Special Concert in Montclair

Plans for our fall tour are underway - we'll keep you posted on the details as they are finalized. In the meantime, we'd like to invite you to a tour of another kind. Joy will be in Montclair on Friday, September 18 for a flute and piano recital. The concert is at 8 PM at Grace Presbyterian Church in Montclair, right around the corner from us on Grove Street. No tickets needed. It is a benefit concert, with proceeds going to earthquake relief in Pisco, Peru. All are welcome and we'll be going back to our house afterwards for dessert and wine. Please join us.

Home Again

Arrived home this evening after a uneventful flight from San Francisco. The plane left on time, there was no turbulence over the Midwest, we didn't need to circle Newark six times before landing, the plane was early and our bags were there - and intact -when we got to the baggage carousel. Who could ask for a better return home?

Actually all the excitement was reserved for the SFO airport. After waiting in the security line for more than 30 minutes, we finally went through the metal detector and Alan - as usual - got pulled over for the individual search in the little glass cage. Just like a kid who knows there's no Santa Claus, but refuses to stop believing, he clutches his hip replacement card, continually hoping that it will be his "get out of jail free" card. Instead, it is always his "go directly to jail, do not pass go" card. His optimism is refreshing. We have it down pat - I go through security first so I can collect his belongings and wait for him while he has the individual "wand" search. This morning's was particularly thorough - I won't go into the details!

This is the view of sunrise from our hotel when we left for the airport at 6:15 or so. We stayed in Burlingame, right by the bay. Great walk along the bay last night. Lovely way to start the day.

Yesterday we left Santa Rosa and drove over the mountains to Napa, starting in Calistoga and then winding our way down to the town of Napa. The highlight was stopping at the Folie a Deux winery, which makes our favorite wine, Menage a Trois - great blends that come both in red and white. Apparently we are not their only fans.

We ended the trip the way we started - with dinner at sunset at the Waterfront Cafe and Restaurant.

Russian River to the Pacific

Drove along the Russian River west to the point where it meets the Pacific Ocean at Goat Beach, a little north of Bodega Bay. Beautiful trip with exotice scenery through redwood forests, over winding roads, along steep hills with patches of fog that open suddenly to reveal incredible ocean views. Wonderful beaches - Schoolhouse, Gleason, Shell Beach - all along the rocky coastline. Saw baby seals sunning themselves on the beach far below. The color of the ocean changed constantly from deep blue to green to aqua.

Stopped on the way to walk through Armstrong Woods, a redwood forest. Amazing quiet, deep shade, fragrant smell of pine. Didn't know that redwood roots are very shallow compared to the height of the trees - only about 12 feet deep, yet supporting a 300+ foot tree.

Enjoyed some wine at Kendall Jackson Winery on the way back. Had a picnic lunch in the lovely gardens at the winery and tried a new blend of white wine, Summation, which is about to be distributed to the east coast for the first time.

Finished the day with dinner at Cafe Citti in Kenwood, another recommendation from Amanda. Lovely day.

Spiders, Rattlesnakes, California Law and Other Vacation Derailments

After a lovely breakfast this morning at the Omelet Express in Santa Rosa (recommended by Amanda) where, despite more than 50 different omelets on the menu, Alan and I both ordered ham and cheese omelets, albeit with different cheese, our vacation got a bit derailed.

Turns out that what Alan thought was a small mosquito bite yesterday was actually a spider bite, which by late morning had grown to an alarming size and redness. Two trips to the pharmacy at Saveway, one trip to St. Joseph's Urgent Care Center, two nurses, one doctor, two large shots and several Vicodan later, he is on the mend. He spent the afternoon in a pleasant haze napping in our room. A slight derailment of our vacation plans.

I suffered alone poolside reading a book on Polly's Kindle, enjoying the 30 degree drop in temperature - today is in the 70's and very pleasant. By late afternoon, I decided I had lazed around enough and needed to get some exercise and take a walk. I drove to Nasagawa Park, up the hill from where we are staying and, yes, I had to drive because it is a BIG hill. After a lovely stroll around the lake, I headed back to my car, stopping then (a little late) to read the park information, which suggested that walkers keep an eye out for the rattlesnakes so as not to disturb them in their natural habitat.

Now, to Joy rattlesnakes are an incentive to walk/run a little faster (see http://www.divarunning.blogspot.com/). Had I read the sign BEFORE my walk, it would have been another vacation plan derailed.

On to California law. The California legislature could certainly give the New Jersey legislature a run for its money. This morning in the urgent care center, right after Alan had been given his two Vicodan, he had to sign a form that he was aware he was given a narcotic and a second form saying that he would not drive for 6 hours. I had to sign a form saying that I knew he had been given a narcotic and another saying that I was his designated driver.

Yesterday, right after we ordered breakfast at a local restaurant, where I substituted the pancakes for the toast with my eggs, a large laminated card was left at our table with the caloric content of everything on the menu. Did I really want to know that the banana blueberry bread on our table was the equivalent of an average person's daily caloric intake? (And I am assuming those were the calories for the whole loaf, not the two pieces we had). Did I want to know EXACTLY the consequences of my pancake substitution?

Apparently, like the myriad of forms related to the Vicodan, this full disclosure is a California law. I guess California believes in informed choice in a big way. Too bad you read the form after you order but before you eat!

Pictures today are of the Omelet Express and Castaway, a great name for a yarn shop on 4th Street in Santa Rosa and the view of the valley from Nasagawa Park, before I read the rattlesnake warning.

102 Degrees in Sonoma

It's 102 degrees in Sonoma. It's hot - too hot to walk around, too hot to taste wine, too hot to do much of anything. And contrary to popular belief about hot days in New Jersey, dry heat is every bit as hot as humid heat. The dry wind blowing today is feels like a furnace. It's really hot!

We did go to a couple of wineries, but didn't do much tasting. Kenwood Winery, in the picture with the grapevines, had some interesting white wines. I tried a pinot gris, which was very refreshing. Then on to Imagery wines where the labels, which they commission artists to do, are as good as the wine. Tried small tastes of a white burgundy, a viognier and a muscat.

Ended up at Valley of the Moon (two pictures above) to see the beautiful gardens, which we remembered from our last trip to Sonoma. And that was it - back to spend the rest of the afternoon in our cool room, after a short stop at the cheese shop in Sonoma.

Thought this picture of the feline friend we met at Imagery summed it up well. A little shade, a little nap, don't bother me, please, I'm just too hot to move.

Leaving San Francisco

Last day in San Francisco. Awoke to the most beautiful sunrise over the bay - the photos just don't do it justice. Had a wonderful time. Aside from the givens - Fisherman's Wharf, cable cars, Lombard Street, Ghiradelli Square, here are my favorites of the trip so far:

1) Visiting City Lights Bookstore and taking Alan's picture in front of the shop, just like we did more than 30 years ago on our first trip to San Francisco. Two English majors, fresh out of college, we couldn't come to San Francisco and not visit the place where the poets, like Ferlinghetti and Ginsburg, got started. Brought back great memories.

2) Dim sum lunch at a restaurant in Chinatown. Tried hot and sour soup for the first time - delicious. Not good enough to use the chopsticks - the waitress didn't ask, she just brought us the forks.

3) Richard Avedon photo exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Amazing photographs of famous people - one touching part of the exhibit were side-by-side photos of Rose Kennedy and Edward Kennedy - and not-so-famous people. His photos of people in the west were powerful and moving. My favorite was the only photograph not of someone's face. It was an amazing photo of Rudolph Nureyev's foot.

4) Sunset and sunrise over the bay. An exquisite way to begin and end the day.

5) The weird bow and arrow sculpture along the water near our hotel. Quite a landmark - helped us not to get too lost!

6) Just being with Alan - driving up and down these incredible hills, walking, talking, Peet's coffee overlooking the water, Wii bowling, travel Scrabble in the lobby last night before the cruise. just spending time together.

7) And, of course, Boudin Bakery, our new landmark.

Didn't try sushi - maybe next time. Off to Sonoma later today after Sausilito and Muir Woods.

Sunset on the Bay

Took a sunset cruise on San Francisco Bay this evening. Left from Fisherman's Wharf, cruised along the city, then past Alcatraz Island, Tiburon and Sausilito, and finally under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a clear night and beautiful sunset. No need for words - the pictures speak for themselves.