Well, this week was supposed to be a couple of nights in the Bay Area. There are a variety of reasons why it didn’t’ happen. A laundry list of things….
Lunetta (who I stay with) got the week wrong and is in San Diego all week
Onyx (partner of Lunetta) is having post-gathering fragility issues
Bonny Doon isn’t open Tuesday/Wednesday, not sure if I want the slog to get to Napa/Sonoma
Shop printer stopped working, part arriving, need to fix
It’s the end of the month and it’s wine club shipment time and Jim appreciates the help
I have 7 cases of wine under the table that needs running through the still
I’m headed to Turkey in three weeks for 10 days – and I have the first three days planned but not the trip to Romania
The house is a wreck from all the new printing equipment that arrived
One of the convenient things about being MVP Gold on Alaska is that you can cancel the trip and they just hold the value for you online – and it’ not like I won’t use it before November when it expires. Yes, I cancelled a trip that I’d already been upgraded to First Class on the way down.
I will miss the double EQM – but I think that offer is good through the end of the year. And airfares to the Bay Area are running at $138 mid-week.
So I’ve spent this week running the still and researching Turkey – asking any and all friends for assistance.
So far I’ve booked three night in Istanbul at the Ramada Grand Bazaar which gets me miles and I get 20% off lowest rack rate because of my WorldMark membership. Booked an airport transfer with them as well as I’ll be a bit groggy after the 21 hour trip.
I’ve been printing out various tourist maps on the printer that Josh helped me move into the office last night (no, the correspondence desk for visitors isn’t done yet, though the maps are lying on it):
And I’m working on the train itinerary:
The plan is to take the overnight train from Istanbul (Turkey) to Bucharest (Romania) and on the return stop for a night in either Sofia or Veliko Tornova in Bulgaria on the way back. More passport stamps!
Leave at 10pm from Istanbul, get into Viliko Tornova at 11:18, then into Bucharest at 6:30pm. In theory. Can’t book it other than at the train station so who knows whether I’ll get out on Friday the 21st… or beyond. I don’t fly back until the 27th so I have some time. I’d go hang with Zagreb and visit Obrad, but there isn’t really time.
Josh was over last night for dinner – and helped me move the laminator into the garage (because I don’t do that much laminating) and get the Big Ass Printer into the Printer Room/Guest Bedroom. I’m afraid it isn’t looking like there is room for the other large high-speed black and white printer in the garage:
It’s another couple of days of work to get the rugs back down (thinking of seeing if my carpet from Bodrum [Turkey] will actually fit). When I looked up Bodrum I realized I missed a whole bunch of stuff in my four hours in Turkey as part of a 2-week sailing trip around the Greek Islands with a bunch of old friends who ended up at Microsoft.
I have a couple of good pictures from this week that remind me of why I love living in the Pacific Northwest…
Driving with the top down… and Spring flowers…
They say snow this weekend – that would be MARCH in Seattle. That is soooooo wrong.
And in a final photo I’d like to say I actually got a REAL haircut, rather than just whacking at it in the bathroom….
But is he cutting my hair or inserting still parts into my brain – he looks so serious, I’m thinking still parts.
A couple of months ago I snagged this GREAT fare to Denver on United Airlines… $118 round-trip! You can imagine my surprise when I also got UPGRADED in both directions. Snagged another one in early April for the same price on Alaska, but that one is just an overnight. I try and visit Dan and Lisa as often as I can find cheap fares – it cheers him up from the burden of financial and the resulting emotional stress.
Lots of “selfies” in this post – apparently I was on a roll this trip.
In the Alaska Board Room even though I’m flying United – speaking of which – the plane box, the plane – sporting an EcoSkies livery:
Typical rainy Seattle day…wouldn’t want to be a ramp worker today.
Settled into Seat 1A. Not my favorite, that would be 1B (bulkhead aisle), but it’s a free upgrade and in the bulkhead so no one can put their seatback into my space.
And with United you get a cocktail while you are still on the ground. The blue ear buds are my short-haul noise cancelling headphones. For the longer trips it is still the over the ear Bose.
Looks like someone is a little behind in changing their signage at the Denver airport:
One of my cocktail glasses from the flight was still branded Continental so did them a favor and liberated it so that it can go into SuperModel’s collection.
Lisa met me at the airport for the 45-minute drive to their place in Broomfield – when it’s just an overnight trip (like the one coming up in April) I rent a car since it asking a lot to have someone spend three hours over two days running back and forth.
A shot of Dan and I being silly – well, it’s really just me begin silly:
The first full day found us checking out the new Trader Joes in Denver – one of three coming in the next couple of months, and the only one to have a separate but attached liquor store due to some odd state liquor laws which says you can’t have more than one liquor store permit. The store just opened a couple of days ago and it’s a zoo… we had to park two blocks away:
Serioulsy – the checkout line started at the BACK of the store even though they had 10 checkout lines open.
After a quick bite of TJs snacks it was off to a quick visit to Dan’s father George. He’s got quite the aquarium system filled with all sorts of coral, fish, and odd creatures:
Dinner tonight is what I brought from Seattle – lamb shanks. Though I guess you could say I brought some of last night’s dinner as well since I showed up with a pound of lox trim (for toasted bagels from Moe’s Bagels in Boulder) from Trident Seafoods which bought out Port Chatham where I’ve shopped for years especially for XMess presents for the family. Wow, that was a run-on, now back to shanks:
On my last full day in Colorado is moving all the tools from Dan’s garage to the basement to make it easier to get both cars and his motorcycle parked:
Then it’s a Depot Dog at Home Depot – huge selection – I went for the Beer Braut. Next up was Diet Verners and Coke from King Soopers to restock Dan and Lisa’s fridge with what I usually drink. And finally off to Total Beverage to fill the suitcase with liquor. Here is a great bit of merchandising – the Olympic rings done in 12-packs of CocaCola products:
Up and out of the house by 8AM for my flight home. My breakfast at the French Bistro (Pour La France) in the airport:
Eggs Benedict served on a croissant.
And for the rest of the post, just a bunch of “selfies” in the airport and onboard my flight home, where I actually had TWO first class seats to myself – not that my butt is that big:
This week I’m off to Oregon for a couple of days – after dealing with cancelling my Microsoft Alumni Network medical insurance now that the Washington State Health Exchange has figured out what I deserve. I could have saved $375 if they’d gotten their act together in December. At least I’ll have MUCH cheaper coverage going forward. At least I saved almost $500 by protesting a damage claim by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Bozeman unit. Me thinks they are looking to pimp out their cars before selling them… mine (see post) had almost 30,000 miles on it AND the inner side of the front tires were bald – bad alignment, previous wreck? It certainly wasn’t the vehicle I requested.
All that is water under the bridge – of which I’ll pass over many on my Oregon road trip to deliver the Winter Faerie Gathering directories to Breitenbush Hot Springs. Here is the route:
Lots of time on the freeway – 3 hours to Julian’s house, 2 more hours to the Breitenbush.
Left Seattle around 12:30 for a slow leisurely 10mph over the speed limit drive to Portland… but had to stop for lunch, then a Goodwill, gas… got to Portland a little before 4pm at the nephew’s place (after a further stop at the liquor store for more supplies – I only brought 6 liters of wine!)
I brought down salad fixing, four massive steaks:
Julian did a couple of additions – a marinated radish, red union, red wine vinegar salad topper (along with the feta crumbled and yellow pear tomatoes), and a stir-fry of zucchini, bell peppers and onions. Here is the radish dish:
These are REALLY tasty – try them sometime.
But before dinner could commence, we (Mark & Onyx, Seth, Julian, Me) had a craft project to do. Wine charms made from foreign coins Julian has collected in his travel and ring binders.
Tools:
Pliers (to hold coin)
Drill with bit large enough for the ring
Leftover coins from foreign travel
I think they came out really good – might have to produce them for the shop!   Â
Pick your coin – get it drilled, apply. I actually think they would go through the dishwasher with no problem.
We were having too much fun and totally spaced on the after-dinner activity, going through Alan’s discarded shoes – two garbage bags full of lightly used 10-11 (Men’s) shoes. Damn.
Slept in on Wednesday morning until 10am… joy of joys… and slowly rambled out the door around 12:30 to grab lunch at The Fishwife – my North Portland favorite restaurant – for their $6 Daily Fish and Chips Special and a fresh-squeezed grapefruit mimosa (also $6). For $7 I could have gotten the Oyster Shooter/Bloody Mary combo. No Julian to join me – on Sunday he was sledding in the snow and pulled a Sonny Bono (sideways into a tree, though I think Sonny did a face plant – and now I read an article [looking for a link] that it wasn’t an accident, but I digress) resulting in some seriously bruised ribs.
Went back to the house for a bit – then a little before 2pm it was off to the Bush to deliver the directories for the Winter Gathering that JustJack, HisPartner, DancingBear, and I put together on the night before I left on this trip. Talk about cutting it close:
Here is the final result, first closed:
8.5×14 edge wire-o bound, vellum cover weight stock (translucent) with 60# Springhill Digital Gray for the interior pages.
Now open:
No other photo directory for the Gathering has looked like this. 8.5×28 when laid out open – and it reads from each direction signifying “no beginning and no end”. Though I haven’t talked about it no “call” to the Gathering has looked like it either – usually 4 pages or so, the one for this Gathering… 14 pages. MUCH on-line drama about “changing” the gathering. A better phrase would be, a different vision.
Got to the gathering a little before 4pm, shortly after my cabin-mates:
But the work wasn’t done yet – the QR’s (Queens Registrar) had more plans for the directory… double wrapped as scrolls with ribbons. That was the after dinner work. Don’t they look pretty in the wooden boxes I used to haul them south in?
All wrapped up scroll-like and ready to be delivered on the opening day of the Gathering.
The highlight of my night is a cuddle date with Seth before beddy-bye time, yes, I have a bit of a crush on him. I have a crush on him even though he has a 4-year-old wickedly cute precocious daughter.
Thursday morning was another luxurious morning of sleeping in – wish I’d just spent the night cuddling (don’t we all). Seems neither of us sleep apart all that well. Lesson learned.
Had lunch in the lodge:
Though it’s winter in this picture, it’s not this winter… add 18″ of snow. They almost cancelled the Gathering. But it does show the lodge where the meals are served.
A little after 3pm I was on the road home… just in time for hellish rush hour traffic, partly caused by a narrow 1-5 Bridge over the Columbia that Oregon and Washington are fighting over.
Washington State wants a bridge with light rail connecting Vancouver, WA to Portland, OR – the rail line already goes within ½ a mile on the Oregon side
Vancouver, WA (the city) has council members opposed to Light Rail
Both Oregon and Washington are having troubles passing bills to fund the bridge
Meanwhile – it takes me an hour and 15 minutes to get around the “ring road”.
Luckily at the north end is a Burgerville and a Safeway for groceries and gas. A nice Pepper Bacon Tillamook Cheeseburger and a glass of Merlot (yes, a burger chain that serves wine by the glass, at least at the Vancouver, WA location at the intersection of I-205 and I-5).
Finally home a little before 10PM – time to set the alarm to get up before 8 to take the Miata for new paws and an oil change.
I missed the first snow of the season (December) in Seattle – I was on the road…in another state.
This started Saturday night late (10pm or so for South Park, 7pm for the wine shop):
Luckily this morning the temps had warmed and it was an OK commute to the shop – though I DID take the station wagon which is front wheel drive — oddly enough takes the same size chains as the Miata – there is another $100 savings. Now I just need gloves ($2.00 at Grocery Outlet on the way to the shop) and a snow scraper ($3.00 for the SUV extendable size, same place).
By the time I left work, most of the snow had rinsed away. Phew! Prepared means no need to use the equipment.
Off to visit friends and work on making some zebra-skin lederhosen. I got the idea from a Wall Street Journal article about Oktoberfest in Namibia (a former German colony). Here is the drive plan since the Seahawks Victory Parade will turn downtown Seattle into a mess/zoo/clusterfuck:
Yep, taking the long route… through Tacoma.
The lovely Tacoma Narrows Bridge – in the non-tolled direction. Made fairly good time – even with the stops. Got to the Quillayute River Resort right in time for cocktails!
Pulled over by Lake Crescent for a “selfie”:
My unit (#4) and the view from my window:
It’s wonderfully peaceful out here but the main reason for the visit it a little sewing project with Linda, who with Chip runs the resort. The plan is to make a pair of zebra hide lederhosen like the ones I saw in the Wall Street Journal last fall.
Well – it isn’t as easy as it sounds….especially after we finished off a bottle of scotch on my first night there…
By the end of the day we had only gotten as far as getting all the pieces cut out – well, that and making a mock-up out of a white sheet to make sure we were getting the measurements correct. Luckily there are no pictures of me in what looks like an adult diaper since the mock-up was made out of a used sheet from the resort. Linda will finish it next week while Chip is away (so she can spread out all over their small caretaker’s apartment.
Within the next year or two it won’t be an issue once the Lodge House is completed. Living area upstairs and downstairs is a commercial kitchen and reception hall, along with the reception desk for guests. Their current unit will be turned into a 2-bedroom suite and Chip will keep his office in the current reception desk room.
Lots of the resorts guests are fisherman – like this one who was out in the bitter cold practicing his art:
The river is a little low because of the lack of rain – meaning a couple of cancellations for the weekend. As for me, I come to sew and admire the sunsets:
Got on the road the final morning a little after 11am after a Denver-style scrambled egg breakfast. Stops in Port Angeles at Goodwill for a breadmaker ($5.99 for a 2# size rectangular loaf machine), and at Swains for black flannel-lined jeans – yes, I’m finally breaking down and spending over $50 for some new jeans. I have blue flannel-lined ones but I just don’t think the color works on me.
It was a beautiful day for a drive (both days were sunny, clean and wickedly cold) as evidenced by this shot from my ferry ride back to Seattle:
Up very early this morning – destination, Lopez Island up in the San Juans.
The view from the Anacortes ferry dock as I wait for the 9:30 ferry to Lopez:
Another ferry Eastbound…
First stop on Lopez was to pick up some of my old equipment from Sue. It was good seeing her again – I can’t believe that I haven’t been back to the island since I sold the church.
Speaking of my old church — here is a shot of it as it stands today…
Had lunch at Vortex with Lynn (who for a while lived around the corner from me in South Park). We both had quesadillas since it the really cold outside (but with sun) – I was surprised to see that they actually offered ground beef (local organic ground beef). Lynn had a vegetarian one – and I, of course, opted for the “happy cow” version.
After lunch I drove around a little more – looked at the new super market which has a liquor section in it now. Apparently the people who had the state liquor store license used the switch over to private stores as an excuse to decamp to Arizona.
Not much left to do on the island other than hit the ferry dock several hours before my 4:20 ferry. I did have a late afternoon dog at Ye Scurvy Dogs which is right on the ferry landing.
By the time I got home it was beyond dark out – and here is what the car looked like badly packed with all the stuff I got from Sue:
That would be a 42″ wide plotter (and bunches of paper), an 11×17″ scanner, a video projector, and a 25″ wide laminator.
Now to find a place in the house for all this equipment!
It is a highly modified Travelogue free Word Press template. I’m available for hire. Here is another site I’ve done for a wine shop: http://www.madronawinemerchants.com
This is an experiment in the style of one of the Colonels – the trip report rather than the day-by-day, blow-by-blow. Comments please.
Dateline Tuesday:
I love noon flights. You don’t have to get up early, lunch is set out in the Board Room when you get there, you don’t’ feel self-conscious having that cocktail like you might at 6am.
Speaking of the Board Room (the Alaska Airlines lounge), they’ve added these new “pods”.
Though you can’t see it from this angle, there are outlets on the other two sides – each of which has two outlets AND two USB ports. I want one for home!
I resisted the temptation to take a $300 voucher for a later flight via Salt Lake City – which in retrospect I should have since:
I would have gotten double EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles) on Alaska as they are feuding with their Frienemy Delta (though I would have had crappy seats on both legs)
Because of limited T-Mobile service in Bozeman and other issues, didn’t get to meet-up with HockeyBoy so arriving a couple of hours late wouldn’t have made any difference
Oh well – lesson learned.
My plane – painted in Boise State Broncos colors (last spring I printed graduation announcements for them):
On my arrival in lovely Bozeman I was surprised at how gorgeous their airport is – when has anyone described airports as gorgeous?
The ticketing area viewed from above. And below, waiting areas complete with gas fireplaces (I counted three):
Got to the Dollar Rent-A-Car counter only to be told that they were out of SUVs and that they had transferred my reservation to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car counter right next door. So, my $50 a day mid-size SUV (cheapest car you can rent in Bozeman according to my research) turned into this (for the same price):
A honkin’ 8-passenger leather lined, boat complete with 4 sets of headphones and a remote to go with the DVD entertainment system. You’d (well, I would have) have expected a navigation system, but oddly it wasn’t equipped with one (though I think there was satellite radio).
Got checked into the Day’s Inn, went back and forth with the boy who fell asleep so we never hooked up, had a late dinner I brought in from Dave’s Famous BBQ which I liked until I read the ingredients on a couple of their sauce packages, both which started with “High Fructuous Corn Syrup”, had a couple of cocktails and went to bed as tomorrow is an early day – of watching the boy play hockey at 6am.
This is there 1 pound rib-tip APPETIZER for $10.50. I had them put in extra sauce. I didn’t think it came with fries, but there they were. I got through about half of it – which means lunch and snacks for tomorrow.
Dateline Wednesday:
Sorry – no picture of the hockey game. I didn’t want to distract him since as he told me, and he was correct, that I’d be the only spectator at the game. I only stayed for a little bit for the same reason (and it was cold as shit) and headed back to the hotel for breakfast and a long nap.
Got a little shopping done in the afternoon (notions for the next sewing project, all at 50% off), along with some reading. Finally hooked up with the boy at almost 8pm for dinner – having spotty cell service and oddly working but slow internet makes is very frustrating to try and hook up – wish he’d have just picked up the phone and called the hotel. Maybe next time.
Dinner was at Burger Bobs – I had the steak salad and a Manhattan or two – HockeyBoy had the Bob’s All In Burger which comes with an egg, though he opted out of the bacon. Not much time with him but it was a great first date – the conversation was easy on flowing. Need to do some more of that.
The upside of all of this is that I got to watch the State of the Union address.
One ODD thing about this trip to Montana is that for the first time in a decade I’m not here to visit Steve who for 8 years was in prison is Shelby and then Deer Lodge, got out for a bit, didn’t take his meds, lost it, violated parole and is now back at Deer Lodge. Years ago he stopped communicating with BrightHeart (who he was lodging with when I met him while he was awaiting sentencing) I think because he thinks he let us down. These days I know where is he because the Montana Department of Prisons sends me updates every time they move him. He went into the can at 19 or 20, those formative years of adulthood without ever having a chance to mature. The meds I mentioned were basically the same meds that they prescribe to our soldiers for their PTSD. He is back at Deer Lodge after his “proxy marriage” which is allowed in five states (surprisingly California is one of them, the rest are Texas, Colorado, Montana, and Alabama) to a Russian woman dissolved and she was forced to go back to Russia — they had been living with Steve’s mother — under allegations of domestic abuse on his part. Back on his meds he started a house painting business (but couldn’t drive so he had to hire employees), got a girlfriend with a child and things were looking up so he stopped taking his meds and the same cycle started again — drinking, abuse, and he got popped driving. Probably blowing over the limit and back in the system he went. A sad story that I can’t change.
Dateline Thursday:
Today he is working – he’s off on the weekends, which is, of course, when I work, so off to the museums go I. First up is the Museum of the Rockies – home to a very large dinosaur bone collection since Montana is prime dino hunting ground.
First up was a stop at the lab where they are dremmelling out the bones from the rock:
Then to their exhibits (I felt like I was in the Museum of Natural History in Chicago):
Through a decent historical exhibit on Native American culture – no photographs allowed, and finally onto the culture early western life in Montana:
Discount admission because they are between exhibits – and a future discount with my AAA card — $10.50 (regularly $14).
Next up is the American Computer Museum which is located in an office park. It’s the first computer museum in the United States (Berlin has one that’s older) and only one of two in the US – and I’ve been to both of them in the last month!
Lots of autographed items from astronauts to the Apple & Microsoft founders – early computer legends and a very eclectic collection that apparently only 6% is on display. Some of my favorites:
The control board from a MinuteMan 1 rocket (in honor of the Colonels).
More punch card readers and related equipment.
And then there is Robby the Robot – the original.
The museum is free, and signage to get there is poor but worth searching out. I bought a lapel pin and gave them a donation.
Then it was off for a late lunch where the boy works… The Roost. It’s a hipster chicken place.
I had the fried chicken salad, which was excellent:
Only got to see the boy for a minute – it being the lunch rush as all – gave him my receipt to the Museum of the Rockies since its good for two days.
With that I was off to the airport – no offer of being bumped today (damnit). One person in front of me in the check-in line, nobody in the TSA-Pre line, though during the afternoon it’s just “expedited” which means shoes, belt and coat stay on, liquids (which were in my checked bag) and laptops out – and the metal detector rather than the body scanner.
Time for one last Manhattan – which I had to teach the bartender at the Copperhorse Restaurant how to make, she:
Didn’t know the ingredients
Didn’t know that “up” in the case of martinis and manhattans meant shaken over ice
Didn’t know that a Manhattan goes in a Martini glass
But it was a good one (when you choose your own recipe it should be good) and she found some AMAZING cherries in the kitchen to go with it (apparently in Montana they don’t stock maraschino cherries at the bar). And the bar itself was pretty:
That is a brushed copper bar top. And she called the cherries “Bordeaux cherries” which I’d never heard of, but she brought three of them out for me. Doing a little research – seems that Oregon produces them for sale. Basically they are like the Luxardo cherries ($18 a jar at Madrona Wine Merchants rather than $23.77 with shipping from Amazon that we carry at the shop). Description here and cheaper than on Amazon.
And yes, she got a good tip.
Flight was on time – seat next to me which was empty when I checked in was full – luggage arrived with its wheels still on – found some 30-50% off ribeye steaks on Safeway’s markdown rack on the way home from the airport.
As I prepare to fly off to Montana to visit a possible “Friend”, it reminds me that it’s time for that every six month thing that responsible people with multiple occasional partners should undertake… the HIV Test.
Not wanting to deal with my doctor, Planned Parenthood, the city clinic at Harborview – all of which you take the test… and wait – sometimes up to 10 days. I’m sorry, I’m not up for a couple of weeks of worrying.
Solution? Test at home – get the results in 20 minutes.
You can click on the box above and be taken to Amazon if you want to purchase one.
The only downside is that you can’t eat or drink anything for 30 minutes before the test, and I’ve read some reviews that if you are a smoker it will give you a false positive. That said – here are my results:
Though it’s hard to see in the photo – that would be a negative.
After spending ALL day yesterday in the WorldMark provided bathrobes, it’s time to check out and explore the city since check-out is Noon, and the Clipper is at 5.
Time for a walk-about. Roxy with kilted bear in front of the Royal Scot:
And UncleMarkie with the bear…
Maybe UncleMarkie as a Totem Pole would be better:
You have to love Victoria – apparently this is the place to play darts according to Nicola, my favorite desk clerk at the WorldMark (I gave her a bag of condo-made croutons in a nice box when we checked out):
It’s in the lower floor of the Strathcona Hotel – wonder if it’s any relation to the Strathcona that I stayed at in Toronto in October.
Honest, it’s vodka – it’s just a blue tinted glass.
We grabbed our luggage from the WorldMark and headed to the boat about 3:30 for our 5pm boat… which was the smaller Clipper III (see background of the previous post) – which was SEVERELY understocked on Duty Free – I got the last bottle of Tanqueray and picked up a bottle of Captain Morgan Spice Run for my… less discriminating friends.
This week’s midweek trip is to lovely Victoria BC with Roxy who spent the night so that there was one less stop to make in the morning.
Up at 5:30am, out of the house at 6:30am, checked into the ferry at 7:00am – only to find the waiting room packed with Canuck hung-over Seahawks fans in blazing Seahawks gear – boy was in a quite ride to BC.
Mimosas at 8am while still at the dock in Seattle.
Nap at 9am on the boat. Photo courtesy of Roxy:
Taken, he says in response to the picture I took of him last night crashed on the chez lounge.
As expected our rooms weren’t ready – it was 11am after all and check-in is at 4pm. So off to the Blue Crab located at the Coast Hotel next door, armed with a 15% off coupon… which I forgot to use. Damn. C couple of good pictures from lunch…
Roxy reading (GREAT picture of him)….
It seems the Monday drink special with $3.99 CAN for a highball… which is VERY CHEAP for Canadaland – bring them on.
And our lovely lunch…
Roxy had the seafood sandwich – lox, shrimp, avocado, tomato, greens, I went for the diet busting fish and chips – the single piece version… but it was one big piece of fish – and I was patient enough to wait to eat the fish until it cooled down. It’s as bad as pizza just out of the oven.
For our amusement there was a team of police scuba guys going through trailing – complete with a really wet RusaAnnie….
After lunch it was off shopping as I’m cooking for seven tonight:
CrowDog
RobinHood
Roxy
Me
Royce
Kyle
Elliot
On the menu is a surf and turf – turns out Tyler is a vegetarian, luckily there are lots of non-surf and turf items for him:
Pupu platter of cheese, crackers, smoked oysters, hummus
Mixed greens with baby carrots and mushrooms with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing
Maui style marinated boneless ribs
A kilo of salmon
Dessert courtesy of CrowDog and RobinHood (who also brought me 222’s, a Canadian aspirin, caffeine, codeine mix)
A wild meal with some of us hottubbing after dinner.
Final damage in the booze department:
40 oz. of Bacardi Rum
13 cans of Diet Ginger Ale as mixer
½ a liter of Maker’s Mark
Almost 2 bottles of wine
For seven people – boy those Canucks can suck down the duty-free booze.
All and all, a wonderful evening with old friends and new friends. Was having too much fun to actually get any pictures. Sorry all.
Off the boat at a little after nine to stand in line as three immigration people try and process a large cruise ship.
Then onto the bus for LAX – actually had some time to hang in the lounge before my un-upgraded trip to Portland.
Portland had enough time for me to get the postings done for the wine shop on the various sites we post to:
Our website
Facebook
Twitter (happens automatically when I post to Facebook
Central District Community Calendar
The Juice (aka LocalWineEvents.com)
Not bad for having only 45 minutes to make this happen.
Got to Seattle – off to the baggage claims offer to see about getting my bag fixed – bottom line is that unless I wanted to empty it right then and there is was either bring it back empty or take it to Southcenter and their authorized repair shop. Guess what I’m doing tomorrow….
Next up was get my car out of the garage and head to the T-Mobile store to see what’s up with my phone. Short story is no phone until Monday – but I did buy an adapter so I can use my mini-SIM in my old 3G phone.
And then there is tonight’s date with Jill at the Living Computer Museum. For $5 it was an open bar, wine tastings, passed nibbles – not a bad deal at all. As for Jill it was a trip down memory lane as she grew up in the computer labs that her father worked in. Here are some photo highlights:
I used the punch card maker to make a custom card for me:
It says, “Uncle Markie is a lush who likes asthmatic hockey players”. Too bad I misspelled asthmatic.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Left Berkeley in the late afternoon for the Oakland Airport with enough time for some steak fajitas and a couple of Manhattans:
Poor Jameson had his flight cancelled so instead of arriving in Seattle from Reno an hour before me, he arrived an hour later than I did. Blessed be the cell phone for coordinating at the airport.
After my uneventful flight I waited on the departure level at the wine bar that is on the ticketing side of the airport. Really nice tomato/mozzarella salad:
Why, yes, that is another Manhattan.
It was great to see Jameson – even if it is a short visit as he needs to be back at the airport at 10am for his flight to Vietnam for a three week visit:
Somehow I’m expecting to regret staying up until 4 in the morning.
Woke up at 1:30am this morning, asleep on the couch – and only the wine shipment was packed – not my other bag. Shit.
To bed for a few hours before getting up after the alarm had been blaring for 15 minutes or so… need more sleep. But the airport calls.
Took the station wagon to the airport…picking up Jameson on my return on Wednesday and I have no idea of how much stuff he is packing for his month in Southeast Asia based out of Ho Chi Men city.
Had breakfast in Board Room headed to the gate, got on the plane and went back to sleep for the entire two hour flight… think I still need a nap (which I got when I got to TheBoys place.
And amazing Onion Soup for dinner (72 servings for some odd reason)… followed by samples of my hooch:
The one on the left (the more golden colored) is from last month’s run – the one on the right in the pretty dragon bottle is from a 2009 still run… both are tasting great – the younger because it’s had time on oak chips, the older one because of Jim Croce (Time In A Bottle). Sorry, bad pun.
A pretty slack Saturday at the shop… didn’t make what we needed. Sigh.
But I got drinks and dinner out of DancingBear and BreticusMaximus for dropping off their monthly wine shipment. Some bourbon, a giant beef pot pie, some nice Madrona Wine Merchants supplied wine…. And a good time was had though I didn’t stay too late… much work to do in the garage…
Back at the house it was time to fire up the new compressor, the new brad nailer (both died earlier in the week) and get to work finishing the new rolling bar for the living room. The brad nailer is fairly safe to use after drinking, less so the table saw.
The mostly finished product in the living room….
Still need to reseal the bar top, or line it with corks…I think I have enough. I’d have enough to do a room had I not given them all to CaddyDaddy over the years (only to have them probably go into the trash on his death).
It was a late night getting this done… and work calls in the morning.
And a hottub update. Dead, dead, dead. And a replacement heater/pump is like $300. Ouch.
Dude. This blog site is awesome! How do you make it look like this !
It is a highly modified Travelogue free Word Press template. I’m available for hire. Here is another site I’ve done for a wine shop: http://www.madronawinemerchants.com