A Day In San Francisco

Wedding Week got into high gear Wednesday with the arrival of Rachel and Will, Stacey, and Carole and Lexi. On Thursday, June 10, Vicki and I and Carole and Lexi and Stacey embarked on a day-long tour of San Francisco highlights.

Our tour started at the, um, interesting house we had rented

in Half Moon Bay

We actually saw and did Lombard Street, but, alas, my

camera malfunctioned much of the day; pictured above, of

course, is Ghiradelli Square, where we had, what else, hot

chocolate

Down the street was the Buena Vista, whose Irish coffee we

eschewed (it being early in the day); but we did later ride the

cable car

And of course we did visit Fishermans' Wha

And saw one Bay Cruise you do not want to take

And The Rock (Alcatraz)

And the seals at Pier 39; and chowder at Boudin's for

some; In and Out burgers for others

Carole and Lexi at the Tomb of the Unknown Seal

Turning the cable car

Transamerica Tower from Chinatown,

where we spent a good bit of time

Rotunda of the downtown shopping center where we

shopped and dined; OK, it's not Galeries Lafayette

The city from the Golden Gate viewing area

And, the Golden Gate; it was now past ten,

actually, past 1 AM for the eastern time

zone crowd, and some were asleep before

we crossed the brige back to town; all in

all, a pretty action-packed and sight-filled

day

You Know You're In California When...

You're driving down El Camino Real somewhere near Palo

Alto, and the Google Maps Mobile is right in front of you;

actually, there were several; we followed them for a mile or
two, smiling, saying "cheese" all the way, and snapping a
few pix of our own

Thanks, Bob and Beth

Bob and Beth's place, on the Pond d'Oreille River, our

headquarters the past two months

Vicki, Bob, and Beth

Beth fixing Chicken Adobo, part of a Filipino

feast for us, neighbors and friends; too petite

to be a nurse, she became an MD instead and

worked many years for Kaiser Permanente

Adieu, Idaho; hello, California

Descending over SF into San Jose

  

Nordwand

In less than two weeks, we'll be back in Europe (volcanos and other things willing...), and our minds are turning now to the places we will visit for the next six months...basically north and east from Marseille, across the whole of the Alps, side trips to Munich, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, etc., and then down through Romania into Turkey. 

Just to get into the mood, we saw a screening of the 2008 German film Nordwand (North Face) at the Panida theater in Sandpoint. I thought it was going to be about the triumphant 1938 first ascent of the Eiger north face, which celebrated Germany's "annexation" of Austria (a German team and an Austrian team joined forces). However, it was about the 1936 Hinterstroisser/Kurz attempt. Various liberties were taken with what is known of the story--an imagined romantic angle actually ties it all together, effectively, I thought--but the depiction of 1936 Germany, of climbing in the 1930s, of the characters, all had the ring of truth. These were the days when it was thought unsporting to attack the mountain anywhere but at its strength (hence "north face" climbing), when climbers forged their own pitons and wove their own manila ropes. No camming devices nor perlon nor goretex nor polartec. It was also the time when the Reich was determined to demonstrate the superiority of its athletes--never mind Jesse Owens in the Berlin Olympics--and everything else. The film's climbing and mountain photography were stunning, the story utterly gripping, the last hour a cardio thump-fest. The theater emptied in a hush, no one humming "Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles." A great movie if you are interested in such things; or just a good work-out for your adrenal and circulatory systems. 

Anyhow, we'll be visiting Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg, maybe even riding the Jungfraubahn past the Eigernordwand balcony to the Jungfraujoch, as we did in 1989. Some day hikes. But no roped climbing for me, not anymore.

Great climbing film

Eiger north face

On the north face

Sagle Scenes

A flotilla of ducks paddles down the river early every

morning; "flotilla" is not the right word; for ducks, unlike

a geese gaggle, you have to choose among a badling or a

waddling or a paddling or a team, a flush, a raft or a flock,

none of which works for me; I propose a quackilla of ducks

Outside the Ace in Albeni, ID; unfortunately (like the iPad)

you can't actually make a call from the cell phone stun gun

The give-away bin at the Dufort Road trash dump in Sagle

--the best-organized trash and recycling center I have yet

seen, anywhere; seriously; plus, they have a sense of humor

Just down the road from Bob and Beth's place; I'm sure

these neighbors are really very nice people, once you get

to know them, perhaps while they're re-loading; perhaps

they have a sense of humor, too

The Library at Sandpoint, where I hung out a bit; nice

collection, very ample technology, friendly, helpful staff,

free wifi everywhere, always crowded

Among my less successful projects in Sagle

was home-brewing some ginger beer from a

kit Vicki had bought in the UK of GB; the

plastic beer bottles I used didn't explode,

but they did expand considerably; when

opened, about half the mixture fizzed away;

the rest was undrinkable sediment-laden

ginger-flavored glop; I'll stick to store-

bought in the future

But the hummingbirds liked it (it's heavily sugared);

strangely, they all went away after I started using Splenda

(that's a joke, son)

Me modeling wedding suits at our storage unit back in

Missoula (thanks again Tammi, Bruce, and Luke); it's a

long story, and no, we were not having fun yet

Sagle is just a few miles up the road from the very popular

Silverwood amusement park, in Athol ("that's a myth";

"yeth?")

Inactivity Report

View across the lake on a nicer day

Me at Vicki's Gargantuan new laptop

Lest anyone think we had become lost, I wanted to report that we are still in Sagle, 48” 12' 50.82 N, 116” 42' 18.02 W, taking it very easy. We go into Sandpoint once or twice a week for Vicki's PT session, groceries, the wonderful East Bonner County Library, and such. Mostly, we are reading, surfing the net, marveling at the national news, and international, watching HGTV, editing blogs and pix, and taking numerous walks along the country lanes. (I'm trying to maintain 8-10 miles a day). The weather has been typical spring-time-in-the-Rockies, lows in the 30s and 40s, highs in the 40s and 50s, with precipitation in some form, usually rain, just about every day. Some days it is a discouraging all-day rain. But everything is greening up and budding or leafing out. If it ever stops raining, I'm going to have to mow Bob and Beth's sizeable downhill lawn. We have made a few shopping trips to Spokane and Coeur D'Alene, both familiar ground from our years in Missoula. And the view from Bob and Beth's house, across the lake, is endlessly interesting. The next-door neighbors, Gary and Laurie, are putting in a new sea (river?)-wall and pier, and watching the crew take out the old structures and drive in the pilings, etc., has been my main entertainment for the last couple of weeks. OK, I have been reading Malcolm Lowry and Laurence Sterne too. An odd combination, you say. Something old (my days in Cuernavaca, under the volcano) and something new (some mirth literature that is new to me; the English Rabelais).

Among other things, we have been pondering our next travels, in Europe, and, particularly, the winter of 2010-2011. Unless we are snowmobiling, we have resolved not to do winter in the northern hemisphere again, at least in the near future. We considered a variety of more tropical destinations, some downright equatorial, but we don't want to get bugged or mugged or worse. Somehow, the areas between the topics of Cancer and Capricorn just don't appeal. And remember, this is for three months, not a holiday nor cruise. So we are leaning heavily toward a re-visit to New Zealand, or, possibly, Australia. Both would entail longer-term van rentals and other expenses. Both, however, promise plenty to see and do, amiable circumstances, good food and drink, warmth, sun, and in English, too, as the fella says. To be continued.

Missoula, Again

Last week we drove route 200 from Sandpoint to Missoula and spent several days there...our book club, friends, doctor and dentist and another doctor, and, of course, our storage unit. Home is where you store your stuff. It was great to see all the friends--especially Tammi and Bruce and Luke, who put us up--our visits to the storage unit were successful (except for finding the dark suit I may wear June 12), the dental check-ups were good, and the orthopedist's prognosis for Vicki's knee was very promising. A steroid shot and six weeks' PT, and she should be able to do the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer, he said. Vicki on steroids. Oh well.

Missoula was wonderful and entertaining, as always. The lunatic fringe were protesting a proposed anti-discrimination policy before city council, and the ensuing demonstrations and testimony before council--the largest number of people ever attending one of their meetings--were, um, interesting. The measure passed, 10-2, I am pleased to say. You can read all about it at the Missoulian, www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_413f00c2-46d1-11df-9b94-001cc4c03286.html. If I weren't planning on cremation, you could bury my heart in Missoula. We drove back to Sandpoint on 200 Tueday afternoon in snow and wintry mix, dodging deer all the way. Even in crummy weather, the lower Clark Fork valley is spectacularly scenic.

Demonstrators overflowing city council chambers...

The opposition's website/logo

Someone else's photo, but that's pretty much how it looks

Big News

The big news for us is that, while we were  in DC, daughter Rebecca became engaged to Jeremy. They announced subsequently. So we are in full, if distant, mother- and father-of-the-bride mode, and very pleased for them. The wedding will occur near Half Moon Bay, CA, June 12. Details to follow.

Jeremy and Rebecca at the Orangerie, last August

Pondering Ponderay

So today finds us in Sagle, near Sandpoint, ID, at the home of in-laws Bob and Beth. They're off RVing in Arizona, so we're enjoying the views across Lake Pend Oreille (Ponderay, as some of the locals say) to Schweitzer mountain and nearby snowy summits. It's spring here, near or below freezing at night, in the 40s during the day. Clouds, sunshine, rain, snow, wintry-mix, in some combination pretty much every day. There is still plenty of snow in the high country. And burning season is underway too, just like in Montana, only about 30 miles away. Northern Idaho is an interesting and diverse place. Log McMansions here and there, compounds with ammo dumps here and there, normal people, nice folks, filling in the gaps. Great scenery and recreation everywhere.

Delta got us here Tuesday, on-time, with no unscheduled stops. They apparently gave everyone on last Tuesday's Flight 721 a $100 voucher. Actually, I assume some got more, some got less; those who did not complain got nothing. Our next scheduled flights are with Southwest, so that should be fun.

We plan to hold up here for a couple months, with occasional trips to dear Missoula, to see friends, doctors, dentist, financial advisors, et al. Our book group meets Friday evening, and, yes, we both have read the book, Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long and Strange. And, just for the record, I finally finished—second try, interrupted by a visit to China—Gao Xingjian's Soul Mountain, a book, like China, that I will be processing for some time to come.

Cloudy view from Bob and Beth's deck

Our exact location, according to GoogleEarth. is
48"12' 50.82" N, 116"42' 18.02" W

So today finds us in Sagle, near Sandpoint, ID, at the home of in-laws Bob and Beth. They're off RVing in Arizona, so we're enjoying the views across Lake Pend Oreille (Ponderay, as some of the locals say) to Schweitzer mountain and nearby snowy summits. It's spring here, near or below freezing at night, in the 40s during the day. Clouds, sunshine, rain, snow, wintry-mix, in some combination pretty much every day. There is still plenty of snow in the high country. And burning season is underway too, just like in Montana, only about 30 miles away. Northern Idaho is an interesting and diverse place. Log McMansions here and there, compounds with ammo dumps here and there, normal people, nice folks, filling in the gaps. Great scenery and recreation everywhere.

Delta got us here Tuesday, on-time, with no unscheduled stops. They apparently gave everyone on last Tuesday's Flight 721 a $100 voucher. Actually, I assume some got more, some got less; those who did not complain got nothing. Our next scheduled flights are with Southwest, so that should be fun.

We plan to hold up here for a couple months, with occasional trips to dear Missoula, to see friends, doctors, dentist, financial advisors, et al. Our book group meets Friday evening, and, yes, we both have read the book, Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long and Strange. And, just for the record, I finally finished—second try, interrupted by a visit to China—Gao Xingjian's Soul Mountain, a book, like China, that I will be processing for some time to come.

Adios, California, For Now

More travels in Middle California took us to...

A sea-side restaurant in Pacifica

An old favorite, actually, the Pacifica Taco Bell, which

we'd visited years before with Tawana and Wes (it's a

long story, and none of us really likes fast Tex-Mex all that

well...)

And the Half Moon Bay environs

Ditto

After which, and another of Jeremy's truly memorable seafood feasts, we packed up and said our thank you's and farewells to Rebecca and Jeremy for a great California week, Rachel returning to DC, and Vicki and I on to our next stop...

iEaster Sunday in Palo Alto

Although three of us are serious Apple devotees, we did not venture to the iStore (as Vicki calls it) on iPad Day. On Easter Sunday, however, we ambled down to the Palo Alto store, where Steve Jobs Himself had been photographed the day before.

But a huge stone blocked the entrance

He is risen... (from TIPB or somewhere 
else on the web); casual California look...

Interior of the new iPad (from Geekologie); yes, but can you
 make a telephone call from the iPad?

The Family That Surfs Together...

So after a busy day of sightseeing and shopping in the Bay area, and a wonderful dinner at Roy's, we went back to Rebecca and Jeremy's and re-connected with our laptops and desktops.

Rebecca

Me

Rachel and Vicki

Jeremy