We are back in the Emerald City now. We spent the first four days or so just taking care of things around the house. Although we had a housesitter who kept things safe, his cleaning standards were different from ours. The house and back yard are whipped into shape now. We got Phil's car worked on, since it had an oil leak. We'll have the Prius serviced tomorrow and hope that we won't have any more repair bills for a long time.
Our cat is another matter. Dear old Tally will be 18 this summer and is really starting to look it. He isn't able to groom himself very well and our housesitter didn't brush him, so he had many mats in his coat. I cut them out as best as I could, but accidentally cut Tally. I think it is a minor injury. I called the vet and found out how to treat it. We are going to postpone his bath for a couple of days to let the wound heal. The poor thing smells! He still eats, uses the cat box and walks around, so he doesn't seem sick--just old.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cold Again
We made it back to Seattle yesterday. The drive back was lovely. I'm going to jot down some notes about places and restaurants so that we can remember them for next year. You can skip ahead if this bores you. We spent our first night after leaving Tucson in Santa Clarita, CA, which is in northern LA. It's the last stop before the pass to Grapevine. It's actually a pretty spot in the foothills. It was green with pleasant views. We stayed at the same Hampton Inn as before and were comfortable. There are many little restaurants near it. The hotel had a good breakfast, even for this vegan. Our drive to SF the next day was uneventful. The weather was sunny, but windy. The only thing I hope to remember for next time is to buy an actual map of the state of CA. We needed to cut over to 101 on Hwy 522, then get to 280 to get to SF and Cliff's place. I don't trust our nav system with the right routes. It helps to have a real map in front of you.
We had a nice time in SF. Cliff invited us to stay at his apartment in Nopa. I was touched to see how carefully he had cleaned for our stay .He even got me flowers in honor of Mother's Day. He stayed with his girlfriend Tracy. We were comfortable and enjoyed the location. Every morning I went for a walk into Golden Gate Park. The weather was sunny, with a little chill in the air. We also walked over to Tracy's apartment in Lower Sunset. It was fun checking out a new neighborhood. We had dinner near her apartment a couple of nights, at a vegetarian restaurant and at a Thai restaurant. Both were good. I discovered a new trend: "flights". Flights are three complementary wines in separate glasses that are served lined up. It is fun sampling a variety of wines that way. Tracy lives close to a gelato shop that served 12 flavors of vegan gelato. I appreciated the selection and went their 3 times. Cliff took us to Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican restaurant for brunch on Sunday. It was in the Mission District and a long walk from his apartment. It was excellent. Sunday night we heard the news about Osama b L and were caught up in the reports on television. Tracy is a New Yorker and lived close to ground zero, so she felt the importance of the event.
We left SF on Tuesday morning and had a beautiful drive to Ashland. I kept noticing the green. It must be because of the contrast with Tucson's desert scenery. Once again, we would have appreciated a map of CA to help anticipate the route. We stayed at the Windmill Inn again. I like it there. We had a nice, big room and a beautiful view. Tuesday night we saw Julius Caesar, which had a female lead. It was well done and thought provoking. We are likely to add Ashland to our trip schedule. We had enough time before the performance to go for a hike at Lithia Park, then dinner at Sesame. We may want to try a different restaurant next time. Neither one of us raved about the food as much as before when we ate there.
We headed straight to Seattle on Wednesday, with few stops along the way. As before, the drive went through some spectacular scenery. It wasn't uneventful, though. We were rear ended by an older driver in some stop and go commuter traffic outside of Olympia. The driver had been driving erratically beforehand and Larry tried to get some distance away from him, but it didn't work out. We weren't hurt and our car's bumper had just minor damage. It still was a little unnerving, though. When we got back to town, we found that our house sitter was not a good housecleaner. We had to work for hours getting the house clean enough for comfort.
I will write later on what it feels like to be back.
We had a nice time in SF. Cliff invited us to stay at his apartment in Nopa. I was touched to see how carefully he had cleaned for our stay .He even got me flowers in honor of Mother's Day. He stayed with his girlfriend Tracy. We were comfortable and enjoyed the location. Every morning I went for a walk into Golden Gate Park. The weather was sunny, with a little chill in the air. We also walked over to Tracy's apartment in Lower Sunset. It was fun checking out a new neighborhood. We had dinner near her apartment a couple of nights, at a vegetarian restaurant and at a Thai restaurant. Both were good. I discovered a new trend: "flights". Flights are three complementary wines in separate glasses that are served lined up. It is fun sampling a variety of wines that way. Tracy lives close to a gelato shop that served 12 flavors of vegan gelato. I appreciated the selection and went their 3 times. Cliff took us to Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican restaurant for brunch on Sunday. It was in the Mission District and a long walk from his apartment. It was excellent. Sunday night we heard the news about Osama b L and were caught up in the reports on television. Tracy is a New Yorker and lived close to ground zero, so she felt the importance of the event.
We left SF on Tuesday morning and had a beautiful drive to Ashland. I kept noticing the green. It must be because of the contrast with Tucson's desert scenery. Once again, we would have appreciated a map of CA to help anticipate the route. We stayed at the Windmill Inn again. I like it there. We had a nice, big room and a beautiful view. Tuesday night we saw Julius Caesar, which had a female lead. It was well done and thought provoking. We are likely to add Ashland to our trip schedule. We had enough time before the performance to go for a hike at Lithia Park, then dinner at Sesame. We may want to try a different restaurant next time. Neither one of us raved about the food as much as before when we ate there.
We headed straight to Seattle on Wednesday, with few stops along the way. As before, the drive went through some spectacular scenery. It wasn't uneventful, though. We were rear ended by an older driver in some stop and go commuter traffic outside of Olympia. The driver had been driving erratically beforehand and Larry tried to get some distance away from him, but it didn't work out. We weren't hurt and our car's bumper had just minor damage. It still was a little unnerving, though. When we got back to town, we found that our house sitter was not a good housecleaner. We had to work for hours getting the house clean enough for comfort.
I will write later on what it feels like to be back.
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