Enjoy your stay, pardner!

When we told various friends that we were planning on driving to Willits for one of our stops, they all asked why.  It is certainly not a town known as a tourist destination.  Frankly, it was just the right distance to go that day.  However, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise and a nice stop.

The Pasta Project

We stayed at the Old West Inn, a cute little place where each room was labeled like an old west building.  There was the barber, the Sheriff, the post office, etc.  Our room was the doctor.  We have come to rely on the AAA guides for finding inexpensive but clean and decent places to stay, and this was no exception. The proprietor was clearly proud of his little motel and it seemed to be a family-run business. Always like that!

One somewhat peculiar thing caught our eye, however, at the motel. In the photo of the hotel rooms, you can just see in the foreground a garden chair with something on the seat. When I walked by the chair later in the evening, I noticed that the object was a pizza pan with some big globby ropes of cooked spaghetti drying on it. It had a few little sprinkles of something green on it, too. I think of it as The Pasta Project. No idea at all what that was about. It was gone in the morning.

After we dropped our bags in our doctor room, we went out looking for dinner. We decided to check out a pub that was tucked away down a little walkway off the main street. The walkway opened into a patio area with outdoor tables, and the pub behind that. It turned out they did not serve food, but one of the patrons told us that the BBQ place next door would deliver to the pub. The BBQ place was about to close, but we placed out order just in time and sure enough, our dinner was soon delivered to our table.

We noticed a couple of interesting things about the town.One was that both the pub and  BBQ place operated on a strictly cash basis. Also we picked up a small local paper that was definitely of the radical liberal variety. It seemed to be a very Humboldt County type of place and even had its own tie-dye shop. We speculated that the town might well be heavily dependent on the hemp industry.

Mike’s maps

Kevin and Melinda had been great hosts, but finally it was time to head on so they could have their TV room back.  Driving north we headed over to Sonoma for breakfast.  Sonoma was a town we loved on our a honeymoon so very many years ago.  The town square in the middle of Sonoma never really seems to change, and I always feel almost back home there.  There was a particular sense of deja vu this time, as we did exactly the same thing we did last time we came through – ate in the bakery while waiting for the info center to open across the street, then stopped in for some wine touring maps.

The navigator’s seat

From there we headed out to do a little wine tasting.  We wanted to find some places we had not been to or heard of before.  Our rule for wine tasting is the smaller and more obscure the winery the better.  First we found a nice small place called Imagery Winery.  Doing a little research, I now see that they were voted the 2013 Best Sonoma Winery – what a find!  Bull, our host there, explained that this was a small side project of one of the members of the Benziger family ( a BIG name in Sonoma wine making). The wines are available only at the winery, so we were extra glad we found it.

The gardens at Imagery

Bull proceeded to take us through a large range of their wines.  Since it was a Tuesday morning, the place was not very busy until a tour group came in.  We did not make tasting notes, so we’ll just have to wait for the wines we ordered to arrive so that we can refresh our memories, but everything he poured was delicious.  (Several days later – the wines just arrived.  The ones we particularly loved were the Upper Ridge Malbec and the Petit Sirah Port.  We’ll be trying some out tonight.)

The vineyards of Sonoma

We asked Bull where else we should go in the valley and he recommended VJB winery, another place where the wines are only available at the winery.  We drove up there next.  They emphasized mostly Italian style wines.  They tended towards the medium bodied and lush. The tasting room was located off a central piazza. Also off the piazza was an outdoor kitchen that on the weekend offers wood-fired pizza, chicken, and other yummy items. They also had a full meat and cheese deli,so we picked up a couple of packages of sliced salami for later. We’ll have some of their wines arriving soon as well!

The Boulevard Theater in Petaluma

Next we headed back down to Petaluma to meet up with our friends Holly and John.  They had moved down from Seattle just a few weeks before so Holly could join her sister’s adoption law practice.  We had not been to Petaluma before.  It seemed like a very nice small town, with a beautiful river running through it and a number of interesting shops. We particularly liked the movie theater and its retro look.  We would have liked to spend more time there looking around, but we had miles to go.

Lake Merritt and Oakland Hills

Having lived in Oakland for 2 1/2 years during law school, it is always fun to get back there and see how things have changed (and not changed).

While we were visiting, Kevin took us on a couple of extended walks around the area.  We started out walking up into the foothills and saw some of the areas that burned some years ago.  If you don’t remember, sometime after we moved back to Seattle, there was a huge fire in the Oakland hills that destroyed 100’s of homes.  When we visited shortly after, it was amazing to drive up there and see whole neighborhoods just gone.  Now it is mostly rebuilt, though there is still the occasional empty lot.  In some places you could tell that one side of the street had burned and been rebuilt, while the other side of the street still had the original houses.  Now all of the houses are required to have fire retardant roofs, such as tile, since the flammable roofing materials on many of the old houses contributed significantly to the spread of the flames..

On our second walk we first went through the Oakland rose garden, something we had not even realized existed when we lived there.  It was a nice little park, but could benefit from additional upkeep.  Unfortunately Oakland is a city with a shoestring budget, so many things like police and park budgets are cut short.

Lake Merritt Wildlife

Later we walked down by Lake Merritt. When we lived there it was in a sketchy area so we never went there.  Now the park surrounding the lake has been fixed up, the lake’s connection to the bay has been opened back up (it is actually a tidal estuary rather than a lake) so it gets better tidal flow in and out and so is no longer algae covered, and it feels safe walking in the area. It is nice to see Oakland slowly cleaning itself up and getting its act together.

Another thing we were not even aware of when we lived down there was that Oakland has a small traditional Chinatown area near downtown.  For lunch we thought it would be fun to get some dim sum (get some sum?).  Several of the places Kevin had found on Yelp turned out to be just take out stands, but finally we found the Legendary Palace, a large two story restaurant serving dim sum. Despite its size, the place was packed and it took awhile for us to get a table. When we did, however, we were in heaven. We had some trouble understanding what all the offerings were, so we just accepted a number of things that looked good.  Tami made sure to get her favorite “slimy noodles”. All too soon we were stuffed and had to wave off the continuing stream of trolleys bearing more food.

Kevin Relaxing

Just blocks away is an area that has been gentrified and built up with new condos for the young professional crowd.  Kevin took us to one of his favorite pubs, The Trappist.  While it can get crazy in the evening with the after work crowd, early in the afternoon on a weekday it was fairly quiet.  They had an outdoor beer garden, so we sat out there in the sun. I could have stayed there quite a while, but didn’t want to drink that much that early in the day, so we decided to press on.  By this point our feet were getting sore, so we took a bus back to the house to meet up with Melinda. We took a break, Mike snoozed on the couch, Tami and Kevin hung out on the back patio, and then we headed back out for dinner.

The restaurant Melinda had spotted in downtown Oakland, Duende, was Spanish, with tapas and paellas. We had tapas with fried oysters, stuffed squid, goat meatballs, and other wonderful things, and then finished off with a duck fideua.

Ever since our trip to Spain, Spanish restaurants have been a favorite of ours.  Unfortunately when we were in Spain our body clocks were not set to a Spanish schedule, so we didn’t generally last long enough to hit the tapas bars that open around 10 pm and stay open far into the night.  Here in the states, tapas tend to be available on a more American time schedule.  Fideua was something we also discovered in Spain.  It is kind of like a paella, but is made with short noodles instead of rice.  Typically it is made with seafood, but we often make it with a mix of chicken, sausage, and seafood.  The noodles can be hard to find, and cutting up spaghetti into 1″ lengths is time consuming, so when we found a five pound bag a few years ago, we bought it.  That bag is going to keep us in fideua for a LONG time.

Finally back at the house we collapsed in bed with full stomachs and caught up with the Tour de France (we purchased a package for downloading the videos to our laptop specifically so we could follow the Tour while on our trip – talk about junkies!).

Nerding out in the kitchen

On Sunday we decided to go into the city and have a look around.  After of course our usual morning stint of nerding out.

The first destination was a hat shop near Union Square where Mike once saw a lime green hat that he thought would be perfect to go with his Sounders kilt.  Of course since it was several years ago that he saw the hat there, it was a mission doomed to failure.

Go Sounders!

However, Mike did find some shoes in Sounders colors.  They are mottled blue and yellow/green.  Just the thing to wear with a Sounders kilt!

We then decided to take a walking tour.  Of course since walking is a form of exercise, we first had to fortify ourselves with food and beer.  We discovered an interesting little area with several shops, etc. (including our lunch stop) all housed in old shipping containers.  There was even one clothing store that had several levels housed in three shipping containers stacked on top of each other.  Fun to see innovative thinking like that.

Nothing quite like SF houses

In the course of our walk we saw lots of wonderful old San Francisco architecture.  I really have never seen another city that looks like SF.  We enjoyed our time here back in our college days, and I never get tired of looking at the old buildings.  However, the downside we discovered when we lived here is that with the houses all building right up against each other and out to the street, was that it also feels incredibly crowded, which got to us in the end.

I saw an incredibly stupid column in the paper while I was here in which the writer seemed to be lamenting that SF is not a “world city”, whatever that means.  She seemed to believe that the cure was for SF to increase its density by a factor of 4 or so.  She felt that it would then be able to solve its various social problems (like overcrowding ever solved problems instead of creating them), not to mention it would finally have a good nightlife.  She referred to Seattle and Portland as “barely urban”.

MT apartment

We also went by our first apartment in SF.  THAT was a few years ago!  We stayed there for about 6 months until the overcrowding in SF got to us and we moved out to Oakland.  Right outside our apartment window is the stoop that was inhabited by a homeless drunk for many months.  We paid him to disappear for a while when we where showing the apartment to some new prospective tenants so we could get out of our year lease.

Carving for Keenan

Another thing we saw on our walk was a carving in a door post that we thought Keenan would enjoy.  He’s been doing some carving of his own the last year, including some medieval figures, so we thought this might provide some inspiration. I really like the style of this carving, simple and stylized.

Keenan has been very helpfully house and dog sitting for us while we are gone on this trip.  In another few years he may be off somewhere else studying/working and that won’t be an option anymore, so we enjoy the help while it is still available.  Thanks Keenan!

On the Haight

We wandered a bit through the Haight Ashbury area.  It seems to be still living on its history from the hippie era, with tie-dye shops, head shops, lots of wild colors, etc.  I even spotted some glass work next to a door that included a picture of Cheech and Chong.  There also seemed to be lot of young street people, still grooving on the fumes of yesteryear.

Hey barkeep!

Back at Melinda and Kevin’s house, Melinda played bartender, making up some great Manhattans with a smoky whiskey we found at a store on the Haight.

Kevin checking to see who we are cheering for

We are ready to cheer for the Sounders!

One major objective of this trip was to attend the Sounders game against the San Jose Earthquakes along with Kevin and Melinda. We have never attended an away game, so we got seats in the Emerald City Supporters (ECS) section. The ECS sit in the south end of the stadium for Sounders games and sing and chant throughout the game. They also make the fantastic tifo displays that we enjoy at the games. Tami is such a rabid Sounders fan that she often joins in with the ECS songs even though she is horribly off-tune and frequently the only person in our section to do so. Here was her chance to actually sit with other crazy fans who are singing so her voice would be drowned out.

Watching the boys warm up

We spent the day making our way down the peninsula, stopping at some eating and drinking establishments selected by Kevin and Melinda along the way, and arriving at the stadium in good time to meet up with other fellow ECS members. The bus from San Francisco soon arrived with the rest of the ECS folks and our tickets, and we gathered to march together into the stadium.

Strong support by the ECS

We all sat together in the visitors section and a raucous time was had by all. I enjoyed joining in the songs and learning the words to the chants I wasn’t sure about. The pogo song was a bit thrilling as the stadium stands are bare metal bleachers and they really get bouncing when everyone is jumping at the same time. The stands also creak quite a bit when fans are bouncing- just a tad disconcerting!

Cheering for the boys in rave green

The flags and banners are waving constantly and did impede the view a bit, but it was exciting to be a part of it all. It was unfortunately not a very well played game. Our boys in rave green seemed very disjointed even though we had our full squad available. Play was rough on both sides. The game got even chippier as we went down a goal, and fouls were called right and left. Our players also suffered some injuries and the game unfortunately culminated in a red card for Alonso, who just got healthy again. We shook our heads at the loss but continued to sing our way out of the stadium. Not the way I wanted our first away game to go, but it was very fun to join the ECS for a game.

Massage?

After Bodie we stopped for lunch in a nice little town called Bridgeport.  We had read about it in Sunset and thought it would be a fun place to see.  The reality was that there was less to see than we had expected, but we did find a good lunch in the old hotel.

I was curious about this little place across the street – burgers, burritos, ice cream… and massage?  I’ve never seen those four things go together before.  Though I guess on a hot day a rub down with ice cream could feel good.

Cruising through the trees at Sonora Pass

Quite the hills approaching Sonora Pass summit

Bodie is at the far right hand side of the state, and we were headed to the far left side of the state, with the Sierra mountains and high elevation in between. Mike selected a gorgeous minor highway that took us over the Sonora Pass. It hits an elevation of 9624 feet and is extremely steep at some points- 26% at the maximum. This lends itself to very windy roads, beautiful scenery, and fortunately very little traffic. It was almost like driving the M on a picturesque hiking trail. With the top down, the views were stunning.

Dylan (adorable sock thief)

As we descended the mountains, it became clear that this was a Friday afternoon and it seemed that some large proportion of Northern California was headed for the mountains for the weekend. Traffic in our direction didn’t get too bad until we got to about Livermore, and then it quickly slowed down to a crawl. After all those miles it was frustrating to be stuck in traffic so close to our destination!

At last we got to Oakland and Kevin and Melinda’s home just off of College Avenue. Cool drinks awaited us, along with the enthusiastic greeting of Dylan and Sammy, the resident cuties.

Sammy (equally adorable sock thief in training)

Those wonderful Meyer lemons

We had time to relax under our favorite Meyer lemon tree in the backyard before heading off to a wonderful dinner at Hopscotch in Oakland. It was also nice to be in a little bit cooler weather and so good to catch up with Kevin and Melinda.

Bodie, CA

After Mono Lake we continued down the road to find Bodie State Historic Park. I had read an article in the BBC News about the top ten ghost towns in the world, and Bodie was on the list. Having never heard of it before, we decided it was a must see.

Bodie

The road to Bodie is 13 miles long, with the last three miles on dirt road. The road wound its way through hills that would be prefect for a cowboy movie. Nice big rock formations and boulders where the shoot-outs would be held and ambushes plotted. Unfortunately, the dirt road was also of cowboy quality and contained plenty more of those rocks. We merrily zipped up the winding paved road in the M, but had to take it mighty slow on the rocky dirt road. The M is no SUV.

The Methodist church

One of several wells

But we gamely jostled along, probably at the speed a horse-drawn carriage might have taken, and finally crested the hill to find Bodie. Wow, it really is an amazing find. It was founded as a mining camp in 1859 by W S Bodey after discovering some gold in the area. It wasn’t until 1876, though, after a new gold discovery, that the town boomed and continued to grow for the next few years. It peaked at around 2000 buildings and as many as 7000 people, and 65 bars. Murder, barroom brawls, and general wild west mayhem ruled. Decline started in 1880 and continued until that last mine was closed in 1942, although it was considered a ghost town by the 20’s since so few people lived there.

Honey almond lotion in the window

The kitchen in one house

Because of the threat of vandalism, a caretaker was posted there until it was turned into a state park in the 60’s. The town is now in a state of “arrested decay”, with only about 110 of the original buildings remaining. But that still gives one a good sense of the town. It is fascinating to wander around and peer into all the buildings. Most of them have considerable furnishings remaining and some of the shops are still stocked. Several of the buildings are preserved enough that they are habitable and the park rangers stay in them. What an interesting place to live after all the tourists go home!

A bedroom, complete with bedpan

Comforts of home, well-aged

Some of the main buldings- general store, mortuary, gym

Inside the gym

Well-stocked shelves in the general store

Looks ready to open

More goods

The billiards room in the hotel

A roulette table to keep those miners busy

The gas station

Makes you wonder if anything is in the chest

Perhaps the dining room.

We could have spent much more time at this step back in time. It’s a bit of a journey to get there, but well worth the time. We took oodles of pictures, so I hope we can convey a sense of what it was like with our photos.

In the schoolroom

The schoolhouse

Tufa formations on the shore of Mono Lake

After leaving Bishop on Friday morning, we headed up to Mono Lake, a place neither of us had ever seen. We didn’t really have time to take a walk near the more interesting formations, but we did go to the visitor center to learn more about the lake, including the distinctive tufas. Some small ones can be seen near the shoreline in this picture.

Bird nest under eave of building

My overall impression was that it is very much like a small Great Salt Lake. It has no outlet so it has a very high salinity level. The only thing that seems to live in it is brine shrimp, like Great Salt Lake, along with those annoying flies that feed on the brine shrimp. There were also bird nests under the eaves of the visitor center just like you see at Saltair in Utah. The birds feast on the flies.

Little buddy

Here is a cute little fellow who was also hanging around the visitor center.

Mono Lake

The lake level decreased by 40 feet during the period from the 1940’s to the 1990’s due to people siphoning off the water. This was halted in the 90’s, so the lake level has recovered somewhat, but it has a long way to go to be fully replenished to its old levels. It is a very beautiful place.

Last night was our final evening in Kayenta with Brent and Pam, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Painted Pony, a very fine restaurant in St George. We were all so stuffed that we decided we would imitate whales in the pool for one last swim. The pool temperature was 90 F and perfect for noodling around. I’m partial to the purple noodle, of course.

Packed up and ready to go

One last look at the red cliffs of Kayenta

This morning we headed out for the next leg of our trip, with the route to Bishop, CA, taking us through Death Valley. The temperatures in Death Valley in recent days have threatened to break records, although a check of the predicted temperature was only 111 F. Doesn’t sound so bad after reports of temperatures in the upper 120’s.

We got a very early start and had a fine drive to Las Vegas with the top down. At 7 am, the temperature was extremely comfortable. As we approached Las Vegas though, we once again saw threatening dark clouds and lightening in our near future and decided to put the top up. How nice to have the top fixed! No annoying duct tape flapping!

Macho Mike with Holster Man Purse

Pahrump, Nevada, was our last chance to play the slots. We had to gas up, so I gathered four quarters with the intention of playing one of the ever-present slots in the gas station, but it was video poker only, and I decided I’d rather hit the road. So we passed up the chance to claim a fortune in Pahrump.

The clouds never left us as we entered Death Valley and we enjoyed the cool air and the desolate sights. The colors of the rocks were so beautiful- these pictures don’t quite capture it, of course, but we do have a lovely picture of Mike with his cowboy man purse.

A sampling of German tourists

As expected, everyone around us at the view sites and visitor center were German. We’ve had that happen at Bryce in the past, too. Even at our lunch stop, nearly all the other customers were German. I was amused watching one table eat their burgers with knives and forks.

We had rain sprinkles on us the entire drive in Death Valley, and the temperature at the visitor center was only 100 F. Phffft. That’s nothing. We just spent several days in St George in temperatures around 110 F! We’re so tough.

Typical view in Death Valley

Watch out!

Made me think of chocolate marble ice cream

Beautiful Death Valley

Here is the story of Lovely Rita. Back in 2005, our family all met at Brent and Pam’s in Utah for Christmas. Mike and I had our 25^th wedding anniversary that same December, so we arranged to take a short cruise out of Long Beach, CA, before renting a car and meeting the rest of the family in Las Vegas as they all arrived by plane, and then driving to Kayenta from there.

Rita sneaking into the carry-on

Prior to the trip, we had spotted Rita in a La Conner gallery in the fall and knew that Rita had to become part of Brent and Pam’s poolside life. But we had to get her to Utah. Now Rita may be a lovely lady, but she’s really not very svelte. In fact, she’s made of concrete and weighs, um, a considerable amount. We felt the only way to get her to Utah was to have her accompany us to Long Beach, join us on our cruise, and then enjoy the ride to Kayenta in Utah.

Rita and the towel bunny partying in the room

So we carefully bundled Rita in our carry-on luggage. Rita, however, caused quite a stir in security at SeaTac. In fact, they were not completely fooled by her alluring looks and suspected that she was the bomb, er, could BE a bomb. So she was swab tested for explosives (she passed), then scrutinized thoroughly by a supervisor, then very grudgingly allowed to join us on the plane. Phew!

Rita enjoying the pool hijinks

Rita lazing on the deck

Surprise! It’s Rita!

Rita had a very nice time on the cruise. She was really a very good traveler- no seasickness, no whining, and she’s very neat. She did so enjoy shipboard life.

She was lovingly welcomed into Brent and Pam’s life at the Christmas festivities that year, and has enjoyed a full life in the sun and fun of Kayenta.

Rita, pre-makeover

Rita, all dolled up

But life was starting to get just a wee bit drab, and it was decided that she needed a makeover. Pam and Tami were happy to indulge her desire to be the life of the party, and we are sharing the results with all of you. Party on, Rita!