Day Seven

Breckenridge o miles

I was awake at 3:30 and it was pouring again? still?  Finally got up at 5:15 to do laundry.  Put two loads in the washers and then read on the treadmill for 45 minutes til I switched into dryer.  Brought the stuff to hang dry upstairs and Bob was watching the news.  Mt. Evans, which we drove by at about 3p yesterday, got snow during the night.  It is weird weather!

Walked down to Cabin Coffee at 7a when laundry was done.   Clouds were so low we couldn’t see halfway up the mountain and it was very wet — puddles on lawns and sidewalks.   We got Cabin Coffee commuter cups — 10% off the coffee! haha — and brought it home.  Watched CNBC, made breakfast (exactly the same as Monday except I added the leftover shallots from last night to my omelette) and worked on work emails, blogs etc all morning as we waited to see what the day will be.  Looks like it’s clearing up and then dark clouds again.  It is basically supposed to be rainy/iffy until Friday.  I am wearing the same cashmere sweater, sweatshirt and Camp Birchwood parka every day for warmth and/ or rain protection…..

We signed up to do the bike ride from Vail Pass tomorrow morning.  They outfit us on bikes, bring us up to Vail Pass and we ride the 15 miles down the mountain through Copper into Frisco.

About 11:30 we decided to pack up and pick up a lunch to take to the top of the mountain on the Gondola.  As we were walking down to get light gloves for tomorrow’s bike ride (will probably be in the high 30’s at top of pass when we start), it started pouring and hailing!  So we picked up a sandwich from the French bakery and brought it back to picnic in our room in front of the fire.  Great sandwich that we split — Le Mozzarella Plus: french baguette with romaine, proscuitto, tomatoes and a pile of shredded mozzarella mixed with pesto.  I removed almost all the cheese to save for pasta? vegetables? and ate half of mine.  We got a side of cornichons and some kettle chips from Boulder Canyon that were The. Best.  I ate almost the whole bag; potatoes, sea salt, sunflower oil.   We had a couple of glasses of chardonnay and played dominoes all afternoon.  Bob kicked my ass.  He is closing in: he only owes me $798.

We walked down to Hearthstone for Happy Hour and a storm was brewing:

Hearthstone was great.  It is in an old Victorian and the bar is upstairs.  We always enjoy it. Really nice bartender, Mia, was behind the bar all evening.  We started off with new cocktails ($6 each): Bob, a Barrel Aged Manhattan: Breck bourbon, sweet vermouth, bitters, oak cask aged in house and served up.  Me, a Strawberry Serrano Martini: Breck vodka infused with strawberries and serrano peppers, simple syrup, fresh lime juice, served up.  Both were winners!  The happy hour menu has $6 apps.  We started with beef tenderloin tacos and jalapeno stuffed shrimp.  The tacos were too hot for Bob so I had two the three and he had the shrimp (I had a bite of one) that were stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeno and beer battered.  Next up, pan-seared sea scallops with braised fennel and fresh fennel in a lobster tarragon sauce and tomato, fennel and sherry vinaigrette.  Could not eat it fast enough!  It was one of the best seafood appetizers I have ever eaten.  Even Bob who is not a scallop fan was fighting me for it.

Then a couple sat down next to Bob and the woman had… Man Hands. She was a slight woman but HUGE HANDS. Seinfeld episode.

Our next courses were tips and chips (tenderloin tips in a meaty rich sauce and a side of sweet potato fries) and beet salad with chevre and arugula.  I managed a photo.  I ended up eating a tip and most of the beet salad.

Bob had another Manhattan and I had a glass of the Cupcake Malbec ($5).  It was a great evening but I was too full to have a slice of the pizza when we got home!!  Wild skies between storms on the walk back.

Day Six

Breckenridge to Aspen and back 195 miles

Walked down to the new (as of Friday) coffee shop, Cabin Coffee, and brought computers, iPad.  We walked in yesterday and really like the look of it.  They roast on site and are just starting to franchise with two founder-owned shops in Iowa.   They have nice big tables and comfortable chairs.   And good coffee, roasted every two hours.  I was still full from the clam pizza chowdown so didn’t want anything to eat.  Bob got something at the French pastry place on the way back to the room.

We were on the road to Aspen — same route through Leadville and over Independence Pass — at 9:30.  Beautiful, no traffic and started listening to Dan Brown’s Inferno.  We actually sat in the dark underground parking garage on Sunday when we got back from Aspen and the store to listen to the last half hour of Sycamore Row.  It was really good.

Arrived in Aspen at 11:30 and Anne met us at City Market so we could follow her to the house.  Beautiful house with a big open great room and kitchen, lots of outdoor eating and sitting areas, creek (no trout) going through the back yard.  Kurt was happy and lively and funny as ever.  Two adorable doggies, their Wheaton terrier and Anne’s daughter’s Golden Doodle.  We did have some bittersweet, sad minutes talking about Dad.  They loved each other.

We went to Ajax Tavern for lunch, right at the bottom of the mountain where the Gondola starts.  Kurt and Anne are regulars.  We sat outside for probably the best two hours of the day weather-wise.  Bob ordered a delicious Russian River Chardonnay that we had never heard of and now forget what it was!  $60 and one of the cheapest bottles on the list.  It was our most expensive lunch ever by far !– but worth it to see Kurt so upbeat.  Anne said that we gave him a lift like Kurt gave Dad in December.  Kurt ordered six oysters and French onion soup without the cheese, Anne ordered truffled fries for the table (addictive.  We made her take the leftovers home) and had kale salad with chicken, Bob had French onion soup with cheese and I had the kale salad too (local kale, a bit of Serrano ham, Manchego dressing and almonds; perfect as I still wasn’t all that hungry.  Thank you, clam pizza.).  We had a lovely time, telling stories, people watching.  Bob arranged with the waitress early on to get the check and she graciously took Kurt’s card when he offered it to her and then returned it to him when she brought Bob the bill.  Kurt tried to fight but Bob shut him down saying that we were treating on behalf of Dad and how much Kurt’s visit meant to him.  We left them at 2:15 hoping to beat the storms back to Breckenridge.

Quick trip home with lots of dark clouds and drizzly rain but zero traffic, sometimes miles without another car.

Stopped at City Market for lettuce and sundries for dinner based on last night’s leftovers.  As soon as we got up to the room, the skies opened and it started hailing.  This is the roof next door about 4 minutes after it started.  Looked like snow!

We wanted to check out Mi Casa‘s Happy Hour so ran over in the rain and had a margarita and some chips and salsa.  They have $1 tacos which we will remember for another day.

Bob went home to start the bacon for the Charlie Palmer salad and I ran down to Giampietro’s to get some chili pepper flakes.  They remembered me having the giant pizza from the night before and happily gave me two little tubs of flakes.  Great, a pizza reputation.   We had the Charlie Palmer salad again with crispy bacon, shallots, tomatoes, butter lettuce and Ranch.  Bob heated up his pasta from last night and pizza bread from Sunday’s stop at High Mountain Pies.  I heated up three slices of pizza in the non-stick pan on the stove covered in foil.  It was good, good, good!

We watched tv, read and went to bed.  Great DAY!!!

Day Five

Breckenridge  0 miles

We played total tourist today.  Woke up early, got coffee and made breakfast in the room so we could handle emails, etc for a couple of hours.  Bob made bacon (two for him, one for me) and we each make our own toast (two for him, one for me) and eggs (two fried for him, one egg omelette for me).  So nice to have no schedule especially on a Monday!!  Had CNBC on, fire place on, sliding door all the way open.  We can leave the balcony door open all night (we are on the second floor) because zero bugs at 9600 feet.

About 11a we headed out in our rain gear and a light drizzle to patrol the town.  We walked the length of Main Street and back checking out all the sales — all summer stuff is 30-50% off.  Bought some stuff (sweatshirt, light jacket for Bob, yoga pants, t-shirt for me).  We had to do our ritual late lunch on the deck at Kenosha’s about 2p.  It was sunny and warm enough.  Bob was softly saying “Eat light, Bob; eat light, Bob.” ha. They had a whole slew of new cocktails so we had to try a couple….. Bob had a Master Caster: Breck bourbon, Breck bitters, gingerale, fresh lime juice served over ice.  I had the Sweet and Spicytini which had a warning in block letters: VERY HOT AND SPICY.  I will take that challenge any day: habanero and mango-infused vodka, mango puree, splash of soda, shaken with ice and served up.  It wasn’t THAT hot but would have been way too sweet without the heat.  Bob ordered the 8 oz sirloin with sides of cornbread and a ceasar (eating Not Light would have meant a loaded baked potato side…).  I had a kale and spinach salad with strawberries, blueberries, raw cashews and citrus vinaigrette.  It made me happy.   We split a glass of Broken Earth Winery Quandry blend — grenache, syrah, petit syrah and viognier – from Paso that we are going to hunt down.

Spent a couple of hours in the room catching up on email and then trekked down to Briar Rose for Happy Hour.  One of my favorite WC Fields quotes (paraphrasing):  Why should we limit happy to just an hour?  This town extends happy for three, four, five hours.   It was thundering loudly on the walk down and sporadic drops falling.  There was only one other guy at the bar and a couple of tables of people.  I tried a White Flame Martini, for a record three new cocktails in one day.  Pepper vodka, habanero olive juice and a Turkish pepper stuffed olive.  It.  Was.  Hot.  Bob couldn’t handle a sip.  I had a low smoldering warmth the whole time I was drinking it.    We put our name down across the street at Giampietros (WHITE CLAM PIZZA night!!!) and had time for another cocktail — two-for-one!  I wasn’t going to have another martini and saw the bartender making a St. Germaine that I had to try.  Prosecco, elderflower water and a lemon twist.  Another new favorite!  So refreshing and light. The bartender (Lindsy) said, “You go from my wild child White Flame to totally girly-girl.”  Don’t judge.

We got a nice table at Giampietros sitting side-by-side looking out the window at stormy clouds over the ski slope.  Bob had a caprese salad and spaghetti with italian sausage.  I had the arugula salad and the white clam pizza.  It is only served on Monday nights and I had been looking forward to it since Saturday when I saw it on the menu.  It was the biggest pizza ever.  The photo does not do it justice but perhaps the photo of the 8 packages of two and three slice leftovers indicates the ginormity of it.

All the tables around us were cracking up cause it was huge and I was the only one eating it.  I managed four pieces which is one more than I should have.  It was just olive oil, garlic, some mozzarella and covered in clams and arugula.  D E L I C I O U S.

I carried home the leftover pizza and Bob’s pasta in the rain.

Day Four

Breckenridge to Aspen and back  195 miles

Woke up early to be on the road to Aspen by 7:30.  Got our coffee at the Depot and got in the car.  We headed to Leadville and then over Independence Pass into Aspen.  It is a spectacular drive and very little traffic/bikes.

The reason for the Aspen trip was to see Kurt, Dad’s dear, dear friend and mentor, and his wife, Anne.  Kurt, at age 91 with his walker, came to SF to see Dad in December, just after Dad came home from the hospital.  It was an incredible boost for Dad and all of us.   Dad got out of bed and pushed Kurt in his walker (with seat) out to the living with Kurt yelling “Choo choo!”

We got to Aspen at 9:30 and were hoping to meet Kurt and Anne at 10a somewhere for breakfast.  We had arranged the day and the time earlier in the week and I left a couple of confirming texts and vmails… nothing.  We walked around, got a coffee at Main Street Bakery next door to the Explorer Book Store.  Browsed the book store which is a favorite and bought books… killing time but no word from Kurt or Anne.  About 11a we had breakfast in Victoria’s  near the Hyatt and next door to Ink’s where I got coffee everyday when we stayed there.  It was popular and good — Bob had a pork sausage roll and OJ and I had the best oatmeal: more like muesli with oats, shredded coconut, almonds, raspberries.   We decided to go up the Gondola to the top and listen to the Sunday afternoon music on the deck.  It was so cold — 44* — and mostly cloudy so they moved the music inside.  We had a Bloody Mary and listened for an hour or so then decided to head back to Breckenridge.

We stopped in Leadville at High Mountain Pies for a quick bite.  We have stopped here on other trips and it’s really good fresh food.  Bob got a flatbread that was pizza dough with some mozz and tons of garlic baked til it was just pillowy and golden.  Smelled like heaven.  I got an arugula salad with roasted squash, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, balsamic onions, sprouts (sprouts!) and local chevre.  And a crusty piece of Bob’s bread.  We wrapped up most of it to take home.

We were just pulling into the City Market parking lot to buy stuff for dinner and Kurt and Anne called!  Anne had lost her cell phone and got my number from Laura, Kurt’s daughter.  So disappointing but we will try to see them some other time this week. And we know they are ok!  We were concerned.

We made dinner in the room which has a flat surface stovetop with a large and a small burner and a microwave/convection oven combo.  And a toaster.  We decided to recreate the Charlie Palmer salad so I crisped up some bacon and then caramelized shallots in some of the bacon fat and a little olive oil.  Bob blanched some slender, tender asparagus and grilled a small filet.  We warmed up my linguine from last night and blended in cut up asparagus.  Split the filet, warmed up Bob’s pizza dough bread and composed the salad with butter lettuce, grape tomatoes and the bacon and shallots.  We toyed with making homemade ranch but found a local-ish (Boulder) brand that had no sugar or gross oils so we bought that and it was good.

Watched football and went to bed early.

Day Three

Park City to Breckenridge  482 miles

After having the breakfast included in the room — fresh fruit and a bite of gloppy oatmeal for me and for Bob a link sausage, bite of hash browns, a small danish and OJ — we were on the road at 7:45, 47* and still rainy.  This is what the sky looked like.

There was a light dusting of snow on the Uinta Mountains!  Gorgeous drive through Utah and into Wyoming.  Bright green hills, little farms and big ranches.  First stop was in Evanston WY for gas and found a good coffee place that was in this building.

It was still ony  44*.  Next stop was Little America which is actually a ginormous truck stop.  The reason for the stop was a billboard on the highway that showed a big doughnut.  And Bob got a big doughnut.  Raining off and on the whole way and very dramatic skies that my iPhone couldn’t really capture.

Stopped in Rawlins WY to find lunch.  Ended up at Buck’s Saloon which was full of good ol’ boys — one guy with a star badge, full-on spurs, etc.  Hilarious.  Bob had a burger and fries (‘not bad’) and a Pepsi and I had ice tea and Chili with jalapenos but without sour cream, cheese sauce and shredded cheddar.  It was good.  It also came with what looked like half a bag of corn chips of which I had four of five.  Understand why the place was so full.

There was rain, light and heavy, off and on all day with lots of dark clouds all around. Can envision buffalo roaming everywhere.  Temp never got above 56* all day.  We listened to the book — one of the best Grisham’s; really good story — and gazed about the beautiful countryside.   Crossed into Colorado at 2:07p.

Saw a lot of blow-offs on the wells around Coalmont.  We have a lot of energy we can be using!!!

Arrived at the Hyatt in Breckenridge at 4:30 and walked down to the Briar Rose at 5:30.  It was packed due to Happy Hour from 4 to 6p. Seven. Days. A. Week.  That’s what I’m saying.  The bartender remembered Bob but not our drinks.  From two years ago.  Ha.  The only people who know us by name in Novato are the butchers at Harvest Market and the lady who owns the dry cleaner and she calls me Shirin but who’s picky.  Bob calls her “Debit or credit?” which is what she says every time.  It was standing room only so we stood against the wall until a really nice couple offered us one end of their table while they waited to pay.  Really nice people.  Bob had put our name down for a table across the street at Giampietros (also owned by Briar Rose people) and they called that our table was ready just as we finished our drinks.  Sat next to ANOTHER nice couple who gave us restaurant tips, etc.  Bob ordered garlic bread that had tons of fresh garlic and parsley and a pasta special with spicy tomato sauce that was HUGE.  He barely made a dent.  I had arugula salad and the special linguine vongole that was a nice, smallish portion of garlicy pasta with about two dozen small fresh clams on top in a light wine and buttery sauce.  I ate all the clams and brought most of the pasta home along with Bob’s.  We had a bottle of Cline Old Vine Zin ($40…..).  When I told the waitress that we lived about 30 minutes away from Cline she said she had just been in Granite Bay for a wedding. Dusty Baker’s daughter.  She is friends with the groom. Hank Aaron was a guest.  Dennis? Hello?

We walked the half mile back to the hotel in a light rain.  Great day.

Day Two

Reno to Park City  563 miles

We were both awake at 3a and finally got up at 4a.  I did some work emails and we showered etc and were checked out and in the car by 5:30.  We plugged ‘coffiee’ into Gladys (the GPS, named after grandmother Sis whose given name was Gladys; she would talk and talk trying to convince you of her point of view sort of like the GPS lady who keeps saying “make the next left turn” “make a u-turn” when you veer off her route.  She sounds like she is getting more and more pissy until we get back on track.) and lo and behold!  Peet’s 1.2 miles away!  It turned out that it was in the Reno Airport!  Bob stayed with the car in the deserted passenger zone while I ran into the sparkling, almost empty airport.  Sadly, three of the few people who were in attendance were ahead of me in line.  Two humongous male TSA agents both ordered complicated frou frou ice drinks with different flavors and whipped cream etc etc.  One poor barrista doing it all sort of slo-mo.  The guy behind them and in front of me sighed and gave me a look and an eye roll.  And then he ordered THE SAME THING.  Seriously.  I got a medium coffee and ran back to the car.

So we were on the road to Lovelock for breakfast by 6a.  It was a gorgeous morning with pink sky and mountains all around us — our favorite time to be on the road with no cars once we got a couple of miles outside of Reno.

We started a John Grisham book on CD yesterday in the car, ‘Sycamore Row’, which we are both really enjoying and makes the time fly by.  The traffic yesterday would have been way more irritating without it!

Rolled into Lovelock with 0 miles left in the tank (Thrill. Seekers.) and got gas and then breakfast at the Cowpoke Cafe.  The waitress remembered Bob from June when he was on his way home from his Lewis and Clark Expedition and he has been talking about the biscuits since.  Bob: scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, a biscuit and OJ.  Me: two poached eggs, ham and a biscuit that Bob ordered for me.  The biscuits are AMAZING.  Bob ate his whole biscuit and only bites of the eggs, etc.  In the cooler went most of the ham and half of my biscuit.  It is a place of regulars mostly men by themselves in cowboy hats and they hang around drinking coffee and talking amongst the tables.  Today the conversation was Burning Man and all the characters going through town on their way to and from — which this town needs! Gas, food, whatever.  One guy was lamenting that he was too late to sign up for the Senior Center field trip to Burning Man: “I had a gung ho time last year.”  And people wonder why we like road trips…..

We stopped in Winnemucca for a coffee and bathroom and I took over driving to the California Trail Visitor Center just west of Elko. It is a must stop for history of the westward expansion with personal stories, dioramas, etc.  And very nice, clean bathrooms.

We found a great place for lunch in Elko thanks to Yelp: Luciano’s.  It is in the  charming historic downtown area — which is so so much better than the near-the-freeway endless fast food spots part.  Bob has a chicken pasta with garlic, fresh basil and roasted tomatoes and a small green salad.  I had a big fresh, Mediterranean salad that I demolished: crisp romaine, garbanzo beans, olives, grape tomatoes, perfect amount of feta and a lemon vinaigrette.  Yum.  Bob had a glass of Chianti and I had a Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc — both were $6!  Can’t remember when we have had a decent glass of wine for $6.  We have big bottles of water that we keep replenishing — hence all the bathroom stops; I don’t mention some of them!

It was 81* and getting really windy as Bob drove toward Salt Lake City.  It started raining just west of Elko and the temperature dropped to 56*.  Air smelled so good!  We were in and out of storms all the way to Park City.  Utah speed limit is 80 but we couldn’t always go that fast because of road conditions.  One of our stops for gas and the loo was Delle UT by the Bonneville Salt Flats.  The ‘town’ consists of a gas station.  And not a great one.  One of the two bathrooms was out of order.  And yet…. bumper stickers for sale saying “I’ve been to Delle UT!”  Very scary, extraordinarily large wo/man at the cash register who grabbed the $3 I put on the counter for Bob’s Hershey bars and slid my change across the counter so hard it fell on the floor.  We did not buy a bumper sticker.

Arrived at the Best Western at 5:30 at it was raining and 64*.  We dumped our stuff, brushed our teeth, put on warmer clothes and headed to find dinner on Main Street, about 8 miles away.  We walked the length of Main Street in a light rain — yay Camp Birchwood jacket with big hood! — reading menus.  Decided on Bistro 415.  Ate at the bar upstairs to watch football.  Good Dirty Martini and generous Chivas.  Warm bread served with an herby red pepper oil.  Bob had French onion soup that smelled so good — beefy broth.  I had poached pear and almond salad that also had beets and a toasty nub of Chevre.  Bob had steak frites and I had Bourguignonne that was in a small cast iron dish and a perfect portion.  Carrots, super tender beef, some potatoes and sauteed leeks.  YUM!  Bob had a glass of Faiveley Burgundy and I had a Talbot Pinot Noir.  Both $10 a glass and very nice.  We traded halfway through.

We were walking back to the car and it was raining a little more.  Bob said, “It would be great to have a good thunder storm.”  He was heard.  About 3 minutes later was a brilliant lightening strike followed closely by loud thunder.  We were in a huge storm for the eight miles back to the hotel.  The wipers could barely keep up and lots of cars had pulled to the side of the road.  Yay new Acura all wheel drive!

Back at the room  we listened to the storm and caught up on email, weather channel, Sudoku, blog.

Day One

Thursday, August 21, 2014
Novato to Reno 214 miles

We left our house at 2:45p and hit traffic almost immediately on Hwy 37… slow slog off and on (mostly on) til Auburn. We got to Calvary Cemetary (just before Roseville) about 5p (90*!) and, with the help of a gardner (who also kindly turned off the sprinklers), found Mom’s grave. Left some of Dad’s ashes with her and said quick hellos and a prayer for her, Sis, Tim, Timmy and the rest. That’s Dad on the lower edge.

We made great time after Auburn and checked into the Grand Sierra Resort (old MGM then Hilton) by 7p.  Really nice room, new linens, towels and very clean.  Went downstairs to the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse and had an excellent dinner at the bar.  Saw the tailend of the Eagles/Steelers game with cocktails (Chivas on the rocks with an olive and a very dirty Ketel One martini up.  Surprise.)  Comfortable bar chairs, nice servers.  We both had filets (once again we could have split one as we each wrapped up at least half for the cooler… ) medium rare with glazed shallots and a cabernet reduction (BUTTER!! Delicious.) which came with the “CP House Salad” that sounded so pretentious but was so good we are going to copy it at home:  small inner head of butter lettuce with crispy smoked bacon and shallots, grape tomatoes and homemade (you can tell) ranch dressing. We both only left small shards of shallots on the plate.  Bob got a twice baked Parmesan truffle potatoe (I tried a bite: super rich and creamy and addictive) and I had a side of assorted sauteed mushrooms (cremini, shitake, portobello) that I could not stop eating (more butter….it really is magic for flavor and unctuousness which must be a word because no nasty red underlining).  We got a bottle of Opolo ‘Summit Creek’ Zin from Paso Robles which was excellent and only $40 (the second cheapest bottle of red on the list).  Corked it and I had a glass in the room while catching up on emails while Bob had half of a chocolate eclair from the bakery downstairs.  First half-day of vacation was a good one!!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Heading home… we were up early and packed up the car, cleaned up the house… It went very quickly.  After driving around Irish Beach looking at other rental possibilities (though would be hard to beat the house we had — so comfortable and perfect for us), we hit the road.  Bob stopped at the Manchester Market to find a donut and came out with Newman’s Own Chocolate Cookies…. sigh.  He ate a few of those and I had some tangerines and we called it breakfast.  

We took Mountain View Road just south of Manchester over to highway 128.  Turned out to be quite a steep and incredibly curvy road.  The grade sometimes was 16%!  It took us an hour to go 27 miles over to Boonville but it was beautiful and there were zero cars going our way and maybe five cars going the other way.  

We decided to stop at Foursight Winery tasting room to look for a bottle for the neighbors picking up our mail this weekend.  It was one of our favorites that we discovered three years ago at the Anderson Valley Pinot Festival.  We drove in to the parking at 10:02am just as the owner/winemaker was finished putting out the signage for the day…. We spent a delightful 40 minutes there tasting some really delicious Pinots — especially the unoaked.  We ended up re-joining the club and purchasing some Pinot and talking with Joe, the winemaker.  Turns out he was also the winemaker at Londer Winery, another of our favorites.  He told us that the Londers sold out, closed up and moved to Denver in the last year.  We will have to cherish our last bottles of Londer in the wine fridge.  

We have always loved Highway 128 and we were lucky today that there was virtually no traffic!  We stopped at Molsberrys Market to see if they had crab but they were sold out.  I got a cup of coffee at the Blue Beagle, Bob’s new favorite coffee shop next door (“Hi Bob!” said the guy behind the counter).  We went to G&G Market to see if they had crab (yay) and got salad stuff and fruit.  Stopped at Petaluma Market for fresh pasta and bread — I am making Patricia Unterman’s crab pasta for dinner.  

Took the back way home and arrived while 49ers were still in the first quarter.  It was a wonderful weekend except for all the sad thoughts around Dad and Anne.  We found a new favorite destination and spent relaxing, contented hours together.  Can’t ask for more than that…..

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.  

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.