Friday, August 31, 2018

Pinecrest, 2018

For the last week or so of the summer, we had planned on taking Penelope camping in Yosemite, with five nights in the Valley and three more at Tuolomne Meadows. Alas, big wildfires were encroaching and then burning in the Park, and eventually the Valley itself was closed. We drove instead to Pinecrest, in the Stanislaus NF, north of Yosemite but the same geo- and bio-system, a place we'd visited before, and spent seven pleasant days and nights there with our grand-daughter. In retrospect, Pinecrest was probably a much better choice anyway, much more kid-oriented, with a lake, swimming beach, boat rentals, fishing, big general store, and even a small lending library. Penelope enjoyed it and probably will want to return.
Just beyond Escalon, Le Sport's alternator went out; we drove back into town
and found the Main Street Garage, where owner Mike worked after hours to
get us repaired and back on the road; only in a small town...; above, an apparent
Art Deco church in town

P enjoying one of Grandma's home-made healthy popsicles

When we arrived at Pinecrest, smoke from the O'Donnell Fire thirty miles up
the road to the Sonora Pass, had invaded Pinecrest Lake; we retreated to the
camper to reconsider, research other options, reconsider some more...

By early afternoon, the smoke had blown off and stayed well away the whole
week we were there

Our campsite

P at the beach with new-found friends

Fortunately, our site had a natural stage; P needs to dance...

Fishing with Grandpa

Fishing can be very slow...

But still a fun experience

Between visits to the beach

Neat place

Among the big trees

Breakfast scene

Later, fooling around with Grandpa at Nordstrom's; photo
by Penelope

At a yakatori restaurant in Los Altos--her choice--
celebrating her first day of second grade

SFMOMA

We lingered just a bit at the SFMOMA--P likes the sculpture garden stuff--and I took a few moore pix.
Didn't we see this at the Guggenheim in Bilbao? And at Crystal Bridges in
Arkansas? Spider Woman: Louise Bourgeois

Didn't get the title or author for this, but it definitely belongs
here

Outside: Deco and Deco Echo everywhere: love this city

Posing with the sculpture; she has taken to calling herself
Penny in certain circumstances

Street scene


In the sculpture garden, with its humongous fern wall

One of the museum's first acquisitions, Frida's selfie with
husband Diego...1931...priceless...


And Diego's 1935 The Flower Carrier...gung ho in its original Chinese sense


Dali's Unsatisfied Desires, 1928


Work in progress

Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988


Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, 1992; I know I saw this
in Bilbao

Magritte At The SFMOMA

Another day we drove up to The City to seen the extensive Magritte exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A great day, great museum, great exhibition, great 20th century Belgian painter...
Hegel's Vacation, 1958

The Cripple, 1948

The Human Condition, 1933

The Cut Glass Bath, 1946; Homage a Dali might also work

"It continues not to be a pipe": the original in the "this is not a pipe" series,
perhaps Magritte's most famous, was sadly missing from the exhibition

The Son of Man, 1964

The End of the World, 1963

High Society, 1966

The Enchanted Domain, 1953; one of a big series



Big exhibition, several rooms, scores of works

A Sense of Reality, 1963

The Kiss, 1951

And, of course, some digitally-enhanced Magritte fooling
around at the end of the exhibition; Penelope and Rebecca

Thursday, August 30, 2018

TBL At Twenty

For Father's Day, daughter Rebecca had bought tickets for us to see one of the 20th anniversary screenings of The Big Lebowski. I have seen the movie an indecent number of times, and with each viewing, I see and understand more. This was the first time I had seen it on the big screen. Thanks, Rebecca!
Us, there; note I am in my Dude sweater











































A few weeks later, at a Boomtown, Nevada, casino: "He
looks like a f***in' loser"

Tide-pooling At Half Moon Bay

We had a nice month in Menlo Park, including several trips and an extended absence, taking grand-daughter Penelope camping up into the Sierras. There were outdoors experiences, museum experiences, dining experiences, and cinema experiences. And other experiences, too. Our first weekend there, after jet lag, we all went to the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve at Half Moon Bay for a morning of tide-pooling. Rebecca had engaged a guide, so it was an even more informative experience.
Us, there

The tide-pooling area, sandwiched in between crumbling cliffs and a seal
habitat

An excited Penelope leads the way


What you come to see...marine life in the low-tide pools, mostly anemone and
starfish and mussels and such


Anemones all over

At age seven, P is fairly fearless and uninhibted

Ick


Breakers off-shore

Looking back toward Moss Beach, a place we have visited many times with P;
Rebecca and Jeremy were married very near here

Star fish



P has found a particularly good anemone


A bit of the land-slide area

Neat place...good preparation for New Zealand, where
Rebecca and Jeremy and Penelope will be spending some
time in early 2019

Seal city


Looking back to the tide-pooling area

A flight of pelicans swoops by

Woods near Moss Beach; Rebecca and Jeremy's wedding pix were from here

Neat place, neat day