#2857 a whole bunch of stuff in seven days

The last time I wrote, I'd gone to see the Foo Fighters and had a little summer cold. Lots of things have happened since then.

Last weekend, on the 11th, I went to visit Mom and Lizzie in La Mirada. T and his girlfriend J came with me. On Saturday night, T and J went to see Drake in concert in LA. It was our birthday gift to T, some delayed gratification, but he was very happy. I'm pretty sure he was grateful that I got a ticket for J and that she was able to go with him. I was happy about it, too. I mean, I would have gone to the show with him if J hadn't come along, but I'm sure T was much happier seeing the show with J than with his mom. (heehee)

I got exactly what I wanted out of the weekend: time with Mom and Lizzie, time to relax, recover from some of the stress, and enjoy a bit of down time. Lizzie took me out on a nature walk in Coyote Hills and for a nice walk in a pretty park. We had coffee. We went to Seal Beach for a meal and a walk in the town and out on the pier. I was so glad to see the ocean and hear the waves. Everything was wonderful. 

We got back home on Monday evening. The flight was good, and I was glad to be home.

On Tuesday, MT and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. 30 YEARS!!! To celebrate, we had dinner at Mazza, a groovy little restaurant in the 15th and 15th neighborhood. We both enjoyed the meal immensely. It was also fun to try a new place. For dessert, we went around the corner to Sweetaly Gelato. I had salted caramel and coffee gelato. Oof. So good.

On Wednesday, I was in bed by 8:30 pm, and I slept good and hard until my alarm went off at 5:00 am on Thursday morning. 

On Friday, I went to see a dermatologist for the first time ever. I had a spot on my chest that I've had for over 10 years. It wasn't growing or hurting, but it was beginning to weigh on my mind. Mom has had some spots removed, so her action made me want to take some action, too. The dermatologist took one look at my spot and told me it was probably basal cell skin cancer. I thought maybe he'd just take a sample, but no. He removed the spot. The worst part of it was the lidocaine injections, and then the irritation caused by the Band-Aid adhesive on my tender, sensitive skin. I'm not wearing a Band-Aid now because my skin is red and itchy where the adhesive was. You can see the outline of the Band-Aid. I bought some gauze and some medical tape. When I go to bed, I'll use that to protect the wound. 

Yesterday was Saturday, and it was a really cool, fun day. The book club I am in, #EkpesBookClub, had an in-person meeting here in Salt Lake! Ekpe no longer lives here; he lives in Atlanta where he is now an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks. He's going to be a great coach, I think. Anyway, he came back to town, and invited us to brunch at a nice Greek restaurant called Manoli's. It was wonderful to see him, and to see my book club friends, plus meet some of the clubbers for the first time. I thought it was so cool that clubbers came from Florida, Texas, and California! As a awesome bonus, the author of the book we read, Erin A. Craig, joined us for brunch. It was fun to sit around and listen to her stories and talk to her a little bit. 

After brunch, we went to The King's English Bookshop for an Author's Talk in which Ekpe asked Erin questions, and she responded. The bookshop is a Salt Lake institution, and independent bookstore on 15th and 15th, just a couple doors up from Mazza. It's freaking charming! They have a groovy little patio where the author conversations happen. Erin then signed books and posed for ussies and our book club took a group photo, which I don't have yet, but I hope that Ekpe will post it soon. We chatted and hung out and basically were delighted with all of it. I also bought a book and a couple of stickers while I was there. Here are some pics:

at brunch

Ekpe and Erin at The King's English

that's Erin Craig and me!

that's me and Ekpe Udoh!

Here are some of my book club friends! 

In the photo above, five of the women came from other states to have book club fun. The woman with black hair right in the front is Staci - she lives here in SLC. Behind her on the right is me, of course, then Kaitlyn, Colleen (mother and daughter from California), Sarah from Florida, Whitney from I don't know where, (I thought she lived here!), and Jan from Texas. That man in the background is Erin's husband. 

Oh yeah, and after all of that fun, I had to have some quiet time to myself, so I went to Sweetaly and got some gelato. This time I got coconut and pineapple. It was good, but the salted caramel and coffee was better. 

Today I spent most of the day at Red Butte Garden. I did the docent thing from 9:30 to 1:00, then I recorded blooms until around 3:00. I usually record blooms on Thursday, but it was raining that day, so I had to postpone. 

It's been a busy week!

This week, MT and I will be going back to Dixon. We'll leave on Thursday afternoon and come home on Sunday. I'm going to finalize setting up the trust with the bank, and MT is going to install a couple of new toilets at the house. Other than that, I will take Mac to the vet on Wednesday, and I will work my face off for The Company. 

I was glad to have this weekend of fun for myself. 

Have a great week. Stay safe!

#2652 weekend wrap-up

I actually had things going on this weekend, yesterday especially.

On Saturday, I started the day at the gym - shocker, I know. I went to a spin class. I hadn't been to one in awhile, and it felt good to breathe a little hard and get a little sweaty. After breakfast and a shower, I went to get my hair cut. I get a trim about every 12 weeks, and I need it. My hair grows low on my skull, so the hair tends to grow in a V instead of straight across. After 12 weeks, I have a long point in the back, so Lanna trims it all up nice and even for me when I see her. It looks good for a while. 

I asked Lanna to make my hair look cute because I was going out with friendly co-workers on Saturday night. Funny story: while I was waiting for my turn in the chair, I heard Lanna talking to the person whose hair she was doing. They mentioned The Nutcracker, and Lanna made a face and said, "I don't know why people like that. I just don't get it." I laughed behind my mask and wondered what she would say to me when I told her I was going to see The Nutcracker. When I told her that's what I was doing, she kind of look embarrassed and then asked me, "Why do you like that?" LOL I told her that I like the music, and I like the dancing, especially the athleticism and body control the dancers have. I like the stage setting. I like getting a little dressed up and sitting in the theater. It means the holiday to me.

My friendly co-workers Marta and Robyn met me at a bar downtown called Gracies. I've never been there. It might have been one of the only bars I've been to in Salt Lake. (I moved here when I was 30 and we didn't have much reason to go to bars.) Anyway, it's a cool place. Robyn says they have a nice rooftop bar that is excellent in the summer. I had a cocktail called Winter Rose that was gin with a simple syrup of cranberry and rosemary. It was nice. We shared some nachos, then walked a couple of blocks to Capitol Theater to see the ballet. As always, it was gorgeous. 

We had our photo taken:

I had a good time. It was nice to get out and be social. 

Today MT and I took the dogs to the dog park. It was cold. The temperature was in mid-to-upper 30s, but the wind was chilly. Thank dog for seat warmers in the car that allowed my ass to thaw. After breakfast, I did a little household bookkeeping, then it was naptime. I slept for about an hour, and it was good. 

This evening, after watching the newest episode of Yellowstone, I did the Christmas shopping. I heartily enjoy online shopping. I had a list of ideas, then I went out and found those things. It's pretty easy and made me feel very accomplished.

This week I have a few things that are interesting. I'll start physical therapy on my shoulder Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning, I'll get my Pfizer booster shot. Friday is my mama's birthday.  There is some snow in the forecast, too. At work, Secret Santa continues. The actual work is slowing down with the weather and the holiday, so that is kind of nice. It's been a busy year.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did!

 

#2260 a full day of play with LA

Late Saturday morning, MT and I headed up to Park City to meet with our friends Rob and LA who were visiting from Pocatello. We have been friends for, well, let's see... I started working at the paper in Poky in 1988, and that's where I met LA. I think we started hanging out regularly in  early 1989, so that's 30 years. Rob and MT became climbing and skiing buddies, and the four of us were tight. There was a lull in the friendship when MT and I moved to Salt Lake and were getting settled in, but we have stayed in touch and visited each other as much as we can.

We planned this visit so we could hear about their recent trip to Iceland and to get in a bike ride. Of course, it is getting cold now, so we decided to meet at noon at the outlet mall at Kimball Junction. We had a good time shopping in Eddie Bauer. I got a pair of jeans, a vest, and a sweatshirt, if you are interested. I can't wait to wear that down vest!

For lunch we went into Park City itself. LA mentioned a place she and Rob had breakfast once that she remembered as being very good, but she couldn't remember the name of the restaurant. She did remember the approximate location, so we started walking up Main Street. She led us to The Eating Establishment, which happened to be the place Lizzie and I had dinner before our ghost tour back in June, so I knew it was good too. We wanted to eat outside because even though it was chilly, it was sunny and we were all eager to get a bit more sun before the grey, cold winter sets in.

It should have been a clue to us that at 1:30 in the afternoon the breakfast dishes had not been cleared from the patio, but we did not heed the clue. Inside, the restaurant was very busy, but the host had someone clear the tables outside and we were seated there after about a ten minute wait. We got menus and that's it. Soon other diners were seated, their water was poured and their orders were taken. We were still sitting there with just our menus. We sat there for about 20 minutes before we decided to find another place to eat. Very disappointing.

We wandered down the street to a place called The Spur Bar & Grill. They have a patio on the second floor. We were seated immediately, given water and menus. I have to say it was a lot warmer up on that patio than down on the street level, both in temperature and in welcome. The smiling server quickly took our order and made sure we didn't want anything else to drink. Rob and LA told us stories about their time in Iceland and showed us some photos. LA gave me a gift: a unique and beautiful bracelet handmade from native volcanic stone. LOVE!!

The food at The Spur was delicious. We all had the same thing - the Spur burger. I like it when you can taste the beef in a burger. So good! I would have been happy to sit up there drinking a beer or two, but we all wanted to ride our bikes and temperature was at the warmest it would get that day, so after lunch, we drove back down to Kimball Junction to start the ride. We all agreed it would be nicer to do the hard work of pedaling uphill at the start of the ride, then coast back down to our cars at the end.

My personal goal was to make it to the barn, which is four miles up from Kimball Junction. I don't know if I have ever ridden wearing so many layers of clothing. Going uphill I got plenty warm. The menfolk got out to a fast start and were pedaling ahead of us. LA has a bad back, so she has an electric bike. She still has to pedal, but she gets an assist from the motor. I was the slowest and the heaviest breather (and heaviest in general) by far. The air was brisk, but I got warm and sweaty.

We made it to the barn (YAY!) There is an underpass that you can take to get from the west side of the road over to the barn, so we did that. It was a gorgeous afternoon, so I took photos of course.

Fall is definitely in the air and you can see it in the changing colors of the leaves.

Over on the east side of the highway, we noticed there was a trail that would take us back to Kimball Junction. We would be farther away from the highway, so it would be more quiet plus there was the added bonus of the view of the quaking aspen trees.

I mean, that's a pretty trail!

So we rode our bikes down this trail and it was gorgeous and we were happy. The men picked up speed and zoomed down. LA and I took our time, chatting and taking photos.

selfie!

We met up with the men. Rob pointed out that we would either have to cross the highway - without a light - or ride uphill a little ways until we could find a light. There was no way I was going to cross the highway without a light, so we had to pedal. It was steep. I was in the lowest gear I have on my bike and I was struggling. We got to a place where the road was being repaired, so we had to get off our bikes and push them around some construction machinery. The road after the equipment was even more steep, so LA and I ended up pushing our bikes for maybe a quarter of a mile uphill. I am saying now that I *probably* could have rode up that small but steep hill, but I didn't. No shame!

After that, it was all literally downhill. We safely crossed the highway at a light, then coasted down the rest of the hill to parking lot. We were out a total of one hour and 24 minutes; total distance was 8.3 miles. My average speed was a blistering 5.8 MPH (lol). Don't judge me! hahahaha At least I was out there doing it even though my personal rule is that I don't ride if it's not at least 70 degrees. LA must be a damn good friend for me to lower my temperature rule by a good 15 degrees.

After the bike ride, our fun was not over! We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Jazz game. It was the first preseason game of the 2019-2020 season. The Jazz were playing a team from Australia. The big three stars for the Jazz - Conley, Gobert, and Mitchell - did not play, but it was still fun to be in the suite and see the new guys on the team. Since the game was a blowout - the Jazz won by over 50 points - we talked more about Iceland and looked at more photos. I liked that!

Extra bonus: one of the guys on the other team missed two free throws in the fourth quarter which means we all get a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. HOORAY!!

When the game was over, so was our day of fun. We bid our pals farewell until we meet again. They went back up to Park City where they spent the night at a hotel. They went back to Idaho this morning.  Both MT and I miss Rob and LA. It is fun to do stuff with friends!

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and have some fun plans for the week.

#2236 I was a dancing fool

Usually on Saturday I write about what I did today. Lately all of my Saturdays have been exactly the same: WW, bloom recording, docent time, late lunch/early dinner, wedding gate attendant. Today was all of those things plus I took my car in to be serviced and have the emissions checked to renew registration.

What I really want to write about was the ultra fun American Authors/O.A.R. show at Red Butte Garden on Friday night!

I actually got off work early on Friday (because it totally was the longest week ever and NO ONE could make it until 5:00, so we let everyone go home at 3:00). My original plan had been to head to RBG right after work, but since I had a couple of hours to spare, I came home, flopped on my bed and read and napped until around 5:30, then I left for the show. My check-in time was 7:00, and I got there around 6:30ish. (I stopped for a soda.)

I found a seat in the terrace and listened to the last few songs by Rozzi. The terrace got pretty full - sold out show and all that - and I made way for some guests that had a pretty large group. No big deal; I found a chair in a section I'd been wanting to try and settled in for American Authors.

Here's the thing about American Authors before: I knew one song of theirs, "Best Day of My Life", and I like it very much. Here's the thing about American Authors now: I still know one song, that same song, but I liked all the other songs they sang too. I kind of fell in love with the band and the lead singer. I couldn't see him, exactly, but he had such a cute personality and vibe that I was totally charmed. Today I have been listening to their music via Apple Music. Honestly their songs all kind of sound the same, but they sure were fun live!

After American Authors, I changed my seating location again, because I could and because I wanted to be toward the back so I could dance and not bother anyone. I found a perch at a tall table and it was fine but dance space was limited. The fun thing about that seat was that as I was sitting there waiting for O.A.R. a fellow came up to me and we chatted about Hamilton. I was wearing a Hamilton t-shirt so it wasn't weird. He told me that he and his wife had seen the show in London and we talked about the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda and how much we learned about American history from the show. LOL

When O.A.R. came on, I had to change my location. I spotted a prime dance area in front of the snack bar that had plenty of space and where I wouldn't be in anyone's way. The snack bar was closing, so it worked perfectly. I took off my shoes and just started dancing back there by myself without a care and like no on was watching. That's not quite the truth...people did watch and then jumped up and danced along, so that's cool. I danced for a solid hour and a half. It wasn't good dancing by any means, but I had a blast! The music was great, the weather was perfect and it was all good! Afterward, I picked up garbage and that was fine too. I clocked out at 11:00 and was home by 11:30. Such a fun night!

Looking forward to next week, I've got a few fun things coming up. On Tuesday is the Shakey Graves concert. On Wednesday I am taking a spinning class at Rideology. Thursday is our wedding anniversary so we'll go out for dinner. We're thinking Thai. On Friday there is a concert I would really like to volunteer for, but I am not on the roster (yet). I'm still working on that one. Saturday MT and I  will go to Sundance Resort for a Bluebird Cafe show. Good times!

Tomorrow: chores.

#2144 Saturday with Sandy: Christmas shopping edition

Today MT and I decided to do our Christmas shopping. I have picked up a few things here and there, but I was ready to put a major dent in my shopping list today. We don't have too many people that we buy gifts for, so we are usually able to knock out our shopping in a day or two.

It's funny because neither of us are really into going shopping just for the sake of shopping. I mean, MT goes to Lowe's pretty much every day for his work, and I guess that is considered shopping. I go to the grocery store and Target regularly, but that's not the same as shopping for gifts, is it? The thought of going to the stores three Saturdays before Christmas was a bit unappealing, but once we got there, it was on!

We hit a few of the stores at Jordan Landing with the sole purpose and intent to buy things for other people. We had ideas of what we wanted to give, so that's what we looked for and it that's what we got. We felt good about everything we bought today and we are excited to give these gifts to our loved ones.

All that shopping worked up our appetite, so we had a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood that we hadn't been to in awhile. It was good and a nice break. Then we decided to go to the outlet mall in Lehi to the Eddie Bauer and Columbia stores.

During the drive, we decided not to buy gifts for each other. We have a huge vacation in Thailand coming up in a couple of months, and that really is gift enough. We agreed that we would fill each other's stocking and set a price limit on the stocking stuffers.

When we got out to Eddie Bauer, we had a little shopping spree...for ourselves! We did buy a gift or two for other people, well MT did, but the stuff I got is all for me and I went a little crazy. But they were having a big sale, so it's okay. (That's called rationalization!) I got a sweater, a fleece pullover, a waffle-knit shirt and a pair of jeans. By the way, those pants were regularly $70 on sale for $12, so yeah, I'm good. lol  Also, we didn't buy anything at Columbia. I might have been tempted, but the check-out line was ginormous so I couldn't be bothered. My bags from Eddie Bauer were heavy and I was ready to go.

We came home and MT brought up all the Christmas decorations from the basement. We'll deal with those tomorrow. I actually hadn't got my fill of shopping, so I went over to Old Navy by myself. I kinda love that store. In my heavier days, it was rare that I found anything that could fit me there. Same with Eddie Bauer, actually. I used to have to order clothes because they didn't carry my size in the store. At WW, we call that an NSV - non-scale victory. What I like about Old Navy is that the clothes are fairly inexpensive and they are trendy, but since they are inexpensive, I don't mind if I wear them for a year and then they are out of style or looking shoddy because it's not a big deal to get rid of them.

I think tomorrow I'll take a few minutes to look at everything I've purchased for my loved ones and decide what else I want to get or if I can check a person off the shopping list. I'm pretty sure I'm done with Mom and Lizzie, but that I still want to get some things for T and of course some stocking stuffers for MT. I still want to buy something for my BFF LA, and I'll do that online so it will ship directly to her. My Secret Santa person is mostly done. I can think of one or two little things that I want to get to tide them over through the week until the big reveal luncheon on the 19th.

Speaking of Secret Santa, here's what I've received from mine: a stocking that had a bottle of Diet Coke and a bag of Lindor white chocolate peppermint truffles, a Barnes & Noble gift card (which I used today on a book for myself!) and a sweet little Norfolk pine that is on my desk at work. It was decorated with cute red ornaments and a little silver glitter. So fun! I have NO IDEA who my Secret Santa is.

Okay, that's all I've got for tonight. Have a wonderful Sunday!

#2104 a great Friday

The sun was shining. The sky the blue. The air was cool and crisp. In other words, it was a perfect fall day in Salt Lake City, so that was already a great start.

I went out to lunch with my friends Kelsie and Nicole. Several months ago, Kelsie decided that we needed to get lobster rolls from the Freshies food truck, so she figured out the the truck would be at the Gateway today, October 12, and she put an appointment on our calendars so we would be sure to go. We went over to the Gateway and there were three or four food trucks there, but not the Freshies truck. What?! We felt sad. Nicole quickly discovered that Freshies had a restaurant in Salt Lake City (we knew there was one in Park City) and we weren't too far from the SLC location, so we headed over there for lunch.

Confession: I've never had a lobster roll, so I was pretty excited to try one and I was not disappointed. It was delicious. Very lobster-y and buttery.

I can't afford to have it too often, but it will be a fantastic special treat. I'll have to take MT over there sometime. I think he would like it.

The bottom line is that going to lunch with my friends is always great, and the addition of a new place with yummy food made it even better!

I had another first time experience tonight. You may recall that I have talked about #EkpesBookClub here before. It's a Twitter-based book club that is run by Ekpe Udoh who happens to play for the Utah Jazz. Tonight Ekpe hosted his very first "Author 's Talk" in which he invited the author of the last book we read in the book club, Brad Parks, to come and talk to a group of book club members. The event was held at the Zions Bank Basketball Center which is where the Jazz practice.

I got there kind of early and was waiting in the lobby with a few other people when Ekpe walked in. He was super nice and hugged each of us and thanked us for coming. Thanked us! There was a table of snacks for us: cheese, fruit, chips and dip and some desserts. It was lovely. I'm guessing there were 30 people there. Brad and Ekpe sat at the front and chatted. Brad sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (really well, by the way). Brad talked about the process of writing the book Say Nothing and then there was a question and answer period. After that, we had a group photo and Brad signed books and Ekpe posed for pics with anyone who wanted one. It was all very friendly and wonderful. Ekpe said that he would schedule another Author's Talk for December (hopefully not when I'm in Georgia!) And he'll be announcing our next book really soon.

Lol. I just noticed that I was so excited I forgot to hold the book up properly!

You can check out my review of the Say Nothing on the 2018 Reading List page if you want.

Now I'm at home watching Utah football beat up on Arizona.

A great Friday.

#2072 thanks July!

Thanks July, you were a good time.  Let's recap:

• Two paid holidays (Independence Day and Pioneer Day) #blessed
• It was hot as hell. Unrelenting, dry heat.
• So. Much. Live. Music.
• Avett Brothers
• Two Bluebird Cafe shows at Sundance
• Jackson Browne
• Retro Futura Tour
• TajMo
• #EkpesBookClub
• Went for a bike ride on the 4th of July
• Went to the gym 10 times => $3.55/visit
• I finished five books - check out the 2018 Reading List page!
• I watched three and half movies
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
• half of Ten Things I Hate About You
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout
• I gained a pound and a half, but I got in all my exercise so I don't have to make a payment on my Apple watch. (Note to self: I'd rather lose weight and make the $13, $10 or $5 payment.)
• I learned about lavender and Thailand. Not at the same time.
• I gave 47.75 hours of my time to Red Butte Garden. 

Looking forward to August:

• More live music! I've got six more shows scheduled right now: three I've paid for and three I'll get to see while I "work". 
• Baseball game outing with my work friends!
• My 25th wedding anniversary!
• Trip to San Diego/La Mirada = time with Lizzie and Mom!
• Volunteering at Red Butte Garden!
• Utah football starts!
• Dog days of summer!

#2058 June wrap-up

I'd say that June was mostly pretty great; there was definitely more good and fun than bad and crappy. Let's recap:

• Mom and Lizzie came to visit!
• Sightseeing included Red Butte Garden, GilGal Garden and Antelope Island with a "bonus" trip to and from Provo for good measure
• French food and hamburgers!
• Live music!
• MT, Lizzie and I saw Ryan Adams in concert at Red Butte Garden 
• I saw Michael Franti at RBG (volunteer work after the show)
• MT and I spent a couple of days in San Francisco!
• We went to see the Giants play the Padres
• We spent a glorious afternoon at Angel Island and on Alcatraz
• We had a terrific meal at Brenda's French Soul Food (my mouth still waters thinking about it) 
• T is home and healthy and without wisdom teeth 
• Osi didn't have a great month
• She had seizures for two days early in the month
• She got a foxtail in her eye and had to wear the Cone of Shame
• Petsmart won't groom her because she can't remain standing for 90% of the time
• Major repairs to two of our cars
• Air conditioning in my car
• Brakes on T's car
• I volunteered at RBG 31.75 hours in June 
• I read five books
• I saw three movies
• I gained 1.4 lbs, (all San Francisco's fault!)
• I celebrated my birthday

July is shaping up to be fun, too. 

• With my new concert volunteer gig, live music is the theme of the summer. In July I will go to at least once concert every week!
• Two Bluebird Cafe shows at Sundance
• Jackson Brown at RBG
• an 80's show with Belinda Carlisle, ABC and Modern English at RBG (volunteer work)
• DRAKE at Vivint Arena
• July has TWO holidays (here in Utah, anyway!)

I hope you all had a great month and have fun plans for July. Summer rules!!

#2028 Saturday with Sandy SoCal style

Greetings from lovely LaLaLand. I flew into Long Beach this morning so I could spend the weekend with my mom. I haven't seen her since January, and I was missing her. Lucky for me I picked an absolutely gorgeous day to get here. Southern Californians were definitely getting their money's worth for the weather today.

First things first...down .6 lb at WW this week, which got me down to the next whole number I was looking for. I felt good about it, especially since I didn't plan or track at all and I only made it to the gym twice last week. (I had a week.). It will surely catch up with me next week, but I'll take the loss today and be happy.

The flight to Long Beach left around 11:20 or so. As usual, I fell asleep before take-off and slept through the refreshment service. I was okay with that because I knew that Mom and I were going to lunch. She was there to pick me up at the airport and we drove to Seal Beach to have lunch at The Hangout. Since it was such an amazing day, all the parking anywhere near the beach was full. The restaurant is directly across the street from the beach, so that didn't work out. We headed down to Sunset Beach to the Harbor House Cafe which Mom assured me was a Southern California institution. We found a parking place right in front which I took as a sign that it was meant to be, so we went right in and had a seat. We had a California chicken sandwich and some fish & chips, which we split. The chicken sandwich was delicious. The fish & chips were just meh, but they were hot and fresh. I totally burned the roof of my mouth on the damn things. My mouth is still tender.

After lunch we drove along Pacific Coast Highway to Beach Boulevard, then headed east toward Mom's house. We stopped at the gigantic Portos Bakery in Buena Park for some dessert to take home. We got a few different pastries to sample. Mom was telling me that she read an article somewhere that ranked Portos as the best bakery in the United States, and another bakery that was on the way home, 85C, was fifth on the list, so of course we stopped there, too. I did get a little cheese danish there. I've had a taste of it and it was yummy.

The area where 85C is might be considered Little Korea or something. There were many Korean and Asian shops. We strolled through a fun store, Daiso Japan, that had lots of cute things. I didn't buy anything, but I was tempted by some of the kitchen stuff and of course the pens and papers. We also went to a Korean market that was just across the parking lot. I don't think I have ever been in a Korean market before. The fresh seafood section was fantastic. Mom was delighted to see fresh monkfish, her most favorite kind of fish. I'm sure she will be googling a monkfish recipe soon now that she knows where to get some of that fish.

Exploring done, we came home where I was greeted with great enthusiasm by Lulu, Mom's maltipoo. The dog is very energetic and is extremely happy when people come over. She jumped all over me, trying to lick my face and then flopping herself down so I could rub her tummy, then jumping back up into my face and finally settling down until I riled her up again. She's fun.

Mom and I have had good talks this afternoon. This is my first time back at the house since Dad passed and I wondered what it would be like. Mom has changed a couple of the rooms around, so it is a little different, but still the same. It is peaceful.

Tomorrow Lizzie will come up from San Diego to spend the day. It will be great to see her. For now, I am happy to have my mom to myself. I'm glad to be here. 

#1917 my solar eclipse experience

Oh friends! I am so excited to write this post and relive the eclipse experience. Right off the bat I want you to know that seeing the total solar eclipse yesterday was a total highlight and something I won't ever forget. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I'll also let you know right off the bat that I do not have a photo of the eclipse. What my eyes saw and what my camera saw are two different things. I do have a bunch of photos to share with you and I'll describe it as well as I can. Here we go...

MT and I drove to Shoshone, ID on Sunday afternoon to spend the night at MT's brother Kevin's house. Our goal was to get into the Path of Totality, which was about a 70 mile wide band that went through central Idaho roughly from the Sun Valley area through the Stanley area up to Challis. From the image below, you can see Stanley is right on the blue line which indicates that it would have the longest time in the shadow of the eclipse. We wanted to get there, if possible.

For several months and even more in the weeks leading up to August 21, we had heard that thousands of people would be in Idaho for the eclipse, so we decided to leave Shoshone at 5 AM and get as far north as traffic would allow. Kevin's wife, Janet, came along with us. Kevin had to work. He is a Sheriff's Deputy so he as on traffic duty.

There were some cars on the road with us in darkness, but not too many. In this first photo, we are near Hailey, ID. You can see there's a car in front of us, but it's pretty quiet out there.

We got to Galena Summit just as the sun was starting to rise, so we pulled over to take a photo.

From there the road winds down the mountain and we found a scenic overlook that was already crowded with cars. We stopped to stretch our legs, use the potty and take a picture. The headwaters of the Salmon River are in this valley.

We kept driving along, following the river, looking for good eclipse viewing spots, heading for Stanley. Caught this image of the sun rising.

We got to Stanley around 7 AM and decided to have some breakfast of the Mountain Village Resort restaurant. They had a special eclipse menu, complete with special eclipse prices. MT and Janet had eaten there the previous weekend and said that the new menu's prices were a couple of dollars higher than they had been the week before.

After a really tasty breakfast, we bought eclipse t-shirts and headed out to find a place to watch the solar show. We found a good spot in the parking lot of the Stanley Ranger Station. We liked it because we also had a great view of the Sawtooths.

You can see that the air was kind of hazy but there was not a cloud in the sky.

We were super excited for the eclipse!

Did I mention it was kind of cold? When we got to Stanley, the temperature was around 35 degrees (1.67 C). It warmed up to around 50 degrees (10 C) by the time the eclipse started around 10:10 AM. We lounged in our camp chairs and watched the moon's progress across the sun.

My chair is in the middle. I had taken off my red sweatshirt and it's hanging on the back of my chair.

As the moon continued it's path across the sun, the light around us took on a muted quality and the temperature started to drop. The automatic lights on the car near us came on as the sky grew a little darker.

We were getting really hyped up for totality. Check this out:

11:27 AM

At 11:27, it was still quite light and the eclipse was probably around 97 - 98% complete. The sun is super bright and still puts out a lot of light, even when 97% covered. The temperature has started to drop by now. I had to put my sweatshirt back on.

11:29 AM

 At 11:29, the sun was 100% covered by the moon and we are in the shadow of the moon in the Path of Totality. You can see that it is quite dark. You wouldn't have been able to read a book. It's not dark as night; it's more like the time of day when the sun is coming up or after it has set and the glow is lingering. We were in the Path of Totality for just over two minutes.

Here's a photo of the sun that I took during totality:

11:29 AM

Maybe if you click on the photo you will see a little black dot right in the middle of the sun. That would be the moon. On the video I put on Facebook, there are a couple of glimpses of the sun and you can see the black dot. What the human eye could see was completely different, in my case, than what my beloved Iphone's camera could see. 

What I saw with my own bare eyes was a black circle surrounded by a brilliant ring of white. I found this photo online, and this is pretty much what I saw, except that the ring of white was very thin.

11:31 AM

You can see in this photo that MT is looking directly at the sun without the glasses. At this point the totality is complete, but we are seeing the "diamond ring" effect. It kind of looked like this:

Seeing the total solar eclipse was very moving for me. It was a powerful couple of minutes. I was teary-eyed and choked up about it, which isn't really surprising, if you know me. I was surprised to see MT teary-eyed and that Janet was also choked up. I've talked to another friend of mine who was watching in Sun Valley and she said several people in their group were moved to tears as well. I've been thinking about my reaction and the only way I can explain it is that seeing the eclipse and actually being in the shadow cast by the moon onto the earth was so unusual and so cosmic that being there for those two minutes touched my soul. It sounds so hokey, but it was very pure and genuine and really, really beautiful.

Of course the eclipse was not complete. The moon continued it's journey across the sun and we watched the whole process as the positions were reversed. It started with what looked like a nibble on the top right hand side of the sun and ended with a nibble on the bottom left hand side of the sun. 

And then it was over. It felt like it happened all so quickly, but from start to finish it lasted a couple of hours. We all had a little post-eclipse let-down. At various times during our drive back to Shoshone, one of us would say something like, "Holy shit that was amazing" and the other two would agree and we'd talk about it for a couple of minutes then go back to silence.

Are you wondering how the traffic was? 

Coming out of Stanley was great. We didn't have any issues with traffic until we got back down to the Sun Valley area. There are three towns: Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue. Ketchum is pretty tourist-y. We were backed up for five miles there. The backup in Hailey was three miles, and there was no discernible back up in Bellevue. The road to Shoshone was clear sailing. Kevin said traffic through the town had been steady.

We headed back to Utah around 5:00. Traffic through Idaho on I-84 was a non-issue. The absolute worst traffic was in Utah where I-84 merges onto I-15. There were a jillion cars coming back from eastern Idaho. I think many Utahns went to the Idaho Falls area or the Jackson Hole area to be in the Path of Totality and we all came home at the same time. I think we pulled into our driveway sometime between 9:30 and 10:00.  It was a super long day, but you know what? I would do it again tomorrow if I could see another total solar eclipse.

The next total solar eclipse that will be seen in the United States is in April 2024. Janet, MT and I have decided that we will figure out where to go to see that one. It comes up through Mexico and across the eastern states. Yahoo!!

#1910 weekend in the Bay Area

I mentioned in the last post that MT and I went to the Bay Area last weekend. I've downloaded the pics, so here's the highlights in photo form!

On Saturday morning we flew into Oakland, rented a car and drove to Bodega Bay. Traffic was not nice and I hadn't eaten, so by the time we got to Bodega Bay, I was hangry. I picked a restaurant called The Tides Wharf & Restaurant. The best thing I can say about the restaurant was that it had a big parking lot and the view of the bay was spectacular.

view of Bodega Bay from inside the restaurant

After our poorly served and overpriced meal, MT and I decided to go over to Dillon Beach to take a walk. The beach there is wide and long and the sand is the perfect firmness down near the very cold water. We walked from one end of the beach to the other and back. It was probably about four miles or so. It felt so good to get out in the sunshine and not be all sweaty! The temperature was cool and completely wonderful.

view of coastline from Dillon Beach

After our walk, we drove back to Bodega Bay and checked into our hotel, The Inn at the Tides. This was the view from our room.

view of Bodega Bay from the hotel

We hung around in the room for a little while, then crossed the road to the restaurant/bar/store. I wanted to see the sunset, so we had a drink at the bar and waited. The sunset did not disappoint.

sunset

pretty clouds

There was a sea lion swimming around in the bay that we could see every now and again right from our seat in the bar. We could hear other sea lions barking in the distance. Interesting side note: the only cola that was available at this place was RC Cola. Can you believe that?

We decided to have a picnic in our hotel room, so we bought a loaf of sourdough bread, some salami and some cheese. Our room came with a complimentary bottle of chardonnay, so we had a northern California feast!

dinner in our room

The room did not have air conditioning, so we had the windows open. In the morning we were very cold because outside it was all foggy.

foggy morning in Bodega Bay

We got ourselves ready and headed out of town, but stopped in Bodega (a separate little town) to see the church that was used in the film The Birds (which was filmed in Bodega Bay, if you didn't know!)

St. Teresa of Avila church in Bodega

As you can see the sky was very clear and blue up on the hill.

We drove into San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge.

fog at the Golden Gate Bridge

We met some friends at a bar/restaurant called the Buena Vista. Irish coffee was invented there. I am not a coffee drinker, but I had a glass. I could taste the whiskey way more than I could taste the coffee. It was pretty damn good.

Irish coffee at the Buena Vista

so San Francisco!

After breakfast and coffee, we headed through the city to get to the ballpark.

San Francisco!

 Our hotel was directly across the street from the ballpark, so we checked in, parked the car and crossed the street to go watch the Padres play the Giants. Our seats were phenomenal.

four rows behind the Giants dugout

#28 is Buster Posey!

A T & T Park is so lovely

There was not much of a breeze down on the field level, so we went up to the suite. The view from up there was damn nice too.

upper level view of McCovey Cove and A T & T Park

I love baseball and it was a real treat to be at the game. My two favorite teams were playing, so I couldn't go wrong. The Padres won, by the way.

After the game we crossed the street to our hotel. We relaxed for an hour or so, then we walked to a restaurant called Little Skillet to meet our friend Brigid for dinner. I was going to have the chicken and waffles, but they were out of waffles, so I had the andouille and cheddar grits. (It was a flavors of Louisiana restaurant.) So good! And of course the best part was hanging out with MT and Brigid!

Yeah. I have zero chill

We came back to hot dry SLC early Monday afternoon. It was Pioneer Day, a local holiday, so I didn't miss any work. What a fantastic weekend for us! Such a treat to get out of town and enjoy some cool weather and do some really fun things. MT and I agreed that we need to have a few more weekend get-aways in our lives. #couple goals