Nice to be home

The relaxing vacation was two weeks ago, but even though we've been busy with projects and lots of work (mostly CD) we're really enjoying being home.
I harvested the garden a while back, tiny carrots and beets, the last of the peas and we're still waiting for the very few tomatoes (tiny tomatoes) to ripen. The zucchinis have been doing surprisingly well.



The flowers have been blooming: the lupine surprised us with its deep purple color and the jasmine welcomes us home everyday with such a wonderful scent!





The deck is almost done and for all purposes fully enjoyable. I helped drill some holes (watch out! power tools!) in order to get that feeling of putting the last piece into the puzzle. CD was glad to get a tiny bit of help :)



The stairs just need a railing, but are otherwise done!



Last weekend was the Humboldt County Fair. We went and saw all the farm animals, there was an auction for all the 4H kids' animals. It was sad to see the children parting with their pets. There was also horse racing which we didn't know anything about. We still gambled a few bucks and CD won about $10. Not really sure that we came out ahead, but it was fun to get into the spirit.

CD with Gravitron (THRILLER!)


This weekend we hung out with some new friends: Stefanie and Craig. She is a new professor here at Humboldt State and they are also from Seattle. We had them over for dinner on Friday night and it was a good time. A really nice couple!

Here's a bonus picture of the tiniest carrot:

Big Sur (Vacation pt. 3)

This part of the trip was very fun and relaxing. We camped in a redwood forest campground that was on the edge of the Ventana Wilderness Area. We could have gone inland and tried some of the trails, but we chose to stay coastal and lounge on the beach. It was so beautiful there- we loved it!







I guess the only part that wasn't too relaxing was driving on the CA 1 right along the coast. We were not in a hurry, so we enjoyed the panoramas. Below you can see one of the historic bridges- these were built in the 1930's by prison inmates.




We spent all day Thurday at Sand Dollar Beach. Just for the record, no sand dollars were found on the beach :(




On the way home we stopped in San Juan Bautista Mission- this is the location where they filmed some scenes of the Hitchcock movie "Vertigo"- good movie! good mission!



DECK UPDATE COMING SOON!!

Santa Cruz and Monterey (Vacation Pt. 2)

After a wonderful weekend in San Fran, we headed south on the California 1 to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is a strange place. The university is here, so there are lots of student type joints, but a lot the Bay Area richies have also moved here. The liberal hippies vs. the yuppies. We stuck to the waterfront where there is a big amusement park and all the tourists. And don't forget sea lions by the wharf!

On our way to Monterey we took a little detour to Salinas- the birthplace of John Steinbeck, one of our favorite writers. We checked out the National Steinbeck Center (fancy term for museum). It was pretty good- we realized there are so many of his books that we haven't read. I guess those have to go into the long list of future books to read...

We were so excited to reach Monterey and all the promise it held. We had booked a room at a Victorian B&B in Pacific Grove. It was "1 and 1/2" minutes from Lover's Point on the Bay. It was lovely.

One of the nice things about this place was that you could walk to the Monterey Aquarium along the Bay's coastal trail.

The Aquarium was great, perhaps a bit overcrowded. I guess since kids haven't returned to school yet the summer crowds were still out in full force. It was fun to watch all the feedings, the otters were very playful, but I was most impressed with the jelly fish. They are so strange!

After spending most of the morning there, we explored Cannery Row- tourist central!! Not really a surprise, but after a long empty search for a hoodie that wasn't made in China, we strolled back to the B&B.

We napped a bit before heading out to see the sunset on Asilomar beach.

The next day we drove the road that contours the Monterey Peninsula where we saw a lot of birds (pelicans, cormorants, gulls, etc.) , rock formations and one lonesome cypress tree.

We stopped in Carmel-by-the-Sea where we took a quick walk on the beach. Once again, very crowded- we're thinking about returning in the winter sometime.

Then we continued to Big Sur...

San Francisco (Vacation Pt. 1)

The summer semester ended last Monday, but before the grades were in we were already on our way out of town for a week of coastal adventure. We left on Friday the third, headed for a couple of evenings in San Francisco to start. That evening we met my friend Wendy and her boyfriend Stuart. It had been almost a year since I had seen Wendy, the only high school friend with whom I keep in touch. It was really fun, we headed to the Castro neighborhood where we grabbed a bite to eat and caught some singer/songwriters at Cafe du Nord. It was a good space for bands and we really enjoyed seeing live music (something we miss in Eureka).

Wendy and Stu




The next day we decided to take it easy and concentrate our explorations to the Mission neighborhood. It was fantastic! Bustling with a very diverse crowd, although I must admit we embraced the Mexican influence wholeheartedly. Our first stop was La Taqueria where we ate some yummy tacos (breakfast!)




We cruised down Valencia St and Mission St, sort of zigzagging around. After a good cup of coffee we headed for the Mission de Dolores and the accompanying park where we relaxed with all the picnicking locals.




We wondered around looking for murals and got lucky at 24th and Balmy, incidentally I also enjoyed a super delish burrito at Taqueria Vallarta at that same intersection. Here's some samplings of the street paintings:

Homage to ancestors






Homage to Mexican Cinema




Homage to Women Artists



You know this one!



We headed back to the hotel early and took a quick nap before meeting up with Wendy, Stuart and their friend Yoichiro for some good Thai food in the North beach neighborhood.




After dinner we hung at a place called Specs. We walked home which was quite fun in a group. Chinatown was totally deserted, it was almost eerie. Originally, we had planned to go sailing with Wendy on Sunday, but were also eager to keep going South before dark. The sailing excursion was to last until around 6pm... too late for us. We met up with Yoichiro instead in Japantown for a tasty lunch before heading down to Santa Cruz.

CD with the Japantown Pagoda