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Our California Vacation
Friday, September 1, 2000
It was so much nicer having a flight that
left at 1:30pm, rather than our usual crack-of-dawn
departure. We had time to finish packing
in the morning, get everything set, and still
have a leisurely drive to the airport. We
did have a little stress prior to departure.
Even though we arrived at the airport an
hour and a half before our departure, I almost
got left behind! As one might expect, the
airport was quite busy, it being a Friday,
and the start of a holiday weekend. So, I
didn't even bother trying to get a space
in the deck, or at the "near" park
and rides. I went straight for park and ride
four. I didn't have any trouble getting a
spot, but it took forever for the shuttle
bus to come. All told, from the time I dropped
Jeanie off at curbside check-in until I got
to the gate - 75 minutes!
We flew Northwest to Minneapolis, MN, and
then to San Jose. It was the first time either
Jeanie or I had flown Northwest. We were
pleasantly surprised. The flights departed
on time, and arrived early. We were served
a snack on the first flight, and a meal on
the second. Overall, a good experience.
We were amused when we arrived at San Jose.
We felt like we had been transported about
thirty years into the past when rather than
pulling up to a jet bridge at the terminal,
the good old fashioned stairs were wheeled
up to the plane, and we had to walk outside
to get to the terminal. It seemed quite a
contradiction - rolling the stairs up to
a jet in the middle of Silicon Valley...
The drive from San Jose to San Francisco
was pleasant and uneventful. Thanks to cellular
telephone technology, we were able, with
Jamie's assistance, to navigate safely to
her house.
After getting our bags lugged up the stairs,
we sat and chatted for a while, and then
decided to get some dinner. We walked the
few blocks to "the Haight" and
found an intimate Thai restaurant that was
still serving. Jeanie and Jamie ordered some
kind of bizarre salad that smelled rotten
- absolutely horrible really - but they seemed
to enjoy it. Jamie ordered some kind of seafood
soup with a coconut milk base that was fair.
Jeanie and I shared ginger chicken which
was delicious. By the time we got back to
Jamie's house it was almost 3:00am eastern
time, so we went off to bed.
Saturday, September 2, 2000.
Jeanie and I got up at about 6:30am and went
downstairs and had coffee. Since I had done
a fair amount of email on the flight in,
I dialed up and replicated while we enjoyed
our Saturday morning quiet time. By 9:00am,
Jeanie and I were hungry, so we rousted Jamie
out of bed and headed back to "the Haight"
for breakfast. The restaurant that Jamie
wanted to go to was really busy, so we went
across the street to her second choice. Breakfast
was very good, and we had a nice time chatting
while we sipped our coffee.
My hair had gotten a little bushy and I had
not had a chance to get it cut before we
left, so we popped into a salon to get my
hair cut. Jeanie and Jamie supervised to
ensure that my coiffure was just right.
Then we headed off to the Marin County Marine Mammal Rehabilitation
Center . It is a working rehabilitation center
- not a zoo. They take the care and eventual
release of their patients very seriously.
While the staff was very cordial and informative,
we couldn't stand at any one pen for too
long, to ensure that the animals did not
become to acclimated to humans, or for them
to get stressed by our presence. We learned
the differences between sea lions and seals,
and got to feel different pelts - quite educational!
Then we took a short drive to the fort at
Point Bonita, which was established in 1905,
and decommissioned in 1943. We took a nice
hike with Buddy the wonder dog, and enjoyed
some beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean,
the Golden Gate Bridge, and the San Francisco
skyline from the Golden Gate National Recreation
Area.
We drove home, and I took a nap while Jeanie
and Jamie visited.
Jamie cooked us a delicious rice noodle and
tofu stir-fry with portabella mushrooms and
bok choy. After dinner, we took a stroll
to a nice little coffeehouse for dessert.
Sunday, September 3, 2000.
1:30am - Jeanie woke up feeling the earth
move... no, this time it wasn't me. The earth
really did move - quake to be exact. Jamie
came running up to make sure that we had
not missed the exciting event. I guess it
was good that she did, otherwise I wouldn't
have known about it until the morning! Either
it was a mild quake, or I was sleeping soundly;
or maybe a little of each?
We found out in the morning that it had been
a 5.2 quake centered near Napa. It caused
some damage, and a few serious injuries in
the Napa area, but no damage or injuries
in the San Francisco area.
Jeanie and I slept in until 6:30am. Then
it was down to the kitchen for coffee. Both
of us took our notebooks and worked while
we drank our coffee. You have to wonder about
the impact that computers have on our lives
when you feel like you have to work on your
vacation to keep yourself from being buried
in email when you return. While there have
been some remarkable advances in our quality
of life due at least in part to computers,
I sometimes question if the gains have really
been worth the price.
In the afternoon, we (Jeanie, Jamie, Bud
the wonder dog, and I) walked down to the
Golden Gate Park. There was a beautiful,
huge planting of many different varieties
of flowers. We enjoyed looking at all the
flowers, Bud enjoyed running around visiting
and sniffing, sniffing and visiting. Then
we walked to the area where the free-style
roller skaters skate, and sat and watched
for a long time. It was amazing to see what
some of these folks could do on skates. Some
wore in-line skates, others wore the "classic"
2x2's. Many of the skate boots were highly
custom. One guy even had cowboy boot skates!
There was a jukebox on steroids playing really
good dance tunes, and many of the skaters
were dancing. Some were doing line dances,
others doing free-style, and one couple couples
dancing. We met Jamie's friend Lise there.
She was definitely one of those people that
once you meet, you don't forget.
Jamie was in the mood for Spanish food -
tappas to be exact, so we walked up to Cha
Cha Cha. The wait was an hour and a half,
so we took a stroll to pass the time. First
we went to Amoeba, one of the most amazing
music stores I have ever seen. Their selection
of new and used music - records (78's, 45's,
LP's), tapes, and CD's was vast to say the
least. You could almost say that if they
didn't have it, it probably wasn't worth
listening to.
Then we strolled up to Hobson's Choice, a local bar, and had a drink.
After walking back to Cha(3), and waiting
some more, we finally got seated and fed.
It was okay, but not worth the wait in my
humble opinion.
Monday, September 4, 2000
The big shopping adventure begins...
One of the things that we had been looking
forward to was having a car so we could take
Jamie mattress shopping. After checking the
newspaper for sales, we headed off bed shopping.
After checking a few stores, Jamie found
a mattress that she liked that was in her
price range, and we made arrangements to
have it delivered on Wednesday.
We drove back home, and decided that we wanted
to go out for lunch. I was in the mood for
Mediterranean food, so we walked up to a
little Mediterranean place that Jamie likes
on Haight, and ordered two lavashes. Jamie
had a spicy feta lavash, and Jeanie and I
split a not-spicy chicken lavash. They were
both very good. For those of you who don't
know what a lavash is (I didn't until I ate
one), they start with a rectangular sheet
of flat bread. The bread is about the consistency
and thickness of a tortilla, but a rectangle
about 6" x 12"; it kind of looks
like a long, soft, matzo cracker. On to this,
they dump cooked chicken, onions, and sauce
in our case, or hot paste, chopped cucumber,
onion, feta, and sauce in Jamie's case. Then
they roll it up like a burrito, and throw
it on the grill for a minute or two.
After lunch, it was off to Ikea, which is
across the bay bridge. Jamie picked up all
sorts of little things for the house, and
was thrilled when she found out that all
of her loot only cost $40. Jeanie had wanted
to buy some plants for Jamie, so we went
to Home Depot, but it was closed. Next we
went to K-Mart. Their garden department was
lacking to say the least. There was one nice
rubber plant that was a good bargain, so
we bought it. At the checkout, Jamie asked
the lady for directions back to San Fran.
The lady looked at Jamie and asked "you
drove all the way from San Francisco just
to buy that one lame plant?" We got
a chuckle out of that.
One the way home, we stopped at Trader Joe's,
which is like a low budget Wellspring grocery
store. We picked up a few items and headed
home.
Jeanie was beat, so she headed off to bed.
Jamie and I weren't quite ready to go to
sleep, so we decided to see what was on the
tube. Jamie got really excited when she saw
that "The Pillow Book" was just
starting on the Independent Film Channel.
What a blessing that Jamie has digital cable,
with 503 channels to choose from... Anyway,
the movie was really different; I mean really
different. The main story line follows a
woman who writes books - on naked people.
It is billed as an erotic film, but it has
very little sex - by no means pornographic
in the least. The highlight of my experience
with this movie was when one of Jamie's friends
called and asked what she was doing, and
Jamie replied that she was watching an erotic
film with her dad. Yes, well this is San
Francisco, two blocks from Haight Ashbury...
The highlight of the evening was getting
to spend some quality time alone with Jamie.
Tuesday, September 5, 2000
This vacation is really great. No schedules
to follow, no alarm clocks. Maybe we get
up when we wake up, maybe we roll over and
go back to sleep - whatever the spirit moves...
Today was a roll over and go back to sleep
day.
We got going about 10:00am. We walked up
to Haight street and caught "the 7"
(a muni bus) down to where Jamie works. We
got off on Market and First, and went up
to visit Jamie in her office. Then we walked
the few blocks to the SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) to
see the Magritte exhibit. (For online images visit theNicola Randone or Artists Rights Society (ARS) sites) As an added bonus, Tuesday is "get
in free day" at the SFMOMA, so we didn't
even have to pay. It was the last day of
the exhibit, so it was crowded, but the museum
did a great job of controlling the number
of people allowed to enter the exhibit at
a time. Because they would only allow twenty
or so people in at a time, and waited a reasonable
interval between groups, we were not hurried
or crowded, and really had time to view and
enjoy the paintings.
Because we had gone on Jamie's lunch hour,
and had taken more than an hour in the exhibit,
Jamie had to run back to work. Jeanie and
I stopped at a restaurant along the way and
grabbed a quick lunch, then walked through
the open-air market across from the ferry
house at the end of Market Street. We then
grabbed a trolley and rode to Ghiradelli
Square. Ghiradelli square was nice. There
were three musicians playing Adiean music
- one playing guitar, and two playing pan
flutes. We sat on a bench in the shade and
enjoyed the music for a while, then walked
through some of the shops. We then walked
over to Van Ness and took "the 47"
back to Market, where we caught "the
71" home. I was tired from all of the
walking, so I took a nap. Jeanie went to
the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner.
After Jamie got home from work, Jamie, Jeanie,
and I cooked dinner for the house. Jamie
has three really nice housemates. Daniella
lives upstairs with Jamie, and Douglass and
Shan live downstairs where the living room
and kitchen are. Jeanie cooked brown rice
and really delicious greens with sauteed
onions and garlic and a balsamic vinegar
dressing. She also made desert - cut up strawberries
and raspberries over a store bought lemon
cake, all sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Jamie made her "famous" grilled
shrimp with olive oil and garlic - lots of
garlic. I grilled the catfish and warmed
the bread. We had a lovely dinner. The conversation
was delightful, and the food was delicious.
After dinner, everyone pitched in to clean
up, and everything was spic and span in no
time flat.
Jeanie and I were bushed after our big day,
so we were ready for bed right after dinner.
Wednesday, September 6, 2000
Today has been a quiet day so far. We got
out of bed around 7:30am, and Jeanie made
breakfast. We chatted with Jamie while she
got ready for work.
Jamie's new mattress and box spring are going
to be delivered sometime around noon, so
Jeanie and I have been hanging out waiting
for the delivery.
Jeanie took a nap, and has been doing some
plant potting. I did some e-mail, some studying
for my Basic Blue online class, and took
another online test. The tests are really
good. They are open book, and they serve
more to reinforce the material, and get you
to do some digging, than to test your wrote
memorization skills. I have also been impressed
with the "management simulations."
These are text-based case studies, and the
way they are presented is really interesting.
First a situation is presented, then you
read fictitious email responses that provide
various suggestions on how to handle the
situation, then you review a list of options
of how to deal with the situation (with pros
and cons), and then you are asked to select
the best alternative from the list of options.
Each alternative presents a view of what
the results of that action would have been
- very instructive both for the "right"
selection, as well as the "wrong"
ones.
I've started reading "The Essential
Rene Magritte" by Todd Alden, one of
the two books on Magritte that we picked
up at the museum. It is really interesting.
I never would have guessed as a youth that
I would voluntarily purchase an "art"
book, much less read and enjoy it.
The mattress and box spring arrived at 12:50pm,
within the two-hour window as promised! After
to delivery guys left, Jeanie and I decided
that we were enjoying being slugs, and would
continue to do so for the rest of the day.
Jeanie puttered and napped, I finished the
Magritte book.
Jamie got home around six, and invited us
to go with her to take Bud for a walk. Little
did we know that Jamie would lead us on a
forced march from one end of San Francisco
to the other - well, at least it seemed that
way. At the halfway point, we decided we
were hungry, and elected to take an alternate
route home. We dropped by a little Mexican
place - Zona Rosa, on, where else, Haight,
and got mongo burritos to take home.
Thursday, September 7, 2000
Jeanie and I decided to head off to Muir Woods to see the California Redwoods. It was a
short drive across the Golden Gate Bridge,
up 101 to 1.
It was around lunchtime, so we detoured to
Sausalito. We found a quaint restaurant with
a lovely view of the bay - The Cat N Fiddle.
I had a bowl of French onion soup that was
quite tasty, and Jeanie had a salad and sauteed
crab cakes, which we shared and which were
delicious.
We had a nice relaxing walk around the park.
The trees were amazing. The tallest one was
over 250 feet high, fourteen feet around,
and over a thousand years old. The park was
beautiful, lush ferns, tall tress, and a
river running through it. Well, a stream
really, but... you know...artistic license
and all that...
We then headed back to the city to pick up
Jamie so we could start our trip north up
101. The drive was really nice. We drove
along 101 - a twisty, turny road that snakes
along the coastline. The scenery was incredible.
After three hours, and three changes of drivers,
we arrived at our destination: Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg?!? But that's in North Carolina!
Yeah, well there's one in California too
- just past Mendocino.
We checked into our hotel, a Quality Inn,
which really is! Our room was rally nice.
The room was divided in half by having the
bathroom in the middle of the space, rather
than at one end. The bathroom was pentagon
shaped, with the point projecting into the
middle of the room space. Across from the
point, was a partial wall. In effect, this
separated the space into two semi-private
spaces, each having one double bed. At the
far end of the room were a large picture
window, and a glass door leading onto a balcony
with a beautiful view of the ocean.
After getting checked in, we drove back into
town, and had dinner at the North Coast Brewery,
a really nice brewpub with an incredible
selection of brewed-on-site beers.
Our busy day finally having caught up with
us, we headed back and quickly drifted off
to dreamland.
Friday, September 8, 2000
The highlight of today was our trip on the
Skunk Train. We left the Fort Bragg station at 2:00pm
for a lovely three hour trip through California
Coastal Redwood groves, along the Noyo river.
Saturday, September 9, 2000
We drove down to Mendocino, a lovely town
about eight miles from Fort Bragg. We had
a nice day walking around the town, wondering
through the shops, and enjoying the beautiful
ocean views.
We had planned to take in the 47-acre Coastal
Gardens, but this was the one day during
the season that it was closed for a special
fundraiser for the local hospital. The gift
shop and nursery were open, so we walked
through and bought a few gifts.
After we returned to the hotel, Jamie decided
to take a nap. Jeanie and I went for a walk
up the coast. It was really nice. The surf
crashing against the rocky coast was beautiful.
Immense power, yet very calming.
For dinner, we went to Noyo Harbor to go
to Sharon's By the Sea. It was not the sort
of place that at first sight would lead you
to believe that you would end up with anything
on your plate that you would be the slightest
bit interesting in eating. It was very small,
no more than six tables in a building that
looked like an upscale shack. There was one
waitress, one cook, one dishwasher, and one
other guy who we couldn't quite tell what
he was doing. Jamie had an herb-encrusted
salmon which was lovely, Jeanie had crab
cakes that were quite tasty, even if they
looked more like crab pancakes. I had a sauteed
snapper covered in a mixture of very well
sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and
peppers, with a balsamic sauce topped with
feta cheese. It was absolutely amazing. It
was accompanied by delicious garlic mashed
potatoes, and perfectly cooked asparagras.
Without a doubt, one of the best meals I
have ever had.
Sunday, September 10, 2000
Oh well, all good things must end. Time to
head back to San Francisco. But, we can have
a little fun along the way.
We took 128 to Santa Rosa, rather than 1.
The fact that there were a dozen or more
small wineries along the way had nothing
to do with this decision ;-)
We pretty much stopped at all of the ones
that were open along the way. Some were more
interesting than others, and most of the
wine was so-so at best. We did find a 1997
Mendocino White Riesling and a Gewurztraminer
Grape Juice that we liked at Navarro Vineyards.
Our favorite vineyard was Martz. We had to drive up a steep, rough dirt
road for a mile or so to get to it, but it
was worth the effort. In addition to bottling
a magnificent Grand Symphony dessert wine,
they made a number of other delectables that
were also for sale. They also had the most
adorable Nubian goats that they raised. They
had as many winning ribbons for the goats
as they did for the wines! They had a tasty
Merlot Grape Juice, and a "blow you
away" tomato and balsamic vinegar dipping
sauce. They made their own goat cheese that
was quite tasty, and their own goat milk
soap. We left Martz full in the belly, and
light in the wallet.
We also made a visit to the Simi Winery, one of Jamie's favorites. Jamie left with
a lovely Chardonnay, and we left with another
dessert wine, a Late Harvest Chardonnay Carneros.
One of Jeanie and Jamie's dining traditions
is to go to an Olive Garden at least once
per visit. Since there happened to be an
Olive Garden in Rohnhardt, that's where we
went for the traditional "all you can
eat" soup and salad lunner (Lunch/Dinner).
After we got back to Jamie's house, Jeanie
helped Jamie pot up the plants that they
had purchased here and there, and I flopped
onto the couch - I had driven the whole way
home!
Monday, September 11, 2000
Boo hoo :-( Time to go home. We kissed Jamie
bye as she left for work. We packed up all
of our goodies - fortunately we had planned
ahead and had each brought an extra (empty)
suitcase.
We left the house close to "on time."
Unfortunately, I had underestimated how long
the drive from San Francisco to San Jose
was. Had it not been for an extremely friendly
and understanding curbside check-in agent,
we would have missed our flight. But, the
Force was with us, and we just squeaked on.
We actually lucked out and got one of the
exit rows, which gave us quite a bit of extra
space. We flew Continental home, and just
as with Northwest on the way out, we were
very impressed.