Friday November 29, 2013
We got up at 7am (whoa! Sleeping in on vaca!) and it was beautiful, clearer than yesterday and we could see a fishing boat — a spec. Made coffee, did work and work calls and made breakfast. Haha. I guess I should say we had the first food of the day in the old Breaking Fast definition: Bob finished his lemon pie from the other night and I had a piece of sourdough toast with cranberry relish and a slice of turkey. Fabulous. We leisurely read emails, magazines, listened to CNBC (physically we could not be farther from Black Friday madness though our email boxes are jam packed with offers etc) and then got ready to go into Mendocino.
The drive up Hwy 1 to Mendo is so beautiful. And especially on a clear day. The town itself was pretty busy. We did our usual little loop and look-see through the shops and bookstore. We thought about going to our favorite restaurant, the Moose Cafe, for lunch but found out it is closing and the building is being sold…. every time we go to Mendocino it is obvious that the economy is taking it’s toll, more established businesses closing. Despite the Dow and Nasdaq, the economy for everyday people, especially those not in urban areas, and in CALIFORNIA, are really suffering. Taking road trips, you see it. It is the Moose’s last weekend and while we have always loved it, we didn’t feel like being there.
We headed over to Patterson’s, the locals’ pub, and one of our favorites. We sort of feel like locals as we have been coming here together since 2000 when we drove over from Windsor — when it was a day trip! — to watch Augusta and the British Open and various other sporting events. They have really good food for what is essentially a sports bar and very nice people, behind the bar as well as at the bar.
While we were sitting there, before our Bloody Marys arrived, I got an email from Anne… Dad and she had an appointment with an oncologist on Wednesday afternoon per his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer last week. We hadn’t heard peep since and they didn’t answer the phone on Thursday so we anticipated that it wasn’t good news. And it’s not. It has spread to the liver and some lymph nodes. Dad has always been open to being a lab rat so has signed up for some trials and experimental drugs. He will do chemo (too widespread for radiation) and if, after two months, there is no improvements, treatment will stop. Hard to even see these words on the screen. We are lucky in that we are all very close and Anne is very communicative with my brothers and me, where Dad would prefer to ‘protect’ us I think. Perhaps selfishly I would rather Dad go sooner and be the person we know who is able to make decisions — like signing up for trials, than all of us — especially him — have to go down that long, agonizingly slow, painful road of dementia ending up where he is not recognizable to us nor is he able to recognize us. Is it terrible to say this way feels like it’s ‘better’? Hard to process. Sat with Bob and talked and watched people. Ordered a pear salad (Dad’s favorite at Bizou) and Bob had a Caesar and a side of garlic bread. He had another Bloody and I had a Navarro Pinot. Pinged our friend Kristin who is at MacCallum House, per their tradition for Thanksgiving, but didn’t get a reply. Probably just as well….
We made our little tour of the market, Sallie Macs, Bob hit all the bakery and coffee shops trying to find something sweet for after leftovers tonight (even though he brought a frozen Upper Crust Apple Pie from home… for an ’emergency’). He ended up getting some Three Twins Lemon Cookie ice cream. Got back to Irish Beach about 3p and lo and behold! it’s a Harry Potter marathon so had that on in the background while we caught up on email, played Sudoku and read.
Leftover turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes with fresh salad, roasted carrots, fennel, brussels sprouts and mushrooms for dinner. Husch Chardonnay and Roederer Pinot. Eat to live or live to eat…. we do both.
Bob and Sharon's Travel Diary 