UMTravels

Too bloody early to out of bed and into a cab headed to the airport. Made earlier by the lack of a lounge at Dublin that I had privileges for. Breakfast was lunch here, though I didn’t go for the beer option:

My hope for sleep on the short hop to Newquay was for naught…

Noisy buggers, those ATR42’s…

It was an hour plus hop…

We were running a bit early, beat Ovenden since it’s a 45-minute drive from Plymouth.

We did a bunch of shopping on the way back to the house – where I turned in for a couple of hour nap. I’ve been napping a lot on this trip, even after the time zone difference. Maybe the last seven weeks of flights have caught up with me!

Tonight is dinner out to celebrate Ovenden’s soon to be ex-boyfriend whom he still lives with and is heading to the Canary Islands with on Tuesday (the joys of non-refundable fares).

Not that you can tell from the picture, but that is Rock Salt. Service was spotty considering the place wasn’t totally full, and they were out of the starter we wanted, and our first choice for wine. Not a good start to dinner with starving people.

I LOVE the cute guy behind us popping into the picture!

I started with monkfish scampi, Adam went for some chicken appetizer, Ovenden for the surprisingly good breads and spreads platter. That said, they were all good.

For the main, I went for the venison (lovely),

and the boys went for steaks (also lovely, since they gave me a bite).

I got to start using the flash! Tasted way better than the pictures.

One of the funny things about my trip to Plymouth is that Adam, Ovenden’s soon to be something, works at Kentucky Fried Chicken – which is going through some chicken delivery issues, which even eventually hit even the USA Today. He kept calling in to work, they kept saying, “not yet.” Unpaided furlough it seems. But here is the sign from one of the 450 stores shuttered throughout England.

Over the next couple of days, we explored (well, re-explored, since I’ve been here before) the city. Not sure why all the pictures look gray, other than it was gray all the days, with occasional drizzle. Now, WHY did I leave the gray way of Seattle?

And up to Plymouth Hoe we go…

Even when we eat in, we eat well, and apparently, quickly, since all I got was smeared plates!

My last day in town, off to the Plymouth Gin Distillery we go – sadly, no photos of the facility itself (except for the bar), so this is from Wikipedia:

It was a good tour, worth doing again (as I have in the past), and learned some new things, Ovenden connected with an old friend, and we got a free gin and tonic in the Refectory Bar:

After our drinks, it was off to find a place to eat, which because of a closed bridge, we have to take a two-minute ferry to our restaurant, Rockfish:

Where the fish was GREAT! And the portions HUGE! And the waiter was a GINGERCUB! But first, a half-price Bloody Mary…

Ovenden went for the Monkish and Salad:

I went for the Line-caught Haddock and Chips:

Our final meal at the house was a dinner of Partridge Breasts – things you don’t find often in the states:

What a wonderful place to hang out for a few days. Next time I won’t wait 15 years to return.

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It may have been a lay flat bed in Business to get here, but it’s still an overnight flight, and I don’t sleep well on planes without help (Scotch and Ambien).

Chatted with Mindi, had a little toast, kicked off my shoes, threw my feet up onto the couch, and I was out for five hours.

Jeff got home around 2:30 in the afternoon from prison (he was on some group visit) and tried rousting me – it didn’t work. Got up in time for cocktails!

Jeff and I popped out for supplies before they started whipping up dinner (bangers and mash), and we must have been having fun because the food pics I have start in the morning with a scramble made from eggs and leftover bangers, along with potato pancakes from the leftover mash:

In the past, I’ve been the one doing the cooking – but apparently my skills have rubbed off on them.

Dinner was a lovely roast…

A humorous photo of their microwave – which housed the butter, sugar, and other things that their raucous cat Marvin tends to knock to the floor, and or eat.

Had Jeff not suggested a distillery tour on my final day in Dublin, might not have left the neighborhood – the goal being “catching up” rather than “seeing the sites”.

We even had a version of a Caesar (a Bloody Mary made with Clamato), though it was Gin rather than Vodka for our pre-distillery meal.

Off to the distillery we go!

The Teeling Distillery is the first new distillery to be built in Dublin proper in 125 years. AND we have a hipster tour guide (Rory):

Lovely way to spend a bit of the afternoon, especially when it comes with a big tasting at the end:

An odd sign on our route home:

And some interesting products in the grocery:

Had a bit of a nap before dinner, and started clearing out some of Jeff’s whiskies that only had a bit left…one from Ireland:

One from Germany:

And one from India:

The final dinner of my visit was a Chicken Picata made with green olives rather than capers (because that’s what we had) and carrots sautéed in butter and Christmas spices with a little Drambuie:

A wonderful meal to finish a visit.

Tomorrow, off very early for the next leg.

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Off again – this time on a 10-day holiday. That would be LONG for me. Off to Ireland and England to visit friends and maybe explore a new thing or two.

And for those of you with questions about why I book all those “mileage runs”, it’s so I can use my miles to fly my international trips sitting up front.

But first, I have to get there – two chunks: Seattle to Philadelphia in Alaska First, then Philadelphia to Dublin in American Business.

Settled in with my Tablet and cocktails.

Followed by breakfast….

Tasty!

Long layover in Philadelphia, where I found a Lego Liberty Bell…

…on the way to the Admirals Club to enjoy some scratch-made guacamole (and booze, and soup).

Soon enough, onto the red-eye flight to Dublin…

That would be the Cole Haan Amenity Kit.

And then the food service starts…

Later, I had them fire up the espresso machine for an espresso and Amaretto. Wish I’d have gotten a better picture:

Before I put the lay flat bed in the lounger position to watch a couple of 80’s movies, including fast times at Ridgemont High.

Only a six-hour flight, so before you know it, MORE FOOD – in the form of breakfast!

I’d requested Champagne with my breakfast…and since I was the only one, they just left the bottle with me!

Even managed to get a picture of the crew rest area on this Airbus A330:

Sadly, I didn’t get through the bottle…it was still there AFTER we landed, still with a quarter to a third of a bottle left. Guess I needed help to finish it.

Time to grab a cab and head to Jeff and Mindi’s place in the city.

More tomorrow.

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Just like the Olympics, I’m going for the Gold and achieved success!

Now all I need is another 34,256 miles to keep my MVP Gold 75K status through 2019.

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Our final day on Oahu finds me sleeping in again, and Rache exploring. This pattern works well for us.

Our morning chore is to get out of the room by noon and get to the airport to pick up our rental car for our island tour – which looked something like this:

We added a couple of stops, like the cemetery at Punch Bowl:

This would be between Waikiki and stop number two on the map, the Pali Lookout, where it was windy as hell!

Next, we backtracked on the map to see the view from Hanuama Bay, which was closed to swimming because of tidal action. On the map, it’s at the lower right hand corner:

Then headed up the windward side of the island:

We made a quick stop and L&L BBQ, where I had the Kaluai Pork Sandwich:

I’d hoped to make it all the way to Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck – but I couldn’t hold out, hunger-wise. When we finally made it there, we split a garlic shrimp:

After that, it was a couple of stops at famous surfing beaches on the North Shore:

Again, lots of chop on the water, so not many surfers with all the orange flags up.

We made it back to the airport with four plus hours before out flight, which we needed because Rache’s phone rang as we were about to return the rental car. Someone had found his wallet under the picnic table at Giovanni’s. They’d tracked down his brother, who called his neighbor, who went over to have his roommates call and tell him. Amazing detective work by a mother/daughter team staying out by Turtle Bay (beyond Giovannis).

Forty-five minutes back to the North Shore, a wallet reunion, forty-five minutes back to the airport, more gas in the car before returning it.

I don’t think this much stuff has gone missing on a trip, EVER!

We still had time to chill in the American/Japan Airlines Lounge before our flight – but not as much as I’d planned.

Heavy on the ramen…

But the bathrooms had heated toilet seats with water!

It was a red-eye flight home. Sadly, no upgrade to first, but we were in Premium, and I managed to get some sleep.

Gotta work the next two days. Sigh.

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This morning I get to sleep in…until 10 – it feels SOOOOOOOOO good. Rache is out discovering the city. The plan is to meet back up at noon latest so we can get to our afternoon mission.

What did Rache do with his usual early rising? Explore Waikiki? Nope. He grabbed an Uber to Pearl Harbor and snagged a ticket to the 8:45am tour, leaving his enough time to explore some of the other exhibits.

I don’t have his pictures, so I grabbed one from their site:

I did the tour many years ago, and more recently, Rich (while he was alive) did the Aviation Museum at Ford Island. Sobering is how I describe the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. It reminds me that I should revisit – through you really do need to get there before the tour busses arrive.

We met back up at the hotel, and headed out to grab some lunch at Aloha Sushi which is a block or so away, nothing fancy, but not that expensive either:

While they look like they are pre-made, they are made to order, and placed into standard containers.

Next up is a tour of the Hawaii State Capitol led by Rick, but we had a little bit of time to kill, so here’s what is on the grounds:

Soon, we are on the tour!

There were some great mountain views from inside the open atrium:

After the tour it was off for a little stroll past the Iolani Palace…

Ending up at the Supreme Court building of Hawaii…

After no security at the Capitol, we had to go through metal detectors set to “useless” to get into the building:

Complete with 1930’s courtroom:

And displays about WWII, including internment of residents and other topics:

Having our history lesson for the day it was off for cocktails and snacks at Tiki’s, which overlooked the beach:

And on the way out, a most lovely restroom sign:

We walked back to the hotel passing the DUKE statue on the beach:

Rick joined us for cocktails after he got off work, and well into the evening. Quiet night at the hotel, other than the clinking of ice.

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When is a mileage run more than a mileage run – when you actually go someplace warm for a couple of days.

This was supposed to be surprise trip number two for Rache – amusingly spoiled by the TSA agent that said, “Have fun in Hawaii.” So much for THAT surprise. Rache still didn’t know the island until we got to the gate. Stopped at a couple of the lounges along the way for food and drink since we didn’t get upgraded to First, we were merely in Premium (extra knee room, snack box, free booze).

Uneventful flight and our driver was waiting for us even though our flight was about half an hour early…but hungry we were, and it was almost 11pm by the time we checked in. Off to Wailana Coffee House for us.

The place has all the charm of a Denny’s, which other than some bamboo accents, seems to be what it was at some point. Oddly, cash only.

The $4.50 drink special was a Mai Tai – which can often be WAY too sweet. Blessedly, this wasn’t the case, and it was amazingly good!

That would be Beaumont the Basset — Rache’s travel companion (other than me).

We split a Rueben, which was the perfect amount of food, though the sandwich was a little thin, and the fries a little soggy. Maybe we should have just had another cocktail and call it done. Instead, we poked our head into the Karaoke bar attached:

Heavy on the Tiki!

We both stayed up too late – me longer than Rache, considering we have a plan for Tuesday, a 10:30am tour of the Kamaka Ukulele Factory.

This was probably my fifth tour, sometimes by myself, often with travel mates. It really is an interesting tour, which these days is started by the 91-year-old son of the founder:

With the history out of the way, it was time for one of the grandsons of the founder to take us out into the plant:

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The tour runs about an hour and is offered at 10:3am, Tuesday through Friday. It must be popular because it used to only be offered on Tuesdays. And as you can see, Kamaka Ukuleles are not cheap – and there is at least a two-month wait for one since they are all custom made.

After the tour off we went in search of The Salvation Army, which I was having a hard time locating on an Uber map – but knew how to get there, but not before we ended up at a closed store miles away. Our driver took us the rest of the way for cash. Nice Mercedes S-class ride:

I snagged some glassware and six Tommy Bahama shirts (average cost was $12.25 each), of which five fit, and I’ll find someone for the other.

Needing food, we tried to eat at Liliha Bakery, but they were out of fried chicken (which we both wanted), and more importantly, panic set in when I discovered I’d left my phone in the Uber. Further panic when we realized that Uber’s Help System was offline. Nothing to do but head back to the hotel and get some food to calm my nerves.

Goofy Café and Dine was the choice:

I went for the Pork Belly Eggs Benedict, Rache went for the Grilled Shrimp:

Of course, there were nerve calming cocktails. Here is a picture that Rache took of Grumpy at Goofy:

The remainder of the afternoon was spent fretting, checking to see if Uber Help was back up, changing passwords on any apps on the phone that auto-logged in….

Around seven we headed to a Gay Karaoke Dive Bar in Waikiki which is on a hard to find pedestrian alley:

This was when a miracle happened. We got a call from our Uber driver who had my phone! He needed to finish a ride but agreed to bring it to the bar. Uber has a $15 lost item return fee, and I gave him a $20 tip – so happy to have it back.

The plan was to meet my friend Rick for drinks for happy hour which lasted until eight – he was running late, so we finally met at a noodle place instead:

We had three appetizers and split a noodle bowl:

After our dinner, we all went back to the bar where I was able to get a pic or two:

Another late night for both of us!

Tomorrow, I’ll post about our next day in sunny Waikiki.

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A quick post before I go off to work for the weekend. This week was another “mileage-run week”, which started off with a bit of a hiccup…

The plane was there…and we were all boarded…and then we were unloaded due to a mechanical problem with the bathroom. So, there was a delay…

And sent to another gate at the end of C Concourse, and then BACK to our original Gate (N1) – to get back on the same plane we got off of, however, with a new lavatory. Yes, they did a toilet swap.

We were over two hours late getting out – good tailwind, so we made up an hour, but it turns out our plane wasn’t doing a simple turn at RDU – it was going in for a heavy maintenance check.

Thankfully they held the plane for the EIGHT people, like me, who were doing mileage runs – and FOUR of us took up the entire Row 1 on the return flight. But we had a brand-new interior – look at the carpet!

Yep, got off the plane, walked over to the gate next door, and was onboard in minutes – guessing they held if for us since none of the eight had luggage.

Got home later than I expected – around 10:30 – fixed a drink, watched a little TV, went to bed because I’m up at the crack of dawn (again) to return to RDU.

But this time I had COMPANY. DancingBear did the Wednesday turn with me, and we were both upgraded!

That’s a picture from the Admiral’s Club at RDU – with another tailwind, we had time to walk to the other end of the terminal for a quick drink and a cup or two of soup. Not we hadn’t eaten on the way out.

Turns out, the plane we came in on, was headed elsewhere other than returning to Seattle:

Looks like IT’S going in for a C Check as well in Greensboro (this is a 10-year or so major event). You won’t find THAT flight number in their database.

Seems like they are doing a bunch of overhauls at their maintenance facilities. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/alaska-airlines-haeco-americas-spend-100-million-facilities

Flight home was on-time so it was quicker than last night since DancingBear just picked me up and we left the car at the airport.

Final mileage run of the week was a surprise for Rache, but not to DancingBear who was also joining us. Surprise for Rache in that he didn’t know where we were going until we got to the boarding gate for our redeye. Gave me time during the day to actually pick up the new washer/dryer combo I’d ordered weeks ago, and just for shits and giggles picked up a 32-bottle wine cooler for the living room:

Man, it’s nice having a car that can haul shit! With Rache’s help, got the boxes wrestled into the house, and even got the washer/dryer installed!

Yes, it’s all-in-one wash, dry, sadly, it doesn’t fold the clothes. Didn’t get as far with the wine cooler installation:

Returned to the airport around 7PM, and DancingBear got us into the Centurion Lounge, which Rache hadn’t been to – and it really does have better food/drink than the Alaska Lounge:

That would be DancingBear’s Old Fashioned, and my Manhattan (with Luxardo Cherries).

We were separated on the plane – originally, we’d all been in row 8 on the way out (DancingBear in 8A, me in 8C, and Rache in 8D), but Rache and I got upgraded, sadly not so for DancingBear, but it’s a red-eye, so mostly sleep.

As both Rache and DancingBear will tell you, I don’t sleep really well on planes, though on the way back I was so exhausted from the redeye that I did manage to get some. And went to bed as soon as we were home.

Sort of odd to have two free afternoons in a week of mileage runs – but it did give me time to start on the MOUNTAIN of laundry that had piled up in the month that my washing machine had been dead:

Loads take in the three-hour range, but since it’s a combo, you don’t have to move them over! I love the various options and the display that tells you the time it will take with your options:

Though you can really tell it – got the shelf done that sits on the washer/dryer – and even got the new wine cooler installed!

It’s probably time to replace the massive amplifier that feeds the ten speakers spread around my tiny 800 square foot house. But that’s a project for another day.

In case you were keeping track, by the time these miles posts, I’ll be at 35,442 flight miles for the years. After next weeks’ vacation (yes, I’m staying someplace for a bit), I’ll be at Alaska MVP Gold through 2019.

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After a week of work and crazy travel, I’m taking off a couple of days to visit the boys in Berkeley.

I was pleasantly surprised the morning of my flight to get an upgrade after checking in last night, but before heading out to the airport – means I’ll eat less in the lounge before the flight.

And it was a good breakfast considering it was a 2 hour flight:

The yellow stuff is a sliced egg salad – went on the warm croissant with the lettuce and actually ripe Roma tomatoes.

After my week of flying I set up my computer at Mark and Onyx’s place, and tucked in for a three-hour nap – which I seriously needed.

This trip is all about hiding away in Berkeley for a couple days so I can catch up on the blog, and more importantly work on my taxes.

Well, that, and stocking up the suitcase with Bourbon for the return, and enjoying some FINE meals out of their kitchen.

The first night was bacon-wrapped filets with roasted potatoes and a lovely Peruvian Tannat that I brought with me from Seattle:

The next (and final) night Onyx made these massive meatballs to go with a wee bit of pasta and a lot of peas! The meatballs are a day-long preparation in the crock pot and are the size of a hardball baseball – but much tastier.

I did get my tax preparation done for both the shop and my own business – so mission accomplished. And on the flight down I made Alaska MVP status through 2019.

Lunetta ran me to the BART station hours before my flight so I could hang out in the Cathy Pacific Lounge while they still had their noodle station open:

Sadly, I got their at 10:30am and they started shutting down noodles at 10:45 and the hot food was taken away by 11am – I got a round of noodles and two hot plates:

That said – it is a nice lounge:

After the hot food went away, it was just green and pasta salads – fortunately the left the bar out!

The current downside to flying Alaska out of SFO is that they are spread between two terminals – that aren’t connection behind security. While I have access to most American Lounges, it doesn’t include the one in SFO since there were too many Alaska people using it (and it’s the terminal with the domestic Alaska flights). So, after the food, it’s back to the other side of security, catch the train to Terminal 2, then go back through screening.

At least there is a great bookstore in Terminal Two – Compass Books, which always has a good selection of “remaindered” books:

They also have this great “typewriters through the ages” exhibit as well:

Before I knew it, I was back in my comfy seat with a snack in front of me:

Hours later I was home in time to make myself a little dinner – for tomorrow I’m working the shop.

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More road warriors end up doing mileage runs at the end of the year to get/keep airline status to get free upgrades to the “land of warm salty nuts”. I prefer to load up my account at the beginning of the year, booking TONS of flight when Alaska puts most of their destinations (except sunny ones) on sale for January/February/early March.

Last years “mileage run city of the year” was Boston, which cost me $235 round-trip and is a lot of flight miles, and frequent flyer miles, as Alaska is the last major airline in the US to award miles based on flight miles, rather than the cost of your ticket. What do I do with all those frequent flyer miles? Occasionally I give them away as Christmas presents, but mostly I use them to fly business class to Europe (coming up in February) and Southeast Asia (coming up in March). This year’s “mileage run city of the year” is Raleigh-Durham at $190.80 round-trip. And, no, I’m not even spending the night to explore the city – although I understand it’s a quite lovely place.

First leg of these runs is from SEA to JFK – where I got upgraded to First:

Since it’s a red-eye, it’s not the nicest inflight service, food wise:

The “meal” is a “Protein Plate”, which reminds me of the phrase that my grandmother’s “home” used “Protein Loaf”.

But, I did manage to get a little sleep on the flight after watching a movie and a little TV.

Early arrival at JFK – with enough layover time to explore the airport, specifically the 60’s icon TWA terminal:

Which, if you look closely to the right – they are building a 500-room hotel (TWA Hotel) opening in 2019. Here are some better daylight pictures of what will become the hotel lobby:

Other sightings at the airport – a line of Nissan NV200 taxicabs:

And a faux Tiki Lounge:

Speaking of lounges – I hoofed it over to the Admiral’s Club the next terminal over:

Where I spotted one of the American Airlines “history” paint jobs – from all the carriers that they gobbled up over the years, this one, AirCal:

But soon enough, it was back onto a plane bound for PDX with much better inflight food. The salad:

Which was followed by your choice of ravioli with pesto (which I had), or the Trident cod over Jasmine rice,

Followed by cheesecake:

Got to PDX early afternoon and headed to the lounge to see if I could get on an earlier flight home to SEA. I had been upgraded to First, but was willing to let it go for the less than an hour flight to get home five hours early. Even had time for a little clam chowder and Treveri Rose Bubbles!

Portland is a great airport (except that the Lounge doesn’t have a full liquor license), including a movie theatre:

And a pop-up wine store:

Made it home in one piece – so that I could work at the wine shop Saturday and Sunday, because, wait for it, because Monday I’m headed to RDC. Got an upgrade at the gate to Seat 1A:

Which means it came with breakfast, which I had them hold for a bit since I’d filled up in the Lounge, and I needed sleep more than food.

It was a quick turnaround at the airport — 40 minutes until boarding – no time to get the lounge which is at the other end of the airport. Before you knew it, there was more food (and drink) being served. This time I went for the Trident Cod after the salad:

Basically, it was a 12-hour flight day, plus a couple of hours on the front to get from my house, and some on the end to Lyft back home…all, so I could do it again in the morning, sadly in coach.

Upside is that I was travelling with DancingBear, who got us into a different lounge at SEA, the American Express Centurion Lounge:

The two of us suffering in coach for five hours:

At least we were in Premium Class with free cocktails and a snack box which didn’t keep either of us from ordering the Tom Douglas Kitchen’s Breakfast Sandwich made with Beecher’s Cheeses. Not bad for $5 – and if was super-hot temperature-wise. Sadly, it was gone before I had a chance to get a picture of it.

We were much happier on the way back in seats 1D and 1F – DancingBear loves a window seat, I love the aisle, so it all works out:

As for our dinners – it’s the same menu on most of the long-haul domestic routes in First – did you want the Pasta (me) or the Fish (DancingBear).

When we arrived back to SEA, we were at the end of the C Terminal, so I took us to the lounge to grab chocolates for the flight crews (my habit to repack them eight to a small zip lock bag). And since we are in the Lounge, why not have a nightcap!

Well, that’s the end of the “just for miles” trips in the last week, for I’m home for 12 hours before heading to the Bay Area in the morning. Fun fact — about 350 miles into the return from RDU, I hit the half-million mark on Alaska Lifetime Flight Miles. Sadly, it doesn’t even get me a thank you card.

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Normally my domestic trips I don’t do weekends, as to not annoy my business partner in the wine shop. Made an exception to see Pucci. His schedule is freer on the weekends as he teaches most afternoon/evenings during the week.

Got the rare upgrade to first on the Seattle-Boston run – rare because Seattle is the major Alaska hub with LOTS of 75K fliers who spend way more for their ticket than I ever do. A rare upgrade, but a lovely one:

I love going to visit Pucci – he LOVES to cook (and I brought wine).

We had a lovely Garzon Albarino from Uruguay to go with the chicken.

The next afternoon found us at MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) for a Dutch Masters exhibit that ends in a couple of days:

And a couple of Gaugin’s in another wing – including one from his Japanese phase (just at Van Gogh had):

And with art, you have to have food….

My pork belly steamed buns:

And Pucci’s mussels (in a lovely broth):

It was time for a little quick nap before heading over to have dinner with Netta and Joel (and occasionally Max):

We did a couple of racks of lamb (well, Netta did), using a Le Creuset that Julia Child gave her when she was her archivist…

A damn fine meal for the four of us (Pucci’s Caeser Salad not pictured):

And the self-proclaimed “picky eater”, Max, did make an appearance after dinner:

Monday’s big adventure for me since Pucci had Winchester Community Music School recitals to play in with his students was to meet up with my buddy Fernando and finally meet his husband at Christopher’s in Porter Square:

My first drink was…

Not bad – as was the blue cheese burger with tater tots:

And Fernando got the chicken pot pie which looked great as well.

Total forgotten what Fernado’s husband, Steve had – he was a bit camera-shy.

Suddenly, this post is all about food, because for Tuesday’s lunch, we (Pucci and I) met up with Jill at the Red House for Manhattans and oysters:

The first dozen was $6, the second (and beyond), $12. Still an expensive lunch considering we each had two dozen (and a couple of cocktails for me), and I was still hungry in an hour or so – which meant I hit up Pucci’s Noodles from lunch the other day:

Here is the recipe:

Delicious hot, or just from the fridge.

The Tuesday night adventure was for a recital at the Winchester Community Music School with one of Pucci’s groups – the Mo-Town group. This was during the sound check:

And the Beatles group up after Pucci:

And Pucci’s group:

It was great to see him play – though piano isn’t his best instrument – that would be the Bass. Would love to see him in a “gig” environment (a.k.a. bar).

My final day in Boston I was greeted with snow:

But Pucci had a student move his lesson so he gave me a ride to the “T”:

And after one transfer, I was in the Admirals Club lounge having a little lunch:

That was just the starter – fresh house-made guacamole – several rounds of soup followed. And then it was on to the plane, sadly, in back, but at least I was in the free booze section:

And soon, I was home…for twelve hours before the next adventure.

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Nothing like being home twelve hours between trips – and have a dinner party. Got back from the coast at 3:30pm, got up for my flight at 3:30am the next morning.

And it was a wild dinner party – thanks to a new device in my kitchen. That would be a shot chiller that dispenses Sweet Vermouth and Bourbon. Just add a cherry and some bitters to a martini glass, and press the buttons for 14-degree chilled liquor to come out the spout:

It works so well, Jonathan was able to prove that you can use the TV to make drinks!

Much fun was had, which might have been why I overcooked the pork a bit. For your amusement, some pictures from dinner:

Wow, no pictures of the food, other than the shrimp appetizer. Might be a new record.

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Through an odd set of circumstances, I acquired a free RCI week. Problem was that it a full week (which would mean missing a weekend of work), or more troublesome, only bookable less than 30 days out. If you think about it in inventory terms, it’s the sloppy leftovers that no one else wants. And why it wasn’t until December that I could book a January get away.

I was hoping for this place outside of Nanaimo, British Columbia which had one-bedroom units available in December (when we couldn’t go), but for January booking (had to book by 12-13 when the certificate expired) they only had their hotel room sized units, which is too small for the two of us. They DID have a two-bedroom unit in Ocean Shores, Washington.

Rache showed up on Friday, which was check-in day – I joined him on Monday, after, once again, mopping up water in the shop. Despite being called “Ocean Shores”, from the Sandpiper, you can neither see Ocean or Shores.

Their picture, not mine. My phone was deciding to be finicky. But the place had the amount of charm you see in this photo:

As you can see from the deck view – no ocean or no shores, but furnishings like your grandmother’s 1980’s retirement home…

The 80’s theme extended to the placemats:

As in, Corelle, the unbreakable plates from the 80’s/

The internet was also from your mother’s era (OK, my mother used dial-up until 6 months before she passed). Rache’s comment was: “The only internet more dysfunctional was in Cuban, where they know their internet is dysfunctional.” At check in you get three “chits” good for 5 Gigs among a couple of devices – and they say the connection is good only for email and web browsing, not for streaming anything. They were correct – it wasn’t even really good enough for even email. I ended up sharing my T-Mobile Data Connection with Rache since he’d used all the ATT Data and had bought $45 more, and it was only Monday (after checking in Friday).

That said, the kitchen was quite functional, and they even provided a little aluminum foil (which WorldMark doesn’t), but no spices other than salt and pepper. Fortunately, Rache brought his:

And we did eat well! I brought a shrimp appetizer:

With Veal Chops and a sampling of the Wines of Uruguay from the tasting on Saturday (and they were still tasting great!):

For breakfast, Rache made Eggs Benedict (from scratch) with fired Risotto patties rather than English Muffins:

After breakfast I called WorldMark and booked us into new places for our remaining three nights – giving up three free nights of lodging to pay $180 for better digs, and MUCH better internet. In the afternoon we moved to the WorldMark Mariner Village for Tuesday night, and the WorldMark Surfside for Wednesday and Thursday nights. Around 2pm we packed up and went out to lunch at Galway’s Pub in Ocean Shores:

The make a GREAT Manhattan. They brandy their own cherries, use your choice of Rye or Bourbon, and use the Vya Sweet Vermouth (my mother’s favorite). I went for the Corned Beef on Soda Bread, and a cup of Chowder, Rache went for the Fish & Chips, subbing chips for onion rings:

After that heavy lunch, it was off to WorldMark Mariner Village:

This is their photo (as are the others), but in a wonderful accident, that would be our room on the second floor, front corner, and those are the dunes to the right! And the inside:

Rache found out in the morning that we also had “resident deer”.

After he tossed them a couple of crackers, we had ten of them. Yes, I told him not to feed them, but he never listens to anything I say.

No pictures of dinner – phone was being wacky, but we were out of the unit by the noon deadline and headed to Long Beach (where Rache lives, and oddly, almost as far a drive as to Seattle) for a lighter lunch at Pickled Fish, where we ran in Matt, the distiller for the Adrift Hotel, home of Pickled Fish and Adrift Distillery. Thought I got a picture of him, but apparently, not. I did get a picture of our cocktails!

Manhattan for me, Old Fashioned for Rache. Fried oyster in buttermilk batter for Rache, Clam Chowder (even better than yesterday – thicker) and deviled eggs for me.

After our snack, stopped by the front desk to see Matt’s latest product – his Cranberry Liqueur.

Went next door to the distillery and had some, and some of his latest Gin. Yum.

Soon, we were at the WorldMark Surfside….

They have completely redone the exterior:

And the interior:

And the food continued to flow….

Wednesday night dinner of lamb chops, and breakfast in the morning….

With some leftover hollandaise from the other day.

On the shelves in the common area I found a nice book for Rache…

He rejected my offer, sadly. Nothing to do but go back to cooking, this time Kalbi Beef off the grill with the last of the risotto:

And for after dessert – some Rainbow Unicorn Chocolates – just kidding, we didn’t open them:

The WorldMark places are so much more relaxing than most others. It was an early checkout for me in the morning…I’ve got company coming to dinner.

I took a slightly longer route home so I could stop here:

Burgerville is the BEST! Well, probably not the best for me, but I did have the halibut sandwich.

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Yep, it’s already a third of the way through January, and I’m finally documenting my Christmas/New Year fun.

After visiting friends in Forks the first two days of Mark and Onyx’s visit, I returned home to a full holiday feeding schedule. Look at the Beef Wellington that Onyx (and Mark) made for a group dinner at his cousin’s house in West Seattle:

I brought a 3-liter bottle of Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volante Blanc – a replacement for a bottle that died a year ago Thanksgiving. We put a good dent in it!

Talk about a WONDERFUL meal:

Next up on the holiday parade was dinner up north at mutual friends, Seth, and his daughter Maia. As you can tell, it was a mess of wrapping paper:

More dinners with friends but no photographs….but I did get photos of Mark helping me with making some pillow covers at xMess presents:

And, mind you, I’m also working the shop in the holiday season:

Christmas Eve dinner found me working until five, while Onyx and crew worked on a Beef Bourguignon
in my kitchen:

It was a nice hearty meal to go with our Christmas Eve snow…

And it’s not the holidays unless the plumbing goes south, first it was the dishwasher not draining, and then all the connections to the kitchen sink dripping…

As you can tell, this isn’t the first time – the above is with all the racks ripped out. And below with a heater drying everything out:

Having the Ford Escape DOES help in the repairs:

I used basement subflooring turned the wrong way to give the cabinet a waterproof base:

And because of the cold, the outdoor icemaker stopped working….

Between Christmas and New Year’s, more Bay Area friends showed up – and out to lunch we go, to try the new Mexican restaurant on 14^th:

Excellent food, but a bit on the pricey side….

And for dinner, Roxy and his boyfriend showed up for shrimp fried rice:

Eating well this holiday season!

Trip Advisor sent me this little video about my 2017 Travel:

And the plumbing issues continue…, now the washer/dryer combo is washing, but not drying – time to rip that apart when I start running out of clean clothes. Oi!

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Malvirà Wine Lunch

at Cascina Spinasse

Tuesday, January 16th

Noon to 2pm

3-courses with wine

$55 per person (+ tax & gratuity)

Malvirà was established in the 1950s by Giuseppe Damonte, in Roero in the Piedmont region. Today, Malvirà’s wines are made from their Estate fruit, organically farmed on 104 acres across 6 vineyards. They are one of the most ardent proponents of the Arneis grape. Arneis needs careful farming. According to Massimo Damonte, who oversees viticulture at the Estate, the secret to great Arneis lies in old vines. The average age of Malvirà’s Arneis is 40‐50 years old. Vine age helps to inhibit yields, allowing the plant to channel more of its energy into higher quality fruit. In addition to Arneis, Malvirà grows Favorita, Roero (100% Nebbiolo), Barbera, and Birbet.

We’ll be pairing Malvirà’s great wines with Spinassse’s incredible food. We’ll be pouring:

Sparkling Arneis

2015 Langhe Favorita

2010 Roero Rosso

2013 San Michele Barbera d’Alba

2006 San Guglielmo Langhe Rosso

Renesium Passito (mostly Arneis)

Call {206} 251-7673 for a reservation

Cascina Spinasse

1531 14^th Ave.

Seattle WA 98122

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5

It had been too long since I’d been out to Forks, Washington to visit my friends, Chip and Linda. And it is a pretty drive:

In theory, it’s 150 miles and 3.5 hours…but there is a ferry ride to get to the peninsula…think more like 4.5 to 5 hours. A FOGGY ferry ride…

Crossing the Hood Canal Bridge:

Through Port Angeles and along the edge of Crescent Lake…

Quillayute River Resort is a turn off a little before Forks, Washington, on the way to Rialto Beach.

The original plan was that I’d stay in the lodge in the family/friend room, but one of the suites was open!

The late afternoon turned into a downpour – those streaks are rain coming off the roof:

But there was a lovely hearty beef stew…

Following by rice pudding…

They are the early to bed type, so I headed back to the suite – which fortunately had less rain than on the way in.

The morning, which was forecast for snow, instead, turned out to be SUN!

And the Lodge…

And the main entrance:

And it’s beautiful inside…first, upstairs in the owner’s suite, still in process:

It was such a beautiful day I went out for a drive – to the coast…

Which was gorgeous with the sun out!

And the way back, I swung by the Quillayute State Airport – which has seen better days:

During World War II, it was a big deal with two 5,000 foot runways.

I didn’t realize that the way I usually drive to the resort is at the bottom of a valley, with mountain views:

Managed to get back to the resort with enough time for a quick nap before dinner in the commercial portion of the lodge – outfitted with a catering kitchen, ADA guest suite, library. The highlights of the open catering kitchen are these two beauties:

And the rest of the common space is stunning:

Tonight is pizza night – when you have a wood-fired oven, pizza is a natural, though the last time I was here, it was fresh pita bread. Here is the oven all fired up:

And pizza calls for WINE!

Chip is getting REALLY, REALLY GOOD as a pizza maker:

Out of the five small pizzas we made, there were only a couple of slices left – that didn’t make it past midnight back in my room.

One last comment on the resort, should you have a Tesla – you are covered:

Didn’t sleep in as late as I’d like since I have a dinner date back in the city…and with construction on 101, I had no clue of delays. There was a delay, but it was ten minutes stuck with this view:

Grabbed lunch in Port Angeles, and headed to the ferry (once again, missing one by minutes, so waiting for another 45). Here is the view from the ferry with the city in the distance:

It was a relaxing couple of days in the woods. Next time I shouldn’t wait 18 months between visits.

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It’s not even the end of the year, and 2018 is stacking up to be a busy travel year. I should hit Alaska MVP Gold by the first week of March. Last year it was regular MVP by the first week of April. Looks like I’ll be Alaska MVP Gold 75K for 2019!

Here’s what’s on the books, though I might cancel the Cabo San Lucas trip for my birthday…

Yes, a lot of those are mileage runs (JFK/RDU). And two of the trips are blacked out because I’m keeping the destination a secret from my travelling companion. He just knows we are going someplace cold and someplace warm.

May you all be surrounded by friends and family this season.

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Thanks to an extra car at the house, I was able to drive myself to the train station in Lamy (LMY), and just lock the keys in the truck. VERY convenient.

Lamy used to have a great restaurant, sadly, closed, since Lamy is in the middle of nowhere.

I always show up early – an hour early. But the train is on time!

And soon, I was onboard:

I’m on the lower level in a roomette for the trip to Los Angeles…

Next stop is Albuquerque – where we had about 45 minutes…and time for me to get a hot dog!

Settled in, it’s just watching the countryside rolling by…..

And then it was time for dinner!

I went for the Land and Sea. That would be a steak and a seafood cake:

I always get my dessert to go, because the meals are so big – but about 9PM I need a snack…

The whipped cream looked better an hour ago…then it’s on to cocktails…

Life is hard on the train – especially if you need a smoke break, which I don’t. But nice to have a cocktail on the platform at Flagstaff.

Off to bed as it’s up at 5AM for breakfast and then back to bed before we pull into LA.

And that’s when it all went to shit. Nothing like an email from Amtrak saying…

Our records indicate that you are scheduled to depart on Amtrak train number 14 from Los Angeles, California at 10:10AM on Thursday December 7 and arriving in Seattle (King St. Station), Washington.

That schedule has been cancelled due to a service disruption. There is no alternate service available. To speak to a customer service representative about travel options such as selecting another date or destination call us at 877-231-9448 at your earliest convenience.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for being a valued Amtrak customer.

I love the phrase, “There is no alternate service available.”

My response was to go the Sleeping Car Lounge on the second floor of the LA train station – where there is a real person, with real powers. And more importantly, answers.

And the answer was – yes, we will get you there. Bus to Bakersfield, San Joaquin to Emeryville, meet the Coast Starlight and actually get into my bedroom.

Here is a map to show you the route:

Up the middle was my route…not the coastal route to the left. I did get to see the Central Valley – the vegetable basket of America.

But it was on a bus…

Which they actually provided water, chips, snack box, and even a 6-inch sandwich from Subway:

Managed to get an hour or two of sleep before we hooked up with the San Joaquin:

If there is a silver lining to this “service disruption”, it’s that I have a 2+ hour layover in Emeryville which means I have time to have dinner with Mark and Onyx at Los Molés restaurant in Emeryville:

It was an unexpected pleasure – I’ll see the boys in a week or so in Seattle, but always nice for a random visit.

Before I knew it, it was back to the station:

And into my bedroom unit. It was late when I boarded, so the Car Attendant had already made up both beds. I usually go for just the upper, but it was nice to have a four-foot-wide bed to roll around in. And yes, he brought me a bucket of ice:

It’s a little crowded with both beds down.

Much more comfortable with the bed up:

Nothing like a sunrise in the Cascades…

Again, it was up at 6:30, eat breakfast, back to bed. Hard to turn down free meals. But I was up for lunch, where I took a chance on the steamed mussels:

I was pleasantly surprised. I would have used coconut milk, ginger, and lemon root, but for being on a train, it was good. Yes, I’m drinking Merlot with the mussels!

Just before Portland is Oregon Falls, site of an old paper mill I visited in my Microsoft days….

Dinner was even better (though a tad early for me – 5:30, because of our arrival time). On the Coast Starlight, you can dine solo in the Parlour Car (though this one was actually a bi-level café car since the Parlour Car was in the shop). I would have gone back for the steak, but the Braised Lamb Shank is the STAR of this route.

Train arrived early – I was home by 8:30.

Time to relax, and start the process of trying to get some of the points back for the bedroom that I didn’t have for 24 hours.

• Call One – to the number on the “you are screwed” notice. Sorry, you completed the trip, and since it was on points, you need to contact Amtrak Guest Rewards.
• Call Two – Amtrak Guest Rewards, you need to contact Customer Relations, which is only open Monday-Friday 6am to 9pm Monday to Friday, and no, there isn’t a direct line. Call 1-800-USA-RAIL, punch 0 a couple of times, ask the agent to transfer you.
• Call Three – wait for Monday to roll around, get through to Guest Relations, file a claim to which they say they will email off. NO direct resolution.

At least they were quick – the next day 7,000 points were back in my account – which I think is a little shy of what I’m deserves for 1/3 of time in a sleeper that cost me 33,776 points. Might need to bitch some more.

That said, the “service disruption” was serious – it was the California wild fires that shut down the coastal route. I actually found a video clip shot from the tracks that the train runs – and the flames are close, and days later, I figured out how to embed the video from USA Today:

That’s it for this adventure – only one more for the year, but I’ll do a yearly travel update before the end of the year.

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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.

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Quite often I go to New Mexico to visit my sister and her husband (technically, my brother’s widow and her new husband), and then take the train back to Seattle. Amtrak schedules don’t really allow for going in the other direction if you actually want to make your connection.

Poked around the Alaska Airlines site and found a First-Class ticket for $230 – and I had a $75 coupon so that brought it to $155. Not bad for a three-hour flight in a comfy seat. Then there is the mileage accrual. Actual miles, plus a 100% bonus for class of service, plus a 125% bonus because I’m Alaska MVP Gold 75K. And the class of service bonus actually applies to lifetime flight miles – might dump me over the half million mark on Alaska, not that I get an award or anything. 1,179 + 1,179 = 2358 flight miles, plus the 125% bonus makes it 3,832 miles to spend on flights. That about 50% over what I’ll be getting from my cheapee flight from Seattle to Auckland, New Zealand – and for a three-hour flight, not almost 15,000 flight miles.

7:10am departure…which means up at 4am, to the airport at 5am to have my usual bagel/cream cheese and hard-boiled egg breakfast, wait for the lounge bar to open at 6am so I can have a glass of rose bubbles before we start boarding at 6:30am.

When I checked into the Lounge, this was the receptionist that answered the question, is there food in First on this flight, and what is it, so I know how much to stuff myself in the Lounge. And now she is pouring me bubbles (no, not Michael Jackson’s chimp – he’s in a Florida chip rescue retirement home)!

Alaska now has two nonstop flights between Seattle and Albuquerque – the morning flight is operated by Horizon in their new Embraer E175 jets, the afternoon in a 737 that doesn’t get in until a little after 9PM, and I’m not seeing the second flight on the schedule for January.

Yes, as is my usual Christmas tradition I’ve got my puss print Santa (or is that Satan) hat on. Starts the first of December, gets retired on the 25^th.

So, here is the configuration of Horizon’s E175:

As you can see, the 12 First Class seats are in a 1-2 configuration – and I chose Seat 1A:

It’s nice to not have a neighbor – you get both a window AND an aisle seat. Soon, we were taxiing, which is when I realized I might be getting some good pictures out of this trip:

And the view kept getting better and better:

What a lovely day to fly! Especially when cocktails start showing up!

And breakfast:

Fresh fruit, a very chunky potato salad with greens, and a lovely little tiny quiche. With these views….

Though I should give you a little perspective:

We are far enough into the flight you can see the Front Range of the Rockies where the clouds start stacking up against the mountains and the farm land is all squares and circles:

Until the snow peters out…

And you are left with brown…

And then civilization…

I was truly sad to see the end of this flight – and this from someone who spends a good chunk of his life on airplanes.

I shot this little 30-second video while I was on the people-mover headed to Baggage Claim.

Enjoy.

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