foods Light. The one that is closest to our house, and therefore really convenient, is called Mollie Stone. <div><br />
</div><div>The best part about the store...disco Curious George unicycling across the produce section. NATCH!<br />
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</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-27724380192222909042012-03-18T12:33:00.000-07:002012-03-18T12:33:04.909-07:00New Yoga StudioLuckily, many yoga teachers teach at other studios around the Bay because I got a couple of recommendations for studios on the Peninsula when I left the Fremont studio.<br />
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There is a studio about 3 miles South of our house, and it's across the street from the Caltrain station. Super convenient. It would not, however, be my choice if there were another studio the same distance away. Why? It's really crowded all the time. They offer classes all day long with some starting at 5am. I am not one of the people attending those ass crack of dawn classes. The classes that fit my schedule are the ones that fit most people's schedules, so those classes are packed. The studio is on the small side compared to others I've been in. It's a store front in a strip mall. They've made good use of the space, but there are just lots of people. <br />
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The packedness is not that big a deal in the yoga room, although the quarters are very close. It's more annoying getting into and out of the entrance area and the locker room. Neither of those places are meant to accomodate the number of people practicing in a given class. However, people get their early to get whatever spot they deem good, which means that if all the people taking the class are in the entrance area waiting, and all the people taking the previous class are trying to leave, you have twice the number of people in a given place than are meant to be there. I think the post class exit (getting into the locker room, getting to your stuff, finding a square foot to change in, getting out of the locker room, navigating through the people waiting for the next class) is almost as challenging as the class. Not really, but I like to exaggerate.<br />
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The person who is now cutting my hair does yoga at a studio in Pacifica, which is about 8 miles away from our house. Once my yoga pass at the current studio is depleted, I'm going to check out the Pacifica studio. The experience at the Pacifica studio is going to have to be pretty great to beat the convenience of the current studio. <br />
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The current studio also does Silent Bikram classes where there is no dialog to guide you into and out of the postures. The teacher practices with you in the center of the room. For postures where you cannot see him/her, some audible signal is given to alert you to the posture change. It's different. I'm not really sure if I like it. It seems like the Silent versions of the regular classes are happening more and more at the current studio, so if I decide that that version doesn't challenge me as much, that factor may be enough to get me to switch studios.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-48140105119584658022012-03-18T11:24:00.000-07:002012-03-18T11:24:19.404-07:00Catching Up[insert blogger's excuse for not blogging here]<br />
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</div><div>During our radio silence, we moved to a house on the peninsula. Having lived in a house for almost 8 years before moving to California, we were used to having some space and living further away from neighbors. So we were all too happy to leave our 2 bedroom apartment for a house with a back yard. As you can imagine, much of our hiatus was comprised of packing and moving and unpacking and getting used to our new commutes.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Normally, I'd write a trite segway like "Speaking of commutes", but I'll spare you that and instead say, "My commute is vastly different than my old one." Better? Yes? No? *heh* My previous commute consisted of a 45 tiresome minutes of stop and go traffic. But now, I can take a train to get to work. The drive would be a 76 mile round trip drive, albeit beside a river in a valley along a mountain range. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I drove to work for the first week in the new place to get my bearings and figure out the transportation options. The best route consists of a 26 minute train ride and a 7 minute ride on light rail. Conery and I go to the same station in the morning, leaving my car there. He goes North; I go South. We both walk to our respective offices from the stations. My commute door-to-door is a little under an hour; his is about 40 minutes.</div><div><br />
</div><div>During the 30 so minutes of not driving, I'm either reading or playing games. I'm on Caltrain for the majority of the time. They are diesel powered trains with double decker seating. There is a combo of older and newer trains in the fleet. Regardless of the train's age, they are pretty well maintained. The population traveling with me are, for the most part, people going to work or school. There's rarely any loud talking. People are reading, sleeping, working on a laptop, or listening to music.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Here are some pictures Conery took on the BART side of the station we use.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the Front</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsy6k5KfsmIjJSKcq81aIZ8HLSUz-F7XbesTuY1XCVCS0Vxdtf7YXBoFQ7DVf076nkoGyGTeX6ilCGAr4YxTCakluJikMPZSwNKzDj8hjMCouoU9NLrEm93DoP6wJCZeVLzsE3tR03z3j/s1600/IMG_2525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsy6k5KfsmIjJSKcq81aIZ8HLSUz-F7XbesTuY1XCVCS0Vxdtf7YXBoFQ7DVf076nkoGyGTeX6ilCGAr4YxTCakluJikMPZSwNKzDj8hjMCouoU9NLrEm93DoP6wJCZeVLzsE3tR03z3j/s320/IMG_2525.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From 11 o'clock</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYH10VdSFRgA4VTQJg0WcJZOVqkgPzOaZcYzApZ7VsWm1IqDs6m47hrCvvjf3DHs2SVIsfmsQMMmBZKXTqtuIPVaZT9_F-qJ7nMUuGHvMmYbm5XUEJrnvGrEJMV5l0ipISrXmUk0G6_c9R/s1600/IMG_2526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYH10VdSFRgA4VTQJg0WcJZOVqkgPzOaZcYzApZ7VsWm1IqDs6m47hrCvvjf3DHs2SVIsfmsQMMmBZKXTqtuIPVaZT9_F-qJ7nMUuGHvMmYbm5XUEJrnvGrEJMV5l0ipISrXmUk0G6_c9R/s320/IMG_2526.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a mini BART train on the top.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are a few photos taken during my commute.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXtNGElPYyiAW5yt3C-Cnqd1dDXWYFvTD_KTYQyjZEQgvVPvOAEXss2bYCCMtY8zRQYZ2s8edrzhcavmSOKZ_6A8dfBwO2qdPW15khD2KQSrdRhgazebPZP1fvmj8Dx0UTu0LKSmANFTr/s1600/IMG_2593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXtNGElPYyiAW5yt3C-Cnqd1dDXWYFvTD_KTYQyjZEQgvVPvOAEXss2bYCCMtY8zRQYZ2s8edrzhcavmSOKZ_6A8dfBwO2qdPW15khD2KQSrdRhgazebPZP1fvmj8Dx0UTu0LKSmANFTr/s320/IMG_2593.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boarding Caltrain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDbK_dDB6UshaWh7E-yDFsq4f086r-lfFajwdJgBJHWffZ0p50o02nLkP4IOrmDP6MIu-EbKYTCAftVILMRqHdOxI8K8bU7J-wxe4ah782zz5Ypu6Pys_8-IcmO2_oLtMuzhLLRYB_oS8/s1600/IMG_2562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDbK_dDB6UshaWh7E-yDFsq4f086r-lfFajwdJgBJHWffZ0p50o02nLkP4IOrmDP6MIu-EbKYTCAftVILMRqHdOxI8K8bU7J-wxe4ah782zz5Ypu6Pys_8-IcmO2_oLtMuzhLLRYB_oS8/s320/IMG_2562.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upstairs on an Older Train</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzIQ272GVFpa3Ff8JOGOOqQyxHUuiIFCZlYiE0RgSUK8iGPqllEh2YPYPWbKj81iONHVuj_SOW7Ce37bYys3hRKFvxveCYQBinXgbD9TiTmjoiE58oCT0OERjkAETZZLDUtHeXy6vZi4F/s1600/IMG_2563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzIQ272GVFpa3Ff8JOGOOqQyxHUuiIFCZlYiE0RgSUK8iGPqllEh2YPYPWbKj81iONHVuj_SOW7Ce37bYys3hRKFvxveCYQBinXgbD9TiTmjoiE58oCT0OERjkAETZZLDUtHeXy6vZi4F/s320/IMG_2563.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny Aisle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4bs9RXQ2l_K_pjRP4c4pLV0DN0KKDd6o5F6Rx696yRSjORw5zMhbQMdQc-K2dnrp59N5C3vIbIVbrIqHUNssWYy10vTXXKsKNc2VoWAzpuxCwsDULdj1ygaYFlP6hcYKpjYmFWzmmqR_/s1600/IMG_2564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4bs9RXQ2l_K_pjRP4c4pLV0DN0KKDd6o5F6Rx696yRSjORw5zMhbQMdQc-K2dnrp59N5C3vIbIVbrIqHUNssWYy10vTXXKsKNc2VoWAzpuxCwsDULdj1ygaYFlP6hcYKpjYmFWzmmqR_/s320/IMG_2564.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across From Me</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9H7CU4Brb16J6z8RB8eAmgi0qQAbMKzREIGz6aOIfc5pB19E5kn41Lu7KvnuyedtiG_L05lbxlKOvyLbJ29woYSlzfro5H_29WZ2osvlFSYcB2KjB4yFHocnlAqDGw1de31rOKd5VNH4y/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9H7CU4Brb16J6z8RB8eAmgi0qQAbMKzREIGz6aOIfc5pB19E5kn41Lu7KvnuyedtiG_L05lbxlKOvyLbJ29woYSlzfro5H_29WZ2osvlFSYcB2KjB4yFHocnlAqDGw1de31rOKd5VNH4y/s320/IMG_2594.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ticket Checker on a New Train's Lower Level</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the day I decided to film my crossing from Caltrain to light rail, something out of the ordinary happened.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WefvptHXCsU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6MiB4movQ3HvU0grtRPkwy-9PBgt7fpacMWZGs2zYmqXj2ULXJYgopPutoMzocdd6wScJaNbrpxKVxEF2V2-KfPOTa5X-ZmRcjVWyU82pJjD_7ASJcIpwcCVb65OUthexLlPYINEM1Xg/s1600/IMG_2596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6MiB4movQ3HvU0grtRPkwy-9PBgt7fpacMWZGs2zYmqXj2ULXJYgopPutoMzocdd6wScJaNbrpxKVxEF2V2-KfPOTa5X-ZmRcjVWyU82pJjD_7ASJcIpwcCVb65OUthexLlPYINEM1Xg/s320/IMG_2596.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tagging to Get On Light Rail</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While there is occasional excitement, the train is a pretty chill experience. I have had time to read a few books. I am saving money by taking the train. I also have time to decompress and walk in the door relaxed. Everybody wins!</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-1911213394008500982011-12-04T17:45:00.000-08:002011-12-04T17:54:41.114-08:00Meandering, Muppets, and Mysteries<div class="p1">Hot on the heels of Halloween came Thanksgiving. Since we hosted both our families for Thanksgiving most of the years we lived in the Mosher house, it was weird to not be planning for the holiday. Our friends in Santa Cruz invited us to come to their house for Thanksgiving. </div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Our Florida friend Lisa was part of the Thanksgiving crew at the Mosher house for many years, and since she is going to her parents' house for Christmas this year, she decided to come visit us over the Thanksgiving holiday. Lisa arrived the night before Thanksgiving. I managed to avoid locking my keys in the car. w00t! It was great to see her, and we did some catching up and before long realized it was 1am. That was 4am for Lisa. Good thing we weren't heading to Santa Cruz until 1 the next day. </div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Several years ago, Conery used the ham bone from a Thanksgiving Honey-Baked Ham to make split pea soup. He hadn't attempted to recreate that legendary soup, so this seemed like the right time, especially since it wasn't going to be 80 degrees on Thanksgiving. </div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Before doing any prep for the holiday meal, Conery made us breakfast. YUM! We got to our friends' house, and Conery made a beeline for the kitchen. I don't think anyone could keep him out of their kitchen if they tried. We had an awesome meal, played some games, and laughed ourselves silly. We all missed our families and made phone calls to wish them well.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">This was Lisa's first trip to San Francisco, so the next day, we headed into the City. The day was clear and cool. You could actually see all of the Golden Gate Bridge, which isn't always the case. We started our day off at the Buena Vista Cafe and enjoyed several of their delicious Irish Coffees. With warm bellies, we walked around Ghiradelli Square checking out the shops. </div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQ4p4AxU9LYfExqeEBAZ4-5UPZRwjJjrLHOwEiADZhIV4egFtOoYSanoy_iiE_pDPDeTpI2DWq8YXFJWcNzArafC1ObgFgtukMmgEwBpif4SGAAcShjyKOhBMJqio1bmX5CkjcHGcTSZz/s1600/314511_10150518678397784_746607783_10784950_6138767_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQ4p4AxU9LYfExqeEBAZ4-5UPZRwjJjrLHOwEiADZhIV4egFtOoYSanoy_iiE_pDPDeTpI2DWq8YXFJWcNzArafC1ObgFgtukMmgEwBpif4SGAAcShjyKOhBMJqio1bmX5CkjcHGcTSZz/s320/314511_10150518678397784_746607783_10784950_6138767_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">On such a clear day, getting a good vantage point is essential to really get a sense of the city. Since Conery's company is on floors 33 - 36 of one of the Embarcadero Center buildings, we went there. The place was empty as it was a company holiday, so we could walk around and check out all the views. </div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">When we left Conery's office, we walked to Union Square for the lighting of the Macy's Christmas tree. </div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">On a normal day, the area around Market/Powell and Union Square is hopping, but on Black Friday, it was madness. It was the kind of madness you want to experience…once. WOW! We got to Union Square, and there was a stage for various performances near the 80 foot tree. The front of Macy's faces Union Square, and people were already camped by the huge windows on all floors of the store to watch the tree lighting. The tree was mammoth and gorgeous. There is even an ice skating rink in the square. </div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://homesinsanfranciscoforsale.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/San-Francisco-Macys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://homesinsanfranciscoforsale.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/San-Francisco-Macys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union Square Christmas Tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Our next stop was dinner. We were pretty close to the Ferry Building where there are several restaurants we've been looking for a reason to try. </div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://marketbar.com/img/gallery-lg-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="182" src="http://marketbar.com/img/gallery-lg-15.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Market Bar in the Ferry Building</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Conery called ahead and got reservations for us at Market Bar. We were all in the mood for seafood. Lisa ordered a bowl of Cioppino. It's pronounced "chip-een-o" and originated in San Francisco's North Beach area where fishermen would chip in their catch of the day along with some vegetables and herbs to make a meal, or so goes the legend. I had some tasty swordfish, and Conery decided to forego the seafood and go for a burger. With full bellies and tired feet, we headed home.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Saturday started off with breakfast at the CeeDub (aka Country Way). It was there that we hatched the day's plan. We bought tickets for the Winchester Mystery House, and the tour started at 3:30. We'd been talking about seeing The Muppet Movie and figured out how to fit that in before the mystery house. We are all muppet fans who had been looking forward to seeing the movie.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">The movie did not disappoint. It was a time machine of sorts back to our collective childhoods. I hadn't seen a muppet movie on the big screen in years, so the whole experience was even more magical. </div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Conery and I first learned about the Winchester Mystery house from the Travel or History channels. It seems like another oddity that a Bay Area resident should experience once; luckily, Lisa was curious as well. The house is just off of a busy San Jose street and doesn't look too massive from the front. </div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://travellingboard.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/winchester-mystery-house.general-view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://travellingboard.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/winchester-mystery-house.general-view.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winchester Mystery House</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">The house has all kinds of strange architectural conventions as it was in a constant state of construction/renovation for 38 years. Our tour group was comprised of about 20 people from all walks of life and ages. It was funny to hear the questions the kids in the tour were asking. By the end of the main tour, we had walked a mile through the twisty path throughout most of the rooms of the house. We also signed up for the behind-the-scenes tour where we wore hard hats as we were going into some precarious places with low ceilings. The BTS tour was cool. We got to tour different buildings on the grounds as well as areas of the main house the general tour didn't cover. There was a bird aviary in the house and three elevators whose weird mechanics we got to see. None of the house seemed too mysterious until we went into the basement. All the doorways were pretty small and the one into the basement was no exception. We went through doors to the basement which were like the exterior doors which lead to a root cellar (or so I've learned from movies). There were all kinds of passages and doorways throughout the basement. The house had been spared really bad damage during the two major earthquakes (1906 and 1989) because all of the rooms had their own foundation. I guess this was a result of the foundation not being a fixed area as sections of the house kept being added on to.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">The next day, we went back to San Francisco and started our day with dim sum in Chinatown. We tried a new place called the Great Eastern based on a recommendation from a friend. It was delicious. We were stuffed and only paid $21. We walked it off as we shopped in Chinatown. </div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">After all the walking, we decided to see some sights from the comfort of the car and headed West to Golden Gate Park. We drove through my favorite part of the park, the Music Concourse, on the way to the windmills on the Pacific Ocean side of the park. There are two windmills there which used to pump all the water needed to service the park. Their function has long since been replaced as they are no longer in working order, but they still stand at the two Western corners of the park. </div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1"><br />
</div><div class="p1">We'd passed by them a few times, but we didn't have a chance to stop and check them out. We remedied that. The windmills are set in a pretty wooded area. One of the two has been restored which the other one is rustic looking.<br />
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</div><div class="p2"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5HKKS3IyQsihWofwKsb6VasgKjQ0oKZBrueXPUO9OqVFnkd1wqdkuu8MANuRzN2Hgrw5YAhczp0s5ap20gZ3_O0zIR_ijLMyalFGApkKNqaFGvMCr2SWxWewMwLZFMyhkOizj-dgpayz/s1600/387951_10150523636072784_746607783_10803346_1213921674_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5HKKS3IyQsihWofwKsb6VasgKjQ0oKZBrueXPUO9OqVFnkd1wqdkuu8MANuRzN2Hgrw5YAhczp0s5ap20gZ3_O0zIR_ijLMyalFGApkKNqaFGvMCr2SWxWewMwLZFMyhkOizj-dgpayz/s320/387951_10150523636072784_746607783_10803346_1213921674_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Restored Murphy Windmill</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl7vWeK0TAfUrv18FpJleFy6xThbZpQ7RBTVnXjf8aZqwjKX9UMS70DWPiy-dRTIBCwrCEeiTX0_oQIoNiTCKMC6nPXipGrOjdfoiIWP6XzSMx64DdISeIR23rSUl5Rsysk8zjKbFV4-f/s1600/IMG_2360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl7vWeK0TAfUrv18FpJleFy6xThbZpQ7RBTVnXjf8aZqwjKX9UMS70DWPiy-dRTIBCwrCEeiTX0_oQIoNiTCKMC6nPXipGrOjdfoiIWP6XzSMx64DdISeIR23rSUl5Rsysk8zjKbFV4-f/s320/IMG_2360.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rustic Dutch Windmill</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</div><div class="p1">We had enough time to check out the location of the San Francisco office of Lisa's company. It is in a super cool part of the city near the Financial District. Now Lisa has to figure out how to talk her company into relocating her. :)</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">We decided to end our day in the place it started, Chinatown. Rather than setting ourselves and our guest up for a possibly disappointing experience, we went back to the R&G Lounge. We had a great meal with a great friend. We were sorry to see Lisa go, but there were tons of things she didn't get to see/do this time, so we hope she comes back soon. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-31867933002366387252011-12-04T09:16:00.000-08:002011-12-04T09:37:46.467-08:00Amelia Earhart Resurfaces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p1">As with most years, the latter part seems to get a momentum of its own. Since we posted last, we've had two awesome visits from Florida friends and scouted neighborhoods for a house to rent.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Our first Florida friend to visit was Anne Hennessey. She came out for a few days around Halloween. This was our first Halloween in California, and we definitely wanted to check out what Halloween was like in San Francisco. Conery and I both like going with a theme for our costume, and Anne had an Amelia Earhart costume, so we decided to go with "famous people who disappeared/died in airplane-related incidents" theme. Catchy eh? :o) I went with DB Cooper, and Conery was Glenn Miller. We had fun scouting surplus stores for our costumes.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">I picked Anne up at the airport on a Friday. When I got to SFO, I saw Anne helping some other traveler clean up broken glass from the curbside pickup lane. I was happy to see that Anne was still being her awesome, helpful self. I put the car in park and hopped out to greet her. She hadn't seen me pull up, so she was surprised and happy to see me. We hugged hello and headed to the car. I pulled the driver's side door handle, and it was locked. A feeling of shock and dread ran through me. I tried the other doors; they were all locked. Meanwhile, my car's engine is running, and I'm parked in the curbside lane preventing others from getting to the curb. Luckily, an airport person stopped and called a tow truck. In the year that I've had the car, this scenario had not happened. When the car is put in drive, all the doors lock. When I put it in park and left the engine running, all the door stayed locked. Apparently, this didn't change when I opened and closed my door. The tow truck driver showed up and took five whole seconds to gain access to the car. He used the equivalent of a blood pressure cuff pump to open the door enough to get a metal wire in which he used to roll down the automatic windows. Clever, eh? What a way to start off Anne's visit!</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">There were a lot of Halloween events going on Friday through Halloween night on Monday. We found a Halloween party going on in San Francisco Saturday night. A friend of Conery's from work is a SF native and a self-professed tour goddess. We met up with her at her place in Hayes Valley which is East of The Haight. She lives with 6 other people in the ground floor of a row house. We met a few of her roommates and had some drinks. We started off the night at a bar called Zeitgeist. We had some food and beer. Most of the people there (and it was pretty packed) were in costume. There was a woman selling tamales out of a cooler on wheels. Apparently the woman is well-known in the neighborhood and makes tasty tamales. Whenever I see things like that, I think about what my Mom, who is a food inspector, would think. I think she might have issues with this method of food vending. The bar is awesome…totally chill with friendly people. Apparently their bloody marys are the best. We'll be the judge of that!</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">After Zeitgeist, we got on the bus and headed toward the Wharf. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r2GlqmkUWFMIlQBjFssSxv-9Q6EsA792E9EUVq0PmwgHIeEHp4jUJeEN1NJoB12yEtOQpZ9E2-6eNb6QxtFrpWhYKcFcqVhyxDdABvCwOl_l4YRfGSWBGCxu71l2JQ5GUtLLVaE7djnt/s1600/IMG_2267.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r2GlqmkUWFMIlQBjFssSxv-9Q6EsA792E9EUVq0PmwgHIeEHp4jUJeEN1NJoB12yEtOQpZ9E2-6eNb6QxtFrpWhYKcFcqVhyxDdABvCwOl_l4YRfGSWBGCxu71l2JQ5GUtLLVaE7djnt/s320/IMG_2267.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glenn and Amelia waiting for the bus</td></tr>
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The bus at night, especially on a holiday, was quite an experience. I like to think of it as the haunted house portion on our night. Luckily, it wasn't too late at that point. I'd imagine it would be way scarier in the wee hours. We did see different groups participating in a scavenger hunt which seemed pretty cool.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">We got to The Parlor for the Halloween party. The details of the party made it sound like there were live circus/sideshow performances going on. Turns out those were on the TVs scattered throughout the bar. *lame* There was a fire juggler outside, which was pretty cool. We found out about the event via Groupon, and I'm glad we didn't pay at the door like other people. I think we paid $15 a piece via Groupon. By the time we got there, they were charging $60 at the door! The venue was pretty cool, but not $60 cool. Everyone was in costume. There was a great Woody from Toy Story costume, complete with pull cord and stock phrases.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">We rode the F-Market, which is one of the old streetcars, back to Monica's place. We passed the Occupy SFers in Justin Hermann Plaza. It was a little hard to tell the who was celebrating Halloween and who was a protester or homeless person.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Anne commuted into the City with Conery on Monday (Halloween). She went to Alcatraz and did some sight seeing. We all met at City Hall around 5:30. </div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.celebratingeqsafety.com/assets/images/sf_city_hall_night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://www.celebratingeqsafety.com/assets/images/sf_city_hall_night.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of City Hall from the plaza</td></tr>
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</div><div class="p1">Anne brought us dinner, and we noshed on the steps of City Hall. At 6, the City Walks organization conducted spooky, ghost tours of City Hall. Most of the 75 or so attendees were dressed in costumes. It was really cool to tour City Hall. The architecture is amazing, and the tour was free!</div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main staircase in the rotunda</td></tr>
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</div><div class="p1">During some online research, we found a place called The Secret Alley. On Halloween, they were showing Halloween-themed cartoons, movies, and TV shows. The place is an artists' collective, and they host events like this on a regular basis. It's in a fairly seedy, unfamiliar neighborhood, so we decided that if we couldn't park closely, we'd bail. Luckily, there was parking across the street. There were a few people hanging near the entrance. The only reason we knew it was the entrance was that the address matched the info we found online. One guy asked if we were looking for the Secret Alley. We said yep and headed in. It felt like what it must have been like to enter a speakeasy back in day, except without that cool little window that slides open just revealing the eyes of the person inside. There were several areas where artistic things were displayed or were in progress. We checked out the ray gun game and had some WarHead sour candy, which seemed less sour in my memory. </div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conery as Glenn Miller destroying stuff</td></tr>
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</div><div class="p1">I had to bail and take it out of my mouth; Anne powered through. Upstairs, we checked out the place and had a drink. </div><div class="p1"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa96YF1k2wIifrHywQEyGpIjSURGipMJsyFJ1boRCA_Ed5hhyphenhypheniPhhuTIAlxyqMpslwSI-rwOVzylDnmb4xUEpXFEBJsYp3RUyk-iUNib1jH3_dqs0YsY2sx-sRSOzSb6rQNwNnx1AJOo/s1600/Secret+Alley" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa96YF1k2wIifrHywQEyGpIjSURGipMJsyFJ1boRCA_Ed5hhyphenhypheniPhhuTIAlxyqMpslwSI-rwOVzylDnmb4xUEpXFEBJsYp3RUyk-iUNib1jH3_dqs0YsY2sx-sRSOzSb6rQNwNnx1AJOo/s320/Secret+Alley" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One area of the Secret Alley</td></tr>
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</div><div class="p1"></div><div class="p1">We watched some cartoons and an episode of Alf. It was super chill and the antithesis of Saturday night's crowded party. Oh and beside the drinks, that was a free night of entertainment! We'll definitely be going back there.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">The next day, Conery and I took off of work. On the first Tuesday of each month, you get into museums free. There were a few exhibits which caught our collective eye. We started off the day with breakfast at the Buena Vista Cafe and a few Irish Coffees. After that, we headed to the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum for an exhibit on Harry Houdini. The museum was pretty cool, and the exhibit was large and full of various mediums of information.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">By the time we finished the Houdini exhibit, we only had time for one more museum. SFMoMA was closest, so we went there. There were several exhibits from their permanent collection that I had not seen yet. During the special info sessions for members we attended earlier in the month, one of the curators talked about a few of the pieces in the permanent collection which really piqued my interest, so it was really cool to see those in person for the first time.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">After SFMoMA, we hit Chinatown for a little shopping and dinner. The R&G Lounge did not disappoint. It was a brilliant end to a fun-filled visit from Anne.</div><div class="p2"><br />
</div><div class="p1">Check out the next post for 2011's last visitor, Lisa Poulson!</div><div class="p2"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-27906416552246157532011-10-16T12:08:00.000-07:002011-10-16T12:08:04.791-07:00Schultzes in Cali - Part Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After our evening in Chinatown, we headed to Half Moon Bay to fly our kites from Chinatown Kites. Earlier in the week, I purchased a different spool for my kite so that it would unwind and wind easier than the one that comes with the kite. This will make flying the kite in less windy locations easier. Going to the beach was my solution for having a lot of wind for the googly-eyed penguin’s first flight.</span></div><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The day was bright and sunny, that is, until we got to the beach. The Bay Area is full of microclimates, and fog banks are created when the cool water meets the warm land. It was overcast along the coast. There was not, however, a lot of wind. We attempted the run with the kite behind you method; it was not as effective as the two-person approach. The two-person approach is where the flier holds the kite, and the second person walks the kite away from the flier and stops at about 100 feet. The second person then launches the kite in the air. Both the googly-eyed penguin and the solar/lunar eclipse kite saw some major air, and we actually felt the satisfaction of flying the kites rather than running with the kites.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom flying her penguin kite</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad taking my solar/lunar eclipse kite for a flight</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last full day of their visit entailed a drive to the redwoods where we would hop a train which took us through the redwood forest to the boardwalk on the beach in Santa Cruz. Roaring Camp Railroad is located in Felton near the Bigfoot Museum. The camp offers an hour-long steam-engine train ride around Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park as well as a three-hour diesel-engine train ride through the redwoods in the State Park to the beach and back. We chose the longer, more diverse beach train. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Diesel-powered engine</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The train offered both covered and open-air cars. It was cool that day in the redwoods, but we came prepared, so we sat in an open-air car. </span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scenery was gorgeous. The conductor offered tidbits of information about the route and surrounding flora and fauna. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We crossed over a steel truss bridge built in 1909; the date was cut out of the steel. We also passed through a tunnel that was around a mile long.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the train crossed roads along the route, the conductor performed his Grump Test by encouraging everyone to wave at the people in the cars stopped at the crossing. People love to wave at other people. Without much encouragement, people were waving like crazy and continued doing it wherever we went. It is kind of funny to wave at someone a few feet from you. At some points, the wavers were so close to the wavees that they could have easily held a conversation. Yet they each just waved like mad at one another. It was pretty entertaining. As we reached Santa Cruz, the conductor told us to be on the lookout for a little girl who comes out to wave at the train each time it passes. Sure enough, there was a bleary-eyed little girl in her nightgown with her hair askew and a stuffed animal under one arm. We saw her on the way back too, dressed in a different outfit. Conery thinks she’s really a ghost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We made it to the boardwalk in about an hour. The conductor told us that the train would be leaving in an hour. We had the choice to come back in an hour or hang out around the boardwalk and hop the 4:30 train back to Roaring Camp. We opted to do a little exploring and get back on the 12:30 train. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is a typical beachside boardwalk with rides and carnival games. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a cheerleading competition going on, so it was packed with roving bands of young girls in matching outfits and waaaay too much make-up on. If your daughter is 9 and wears more makeup than a drag queen, you might be a stage mom. LOL!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got back on the train with a set of the previous riders and some new ones. The route to and from the beach is the same, but we got to see things we’d missed going in the opposite direction. There were a good number of mountain bikers, hikers, and campers. We weren’t sure if the people were camping or living there. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After Roaring Camp, we stopped for lunch at the Cowboy Diner set on Felton’s main drag and discussed the plans for tomorrow’s return to the airport. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With great memories and lots of hugs stored up, we said our goodbyes at 4am the next morning. Even though it will be awhile before we see one another in person again, we definitely got some awesome quality time together. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-15530953657586552832011-10-04T09:30:00.000-07:002011-10-04T09:30:58.763-07:00Schultzes in Cali - Part Two<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mt. Diablo State Park was on the agenda for Wednesday. Mount Diablo is one of the highest peaks in the Bay Area at 3,864 feet. The state park is huge. I’d never been there before, so it was an adventure. We entered the park from the South. There are lots of little camping and picnic areas throughout the park as well as signage and history about the various Indian tribes who lived there. We didn’t really have an agenda other than getting to the summit, so went in whatever direction the signage interested us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we saw the sign for Wind Caves, we obviously followed them. The caves were less cave and more “rocky formation eroded over time by wind with some small areas dug out”, but that isn’t catchy and doesn’t fit on a sign. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got a map, so I checked out where the Visitor Center was, which was at the summit. I was mostly curious about finding that because Conery and I started collecting patches for the State Parks we visited. I was also getting a little concerned about my gas gauge and wanted to ask the Ranger the shortest route to a gas station. I kind of underestimated the amount of driving we’d be doing in the park, and my “x miles to empty counter” was not reading reliably with all the steep, uphill driving. Nothing like the fear of running out of gas at 3k feet with your parents in the car to add an element of excitement! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On our way to the summit, we passed countless people riding their bikes. These were serious bikers who were “sucking wind” as my Dad said on the way to the top. We even saw two women walking. There weren’t many other cars in sight, so I can only imagine that they walked the 7.2 miles from the ranger’s station to the summit. It was a pretty hot day for that kind of activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the Visitor Center, I acquired the two things I sought: a Mt. Diablo patch for my backpack and information on the closest gas station. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Ranger told me that there were probably more gas station options if we exited via the North gate, and I wouldn’t use any gas going down as I could just put it in neutral. Brilliant! The day was saved!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Summit of Mt. Diablo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTzw-bM3whG0-FriTnWxLqyCR4y7ukSlsALWuhM-hX7grGODmk7ze2atWjId3uzzh-xvwhN3faVoxs7Grt_X4TjnXVbS_ZZK7H3EU0YAm57ayyJaeJO0Tg9AuBJ0Ekqe-MRaBBLw7kOIF/s1600/IMG_2198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTzw-bM3whG0-FriTnWxLqyCR4y7ukSlsALWuhM-hX7grGODmk7ze2atWjId3uzzh-xvwhN3faVoxs7Grt_X4TjnXVbS_ZZK7H3EU0YAm57ayyJaeJO0Tg9AuBJ0Ekqe-MRaBBLw7kOIF/s320/IMG_2198.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit tower</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb70e3hC_pf20OhSzfOC3CdnHSN757dCOCEDT5b973rWbDQtCL7KOqfRKANP4eKknwI_DTZOCwSTNZZgE-zhk2lKdiTUNkuCs5eEzYfQNdx6NSsXXzQInBacUII-hi64cgcRZMcnmX-3i4/s1600/IMG_2199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb70e3hC_pf20OhSzfOC3CdnHSN757dCOCEDT5b973rWbDQtCL7KOqfRKANP4eKknwI_DTZOCwSTNZZgE-zhk2lKdiTUNkuCs5eEzYfQNdx6NSsXXzQInBacUII-hi64cgcRZMcnmX-3i4/s320/IMG_2199.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The visitor center and summit tower<br />
were built on the summit of the mountain.<br />
You can stand on the actual summit.</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The car was in neutral almost the entire way out of the park. We made it to a gas station, filled up, and turned the AC back on! There were actually a few days that week when we had the AC unit in the apartment going. As I’m writing this, it is 66 degrees at 10:30am, and the temps aren’t forecasted to exceed 70 degrees this week. I guess people were right about September being the warmest month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aside from seeing us, Laverne, and going to the A’s game, my Mom wanted to go to Chinatown. She and my Dad made it to Chinatown during one of their trips, but it was at the end of a long day, and they really </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">didn’t </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">have time to enjoy it. We decided that we’d end the next day (Thursday) in Chinatown where we’d meet Conery for dinner. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We eased into Thursday and headed into San Francisco around noon. My parents hadn’t been to Coit Tower before, and I didn’t check their gift shop the last time I was there for a patch, so we started out our day there. There is a small parking circle at the base of Coit Tower, and during the week, you can find a place to park fairly easily. The views from the base of the tower are pretty awesome, and the day was super clear, so you could actually see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, and Alcatraz. Mom and Dad decided that they’d like to go up in the tower. I think the City is amazing, and the views are ever changing because of weather, so I was happy to go up again. After going up in the tower, we ended up in the gift shop, and I found a patch with Coit Tower on it. SCORE! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next on our list…Japantown. When Conery’s Mom and Sister were here, they went to Japantown when I was working, so this was another new experience for me. San Francisco’s Japantown and Chinatown are the largest enclaves of their respective ethnicities in the United States. Other than some statues and the pagoda, the attraction of Japantown is mostly shops and restaurants. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YOfL0kmJyxySv905VbIduy0CO64uf4ejg_ULHSD46-aTJVpZqDoFGHIEGR1QGyaseXHNLcBw6AlyO5FDLpNhe2VBCxHlrfRrjqLy7UylyGdmjCsUK9Pa13RiOGkvlGJ-qn5TmLNj_Cvb/s1600/IMG_2202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YOfL0kmJyxySv905VbIduy0CO64uf4ejg_ULHSD46-aTJVpZqDoFGHIEGR1QGyaseXHNLcBw6AlyO5FDLpNhe2VBCxHlrfRrjqLy7UylyGdmjCsUK9Pa13RiOGkvlGJ-qn5TmLNj_Cvb/s320/IMG_2202.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japantown pagoda in Peace Plaza</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found some really unique origami paper, which was cut into smaller squares like I like.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After Dad used his Find My Car app, we headed to Chinatown. Conery made reservations for us at a place called the R&G Lounge. After we parked, we had an hour or two to meander through Chinatown before dinner. Chinatown is centered along two main streets: Grant and Stockton. Grant is the more touristy of the two with lots of shops and restaurants. Stockton is where the locals do their shopping, get haircuts and massages, and eat. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other side of Grant, there is a street called Kearny. Between Grant and Kearny is a park; there were a handful of huddled groups littering the park. There were a few women, but for the most part, they were all men over 40. Some of the older men looked positively ancient. I think they were playing chess or checkers, but I wasn’t curious enough to push my way through the crowd to see what was going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We headed toward the gate to Chinatown checking out the shops along the way. The shops run the gamut from tiny trinkets to large bronze statuary. A guy was trying to talk my Dad into buying two bronze lions. I’m thinking that might have exceeded the weight restrictions for checked baggage. We stopped in the store called Chinatown Kites to buy a kite for my Mom. When I told her that I bought a kite there a few months ago, she expressed interest in flying kites when they visited. I bought her a baby penguin kite with googly eyes. You’ll be hearing more about that later.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the way to meet Conery for dinner, we passed a street musician playing some stringed instrument. In another block or so, there was large group of musicians. It’s pretty cool to hear traditional music being played in that setting. It sort of cheapens the experience for me when a car passes by bumping some hiphop or blaring some poptart songstress.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not the biggest fan of Chinese food – a recent revelation. Conery did some research and found a place with good ratings, which was on Kearny near the park. The place is called the R&G Lounge. It’s not much to look at from the outside. The inside lobby is fairly shallow and is mostly taken up with the bar. Seating is upstairs and downstairs from the lobby. When we got there, the place was half full. (Yes, I am an optimist.) We all ordered some drinks, appetizers, and everyone else ordered the double boiled chicken soup. The chicken soup came and the waiter removed the lids. Our collective lids were raised when we saw a pale looking bone-in chicken part in the bowl. This is what we should have expected, but we were all thinking the Western interpretation of chicken soup. My Dad quickly pawned off his soup on me. I tasted it, more to prove to my Dad that it was ok than being hungry for it. It was mega-tasty. The color of the chicken made sense as it was boiled not fried/baked. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our dishes arrived and are placed in the middle to be served up family style. Conery got Peking Duck which was served with these pillowy, muppet-mouth-looking dough pieces meant to be used as the bread in the Peking Duck sandwich. The skin was crunchy, the meat mouth-watering, and the hoisin sauce a sweet complement. But my dish knocked it out of the park. Did I mentioned that I’m not the biggest fan of Chinese food? Apparently, I like Cantonese Chinese, which is the focus of the R&G Lounge and a few other Chinese restaurants I like. My dish was one of their signature dishes (so sayeth the menu). It was Beef in Special Sauce. Catchy eh? The details mention that the sauce is not only special but it is a secret. Mysteeeerioussss. Whatever went into that dish was brilliant. My Mom and Dad went a little more traditional, which they enjoyed. The beef overshadowed everything else in my pallet’s memory. Yay, R&G!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check back for part three in the three part, Schultzes in Cali series...</span><o:p></o:p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-28525711135410361782011-10-01T16:51:00.000-07:002011-10-01T17:01:21.599-07:00The Schultzes in Cali - Part One<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve been pretty lucky to have had so many friends and family come visit us this year. September’s visitors were my parents. I had enough vacation time saved up, so I took the week off. Even though we lived about an hour and a half from each other in Florida, we didn’t see one another as often as we would have liked, and when we did, we were together for a few hours before heading home. It was great to get some good, quality time in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since they had just taken an Alaskan cruise with lots of activity and excursions, we didn’t plan things for every minute. There were a few things that we had in mind, and the rest of the stuff, we just winged.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My parents (and grandparents for that matter) visited San Francisco long before Conery and I came here and fell in love with the place. In their first trip here, Mom and Dad actually saw one of Conery’s doppelgangers. Maybe they were looking into the future? :) Having been to San Francisco, they already had the touristy things under their collective belt. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On their first full-day with us, we headed into San Francisco. There are lots of things to do in Golden Gate Park. One of my favorite areas is the Music Concourse. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The area contains fountains, gnarly-trunked trees, and a band shell. It’s bounded on one side by the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum and Japanese Tea Garden on the other. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Golden Gate Park Band was scheduled to play that Sunday and most Sundays at 1pm. When we got to the Music Concourse, there was a lot of activity near the band shell. After chatting with some other people who were there to see the band, Conery consulted the interwebs and confirmed that the band was not playing. Ces la vie. Seeing and hearing the band play would have been cool, but that wasn’t the main reason we were there, so we headed to the Japanese Tea Garden.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During one of our trips to San Francisco, Conery and I attempted to visit the tea garden. That day it was closed for some reason, so our visit was thwarted. Luck was on our side this time. It was open, and we strolled on in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you would imagine the grounds are beautiful. The winding paths took us by koi ponds, Zen gardens, statuary, a couple getting married, streams, and water features. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was super peaceful in the gardens; because it’s set in the middle of GGPark, you hardly know that you are in a thriving metropolis. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a walking bridge that crosses one of the streams. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People were climbing up and down it, so Dad decided to join them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We made our way to the little restaurant in the middle of the garden for tea and snacks. It wasn’t super traditional, but the tea was good and the tea sandwiches and sushi hit the spot.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before heading to the car, we stopped in Shakespeare’s Garden just off the Music Concourse. Conery and I stumbled upon this little respite in one of our trips. Besides the name on the entrance and some bronze relief excerpts from his works, there’s not much Shakespearey about it. It’s still a lovely little area.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last thing on our GGPark agenda was finding out where the buffalos roam. There have been buffaloes in the park since the 1890s. No local to whom I mentioned the buffaloes had any clue there were any in the park. After a little driving around, we found the paddock. It turns out that it is on the same street where Conery, Tim, and I parked every day when we went to the Outside Lands Music Festival. We could have easily seen the buffalo paddock had we looked on the other side of the street. I guess it’s a testament to the park and its desire to give the animals a lot of space without obvious, garish signage that we could overlook that area. There isn’t a huge herd of them. We only saw two on the day we were there. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8K523LoH92ASdRafITwIJ7G5q2u28vd3eKatJSXJ_zISBntt-BYM8_bXjVvzXU-29o10adiTSuLtGH7VhvawjXfsU3NM8vLnTlKl7wriavnXFFxxPQjA4Apgv-8wpEMXMXYqOC86rivoX/s1600/DSC02083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8K523LoH92ASdRafITwIJ7G5q2u28vd3eKatJSXJ_zISBntt-BYM8_bXjVvzXU-29o10adiTSuLtGH7VhvawjXfsU3NM8vLnTlKl7wriavnXFFxxPQjA4Apgv-8wpEMXMXYqOC86rivoX/s320/DSC02083.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought that it was pretty funny that there were signs on the fence to keep dogs on a leash and away from the fence. Two people with dogs walked up while we were there, and apparently couldn’t read because they had their dogs right up against the fence. I was secretly hoping the buffaloes would charge the fence and scare the hell out of them. That only happened in my mind. The buffalo didn’t seem to care a bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conery was planning to make dinner that night, so we headed home via Skyline Boulevard, which offered us awesome views of the Bay and the Pacific.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, Conery had to go to work on Monday. The rest of us slept in! After a nice leisurely morning, we headed to an area near Fremont called Niles. It’s has an old downtown area bounded on one side by the train depot, which is now a museum. Turns out that the museum is only open on Sunday. I think we got the gist peering in the windows. We went to Buffalo Bill’s pizza for lunch, which is delish. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vGaNvPqh68/ToS2JOp6eVI/AAAAAAAADyI/8vA5ftg61Ao/s1600/IMG_2193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vGaNvPqh68/ToS2JOp6eVI/AAAAAAAADyI/8vA5ftg61Ao/s320/IMG_2193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We skipped the Silent Film Museum and headed for a drive in Niles Canyon. Keep in mind this canyon is not grand. It was, however, a super scenic drive.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Grandmother’s best friend who is 96 lives in San Mateo, which is just across the Bay from Fremont. She (Laverne) and my Mom have kept in touch after my Grandmother died, and Laverne was really excited that we were all going to get together. On Tuesday, we drove to San Mateo to visit with Laverne and go to lunch. Laverne may be 96, but she still lives alone, drives, has a sense of humor, and looks amazing. She has always done yoga, well until her doctor told her to stop. She is a total inspiration.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During our visit with Laverne, I found out that the oil painting of the Bay Bridge that my Grandmother gave me was painted by Gladys Allen, one of Laverne’s friends. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrIjtJMFY5wj01JZecJBsPpJoLHcRt-YMerDWbLJvFUzCkF-ajzVW2NkXzqslIHUu1m3ojLm6PiL6p8LBs26FA5ufycAsCpK1NJnifGv-Z5D7bQtu3gHfDy7PorvZAcBUbfD9-hQAciY6/s1600/Gladys_Allen_Painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrIjtJMFY5wj01JZecJBsPpJoLHcRt-YMerDWbLJvFUzCkF-ajzVW2NkXzqslIHUu1m3ojLm6PiL6p8LBs26FA5ufycAsCpK1NJnifGv-Z5D7bQtu3gHfDy7PorvZAcBUbfD9-hQAciY6/s320/Gladys_Allen_Painting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My painting of the Bay Bridge from Treasure Island</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Laverne had several of Gladys’ paintings in her townhouse; all the paintings were of Bay Area landmarks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After our visit, we headed home to get ready to go the watch the Oakland A’s play the Texas Rangers. We missed seeing Brad Pitt and the cast of the new movie <i>Moneyball </i>by one night. We took the train from Fremont to the Oakland Coliseum stop. During our elevator ride from the station to the walkway to the coliseum, I watched a woman in the elevator jot down the topics being discussed in the elevator. She was jotting them down in this tiny notebook with the spiral on the top. The notebook was all ratty and dirty. I’m so curious as to what she plans to do with those notes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had great seats a dozen or so rows behind the home team dugout. The A’s didn’t win, but we had a great time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AQFM_-QMXHMN5dkpj1XnlWbQBygogZSTZj-wMDYHPwB2T4ZVcsSxHM3TxScB4VGCH_Neu-QrcftyMVnPFlBMC5MPClrUylGkNuN8XYbVZh-CnXNvOu2frJwQjhu-bZ8qanNFK3tUk6U1/s1600/IMG_2195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-AQFM_-QMXHMN5dkpj1XnlWbQBygogZSTZj-wMDYHPwB2T4ZVcsSxHM3TxScB4VGCH_Neu-QrcftyMVnPFlBMC5MPClrUylGkNuN8XYbVZh-CnXNvOu2frJwQjhu-bZ8qanNFK3tUk6U1/s320/IMG_2195.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unlike rabid fans of other teams, the atmosphere was super chilled out. Aside from everyone booing the guy in the stands who botched the catch of a foul ball, there wasn’t too much hoopla or yelling. It’s definitely weird if you are used to super intense baseball fans, but the A’s aren’t in the race for the World Series, so things are a lot less extreme. </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check back for part two in the three part, Schultzes in Cali series...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-55942721878223132012011-09-05T17:02:00.000-07:002011-09-06T13:56:16.345-07:00From Cable Car to Cliff House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever traveling to a new place for the first time, it's always nice to know some locals who can show you around. In this case, the first timers were my best friend from Junior High/High School Laura and her husband Joe. They were in the Bay Area to celebrate their 20th anniversary. After doing a couple days in Napa, they came to the City.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were a few things on their list that people should do/see when in San Francisco. Riding a cable car is one of those things. They were staying in a hotel near the Powell cable car turnaround. There are plenty of stops to catch cable cars, but this stop/turnaround is in a touristy shopping location and many street performers set up shop in the area. This means that the longer than normal wait is eased by loads of activity. Having ridden a cable car before (once successfully; the other time we were denied entry because I stepped on the car before it fully stopped), Conery and I could fill in some of the details.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We rode the cable car from Powell and Market to the end of the line, which was near Mason, I think. While riding we realized, we were near Coit Tower, which was our second destination. We also realized that we were all happy to let whim be our guide, and after a brief conversation about Irish Coffee, we made our way to the Buena Vista Cafe. The owner of the Buena Vista perfected Irish Coffee in 1952, and they've been serving it the same way since then. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://0.tqn.com/d/gosanfrancisco/1/0/A/-/-/-/BuenaVistaCafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/gosanfrancisco/1/0/A/-/-/-/BuenaVistaCafe.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing outside the BV looking<br />
toward the Bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB_J8Y3GGx5CV5i2Y5Ov-q4aze_KUHBdA0J0StMb-F13Ixpy3pnM3rM4HDH0orfFEeU3q9WsH2A8Nmg-odm-tRpgPpxDZ281Dq7dh_-6pPckD5sDTf5JVRliuPg71OCbOvXYU9152EKH8/s1600/IMG_2150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB_J8Y3GGx5CV5i2Y5Ov-q4aze_KUHBdA0J0StMb-F13Ixpy3pnM3rM4HDH0orfFEeU3q9WsH2A8Nmg-odm-tRpgPpxDZ281Dq7dh_-6pPckD5sDTf5JVRliuPg71OCbOvXYU9152EKH8/s320/IMG_2150.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The brilliance of this drink is the creme.<br />
It is cold and thick, which is a perfect<br />
contrast to the hot coffee and the<br />
insides-warming whiskey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a few coffees, we set out to Coit Tower. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://seanmillis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/img_0530-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://seanmillis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/img_0530-768x1024.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of Christopher Columbus<br />
in the foreground</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are murals lining the walls on the bottom floor of the tower, which depict different facets of life in San Francisco. The murals were painted soon after the tower was completed in 1933.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_37WG0mlgt86H37MlvB-naregzfFhSPdxI1hwDXeGNjP7hX7cxwx9RS0NtaF-7sLHGdw7jsrNeMhiSNL56bb-ZYEiVUmjzcpgnq_MQHi7YpOnH4qxepxnP3Jf4m0oj96k-RzIDWus_Xg6/s1600/IMG_2153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_37WG0mlgt86H37MlvB-naregzfFhSPdxI1hwDXeGNjP7hX7cxwx9RS0NtaF-7sLHGdw7jsrNeMhiSNL56bb-ZYEiVUmjzcpgnq_MQHi7YpOnH4qxepxnP3Jf4m0oj96k-RzIDWus_Xg6/s320/IMG_2153.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I <3 City Lights Books</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After taking a really cramped elevator up to the top, we walked the 37 steps to the top which is open-air.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyBvR5BNGmZNtIBxle_AVSO5JnAzVLco5eIlYdFpUWXLVXZEKS3UaI4D1e-SdspwCx25KTfnVxq1KlpVdArWwzGp5D_PX8q2ACgK3fY8Pa28uoCmBhdT_TxKjH33aYmrq2gdG5EbEzaRs/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyBvR5BNGmZNtIBxle_AVSO5JnAzVLco5eIlYdFpUWXLVXZEKS3UaI4D1e-SdspwCx25KTfnVxq1KlpVdArWwzGp5D_PX8q2ACgK3fY8Pa28uoCmBhdT_TxKjH33aYmrq2gdG5EbEzaRs/s320/IMG_2154.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up from the viewing area</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w0Ot5_WPJPM/TmMBE-d8COI/AAAAAAAADvU/ePvcd2hT9yo/s1600/IMG_2156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w0Ot5_WPJPM/TmMBE-d8COI/AAAAAAAADvU/ePvcd2hT9yo/s320/IMG_2156.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilof8we5IxwYOaC_w8eHwj_U_HQIbeI3wsHeGEm-MRDnNGH0vgk-HRBNnVjn15U8IGOySUcBR0MXYMDCa50xGuxL9Ytl1jLOKBhPLV22LXOOE7Nv7JiX5w_I5PGJWRLrpH9uBCYxS_-Ywr/s1600/IMG_2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilof8we5IxwYOaC_w8eHwj_U_HQIbeI3wsHeGEm-MRDnNGH0vgk-HRBNnVjn15U8IGOySUcBR0MXYMDCa50xGuxL9Ytl1jLOKBhPLV22LXOOE7Nv7JiX5w_I5PGJWRLrpH9uBCYxS_-Ywr/s320/IMG_2157.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcfDcj8cNCM/TmMBEw78rJI/AAAAAAAADvY/_iBQFWnnKqc/s1600/IMG_2158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcfDcj8cNCM/TmMBEw78rJI/AAAAAAAADvY/_iBQFWnnKqc/s320/IMG_2158.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's Alcatraz</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With a visit to Coit Tower under our belt, we decided to go to Molinari's Delicatessen in North Beach (aka Little Italy) for picnic supplies. </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://vvoice.vo.llnwd.net/e14//5253784.92.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://vvoice.vo.llnwd.net/e14//5253784.92.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/molinariint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/molinariint.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During the first visit to San Francisco, Conery and I happened upon Molinari's after going to City Lights Booksellers. We picniced in Golden Gate Park. Good times. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Laura and Joe were up for a picnic. So, with the Painted Ladies on our list (those are the historic, oft-photographed Victorians you see in postcards of San Francisco) we figured we'd have our picnic there in Alamo Square Park. Molinari's hooked us up by uncorking our wine and giving us plastic cups. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After Molinari's, we stopped by the garage and grabbed my car. On the way to Alamo Square, we hit another must-see San Francisco landmark, Lombard Street.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.autodriveawaysf.com/images/LombardSt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.autodriveawaysf.com/images/LombardSt.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, it was off to see the Painted Ladies and picnic.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The picnic was delish as was the company. It's so great to spend time with friends who reaffirm why you were friends in the first place!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A trip to San Francisco is not complete without seeing Golden Gate Park and the Pacific Ocean. Conery recently read a short story by Mark Twain to me about the Cliff House, which piqued our curiosity as well as our guests. We drove along the Northern edge of GGP on the way to the Cliff House. One of the deceiving things about living here is that you can see the sun setting from inland, but that sunset can be totally obscured by the time you get to the water's edge. In the span of a half hour, we went from the blue skies you see above to the overcast, marine-layer-laden view below.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Cliff House overlooking the ruins of<br />
the Sutro Baths</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading into the Cliff House</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the picnic lunch/dinner in our bellies, we weren't ready for dinner, but we decided to whet our whistles at the CH. Conery and I had another Irish Coffee to round out the day; it paled in comparison to the Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista. Note to self: only drink Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly, that was the end of our day together. Gotta love friends who are up for new and exciting adventures! Cannot wait to meet up with the Barrows again.</span><br />
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</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-12157868253464510162011-08-15T13:07:00.000-07:002011-08-26T11:51:47.229-07:00Outside Lands<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since a huge music festival was coming to our area, we knew we had to get tickets. Our friend Tim decided to fly out and join us.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rather than attempt to navigate public transportation in getting to Golden Gate Park for this, our first Outside Lands Festival, we opted for VIP parking. This was an excellent call as the busses coming to and from the park were jam packed with people. Busses are the only public transportation option around the park; train and cable car lines don't come close enough to be viable choices.</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We made it to the VIP gate and got 3-day wristbands. The wristbands included a computer chip which provided access certain areas. The festival main stage was centered in the park's polo field. The polo field grandstand and building were reserved for VIP ticket holders. In the building, there were lots of seating areas, a bar, and massage chairs. The music from the main stage was pumped in. It was a good place to kick off each day's festival with a drink while we figured out where we headed first.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 1:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Headed to the Twin Peaks stage (all stages are named after SF neighborhoods), found a prime spot for our blanket, watched Lotus perform while a dance party broke out in front of us. Conery got some video footage. It was tremendously entertaining. This was definitely the perfect start to the festival. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we were walking around, there was an exceptional number of people wearing various headbands. It seemed like it would be fun to keep track in some way of the headbandiness. Thus began the day's game of Punch Headband; see a headband, punch your friend.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In order to have our choice of location for the night's two sets of Phish, we headed to the Lands End stage getting food along the way. We walked through this food truck forrest area and left it very quickly. Apparently, someone decided that the perfect place for the station for the cops on horseback was near this food area. Needless to say, the smell of horse shit made the decision for us; we'd be getting food somewhere else.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">MGMT was performing before Phish, so we decided to check that out. They got a collective *meh* from us. That's the great thing about festivals; you can hear a lot of music without committing to see a particular band. Had I to do it over, I would have stayed at the TP stage to see a couple bands there instead of MGMT.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From our great location in the VIP section, we watched Phish hit the stage at 6:30 for the first of their two sets. The festival's stage managers were on the ball. There is probably some exception, but all the bands we listened to started right on time. Phish looked and sounded good. Their habit of sloppy playing seemed to be a thing of the past. The setlist was chock full of new and old favorites. There were lots of phans in the audience, but based on overheard conversations on day two, the show made a few new phans as well.</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 2:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday, started off with some funky jazz from The Greyboy Allstars. We meandered around the main stage area checking out the vendor booths, eating lunch, and getting our container filled at one of the water refill stations.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today's game = Punch <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie_hat">Pork Pie Hat</a>.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Based on Tim's recommendation, we made our way to the Sutro stage to hear Bob Schneider. Having never heard him, I had no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. In addition to the dance pit that seemed to form at most of the shows, this one had a couple hula hoop dancers. We were sitting in a shady spot on the side of a hill and had a good vantage point to see the hooping and random dancing. There was never a shortage of crazy outfits and nutty dancing.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next three bands that we wanted to see were all at the Lands End stage. We found a place in the VIP section which provided some shade. Conery's forehead told the tale of Day 1's lack of sunscreen; overcast days will do that to you every time. Day 2 was sunny and cool, so we found some shade and chilled while Arctic Monkeys performed. They were good, but not something I'd make a point to see in the future.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up was The Black Keys. They are one of my favorite bands. After seeing them at The House of Blues, seeing them outside during a huge festival was a cool change. They were hard and bluesy. Loved hearing stuff from the new album.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Muse was on last. They were definitely saving up because it was an amazing show. They took the stage and owned it. Having only seen them in an opening act role before made seeing them in a leading role extra special. The Black Keys/Muse combo was definitely a high point for me.</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 3:</span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Headed to the Sutro stage to see tUnE-yArDs. From our shady perch, we could see some of the same dancers from the previous days. I think several factions of dancers banded together to form a freakier, stinkier union. tUnE-yArDs were pretty cool and had live horns and some cool percussion going on.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today's game = It was going to be Punch Vest or Punch Baby Wearing Ear Plugs, but neither went anywhere. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now we come to day 3's nutty highlight which finds us back at the Twin Peaks stage where we witnessed our first Outside Lands dance party. Since it was another sunny, cool day, we went to the side lawn reserved for VIPs like us. There were a few picnic benches and the possibility of shade. The band we were there to see was !!! (pronounced chk chk chk). Let me just say that there are no chicks in the band in case you were thinking that was the origin of the name. I'd heard this band a few times on satellite radio and thought it was be interesting. They classify themselves as a dance punk band which is pretty close to my description of guitar-heavy disco. Who could really focus on the music though when the front man was consuming all the attention. This dude comes out in tiny tennis shorts and a tshirt; not sure if he had shoes on, but I'm leaning toward no. His dancing can only be classified as necessary. He was so into the dancing that it seemed like he was possessed and had no choice but to shake his groove thing. There were times when he jumped off stage to dance with the audience.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After !!!, we had a little downtime before the last two bands we wanted to see, so we went back to our shady area in the VIP section and listened to John Fogerty. He is/was the lead singer of Credence Clearwater Revival and trotted out his hits. Apparently, his status as a Bay Area native was enough to make him a festival draw. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up was The Decemberists. We've seen them a couple times, but they never fail to impress. Conery was actually thinking of bailing on The Decemberists to go see Gallagher perform in another area, but The Decemberists kept playing all the songs that he likes, so he stuck around. There was a lot of cool interaction with the audience. There had been occasional people (mostly women) sitting on the shoulders of others, so the lead singer made a joke about wanting to see some camel fights break out (you might know them as chicken fights). I'm not sure if making mention of that practice was to discourage people from doing it because when he made the comment it was assumed that people who were sitting on shoulders were going to have to fight other "camels". A few people didn't look too interested, but of course others saw this as an opportunity to be on the big screen monitors. Big screen monitors make people do strange things. There was some cute girl on there at some point, and the guy next to her saw that as the prime opportunity to kiss her. She was not into it, however; comedy ensued. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last act of the night (and of the festival) was Arcade Fire. The band is more of an orchestra with its 8+ members. They were great live, great energy. I wasn't sure what to expect but was happy to catch some of their show. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before their set started, we discussed our exit strategy. Traffic leaving the park and surrounding neighborhoods on Saturday was a bitch. We agreed that we'd stay for 4 or 5 songs and bail. Tim had a 6am flight to catch back to Orlando, and Conery had to work. Using one of my floating holidays for Monday (today) was the best decision!</span></li>
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When last we left our intrepid travelers, we had just finished up our inaugural visit to wine country, Napa to be specific. Next stop, a real live forest in real live mountains near a real live beach!<br />
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Before we go there though, I should tell you that one day of their visit included the obligatory tour of Alcatraz. They had purchased their tickets in advance (it's not a sales pitch, they frequently sell out those boats/tours) and it worked out perfectly because I had an interview in the city that day and was able to drop them, do my interview (spoiler alert, I got the job), and pick them up after waiting a couple of hours in the parking garage of the building where I interviewed. Note to self, make sure to carefully read the parking cost sign at any garage. I saw $17 maximum and thought, "oh good, it won't cost me too much.", but when I exited owing $36, I figured out (through this thing called REE DING) that that was the weekend price, not the weekday price. Live and learn. Anyway, they seem to have had a great time that day and got some cool souvenirs and memories to last a lifetime or some shit like that. :) We now return you to your regularly scheduled outdoorsy trip.<br />
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The Bay Area is home to many beautiful outdoors areas. You can get your fill of beach, forest, and mountains, all within an hour's drive. We settled on Muir Woods as our destination for seeing the coastal redwoods. Muir Woods is part of the National Park Service and has the added benefit of all of its paths being paved or boardwalked so that everyone can enjoy it, regardless of mobility. If you use a cane or are wheelchair bound and want to see the redwoods, this is the place to go. Best piece of advice about Muir Woods is to get there EARLY!! We were super happy to have gotten there early so we didn't have to park and walk a mile (literally) like people who showed up after us. We were shooting for 9AM and got there around 10 which is the latest I'd recommend arriving. When we left probably around noon, people were circling like vultures for an empty spot and as we drove out the long winding path, the road was lined with parked cars and people walking a mile to... um... walk a mile. Anyway, get there early. Once there, we found several loops from which you could choose, based on how much time you wanted to spend walking. We walked at a leisurely pace and took photos, some of which are here:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Gang</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3JDxO2menDkCXilUXh2lKuzhRSxvWbEyaxZCnFfusmeToi29eMbHZ06LRzSu57T_KRLGSmpFaLANhM8C_8kg54Pj6AUm_bRdU1LFA4yuDiyDW8spKRsDRMgK4qvjGhDob936zDnh92g/s1600/coastalredwoods.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3JDxO2menDkCXilUXh2lKuzhRSxvWbEyaxZCnFfusmeToi29eMbHZ06LRzSu57T_KRLGSmpFaLANhM8C_8kg54Pj6AUm_bRdU1LFA4yuDiyDW8spKRsDRMgK4qvjGhDob936zDnh92g/s320/coastalredwoods.JPG" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coastal Redwoods</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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While the woods were lovely (dark and deep... I know some of you were thinking it), the best part for me was the drive. It was amazingly, gut-wrenchingly beautiful. By far the twistiest road I've ever driven; it wound its way through mountains, forests, and along the coast. You couldn't go very fast for fear of careening off into the abyss, so we were able to really enjoy the pictureseque scenery. Unfortunately, the pictures Cynthia and I tried to take mostly consisted of lovely views of guardrails. It's ok, they wouldn't have done it justice anyway.<br />
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We had planned ahead that day and brought a nice big picnic in a cooler. After enjoying the woods, we took a friend's advice (who lives in the area) and went to a local beach area called <a href="http://www.stinsonbeachonline.com/">Stinson Beach</a>. We had a bottle of that "party in your mouth" sparkling wine, fruit, cheese, mom's homemade potato salad (yum!), olives, hummus, pita chips, on and on and on... tons of food for four people, and it didn't cost us $98 (and we didn't eat it all either). We picked a nice spot at a picnic table and relaxed in the beautiful weather (well Cindy and mom bundled up in their blankety, jackety things, but I think they were still relaxing). After lunch we took a walk down to the beach where we saw kids at a Summer learn to surf thing (there was a board rental place that seemed to be in charge of it). Mom walked down looking for shells but didn't find any, and I had to go help her make it back up the shifting sands of the dune. Pretty sure she was no longer cold after that jaunt!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
We spent a whole day in Chinatown and started at the place where Traci and I first ate dim sum on our first visit all those years ago. It was still just as good and a great place for a first experience. Later, Cindy got to experience an authentic Chinese foot massage which she said was fantastic. We walked all up and down the major Chinatown streets and were frequently stopped by Asian kids who were offering to sell us some real deal fireworks. I would totally have been down for that if I didn't live in an apartment. Next year, Chinese kid, next year. Traci bought a kite in a Chinatown kite shop (awesome).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSskMPMN3QA1ruFqpu4Y1QbYV79FR-7KuC8Btb-mdvGhajNO8c4CPK5_MdM4nZhlIvz4ak0jEZvrRYQ8GcxpQiUcvsQfs7FPtVUage8IWgkljCam2Rb9HUzxcExnhekSopn3yFjTj06U/s1600/cindyfootmassage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSskMPMN3QA1ruFqpu4Y1QbYV79FR-7KuC8Btb-mdvGhajNO8c4CPK5_MdM4nZhlIvz4ak0jEZvrRYQ8GcxpQiUcvsQfs7FPtVUage8IWgkljCam2Rb9HUzxcExnhekSopn3yFjTj06U/s320/cindyfootmassage.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient Chinese Secret</td></tr>
</tbody></table>These things didn't happen on the same day, or even back to back days, but we did eventually make a trip to Japantown. You would be hard pressed to recognize Japantown if you were driving by (unless you happened to see the Peace Pavilion which includes a large metal pagoda structure) because it mostly looks like a few depressing, grey, utilitarian buildings. However, those buildings house loads of shops and restaurants with stuff you can only find in Japantown. We spent a rainy afternoon shopping for knick-knacks we all could have done without, but hey they were all a dollar!! Well at least at one store they were. We also had an excellent lunch at an authentic noodle house. We divided and conquered by ordering one of each type of noodle - Ramen (mom) Udon (Cindy) and Soba (me). Traci had to work that day or else we would have had to make up a new, fourth kind of Japanese noodle and since the first three took centuries to perfect, I think in this one instance it was a good thing that Traci wasn't with us. We shopped till we dropped, tried to stay dry, then got stuck in hella traffic trying to get out of the city around rush hour. Good times.<br />
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I think this was mentioned in another post, but something else we did while Pegynthia was here was attend a Giants game. Here is a picture of our view from the cheap seats:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8JI4kfy-irKPgP4MYjpJFpH0L2gXooSNT5wKg3Py6gumbRJL9InEfSGSBlwJE-KHb9UIVxs5mcpXaCb8ilwPhyphenhyphen4PNaHYomO-31bHPSbZrSTrJ5TzElxX18VKrSQ4zplfnwbu2wHTaIc/s1600/giantsview.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8JI4kfy-irKPgP4MYjpJFpH0L2gXooSNT5wKg3Py6gumbRJL9InEfSGSBlwJE-KHb9UIVxs5mcpXaCb8ilwPhyphenhyphen4PNaHYomO-31bHPSbZrSTrJ5TzElxX18VKrSQ4zplfnwbu2wHTaIc/s320/giantsview.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a sports fan, but damn we had a good time. I think it's like live music for me, I don't like country music but if someone gives me a ticket or I get a cheap ticket to go along with someone who does enjoy it, I'm there and I'll have a good time. It is apparently the same with baseball as I really had ball. We had peanuts and Cracker Jacks (natch) as well as a Giants dog and a beer. I fully plan to go back and see another game. In fact Traci posted about our visit to see the local farm team in San Jose. There are occasionally Giants tickets available from my work (if they're not used for clients) and apparently they're pretty good seats so if I can get those some time, I'm doubly there!</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So that's all for part two. I think part three will be shorter as I've almost chronicled all of our fun times, but as I've said before - long-fingered - so who knows. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that today is my sister Cynthia's birthday so this is her special birthday card from me. Happy Birthday, Sister!! </div>Coneryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02875591352184072817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-33365973066016180892011-08-05T10:46:00.000-07:002011-08-11T14:36:48.521-07:00It's the Little Things<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of the time when we expect the worst, the worst is what we get. There have been a few things lately that caught my attention, and I was pleasantly surprised. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thing One - If you read my previous <a href="http://traciandconery.blogspot.com/2011/08/seven-months.html">post</a> about the Vazooka project I'm doing at work, you know that the project requires a canister vacuum. I have a little bit of a budget for projects, but I didn't want to blow it all on a new vac. I hit up all the second-hand stores in the area. Those things are hard to find. No canister vacs anywhere. Most of the people I asked didn't even know what one was. So I checked Craiglist. I found one there for $20. I contacted the person, and it hadn't sold yet. Initially he mentioned meeting at an apartment, but I didn't feel good about that. Plus Safety Martial Conery would not approve. I </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">met the person yesterday in the parking lot of a grocery store. I left $20 lighter with a barely used vacuum, and I wasn't robbed or kidnapped! You often hear pretty negative things about Craigslist. I was a bit leery meeting some random person, but it all worked out!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thing Two - After picking up lunch the other day, I was driving back to the office (and talking to my cousin Brett), and I saw a cop crossing the street with a bag of lunch in his hand. As he got half way through the crosswalk, he motioned to the driver of the car stopped at the light to put on his seat belt. The person did. The cop gave the thumbs up and continued on his merry way. There was no scene...no shouting...no ticket. It was just that simple.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-54315030247648744892011-08-03T15:49:00.000-07:002011-08-03T15:56:45.097-07:00Gilroy Garlic Festival<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every place has their own local festival. San Antonio, Florida has the Rattlesnake Festival. Plant City, Florida has the Strawberry Festival. Gilroy, California has the Garlic Festival.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cityofsacramento.org/parksandrecreation/recreation/images/safari_15_gilroy-garlic-festival.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cityofsacramento.org/parksandrecreation/recreation/images/safari_15_gilroy-garlic-festival.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I saw a segment on the local news about it and thought that this was one of the things any local should do - if only just once. Most of the people we talked to about the 'fest before going said that they'd gone once and that it was hot and stinky. Conery and I love a challenge, and these people don't know the meaning of the word hot.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As luck would have it, it was unseasonably cool that weekend. We wore shorts and tshirts, but we weren't sweaty. It was actually a little chilly in the shade. You could smell the garlic initially, but after being there for a bit, you hardly noticed it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got there around noon and jumped on the shuttle buses that were lined up taking people to the entrance. We figured that it was going to be a hike if there were buses. It turned out to be </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a 5 minute ride, and we could have easily walked</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Like many events we've been to in California, things ran pretty smoothly. There wasn't a lot of drama in the queue for the bus, and there were LOTS of volunteers working the parking area. They had a really good system.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After our tickets were scanned, we got our tickets for the combo meal Conery purchased online. We stopped at security (i.e. a guy). He asked Conery is he had a pocket knife. It was kind of odd that he asked him about a pocket knife specifically, but we were in farm country and having pocket knives is pretty standard. Conery had his multitool in his purse from Tinkering School. So the guy said that Conery could either put it in the car (notgonnadoit) or put his name on it and put it in a box for later. The guy was totally nice about it and thanked Conery for his honesty. When Conery put it in the box, there were like 12 knives. When we left, the box was full! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We entered the festival grounds and headed to the beer tent. There were loads of vendors, but it seemed like the hat vending was doing gangbuster business. Ever notice how people love to buy wacky hats when they are on vacation? I'm not sure how practical this garlic bulb hat is, but there were loads of them being sold. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOYLjJ51jtsNaPV5nmWB1L-EENhCQFJGhur6YfrukUAzMwaDyliCCqk7eFCeKmKSMBoMkUCp1IRa12s3rSq7DfZCuOgvvsAc4eTRM9kJ4FGPgrGAb7-Wod9Y_z0vy9DwbahNHbYFHPRdF/s1600/IMG_2084%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOYLjJ51jtsNaPV5nmWB1L-EENhCQFJGhur6YfrukUAzMwaDyliCCqk7eFCeKmKSMBoMkUCp1IRa12s3rSq7DfZCuOgvvsAc4eTRM9kJ4FGPgrGAb7-Wod9Y_z0vy9DwbahNHbYFHPRdF/s320/IMG_2084%255B1%255D.JPG" width="286" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a children's area where there were rides, activities, and face painting. As we were walking through that area, there was a kid wearing a garlic mascot costume. I can only assume that he was affiliated with the festival. A family near us thought that too because they chased him down to get their picture taken with him.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1w4hyiAKAb-ez1NtVitZvli62t7YqBo38wIcjPkhwYESKZf7Dc0WRSIsyR6bR8WAQitlSfYTyr-x4oTOH5fVMAlke0C760NYQR3Gr0OwP8G5DYPujUT9EfFSYmtOTZ-09GUDW8264Vt3x/s1600/IMG_2080%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1w4hyiAKAb-ez1NtVitZvli62t7YqBo38wIcjPkhwYESKZf7Dc0WRSIsyR6bR8WAQitlSfYTyr-x4oTOH5fVMAlke0C760NYQR3Gr0OwP8G5DYPujUT9EfFSYmtOTZ-09GUDW8264Vt3x/s320/IMG_2080%255B1%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obviously, there were lots of booths with food, but we headed to get our combo plates. They offer two, and we got both so we could try a bunch of different things.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My combo plate</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me say that I could have easily just eaten garlic bread and been happy, but it was good to try it all. My plate contained garlic bread, garlic shrimp scampi, garlic mushrooms, garlic sausage (that's the thing in the plastic wrap), and garlic stir fry. Conery's plate had this awesome pasta con pesto, garlic bread, garlic mushrooms, and garlic pepper steak. While eating, we hung out in the shade, while listening to some local musicians. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A garlic feast like that needs to be followed by walking around to prevent slipping info a food coma. We checked out some of the other events and grabbed another beer. As we sipped on our second beer, we caught up with Lisa Lee after playing some phone tag. We regaled her with our tales of garlic. It's a good thing she couldn't smell our breath! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next on our list was the garlic ice cream.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FREE!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The longest line in the place was for the free ice cream. The line went pretty quickly as there was no need to figure out what to order or to pay for it.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BX5lZXp8pHb0uv6hE1wkKSFwkNIA3AOa-8OOjyPbNSuxgHocVgoDH7xefxD7HON56wIOBwBqIisEVlyojglIfdfiV3qhmvre3SYv2aijJCo41wNN4x4doodsyarYq33XiUw-kL8zKvwM/s1600/IMG_2083%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BX5lZXp8pHb0uv6hE1wkKSFwkNIA3AOa-8OOjyPbNSuxgHocVgoDH7xefxD7HON56wIOBwBqIisEVlyojglIfdfiV3qhmvre3SYv2aijJCo41wNN4x4doodsyarYq33XiUw-kL8zKvwM/s320/IMG_2083%255B1%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With great trepidation...</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both of us figured the ice cream would mostly just taste like vanilla soft serve with a hint of garlic, but it really packed a spicy, garlic punch. It was pretty tasty. Not sure that I'd eat a pint of it, but it was a cool treat.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were some top chef cooking demonstrations and competitions, but we weren't interested in planning ahead to catch them at their scheduled times. Our adventure was all about being in the moment and seeing where our noses, ears, and stomachs took us, and we had a great time!</span><br />
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</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-57632577198649724262011-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:002011-08-03T14:15:34.868-07:00Seven Months?!?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is really hard to believe that we've lived in California for seven months already. Time is seriously flying! </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are already starting to think about where we will move when our lease is up in December. Fremont has been great while we've been getting acclimated, but there are other locations on the peninsula (West of the Bay) that are more centrally located for both of our jobs. My company moved to a new location about a month ago, and it's a block from a light-rail stop. So if we find the right location, both Conery and I can take public transport.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conery's new job is going great. He is already a productive member of the team. He had to get up to speed really quickly as one of the other members is getting married this month and will be out for a few weeks.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a grass-roots social thing going on at my work in which I've gotten involved. We have an off-site team building event this Friday. There are 12 teams of 10 people which are competing in olympic-style events. The events run the gamut from Duck, Duck, Goose to Tug of War to Blind Canoe Races (yeah, that should be real interesting). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm the captain of team 3. Our team name is Team Masti; masti is an Indian word which means naughty/mischievous. Curious George is our team logo. It's really fitting because there are some trouble makers on our team!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In addition to the olympics, there are other initiatives going on. I'm starting a tinkering group. Our first project is going to be a <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Vacuum-cleaner-Bazooka/">vacuum cleaner bazooka</a> which I have dubbed the Vazooka; I already trademarked it. ;) </span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-78672201259643538262011-07-24T11:45:00.000-07:002011-07-24T11:49:28.566-07:00Pegynthia Part One!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am finally getting around to writing a blog post about my mom (Peggy) and sister<span class="Apple-style-span">’s </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> (Cynthia) visit. It was so much fun and so action packed that I will not be able to cover it all in one post. and will no doubt write one of not more follow up posts (hence "Part One").</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pegynthia - FOP (Fresh Off the Plane)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I picked them up at the San Francisco airport in our friend’s car to be sure we’d have enough room for their luggage (we did) and to ensure that we’d have a more comfortable ride back to Fremont than we would have in either my or Traci’s cars. As anyone who has traveled across the country before knows, you get to the West coast and you’ve missed lunch by hours and you’re STARVING. Pegynthia now knows this as well. I high-tailed it to Fisherman’s Wharf to get their tourist groove on from the get-go. We parked in the aquarium garage and walked to the shopping and food area of Pier 39. After some fish n' chips and a bread bowl of clam chowder, we were all feeling much more human and up for some sightseeing. We meandered along the pier, and Pegynthia began shopping (a trend that lasted pretty much until I dropped them off at SFO again two weeks later). Once they had their first round of knickknacks purchased (and a very smart looking, and necessary San Francisco hoodie for poor, freezing Peggy), we walked down to The Bay proper. As we looked out toward Alcatraz, Cynthia noticed some sea lions playing in the water, and I was able to snap a picture (they are the slightly darker black bits in the picture below).</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sea Lions At Play In The Bay</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked a bit further down the pier until we reached the area where the sea lions like to hang out. There were far fewer than usual, something that is being investigated actually, but there was no shortage of people with cameras in the area. I’m pretty sure mom photo-bombed one nice Asian man as he attempted to snap a shot of his daughter (nice one!). W<span class="Apple-style-span">e left the parking garage handicap space that we were able to park in thanks to Mom’s FL placard. Sadly that was the last time we were able to take advantage of that perk because the placard went missing, never to be seen again. Then we drove around the city at random so Pegynthia could take in the sights (and they could openly mock me each time I stalled our loaner car – I don’t drive stick anymore). I made sure (thanks to the suggestion of Navigatress Traci) to take them to our place via the scenic route, across the Bay Bridge which provides lovely views. Since we had three people in the car, we were able to take advantage of the HOV lane which DRASTICALLY reduced our traffic annoyance and travel time back to Fremont.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next couple of days are a bit of a blur. I was looking for a new job, and I think I had an interview around this time, the first one with Bain & Company where I now work, and I believe Pegynthia might have wandered around Fremont one of those days. We did take a trip to the beach one evening at sunset and as you can see below, this was not the normal garb they would wear to a Florida beach.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsNjaDuLrfziUuZDzzmZFqTdfhceVde-mrYnHr9R3wV0-n9iwmNafF0Rq8BQWYufTe120Gf-QiRNta5mk3wKhXq094lb69OtxBZxtVUF14wcbVf5_y8qj5snHPTTzpVOlJ8d0_ep3CJc/s1600/IMG_1193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsNjaDuLrfziUuZDzzmZFqTdfhceVde-mrYnHr9R3wV0-n9iwmNafF0Rq8BQWYufTe120Gf-QiRNta5mk3wKhXq094lb69OtxBZxtVUF14wcbVf5_y8qj5snHPTTzpVOlJ8d0_ep3CJc/s320/IMG_1193.JPG" width="320px" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I know for sure that we played some board games. It reminded Cynthia and I of nights at our granparent's cabin when we were kids. Now I know from whence springs my love of all things game! Speaking of Games, Cynthia bought me a gift certificate to a cool online store called Marbles </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/">The Brain Store</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span"> and demanded that I shop for my gift while she was there. I did just that, but in classic Gemini fashion, couldn't pick just one. So we made a deal, and I got my birthday and Xmas presents at the same time! In June! She gave me a game called Dixit! which is super awesome and might get a blog post of its own some day. She also gave Traci and I Colorku for our Xmas present (yay!). That one is basically sudoku (which neither Traci nor I have ever played) only with a wooden board and colored balls instead of numbers. The rules are otherwise the same. We're having a blast with both of those, and you will likely be playing one or both if you come for a visit.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the first Saturday of their visit, we had planned a trip to wine country, a first for all of us. I bought a Groupon for a tour and tasting at two wineries in Napa Valley. The drive was beautiful as was Napa Valley as a whole. It was pretty cool to drive along the main strip and see the names of all these wines we've purchased or at least seen in stores. The first winery on our tour was Beringer and the second was St. Clement. At Beringer, we were led on a tour through their onsite wine cave.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Traci and Cynthia Entering the Wine Cave</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Basically when they purchased the land it butted up to a mountain and they made a cave in it and built a house in front. It is naturally the perfect temperature for wine and requires no climate control. We missed seeing loads of barrels by one day as they had just reached the right age and had been moved to bottling. We had the wine tasting in the caves, and I think we tried three or four different wines. We also got to check out the vintage room with some wines over 100 years old. After that, we went out into the beautiful California sunshine and sat at a table and ate our $95 picnic lunch purchased at the gift shop (no I'm not exaggerating). Though to be fair that price did include a nice cheese knife. We also enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine that was included with our Groupon tour. We all opted for the sparkling wine because we were promised that it was a "party in your mouth". It delivered on that promise. Delicious, crisp, just sweet enough and very refreshing on a warm afternoon. We toured the grounds and wandered through the historical house that's been turned into a gift shop, and then we were off to the second winery. The second winery, St. Clement was slightly anticlimactic since we were about wined out by that point. This stop was a tasting only, and so we tasted about four wines there. The best part was the fact that the winery area was set back off the road a good ways and up a hill so it provided beautiful views of the surrounding vineyard country.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">View From St. Clements</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I suddenly realize two things. I am very long-winded (even when typing... long-fingered?), and we did a LOT while Pegynthia were here. I am going to stop here for now so I can get something posted (people think we've forgotten the blog, and we can't risk losing the four people who are reading it by alienating them with no content!) There is still lots to blog about from their visit, so look for another installment soon!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>Coneryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02875591352184072817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-82595259041952510612011-07-07T09:56:00.000-07:002011-07-07T09:58:41.471-07:00Gigante Nuts!<div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">While my mother-in-law, Peggy, and sister-in-law, Cynthia were here visiting, we all went to a San Francisco Giants baseball game. It was great fun. We weren't in the bleachers, but were in the outfield near the third base foul pole. Needless to say, we were pretty far from the action. Getting behind-the-plate seats is pretty pricey for a team who won the World Series last year. </span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not sure how Conery found out about the San Jose Giants (the minor league team that feeds the SF Giants), but he found $18 box seats for the July 5th game against the Modesto Nuts. </span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">In addition to having great seats for a game, there were going to be fireworks after. Since we didn't feel like braving the crowds to watch fireworks on the 4th, this post game display was going to fill the need to hear things go boom!</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The game was a lot of fun...totally a scene from <i>Bull Durham</i> with the local flavor and baseball groupies. There were even random rituals going on throughout the stands...the Hawaiian shirt crew did they own version of the 3rd inning YMCA sing- and dance-a-along. And in the fifth inning, everyone sings Neil Diamond's <i>Sweet Caroline</i>. Apparently, Diamond's song is a sing-a-long thing at other baseball games; I'd love to hear why that song became a thing.</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">They had some awesome BBQ on the third base side along with Pacifico</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> on tap! </span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The best part, however, was the people watching and the old dude next to me who was chatting up everyone around him about how impressive the mascot (Gigante) was dancing to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZglqkCRNt8">Teach Me How To Dougie</a>.<span id="goog_1894369664"></span><span id="goog_1894369665"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The SJGs had a pretty bad game the night before, according to the old dude. As luck would have it, they had a great game the night we were there - natch. The final score was 9 - 4.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509193140943570929.post-80446800211703793842011-07-04T13:21:00.000-07:002011-07-04T13:21:52.179-07:00The Steins CollectRecently, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art received a loan from the Stein family (Gertrude Stein and two of her brothers). The loan contains early works of modern masters like Picasso, Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, etc. Gertrude Stein and her brothers were living in France and traveled in the same circles as many authors, painters, and actors. When the famous artists were fledgling, the Stein family began collecting their art. The Steins displayed the work in their sitting rooms and often had other Ex Pats over for drinks and discussion. Through these sessions and displays in other venues, the fledgling artists became well-known.<div><br />
</div><div>Neither Conery nor I are experts in the catalogs of the painters included in the show. We've seen the most famous pieces, but this exhibit didn't contain those. It was pretty cool to go into the museum without any expectations of seeing something particular. </div><div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tickets for a well-rounded day filled with art :o)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>It seems that the current trend in museums is to charge a base price, which includes viewing of the permanent collection. If there is a special, current exhibit, entrance to that section is extra. This is true at SFMoMA. After adding up the cost for two to see The Steins Collect, we paid for a membership which allows the card holder and a guest to enter the museum for a year and see all the current exhibits. They even have a special line for members to enter the gallery before the general admission. Why wouldn't we want to do this? SFMoMA gets great traveling exhibits, so this membership will get used a lot.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Our focus this time was just The Steins Collect exhibit. We can see the rest of the collection some other time. We paid the $5 per for the Steins Collect audio tour. There was SOOOO much content available about the pieces and the artists. It's totally the way to go if you are there to take your time and see everything. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The rooms throughout the exhibit grouped the paintings not by artist but grouped by the time period the paintings lived with The Steins. Anchoring many of the rooms was my favorite part of the exhibit. There were wall size photo murals of the rooms in the Steins' homes showing you where those paintings spent some of their time. Seeing Matisse's "Femme au chapeau (Woman in a Hat)" hanging under his "Girl with Green Eyes" next to Picasso's portrait "Gertrude Stein"on the walls of Gertrude Stein's sitting room broke the fourth wall for me. I now looked at the paintings from a totally new point of view...from a chair in Gertrude's room...with its changing natural light. The art was covering most of the wall space that wasn't already blocked by furniture of a mirror. It must have been overwhelming to see all this paradigm-shifting artwork at one time. These Masters were the originators of completely new styles of paining. </div><div><br />
</div><div>As we moved through the galleries, we were nearing the later part of the lives of the Steins. At this point, the fledgling artists collected by The Steins many years ago were very popular. The Steins could no longer afford the works of those artists. Because The Steins were drawn to finding artists early in their careers, they started branching out and discovering new fledgling artists like Pavel Tchelitchew and Juan Gris.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It was very cool to see all that art that happened during one family's lifetime. And it was even cooler to see how the patrons hung the art in their homes.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1