Saturday, November 30, 2013
We were up by 7a and Merrill was all over the news, local and national as well as the internet. The North Koreans had him reading a ‘confession’ and signing with his thumbprint. Crazy!! At least he looked ok, physically, though can’t imagine the strain mentally. He had on ‘Merrill’ clothes: khakis and a blue button-down shirt. Perhaps this means those psychos in North Korea are preparing to let him come home. When I saw his wedding band while he was signing his name, my heart just leapt for Lee. Hoping this nightmare will end for them soon.
Had a lazy morning, reading (me on the deck in the rocking chair from the bedroom) and Bob watching football and working a bit. Caught up with Michael and Dennis on the phone. Still trying to get our arms around Dad’s diagnosis……
We played dominoes (Bob kicked my ass) for a couple of hours while watching football. About 11a we left for a hike to see where the San Andreas Fault goes back into the Pacific. Bob had been researching it online. We parked just off Hwy 1 and followed a (long-time) closed road down to a huge, completely empty beach. The photo at the top shows the fault to the very right of the photo. You can tell by the different colors of rock. The left portion is going north and the right (the North American plate) is mostly stagnant. It was about 65* and gorgeous!! Bob’s photos follow.
Irish Beach is up on the hill.
The Point Arena Lighthouse is off in the distance.
It was a beautiful little hike just over two miles (ok 2.25 per Walkmeter). We continued south to Gualala to get some dessert (natch…something to go with the Three Twins ice cream from yesterday…) and beef for dinner. At Trinks, Bob found a slice of key lime cake and I got a gingerbread molasses cookie and a tiny almond flour chocolate mudslide thumbprint (I am always trying to figure out how to make really good gluten-free treats and haven’t been very successful). At Surf Market, Bob got a big thick (1-1/2 inches) ribeye and we got a couple of beers to have for lunch (Celebration Ale for me, hefeweizen for Bob) and some salt and pepper Kettle chips for the car ride back.
After leftovers for lunch (Bob warmed up stuffing, gravy and turkey and I had a slice of sourdough toast with cranberry relish, turkey and extra jalapenos), we spent the afternoon playing dominoes and watching football; Bob continued to kick my ass… I was down for the weekend but he still owes me $1200+ so it’s ok. Ha.
We opened the Joseph Phelps Chardonnay (really good) for the last game of dominoes and dinner prep. Big salad, sauteed mushrooms (garlic, red wine, lots of pepper and fresh thyme), garlic sourdough toast, broiled ribeye… we have NEVER had a broiled piece of meat together but it turned out perfectly cooked and really tasty. Drank a Fetzer Crimson red which has turned into our house red. We spent the rest of the evening reading/watching football. Key lime cake and cookies were delicious, especially the almond flour chocolate which was super chocolatey and light.
Bob and Sharon's Travel Diary 