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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Sat
15
Nov '14

Trip Report: Princess Escape To Mexico – San Diego to Ensenada

In the morning we were in Ensenada. Last year I was in Ensenada, but I didn’t do any of the tours…I just wandering around town to a church I saw in the distance. Those Posts Here.

This year I signed up for the Two Winery Tour with Free Bottle of Wine. First stop with L.A. Cetto winery…

The joys of having T-Mobile service is that I have data and text coverage in 200 countries, not high-speed, but3G – enough to book a ticket to Kansas City in mid-January for $156.20 on Alaska Airlines Wednesday Flash Sale that runs from 11am-1pm…announcements on Twitter to remind you. And in Mexico’s wine country they have 4G…and in Amador County outside Sacramento where I was last month, there was just no cell coverage at all during Wednesday’s Flash Sale. But I digress….

So, apparently the region outside Ensenada produces 90% of the wine produced in Mexico, and Cetto’s wasn’t too bad, unlike the next winery (La Casa de Dona Lupe), an organic producer…

The wines were watery…and the food…well, I’ve never liked whole wheat as a pizza crust. But they did have a like folkloric show:

Back to the boat for me, though others got off for the “shopping opportunity”. Funny thing is that they didn’t even question my free bottle of wine I brought on – was sure that they were going to hold it until the end of the cruise.

Because today is all about wine, I had to get back to the ship for their “Grapevine Wine Tasting” which is $9.50 per person or it’s a freebie for Elite Card Holders (but not their guests). They were serving the following:

  • Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut Rosé – $48 in their dining rooms
  • Chardonnay Fetzer – $28 in their dining rooms
  • Garanacha Artadi Artazuri – $34 in their dining rooms
  • Cabernet Sauvignon Simi Reserve – $29.40 in their dining rooms (this would seem to be the deal on the menu)
  • Prosecco Villa Sandi – $34 in their dining rooms

One might suspect that they were charging people $9.50 to get them to order more wine with dinner. Looks like the mark-up is double retail, and they would be getting it at duty-free prices, so that would be buy for $10, sell for $30 – that’s a nice mark-up. Wish we could do that at the shop.

On my last boat I looked at the line of people wanting to get in and turned around… no line this time, but man these people were bored:

At least I got a souvenir glass out of it – and apparently they are prized as no one left me a second one…

Here is my sail away picture of Ensenada:

Full moon over pollution….and the Carnival Cruise Lines (parent of Princess) in town as well…

The LGBT gathering dwindled further… four tonight. But the Ohio Delta Flight Attendant was there (one of the one’s I’d met on another cruise) and we checked out the third bed in my cabin – one that comes down from the ceiling – I got my room steward (the first woman I’ve had on cruises) to drop the bed:

So, if you are ever tempted to put a third person in your cabin…this is what it will look like. And yes, there is a ladder.

For dinner I chose “potluck” seating on a whim and had nice company – nice enough to share the bottle of L.A. Cetto Red Blend (which isn’t on their website) that was my freebie from the winery (Cabernet/Merlot mix).

Tomorrow is a “sea-day”, an excuse for the ship to fleece people at the casino…

[? ? ?]

Tue
14
Jan '14

Ensenada! Woohoo!

Had the kitchen bring up a pot of coffee and a couple of Egg McMuffiny things at 9am – of which I took the tops off and combined – half the carbs, all the protein.

Lolled around the cabin until after 11am when I showered and dressed – well I wanted to shower, but the knob wouldn’t turn, so I shaved, brushed my teeth, notified the room steward and headed out know I’d be sweaty when I returned.

Here is selfie looking towards town:

Notice the wild hair – time for a hat, which would be a Mount Gay Regatta hat I found at the Sally Ann in Honolulu:

And now for our Where’s Waldo type game. Find this church:

In this picture – and that will tell you how far I walked – hopefully rid me of the Duck and Prime Rib from last night’s dinner:

Of the things that I DID remember to bring is the Coca-Cola tumbler from the last cruise. The idea is to see if they will honor refills with a fake sticker on my card – luckily it’s got a white background (on the sticker) so I just used the modified price tag off my “wine” I brought on board.

Only got denied once (so far). A savings of $9.00 a day to spend on duty-free booze! Tip – go to the Lido swimming pool bars since they have so many people at them you slide right through.

Another LGBT get together – maybe half the people – doesn’t bode well for the last night of the cruise. He’s Mr. Lobster hanging with a couple of the boys:

And for today’s humor shot – while walking to the cathedral I spotted this sign… so odd:

Over all I’d have to agree with Grubin who really likes Ensenada, though she added the catch phrase: “as long as there isn’t a cruise boat in town, especially two of them,” I found the natives friendly, didn’t worry about my safely – and oddly enough was surprised that EVERYONE driving gave me the right-of-way even if it was there – this is not the Mexico of Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta where being a pedestrian carries a few more risks. Wouldn’t have minded spending another day here.

[? ? ?]

Wed
6
Nov '13

Carbon Footprint 2014

Where has Uncle Markie travelled to in the calendar year 2014?

January

  • Berkeley, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA – Ensenada, Mexico - Los Angeles, CA cruise
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Victoria, BC
  • Bozeman, MT

February

  • Forks, WA
  • Portland, OR
  • Breitenbush Hot Springs, OR
  • Portland, OR
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Denver, CO

March

  • Boston, MA (mileage run)
  • Boston, MA (overnight)
  • Bucharest, Bulgaria
  • Istanbul, Turkey

April

  • Denver, CO
  • Hong Kong (mileage run)
  • Honolulu, HI
  • Redmond, OR
  • Vancouver, BC

May

  • Vancouver, BC
  • Vancouver, BC-Seattle, WA Cruise
  • San Francisco (2 mileage runs in one day)
  • Orlando, FL (mileage run)
  • Oakland, CA (mileage run)
  • Houston, TX (overnight to connect to Air France flight)
  • Paris, France

June

  • Santa Fe, NM
  • New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Seattle, WA Train Trip

July

  • Whistler, BC
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • Stockholm, Sweden
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands

August

  • Denver, CO via Train and Plane
  • Victoria, BC

September

  • Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC Princess Cruise
  • Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA Princess Cruise
  • Tucson, AZ

October

  • Tucson, AZ (same as September trip)
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Santa Fe, NM

November

  • Los Angeles, CA to Los Angeles, CA Princess Cruise
  • San Diego, CA (Cruise Stop)
  • Ensenada, Mexico (Cruise Stop)
  • Denver, CO

December

  • Detroit, MI
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Albuquerque, NM to Los Angeles, CA Train Trip
  • Los Angeles, CA to Seattle, WA Train Trip
Wed
15
Jan '14

Los Angeles Bound…On A VERY SLOW Boat.

When I was looking at the itinerary for this cruise I was wondering why it’s an overnight to get to Ensenada on the way south…. And two nights on the way back. Why you might ask… it’s not currents (at least that I know), it’s like they are idling the engines all the way back north.

I would have rather had a second day in Ensenada, but then we probably would have had to clear customs.

Low key day. Same breakfast, same time – didn’t really feel like hanging out with folks so I just found comfortable places to read. Finished one book, started another one.

And for some reason my phone has stopped working even though it was on the charger all last night – and it’s only 10 months old (and not paid off yet). Bummer. No camera, no new selfies.

Guess I’m stuck with a shot of one of the gay boys t-shirts last night:

Think I’ll let my luggage with the booze get unloaded by the pros – with no wheels it would be a heavy hassle getting it off the boat, to the bus, and to the airport.

[? ? ?]

Sun
14
Dec '14

Holiday Letter


Guess this gives me an excuse to write a Holiday Letter so here goes:

My addiction to travel continues untreated. This year found me hitting several milestones:

  • In June hit United Airlines Million Mile status meaning gold for life
  • In September made Elite Status on Princess Cruises meaning free internet minutes, free laundry/dry cleaning, and they stock my mini-bar once for free – another lifetime perk
  • In October made Alaska Airline MVP Gold Status through 2015 meaning fairly regular free upgrades to First Class and double miles on all my flights. When I don’t get the upgrade at least they comp my first drink in Economy – and then there are the two free checked bags which is handy when heading to Santa Fe during the holiday with all the presents in tow. Leaving tomorrow staying a couple of nights and taking the train home in the bedroom sleeper.

As for all that travel, it’s been a CRAZY year. On United to get to that Million Mile mark, 41,543 flight miles, Alaska Airlines will be 53,440 (only needed 40,000 to qualify for Gold but there were too many great last minute deals).

The travel list for this year (including this week’s trip):

January

  • Berkeley, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA – Ensenada, Mexico – Los Angeles, CA cruise
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Victoria, BC
  • Bozeman, MT

February

  • Forks, WA
  • Portland, OR
  • Breitenbush Hot Springs, OR
  • Portland, OR
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Denver, CO

March

  • Boston, MA (mileage run)
  • Boston, MA (overnight)
  • Bucharest, Bulgaria
  • Istanbul, Turkey

April

  • Denver, CO
  • Hong Kong (mileage run)
  • Honolulu, HI
  • Redmond, OR
  • Vancouver, BC

May

  • Vancouver, BC
  • Vancouver, BC-Seattle, WA Cruise
  • San Francisco (2 mileage runs in one day)
  • Orlando, FL (mileage run)
  • Oakland, CA (mileage run)
  • Houston, TX (overnight to connect to Air France flight)
  • Paris, France

June

  • Santa Fe, NM
  • New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Seattle, WA Train Trip

July

  • Whistler, BC
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • Stockholm, Sweden
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands

August

  • Denver, CO via Train and Plane
  • Victoria, BC

September

  • Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC Princess Cruise
  • Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA Princess Cruise
  • Tucson, AZ

October

  • Tucson, AZ (same as September trip)
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Santa Fe, NM

November

  • Los Angeles, CA to Los Angeles, CA Princess Cruise
  • San Diego, CA (Cruise Stop)
  • Ensenada, Mexico (Cruise Stop)
  • Denver, CO

December

  • Detroit, MI
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Albuquerque, NM to Los Angeles, CA Train Trip
  • Los Angeles, CA to Seattle, WA Train Trip

 

2015 is starting to book up as well:

January

  • Sacramento, CA
  • Kansas City, MO
  • Victoria, BC Canada
  • San Antonio, TX

February

  • Berkeley, CA
  • Victoria, BC Canada
  • Santa Fe, NM

March

  • Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Komaki, Japan
  • Forks, WA

April

  • Honolulu, HI

May

June

  • Whistler, BC

 

My business partner just shakes his head when I tell him where I’m headed. He’s much more the home body, but as long as I’m back to work my days, no harm, no foul. Speaking of the shop (that would be Madrona Wine Merchants which I have a 1/3 interest), here is a status update on how the business is going.

A little more than three years into starting the wine shop, things are frankly going better than I would have ever hoped for. We have no debt mostly because to retail wine in the state of Washington you have to pay for it first, no credit from the distributors allowed. What debt we had from the beginning were mostly store fixtures (much of which we built ourselves in my woodshop/garage) that we put on the shop’s credit cards was paid off last year. We pay ourselves for our time behind the counter and have always been current with the exception of a couple of winter months the first year. We’ve upped our take several times over the years and are on stable ground finance wise.

The shop itself is small – just 350sqft of sales space with 75sqft in the back for toilet/sink/icemaker and a small amount of storage. Small, but we pack it in with over 650 different labels (stock ranging from 4 to 12 bottles of each. The majority of the bottles are in the $10-20 range with a handful under $10 and a few that range to the low $100s. We are located in the Madrona Neighborhood of Seattle. Those of you who visited me in Seattle before I had the Boylston Street house might remember when Jim (now my business partner) and I lived at 25th and Union – if you kept heading east on Union, at the top of the next hill you would run into 34th Avenue, the heart of Madrona where we are on the main strip with reasonable rent. Sales have been improving year over year which is what you want in a small business.

As for the love life, I’d been seeing someone for a couple of years but with the 4 hour commute and other things he found a partner to move in with who is a much better match. We parted on good terms and are still in contact from time to time. Socially active having people over to dinner a couple of times a week (when I’m in town) and opening the house to the occasional CouchSurfer along with my friends from out of town. Mom is still holding in there though losing a lot of body strength which she is working on with the help of a therapist. Sadly, her travel days are over but she has all the memories of her own travels and still has her mind and eyes and is happy keeping current with books/magazines and the three daily papers, It is nice that she is at El Castillo, a retirement community just off the Plaza in Santa Fe. With it being a two-bedroom it gives me a place to stay on my visits to work through the “honey do” list. I try and show up every 3-4 months depending on airfare.

Looking forward to seeing The Colonels in a couple of days during their almost annual pre-Christmas visit to Santa Fe. And, of course, looking forward to taking the train home with my buddy Dwight sharing the Bedroom Sleeper on the Southwest Chief connecting to the Coast Starlight in Los Angeles.

Happy Holidays one and all.

UncleMarkie

Wed
27
Nov '13

Crossing I’s, Dotting T’s.

I’ve got all these plans… and none of the paperwork printed out. And speaking of papers, I updated the Wall Street Journal suspend/resume list for my newspaper… looks like I’m travelling a bit:

All those orange boxes are times I’m away between now and March.

Got all the confirmations printed out for:

  • United SEA-SFO-HKG-SFO-SEA
  • Hotel Presidenté in Macau
  • United SEA-SAF
  • Amtrak ABQ-LAX-SEA
  • Amtrak SEA-LAX
  • Alaska Air LAX-SEA
  • Alaska SEA-OAK-SEA
  • Alaska SEA-LAX-SEA
  • Princess Cruises LAX-Ensenada-LAX
  • Alaska SEA-OAK-SEA
  • Alaska SEA-OAK-SEA
  • United SEA-IAD-MUC-IST-MUC-IAH-SEA

Whew!

Finished the top renovation on the living room bar. Still need half a dozen pint glasses:

And my plan for a new bottom with lots of storage for wine and booze has had to undergo a major design change – from two wooden wine boxes for wine storage and two open topped for booze storage – it’s now going to be three across (from two, meaning it will be a full base for the bar) with two open bins for booze storage, and five for wine and other storage… and will probably take twice as long to build. And the soonest I can work on it will be Friday since I worked from 4-7 tonight and tomorrow I’ll be working from 11-3 and then it’s off to MoonSong’s for a deep fried bird.

The day at the shop was….

[207.2]

 

Fri
10
Jan '14

Change In Plans.

A change in plans for me. The plan was:

  • Next week fly to LA, get on a boat to Ensenada, relax, return on Thursday for an event at the Living Computer Museum
  • Following week, two nights in Victoria with Roxy and all the VictoriaBoys
  • After that it was back to the Bay Area
  • Then Lopez Island to pick up equipment early the week after Victoria and then late in the week Forks to work on some Zebra Lederhosen

Alas – things change.

I’ve been corresponding with a guy from Bozeman and it’s been going on long enough that now it’s time to actually meet face-to-face. Better sooner than later least BozemanBoy changes his mind.

Flying in the 28th – I’ve booked a 1-bedroom at the WorldMark West Yellowstone which is about 90 minutes south of Bozeman.

Snagged an SUV – oddly the lowest price rental they offered – must be a Montana thing.

The advantage is being MVP Gold (again) is that there are no change fees for changing from Oakland to Bozeman – just the difference in fare.

What I really want to do since its winter is to do a SnowCoach tour through Yellowstone since it’s closed to cars for the winter.

$115 for an all-day tour of the canyons, waterfalls, hot pots of Yellowstone in antique Bombadier Snowbuses. Reminds me of Glaciers Red Busses that have been rebuilt by Ford on new chasis.

Details here: http://yellowstoneguides.com/the-canyon-winter-snowcoach-tour/

As it turns out – Lunetta in the Bay Area had a change in plans as well…. He’s headed to San Diego.

[205.8]

Mon
13
Jan '14

LA Bound.

9:30am flight to LAX – First Class upgrade number two on the list – but really no hope since they are all checked in. So I settled into the Board Room for a little breakfast:

A funny thing happed as we were boarding the jet – ran into my friend Natasha who was escorting her little brother to LAX for his return to Russia. That’s one of the advantages of boarding early – you get to see everyone else board – hard to do when they are all spread out over a waiting area:

Flight was running a little late – and it didn’t help that when I sent to fetch my bag after checking in with the Princess Representative that I found my bag had arrived – MINUS both wheels and the axle that held them.

I brought along Mr. Lobster to amuse Fernando back in Boston and was extra room in the case. Found out why there was extra room – I forgot:

The battery charger for the camera

Shorts (but did bring two pairs of Speedos)

And a couple of things that I’ve already for forgotten so they can’t be that important.

Mr. Lobster and I got settled into our solo balcony cabin and made ourselves a little ship launch cocktail:

When I posted this photo on FaceBook it was with the caption “Uncle Markie, Mr. Lobster and Mr. Cocktail” to which one wag responded… “and only two of them are coming home.”

Went to the mandatory LGBT cocktail hour at the Explore Lounge. I say mandatory because if no one shows up on the first night – it isn’t in the schedule for the rest of the trip. About 20-25 people came through – not bad but not record breaking. We’ll see what the numbers are tomorrow.

Chatted until after 7:30, then it was time for dinner – that would be a late enough sitting that I could get a table by myself and read in peace.

I had the sushi-like appetizer which was very pretty with its faux-bird’s nest exterior – painfully bland on the palette though:

Then a Caesar with an anchovies, and then onto the TWO main courses – the 5-spice duck breast in the back and the prime rib is in the front – I was tempted by the Cajan stew in a puff pastry shell but I held out for the Crème Brule for dessert:

It was a late night even without going to see any of the shows…

Tomorrow I wake up in Ensenada.

[209.2]

Sat
15
Nov '14

Trip Report: Princess Escape To Mexico – Seattle to LA

As fall hits I felt it was time for a little escape to Mexico on a 4-day Pacific Coastal cruise. Here is the itinerary:

  • Monday, wake up in Seattle really early and fly to Los Angeles and get the Princess Transfer to the boat
  • Tuesday, wake up in San Diego, Mexico
  • Wednesday, wake up in Ensenada, Mexico
  • Thursday, wake up in at sea
  • Friday, wake up in Los Angeles, get the Princess Transfer and fly home

But it was an early morning, up a 4AM (after going bed at midnight):

Sleepy Uncle Markie. No upgrade to first on the way to LA, but the transfer was smooth, and before you knew it, the ship was in sight. Princess Time!

And there was another boat in – one from Norwegian Cruise Lines – in the background of my balcony shot:

Lots of food shots from lunch and dinner with I won’t bore you with – if you want to see examples, check out my FaceBook page.

Did the LGBT meet-and-greet with one of the cruise staff. 24 people showed up, equally split between Lesbians and Gay Guys. We’ll see how the rest of the cruise goes – did run into a couple of people I’d seen on other cruises.

After getting the mini-bar stocked to my configuration….

Not shown is the 10 Diet Cokes in the mini-fridge. Normal stocking is:

  • 2 vodka
  • 2 brandy
  • 2 gin
  • 2 scotch
  • 2 beers
  • 2 Perrier
  • 2 cokes
  • 2 bottles of water
  • 2 Sprite
  • 1 Ginger Ale
  • 1 Tonic Water

Oh, the perks of Princess Captain’s Circle Elite, that and the laundry, which I sent the first load of, and, of course, the free dial-up internet time.

And here is this trip’s room…

Home sweet home for the next four days. I spend a lot of time in the cabin. It’s quiet, I can read on the deck, I avoid all the folks with their buckets of beers at 9AM.

After dinner I actually took in one of the shows (a rarity for me)… Aerialists from Eastern Europe…

Tomorrow – San Diego.

[? ? ?]

Thu
19
Jan '23

Trip Report: Victoria!

First trip to Vic this year – other than COVID, a winter tradition I’ve done for 20 years at least. The last 17 years, Nicola has been at the front desk!

Because January is the month with both Washington State-based ferries are in for dry dock, it means that we go over the Canadian border at I-5 and catching the BE Ferry at Tsawwassen – meaning the border:

And then the ferry line up:

It’s about an hour and a half from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island.

And a view of the island that Roxy has an off the grid cabin on:

With a little grocery shopping on the way – soon we are in the condo!

With its STUNNING views of the harbor:

And my morning view…

And Roxy down by the water under the trees:

We both had things we wanted to do here – radically different but both fun. Roxy was boat shopping…

And since he wants to get from Friday Harbor to Stuart Island so to make it a 3-season boat, it needs a cabin.

FYI – that boat is just under $100K CAD — $75K USD. Wow.

Me – I just wanted to go to an Evensong Service at the Cathedral in Victoria.

I’m a sucker for any service with a massive organ and choir. This service featured their children’s choir.

As is usual when staying at WorldMark places, we cooked all but one meal in the condo – for the meal out, it was a place that I’d hadn’t heard of before, but right around the corner from the weed shop where you can use a credit card!

The food place specializes in Hot Dogs and Bobo – called Bobo Dog.

I had the Longanisa Fiesta – Roxy had the Cali Bunga. Mine is below:

And the fun story from the trip is that we saw the old high-speed ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, the V2V Empress being towed by two barges out of the harbor. Roxy was on a walk and saw it being loaded on to a transport ship:

And the next day it was in the paper:

If you want to read the article, here is the link: V2V Empress heads to new life in the Caribbean – Victoria Times Colonist

Currently it is off the Mexican coast near Ensenada headed for the Caribbean:

So that’s it for now – I’ll be back in Victoria next month as well.

[202.5]

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