Travels of THB

Day 2 and 3: Claremont and Pasadena

2012-01-27T09:10:00.001-08:00

Day 2: Claremont and Pasadena

Pics: Fitness center and non-defunct elliptical, Duchamp repeated, lots of Voulkos, including the worst piece he ever made, a great Bennett Bean piece at AMOCA, our group practicing standing on one leg, Orozco and Lebrun murals, DB demo’ing how to sit in a Maloof chair, THB’s fave piece from the Norton Simon,

By now, you’ve figured out that THB got help solving the internet connection problem: Late last night, THB takes the HP Mini to the front desk where they diagnose the problem: IE works for connecting, Firefox does not work for connecting. Ah, it is a Microsoft world out there.

Fitness center and breakfast (huevos rancheros for THB, oatmeal and double latte for DB, included. First stop: American Museum of Ceramic Art IAMOCA, see pic). DB and THB were here a few years ago with S&M, it has moved since then into much larger and nicer quarters, including a huge (HUGE!) mural by Millard Sheets running the length of the main gallery. Millard was big in these parts during the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and many of the artists highlighted in PST got their start from his encouragement from his base at Scripps and other art schools, his running the art side of the LA County Fair (a big deal), and his stature as an artist.

While the work on display is not exactly scintillating, it is an extensive overview of the early work of important artists. From AMOCA we head to Claremont and Scripps College for a curator-led tour of a show highlighting early work by Voulkos, Mason and Price. Not a lot of work, most of it exceptional (see pics of mostly work by Voulkos, including one awful early piece Peter might wish had never been found).

Lunch at Walters, THB and DB share fish tacos and a Mediterranean salad and THB gets the chocolate chip cookie for dessert, included. From lunch we continue on to Pomona College and a tour of of their current PST exhibit (they are going to have three separate shows, each covering just a few years), a review of work from the early 70s and the influence of Hair, hippies, and happenings are all over the walls. A strong show, and a bunch of artists THB was not familiar with.

We then tour campus to see two huge murals, one by the now-everywhere Rico Lebrun (see pic) and the other by Orozco (see pic); there’s a cute back story to Orozco, it’s in the dining hall and at one point both the men and women objected).

We dawdle until around 5 and then hang out for over an hour at the Turrell (see prior posting for pics); we are starting to build up such a collection of Turrell viewings that THB is going to have to put together lists similar to those for the national parks and baseball parks. Several other people wander over during the showing, looks like some of them might come often (one brought a towel to support her back on the stone benches…truly a veteran).

We dine at Maison Akira in downtown Pasadena: French miatress d and Japanese chef. Food is pretty good though THB orders chicken in a wine sauce so he can’t really pick up that Japanese fusion thing. DB has salad (definitely Japaness-influence) and tuna tartare with sashimi, one glass of wine, approximately $45/person (there were three others with us).

Day 3: Pasadena

Pics: see above

Fitness center and shredded wheat with berries for THB and yogurt parfait and latte for DB, included (note: we are given coupons for breakfast, a value of $21, and this allows us to order just about anything on the menu…today, the Langham definitely makes money as they get reimbursed for $26 to cover food, tax, and tip no matter what we have for breakfast).

Our first tour of the day is at the Huntington Library, and the curator leads us through a show of Sam Maloof furniture (note: here’s how connected Millard Sheets was: he and his wife look like the guests of honor at Sam’s wedding, if there can be such a thing). The show is extremely well displayed: they have set up little household tableaus with Sam’s furniture and art and craft from the period on the furniture and walls.

Hal, the curator, has arranged for us to have lunch at The Athenaeum, where he is a member. It’s huge, and easily swallows up our group. It is so big, they don’t mind if we order off the menu. THB has a Vietnamese pork and chicken sandwich (Banh Mi) and DB goes slightly more traditional with a cheese sandwich and tomato soup (both excellent, and DB’s soup is definitely not the canned Campbell’s of our youth). Included

Off to the Norton Simon, formerly the Pasadena Art Museum (we seem to be collecting former sites of this museum as well); this time a paid docent led tour of the lithography exhibit. In this case, the connection to PST is through the legion of printers trained by the Tamarind Lithography Workshop so many well-known international artists are represented. Included is a work by Keinholz that is in part a print of the Five Card Stud. There were five made, and it turns out the Oakland Museum owns one as well.

Next up: a visit to a private collection where the couple has amassed several collections that will/have ended up at the Huntington Library. What they have in the house is an interesting mix of a few very high quality pieces (Kaneko, Woodman, Akimori), Native American pottery, Thiebaud lithos, large ceramic work by a relative, British woodcuts, a Maloof rocker. Not too many of anything, all displayed well, and no real clutter.

Closing dinner at the Langham: THB has a bad steak, poor salad and semi-decent dessert, DB has gnudi, decent salad (though it is the same as THB had, views differed on quality), and a semi-decent dessert (in this case the views aren’t different: DB doesn’t know, THB had half of each dessert). Included

Day 2: James Turrell installation in Pomona

2012-01-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

Day 2: James Turrell installation in Pomona

Sunset at a Turrell "open" pavilion on the Pomona campus. Turrell is a graduate of the school, this piece was installed in 2007 (installation started in 2005). THB and DB have hit a number of his pieces, they are all different, all mesmerizing.

Pics in chron order, from before sunset until after. Note some of the pics are blurry, THB cannot find a camera that totally eliminates essential tremors tremoring!

Note: the ones that look all dark have a faint hint of the sky through the skyscape

Days 0-1: Los Angeles

2012-01-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

Day 0: E-ville to LA

I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic. Andy Warhol

Weather: Warm to hot during the day, clear (shock!), and cool at night...in other words: IDEAL!!!!!!! Traveler's heaven

Pics: Removing the poles after utilities undergrounded in E-ville, DB scores another Yayoi in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica utility box, new Ellsworth Kelly designed exterior of a gallery in West Hollywood, LA sunset, Marcel Duchamp piece and the man himself, giant composite road sign, Rico Lebrun

We decide to drive to LA since we are doing parental unit visits on either side of the Oakland Art Museum trip (to dig deeper into a major LA cross-museum effort called Pacific Standard Time, or PST, of mid-20th century art, design and architecture). Lunch with THB’s mom at Mori Sushi (excellent, as usual), and dinner with DB’s dad Sam and partner Miriam at Café Montana, very good and quiet.

Day 1: Pasadena

A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires. Hedy Lamarr

The usual: fitness center and pancakes at John O’Groats (whole wheat with bananas for DB, lemon curd for THB, $25 with coffee and side of yogurt), and then we meet up with one of the professional co-leaders from DB’s Japan trip, Anne, and head to Pasadena, arriving at the Pasadena Asia Museum around 10:35. We think we’re gonna be way ahead of the rest of tour; they are arriving in Burbank on SWA at 10am. Hah! They are there shortly after us, flight was early, bags are coming off the carousel as they leave the gate; they are up on the bus and at the museum in no time!

The museum has lots of Asian stuff (DUH!), and has set aside two galleries to show off the early days of modern art in LA because at one time this building held contemporary art. They even held an early Duchamp exhibit (see pics), including being the site of the famous picture of Marcel playing chess with a beautiful (and naked) young woman. The curator leads us through the exhibit, fascinating to hear and see, including one fabulous early (light) work by Robert Irwin. They also have a Keinholz (see pic) that is a piece in a shroud where the buyer could tear off the shroud and see what was underneath. This piece was still intact, and thus apparently much more valuable for never having shown the hidden part. Aside: DB and THB made a special trip to LACMA in December to see a rarely shown Keinholz: Five Card Stud, which was easily one of the most powerful art pieces ever made, a commentary on racism in the 50s (and beyond).

Lunch is upstairs: bento boxes of chicken, something breaded, rice, cauliflower, beans, cole slaw (this is one complete bento box), and cookies supplied by THB and DB from Tavern (excellente!!). Included.

Then we walk across the parking lot to the Pasadena Museum of California Art for another PST exhibit, LA Raw, emphasizing figurative artists who worked in LA in the 40s and 50s. The curator for this exhibit leads us through, and his passion for the work and connections among the artists comes alive. Also turns out that Mom has some work by one of the key artists in the exhibit, Rico Lebrun (see his pic). Big advantage to seeing the show through the curator’s eyes, many connections made that you can’t get if you do this on your own.

Check-in at the Langham Huntington, a huge place that may have been a Ritz-Carlton. We’re in the Lanai building, only a 10 minute walk from the chicken disk. Room is very nice, and then THB enters into internet hell: the “free” access won’t enable a connection. Uh oh: what will THB’s followers do without real-time blog updates? Half hour later, 3 phone calls, and a non-answer from the tech line, THB gives up.

We visit two private collections, one so close we walk to it from the hotel (THB and DB warm-up with the 10 minute walk back to the chicken disk). First collection emphasizes Latin American artists from the last 50 years, and is spread over two houses (the collectors bought the house behind theirs!), and contains some work we are familiar with (e.g., Robert Graham, definitely not Latin American, and Toledo).

The second private collection turns out to be 5 collections: tribal art, books, emerging artists, rocks, and photography. Needless to say, it is a bit excessive for THB’s taste. And, the house is a mid-50s ranch style that apparently was really two houses, the upstairs and downstairs being complete with their own kitchens and bedrooms.

Dinner is at the private Valley Hunt Club. For those of you not familiar with what “private” meant during PST days of yore: think Masters Tournament circa 1955. Both of our parents had the same reaction when they heard we were eating here: can you get in????? Oh yeah, the club is actually more well known for having started the Tournament of Roses.

Well, now they let anyone in because a) they have to and b) it was pretty empty. Vodka gimlets, lamb for THB (nicely done) and fish for DB (not so good). Included.

What does sex mean to me?

2011-12-29T15:35:00.003-08:00

Pics: Oh the many things that went wrong, sunset on New Year's eve and what people do on the beach on New Year's day

Pop Quiz: Name the group and song associated with the lyrics below

Pictorial Quiz: What is the function of the item in the last picture

Quiz winners: A healthy, happy, prosperous and trouble free 2012

late at night i walk thru town and eye everyone i meet
i want to follow them all home but i just follow my feet

into the bookstore i see thy love virgin style horny
sitting next to the hyde reports, sitting next to love story

and i ask what does sex mean to mean to me
and what does sex mean to society

In semi-chronological order:

1. The mural above the kitchen is developing bubbles and cracking, requires a visit (TBD) by the artist to determine next steps, at least some of the original paint from September 05 installation is still around
2. The hot water was used up very fast on first bath, adjusted water heater temperature (down!), problem did not recur
3. Washing machine stopped mid-cycle, electrical socket needed to be reset, then switched to different wash program, problem did not recur
4. Dish-washing delayed soap dispenser did not push out soap-filled "packet," leaving dishes filmy, so switched to different style packet, problem did not recur
5. THB's foot starts bleeding on side, DB finds tracks in bathroom next morning, THB's tender skin is cracking, feet sore rest of week, at least the bleeding does not recur
6. The combo VHS/DVD player won't play DVDs, will play VHS tapes. Turn it off for a while, then (for DB, not THB) it would play DVDs, problem did not recur
7. THB finished dead last at mah jongg, won one chicken-shit hand (lowest victory point total possible) entire game (good news: DB wins as THB gives her 40% of his original stake)
8. THB cut his pinkie severely after dropping and reaching for coffee mug that broke on impact, THB did not cut himself again
9. Drain in guest bathroom backed up, probably from too much long hair caught (clearly not THB's hair), removed hair, problem did not recur
10. New down pillow inserts turned out to be too soft and new pillows looked flat almost immediately; replaced new inserts with those from older pillows and now pillows look fine, not sure what to do with too soft down inserts
11. The motion sensor outdoor light doesn't work, maintenance comes and puts in new bulb, still doesn't work, request maintenance to return and now when the light goes on, it doesn't go off
12. Relatively new shower head start leaking, washer went bad at one spot and no washer at another; hardware store did not have washers, THB broke shower head when trying to put back on with jury-rigged washers, put back on old shower head, problem with removed shower head (and THB's head) not resolved
13. THB and DB return from shopping and spot two deer, then 8 more nearby. The most seen at any one time before was 3, infestation of deer at the beach unresolved
14. Direct TV receiver went out, other receiver in the house still works; requires service technician to come to beach house. It is a long sad story, in short: Direct TV won't come because the beach is set up to get the Bay Area stations (in order to watch sports stuff in HD), so we call the local guy and he makes the fix: a bad cable (cables go bad?)
15. DB's watch starts running significantly slow, TBD
16. The garbage disposal button stays in the "on" position, then after several more tries, it returns to working fine
17. THB wins big at mah jongg, though only because one other player doesn't realize how close he was to a HUGE win.
18. On the way out, the sliding doors to the deck won't lock....ahhhhh, something to look forward to when we return next weekend

The Year-end Book List

2011-12-23T11:36:00.001-08:00

Pics
E-ville remediation out our window, and our local gardner remediating the fringe of Sherwin Place

Note: E-book unless otherwise noted

Top picks: (the obvious) THB liked these books a lot and will add a short note to each

The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obreht – A post-Balkan war story (novel) mixed with a young doctor’s retelling of her grandfather’s life and his fables passed along to her

Play Their Hearts Out, George Dohrmann – (non-fiction) everything you feared about how sports is corrupting our youth, particularly the talented young ones. The kids have now reached college age, so you can find them and find out where they’ve ended up (for most part)

A Rope and a Prayer, Rohde and Mulvihill – Audio, as read by the authors, about Rohde’s capture in Afghanistan and Mulvihill’s (Rohde’s new bride) efforts to ransom him

Next, James Hynes – A very fast paced novel in the post-9/11 world come back to life. You’ll want to avoid being high up in high rises after this one.

A Life, Keith Richards – Audio, oddly (and longly…25 hours worth!) read by Johnny Depp and Keith. And, all it lacked was the Stones songs mixed in at the appropriate time.

The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris – A novel relating a mysterious mental illness that forces the main character to get up and start walking. For all those that wished they could walk out of their own lives, this will convince you to stay put.

Ransom, David Malouf and Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason – THB normally detests joining books for a review, so this must be an exception. If you want two fast reads that illuminate the Iliad and the Odyssey (a THB fave), THB recommends them back-to-back.

The Seasons on Henry’s Farm, Terry Brockman – Why small farming, however much it means to saving the planet (and it would mean a lot if practiced the way Henry does), will never happen. It takes way too much effort and a lot of free labor. Depressing…unless you enjoy mega-agriculture

The Privileges, Jonathan Dee – A novel of how a “charmed” couple are ruined (by their odd and spoiled children? Or did they do it to themselves)

Recommended: Enjoyed, and THB adds a short note if pertinent (to THB!)

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray – one of several books on the list where the main character dies shortly into the book (and, I think they were mostly by British authors…). This one is a satire about 14 year old boys in boarding school, complete with a Penn State pre-creation.

A Strange Room, Damon Galgut

Open, Andre Agassi – Does he really hate tennis? He says so over and over and over again…

Social Animal, David Brooks – Find someone you trust, and read a chapter and discuss. Repeat (just “the read a chapter and discuss”, none of us have enough people we trust to switch THAT after each chapter)

By Nightfall, Michael Cunningham – Novel

Half a Life, Davin Strauss – Author struck and killed a bike rider when he was 18, relates his thoughts 20 years later

Man In the Woods, Scott Spencer - Novel

Bound, Antonya Nelson - Novel

Three Stations, Martin Cruz Smith – More Renko

To a Mountain in Tibet, Colin Thubron – Audio, non-fiction

Long for this World, Jonathan Weiner – By the author of Beak of the Finch, a THB top twenty all-time book, looking at what science is (and is not doing) about extending life.

Everything, Kevin Canty - Novel

IOU, John Lanchester – A reasonably short read about the underpinnings of the financial disaster of the last few years

The Imperfectionists, Tom Rachmann - Novel

Matterhorn, Karl Marlantes – Novel, another Viet Nam book (THB has read a lot of these), takes place on fire bases in the early days of the expansion of the war

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot - Non-fiction tracking of genes and scientific research

Sultan’s Shadow, Christine Bird - Novel

Running the Books, Avi Steinberg, Audio, a young prison librarian relates episodes from his first few years on the job

The Lotus Eaters, Tatjana Soli - Novel

The Bucolic Plague, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, non-fiction story of two gay guys who decide to have a second place in the country and the impact on their relationship and those around them. Since one of them works for Martha Stewart, there is at least one celebrity sighting

The Devil’s Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea – Hardback, and the telling of one specific tragedy of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the US

Nine Lives, William Dalrymple: non-fiction stories of India

The Bullpen Gospels, Dirk Hayhurst, Non-fiction baseball book from minors to majors

Beneath the Lion’s Gate, Maaza Mengiste, Novel

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books, Elif Batuman, Non-fiction

Neutral: Something of value, not enough to encourage reading (or listening)
A Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes
1861, Adam Goodheart
My Korean Deli, Ben Ryder Howe – Audio
Savages, Dan Winslow
Compass Ross, John Casey
At Home in Japan, Rebecca Otowa – Hardback
Learning to Die in Miami, Carlos Eire
William Golding, John Carey
Then Came Evening, Brian Hart
Union Atlantic, Adam Haslett
Finding Chandra, Higham and Horwitz

Not Recommended: All but the first book on this list were not finished

The Longevity Project, Friedman and Martin. THB will condense if for you: if you want to live a long life, be conscientious, or even better, have a very conscientious partner that outlives you

Faithful Place, Tana French
The Pages, Murray Bail
Ilustrado, Miguel Syjuco
Mr Peanut, Adam Ross
The Hard Way Around, Geoffrey Wolff
Something Red, Jennifer Gilmore
Eight White Nights, Andre Aciman

Day 8: Hawaii to E-ville

2011-12-08T11:24:00.001-08:00

Day 8: HI to E-ville (cute, huh? Maybe too cute for THB….)

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou everyone, and have a great 2012

THB gives you a 2012 blog preview: art trips to LA, Seattle and Detroit, a baseball trip to Philly combined with a few other new ballpark cities. a food and culture trip to NY, the London Olympics, and a wedding…well, probably not a blog entry on wedding though THB may sneak something in there...does THB do anything besides travel, plan travel, and blog about travel? Hmmmmm....YES: there's also baseball, bridge, Habitat for Humanity, and book reviews!

Pics: flora, a few repeats, and a couple of ringers

Weather: Hazy blue skies in morning, mid-80s; E-ville in the 40s on morning of 9th
Breakfast: usual, plus pancakes in town at Lava Java, $29

Packing and stalling, packing and stalling. Fill-up the Crown Vic: $4.40/gal, 25 gallons while touring the island, so: $110 for gas, $250 for the car rental (7 days).

United provides an early arrival, back in E-ville at 9:30.

Days 6-7: From VNP to CCV

2011-12-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

Day 6: Back to Country Club Villas

Hana hou (hey, now I know what the name of the restaurant means: Do it again)

Pics: Tutu’s Cottage (outside and in), Kilauea Lodge, Akaka Falls and tourists waiting out the rain at Akaka Falls, prime example of malasadas con guava, SSBD in HI

Weather: Cool, raining then clear first thing near VNP, then warm and threat of rain in Hilo, then warm and raining north of Hilo, then dry on the ride halfway to west coast, back to VOG and 80s at CCV

Breakfast at the Kilauea Lodge: papaya, buttermilk banana nut pancakes for DB and an omelet and home fries for THB, coffee, included. Total for one night with taxes: $225.

We are circumnavigating the Big Island, so we head east and then north to Hilo, stop to do a little recreational shopping, and continue to the Akaka Falls (see pics), where it is raining. We eat at little café just between Falls and main highway: garden burger for DB, ahi burger for THB, shared mango smoothie, $28.

Continue north, taking in the sights, until we get to Tex Drive-in for malasadas. That’s Hawaiian for “really bad thing to eat for you sadists” (see pic). A solid (not powdered) sugar donut, and for the flavored ones they force in filling. We only get two to share, one plain and one with guava (see pic); we are semi-malasadasistas. $2.47.

Head north a bit then turn west and as we go up and over a small mountain (and around a really big volcano mountain), it gets drier and hotter, and now we are in cattle country. Make it back to CCV around 3 to see that the VOG is on its way to closing out the afternoon as usual. However, not quite as usual: around 5, the sky turns crimson and the sun turns orange around 5:30, finally the sun sets into a marine layer around 5:45. So, not a total Vog-out!

Dinner of pizza, salad, local brewski and two glasses of wine: $47.

Day 7: CCV, same as it ever was, same as it ever was

Male 'ana

'Aha'aina male

(A shout out to K&E)

Pics: no pics

Weather: Blue skies in morning, VOG haze in afternoon, 80s

Breakfast: usual

Snorkeling at the usual spot, a little less clarity of water, otherwise great

Lunch: guacamole, leftovers, brewskies

Afternoon: hanging out, waiting for plumber to fix faulty toilet (we would be hanging out anyway)

Dinner: Sam Choy’s, last dinner in paradise: drinks, edamame, rib appetizer with white rice, ahi salad, sweetbread bread pudding, $85. Sunset of sorts, very reminiscent of the beach house with the sun falling into the marine layer; no green flash.

Hawaii, Day 5, On the road to Volcano NP

2011-12-05T23:17:00.001-08:00

Day 5: On the road to Volcano National Park

Hele mai

Pics: Hana Ho (3), black sand beach (5, including one of THB’s new flip flops), bird (bonus points again for id’ing the bird), 11 of the caldera (many of the plants/flowers), and lastly, a shot of a different caldera with lava in a non-glow daytime spout

Weather: Semi-sunny in the morning, overcast with drizzle in mid-day, drizzle to light rain in afternoon, high 50s in afternoon and evening, more drizzle to light rain after dinner, 57 degrees

As you can tell from the weather report, something is going on and you don’t know what it is!

Breakfast of toast, lilikoi and coffee at the condo, then we head south for snorkeling at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau again. DB stays on land, THB drifts to the left this time and is amply rewarded with another great set of coral and a larger variety and size of fish than yesterday.

THB dries off, and we continue south and east, towards Volcano National Park (#3 this year?). For lunch, we eat at the southernmost restaurant in the US, Hana Hou (see pics). We decide to eat indoors because it looks like rain and the temp is all the way down to the high 70s. We share a massive open faced grilled cheese sandwich topped with veggies and sprouts, katsu chicken (breaded, fried thighs) with brown rice and slaw, lilikoi lemonade and a rather large oatmeal raisin cookie, $37. The cookie and lemonade best of the meal….

Along the way, we stop at what is now a deserted resort on a black sand beach, where THB has a picture taken of his feet and a turtle resting on the sand.

Get to VNP around 1:30, it is now in the 60s and still overcast, and opt for a hike along a rim trail through a rain forest and then down into the caldera of a semi-active volcano (it is hot enough that steam from rain water hitting lava is hissing out in a few spots), then back up the side of the crater to walk through a “lava tube” of about 400 yards, finally back to the car after 2.5 hours: heat on the rim, rain in the caldera, cool in the tube, and then cooler still at the rim again.

About 5 minutes from the park entrance, we are staying in a cottage at the Kilauea Lodge, probably our nicest place to stay since the cottage in Omaru (that’s on the South Island of NZ for those of you that haven’t memorized every blog entry). It’s a two bedroom, giant living room/kitchen place, all to ourselves. Even comes with heated towel rack!

Dinner at the lodge: bean puree with white pepper soup, duck broth with veggies soup, seared ahi, rare rack of lamb, oreo cake, two STRONG lilikoi martinis and one glass of NZ sauvignon blanc, $125, and the best meal by far we’ve had on the trip. And, the staff is having a contest on who can make the most popular bird house. DB and THB pick the same house as #1….ahhhhh, the joys of a long time spent agreeing on art pays off tonight.

And, for those of you expecting sign-off of the blog, tres disappointing, no? After dinner, in a driving mist, we take off back to VNP and a view of the glow from the lava-filled caldera near the museum. Quite a sight, and no matter what setting we try to mojo the camera into, there are no pics. Take it from THB: worth a detour!!!!!! Oh, and even though it is “misting” out, we can see the moon interspersed between the clouds. Hmmmmm……

Okay, now we’ve come to the end of this blog entry, time to cheer up again.

Hawaii, Days 3-4

2011-12-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

Day 3: Same-same

Ao no ho'i

Pics: THB goes undercover in his unmarked Crown Vic, Saturday farmers market, the Sherman tanks of utility boxes, Hawaiian graffiti artistry, two more birds up close at lunch, another indoor pet, Pu’uhonua o Honaunau snorkel spot (note how THB has been practicing his photoshop skills on that last pic!)

Weather: Vog, more vog, and a total vog out (volcano smog, aka volcanic originated gas), mid 80s and very little breeze and barely a hint of sun

Breakfast: imported toasted Acme pumpkin bread, pineapple, papaya, coffee, around $10
After breakfast, we walk the short block to the local shopping center and the Saturday Farmers Market. About 20 booths, mostly crafts and food combos, local fruit, coffee, and miscellany. We buy some passionfruit, lily koi, avocado, tuna (fresh off the boat?). Total around $20.

THB is feeling a little punk today, so we don’t head out for a while, and THB snoozes and reads (mostly snoozes). Rather than snorkeling since we are swimming with manta rays tonight, we decide to drive north about 30 miles to check out the resorts/shopping and end up driving through a lot of lava beds, complete with Hawaiian graffiti (see pics of white rocks on black lava).

Lunch at Merriman’s Café in Waikoloa: arugula and watermelon salad and fish taco, both above average, drinks, $37. Shopping centers are dead, less than 10-15 people total inside stores. We assume that there are no tourists around (not spots for locals). Exotic popsicles (meaning they are melting immediately after leaving the store?), very good, $6.50.

Back to rest up, reading and knitting on the deck, that is until the guy below us fires up his bbq and a few minutes later our smoke alarm goes off. Of course, he must have thought it was time for dinner as the last time a glimmer of the sun was seen was around 4pm.

Early light dinner of guacamole, pita chips and tuna sashimi (which turns out to be above restaurant quality…a best buy from the farmers market!), Torrents (Argentinean white wine).

Around 6:25 we head out for our big adventure of the day: floating with manta rays. AN E TICKET!!! We go out on the same boat as yesterday, again with Captain Eric. This time the trip is 3 minutes, we barely leave the dock. We decide to wear our skins and their wetsuits (tip from Eric to stay as warm as possible) and swim off the boat about 20 feet to hook onto a large raft with pvc pipe outriggers to hold on to; the raft has bright lights that attract plankton which attracts manta rays. Just us and 20 or so also on the boat, including some that don’t bother with wetsuits.

The rays, two at a time, from 4 foot to as big as 10 foot wingspan, come up and turn slow somersaults right under us, seemingly a few inches below us, including a few times bumping THB to get at the plankton (visible in the light: floating jetsam?). We collectively float holding on to the pipe, with our faces in the water. This goes on for 45 minutes as we look down the throats of the rays as they come to feed. Pretty amazing….finally THB is feeling queasy, nudges DB and we swim back to the boat. $100pp with a $20 tip. Expensive and unique…and something that you really can’t do on your own, even this close to shore.

Book Review: The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obreht, Kindle edition (which maybe missing drawings). A granddaughter relates the fables as told to her by her grandfather. They are both physicians, and the grandfather was there to raise the granddaughter (who has a barely mentioned mother and no father). In real time, the story takes place after the breakup of Yugoslavia, specifcallly on the Slovenia-Croatia boarder. The fables are mesmerizing, the post-breakup situation well-drawn, and the brutality and superstitions and religiosity of the local characters very believable, no matter which timeframe is being described. Highly recommended

Day 4: Same-same

Ho’omaha loa

Weather: Ahhh, a bit of blue skies this morning and actual sunshine, even a modest breeze. That lasts until around 1pm, when the VOG settles in and the sky goes completely grey

Breakfast: Acme pumpkin bread, Arizmendi roll, exotic fruit, coffee, $5 by now
We opt for a walk, head south along the main road in front of the condo, loop towards the Sheraton (where the lights first attracted the rays many many years ago), then along the golf course, up to the shopping center for a Sunday NYT, $9.

This morning, in all its glory, we decide to try snorkeling again, just outside a refuge park area south of us about a half hour. It is a great spot, except DB has mask problems, most likely because somehow when we got here we switched masks and she has been trying to make the one THB usually wears work and THB has been having no troubles with the other mask. We should’ve figured it out earlier because THB should be wearing the mask with the prescription lens, obviously! THB snorkels the easy side of the cove, lots of fish (smaller than at Cap’n Cooks) and great coral.

Stop at another farmers market on the way back, pick up some terrific stone oven bread (this guy is competitive with Bay Area breadmakers: Bread Alone Hawaii) and a few more unusual fruits, and lunch on the deck: guacamole, tuna sashimi, bread, cheese, hot salsa and pita chips, and Fire Stone pale ale. By the time we’re done, the blue skies have disappeared again and now we are back to white again. And, of course, no sunset…the sun disappeared around 4 again.

We try to go for our usual Sunday night pizza (normally at LoCoco’s on Piedmont), Bernadelli’s in the mall across the street is closed on Sundays. Instead, we eat at a Japanese place in the mall, sushi at the counter with one of the more unhappy sushi makers we’ve ever encountered. THB always tries to humor a guy with a sharp knife in his hand, to no avail with this guy. Six pieces of sushi, one roll, two glasses of wine and one drink: $85.

Hawaii, Days 1-2

2011-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Day 1, December 1: Big Island, near Kona

Mahalo nui loa na ho'olaule'a me la kaua

Pics: Condo inside and out (including local insectopedia shots), bird preying on wrapped baked goods (as always, bonus points for being first to identify birds), views from the boat

Drive to SFO because our flight is leaving at 8:40am, too early to really use BART effectively. Get there in plenty of time, they board us early, we’ve got plenty of legroom in the premium economy seats, and then we sit….and wait….and sit….to find out that the captain is now informing us that they have found a few screws missing (hmmmm….sounds like a THB story, right?). An hour late, we’re up and over the ocean amidst some pretty strong winds. Later we find out how lucky we were, as flights were being cancelled all over due to high winds.

Land in Kona, spend a half-hour getting a rental car, then drive ever so slowly on Highway 19 (or is 11?) about 14 miles south to our house exchange condo overlooking the 8th fairway. Find a local market (pretty decent) a few blocks away and stock up on the essentials: Peet’s decaf French roast, New Zealand sauvignon blanc, local brewskies, POG, fancy crackers.

And, we are less than a mile from one of the best snorkeling beaches on the Big Island! Amazingly, our old masks and flippers still fit and appear to work as we take twenty minutes to give them a test.

Dinner at Sammy Choy’s, just up the hill from us, where they have an open dining area with a great view of the water and sunset. We get a real shocka: there is a green flash tonight!!! Damn…a first for us, though we were nearly there for one in Bonaire many years ago with S&A (A was there, the rest of us were off getting pizza). Hummus and pita chips, trio of seafood with brown rice for DB and an seared ahi salad for DB, three drinks (total, not each, that would’ve been another shocka), $90.

Day 2: Same-same

Aloha kakahiaka

Weather: intermittent clouds and blue sky, temps in the mid-80s, light winds

Ahhhh, imported breakfast items from Arizmendi and Acme…$10

At 8:30, right down the road from us, we board the Sea Paradise catamaran, with one other couple and a single woman who seems to know the crew, practically a private charter. Takes about an hour from here and we are at Captain Cook’s Memorial (see pic), a great snorkeling spot that comes with a bonus of leaping baby spinning dolphins (sorry, these fish are too fast for pics) and a profusion of Yellow Tangs, spectacular against the coral. Tons of other fish and, by the time we are ready to leave, tons of people. The snorkeling is about as good as THB has seen outside of Bonaire and a few choice Maui spots. We wear “skins” from the Bonaire era (15-20 years ago? In any case, before THB was THB), which both makes us more buoyant and provides sun protection. Will there be pics….hmmmmm…it ain’t pretty, our bodies are no longer the 15-20 year ago models.

The second stop is not near as successful, rougher and a bit cloudy and not near as shallow, and thus is a shorter snorkel. Plus, THB is starting to realize the mistake of eating a tuna fish sandwich between the two stops. Fortunately, it does not turn into a disaster. Breakfast and lunch included. Total for two of us: $125 + $25 tip.

Now the environmental update: in 2008, along with the rest of the world turning to financial shit, a vent opened up at the nearby volcano (where THB and DB visit in a few days) and has been spewing ash into the sky ever since. Unless the trade winds are favorable, there is a lot of haze("vog") in the sky, preventing things like good visibility, green flashes, and improving tourism. Now we understand why Sammy Choy’s staff was so impressed with the sunset last night and how we thought they were saying it was great that the fog cleared up…fog, vog, fog, vog, my sister, my daughter, my sister, my daughter.

Back to shore at 1pm, and then a rest before dinner. We try an early dinner at Huggo’s in Kailua and hope to catch the sunset. Vog!!!! Lot’s of vog (similar to a massive Monterey Bay marine layer) and.…no sunset. And, dinner is not so good: arugula salad, over-sauced ribs with mushy special fries and slaw, mushrooms and four drinks: $93. About every two minutes (sometimes less!) somebody comes by the table asking how we are doing, do we like the food, is everything okay...sad, trying to hard is pretty much worse than not bothering to ask. Plus we have to work hard to have them not rush us...and the place is over half empty when we leave. THB is having flashbacks (not so fond flashbacks) of how hard it is to get a good meal in Hawaii. Toto, we aren’t in the Bay Area any more.

THB is in the movies

2011-11-10T14:25:00.001-08:00

THB is in the movies

DB and THB are enjoying a vodka gimlet (not sharing, we each get our own), watching a DVD movie about the struggles of women balancing a life in art and life-life, when one of the artists in the movie (we own a few pieces by her, see pics) takes a trip with her family to see her work on display at a show.

The camera moves from the family making their way through the show to the booth where her work is displayed. Whoa...DB says, hey, that looks like you! Hmmmmmmmm...maybe....rewind...play it slow...yes, by gosh, it does appear to be THB...and, it must be a SOFA show from around 2008 (big show of sculpture, jewelry, objects, paintings, held annually in Chicago, New York, and now Santa Fe).

Make up your own mind: is it THB????

Note 1: two of the THB pics are from the movie and one is a current self-taken pic (pretty impressive camera footwork!)

Note 2: The pic at bottom is THB with friends at Pinnacles National Monument (almost a National Park), at the pinnacle...well, maybe near the pinnacle...or was it near the outlook...in any case, we highly recommend a visit to the bat cave!

THB goes to court

2011-11-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

THB gets a ticket and goes to court

Pics: The location where THB got his ticket, with live shots of some committing misdemeanors on their bikes, some in their cars, and one of an Emeryville public art piece

Act 1: In early August, THB rode his heavy clunker craigslist $70 bike through E-ville, running errands. On his way back, he was riding up to an intersection he had been through many times, a pedestian scramble. Seeing that the cars were stopped and almost no pedestrians, THB rode slowly (the only speed of the clunker) through the intersection.

Uh-oh, a siren, and quickly THB realizes he’s being pulled over! Not a big deal, he can put his foot down and stop. Alongside is a motorcycle cop! Hmmmmmm….maybe THB should have been more observant, more law-abiding, and maybe more cognizant that the temporary E-ville PD HQ was only a half block back.

Officer politely and firmly explains that he is writing THB up for a misdemeanor; does that mean there is a felony version of riding 3 mph through an intersection? THB shakes his hand, gets back on the bike and tries not to think of the 4,000 (more? easily more) times he has broken some traffic law while riding his bike, including the four times in the less than a mile it takes to get home after getting a ticket.

Act 2: 5-6 weeks go by, no official paperwork on what to do. So, THB makes a visit to the Oakland court system (riding his bike, of course) to find out what’s the next step. If you want to do community service instead of paying the fine, you have to go to court first. The clerk advises him to wait for the official letter and then make sure to be in line by 7:30…no, 7:15am. She gives him a sheet with the times and days open, some days there are morning and afternoon sessions.

The letter arrives, and the fine is $313. Wow, $100+ for every mph! And, a misdemeanor! Wonder what the felony amount is?

Soooooooooo, THB decides it is court for him, oh it is court for him!

Act 3: He picks a Monday since that is one of the double-down morning and afternoon days. Rides his bike over, arrives at 7:15 and finds 30 people already there waiting to get in. You have to go through security, which is supposed to open up at 7:45. Er, 8:00. No, 8:15…actually, today, 8:30. As they raise the metal grate in front of the clerks (talk about double-secure: glass windows with slots aren’t enough), someone makes an announcement using a microphone (from behind the glass!): This is the first day of a new computer system so please do not take the delays out on her clerks.

Sure enough, there must be 2-3 people at each station behind the glass, some watching the clerks, some using the mouse for the clerk (like the clerk that THB finally gets to talk to), some talking on phones (to the computer room?). THB has done this before! Damn, first day training of an on-line system…so, when THB gets to his clerk, he is hoping to see how it is going. It is going very slowly, is how it is going, and all THB gets is a pre-printed piece of blue paper and a courtroom assignment. That took 30 minutes? Yessssssss….it did!

Now another wait, outside the courtroom. A surly, you-people-hear-me-I-am-only-saying-this-once courtroom clerk (bailiff?) comes out and tells us: DO NOT TOUCH THE DOOR TO THIS COURT! I will tell you when the judge is ready. Okayyyyyyy…at 10, the judge appears to be ready. Well, not exactly. As we enter the courtroom, we see 10 people sitting in the place where attorneys and defendants would sit, lined up along either side of this inside-the-gate area. The judge is sitting looking at his computer screen. He is not touching anything or making any motion to enter data, just staring at his screen. Then a techie (well, some 35-ish guy in a short-sleeve plaid shirt and jeans and scruffy hair comes in and takes the judge’s spot, the judge scoots back, and both stare at the screen. Then the techie gets on his cell phone. Much staring at the screen. More staring at the screen. Time has slowwwwwwed way down. THB is familiar with this, too: the first day of a new on-line system!

THB is ready, he’s got his Kindle. Same courtroom guy (Clerk? Sheriff? Enforcer!) comes by: NO READING! Gosh, and no sleeping and no talking and no cell phones, just staring at the techie and the judge…and there is no air conditioning (first day for new a/c system?). Some form of purgatory? It is dawning on THB: he is a criminal! One of the worst kind: riding his bike at 3 mph through an intersection scattered with a few perfectly safe pedestrians. He is being punished, and before his sentencing everyone knows: THB is GUILTY! And, to prove it, in the 90% minority crowd, Marlowe and Chris look-alikes are there…bike riding tickets and big time drug dealing murderers? Racial profiling?

After a while, a printer cranks up and every 3-5 minutes or so a few pages are printed and one of the 10 in the front gets a little packet and leaves the courtroom. Hmmmm…what is going on? Did these guys show up Sunday afternoon for night court and get stuck here? Finally, the techie leaves, and at 11am one of the judge’s other assistants starts calling 10 people at a time up to the front of the courtroom.

Act 4: Then, one at a time, each goes up to the lectern and pleads: not guilty (come back for a jury trial), traffic school (is that a plea, on the sheet it is says it is not an admission of guilt), guilty or no contest. What does no contest mean? Is it better or worse than guilty? For a parking ticket? For overly tinted windows? For driving in the carpool lane without stickers or a second person? For driving while talking on cell phone?

THB decides to keep track: 6 guilty, 2 not guilty (“Are you okay with waiting over 90 days for a trial?” “Yes, your Honor”), 8 no contest, 1 dismissed (barely got her name out and the judge barks: “Dismissed, pay $20”), ½ proof of innocence (two tickets, other “guilty”)…then THB gives up counting....

First guy up wants to say that he did not know about the second violation…he sold that car a year ago. Judge does not let him drop that second violation. It takes 25 minutes to get through the first ten. It takes another 20 minutes to get through the second ten. Each time, after a plea, the person has to go and sit on the side and wait for a paper printout (this paper turns out to be the results of his/her plea and follow-up instructions). Finally, THB is called in the third group (10 at a time up front), and is the second person of the third group called to submit a plea. Only one person so far has had her ticket dismissed, so THB pleads guilty (THB IS guilty). THB is not sure what pleading No Contest would do…in any case; the judge reduces his fine to $233 and accepts community service as an option for working off the fine. Does guilt pay better than no contest?

Act 5: THB now sits on the side of the courtroom waiting for his paperwork. At 12:15, the clerk/bailiff/enforcer orders all of us waiting (now more than 15) to come outside and then says: you can wait for your paperwork or leave now (the only real option) and we’ll mail the results to you. What he fails to mention is that in order to sign up for community service you have to have your paperwork and report to Project 22 on the second floor. There are maybe 20 people still waiting in the courtroom that have NOT been called to the front yet...

Act 6: After 10 days, the paperwork arrives (are they testing a new "put it in the mail system'? and THB now realizes he has to return (on his bike, of course) for another discussion on signing up for community service. As most of you now realize, THB is going to use his Habitat for Humanity hours to pay off his fine. Is this fair? You “earn” $10 for every hour of community service and thus THB must work 23.3 hours (something tells me that a bunch of those doing community service have figured out how many minutes .3 of an hour is) to pay off his fine.

Over the course of the next two weeks, THB puts in 28.5 hours at HFH, and faxes his paperwork back to Project 22. After a few days, he calls to make sure he has paid his debt to society and is advised they will let the judge know that THB put in 28.5 hours. Extra credit? Will the judge approve of all those extra hours, get a smile on his face?

Epilogue: Final questions:
- Should THB have paid the $311 and skipped all the courtroom anguish?
- Should THB have figured out that they would implement a new computer system on a Monday? His Monday? Without A/C?
- With guys from The Wire there, looking smug?
- Should all people appearing in court be treated like convicted criminals?
- Should people waiting while a judge stares at a computer screen be allowed to read? think? dream?
- Will THB ever put his curiosity aside?

Postscript: DB and THB are walking through the same intersection a few months after THB got his ticket and sure enough, there is a guy on a bike slowly cruising through the intersection during the pedestrian scramble. THB points out that this was exactly what he got his ticket for. DB: you got a ticket for doing THAT?????? She had no idea, not exactly sure what she thought THB was doing...certainly not that! Something felony-ish perhaps?

Bridge in Ventura

2011-10-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

The short version: Tom and I played a lot of bridge!

Longer version: THB visits his parental unit in LA and they squeeze in a visit to Tavern for pastries, a tremendous bakery (and good dinners as well), see pics. THB then slides up the coast about an hour for four days of bridge in the scuzzy part of Ventura (about a mile south of the main pier and downtown).

On the first day, Tom asks someone he knows if he would like to partner with us in a team game...Billy agrees and finds Ginnie (they are "B" level players with 20 times the number of master points THB and Tom) and so on Monday night we enter in a knock-out (their master point level puts us in a medium challenging bracket). The first round is a round-robin and we beat one team and lose to another, so we get to move on to the next round (loser of two matches in the round-robin is knocked out).

Next round: we win comfortably, then we win again comfortably in the third round and we make the finals, against the team that beat us in the first round round-robin. This time it is different: you compare scores at the half-way point, we have build a huge lead, and they decide to concede instead of playing the last 12 hands... we win...DAMN!

The pic is typical of the winning team: Tom, Billy, Ginnie, and THB showing classic bridge tournament wear.

Semi-downhill from there, we play in another team game (Swiss) in two consecutive days in the evening sessions, and this time there are very few teams entered, so we get to play all the other teams. Almost all of the teams are "A" players...sort of like a pick-up game where the locals get to play against Kobe and Shaq, then move on to take on Dirk and Jason, followed by Michael and Scotty...and then maybe a local team. Made for quite a lesson.

THB's highlight: misplaying a doubled slam against a top pair (one of the guys is a famous bridge author). They make a mistake and THB doesn't take full advantage, missing his chance of eternal glory. Tom's highlight: making a great bid and then watching THB misplay it!

We also play in some pair events, do okay in our category, "C"...overall, it is a lot of bridge!!

On the road to London, 2012

2011-06-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Two shots from out our windows at E-ville of the remediation work on the Sherwin-Williams site, and our 2012 Olympics order forms, with 33 events.

Week Three, Tieton and Crater Lake

2011-06-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Week Three Highlights, Second Half, semi-abbreviated

Pics: In and around Tieton (including a golden eagle in a blue blue sky) and a few from Prosser, and several from Crater Lake (think snow)

Day 15: Breakfast same same but different, this time with bananas on the side, $25. We decide to depart, unwilling to face another rainy day on the Olympic Peninsula. Cost of the Lake Quinalt Lodge: $140/night (including a myriad of taxes, donations and fees).

Hit the road to Tieton: almost the entire ride of 4+ hours is in the rain and overcast, no views of either Mt. Rainier (on our left) or Mt St. Helens (on our right) as we flow through the valley between the two. We opt not to stop at Mt. Rainer NP, since it could be snowing (again) at any (lower) altitude and the mountain is heavily encased in fog/clouds (we sure can’t see it, and it’s huge). As we make it through the pass (and by a ski resort, there’s still plenty of snow though the place is closed), the sun breaks out, the sky turns blue, and the temperature soars into the low 60s. DAMN!!!!

More weather reporting: from locals’ lips to THB’s ears to your eyes, the locals everywhere are talking about how cold, rainy, and/or windy April and May have been in the state of Washington. Supposedly record cold, sometimes record rainfall (3” in one day in Yakima Valley), and lots of wind when it wasn’t drizzly and overcast. THB is not making up his view of the last two weeks, the locals are just telling him that he should’ve been here for the last 9 weeks to truly feel their pain.

We are staying (extended by arriving a night early) in a cottage owned by a Seattle jewelry artist, Lori Talcott. The place is quite cute, and a very good set-up, reminiscent of the Silver Jack Motel except way nicer - and no deconstructed cottage next door or an apparently abandoned gas station out front - hey, it’s nothing like the SJM, this is great!!!

Sharon gives us a tour of Tieton Cider Works (inside joke, it is one large garage and a pad outside for the crusher) and we taste several of the products, some from the tank, some from the bottle, two made from strictly from apples, one that used apricots blended with apples.

Dinner in Yakima, at the old Greystone’s, now North 5 (or is it 5 North?): shared chick pea salad, chicken ravioli (DB), short ribs and mashed potatoes (good combo) and green beans (THB), shared dense chocolate torte, drink, glass of wine and beer, $90.

Day 16: Wake up to blue skies, temps in the 50s and a stiff breeze from the north. Time for coffee and some Wagner’s cinnamon bread toast, then a walk around downtown Tieton. Since the downtown walk takes a total of 2.5 minutes, we decide to venture slightly further, out to the burbs (another inside joke) and apple orchards. Grape nuts and fruit for second breakfast.

This is it, boys and girls: A GORGEOUS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No rain, soft clouds off in the distance, mid-60s…AWESOME. Who sez the weather affects THB’s mood?

We drive south of Tieton (and Yakima) for about an hour to get to Prosser. There, about 15 wineries have congregated just off the highway in a small enclave. You park at one and can walk to the rest (some are just tasting rooms, most are the full winery with huge tasting rooms). We taste at 3 (or was it four…or five?) spots and eat outside at Bunnell Winery’s restaurant, Wine O’clock. Charred romaine salad, mole salumi (from Salumi in Seattle) pizza, ice tea, $35…all excellent. We’re done, except, our waitress is a temptress and gets us to try some of their top level rhone style reds and we throw in a viognier, three for $8. Then she brings us an extra red, then another extra red. She is very knowledgeable, clearly has taken some sommelier courses. We buy 3 Mouvedre and 3 of a rhone style blend called Vif (we’ve run into this before, these wineries make up strange names for the blends!), about $40/btl. Back to one of the earlier spots, Aviator, where we buy three bottles each of sauvignon blanc and viognier. This area seems to be predominantly red wine oriented, similar to Paso Robles.

On the way back: Mt. Rainier has come (most of the way) out of the clouds…tons of snow! OOPS, turns out that this is not Rainier, Baker, Hood or St Helens, it is Mt. Adams! Hmmm…

Dinner at Sharon and Craig’s: cheese and crackers followed by bbq’d salmon con salsa of olive, grapes, leeks and shallots, forbidden rice, succotash, and b’day “cake” for dessert (see pic; three of us hit 62 n the last 3 months), and a variety of ciders, and the Mouvedre. Excellente!

Day 17: Pastry from Panaderia: big fluffy torpedo roll, faux sugar croissant, and THB’s big surprise, a Danish with cream cheese and jalapenos, $2.60 (yes, $2.60). And, today is the warmest day of the trip (by far) with temps going into the 70s with little wind.

Another meet-up at S&C, Sharon and DB go for a walk in Cowiche Canyon and Craig fixes up one of his bikes and THB heads out on the most impressive mountain bike he’ll ever ride. THB manages to avoid the mountains, and stays on the trails, gravel roads, and regular roads without touching a mountain or a hill, just gentle slopes.

Lunch on the deck: chickpea salad with apricots, cheese and crackers, bread, cherries, and cookies. The cherries are from CA, and because of the wet weather hitting Stockton, maybe the last cherries we’ll get from Bay Area.

After lunch, Craig gives us a tour (on an ATV with flatbed) of the various orchards surrounding the house; they have 40 different plots with pears, apples, apricots, and cherries, in various planting styles (old fashioned, trellises in different variations, etc.). THB’s head spins…and that was before we get the tour of the spiral planting of trees (aside: if ya want an eclectic travel/outside art read, try Spiral Jetta) that is on the Tieton Cider Works logo.

Before we head to the Mighty Tieton gala (open house where Trimpin has his studio and the artist lofts open house next door), THB notices that the car has a flat tire. Sharon calls to the farm foreman, and a crew of three shows up to change the flat, with all the essential tools. That’s when we find out the spare is a brand new, never been used Michelin…phew, not one of those donut style tires (this is a 2000 Lexus with 64,000 miles on it). We’ll risk the remaining14-15 hours of driving with a dead spare.

In the meantime, DB has been all through the Mighty Tieton, and THB catches up. There’s not a lot to see, the Trimpin pieces are interesting: he makes large musical instruments out of odd parts and weird controls, and we heard him speak and play a huge assembled set of clogs in 2006. There are prints and photographs by various artists in the lofts open space, some of high quality. Sharon has a table set-up for tasting various ciders, a nice complement to the art.

For dinner, we head up to S&C’s, eat outside on the deck, Sharon has whipped up assemble-it-yourself (AIY?) chicken tacos, lots of various ciders, and pear cake and strawberries for dessert. DB starts to feel poorly, so we head back to rest up for departure tomorrow.

Then end to a lovely day (even if DB is feeling poorly, she appreciated the day); as they say here: the best day of the year…two days in a row!!

Day 18: DB is up and feeling better. We attribute late yesterday to tooooooo much sun. Noooooooo problema: today it is cool and overcast. And, as we head to Crater Lake it starts to rain, then rain hard, the soften and transition to drizzle…for hours. Summer is over, fall is here now!

Breakfast on the last of the Wagner’s cinnamon bread, coffee, grape nuts and fruit. Off to Crater Lake, with a stop in Bend for lunch at Hola’s, a Peruvian/Mexican place (fortunately, not raining). Enchiladas en mole para DB, the chile relleno burrito para THB, con una Hibiscus iced Tea, $24.

Arrive at Crater Lake, the good news is we don’t need chains. The bad news: there is a ton of snow all over (15+ feet high in places, the visitor center can’t open its windows, and there’s no point anyway), no walking or hiking, you have to come in through the south entrance (no circumnavigating the lake via car, the north entrance is closed), and with the overcast the lake is not that gorgeous deep blue in the pictures (we get just a hint of it in one corner when the sun comes out).

Pre-game snack of cheese and fruit with gimlets ($23) and dinner of salad and crab cake (DB) and chicken breast and veggies (THB) and a glass of wine, $65.

Day 19: Again up early, pancakes at the CL Lodge (DB’s are strangely extra sour), $20 with coffee. Lodging for the night: $227 (at least we were on the second floor with a view of the lake). And, of course, it is overcast and quite cool; since the Lodge is at 7100 feet, that drives the temps into the high 30s.

Long morning of driving (mostly raining, sometimes thick and heavy), lunch in Red Bluff (pastrami dip for THB, veggie burger for DB, iced tea, $27). Three hours of driving in the afternoon (some rain), and back to E-ville, in time for pizza dinner and bridge for THB.

Olympic NP, First half of Week Three

2011-05-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

First half of Week Three Highlights, abbreviated

Day 13: We prep the exchange house for departure, which doesn’t take a lot of effort: washing sheets and towels, and making sure we’ve got all our stuff in the car. On the way to the Olympic National Park, we stop in Olympia for lunch with an ex-Levi’s (THB) and ex-Wells (DB) friend, Ana. Lunch on the Sound; it’s low tide so we have excellent views of the mud flats. And, to remind us that we are still in the NW, it is grey and rainy (all day, no matter where we are today, all day). Salmon for DB, fish and chips for Ana and THB. And, because Ana is a locsal, we manage a stop at Wagners, a local German style bakery, for a Danish “crisp” and ultra sweet cinnamon bread (see pics)

Arrive at the Lake Quinalt Lodge (on Lake Quinalt, see pics from two days) for what is supposed to be three nights and most likely will turn into two as we are contemplating the lack of available hiking windows due to weather. In meantime, we take a short walk along the road (it starts raining on the way back, so the walk wasn’t quite short enough), then dinner at the lodge: soup and smoked salmon salad for DB, THB has pasta primavera, wine and beer, $55.

Day 14: Sweet potato pancakes (pancakes are good, not sure how sweet potato-y they are) and bacon, decaf, $22, in the lodge dining room. Then a longish drive into the NP to the Hoh River rain forest where, for the select few, THB is now able to buy a lifetime NP pass for…for…THB is embarrassed to say how much this lifetime (as long as THB is in the car, the car and everyone else in the car is free) pass is…it is $10. Yes, our government in all its wisdom has decided that the boomers with all their disposable income can visit any NP while they are still alive and get in for a total one-time fee of $10. TEN BUCKS! The fee to enter Olympic NP is $15, so we saved $5 on our very first usage of the lifetime pass. Oh, there is a catch: the pass is clearly labeled Senior Pass…so, ya gotta say you’re a senior from this point on.

And, for those of you wondering, since now THB (and DB) are the golden age of 62 (hey, why didn’t they call it a Golden Pass?), THB is collecting social security, direct deposit every month.

We take two pretty decent short nature hikes. The sun even comes out for a while (the only time today that happened). We see an elk (at a distance, see pic), a frog (nowadays a pretty rare occurrence), some sort of black mole (very unusual), and birds. Nature, and not just trees, is alive in the rain forest! Lunch is a picnic on Ruby Beach ($13 for DB, THB does top shelf from the cooler). The NP is huge and round, in the center of the peninsula, and then separately a ribbon running down the Pacific coastline, so we are actually dining in the NP. Dinner at the Lodge again, same same but different, $72.

Book Review: A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides, David Rohde and Kristen Mulvihill, Audio book. Another book that is dramatically enhanced by being listened to rather than read, because the authors take turns narrating their own sections, and their different voices really come through. Rohde, a NYT journalist, is kidnapped by the Taliban warlord he went to interview in Afghanistan as part of a book he is writing. His bride of two months, Kristen, and his brother, Lee, take on the effort of coordinating his release, from NY. David intersperses historical pieces on Afghanistan and Pakistan and Islam among the sections describing his captivity (7 months, 2009-10), along with his local guide and driver. Kristen gives a very evenhanded view of what it is like to negotiate the halls of US government involvement while trying to figure out what she and Lee can do to both protect David and his fellow captives while trying to effect their release (not easy to do!), and represent David’s family interests. Highly recommended, even though David makes a futile pitch in the epilogue for how to best solve the issues besetting this part of the world. (amazing, considered he just spent his half of the book explaining how complex the area is, even without US involvement). And, if you are one of those people that try to figure out if it is luck or skill when you see a compatible couple, this is a great book for realizing that sometimes it pays to be both lucky and skillful: true on David’s part, Kristen stood up big time for her hubby of two months…Kristen, not so lucky!

Book Review: Next, James Hynes, Kindle Edition. Believe or not, finished same day we wrap up A Rope and a Prayer. UH OH!! Unfortunately for Kevin Quinn, the narrator of Next, neither prayer nor a rope saves him. The entire book takes place in less than 7 hours actual time, in Austin, with Quinn in town for a job interview and, through memory associations in Ann Arbor, where Quinn has lived and worked his entire life, reviewing his adult relationships with four women. all while meandering around Austin prior to the interview. Fast paced, especially the last 20% which flies by, and much the male-oriented view of life (i.e., through his dick more than his mind or emotions). Highly recommended, save some free hours cuz you are gonna wanna finish without interruptions when you get past the halfway point.

Book Review: The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum, Geoff Wolff, Kindle edition. How can THB read so many books? Well, the answer is: THB is willing to give up on a silly book rather early (see Freedom). This is another one that THB cannot figure out how it got such a good review and thus made it onto his list. It is a send-up of the late 1800s, early 1900s exploration biographies (a genre THB thinks highly of, see the Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and others) and novelizations. It is too tongue in cheek. THB gives up very early. To provide balance, Wolff and his brother wrote memoirs of their childhoods, one spent with mom, the other with dad. GW’s book is The Duke of Deception (obviously dad), highly recommended, as is Tobias Wolff’s book, This Boy’s Life.

Seattle, Week 2, second half, words and pics

2011-05-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last Half of Week Two Highlights

Day 8: Slow start, since THB had a huge meal, stayed up for a while to aid in digestion, and got up way too early (because THB always gets up way too early). We had thought about making a trek to Mt Rainier NP and maybe a short hike or two below the snow line. Plans are flexible, right? Good thing, cuz DB looks at the weather report and the projection is for snow today….instead….

We run a few easy errands, and decide to walk neighborhoods. Ballard is first: we eat lunch at La Carta de Oaxaca, sharing a tamale lightly seasoned with mole and chicken smothered in a deep mole, both different and very good, fresh tortillas and tamarind aqua fresco, $26.

Then we wander around Fremont. Not much to report, both neighborhoods are very quiet. See pics, of the sky. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS, there’s blue up there! Oh, and since the temp starts out in low 50s, it was a bit chilly until early afternoon.

Decide to take it easy in evening: pupus and gimlets and an episode of The Wire, season 3 (skip season 2)

Day 9: DB is off to spend the day with SNAG conference, THB has a variety of activities. First THB picks up an art purchase from Grover/Thurston Gallery, yet another Terry Terrell piece (no pic, it is wrapped up). Then THB returns to the house and takes a bike ride along the Burke-Gilman trail. Ahhhhh, there’s nothing like taking a ride in the low 50s and the potential for rain. Then in the afternoon, THB plays bridge in a local sectional, finds a partner at the front desk. The guy is very nice, knows a lot of conventions, and OOOOPS seems to be at trick short on every hand. It is a very pleasant afternoon, we don’t score well…and it is raining big drops (and sunny) when THB leaves. Having not bothered with a jacket, THB gets wet.

Then we meet up at the house, and immediately turn around and drive back in Wallingford (remember Tilth? very close…), for dinner at Cantinetta. Another treasure!! Fava beans with shaved pecorino, rhubarb with gorgonzola and almonds, and three pastas: tubes with garlic, chard and chilis; linguini with meat balls; and tortellini with pork filling and charred ramps in broth. Why did we have three pasta dishes? Because they brought the linguini by mistake and THB tried it before deciding it wasn’t what he ordered. All great!! For dessert, warm doughnuts filled with hot liquid chocolate. All these dishes were superb!! Bottle of wine, total $120.

Day 10: Up early for a pair of house tours with the Art Jewelry Forum crowd, in town for the annual metalsmith conference. First, we just manage to fit in another breakfast at Macrina Bakery, this time at the location in Belltown. A gem!!! Brioche, plum snail, and morning bun, and a very weak decaf au lait for THB and … oh, yeah, DB had a triple shot latte (and some of THB’s pastry).

House tours: first a collector in a remodeled house in Queen Anne, with great views of the city and sound. Two of the local artists are there to talk about their work, one of whom, Maria, we had a tour of her gallery show and dinner with last week. House is small and on three levels, and the art looks great! Second stop is at a just-leaving-the-AJF board member’s house in Magnolia who, along with her admin responsibilities, is also a quiet accomplished jewelry artist. She has invited four just-beginning artists, and the five of them talk about their work and backgrounds. And, a house tour, where much of the art is jewelry extremely well displayed. And, she also has great views of the city and the sound.

After we return to downtown, we tour the outdoor sculpture garden just north of downtown; it is gorgeous out, sunny, (DAMN, SUNNY) and in the low 60s. Pieces look great….and we catch another wedding party taking their own pictures. Something tells me they had a pop-up wedding: the first sunny weekend day, let’s get out there and do this thing.

Back to the house to rest up, then back downtown to Restaurant Zoe for dinner. This was where we first stepped on the path to drinking hard alcohol, trying lemon drops. Ahhhhhhhhhh, what a great 5 years it has been! We share an arugula salad, and then small plates of gnudi for DB and a strip steak with extremely thin shoestring potatoes for THB, side of escarole, mandarin drop, lemon drop, and two free drinks on the house (just lucky, THB guesses?), $72.

Book Review: William Golding, a biography, by John Carey. A flattering, chronological, not toooooo psychoanalytic telling of the life of the guy that wrote Lord of the Flies and a bunch of other books that THB believes not too many other people remember reading. LOTF was his first book, written in his 30s while teaching school, and clearly his biggest seller (it is still going strong, 58 years later). It was rejected over and over, and the young editor that finally pushed to publish also saved it out of the rejection pile and fought for it. That made both their careers. The guy won the Nobel Prize, beating out Graham Greene at the time, which to THB seems bizarre. Actually, THB highly recommends Sherry’s bio of GG, read those volumes over this one….and, GG’s books, many of them spectacular reads, even today.

Day 11: Well, back to the norm, the sun does not come out at all today. Nada…zilch….total grayout. At least the temp hovers right around 60 all day. Ahhhhhhhh, the coldest (or is it the wettest?) spring on record (according to THB’s constant monitoring of the weather across this great land). Pre-brunch snacks of Macrina muffin (DB) and scone (THB)

Meg Ford comes over for brunch, bringing a leek quiche (leeks from her garden) and we supply the berries, cherries, and Macrina baguette (how can every loaf THB takes a pic of be missing a heel?). It’s good to catch up, Meg once spent a week with us (artist in residence, literally!) fixing one of the three ceramic/wood pieces we have (the stick figures, see pic) and is a sharp cookie. And, she helps explain the house layout that many of these Seattle bungalows share: Craftsman kits! Many have been expanded over time, and if they didn’t alter the roofline, then you get these sloping closets or minimally refinished attics.

After brunch, THB and DB visit the Frye Museum, the main attraction is a series of videos (and some of the clothes and props from the videos) by a group called the Degenerate Art Ensemble. Must be better in person, the videos are very flat and uninteresting (think Matthew Barney without Serra or Bjork guest appearances…or even with them).

THB takes another bike ride along the Burke-Gilman trail, a few more hardy souls today out there for a ride…one passes THB and comments on what a beautiful summer we’re having here in Seattle.

Dinner at Etta’s, right downstairs from our 2006 house exchange, with Susan B. Coho salmon (DB and SB), roast chicken (THB), spinach salad, grilled asparagus, drinks and a bottle of Newton Chardonnay (good!), $190.

Day 12: Another walk around Green Lake, puttering around, and then DB goes off for lunch with Karen (the person that hooked us up with our current exchangers 5 years ago) and Sally (from second house tour two days ago). THB goes off the Mariners vs Orioles, and with moderate sun (and no rain in the forecast) the giant roof is open (see pics). Lunch: brought sandwich and miscellany, one microbrew, $9.75. The game is mildly interesting…the M’s win, in a sloppy effort, and THB has been to the park before. Note the massive roof! Damn, it’s big! And, it is actually sunny (note repetition, why is THB doing that in an abbreviated update?).

Dinner with art jewelry crowd at Flying Fish. Sweet potato curry seafood dish for THB and tuna for DB, and a shared chocolate and ice cream dessert. With drinks and wine from Yakima, around $140.

Seattle Week 2, second half, pics only

2011-05-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Seaattle: Half of week two highlights

2011-05-24T05:57:00.001-07:00

Week Two Highlights, semi-abbreviated

Pics are art from our light rail adventure (and THB forgot to take the camera the next two days)

Day 5: We ride the newish light rail to look at the art, not easy unless a) you get off at every station and b) you realize not all the art is in the stations, some is a ways away! And, amazingly, the one gallery owner that is trying to arrange a studio visit with Akio gets on while we are riding back to downtown. We have been waiting for his e-mail with date and time. He sez he sent one…DB has not got it. This is impossible, how could we bump into the one person in Seattle that requires an unknown face-to-face reconciliation on the light rail, in mid-day, in a city the size of Seattle?

Lunch at Serious Pie (THB renames it Superior Pie). Great pizza (fiddleheads, roasted garlic, small bits of pancetta), including the guy sitting next to us sharing the last of his pizza, salad of shaved asparagus and wild greens and parmesan, Shared beer THB and DB, not with the guy at next table), $40.

Cider and cheese tasting (includes Tieton Cider, see week 3 highlights, if they ever get posted) at Quinn’s on Capitol Hill followed by dinner at Quinn’s with Susan and Alex. Susan knows everyone! While walking to dinner at another spot (closed) before returning to Quinn’s, we run into someone who works at the now-relocated Elliott Bay Books, who tells us there is a reading going on by the author of Crow Planet (highly recommended) then at dinner Susan, who does a ton of yoga, knows Claire Dederer, author of Poser (chic-lit, recommended), a book we listened to on our last road trip.

Day 6: DB’s b’day!!!!! Breakfast at Macrina Bakery on Queen Anne, scone, brioche, marionberry coffeecake, coffees, $16. Then a walk through the arboretum, lunch in Madison Park at Cactus (tortilla soup, corn tamales, ice tea, $27}, walk back through the arboretum, In honor of DB, the sun makes one of those rare appearances, after noon, and it is gorgeous the rest of the day and evening. Dinner at Tilth, in Wallenford neighborhood, we share small plates: crunchy cracker with cheese and date starter, smoked halibut with consommé, salmon and squash with consommé, three bean cassoulet, chocolate torte, strong drinks, three glasses of wine, complimentary glasses of moscato amabile, $170. Excellent!

Day 7: So much for carryover effect – it rains all day! Yep, spring has ended again and it has gone back to late winter (temps in the low to mid 50s). This morning, we decide to head to Tacoma to visit the Glass Museum, doing a walk anywhere doesn’t make much sense. It’s a great show, a mix of various pieces by artists that have done a residency, including one terrific gigantic piece by Beth Lipman (we visited her studio near Kohler a few weeks ago). Lunch at local sandwich spot and back to Seattle for a visit to Akio Takimori’s studio with Akio and his dealer (Jim Harris, the guy we ran into on the light rail!).

The visit lasts about an hour and a quarter, we see several ceramics pieces in-process and a number of pieces on paper, two of which we like a lot….no decisions made yet!

Nearby, we meet Sharon, Craig and Susan for a second birthday celebration, at Staple and Fancy in the Ballard neighborhood. What a great meal!!! We order the tasting menu, and proceed to see: crispy fried oysters, prosciutto and caramelized mini-cauliflower, beet and grapefruit and arugula salad, soft shelled crabs on crispy toast with garlic aioli, raw escolar with green topping….all great….and these were the appetizers! Next up English pea ravioli and pasta with nettles pesto, both excellent. Finally, the main courses: hanger steak and potatoes and the best swordfish THB has ever eaten. Phew, only 3 desserts: chocolate torte with ice cream, tangy key lime pie with ice cream, and soft whipped cheese cake with rhubarb on top. Lots of wine, and the tasting menu is only (truly a bargain) $45/person…and, we are treated, a very nice birthday gift!

Week 1: On the road to and in Seattle

2011-05-19T17:39:00.001-07:00

Week One Highlights, abbreviated

On way up, we stop in Redding for lunch, and DB remembers why we should be here… and then we see the top of a Calatrava bridge. We’ve seen several Calatrava buildings and spans, most recently the winged Milwaukee Art Museum. The bridge in Redding (see pics) is amazingly good, and there are a lot of people around. The weather may have something to do with it, it is a glorious (and for Redding, not too hot) spring day.

On the second day, with a local tip, we stop for lunch in Portland at “the trucks,” a permanent set of trailers hawking a wide and diverse set of choices. We opt for sandwiches and fries at Lardo’s (see pic), definitely a good choice for the quality and oddness of the sandwiches. And, not to miss a chance, THB finds his way to the Pearl Bakery for bread. Another top 10 bakery…highly recommended (see pic…heel missing!),

Our exchange site is about halfway between Green Lake and UW, near Ravenna Park. The house (see pics) is on a cute little street, just off two main thoroughfares in this part of town. Green Lake is about the same size as Lake Merritt, and our first day we decide to walk over and around. It is gorgeous out, a great stroll. The place is popular enough that they have divided lanes for walkers and those on wheels. And, if you are biking or rollerblading around, you are supposed to go counter-clockwise only! Tons of strollers, even a new-moms exercise class with the babes in strollers placed in a large circle with the moms on the outside.

For lunch, we walk south of the house, through Ravenna Park (really an urban forest on both sides of a ravine), though a very cute residential neighborhood. Many trees and shrubs are in bloom, this is about as good as the place can look. Also see a number of houses soon to be on the market. The housing season is about to open! We revisit the Henry Museum to see the Turrell skyscape, one of his better works.

In the evening, with tickets provided by our exchangers, we attend the World Series. Much to THB’s surprise, it turns out to be the ballet (how could a guy be that confused, it said very clearly it was ballet!). A group from Spain, the main guy danced for ABT for 20 years and then returned to his homeland to start a company. He and his sister dance the best number of the night, set to flamenco-ish music.

On day 4, it is raining, gosh what a surprise. We spend most of the day with friends in the Seattle art world, mostly gallery hopping. Lunch at Wild Ginger, not as good as we remember ($35), dinner at Vietnamese spot, Longs, with a family of four. Fortunately, we all survive past the point of Rapture, not sure the restaurant has recovered from the 3 and 5 year old…at one point, THB thought maybe we had descended to hell and maybe this is what it will be, eating endlessly with cheerful children switching seats to be the parent of the moment when not so cheerful. The good news: our waiter clearly had a great sense of humor and ability to overlook much mayhem, may he be in hell with us!

Note: we run into one and half wedding parties today, the first two went together! See pics…

And, a stop at the Dahlia Bakery (right next door to the Dahlia Lounge and around the corner from Serious (pizza) Pie and across the street from Lola’s, all owned by the same guy) for a loaf of bread that also somehow is missing the heel.

Day 5: Lay in with the Sunday NYT, then visit the Bellevue Art Museum, now back to rest up some more before watching The Wire and drinking our gimlets…ravioli from the farmer’s market and some of that heel-less Dahlia bread.

Days 9-10: Milwaukee

2011-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Day 9: Milwaukee

St. Louis is closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee is. Bud Selig

Our local tour guide knows Buddy Selig…and feels for the guy, he has such a tough job. He is a former owner working with his old compatriots to make those tough independent decisions. Oh, and his former co-owners (well, he’s sort of still an owner since his daughter runs the Brewers) have decided to reward Buddy as the top salaried commissioner at around $18 mil/year. Which means he probably makes more than most owners (if it is even close to true that many of the teams are losing money, which THB doubts), and way more than most players.

And, tomorrow we visit Bud’s house to see his art collection. Now THB is glad he is bringing in the big bucks, we should see some mighty fine art!

Today, a visit to the fitness center, breakfast in the hotel, cereal and fruit, $15. Then to Racine for the day: our first stop is at what might be the best small museum in the country, RAM. Now, THB is a bit biased because this museum has a huge craft collection, including art jewelry, and displays it well. We see work by several artists we own: Karen Koblitz, Patty Lechman, Maria DeSilva, Cynthia Toops, and several we wished we owned (particularly a huge Richard Shaw piece).

Around the corner for lunch at Shogun, one of those teppan counter places with the chefs that do weird juggling with spatulas and long forks and knives and eggs. Steak and shrimp for THB, DB has the shrimp and chicken combo, and somehow the chef at our grill figures out that THB is the guy that gets any leftovers. Hot tea, rice, veggies, soup, and a great scoop of ginger ice cream, included in the tour.

After lunch, more Frank Lloyd Wright (he’s very big in this area of the country): we visit a house designed for the Johnson family of Johnson Wax fame, Wingspread, which has all the classic FLW attributes: low ceilings, big open rooms, weird kitchens and small bedrooms with no closets, and some shaky structural touches. And, here, a lot of Canadian Geese crapping all over everywhere. And, temps are in the low 40s to high 30s, meaning the outside tour of the grounds is done mostly from THB’s seat on the bus.

Next up: a tour of the FLW buildings and a Norman Foster building on the Johnson Wax Corporation campus. For those of you that follow this kind of stuff, Johnson is a direct competitor to Clorox, where DB did many a year of consulting. Tour is good, one of the FLW buildings is a no-go zone because of lack of fire hazard exits, the Foster building is another antiseptic and well done rotunda (we have been in several Foster buildings recently, including the mother of them all. the new terminal in the Beijing airport).

Going away dinner in the restaurant in the hotel: chopped salad, steak and salmon, crème brulee (way too soupy) and carrot cake with a huge glop of icing on top. Included

Day 10: Milwaukee to Emeryville

He’s fully cocked in a pissed off position. Katie from the trip

Pics: The Selig collection and the Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Museum (it is really an extension, albeit a very unusual one) and work from the Museum

Book Review:: A Foreigner Carrying In the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Bomb, Amitava Kumar, Kindle Edition. THB started this book just before we took off on our trip, and finished it on the plane flight home. Timely, given the bin Laden assassination. A round up of how events post and pre-9/11 have impacted civil rights here and abroad. Nothing much new if you follow most of these scenarios, damn scary if you get caught up in the Homeland Security paranoia-will-it-ever-end news. In addition, Kumar focuses on the way art and culture are absorbing the impact, a nice overlap with an art trip.

Another visit to the fitness center and cereal in hotel café, $15. First up: a visit to Bud and Sue Selig’s house in a nice neighborhood outside of downtown by around 20 minutes.

Right away, THB realizes that this is going to be a good visit, there’s a Butterfield horse in the backyard. And two Jim Dine hearts, perfectly placed. And, just inside the front door, Bud is there to greet us! He’s off to work (he has an office in Milwaukee and another in NY; his wife spends a lot of the winter in Arizona, so something tells THB that Bud knows which teams to visit during the spring!).

As Bud departs, in comes the director of the Milwaukee Museum (which we are to visit later today). He does an excellent job telling us about the Seligs’ collection, and it becomes apparent that Sue and Bud have focused on contemporary art (post 1945), with many terrific pieces by well-known artists that are not necessarily the iconic work by each artist. Sure makes it more interesting to explore the collection and find out who did which piece.

And, THB gets to be the commissioner of major league baseball….for 5 seconds, sitting in the commissioner’s chair (see pic). Many rules are changed during these 5 seconds, including the following: World Series games on weekends must be played during the day; the Pirates are guaranteed a winning season; the Cubs are guaranteed a world series championship; THB’s seat at any game must be cushioned.

Back to downtown Milwaukee where we visit Barbara Kohl-Spiro’s condo (actually two condos combined, and with two kitchens!). Barbara is a local artist that was also our tour guide for this part of the trip. Many of her pieces are on the walls, and it looks like she sold a couple to members of the tour…nice! She is across the street from the Calatrava designed art museum, an easy stroll. The good news: it is brilliantly clear today and in the mid-50s, a great weather day by our current standards.

Lunch in the café: chicken sandwiches, cookies, Arnold Palmers, included. The café is at the edge of the lake, sort of like eating in the prow of the ship. From there we meet up with guy who is super knowledgeable about the art, including the FLW exhibition. THB skips hearing more about Wright, most of the stuff on display are models and drawings, in dim light.

The rest of the museum contains some nice work, including a huge Beth Lipman work (we visited her studio near Kohler, it’s great to see a major piece in a large setting). And, this is one exotic museum, designed by Calatrava (so there is even a Calatrava bridge, he’s done a ton of them including ones we’ve seen in Bilbao and Buenos Aires). The outside has a set of wings that flap open and close every day when the wind isn’t blowing more than 30 mph. That means we have not seen the wings open at all the first three days. Today, fortunately, it is cool and clear and not windy and the wings are open. Quite a sight, worth a detour (of more than 3 days? Not sure…).

Travel alert: when in the airport and going through the full scan, a TSA guy puts my wallet in one of our suitcases (can’t take it into the full scan thingee) and after getting scanned and then trying to reassemble everything, THB notices his wallet is missing. Much searching and little sympathy from the TSA crew, the wallet is found in a side pocket of THB’s suitcase. Arghhhhhhhhh…isn’t the guy dead now, can we go back to keeping our liquids in the bags and the shoes on our feet?

Now in Phoenix, and we unexpectedly have to deboard our through flight and transfer to another flight. Such fun….make it back by 10, just in time to hear the A’s have won again on a minimum of hits and runs.

Day 7-8: Chicago and Milwaukee

2011-05-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

Day 7: Chicago to Milwaukee

Wayne: So, do you come to Milwaukee often?
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers were coming here as early as the late 1600's to trade with the Native Americans.
Pete: In fact, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?
Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. Actually, it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."
Wayne: I was not aware of that.

Pics: Millenium Park (may at the “The Bean”), another Butterfield Horse, reform synagogue on outskirts of Milwaukee

Up early for another fitness center jaunt, then we have breakfast in the hotel restaurant: whole wheat pancakes with yogurt, yogurt with granola and fruit, one de-caf, $44 (and now THB is seeing the wisdom of daily trips to Fox and Obel).

Our last stop in Chicago is one of the best: a parks consultant that worked on Millennium Park on behalf of Mayor Daley gives us a walk-through. First we sit on the risers inside the Gehry pavilion, hearing gossip and background of how the park came to be, how Gehry was selected, how the art was chosen, and how friends of the mayor and big donors (most money came from bonds on the parking garage revenue and locals) influenced the outcome.

Then we stroll slowly around, getting more insights and picture opportunities. The Bean as the locals quickly dubbed it is really called Cloud Gate (by Anish Kapoor, the creator). Nobody calls it Cloud Gate; if you google The Bean up it comes with a map to the spot as the first entry. It is the number one attraction now in Chicago (maybe in the US?) and there are a number of pics included of THB taking his own picture. Next up: the Plensa fountain, another huge winner, where “faces” are coming out of the led-towers and then water spurts out of the mouths after 6 minutes of display. This may be the number two attraction in the US; when you add it to the Gehry Pavilion (known for its great outdoor sound – they have started to give two free concerts a day in the summer to meet the demand), you have what has now become the best urban park in America (maybe the Highline in NY? We haven’t been there yet…is it a national park? In the National League?). With the new wing of the Art Institute, this is close to as good as it gets….and the weather is terrific: 60s, clear, trees in bloom…awesome, dude!

Box lunch on the bus as we head to Milwaukee: tuna sandwich, huge bag of chips (not finished), potato salad (not eaten), gigantic cc cookie, warm iced tea, included.

We reach the first Milwaukee stop, the Lynden Sculpture Garden. Docents have been arranged to lead us around, THB lasts 2 minutes at the very first piece (Henry Moore) and realizes that having someone else explain art is not going to work, so heads off (DB joins THB after realizing that it is very cold and we can whip around)…see how fast the weather changes: in the space of about 50 words or 2 hours and 90 miles. It is now in the 50s and dropping, with a strong wind picking up.

In the bus, and we cross the highway to our next stop: a reform temple that has built a new synagogue in what appears to be a typical out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere office building. Quite well done, very understated, and pretty wall decorations done by a local artist.

Tour shoreline Milwaukee on the way back, plenty of large, old (not too old) houses, many of which appear to be for sale (between 10 and 20%?). We check in (chickendisk?) at the Pfister, a large old downtown hotel with very wide hallways. Nice room…

Dinner is at Buckleys, and they have opened up just to handle our group. Salads, saltimbocca for THB, mahi-mahi for DB, chocolate cake desserts, and all the wine and beer we can drink, included. Walk back again tonight to the hotel, this is maybe ½ mile at most.

Day 8: Milwaukee

St. Louis is closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee is. Bud Selig

Pics: Duchamp pieces in progress, the bathrooms at the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan

We have an early start today so THB decides to give the fitness center a pass. We dine on local pastries set up early for the group before we head to the bus at 8am.

We take the abbreviated (only 1.5 hour) tour of the Kohler Factory, which includes a stop to talk to artists in residence. Kohler sponsors two at a time, and they donate a piece to Kohler and the Kohler Art Center. One of the two residencees turns out to be a guy we saw in Omaha where he was in the midst of another residence, working in wood making odd furniture. This time he’s working on a porcelain piece of his father standing amidst a table (so the furniture theme is continued!).

The next stop is at the studio of Beth Lipman, a well-known glass artist who at one time was in charge of the Kohler residence program, right down the road from her residence (the one she lives in). We see several involved pieces in progress and hear a lot about the thinking behind the pieces.

Afterwards, we take a short ride into Sheboygan for the best meal of the trip, at Il Ritrovo. Mixed green salad (odd greens) with small mozzarella balls, tomatoes and a sharp dressing, two types of pizza (margherita and arugula with prosciutto), pasta shells with ragu, and cookies. Pizzas are terrific, as is the salad. A real find here, great local tip.

From lunch, we take a short walk to the Kohler Art Center, where the assistant curator lead us around, primarily through a set of galleries focused on memories. Very interesting…sorry, no photos, because the only place you were allowed to take the pictures was in the bathrooms, all of which were done by artists. Oh, there are lots of pics of the bathrooms, continuing a theme of travelsofthb. You want bathroom photos, THB has taken them.

Dinner at Carnevor, the practically self-titled steak place around the corner from the hotel. THB has steak, the others some form of fish or ravioli. Total with drinks and wine: $140

Days 5-6, Chicago

2011-04-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

Day 5: Chicago

It's hard to put your finger on it. You have to have a dullness of mind and spirit to play here. I went through pyschoanalysis and that helped me deal with my Cubness. Jim Brosnan

Pics: First two stops at artist studios, views from the Zell penthouse, a Duchamp box, an early Butterfield horse, and Green Zebra

Hey, what the hell happened here? THB got up early and rode the elliptical while debating whether or not the Queen’s outfit looked presentable for the live presentation of a hip young couple’s wedding (yeah, not bad, yellow with matching hat looked pretty good) and listening to the Violent Femmes sing about relationships). Then off to Fox and Obel for more warm sourdough bread (a shade below Tartine’s finest, which is say that it is a pretty damn good loaf), another raisin scone and a bran muffin, $7.

The morning was two studio visits:
• An artist that works on the top/fifth floor of a converted feather warehouse (processing plant for feathers?) and does large narrative pieces that border on paranoia/alternative views of political acts and “books” of the same nature. She had a very droll delivery in discussing her work and its content (think Sarah Silverman, a pretty accurate viewpoint of her and her of her work).
• A black artist that is attempting to resurrect a blighted neighborhood 10 blocks south of the University of Chicago. For this second visit, we arrived a half hour late as our driver had managed to put the wrong address in his GPS and our local guide didn’t catch that we turned west off the freeway instead of east. This took us through some of the poorer parts of the south side of Chicago (which means really poor, poor like portions of New Orleans after Katrina), where a high proportion of the houses seemed boarded. This guy is trying to seed his neighborhood with affordable housing, bring in some artists, get locally run businesses established that cater to artists and their buddies. He does a range of work, including “shoe shine” stands, signs, etc. We don’t see much of his work, this visit was really about understanding his large life-project.

Lunch is at Le Sardine, across the street from Oprah’s studio. We ate here many years ago, and enjoyed it. Today, we are ordering off of a smaller menu, and THB has asparagus soup and a nicoise (just okay) and DB has salad and the salmon, which she likes more, chocolate mousse and apple tart, ice teas, included.

In the afternoon, we have two visits to private collections:
• The first is to the 62nd floor penthouse of Sam and Helen Zell (yes, that Sam Zell, that owned the Cubs, Chicago Tribune and LA Times). They collect primarily surrealists, including a number of Magrittes, Dali, Kahlo, Gorky and others (like Picasso, DeKooning….) in a spectacular setting: high above Chicago, with awesome views on a clear day (hey, this was a clear day!). They have one of the few Duchamp boxes, which THB spends some time studying, and several pieces by a contemporary painter named Mark Tansey which THB likes a lot.
• The second is to Sandy and Jack Guthmann’s, they live in a wildly converted synagogue. TRUE!! And, on top of that, they have enclosed the backyard, so what they have is a house that looks down into another living space. Worth a detour just to see the layout (which THB is not doing a very good job of describing). They collect primarily large scale photography, and THB is very much entranced by many of the works. THB and DB do not collect photographs; if we did, THB would hope the collection looked a lot like this one!

Dinner is at Green Zebra, we are eating just the two of us (our two potential co-diners have decided to sleep in, at 7pm). Dinner is as good as we remembered, we’ve been here several times over the years. Vegetarian, and we have: a riesling poached pear salad, fettucine with grilled king trumpets (what is a king trumpet?), black bean dumplings, chickpea tajine (DB is definitely NOT allergic to chickpeas, at least not anymore), and slow-roasted shitake mushrooms with crispy potato and savoy cabbage, and a terrific chocolate bar with crème fraiche ice cream. With two drinks and two glasses of wine, $140 (and another $20 for cabs), and as good as we remembered!

Day 6: Chicago

Chicago - a pompous Milwaukee. Leonard Levinson

Pics: From the Roger Brown collection (including a piece by Jim Nutt), the group at the Art Institute, shots of Millenium Park

Another early visit to the fitness center, then DB is up and ready to go and we head off to Fox and Obel for the daily dose of bread: sourdough and morning bun (sugar and cinnamon coating) and two café au laits: $10.

The tour stops at a museum dedicated to a local artist, Roger Brown, a contemporary of Jim Nutt, who gave his house and all the contents to MCA. He was a hoarder of kitsch and much of it is crowded into the two story building. A bit too much butt-brush factor for THB (too much stuff, not enough room).

Lunch at Gage, across the street from the Chicago Institute of Art. Chicken sandwich (done buffalo chicken sandwich style) and fries for THB, DB goes for the scallops (and she was a lot happier than THB was, again), ice tea, included.

Then we have a guided tour of the new wing of the Institute, Renzo Piano the architect. The new wing now holds all their modern and contemporary art, and is well displayed. Great views of Millenium Park from the top floors of the new wing.

Then back to the room for a bit of rest before dinner. There are three of us tonight, we join up with one of the singles, Katie, and eat at Piccolo Sogno: artichoke and arugula and parmesan salads, branzino (whole fish), tortellini with artichokes and fava beans, and pappardelle with lamb meatballs, and a mini molten chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream, two drinks and a bottle of Italian Sauvignon Blanc, $190. The pastas were very good, as was the dessert. If you want a great branzino and terrific pastas, head to Riva Cucina in Berkeley.

Day 3: Minneapolis to Chicago, Day 4: Chicago

2011-04-28T19:32:00.001-07:00

Day 3: Minneapolis to Chicago

I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults. Kate DiCamillo

Pics: Aloft fitness center, Kiff’s studio building and work area

No fitness center today, we breakfast in the room on day-old Rustica pastry; not as good as fresh, still damn good. Ease on out to the airport, another full flight on Southwest, arrive in Chicago in time to meet up with Kiff Slemmons, a jewelry artist well represented in DB’s collection and a very nice person. She lives in the West End and takes us to lunch around the corner from her apartment (in a converted former printing business building) to a Mexican café. Hey, this is the alternative to the Frontera Grill: we have great tamales, chicken enchiladas verde, a very authentic soup, and free samples of chocolate cake with coconut icing, total $40 for three. They also sell bakery items, make good looking tortas (sandwiches) and are extremely friendly.

Kiff has been working for years with women in Oaxaca building up a jewelry business based on pieces made with paper elements. She knows here Mexican cooking…and, the same people own and run a taqueria down the street: La Lagartija. If you going to be doing the art gallery tour thing in this part of town, here are your restaurant choices!

After lunch, we visit Kiff’s studio (apart from her in-loft work area) in an old building on Michigan Avenue across the street and below the Art Institute, and DB manages to pick up a few more pieces.

Walk back to the Palomar Hotel where we’ll be staying for the next four nights, It’s meet and greet time with the other members of the Oakland Museum art tour, a few of whom we’ve been on other OMCA tours with before.

Oh, the weather! Oh, the weather! Cool in Minneapolis (they had snow flurries during the game their tonight), and in Chicago cold and drizzly. Ahhhhhhhh, spring is here….

Day 4: Chicago

The last time the Chicago Cubs won a World Series was in 1908. The last time they were in one was 1945. Hey, any team can have a bad century - Tom Trebelhorn

Pics: Around Chicago’s skyline from the planetarium, Soldier Field (from the moving bus), sculpture nearby (south of Millenium Park), art near and in Museum of Contemporary Art

THB gets up early and walks 7 blocks east to the Fox and Obel grocery market to snack the freshly baked sourdough, a mini-baguette that looks more like an overgrown sandwich roll, and a crumbly raisin scone. The sourdough was worth a 70 block walk (though not east, that would’ve put THB under quite a bit of Lake Michigan water). Two coffees from downstairs at the Palomar, $6.50 (yes, three different sized items for only $6.50…who says prices are inflating?).

Then THB also goes to the fitness center…can this be true? For about 30 minutes of riding the elliptical it is true.

First part of the tour today is taking an architectural tour of the lakefront, with a local guide on the microphone. Great views from out by the planetarium (and the recently deconstructed small airport that Daley had destroyed as one of his last acts as mayor). Then a stop to view an installation by Magdalena Aakanowicz, of 93 half-shell figures missing heads and hands (shades of season two of The Wire…skip season two, go straight to season three).

Next, we get visit the Museum of Contemporary Art where one of the main curators leads us through a show of work (mostly from the late 80s to current days) by Jim Nutt, an artist that started in the 60s, was part of a wacky (funk?) group based in the bay area for a few years way back then, and has been Chicago-based for the last 35 years or so. In his early work, Nutt painted acrylic on the back of plexiglass, so the images are the reverse of what he actually painted. Almost all the works in the show are portraits of women. THB would say that it has tinges of surrealism and cubism, and the long arc of the work is fascinating. After our tour, Jim Nutt arrives and he and the main curator of the Oakland Museum (who is along on the tour), and an old friend of Jim’s, have a conversation about the good old days when Jim was teaching at Sacramento State.

Afterwards, we get a chance to tour the museum where we catch another Oppenheim puppet (with a “liberty” bell that bangs the stationary puppet loudly every few minutes), Serra, Flavin wall sconces, and work that the Museum has selected from its collection that was influenced by Nutt. Much better than we’ve seen here in the past.

Lunch at Puck’s, the Museum’s café. Green salads with dressing on the side, a very mediocre pizza (how can that be at a Wolfgang restaurant?), chicken with purple mashed potatoes (pretty good), and so-so mini cookies (included).

Now it’s raining lightly, back to the bus for a short ride to the Merchandise Mart and the first of three visits to the Art Fair, a large group of galleries presenting a mix of contemporary and upcoming artists (with a few throwbacks like Mapplethorpe and Motherwell). This thing is huge, so the first visit is almost like the appetizer course, with nobody else in the restaurant.

After our return to the hotel and rest-up, we’re back to have “dinner” at the Art Fair, meaning this is more like being at a restaurant with lots of patrons, every table full, and nobody waiting. Dinner is a cheese plate with a two year supply of cheese, a hummus platter, a couple of extra rolls, wine and ice tea, total of $35 for three of us share above. Three hours of more art this evening and back to the hotel, in a slight drizzle.

Day 1 and 2: Minneapolis

2011-04-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Day 1 and 2: Minneapolis

Touch if u will my stomach
Feel how it trembles inside
You've got the butterflies all tied up
Don't make me chase u
Even doves have pride

…This is what it sounds like when doves cry

THB would just like to go on record that he and his mother do not scream at each other (for those of you who know the chorus).

Pics: Hung Liu work in Oakland Airport, the Aloft hotel (as DB sez: this is a hipster’s Holiday Inn Express), Rustica Bakery, art from the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Maya), trash cans catching the drips at Maya, and the Walker Center

Straightforward Southwest flights to Minneapolis from Oakland. Nominated for best airport art: Hung Liu, terminal 3; terrific flying cranes in glass. We meet up with another ex-Levi’s friend, Carol, for dinner at Haut Dish (pronounced Hot Dish…or is it chickendisk?). This is updated mid-west cuisine: steak salad (without the steak, iceberg wedge with creamy topping), char-cut (country style and smooth pates), ants on a log (peanut butter on celery wrapped in rice paper), mac and cheese (giant panicotti with crab), and lamb x 5 (done five very good ways!); dessert of banana sorbet and banana fritter. With local brewskies, gimlet and wine, $150 for three.

THB and DB are up early to use the fitness center, and then a real treat: visiting one of the top 10 bakeries (some list THB manages to find and hold on to…it’s somewhere around here). And, THB feels that the listing is correct: chocolate pistachio Danish, breakfast cake, ginger-lemon chocolate scone, dark rustic bread, two café au laits, $20. Then a to-go back for tomorrow, another$5.

From there, we slide over to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where we take in about 10% of the museum, looking at ceramics, modern art, and a couple of great shows of photography and drawings. Off to the Northern Clay Center for a show of Michael Simon’s work, very good. We meet up with Carol again, have lunch at the French Meadow Bakery, Cobb and nicoise salads, one drink, $33.

Visit the Walker, a great art museum, a terrific collection and again several excellent “theme” shows. That takes up most of the afternoon, and we find out the Twins game is postponed that night. A quick switch of plans, we decide to take in a play, Next Fall, playing at the Jungle Theater, with dinner at a Japanese Sake brew pub across the street. A nice doubleheader, the play is a bit schmaltzy and entertaining, revolving around a gay man in a coma and his partner’s interaction with the parents (don’t know their kid is gay), their old/current boss (candle shop) and ex-lover. Does belief trump sin?

Dinner is taro chips, skewers of chicken, pork and meatballs, bun with pickles, chicken and pork, beef and kimchee in lettuce leaf, sake and sake mojito, $90 for three.

After the play lets out, we notice that a) it is no longer raining and b) the temp is dropping to slightly above freezing. Ahhhhhhhhhh, can’t you just smell that baseball is in the air…it’s Springtime!!!!

Day 1 – Travel Alert number 2

2011-04-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

Day 1 – Travel Alert number 2

I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain

It rained purple all of the night and all of the day…purple rain everywhere, thank you Prince

Game postponed until Thursday night. THB and DB are in Chicago on Thursday night and thus will not be attending the Twins – Tampa Bay make-up game. Thus THB will not be attending a game in his 44th different major league park. Not this trip (here are where the sobs go….let them purple tears fall, now)

THB and DB will be coming back to Minneapolis. Not this year, probably next when the Weisman Art Center re-opens.

The structure in the picture is the Twins old stadium, the Metrodome. THB has seen a game there. What is missing is the Metrodome’s roof, caved in during a massive snowstorm this winter. It is across the street from our hotel. Nobody sheds any tears for it, except when the new stadium is unplayable.

Day 1 – Travel Alert

2011-04-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

Day 1 – Travel Alert

I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain

Identify this structure. Why is it important to THB’s trip? What happened here?

Day Zero: Oakland

2011-04-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Day Zero

Just to whet your appetite, here are some shots from the inglorious, rainy, horrible-for-baseball Oakland Coliseum. Our trip to the Midwest includes a baseball stop in Minneapolis, the on to Chicago and Milwaukee with the Oakland Art Museum for a more cultured view of life and maybe decent weather….maybe?

Day 38-39-38: Sydney to E-ville

2011-03-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

Day 38-39-38: Sydney to E-ville

Pics: The last utility box, fitness center, last bird, and home cooking and sleeping

When we left Sydney the first time, we had about $150 on us, figuring that would be enough to tide us over for a day, particularly since Jane was having us over for dinner upon arrival and the hotel was prepaid (Vibe, $155 for a small room and $10 for internet).. HAH! $41 cab ride to Jane’s house (and she’s closer than downtown to the airport) and a $40 breakfast have us thinking we need to find an ATM!

Breakfast at Bill’s is a revelation. DB found it through Time Out magazine, it’s only about 10-15 feisty minutes walk from the Vibe. Since it is already 8am that means it is starting to steam. DB has banana ricotta pancakes and a flat white, THB goes for the best scrambled eggs around (DB breaks his bubble and explains that they have cream whipped in), avocado salsa and dry Acme-style sourdough toast. Yes, this is an exceptional breakfast….$40.

We attempt to walk around Rushcutters Bay and decide that going back to the a/c hotel room makes more sense. It hits near 90 today, and the humidity that the Sydney-ites claim doesn’t exist is back. After recovering, THB decides to go to the gym and workout. There’s nothing quite like 30 minutes on the elliptical in sauna-like conditions while facing a sign that says: Please leave the doors closed, the room is air-conditioned. NO, IT IS NOT AIR-CONDITIONED….it might be air-blown, it is not a/c’d.

Bill’s was so good, we head there for lunch and some art gallery visits. Burger for DB and chicken schnitzel and ginger cordial for THB, $50. It ain’t cheap here in the big city (how big? In front of our hotel, slightly off the beaten path, are two one-way four lane roads). See some very good art in a couple of galleries nearby (sweating all the way) including some work that is exceptional (and exceptionally priced at $45-60k).

Cabbie to the airport complains about how the shuttles are stealing his business and proceeds to crawl through the slowest route to a $47 fare and is irritated that there is no tipping here. Plus, hey, he’s a Kiwi!!! Another example of someone leaving behind NZ for better work. Because we charged lunch, this means that we’ve managed to spend all the remaining cash

United unfortunately has sold out business class, so no upgrade. We’re in premium economy seats, with lots of leg room and because THB switches seats due to a faulty light, we have a seat between us. Reading is at peril, along with no lights on the first seat, THB’s kindle goes baflooey part way through the flight, so DB is very generous and lends him her kindle and THB then starts a Jack Reacher.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, home at last, another great travel partnership, DB now only has to worry about navigation, THB can go back to driving down the middle of the road again, no worries, mate.

Day 37: Oamaru to Sydney, aka heat and humidity

2011-03-03T12:15:00.001-08:00

Day 37: Oamaru to Sydney

Pics: The last NZ sunrise, giant chicken just after dawn, our prop plane to Wellington, banks now offering frequent flyer miles if you switch your credit card debt over to them, and our room at the Vibe hotel has to put the chair somewhere

Breakfast same-same, a few items to add to the last minute packing and a 7am departure to the Dunedin airport, arriving shortly after 9am for our 11am flight to Wellington. Another “no worries, mate” car dropoff. Arrive in Wellington on time, lunch on decent stir fry plus a manga lassi, using up $27 of remaining $32 NZ dollars. Then notice that our Air NZ flight to Sydney is not on the board…it has been delayed for 1.5 hours (awaiting the arrival of the plane from Sydney). DB gives a call to Jane in Sydney to let her know we’ll be late for dinner. Hey, our NZ phone makes international calls! And, we have enough pre-paid to cover it.

We make it to Sydney in time to have dinner at Jane’s, a very nice affair with her friends from Ireland who left Christchurch just before the earthquake on their tour of NZ. Jane shuttles us to the Vibe Hotel, where we collapse for 8 hours trying to avoid changing time zones too much. Oh, and Sydney is same-same: hot and humid…

Observations:
1. THB is a true cell phone novice: the phone has apparently been in silent mode for a month and when someone called us we wouldn’t know
2. The airports are small and well appointed, easy to get through security (what little there is of it…none on domestic flights) and of course relatively few people
3. It has been very pleasant traveling when few teenagers are out and about, we’ve seen very few except during US ski week
4. THB is convinced that if they spoke primarily Spanish or Italian here, the place would be totally abandoned by the Brits (“it’s a long way to come”) and Aussies who most likely would have few relatives here and no ease of communication
5. Most every complementary serving of coffee and tea comes with biscuits (cookies)
6. It is hard to imagine where the working people dislocated by the Christchurch earthquake are going to end up. For example, most of the SI distribution of bread is through Christchurch, and for a few days bread was being rationed on the rest of the island. Will that be changed?
7. We didn’t see a lot of dogs being walked, not sure if they are only let out in the backyards or if there is a sense that dogs are pests or workers and not widely kept as pets
8. This is a very casual country: only in the big cities did we see guys in ties, rarely in jackets or suits; after work hours, we only saw guys in suits a few times, and only once where it didn’t seem to be a work dinner event
9. There may be only two four-lane motorways in the entire country: between the Auckland airport and downtown and just south of Dunedin.
10. Without the earthquake, the front section (front page!) of the newspapers carried stories of little consequence: Pet gone missing; B’day party goes awry; Couple refuses to pay overdue parking tickets…strong personal interest stories!

Meditations, Part 3

2011-03-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Meditations, Part 3

Are there any native NZ’ers? Very, very hard to tell. We meet very few that are working for a living (i.e., they work for others). We meet some that own the places we stay in. We’ve heard a stat that 4 million live in NZ and 1-2 million live elsewhere because of the low wage scales here and the nature of the seasonality of many service sector jobs. They move away to find work and a better standard of living. Most of this is just the nature of what a tourist runs into, and much of it is pretty damn unusual. It is hard to imagine foreigners (though English speakers) in many of the tourist level jobs we have run into in our US travels (or India, or Japan, other than guides to help translate). On top of that, this is basically a white country, very few people of color: numerous Maori in some spots like Rotorua, then non-existent many other places as best we could tell; Asians near universities in Auckland and Dunedin, then almost none anywhere else. Almost no blacks.

Is NZ pretty? Sort of challenging the obvious, no? It is green, that’s for sure, even nearing the end of their summer. NZ gets plenty of rain, there aren’t a lot of people gumming up the vistas, the vistas are long, the air is pristine (even in Auckland, the only real city by US standards, with a bit over a million people), there is a ton of beautiful water everywhere, the sky at night (when clear) gives great to over the top star viewing. Several of the long drives were nothing short of spectacular, from near the beginning right up to near the end. And, we took our time and did a lot of looking.

Sounds pretty special…yet somehow THB feels stuck in the 50s a portion of the time. The architecture is pretty tame to downright drab and shabby (and semi-legislated that way with the overhangs required on top of the sidewalks, thus breaking up the view of the buildings and along the streets). The country is pretty much green farmlands (not bad, just same same). On the hikes you can mostly hear the birds and not see them. We’re late in the season and the wildflowers we see are very similar to much of what we’d see in the US growing as weeds on the side of the road, nothing too exotic. Glowworms are pretty nifty, and if you’ve seen 100 glowworms you’ve seen them all (and there are a number of tourist attractions built around them). It is semi-tropical without the benefits of places like Hawaii with huge diversity of plant life. The rows in the vineyards are covered in mesh as the grapes near maturity to protect from the birds, which creates sort of a dumbed down grey mush as you look at the vineyards up close or from a distance.

And, there is such a range of natural beauty, from pristine beaches with clear aquamarine water and white crashing waves to tall alp and granite mountains dusted in snow, tons of gorgeous lakes, gorges, rivers, places that remind THB of Tilden Park, Sonoma in spring, Pacific Coast Highway from Carmel to Cambria, Patagonia (not the glaciers, the glaciers in Patagonia, if still there, are still tops), and that leaves out the unique formations we haven’t seen elsewhere.

Finally, maybe it is the expensive tourism that seems to undercut what you can do on your own. Walk to the front of the glaciers: free. Walk on the glaciers, $125 for a half day. See it up close and personal: take a helicopter for $320 for 2 hours worth. And at almost every attractive spot, that’s what’s on offer. Pay, pay, pay and get to see it up close or really close. Do it from your car, just the cost of the rental and the gas. It made for quite a contrast to the national parks visits. Not sure, it probably is not apples and apples.

Two views of $$: plan ahead and stop complaining, don’t plan and complain. Did THB really bring this up? This was a trip of reasonable costs in a large sense: cheap flights and relatively inexpensive upgrades if available, reasonably cheap rental cars, ten of the 35 (or was it 36? 37?) nights in home exchange or home stays. Many nights in touristy areas in above average accommodations at decent prices (e.g., 4 nights in a one bedroom apartment in The Rocks in Sydney for $240/night, inclusive of taxes and fees…a bargain for that much space!). Most breakfasts included in the room rates or purchased to eat in (weet-bixies anyone?). Many places with free wifi…another aside: THB watched almost no TV outside of the Aussie Open at the very start of the trip, and bought zero newspapers and magazines. Paying for wifi or internet usage seems like the olden days when at some hotels you had to pay for cable TV, and every place just includes the TV/cable in the room rates now…hopefully we are not that far from when wi-fi is also considered a price of entry. So at the places that didn’t provide free wifi, THB found himself resenting it.

And, then two nights at Blanket Bay Lodge and one night on the Doubtful Sound. Big (really big!) ticket items and, while pricey and maybe too pricey, very special events in spectacular settings.

And, except for the Doubtful Sound (unplanned when we left oh those many weeks ago) a great tip over Milford Sound), what is THB complaining about. Well, THB does have a trait of always trying to see if something is worth the cost and, if the cost hasn’t been spent yet, mulling over whether to spend the money or not. And, here in NZ, it seemed like there were plenty of opportunities to spend extra dollars. That led to a few moments where DB tried to get THB past the cost to see the value of the experience. DB’s advice: budget the trip ahead of time and use that as a guide and measure against the guide as you go or don’t complain. Hmmmmmmm…..don’t complain?

DB has the final word: hey, this isn’t an expensive trip, we didn’t buy a big piece of art!

Meditations, Part 2

2011-03-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

Meditations, Part 2

Ratio of visitors by nationality (or language): Aussies and Brits make up what seems like 80% of the visitors, Dutch and Americans probably another 17%, a few Kiwis, Germans, Japanese, and very few French, Indians, and Malaysians the rest. Most of the Brits complain how far it is to come, yet come they do. Clearly, speaking the language (or nearly so), makes it more comfortable for them, plus there are the fixings of tea in every hotel, motel, homestay, farmstay, home, cottage, overnight room with the exception of the boat in Doubtful Sound.

Rental cars in NZ: THB thought he was saving money by renting from the low cost provider, Apex, on both the North and South Islands. And, this turned out to be true until the earthquake happened and, with restructuring the itinerary, the (third) Apex car went back early and THB should’ve read the fine print: the policy is no refunds, pay up front. Ah, one way to be the low cost provider! Another learning with Apex: the local pick-up spots appear to be franchises and have some control over their inventory as does the national office. Oops, the national office turns out to be in central Christchurch, so after the earthquake you got referred to the Christchurch airport location. Needless to say, they weren’t the proficient folks that THB talked to before the earthquake, nor were they, understandably, in much shape to provide cheerful customer service.

When we picked up the rental car (our fourth) from Europcar, the Aussie (all service people are apparently not allowed to be Kiwis) guy very cheerfully offered us two levels of insurance: $25/day to limit your liability from $3500 to $2000, and for $35/day you could get the no worries, no liability at all coverage. THB hears a loud voice going off in his head: THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS A DAY, YOU CAN RENT A CAR PER DAY FOR THAT! As another ex-pat said, it almost made you want to take the $35/day and have a royal smash-up right quick. A big smash-up…

Country driving: courtesy, one lane bridges, stop and give way, GPS, winter and road repair: How many kilometers did THB and DB drive? It’s not like you turn in the car and they give you the before and after numbers on a contract. Apex doesn’t really do contracts, nor do they really do final reckonings, they barely collect the keys (and sometimes not even that). Sorry, got sidetracked….THB guesses something like 2000 -2500 miles. High? Low? Damn…probably low…lots of mini-trips that boosted the miles up there.

Overall, staying on the wrong side of the road was pretty easy because every time THB wandered to the right DB would remind him that he was not where he should be and more importantly the car was really not where it should be. The few times THB drove without DB, it was actually a lot more nerve wracking, since now THB could be both on the wrong side of the road AND going the wrong way (yes, this happened). DB, as always, did a great job of getting us to the right spot. The GPS helped, mostly (as we had been warned) in the towns (K&E: THANKS!!!). Once you are on a road from one famous spot to another, there is pretty much only one way to get there (same-same for US in the Southwest).

There is a truism about driving anywhere: there are two seasons, winter and road repair. It’s true here, we saw lots of patching going on, and in general the roads are in very good shape. And, drivers respect the work being done and slow down as appropriate. In general, drivers here are pretty courteous. Ah, the reason for that: most of the drivers outside of main areas are tourists who don’t want to damage their cars since they have waived the insurance! The locals drive like maniacs!!! They have something here called Give Way. That means that as you come up to a turn you can ease out and gun the engine if you think it is clear. HA! For the Kiwis, that means you go way out there assuming the road is always clear. Sort of like exaggeratedly fast California stops. Very intimidating if you see some car coming up to you on the perpendicular, because now doubt has set in: are they gunning it or stopping? Needless to say, the idea of a stop sign them becomes ridiculous; THB suspects that Kiwis dig them out and replace them with Give Way signs whenever the three traffic control people (the entire country’s allotment) are looking the other way. And, there are plenty of rotaries, and THB loves them. As long as you remember to always go left to get on, they work really well. Combined with the Give Way mentality, sometimes it looked like a start to a race: gentlemen, rev your engines when approaching a rotary.

There are also a number (many….1000s) of places where the traffic narrows to one lane. Not one lane in each direction, that’s pretty much everywhere; one lane for both directions. One direction has the right of way (solid line with arrow) and the other doesn’t (smaller line, usually red). Only a few times did DB have to point out to THB that he did NOT have the right of way (what sign? THB did not see a sign…what sign?). And, along with Give Way, the Kiwis pretty much assume they have the right of way unless proven otherwise while the tourists (THB not the only one) assumed it was always better to stop and look before moving on (remember, most drivers have waived the insurance…and the few that haven’t have taken out the No Worries version that means they can gladly total their car).

Finally, THB has decided that (along with old age), these drives are a lot more pleasant if there are no cars in front or behind, so he has become the ultimate nice guy: the one that pulls over when being tailgated or slowing down to leave 20 car lengths between him and the car in front. Now, that is actually not a huge concession because in the Southwest and NZ in the mildly off-season there aren’t that many cars on the road. In any case, these two driving trips have been very rewarding, whole days with massively beautiful vistas.

Finally, it does appear that gas costs here are just like everywhere but the good ol’ USA: high. A fill-up on our dinky little 4 seater Tiida (say, what?) was close to $60. Must mean either the tank is 40% of the available space in the car or the price of a liter is pretty steep (bet on the latter).

Meditations, Part 1

2011-03-01T20:40:00.001-08:00

Meditations, Part 1

Light switches: What can THB say about light switches? Damn, they are everywhere here, including a switch over ever socket (so if it is a plug where you can plug in two separate devices, there are two controls right over the sockets). So, often, THB would plug in something (computer, chargers) and forget to flip the socket control. Or forget that maybe there was a control switch on the wall. How many ways can you protect yourself from actually getting something to turn on? We rarely (never) stayed anywhere that in one room didn’t have more controls for the plugs than we have light switches in the loft (there are 8 light controls for the entire loft). That is one room in NZ greater than entire living environment in E-ville. Why? THB is perplexed…how can it be saving energy, doesn’t the usage start when a device is turned on AFTER it is put in the socket?

Wines: THB thinks that the reds in this area are basically priced at about double (or more) what we would pay for a comparable wine at home, so his cheapness is keeping him from drinking the good stuff: a $90 syrah or pinot noir here is the equivalent of a $35-45 bottle of Californian wine, and the $40 and under bottle here is not all that drinkable (ie, probably not sold) in California (or not bought by THB to be drunk). THB did not have the time to search out the best buys, so this is strictly one blogger’s opinion based on very limited experience. We did much better with white wines, in the $15 to $35 range.

Department of Medical Conditions, an update: THB has essential tremors, which the doc says is way better than having non-essential, unessential, or inconsequential tremors (or Parkinson’s, which also would not be good). When we had dinner at Saffron in Arrowtown, the amuse-bouche (in this case not only not-so-amusing, also not so good to be a jump in the mouth) was a purple egg yolk thing wobbling in a small spoon. When the waiter left them off at the table with a small flourish, DB politely pushed the tray with the spoons of these purplish wobblers towards THB. THB shows his gratitude, skooshes up the wine list in front of him closer to make room for the tray and proceeds to watch his purple wobbler leave the spoon just as he begins to lift the spoon (most likely having essentially tremored the spoon and bumped the wine list simultaneously). Now the wobbler, having miraculously not broken out of the yolk sac, is sitting on the wine menu. THB is not looking at DB, he’s concentrating on the wobbler; something tells THB intuitively to not look up, stress only increases the tremors. Somehow, THB nudges the wobbler back on to the too small spoon, and even more amazing makes it into THB’s mouth, where it explodes into tomato juice. An amuse-catastrophy-bouche avoided…as an aside, sometimes THB finds his fingers jumping all over the keyboard, pounding (or attempting to pound) on the keys outside of his control. This should stand as the explanation for much of what gets written for the blog: essential tremors as literature.

And, dyslexia must be rampant in NZ. There is absolutely no consistency on which was hot or cold works on the faucets. Sometimes the H and C were even reversed on the faucets (not sure why). At least the turn signal on all four rental cars is on the right hand side (away from the gear shift).

Day thirty something

2011-03-01T14:14:00.001-08:00

Day 36: Oamaru

Last full day in NZ, so the last NZ fact and quiz, all rolled into one:

New Zealand Facts

The Treaty of Waitangi comes in three versions: the English, Maori and the English translation of the Maori version, which is slightly different to the English version.

Which version is the following, the English version or the English-Maori-English one?

Her Majesty Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland regarding with Her Royal Favour the Native Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and anxious to protect their just Rights and Property and to secure to them the enjoyment of Peace and Good Order has deemed it necessary in consequence of the great number of Her Majesty's Subjects who have already settled in New Zealand and the rapid extension of Emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorized to treat with the Aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands.

Pics: DIY bath, sunrise, pics from local hike (appropriately named given the dropoff to rocks below), penguin mania, more Oamaru buildings, steam punk going diesel, Oamaru walking committee

Weather: Unusual, clear with Santa Ana winds (means quite windy with warm to hot temps for those blog followers not familiar with this terminology), more warm than hot

Just to reiterate (like there aren’t enough words already in the blog), the Harbour View Cottage is terrific: a great view, fully functional, close to town without being in town, a nice place to lay up for a couple of days, a very nice final (inadvertent) stop before leaving NZ.

Breakfast of toasted sultana bread and fresh ground coffee, a hike over the hill and through a pine forest to a path that hugged the cliffs down to the pay for view penguin arena and on to the bakery in town. We decide that the pay for view penguin show is not for us (and, we saw them last night on our own): they basically herd the penguins to a path that leads by the viewing area to a gate that opens up into their nesting area. Hard to imagine doing that to too many wild animals under the name of conservation (THB saves $40!).

Second aha moment of the day (it’s only 10am): the best bakery in town puts out yesterday’s (or even earlier?) pastries, and not to the improvement of the pastries. Sad…very sad; two dead pastries and two flat whites, $16.

Third aha moment (it’s now 10:20am): Loan & Merc, Fleur’s second (or is it third, if you count the caravan?) restaurant has a sign up that they are closed for Staff Training. Damn….DB calls when we get back to the cottage and they may open up later in the day. What else can happen?????

By lunchtime, Loan & Merc is not open and Katie has managed a rezzie at Fleur’s Place for 6 of us, so that takes care of dinner plans. We dine at a café in town on grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches and bottled ice teas, $18.

Another shot to see the yellow-eyed penguins from the bluff, no go. Too early, apparently. We agree that it doesn’t matter, even with strong binocs from HVC we won’t see much detail, the distance from the viewing area to the beach is too strong.

Dinner at Fleur’s Place turns out to be very disappointing. We share baked sole (supposedly the whole fish, instead we get very dull fillets with a flat sauce of capers and lemon that turns out to be more of a bordelaise) and seafood chowder with almost no taste. Same for the veggies that came with the sole, overcooked. Dessert was decent, a Crème Brule with poached plums. Katie and Tom had the same as we did, a different dessert, and the boys shared pasta and a dessert. Chard Farm Chardonnay. Total: $180

And, we find out what happened at Loan and Merc today from Fleur herself. A long story, of which THB understands very little, about the three chefs not getting along and Fleur saying there will be no hiring of a maitre d, so they, as Katie put it succinctly, had a “time out” today for the staff to work on getting along.

Day...sometime in the 35th millenium

2011-03-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Day 35: Dunedin to Oamaru

Pics: Sunrise at the Brothers, Brothers from street level, the steepest street sign, Fleur’s Place and lunch, baseball rocks, Oamaru cottage, punk from around Oamaru, a yellow eyed peguin

Breakfast same-same, check out, total for two nights with the bro’s is $350, including breakfasts. Stroll through Dunedin to the Uni (as they call all universities here) and back to pick up some local wine, Montana Sauvignon Blanc (NZ), and a bottle each of Anchor Steam and Lagunitas IPA (each bottle equal in price to five in the Bay Area). The store carried quite a selection of N. American brewskies (no CA wines), and tonight we are having dinner with friends of a friend, and they are from Montana. Let’s hope the wine does their namesake state proud (hmmmmmm….DB reports: not bad!).

We are lazily strolling to get back to the car and THB has to stop DB…she has walked by a couple of friends of ours from waaaaaaaaaay back when LB was in preschool. So, finally, zero degrees of separation! Penny and Steve have 2.5 weeks here in NZ and have been traveling mostly by bus. Like us, they’ve made a few adjustments due to the earthquake, and there have been a few overlaps (e.g., the jeeet boat on the Dart River, Abel Tasman NP). Who else is roaming out there awaiting a chance meeting?

There is a famous restaurant on our route today, Fleur’s Place, and we might be eating there tomorrow night. So, it can’t hurt, maybe we can give it a try for lunch, too. Uh Oh, the sign out at the highway sez they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (what day of the week is it? No clue…What month is it? Don’t know that either). We head towards the water, and sure enough they are closed… the restaurant is closed, the caravan is open!

There is a trailer in front of the restaurant serving a few items, so we order up: seafood chowder with mussels served in a flour tortilla, beans and mussels something (yes, it is a burrito though they don’t call it that on the chalkboard), a grilled scone with butter and chutney, and lemonade, $32. One of our best meals, sitting at a picnic table overlooking the harbor, right there at Fleur’s (okay, not RIGHT there, close by!).

Next a stop at boulders sitting at the edge of the waves rolling up onto the beach. At first, THB is a bit skeptical; we paid $3.20 for this? (Actually the cheapest - and voluntary - entry to any tourist stop on the entire trip.) To see rocks on the beach? DB correctly figures out that if Andy Goldsworthy had put these here, people would be traveling thousands of miles to see the installation and paying thousands of dollars for his one-of-a-kind photographs of the place. It is pretty special, and the rocks themselves very unique, almost like deteriorated giant stone baseballs placed in the water…hey, maybe we can put some out from of the Oakland Coliseum?

With the help of Ms GPS (Susan), we find the cottage up above Oamaru, about 2 hours from Dunedin. What a find!!!!! It has two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen/den combo, a bathroom/laundry room combo, and is quaintly furnished with period pieces. As we walk in, Leonard Cohen is playing on the stereo…turns out the landlord has figured out everyone loves Leonard and he makes a nice greeting – at first, we’re a bit confused, have we walked in on someone? Clarkie the landlord shows up and gives us the tour; total for two nights paid in advance: $270.

A walk to town, pick up some bread for toast tomorrow (we find out later, this is the best bakery in town, THB has the bakery nose!), and look at the local art scene, a bizarre mix of Victoriana and odd train and other post-industrial metal sculpture. Turns out our Clarkie the landlord and a bunch of other people here are part of something called Steampunk (see pic of Steam Punk building), sort of a Jules Vernes sci-fi gone wild era where steam power is still widely used. Maybe they are prepping for the post-oil period if something else is found to make steam…

Just nearby, 5 minutes or less from the cottage, we go to see the yellow-eyed penguins. See the last pic and, since it is compressed, you won’t be able to enlarge it so you won’t be able to see the one lonely distant penguin on the beach. Neither could 50 other people - we were lucky enough to be standing next to the sharpest eyed 70 year old British woman in NZ. THB could not understand a word she was saying, DB had to tell THB later that she was actually speaking English (THB is still doubting that claim).

Dinner at Katie and Tom’s house, also nearby (since Oamaru’s population is 12,000, pretty much everything is nearby). They are here with their two boys, 5 and 3, as Katie is doing what we think is a gap year after finishing her doctor’s residency and before she and Tom and kids go back to Bozeman at the end of the summer (US summer!). That means she’s subbing for docs on leave, vacation, sabbatical. There’s a need for GPs here, many recent Kiwi graduates leave for Australia and higher wages and don’t come back. Tom is the house husband (taking time off from teaching at uni) something that is pretty much unheard of here and looked upon a bit suspiciously by the local women as the local men (all of NZ) are basically stuck in the pre-feminist era. He’s makes a great dinner: roasted chickens, stuffing, new potatoes, chutney, berry crumble with ice cream and NZ pinot noir.

After dinner, we go in search of the smaller blue-eyed penguin, and have not trouble spotting them: they are leaving the beach at our end of town and walking cautiously across the road. They are small and appear to be traveling in groups of 3-5. It is pretty dim out so we can’t see them all that well. On other hand, the sky is full of stars and the Milky Way is easily visible, along with what we think is the Southern Cross.