Apr 2007

The Farmer’s Market in downtown SLO is great – very busy, friendly and lots to offer.

Best artichokes and strawberries I’ve seen, like the other produce for sale here. Worth the risks of riding the bike up there - we ran into a rattlesnake and high winds, but had great parking.

If you know me at all, you know that food is one of my most favorite pastimes, and we did eat at Jockos in Nipomo, CA – a local must-eat restaurant. Lucky for us, even though there was a 1.5 hour wait, a friend filled Curtis in on the breezeway seating.
We were in and out before that time was up, being willing to sit in the hallway right next to the kitchen!

This whale welcomes you to Pismo Beach, and thankfully it’s unlike the other two we’ve heard of in the past two weeks – washed up dead on a shore. Sad.

Drove down to Santa Barbara via Solvang, CA. If you saw the movie Sideways, this is the area it took place. They had ostrich farms (no, we didn’t eat it) and a (touristy commercial) Danish village to walk around.

In Santa Barbara, we wandered around the harbor and State Street areas, where I had *excellent* sushi at East.

This picture is for Pam - HAD to find this campus!

Up Mountain Road, the view of the city and ocean were spectacular, and we saw two large coyotes or wolves – not sure which. Our hike was lush and green and in the clouds.

Although neither of us have a great desire or palette for wine, we figured that a Wine Tasting was in order as we looked around at our current location. And all the wine signs and ads didn’t hurt our persuasion, either. At Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles, Allison was a great Wine 101 instructor for us. Though most weren’t fabulous for my taste buds, we did find two that were good. Funny, they were desert wines, and one had brandy added, go figure that’s the one that tastes good. She took us down in the caverns where there were thousands of barrels of wine (or potential taiko!) that we got to taste test.
There were huge vats of in-progress concoctions and women in dresses stomping on grapes. Ok, maybe the latter was just in my mind. Either way, it prompted US to buy wine - like - *good* wine, but like I said, we are not wine drinkers... hence our cups.

There are times at which hearing of death creates this existential distance in the mind to ponder your own life. When my uncle died last November, I felt it. Not a panic like running out of time, but more like fear of wasting the precious time you have. No matter how long I think, who I talk to, what emotions bubbles up; I end up getting to one place. The result of the drizzles of my thoughts always comes down to impermanence. From something big such as life as you know it with your chosen cast, to an emotion you feel or a bruise on your body. Knowing that is my lesson makes knowing my priorities and acting on them even more so important. It's difficult to see what is really important until it's forced upon you - whether that be a job, a decision, or simply the way you choose to live. I seek positive inertia. Moving in a positive direction, not dwelling on the past or past decisions, not worrying about that which I have no power to change, or giving too much thought to small issues. I'm here in my life... I'm able to choose... I have one life to lead... and I'm going along happily and gratefully.

Goodbye to Grandma Pat, with whom I lost my first baby tooth.

Goodbye Mr Manley, who I met 20 years ago with his daughter, on our weekend doubles ski trips with Uncle Gene.

Driving along the coast, very windy, rainy, combined with ups and downs – I inevitably got sick. However, we made a good decision the morning we left – not to ride the bike up. So we got lucky on that front – at least stayed dry and warm. Stopped often along the way, so it took longer that the 101, but we expected that and had the luxury of time on our side.

Sea lions and squirrels

Elephant sea lions sprawled out along the sand and barked while they tried to squirm out of their skin, which didn’t have the most pleasant smell, as you might be able to tell by my expression. What they lacked in odor, they made up in cuteness. How a wild (and incredibly large) animal can be cute, I don’t know - but they have it nailed. There were very aggressive squirrels at this stop as well, to the alarm of Curtis. At least this time, he didn’t get attacked by a random squirrel, of which he is very good at, especially in Vancouver, BC.

This is supposed to be the largest bridge of some suspension capacity; we just played in the rain instead of basking in its glory.

Amazing views along the coastline

Stopped in Santa Cruz to ride some rides at the boardwalk area – beautiful beaches, fun rides, and food – great place! No wonder Karen loves it, and thanks again for the real-time directions to the Crows Nest!

We stayed near Japan Town in downtown San Francisco, close to the Cherry Blossom Festival location. We got together with family for lunch at Sapporo Ya – John and Gerry came all the way into town to meet with us – thanks guys!!!
The festival has tons of vendors, food booths, and entertainment. *And* the only place I’ve been to with Sapporo on draft to wander around with in your hand on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

The drive from Vegas to San Luis Obispo took longer than expected, but then again, we obviously took a highway that was made for beautiful (30 mph viewing) scenery. There were > 45 degree turns and sharp ascents and descents, but we saw an amazing windmill hill and a jackrabbit, coyote and lots of squirrels.

On the drive, we stopped in a restaurant in Baker that you see in the guidebooks like Frommers and LP called Mad Greek – it’s a funky atmosphere in the middle of Death Valley that claims to have the best gyro. Well, they are pretty good I have to admit… but really, what doesn’t taste good when you spent the previous 4 days drinking in Las Vegas?

Our home here is in a great location – walking distance to the downtown beach area, and full of friendly vacationers.
The range here in people is vast – there are what looks like permanent retired residents with potted plants and fencing around their $100K motorhomes to a group of people with a bunch of toys with a flag waving 30 feet above their trailer that says ‘The bar is OPEN’ with a mug of beer logo. We fall somewhere in between the two. After all, one of us has to work still.

A couple blocks away is the Splash Café, which makes the best clam chowder ever. They, like Mad Greek, also make the claim for the ‘best’ dish, but these folks aren’t lying! I could eat this every day, seriously! Despite that, I’ve been cooking - Yes, me cooking - AND... we’ve actually been eating what I make, it’s edible!

In Pismo Beach, we ran into these signs – go figure!

We all got to Vegas from different directions, and we all made it the same day! The main reason for the trip was Samantha’s wrestling tournament, but of course we celebrated Wendy’s 50th birthday and had a blast just hanging out. As if pulling a trailer down Las Vegas Blvd wasn’t fun enough, then I was lucky enough to back down a parking structure too! The hotel Security (on bikes) were more than helpful, directing me where I *should* have gone in the first place.

One morning a bird came in the room - patio door was open – and I almost took off into the hallway. There was food in the room that must've smelled good.

Visited Margaritaville twice, apparently shopping there once just isn’t enough for some of us.

We watched the Bellagio water show twice, but this part was the best:

After Sam weighed in and could eat or drink something, we all ate dinner together at the Mirage.

At the Wrestling tournament - Samantha won her first two matches!
Cujo wears this shirt at the most opportune times – last one was at St Pats in NYC.

Finally paid the high entry to see the Star Trek Experience (totally worth it) and rode the simulations with Borg and Klingon themes. After buying a Vulcan shirt, a Klingon pointed out the Klingon shirts that I should get instead, ha! Live Long and Prosper.
The Hilton not only has a great sports book and the Star Trek Experience, but also TAIKO!
And no, I did not touch it.
That night downtown Big and Rich played a free show, and there was a motor cross exposition along with the Indy race events.

All in all, a great trip to Vegas with lots of singing (for some strange reason) and good luck on 40x1 spins! And the dealertainers (Michael Jackson, Prince, Louis Armstrong, Cher, etc) at the IP were pretty entertaining.