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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Thu
24
Dec '15

Trip Report: Annual Pre-Christmas Trip To Santa Fe

It seems over the last couple of years that I’ve always ended up in Santa Fe early to mid-December. It’s the combination of cheaper tween holiday’s airfare and my work schedule on said holidays. This year was no different, except that I’m down to two people to visit in Santa Fe – my sis and bro-in-law. Mom died last July, and the last niece is out of the house – back east for her first year of college.

Had a good meal the night before with friends, including Roxy who has gone from vegan before I knew him, to vegetarian, to pescatarian, and now to “freegan” which means he’s feeling a money pinch and will eat whatever (including pork ribs) is put in front of him.

And they were good considering it was the convection oven, not the smoker that produced these.

It being the holidays (anytime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’ve broken out the pussprint Santa hat for my travels. It’s hard for fellow travelers to be grumpy with a dumpy Santa in pussprint (and a Red Baron in the Board Room).

And you get better service onboard as well:

That would be a Cobb Salad with blue cheese, a cookie, and a cocktail. And while I prefer the aisle, a freebie upgrade a First Class bulkhead window is fine considering the view:

The original plan was to take the Rail Runner north, but the lateness of my flight meant getting a rental car was easier, and it allowed me to do some shopping on the way north.

Tiny, but it worked. Here is the stuff I’m planning on taking back with me:

That would be Mom in the middle, well, the ashes of Mom – she’ll be joining Dad in the Rattan Elephant they bought in India in 1976,

Good to see sis and bro-in-law, though the house is so oddly quiet without any teenagers around! We ate in the first night, but the second night we went to Harry’s Roadhouse and had a meal that started with an appetizer of Latkes – which in the Seattle tradition should always be accompanied by tequila because of a tradition dating back to the Great Snowstorm of 1999 in Seattle. At 3pm, everyone in the Seattle Metro Area looked out the window and said, “Oh, shit!”, and all got into their cars to head home at exactly the same time. Result? Instant snowy gridlock. It took me an hour to get around the block and back into the parking lot at Microsoft where I promptly requisitioned a magnum of bubbles from the storeroom and popped the cork. A concerned co-worked expressed worry that I was going to drink all that and then drive. My answer, “I’m planning on sharing this with everyone else who is going to be stuck here sleeping under their desks for the night.” In the end, one of the woman in our department who lived snowshoeing distance took in a dozen of us for the evening. It being the last night of Chanukah, what she had in the house was a bag of potatoes, Costco-sized apple sauce and sour cream and a ½ gallon of Tequila. Hence, a tradition was born, but I’ve forgotten the lyrics to the Chanukah songs she taught us in Hebrew. Here is this year’s celebration:

No Commenortivo Tequila, think it was Hornitos.

It was a quick visit – Thursday morning I got an email from the tasting room at the Gruet Winery in Albuquerque responding to my late Sunday request for a behind-the-scenes tour of their winery since we had just featured their Blanc de Blanc Method Champenoise the previous Saturday. Since I hadn’t heard back I was still in my robe! Up and out the door to the winery I go.

Since the bottling line was running and the Production Manager busy, they started be having me taste ALL their wines, both still and sparkling:

And that only HALF of them – the full list (with my notes) below:

There is a much more in-depth report on my trip to Gruet on the Madrona Wine Merchants site.

Time to return the rental car and get the hell out of Dodge (I mean Albuquerque)., but I have to share this sculpture that is outside the fire department the exit before the airport – it’s too damn cute:

Got through security and up to the observation lounge to do the blog for the shop, post some entries on other sites, catch up with mail. The nice thing about the Albuquerque Sun Port (the name of their international airport) is that it’s also a working military base, so you get to see lots of interesting planes and helicopters:

Sorry the contrast is so bad – nothing like shooting into the sun. Four-prop bulbous nose military plane of some sort.

Got the last night upgrade to first on the way back – even a last minute bulkhead aisle – and some of the flight crew even remembered my Santa Hat! And even better than that, Mr.Whippet gave me a ride home from the airport, and in exchange I took him out for dessert (dinner for me):

At the end of the day, my parents were reunited in the rattan elephant in my living room…

Dad’s is the dark set of ashes, Mom the lighter set.

Guess I need to build a pedestal for them now.

[216.4]

Fri
19
Feb '16

Trip Report: Winter Break With Bliss – The Beginning

One of my self-serving pay-it-forward (can you actually do that?) is to put together trips for friends (and me) who are of more limited means – example – friends of mine who are teachers, lower level office workers, etc. This week’s trip is for my buddy, Bliss, who is on winter break from the school where he teaches IB (International Bachelorette) English to high school kids. Talk about a 12-hour-a-day job plus weekends grading all those college-level papers you’ve assigned.

He needs a break. And it doesn’t’ start well – his alarm didn’t go off. Luckily (for me) we are:

  1. Travelling separately to the airport
  2. On different record locator for our flights

Luckily I’d been texting him my progress through the morning and he finally got a clue it was time to get out of the house – and he’s a SLOW one in that regard. That said, I can chill in the Board Room. If he misses his flight, he can try for the Tuesday flight. Breakfast is served! Well, OK, it was self-serve with the exception of the Red Baron, which they have to make:

Followed by one of their world-famous Bloody Marys:

He finally made it with just enough time to slam down two drinks – which he’ll need since he’s in coach and I snagged an upgrade to my favorite seat (1C). Funny thing happened at the end of the boarding process – a customer from the shop (Madrona Wine Merchants) went flying down the aisle with her daughter in tow. Later I can to find out that her daughter noticed me and said to mom, “The think I just saw our wine guy sitting in First Class.” Bliss used miles (plus I think $5 or something like that for a ticketing/tax fee), I had a $138 one-way ticket – which when you end up in First Class for the non-stop Seattle to Albuquerque isn’t bad.

Nor was lunch:

It was only a two-hour flight, but it was nice to get a hot sandwich (and a couple of cocktails).

Landed, grabbed bags, grabbed the shuttle to the Rental Car Center (I hate those things – a giant time sink), got what they call an economy car (Nissan Altima with Bluetooth phone connection) and off to Santa Fe we head. With a stop at Albertsons where I picked up four half gallons of Evan Williams and two fifths of Swedka Vodka, a six-pack of Vernors, and a twelve-pack of Canada Dry Diet Ginger Ale – Bliss picked up six (count ’em six) bottle of Jose Cuervo Cinnamon Infused Tequila, which he likes, and was on closeout, and got an additional 10% for buying six (as did I).

To save on expenses we are staying with my sis-in-law who is married to my bro-in-law. How that works is that she is my dead brother’s widow, and Kennan is her husband. It’s amazing to me that this extended family likes each other, actually loves each other, warts and all – and enough to have me AND a friend stay over.

Tonight’s dinner is:

Minus the dressing step which makes me want a crock pot – guess I should forward this to Salamander and DancingBear, who do have crock pots.

Beautiful sunset before dinner:

Watched the Academy Awards and the Pruett/Souder/Girdner clan headed to their usual early bed.

Slept in, and then it was off for some sightseeing that included hiking (yes, I said HIKING)

I was surprised that on a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of February that the parking lot would be close to capacity!

Best fuel ourselves up with a Green Chile Cheeseburger at the gift/snack shop at Bandelier National Monument:

Messy but good! I feel a Trip Advisor review coming on.

As I do every couple of years I decided to purchase the yearly National Parks Pass which has some useless name like “The Inter-Agency Multiple Park Pass”. The real name is Interagency Annual Pass (aka The America The Beautiful Pass) – but here it hangs on my rear view mirror. It was $80, but the entrance fee to Bandelier was $20, so all I have to do is visit Rainier (where a car is $30) a couple of times and it will have paid for itself. I find it odd that the individual park entrance fees have gone up, but not the price of the pass. I try to buy my passes at the smaller national monuments because they get to keep a chunk of the pass money and they need all the help they can get.

Bad shot, but you get the idea – I put this on mostly for my buddy Sierra who is a park ranger. Speaking of which, he is at Denali this summer – might have to use the pass again up there!

I’ve been to Bandelier many times but this is a first for Bliss – a lovely day for a light hike:

It’s a pretty amazing place just an hour twenty minutes from Santa Fe, very close to Los Alamos if you want to combine a trip – no time for us this round.

Got back to the house in time for cocktail hour before Jen and Kennan got home from work to make Ginger Scented Shrimp (sorry, no recipe or picture). And then after dinner drinks:

I guess we know where my priorities lay…

Up earlier the second morning in Santa Fe – want to hit a museum or two before we leave for Albuquerque in the afternoon. But first, breakfast at Tia Sopia’s just off the plaza. Bliss had the Wednesday Breakfast Special (quesadilla) and I had the Green Chili Stew with flour tortilla:

Tia Sopia’s is just across the street from the Lensic Theatre where my mother often saw shows:

Bliss really wants to see and original Shakespeare
Folio at one of the museums – it takes us two museums to actually find it – both pretty much on the plaza of Santa Fe – and both members of the North American Reciprocal program which I got because of my Tacoma Art Museum membership (see blog post here on what I saw and why I joined).

The Folio itself was not terribly inspiring…

And the rest of the surrounding exhibition looked like an afterthought – they should have combined the two exhibits (there was peripheral materials at the New Mexico History Museum), but it was nice to spend some time downtown…

After the musems, it was time to return to Albuquerque, and because we had the time, stop by the Gruet Winery for some bubbles! Some of you will remember my post from December on the sparkling house the Gruet built. I didn’t even have business cards with me this trip but we managed to get the production manager to AGAIN give a tour – when I found out the disgorgement line was running I got super excited. This is the process where they freeze the necks of the bottles and blow out all the yeast before adding back a little wine and sugar to get the bubbles going.

And then onto popping the corks, refilling, and cork/wire/label:

So fun to see the process in action – and so fun to taste the results!

The unlabeled bottle is of a “no dosage” Rose sparkler – the advantages of being in the business is you get to sometimes taste “experiments”. I highly recommend stopping by for a visit if you are in Albuquerque.

They even have a little museum of old champagne equipment:

But we are on a schedule – next up is to find some distilled water for Bliss’ C-PAP machine, grab lunch (the Sonic Burger joint does a Green Chili Cheeseburger that is REALLY good), gas up the car and return it to the airport – did I mention gas is cheap in New Mexico?

Dropped the rental car and hailed an Uber for the trip to the train station with our many bags and boxes.

Next up, the train from Albuquerque to Seattle via Los Angeles.

[? ? ?]

Thu
23
Nov '06

Gobble, gobble up that food.

No Japanese slot machine in my future. For the last couple of days I’ve been looking at one in the gift shop here. Finally decided it just too damn noisy, though it would look good in the city apartment.

Errand running during the day, including picking up the $99 Thanksgiving Meal in a box at Whole Foods. I take time to finish my Thanksgiving Day Vans order for custom shoes — on turkey day they were offering 25% off and free shipping. Brings the order for two pairs of custom shoes down to $90!

Mid-afternoon is chips and guacamole with a bottle of Gruet Champagne. Dad even takes a break from football to join us.

The evening meal takes a couple of hours to warm up but you get a 8-10# Diestel Turkey (pre-cooked), stuffing, gravy (no enough for this family), mashed potato, cranberry sauce, vegetable medley with cheese sauce and dinner rolls. The vegetable medley was a little weak in my eyes, but everyone else thought it was OK.  The reaction to the food: GREAT. We may have started a new family tradition — a heat and serve tradition. Two bottles of Navarro wines (a Pinot and a Cabernet) rounded out the meal, with pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert.

Already thinking about Turkey Day 2007, maybe outside Tucson in the Oro Valley.

Sun
27
Jul '08

Eating All Day.

Or So It Seems.

I’m naked and working on a blog entry when I get the call from Swanda — I’m outside. It’s 9:30 — he is due at 9:45am — time for me to finish the entry, jump in and out of the shower and get dressed. But damnit — he’s early.

Turns out he is with Helene — fresh from Hydrabod (India) — so at least I dont’ have to dress while I run around like a madman.

Next stop is the Fairfield Suites by the airport to pickup Barbara, back from her Alaska junket.

Then we are off to brunch at the Salish Lodge at Snohomish Falls. Lovely breakfast of a Salmon Sandwich… you can get the description and menu here. And afterwards a great walk to view the falls…

Waterfall

And for my cellphone, this is NOT a bad picture!

And then we have to have a picture of Swanda (with Helene in the background), and Barb from Kentucky below that:

IMAGE_015

IMAGE_011

Can’t believe I forgot my real camera.

The afternoon is spent back at Swanda in a breakfast coma which reading the Sunday papers (Seattle and New York Times) while steeling our nerves for the next meal of the day — an early dinner at the Brooklyn.

Barb and I head downstairs for a tour of Uwyjamaya(the Japanese Grocery Store) to pick up bananas for Swanda, ogle seafood, and as it turns out pick up a bottle of Gruet Rose for a pre-dinner tipple.

A fine dinner (for me) of fresh oysters, ensalada caprese, and a little tuna tartar. Damn life is rough.

[219.6]

Sun
1
Nov '09

Sunday All Over The Place.

Up early — blame daylight savings time.

Things to clean, things to put away, stuff to do… oh, like drive to Olympia and pick up my old inflatable hot tub (and a PT 4×4). It was good to see Mel and actually spend some time with her soon to be husband (I’m providing the honeymoon cabana in Mexico next March). Lots of time on the highway, but the traffic was light and the weather good.

Oh, and packing for Orland (I leave in the morning).

Oh, and getting some a little work in since I didnt’ do any yesterday since I was pushing the limits of my two week bill.

And, it’s Raf’s birthday so I’m doing Southern cooking for his birthday, though I’m not sure how the Gruet Rose champagne goes with that. The menu?

  • Black-eyed peas with ham hocks
  • Spinach greens with apple wood smoked bacon
  • Cornbread muffins with peppers from my deck

It was pretty good — all that’s left is some muffins.

Not looking forward to the morning… out of the house at 6am which means up at 5am. I don’t think Raf is looking forward to it either.

[221.7]

Mon
13
Jun '11

Whistler – Border – South Park – Airport.

As all you reader know, I dislike early days, but a boy has to do what a boy has to do to have a good time.

Bailed on the bed at 3am to get some serious REM sleep before TWO long days.

Thank you Fernando for making coffee in the morning that eased me back into the day well before I’d like to be up.

Luckily I’d prepped all the breakfast materials (eggs cracked, mixed with the cubed chicken and cubed goat cheese) so it was ready to warm the pan and fry, popping toast into the oven.

We were out of the house at 8:30am, half an hour before my self-imposed deadline. Suddenly we have dinner plans for CaddyDaddy before Fernando goes to the airport. I also packed sandwiches last night for the road, and Fernando’s bananas (with STRICT instructions that they were to be EATEN BEFORE the border).

The signs at the border said 60 minutes at the Peace Arch and 40 at the Truck Crossing. As much as I wanted to show Fernando the Peace Arch (much prettier crossing) off to the Tuck Crossing we went. And they give me a 10% off as a Nexus Card holder (except on sale combos, like the two Weiser Whiskey liters I bought).

Border was actually a half hour when we skipped the line (which you get to do with a Duty Free purchase) and off to lovely Bellevue for a taco run, a bank deposit, then a short tour of the Microsoft Campus (he’s a MAC guy), and then home to start cooking dinner for now three.

Here’s a great shot of Fernando and I before dinner:

I’m guessing I should put a shot of last week’s guest in the same location, but that will have to wait until I remember.

Tonight’s dinner is a slab of ribs that I put on the grill/smoker, a loaf of rosemary challah out of the oven, some roasted potatoes and onions, a massive salad, a little Gruet Rose method de champagne from New Mexico and a ton of good conversation.

And then after dinner….

Next year, Boston?

To bed early as tomorrow is an early gnarly day.

[? ? ?]

Sat
21
Jan '12

Full Work Day.

My first Saturday working the shop along except during the wine tasting. Got the Wall Street Journal read and some of Popular Mechanics, but that’s about as far as I got. Too many good distractions like selling wine.

Jill came in for a bit. Bought a split of Gruet Champagne to go with the 18 oysters she bought in the International District — sounds like a damn fine meal to me for someone having trouble chewing! Flo came whizzing in about 6:30 needing half a case of the Spanish wines we were tasting this afternoon. In and out in under ten minutes without even tasting — he was headed over to Greg and Patsys two blocks away for dinner and was late. Hope he likes the wine. Should I have told him Greg isn’t drinking this month? Should I have told him they are on part of the Madrona Wines Monthly Wine Club and they are well stocked? The only other odd customer was the guy who runs an underground restaurant in his house once a month (for 35 people) looking for wines to pair with a really wild menu so he could send people in for wine. I’ll try and dig up the menu and post tomorrow. Wish I’d gotten his email address as he invited me over to join them for dinner (but I’ll be beat after work tomorrow).

Got home a little before 8 and fired up the ice maker and the convection oven. Tonight’s meal is chicken thighs with a lemon grass marinade. By 8:30 the thighs (well, two of them) were on a bed of greens and on their way into my stomach.

Today’s picture is actually from Friday — Ken (the maintenance guru at the apartment) is installing the new Swanda sized toilet. As you can see (though the angle is a little disconcerting) the counter top has already been raised 7 inches. Thanks Ken, nice job. Must remember to take him a bottle of wine.

Didn’t get squat done on the eBook project to convert all of the issues of Sign of the Times — A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age. Working with Fernando on in-book graphics (I want the back cover to be included). One issue that has been resolved is that I don’t think the original photographs and artwork will be in the eBooks. At least not the photographs, the quality of them once they are rescanned just isn’t there. Maybe the next eBook I should be working on is the Anthology as there were no graphics other than the front/back cover.

Off to bed.

[211.8]

Sun
28
Oct '12

Dumpster Diving At Swandas.

I almost thought today was going to be a bust at the shop… luckily the last hour was busy which made up for the other 5 hours.

After work it was off to dinner at Swandas – and the ritual dumpster diving (well, the recycling room on his floor). Today’s haul? A slightly used SwissTravel monster suitcase:

And 32 Coke® rewards points, along with the 30+ that Swanda had saved for me. The package that I was also picking up contained the fedora sitting on the handles of the suitcase… bought with Coke® Rewards Points.

I brought a split of Gruet bubbles from the shop, and the remains of the Tempranillo that we were sampling today at the shop – Swanda baked two massive pork loins over a bed of onions, carrots and potatoes – cole slaw on the side.

Home around 8 to work on packing for the next trip.

[212.5] Damn Vegas food.

Sun
28
Dec '14

Trip Report: Amtrak From ABQ To SEA With Dwight

Left mom’s house a little after 10am after getting the snow off the rental car. They thankfully included a brush/scrapper in the car, though all it needed was to be brushed off.

Goodbye Santa Fe for a couple of months (back March and then again in July).

Picked up Dwight around 11 at the hotel I’d gotten him a discount in – wanted to see the room, but he’d already checked out. No real loss – it was an airport hotel after all.

First stop: Gruet Winery, a fine Méthode Champenoise producer in Albuquerque, New Mexico whose vineyards are outside Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, a town named after the game show (formerly known as Hot Springs). We sell their Blanc de Noir at the shop and it’s been a staple of the Souder household’s Christmastime tradition. But I had to try them all – Dwight declined as it was a little early for him…

That was a nice side trip.

We probably should have gotten lunch somewhere but I ended up dropping Dwight and all our luggage at the train station in Albuquerque while I returned the car to the airport and caught a cab back to the station. I’d thought there was a shuttle, which technically there is…three times A DAY.

Took another little side trip before turning in the car to the “aircraft viewing area” at Albuquerque’s Sun Port International Airport and found these:

These are two DC-10 based firefighting planes which you can read about at http://www.10tanker.com.

Basically three hours in the train station which is also the Greyhound Station in Albuquerque. Made for interesting people watching. Our route home is the Southwest Chief from Albuquerque to Los Angeles, then the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle (Olympia for Dwight).

The train was running a little late…and it started raining…

I used 25,000 Chase Ink Rewards points to get a Bedroom Sleeper unit on both trains. What’s a bedroom on the train look like:

And the shower/toilet stall…

Two beds – the lower being the wider of the two, which I claimed because:

  • I’m wider than Dwight
  • It was my points

This gives you an idea of the amount of space.

No Parlour Car on the Southwest Chief so it was dinner in the Dining Car with random strangers…I had the steak. Noticed that the “cheapening” of Amtrak’s ‘First Class’ service continues. Amenity Kits long gone, and now it’s the Newman’s Own Thousand Island which is stunning. Ranch and Vinaigrette are the remaining choices unless you order the Caesar and they grudgingly provide ONE package. Add to this that at dinner they were completely out of desserts and we were on an early seating. Not that either of us need it, but it’s nice to know it’s there.

Slept well as did Dwight:

Normally the Southwest Chief is on-time or early getting into Los Angeles. Not this run. I got up at 5am for breakfast (supposedly served from 5-6am because of the arrival time) to find a limited menu (usual) and the train running two hours late. Needless to say, I ate and went back to bed.

The train was so late that we had 5 minutes to make our connection (which is better than being bused to catch the train up the line). At least when this happens they pull the train in just across the platform from the Coast Starlight. Downside is no time to raid the Metropolitan Lounge in LA’s Union Station.

Burger for lunch for me, on the early side since we’d eaten at 5AM. Dinner in the Parlour Car was the short rib. In the Parlour Car if you are at least two people they give you your own table.

By nightfall we were in Emeryville:

Yep – wearing my leopard print Santa Hat, cocktail in hand. While it isn’t permitted to bring your own in Coach, in the First Class Sleepers it IS permitted and they are happy to supply you with a bucket of ice. In our case, three times a day. Dwight introduced me to the concept of tipping at the BEGINNING of the trip for better service and if they are really good, adding more at the end. Ours on the Coast Starlight got more at the end as well with his excellent ice service. Dwight is a $10 a day tipper.

Another good night’s sleep for me, not so much for Dwight. I asked if I was snoring and he said no – THAT’S something new.

Omelet for breakfast, Caesar Salad for lunch…

Not much for presentation… didn’t even bother to open the croutons. But it was nice to have some greens (though the burgers ARE good). An early dinner was back in the Parlour Car, again having the Short Rib dinner – early because Dwight gets off an hour or so before me. At least this train had desserts all the way to the end of the line:

I always get mine to-go, having them a couple of hours later, especially at lunch.

Running early into Seattle after being on-time at Olympia to let Dwight off. It was fun to just hang out with him for a couple of days of doing nothing, including the dishes.

Roxy met me at the train station with my car, but not before I spotted this little number at King Street Station:

It is one of four privately owned railcars from the original California Zephyr that ran between Chicago to LA from 1948 to 1981.

More information here: http://www.calzephyrrailcar.com/California_Zephyr_Railcar_Charters/Welcome.html

And they do repositioning runs: http://www.calzephyrrailcar.com/California_Zephyr_Railcar_Charters/Positioning_Moves/Positioning_Moves.html. A couple of years ago I was on a four-car consist from San Diego to Los Angeles in the Silver Splendor which is part of the LARail group.

It was good to get home in one piece – for work it is for me in the morning.

[22.18]

Wed
6
Dec '17

Trip Report: New Mexico For A Couple Of Nights

Plane landed early, so The Colonels were still in route by the time I’d gotten my two checked bags. Suitcase and box of wine/cinnamon brandy.

Our plan for the afternoon is to hit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History which used to be on the Air Force base, but after 911 and heightened security was moved to much larger facilities, eventually landing where they have space for extensive outdoor exhibits.

By the time we left we were starving – and a quick internet search turned up one of The Colonels favorite quick bit places.

fr

We all ordered the same Green Chile Cheeseburger with 100% Hatch Green Chilis. The Colonels opting for Chocolate Shakes, myself a Diet Dr. Pepper.

Stopped by their timeshare in downtown Santa Fe to have cocktails (me), wine (Madam Colonel), and nothing (Mister Colonel, who is the driver tonight).

Off to dinner at my sister and brother-in-law—a fabulous meal of pulled beef that we devoured (so much for leftovers for lunches)! Oddly, no group photo. Apparently, we were having too much fun.

No true for the dinner the next night – though it was only my sis (technically, my dead brother’s widow) and I – Kennan was off at some training where they were feeding him. Too bad, since he missed this:

Yep, those would be Gruet Rose bubbles – perfect with a three-pound bone-in pork loin.

I had them find a smaller one – should have bought the 4.5 pounder and just cooked it all up to have lots of leftovers…we put a serious dent in it. Now I know!

After dinner it was time to get out the atlas and talk about whether the Cape Verde Islands are African. I claim that they are African (definitely politically), The Colonels don’t, meaning we can’t claim that we’ve all been to all the continents together – I met them on a cruise to Antarctica, which started in Lisbon.

Tomorrow its off to Lamy to pick up the train to Los Angeles, and then onto Seattle.

[? ? ?]

Sun
11
Sep '22

Trip Report: One Hour In Kona

Another day, another mileage run?

Different starter when you are on an evening flight!

Maybe I should be headed to Germany, not Hawaii…but alas, I’m in coach to Kona, though moved seats to have the middle open and me at the window.

And some window shots:

Dinner arrives – ordered the Protein Platter, and the rest comes as benefits of Elite Status:

Interestingly, they now are serving a sparkling wine that we used to carry at the shop (albeit, not in cans). It is the Saint Vincent, which is made by Gruet out of New Mexico:

And as we go into evening, more pretty shots:

Made it to Kona in one piece, just to buy some coffee and a post card, sadly, no post cards for sale. VERY small airport:

And back onto the plane, but this time up front:

And this is what I look like under the mask….tired.

More food…

And thankfully sleep.

Got home at 7am in the morning, but with Alaska Gold MVP for next year, so it was all worth it.

[197.2]

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