CATCHING UP: CHRISTMAS '05

If for nothing else, Christmas was memorable for Mom's arrival at LAX sporting a Santa Claus headpiece that had flashing lights. She apparently was the hit of the plane. At 84, she's still chugging along just great. Christmas is also one of the few times a year we get to see the boys for more than a couple of hours at a time. Being 400 miles apart puts a crimp in the family gatherings. Does anyone know the half-life of popcorn strings? That one that you see on the tree has been used for at least a decade, and still hasn't yellowed or crumbled. If you've ever strung popcorn, you know why we keep re-using the old one. New Year's found Mike in Las Vegas with his friends from high school and college, staying eight to the room. We stayed home and played with the new plasma tv! It worked fine, but Adelphia's hi-def cable "service" required four home visits before they got it right. Many more than four oaths were uttered when the signal crapped out during the bowl games. Here's Mom getting ready to board for the flight back to Indy.

CATCHING UP: YUM 11/05

Not much happening in November except good eats. I hit the big 6-0, kicking and screaming all the way. Still trying to catch the moving target of "senior" status for getting into the movies. It appears that the industry is trying to stay one step ahead of the boomers as they keep moving the cutoff back to stay just out of reach. Bah. Anyway, this post is about food and Loni's great cooking. Birthday dinner was lamb shank over cous-cous, with mint from the garden. Oh, yeah. A nice Guiness filled that glass.

Thanksgiving was the usual overstuffed plate (and belly. That's Bob at the end of the table, Loni's mom's widower, with the boyos on either side.

CATCHING UP: SEATTLE/VICTORIA 10/05

Thank goodness at least one of us is employed in a 'real' job that has perks like conventions and stuff. The AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) was in Seattle, a city I'd never visited before. So, with Loni practicing her presentation, and me as 'spousal baggage,' we took off for the Northwest. Checked into our budget hotel (don't ask), which had large rooms, ancient furniture, the loudest clanking and groaning elevator in this hemisphere, but a decent 'free' breakfast and a view of the Space Needle. The walking route to the convention center took us past (1) the local precinct station, (2) the local erotica emporium, and (3) seven Starbucks. We first had to go hang the posters of the 'papers' that Loni and colleagues were submitting. We had hauled them up in rollup tubes that barely fit in the overhead on the plane. Having spent all day traveling, we headed for the marketplace and what was billed as Seattle's 'favorite' restaurant. Of course we should have known better than to eat in a tourist trap, but . . . Suffice to say that I sent my meal back with instructions not to replace it, helped Loni push a few bites around on her plate, and left no tip. The next few days (while Loni attended the convention) I watched perhaps the best weekend of football ever, including the infamous USC-Notre Dame game with the not-so-phantom push of the QB into the endzone. Found a terrific watering hole over by the Space Needle with several dozen t.v.'s, arterio-death food, and a bonanza of draft beers, so all was good for the baggage. I did take one day to walk and bus all around to see what there was to see in Seattle, which is quite a lot. Great city for a convention. Our food quality went way up with a seafood place down on the wharf and an italian bistro uptown. Major wallet hit, but that's why the cheapo lodgings. Got a free meal off the Red Cross at a very upscale pan-Asian place that I was very glad not to be springing for. Except for that first night, great eats in Seattle. After the convention ended, we took off on the ferry for Victoria, which we hadn't seen since 1977, when we were touring Canada in our VW bus-camper, and Loni 6 months pregnant. Much more style this time. Stayed in the best B&B we've visited -- Abigail's Hotel. That's Loni in front of it. The inside does justice to the outside. Timbers everywhere, nice 'library' where they serve wine and eats in the afternoon, and where guests gather in the evening before heading out to dinner. Walking distance to the main part of town, but out of the traffic. No qualifiers for this one, it was perfect! Had a great pub dinner one night with plenty of suds, and an elegant ($$$$) one in an Italian place with lots of ambiance and no attitude. Surprisingly for October, Buchart Gardens was spectacular, as you can see. That's Loni in the black coat and white hat on the path. Back in Victoria, we wandered around the parliament building and got an impromptu briefing at the entrance to one of the chambers by a distinguished-looking gent who turned out to be one of the legislators. Somehow I can't see that happening in the U.S. When we were in Victoria back in '77, we splurged on a dinner at the Empress Hotel. They don't serve dinners anymore, but they do still have the High Tea every afternoon (which costs double what our dinner did back then). What the heck, we need to act like swells every once in a while. We did manage to finish the entire tray and enough tea to float a boat. After Victoria we went back to Seattle for one night, as our return flight didn't leave until late the next afternoon. I had booked what was billed as Seattle's most charming B&B, with the improbable name of the Chambered Nautilus Inn. I did a review of the place which pretty much sums up our experience there. You can read it, with pics, by clicking on the link, which takes you to a TripAdvisor page. The result of all the lugging that I describe there is that I now have a disc problem in my neck. Lawsuit! Not.

CATCHING UP: YOSEMITE 5/05

Well, as Lee-Pi has pointed out in a recent email, it's been a long time since the last post. Not that anyone has noticed, apparently, until Lee got free internet access and ran out of porn to view. So, what's happened in the last year or so?

Back in May (of '05!) we took several days (over Mother's Day weekend: see the flowers on the table) and went tent camping at Yosemite. We've had that tent for over 30 years, but haven't used it in at least ten. Of course, the instructions have long since disappeared, so it was a nice puzzle figuring out how to rig it. That time of year, and after a big snow year, the falls were spectacular, and running in places that you don't normally see any water at all. Snow was on the top of the rim and surrounding mountains, while we alternated between rain and bright sun on the valley floor. Unfortunately, some of the rain came at night, with wind, and with the temps dropping below freezing. Much fun had at 3:00 a.m. tripping around the tent with a monsoon blowing, trying to refasten the plastic tarp we had spread over the tent. Ice was on the car the next morning, and the socks I had spread out the night before retained a remarkably sound L-shape when picked up. If we ever needed any final incentive to go the RV route, that night was it. We made some longing gazes over to the RV's across the way: lights, dry inside, heat. The bright side was that we almost had the park to ourselves. The road to Mirror Lake was virtually deserted when we walked it. We could go quite a ways without seeing another soul. In Yosemite Valley?? That's Nevada Falls in the pic with me in the red poncho. It was really roaring. On the way up to the park, we stayed one night in Oakhurst at a very nice B&B, the Oak Cottage. Great breakfast, resident cat, and garden gnomes. Who could ask for more?







We were pretty lucky in our timing. The day we were leaving was bright and sunny. The heat accelerated the snowmelt and, with the heavy rains the night before, there was a pretty good flood that came through the valley, trapping a lot of folks, including some who had the misfortune of having to bivouac at the Ahwanee. Rough life.