Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Another beautiful June day! ... in February!

Blustery winds and 70 degree warmth makes this a typical late spring day but it is so very early. Nice to be out in though I am not. I spent some time putting away more boxed items from the Swamphouse and taking a load of excess crap to Goodwill Industries...mostly unused but undesirable lighting fixtures and bulbs and a pile of decorator pillows that we already have too many of. Good riddance!

Went to Chris's Club in Vallejo last night and it was a mighty fine couple of sets I'll tell you. The Bay Area Blues Society never fails to please! We have come to know and adore them, each and every one. Ron on the Strat, David "Stix" on drums, Wylie on vocals, Ron the bassist, Rob on the keyboards. They are wonderful, full of musical talent and the deep joy of the blues! The food is good too, our usual are 4 Deluxe burgers with fries...$4.50! Yes, you read correctly! Such a bargain these days when hamburgers are going for 10 -14 dollars in a fine restaurant. And they are exceptional! The chef has won a prize for his version of Cajun dishes. I love the bloody place, a dive it is, but oh what a dive! 6 pm on Mondays and Thursdays, 656 Benecia Road, Vallejo. Worth it, really worth it!

Mike is off to his doctors today to see how that arm and hand are doing. He is in pain when using it and I have high hopes that it'll heal completely though it may take some time and lots of physical therapy. He's really good with it too, being as careful as he can so as to not re-injure it. He wants to get back to work so bad I see it and hear it in his words and looks. He loves his work and to work! He HAS a Work Ethic! Rare these days in the US of A.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Summer in ...February?! and Dedicated to Liz.

Well first California tried to freeze us outa here for three weeks in December and January and now I slept on top of the bed (NOT in it!) last night. So it goes this winter, unusual weather here in CA and the rest of the country in a big deep freeze.

We drove last Sunday down south to Indian Wells, a distance of about 515 miles by Prius. Into the pouring rain (naturally)and fog. We took Highway 5, about the most boring road in the world...miles of rolling hills amidst the rain and fog and morons driving at 85 mph. We had "Bonnie" our ol' faithful Tom-Tom commanding our every move as while I PLANNED to skip "The Grapevine" climb over the Tehachapi Mountains and go southeast via Mohave (Mo-hhawv-ie)to the sunshine promised us. Bonnie decided otherwise midway through the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley and took us right on up The Grapevine towards downtown Los Angeles. Shit! Once on The Grapevine you are ON it with no chance to turn around until you reach the summit at 4400 feet or so. Once there the view above the fog and rain behind us made us rethink our possible retreat and onward we went into the LA traffic. Rain ensued, as did fog and the speeding morons. The traffic was thick, pasty actually with far too many cars in all 8 lanes of the monster Highway 10 as it passed downtown LA and wound through Pasadena. Stop and go on a rain slickened freeway is a difficult drive to say the least, many skidding BMW's and Mercedes and Lexuses and two complete write-offs, one upside down, in one mile long stretch that had standing water 6" deep to skid on at luge speeds. Fun. Once past the largess of the city, 20 miles of it at least, the traffic lightened up a bit and flowed at a rather stately 35mph.



Once through the awfulness the area near our destination provided us with huge windmills whirling in the constant wind of the storm as it blew itself towards Nevada in the distance. Hundreds of them, some in rows, some on top of mountain peaks. Quite a sight. Then through the late afternoon confusion of the Palm Springs group of "villages", Palm Springs, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City (Where's the Cathedral?...and the Bishop?), La Quinta, Indio etc. etc. All pretty "toney" these days with the exception of Indio and Palm Springs which have or have not (Indio) seen better days. Our stay (3 nights, 4 days) at the Renaissance Esmerada was hidden in the groves of palm trees along side highway 111 that scoots along the base of the local mountain chain quite dramatically (the mountains anyway). The hotel was huge and modern-ish with strange pyramidal fountains and square columns in the entry cul-de-sac. It couldn't figure out what its design was, Spanish? Mayan? Desert Southwest USA? Even a baroque table in the Elevator kiosk, huh? And our room had been furnished in campaign and mid-century modern style. All very nice but a bit confusing. The convention would begin for me Monday morning. Long winded meetings filled with men dressed in scholarly blue jeans and plaid shirts with pocket protectors. Mosquitos don't have a chance with these geeks on the job! Every day til Wednesday my days were meetings while Kelly found every possible thrift and junk shop in the "villages" and there were plenty! A few great finds from the miles of racks she perused in those three days.

We found great eats and a dud while we were there, a packed Don Diego was the worst Mexican "Cuisine" I had ever had and that included the fine Mexican mamacita on the beach in Puerto Vallarta who poisoned me with her chicken tamales some years ago. My over-breaded, over fried fish stuck into oily corn tortillas with a mushy tasteless salsa had no Mexican spirit or verve whatsoever. Kelly's Lobster Enchlladas were coated in a thick dark Mole and the "Lobster" crowed early in the morning the day it died. No meal worth eating in this lowly place but the local centenarians thought it was just dandy. Not me brother, give me the real stuff or nothing at all! Where's Rick Bayless when you NEED him?! The winner in the food department was Vicky's only a short drive from the hotel. 1/2 priced food and drink amid a people show, friendly bartenders and clean modern surroundings. The food was exquistite! Fresh fish tacos for 6 bucks, a 9.25 dollar NY steak, great crab cakes for 6 dollars as well. Fabulous food! 1/2 priced as well! Got them in the door I'll tell you...

Our return drive was uneventful though I was way too Prius-lagged to drive all the way or even 1/2 the way...so Kelly took over and soldiered her way through the desert, Boron, Mohave, Bakersfield and up the old 99 through Fresno and Stockton to
good ol' highway 12 and our little Suisun. She was a trooper! My hero!

Mike is ensconced at The Swamphouse. His arm is still a mess though he can do quite a bit with it, he's in pain.