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Nearing the End of My Stay in Long Beach

It has been an action-packed week here in Long Beach.  Went for bike rides along the beach, went to the miles-long dog beach, went kayaking (in a kayak that you pedal, not paddle, to propel .  Much more conducive to beer-drinking while kayaking), helped out with a neighborhood 4th of July block party (where I met Todd Forman from Sublime, who played sax and melodica!).  I also met “Mr. Crumb” who is in a band with Todd called “Jelly of the Month Club.”  Got 2 hugs and a free CD! Continue reading “Nearing the End of My Stay in Long Beach”

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The Next Trip Is Coming Together

OK, I think I have figured out how my upcoming trip is going to flow.

But first.  I went to see a friend’s blues band do an open mic at a local tavern.  I saw them a couple weeks ago and they were good, and fun.  Last time, there was no keyboard player, but this time there was.  I got to sit in for 3 songs!  They play pretty basic blues so it was easy to play along, and everybody gets a solo in every song, so I got to do that too.  Fun!! Continue reading “The Next Trip Is Coming Together”

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On The Road Again … soon

I have some non-travel stuff to write about before I get into my next trip.

One is, don’t take any day, or moment, for granted.  I went to a funeral last Saturday.   It was a guy I was acquainted with – played music with him a few times at parties.  Didn’t know him well but he was very likable.  The previous weekend he was playing at a gig with one of his bands (he’s a bass player), and at the end of the last song of their last set, he dropped dead.  Right on stage.  Age 49.  He didn’t mention feeling ill or anything.   His band mate said it was like lightning struck it was so fast. Video showing him playing up to the seconds before he died didn’t show anything ‘unusual.’  Needless to say, his family, his band mates, his friends, the music community were/are in shock.  His teenage daughter spoke, talking about how she had been pushing him away (‘cuz that’s what teens do) and now she can’t tell her dad she’s sorry.  Heart wrenching!  Hug your friends and fam every chance you get!

On a lighter, though irritating note, I have developed a trigger thumb.  It seems to be getting better, but here is a link to exercises you can do to stop it from developing.  Apparently it is mostly seen with women between the ages of 40 and 60.
https://www.braceability.com/blogs/articles/trigger-finger-exercises

But on to the subject topic – my next trip.  I have purchased a one-way ticket to Long Beach, CA, where I will be visiting friends Jon and Tina.  There is a big block party for 4th of July, and one of the guys from the band Sublime (Santeria is one song) lives around the corner from them.  Sounds like a lot of fun!  I am also the officiant for their son Chase’s wedding next year, so hoping to catch up with him so I can get an idea of what they’re thinking of for their ceremony.  Plus, there is a Hash out there, and, I am hoping to reconnect with my friend Edd who moved to San Diego a few years ago!

After Long Beach, I am still trying to figure out what exactly I am going to do, but I have it narrowed down pretty much, except for which days what will happen and where.

I’ve been feeling like I’ve been wanting to go to a Resort Spa.  I think I must’ve read about one somewhere and then I started looking at a bunch of them.  I think I have settled on Miraval, which is outside of Tucson.  I originally was thinking I would fly there but now I’m thinking I may rent a car and drive there.  I can go through Joshua Tree and stop in to see my friend Derek in Phoenix, on my way there.  Besides the requisite facials and massages, there are lots of opportunities there to do spirit and energy work (naysayers hold your tongues!)  There’s even a shamanistic treatment that I’m thinking of doing!  So, thinking I’ll spend 3-4 nights there.

After that, I’m thinking I’ll be driving to visit my friends Brian and Stacey, in Santa Fe NM.  There’s a Folk Art fair the following weekend.  Not sure how long I will stay there yet.

And not sure where I’m going after that yet.  Home?  Take a train?  Still gotta figure it out! (Read on to see how I maybe figured it out when I took a little break from writing this post)

Before I started this post, I read in the Sunday NY Times about an outfit called ‘Under Canvas’ that operates seasonal glamping resorts near national parks.  I’ve been wanting to go to Mount Rushmore and lo and behold there is one there!  And I took a 10 minute break from blogging to see how far it is from Santa Fe NM to Mount Rushmore.  It’s only like 12 hours (I would do it in 2 days, not one).  I just talked to them and they have availability for the time stretch I’m thinking about going (mid-July ish).  I think I’m going to do the Expedition Package – check it out!
https://www.undercanvas.com/camps/mount-rushmore/

Well, this day of travel planning took a surprise turn.  I still need to figure out what I’ll do after Mount Rushmore, and see if Miraval has availability, but, things seem to be starting to come together.

Stay tuned to see what I end up with!

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Finishing Up in Cali

Ultimately I think we got rid of about 100 records, probably 6 or 7  big garbage bags of clothes, sheets and towels.  A bunch of kitchen stuff, and some other random stuff.  Probably a good 2-3 carloads of stuff.  Not done but much progress made!

But, I had to have more fun too.  So, I went on a hash (“A Drinking Club with a Running Problem” for those who don’t know what that is).  It was in Redwood City which was close-by.

Here are some photos from the trail:

I didn’t realize there were houseboats in Redwood City!

Interestingly, there was a row of these towers, and each one was occupied by a homeless guy.

Beer Stop at The Port of Redwood City:

Interesting DVD found on trail!

End of Trail – West Point Marina

A few days later I checked out the Moss Beach Distillery with my cousin Beanie and her hub Steve.  I hadn’t been there before.  The plan was to watch the sunset but alas it was foggy.  Still nice though!

Flew home on a Tuesday.  Philly was hit by a big thunderstorm so our flight was delayed by about a half hour.  Not too bad.  The bad part was, I got off the plane, hit the bathroom, and got to baggage claim.  Nothing happening there.  After about a half hour wait, there is an announcement – “The baggage ramp is closed due to ‘weather’ – we’ll give you updates on your baggage momentarily.”

Long story short, it took TWO AND A HALF HOURS to get my bag!!  The only other update we got was about 5 minutes before our bags were loaded on the carousel, we were told our bags would not be uploaded here but would be delivered to our homes, and to get in line to make a claim.  So I got in line.  And then, like I said, 5 minutes later a carousel starts up and they announce the baggage from our flight was being offloaded.

So, left my cousin’s house at 7:45AM PT to head to the airport.  11:00AM flight delayed until 11:35.  We take off around noon.  Land at about 8:15PM ET.  Get my bag around 11PM.  Catch DE Shuttle about 15 minutes later, one other person gets dropped off before me.  Got home a little after midnight.

UPDATE:  I sent a complaint to American Airlines about the baggage delay.  I got an apology email and 5,000 points added to my Frequent Flier account.

Had a nightcap with some vodka that I bought from the Half Moon Bay Distillery – Purissima Vodka.  Good stuff!  They also make Gin which I didn’t try.

Watched a couple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and then it was 2AM and time for bed.

Until next time!

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Ano Nuevo

After a long day of packing stuff up, took today off to hike with Cousin Ted again.

We went to one of his favorite places, Ano Nuevo Park – currently home to a large number of elephant seals.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy!

Look at that big one!  Ladies and juveniles are molting right now.

Can you see the two in this one?

Some tracks in the sand

Then a stop at Swanton Berry for some fresh strawberries!

Then a stop at Highway 1 Brewery.  I had the Road Rage IPA.  Yum!

Then a stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse – which is also a hostel!
   

Saw some sea otters too.

Anyway, enjoy!  It was a beautiful day!

It’s happy hour now.  Until next time …

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Devil’s Slide

Yesterday I went on a hike with a different cousin – Beanie.  I’m staying with her in Half Moon Bay and we went for a hike at Devil’s Slide which is near her house.

Here are some very beautiful photos.  The out and back hike is 1.3 miles each way.  The ‘trail’ is the old road which is now closed, replaced by two tunnels.  The road experienced several landslides over the years which caused it to be closed many times, so eventually 2 tunnels were built to avoid the landslide problem.

Enjoy!

Heading north from the parking lot

This is a little bit south of the parking lot

You can see the two tunnel entrances in this one

Til next time!

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Sweeney Ridge

Today I went for a hike – a little over 5 miles – with my cousin Ted.   I went to his place in San Bruno and we went to a trailhead pretty close by – Sweeney Ridge.

It was very hilly.  Actually, the ‘out’ way was all uphill, with some parts that were steeper and steeper.  But there were a lot of nice views.

So, without further ado, off we went:

Kenn came too!  That is the Crystal Springs Reservoir that he is looking at!

This shot shows fog rolling in

Fog rolling in amongst the Eucalyptus.   Kenn hadn’t seen Eucalyptus before.

I took this shot when we first got up on the ridge

I took this shot, at the same place, after we did a few little out and back hikes on the ridge and the fog was done rolling in … and out.  I know the angle is a little different, but now, if you look hard you can now see the ocean and a bit more of a view.  Amazing!

Anyway, here are some more views.

You can see the fog moving by in the background here

This little structure was FULL of bees.  Didn’t want to get too close to take this pic!

A rare instance of ‘positive’ graffiti!

And here is the ‘top’ of the ridge (without the side hikes) and we headed back down

After the hike Ted and I had Mexican.  He had a ‘sopes’ – I had a taste – boy was that good!  I had a ceviche tostada and a shrimp taco.  Also good!

And, after doing some stuff around the house – sorting and boxing – I am now back at the hotel.  I’m beat.

And that is my first full day ‘back in Cali.’

I’m back in my room with my tree, chillaxin’ now.  Until next time readers!

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Going Back to Cali

OK, who knows this song – Going Back to Cali – by … LL Cool J?

I admit, I didn’t know of the song until somebody mentioned it to me once when I said I was headed back to Cali.  Which is what I did today – headed back to Cali.

As I’m sure you’ve figured out from my previous travels, yes, I flew First Class.  I can’t tell you how much stress that relieves for me!   And this time I decided to use Delaware Express since it was cheaper than me driving and parking my car.  Reserving was easy and I got up extra early to make sure I’d be ready when my ride arrived.

My ride was supposed to arrive at 8 AM and get me to the airport by 9:30 for my 11:05 flight.  I got a phone call around 7:50 telling me the driver was going to be a little late – more like 8:15, and I would get a direct ride to the airport.

In the instructions when I made my reservation, I indicated that the driver should go “straight back” to my house, which is at the back of the driveway (there is another house off of the driveway that goes up to the right).

And they send you a text where you can connect with their app to see where the driver is.  So, I saw he was close and moved my stuff outside, locked the door and kept an eye out.  Then my phone rings and he says, “I think I’m here.  I’m in front of a brick house.”  Of course, he did not go straight back.  I told him he wasn’t in the right place and he wanted to drive further up the neighbor’s driveway to their garage.  I had to tell him to look out his window and see me waving to him from the right place.  Ah well.

So, we get to the airport in a little over an hour.  It’s 9:46.  A little over an hour before the flight.  I started getting a little stressed, but the lines were short so I got through security in plenty of time.  Had about a half hour to wander around.

The flight was uneventful except for an incident during our meal service.  The guy one row up and across from me apparently dropped butter on his napkin.  So what does he do?  He shakes his napkin out in my direction and butter comes flying at me, and lands at my feet next to my backpack.  I tried to push it towards the aisle but then it just got on my shoe.  Idiot!!  After I was done eating I wiped it up with a napkin.  This guy was wearing a frickin’ pin stripe suit!!  The lady across from me saw the whole thing and was horrified.  I think the guy had no clue what he did.  Geez!

I’m staying at a Hilton Garden Inn, which is what I usually do for at least part of my trip when I come out here.  And I always try to get my ‘tree’ room.  Room 321!  And I got it again!  And here is an update with the tree!

Anyway, tomorrow I’m going for a hike with my cousin up in the hills of South San Francisco.  And doing more house clean out.

I’ll try to add the tree photo sometime too – hopefully it comes over!

Until then, dear readers!

 

 

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Trippin’

I am trying to plan out some travel.  Places I want to get to this year include:

McMinnville TN (planned for Labor Day weekend)
South Lake Tahoe (SLT) (already planned for Sept 8-15)
Portland OR
Santa Fe NM

Near Syracuse NY
Providence/Newport RI

Chicago suburbs
Moline IL

Fallingwater, PA

I’m torn about how to connect these dots – I have them grouped by how I think they may fit together, but the IL ones may end up being attached to the top group.  And then, what modes of transportation am I going to use?  I thought about taking the train from Reno to Portland but it takes a surprisingly prohibitively long time.  Or maybe I should drive from SLT to Santa Fe and then fly from there to Portland and then take the train to IL?  Travelling to Santa Fe is also dependent time-wise on what I want to do.  My friends there are mushroom hunters, but there are also some art fests, and a hash in Taos in other months, which could make going to NM a one-off trip.  Decisions decisions!

Hm, I just checked Google Maps.  It’s about an 18 hour drive from SLT to Santa Fe.  Could meander down there over a few days I suppose…

Anyway, just thought I’d throw this out there.  I’m also thinking about a day trip up to New York City.  There is an installation at The Whitney that I want to see.
https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/JuanAntonioOlivares

But actually there are a lot of exhibitions there right now that are interesting:
https://whitney.org/Exhibitions

Sorry this post is kind of boring.  This is just a random Saturday morning with me travelling in my mind, since I’m not travelling for real.  Getting itchy though!

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Dress Code, and BMA

Well well well, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of comments I received on my ‘Oh No’ post.  I had thought about marking it as ‘For the Ladies Only’ but I didn’t.  And surprisingly, most of the comments were from guys!  And a couple of them mentioned this clip from SNL.   Enjoy!  (And FYI I do not sit on the couch in my leggings, eating bon bons!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28

Anyway, my artist friend John came to visit for a few days and we ended up going to the Baltimore Museum of Art one day.  I hadn’t been there before.  It’s free, and it has a lot of great stuff.  Here are some photos.  And for fun, two of these are not art installations.  Can you tell which two?

The one below was really interesting, particularly because, when you looked at it with the naked eye, your eyes could not ‘see’ the head and face – the painting just looked like a green/orange blobby thing.  I wasn’t that impressed, but John took a photo and we discovered the hidden prize.  Pretty cool!

The photo below was a lucky shot – in the second shot of the neon art, you can see that is says “FACE ME I FACE YOU.”  I thought it would be funny to take the photo with John facing away from me looking at it, but I didn’t realize the neon would be so bright that you can’t really read it (without editing the photo to be darker).  And then I realized I had captured a reflection of some of the words on the other art in the room.  I like how it turned out!


I think I’m going to try to do a painting similar to this one.  When I’m done I’ll post this one and the one I do:

This photo is interesting because the top light is actually RED, but the camera can’t pick it up.

This photo is actually looking down into a sculpture which I unfortunately didn’t photograph from the front.  From this angle it looks like an alien!

And below is a Van Gogh.  I like it because it shows a style of his painting that you don’t see as often.

I had fun taking several photos of the same piece, from further to closer:


There is a sculpture garden outside as well.  John was taking a bunch of photos of each piece since he does sculpture and is always interested in how things are formed/put together.  This guy that was also there started talking to him, and then asked us if we were artists.   We both said yes.  I asked him why he asked us that and he mentioned that we both were staying clear of getting into each other’s photos.  And then the guy just wouldn’t stop talking to me!  But anyway …

The first piece below, if you put them together, make up a round solid circle / pie.

All right, I think that’s it for now.  ‘Til next time!

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Trip Summary – Feb 12 (Part 2 with Atlantic Road and Bergtatt)

OK, here we go.  Didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many photos at once.

So, as I said before, we landed in Kristiansund and then boarded a bus on our way to the marble mine.  It was snowing pretty hard which made the trip a bit more, uh, exciting.  And windy roads up the mountain to the mine.  But anyway, here are some photos: Continue reading “Trip Summary – Feb 12 (Part 2 with Atlantic Road and Bergtatt)”