Honey, I’m Home!

A final wrap-up on our trip — the last Thursday, we left Santa Cruz for Buellton just north of Santa Barbara. One rough night’s sleep there was enough to prompt us to just keep driving South and home the following day.

Tau was so happy to be home that every single toy he has was dragged out onto the patio or into the living room and briefly played with before he retreated to his bedroom to find others. On his way to bed that night, he pauses briefly and says to me, “Dad, the living room is a MESS!”

That weekend we caught up on chores, resumed our normal weekend activities like a trip to the library, and celebrated Father’s Day by sporting our handmade-by-Tau-and-Sue tie-dyed shirts. Monday was back to normal for both Tau and Sue — I still had another week off on my sabbatical. The time away was wonderfully relaxing for all of us. My wine fridge is fully stocked with some incredible wines made by interesting and talented people.

A collection of the four sets of pictures from our trip is up on Flickr.

One last note. My wife has now completed her 200 Situp Challenge. When she started this over 6 weeks ago, she could only manage 26 situps. Last week she able to crunch out 210! Next time you see her in person or on the Web, tell her she looks hot!

Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz

Empire Grade Road,
on the Boony Doon Road ride 

A couple days in Santa Cruz saw us visit Healdsburg (very much worth it), drive the scenic Westside road past the wineries to our hotel, stop in at Flying Goat Coffee and Bottle Barn, stop by Enkidu’s tasting room (their wines are fantastic and very well priced), and spend some time at Howarth Park with lunch at Superburgers (insert from Sue: BEST burger and strawberry milkshake I ever had!) . Not bad!

We left Howarth park with a screaming three-year-old who insisted he needed to ride the “digger” but his evil parents declined shelling out $2 for the ride. Quick lesson in “life’s not fair” and “you can’t have it all kiddo.”

So p*ssed was he that at sleep time that night, when Sue asked him what his “best thing” of the day was, he blurted out “No, I’ll tell you what the baddest thing of my day was, and that was not going on da digger.”

Stu and Kristi will be happy to know that we stopped by ChezShea in Half Moon Bay on the drive down to Santa Cruz. It’s a funky eatery with world cuisine – Brazilian, Thai, South African etc.  The restaurant and Half Moon Bay is a recommended stop along the coast.

We have been staying in a family neighborhood in Santa Cruz, two blocks from the ocean. At night you can hear the waves crash against the cliffs. Here, we have discovered the neighborhood library and park, local beach and organic grocery store. And Tau has had a lot of fun playing with the kids of our hosts.

Trying out a two-wheeler

I took a ride along the cliffs yesterday afternoon and witnessed a pod of dolphins steal a set of waves from the local surfers in one of the nearby bays. Two to three dolphins a wave, they jumped and spun through the waves into the shore break, where they then turned around and swam back out to sea, right under the surfers. Pretty darn cool.

Today I headed out to climb Donny Boon Road which was part of the 2009 Tour of California route into Santa Cruz. Leaving Santa Cruz, you ride 10 miles north along the coast before turning onto Bonny Doon Road and then head directly inland. After about half a mile the climbing starts with an 11% grade. The climbing continues for another 2-3 miles of varying steepness before “leveling out” on Pine Flat road (nothing flat about this road) then finally turning onto Empire Grade Road and heading back into Santa Cruz. The descent was incredible as the redwood forest finally gave way to open grasslands and ocean vistas. Certainly worth dragging some other cyclists here to do this ride with me again sometime.

Nothing in Particular

Sue’s Anderson Valley (Boonville) post pretty much summed up our time in the valley — it was a pastoral break from the coast. Rolling hills, sheep farms, vineyards and orchards on either side of the valley, set up against the mountains that separate the valley from the coast on the west and from the Ukiah/Willits valley that carries the North/South I-101 highway in the east. The weather was also wonderful – cool and overcast until late morning and then clearing with a strong breeze for the afternoons.

Apart from the drive into Ukiah so that Tau could run wild and climb in a neighborhood park, and his parents could check email, we did a whole lot of nothing in particular. I did get out for a road ride to Breggo Cellars for some wine tasting - extremely well-structured wines, particularly their Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Other wineries worth visiting are Navarro Vineyards (for the whites) and Toulouse Vineyards (for the Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, winery dogs and friendly winemaker Vern).

Crazy thing about the Anderson Valley is the temperature swing from east to west. The east (inland) side of the valley is hot and dry, and can easily reach temperatures of 105 °F (40 °C) in the summer and grow more Cabernet Sauvignon type grapes. The west side of the valley reaches the Pacific ocean where morning fog rolls into the valley, lingering until late morning and sometimes rolling back in the late afternoon. Temperatures are significantly cooler to the west and favor the cool climate grapes of Gewürztraminer and Riesling. So across this 25 mile stretch, summer temperatures can easily swing 40 – 50 degrees making for some extremely diverse grape growing and wine making.

Just So Rough

Today we drove back slowly down from Booneville to Santa Rosa after four of the most relaxing days I think we’ve ever spent.

RELAXING is an understatement.  The most strenuous task we undertook was all that arduous lifting of the wine glasses to our lips at the vineyards.

Oh, and the even more strenuous hoisting and lobbing of rocks — for hours, I tell you — into what Tau dubbed “The Cool Creek,” a tiny stream that ran just next to our private little cottage, one of just a handful on 400 acres.

The rest of the time, we slept in late and read, we baked brownies, we made a swinging fort in the hammock (add one blanket, and presto!). And yes, we watched Iron Chef reruns, Sue’s brain-candy thing to do when we stay somewhere with TV.

Et cetera, et cetera, you get the picture.

A small set of pictures of the rock throwing and the vegging is here – just so rough to have to lift your arm constantly to take all those photos.

We Interrupt This Game …

“Dad! You CAN’T pitch yet!” They are playing baseball in the driveway in front of our cottage. “Da chicken is walking in the way!”

Today we leave Mar Vista Cottages after four memorable days here to head inland for another four days at a remote cottage near Booneville. The plan? Reading, sleeping, playing card games and (I imagine ) more baseball, sans chickens.

Our Mar Vista Flickr set is here … I’ll let the pictures illustrate the wonderful time we have spent here!

Santa Rosa Wine and Wheels – Part 2

Mark and I were up early Tuesday to start a road ride that we had been researching and talking about for months — King’s Ridge in Cazadero. This is a 37 mile loop with 3500 feet of climbing that starts and finishes in Cazadero near Santa Rosa. Add more mileage by starting and finishing in nearby Monte Rio. For San Diegans, 3500 feet climbing is about equivalent to 7 Torrey Pine repeats!

I will spare you the details as our pictures on Flickr speak more clearly than I can and this website along with Dan Goldfield’s description do the ride better justice, but the ride reminded me why I love cycling so much. This was definately one of the most beautifully challenging rides I have ever done. Climbing over 1000 ft through wooded mountains for the first 8 miles to the ridgeline, holding onto that altitute for several miles before dropping the same altitute in a couple miles and having to climb it over again.

This happened a couple more times before the final downhill on Fort Ross Road into Cazadero. The scenery, weather, challenge, lack of traffic (~15 cars in 3 hours of riding), sense of freedom and riding partner made this one very memorable morning.

Later, after some serious food intake and vegging out in front of afternoon television, I met Mark and his family for a drive down to the Sonoma Farmers’ Market. On the way, Tonya eyed the Enkidu tasting room on Highway 12. Having enjoyed her glass of 2007 Diener Ranch Zinfandel at Zin on the Sunday night, she was keen to stop. The wines are elegant, well structured and not over-the-top high-alcohol fruit bombs. Reasonably priced as well. I left with a bottle of the 2007 Humbaba Rhone Blend (70% Syrah and 30% Petite Sirah) and 2007 Diener Ranch Zinfandel knowing that Sue would enjoy both.

Santa Rosa Wine and Wheels – Part 1

Arriving at Santa Rosa after nine hours of driving, I hit Flying Goat Coffee (for an Americano) and Bottle Barn (beer) before meeting up with Tonya and Mark in Healdsburg for some wine tasting and dinner at Zin (southern fried chicken with mashed potatoes, biscuits and collard greens).

The next morning, Mark and I were up early to ride the Westside Road from Santa Rosa up to the Alexander Valley, with a stop in Healdsburg for breakfast. The weather was perfect for cycling, cool and slightly overcast. Not too many cars either as most of the wineries were not yet open for tastings. We crossed the famous Russian River, before turning onto Westside Road proper and ended the ride at Geyser Peak Winery with a two-hour personalized tour and tasting in the Members Lounge (Thanks Tonya and Mark).

Despite Geyser Peak’s large production scale, their wines are very well made, and at the 25% members discount (again thanks Tonya and Mark), I felt compelled not to leave empty handed. We tasted over 11 wines and I could easily have left with over a case but narrowed the purchases down to the 2004 Meritage, 2006 Zinfandel (made from 50 year old vines) and a 2008 Late Harvest Riesling.

Next stop, Gary Farrell. Having sold his winery a couple years back, Gary’s legacy of producing fine Pinot lives on at the winery that still bears his name. Another tour and tasting. We all agreed that their Pinots are still very well made, especially the 2006 Ramal Vineyard Pinot and the 2006 Starr Vineyard Pinot. By late afternoon, the cycling miles and wine tastings were doing me in, so I retired to my motel for an early evening before Tuesday’s ride.

Only Granny Di Will Appreciate This One

As usual, in the half dark, talking about the wonders of the natural world as he falls asleep.

“Lobsters and crabs … dey’re not matching.”

“Mmm …”

“But dey have pinchers.”

“Yeah, they both have pinchers.”

“But dey’re not matching.”

Smirk to myself. Half a world away, my mother is the only one who would sing along with me, after I tell him: “Yes, crabs walk sideways but lobsters walk straight!”

Sabbatical Start

On Friday I started my month sabbatical – a paid month off for 8 years of service to my company. Tomorrow I start the road trip to Sonoma for some cycling and wine tasting, Sue and Tau will join me later in the week. From Sonoma, we travel up to Mendocino and then loop back home on the coastal highway through Santa Cruz, Big Sur and Solvang/Santa Barbara. Please check the blog for updates of our travels.

We Had to Count All the Buses That Passed in Spanish Too

So we’re driving to school this morning …

Sue:  I see a big red truck coming!

Truck passes …

Tau:  That truck isn’t red …

Sue:  You’re right … it’s red from the front (the cab) and white at the back (the whole trailer part).

Tau:  No … it’s not, Mom …

Sue:  ?

Tau:  It’s rojo e blanco.

Sue: !

Easter Visit from Dad and Sybil

We had a great visit with Sue’s dad and step-mom over the Easter weekend. They were booked, with Sybil’s brother Ron, on a two-week Panama Canal cruise and so spent a few days with us before heading out on the seas.

The last time they’d seen Tau, he was three months old, so they had lots to catch up on – riding the Poway train, playing soccer at a nearby field, laughing at a seaside park, and making us all smoothies for breakfast. Grandpa is an excellent smoothie maker, so got to pass on the tricks of the trade to Tau.

On Saturday, Ron arrived from Toronto, and Dave fired up the BBQ to cook up some outstanding tri-tip, which we had with salad and rosemary oven potatoes.

Before heading downtown to put them on the boat on Sunday, we had not one but TWO visits from the Easter Bunny, who brought a total dud of a bubble-maker (fortunately, the Easter Bunny shops at Target, so I was able to return it), a new soccer ball and a load of the good stuff (our bunny has a habit of leaving Lindt for the grown-ups).

Their boat, the Celebrity Infinity was ginormous and very stylish. As I write, Dad, Sybil and Ron are almost half way through their cruise and, I believe, doing a hike in the Costa Rican rainforest today. We hope they are having a ball!

All of the Above

Craft night is all about:

1. Drinking red wine, and eating olive bread spread with brie.
2. A bunch of girls who clearly don’t get out the house enough chit-chatting more than working on their craft projects!
3. Working with your hands – gasp! – and proving that the right side of your brain is not missing-in-action as assumed.

The answer is all of the above. I recently joined a group of paper crafters who meet monthly to work on projects.

To begin, we are working on greeting cards we can use throughout the year, and so last night we thought it would be a good idea to make boxes to keep our cards in. Since most of my cards will be for extended famdamily, I thought it would be nice to decorate mine with small black-and-whites of the rellies.

And in an effort to talk about something other than the fact that I don’t always listen to everything my son has to say, I thought I’d post my projects on the blog every now and then.

I was really pleased with the way my card box turned out and will be posting ongoing craft-night projects in this set on Flickr. Enjoy!

Uh … HELLO!?

I know I’ve been posting a lot of kid-versations recently but I am so amused by Tau’s sense of humor. (Yes, humor. He’s American, after all.)

Last night, I’m lying with him in the half-dark and he’s going off (OFF, I tell you) about where kangaroos live and whether some baby pigs can fly to Jupiter — just-pretend, Mommy! — and how do we go faster than the super jets and what do Orcas eat and drink in the sea and how can we go to (see) fireflies … et cetera, et cetera … and so forth.

And I’m so used to grunting in the right places or muttering, “they eat baby seals and drink water” for the Orca question that I start zoning out and going through my mental to-do list.

Next thing, a little hand waves frantically RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES and he’s all, “Hello! Mommy, are you LISTENING to me?!”

Last time I get away with with that one.

Grateful for the White Expanse at the Top of the Globe

Just yesterday a leprechaun visited Tau’s preschool class. He turned all the toy boxes upside down, magic’d the water in the toilets green, and sneezed all over the circle-time carpet dusting everyone and everything with glittery gold.

And so at the dinner table tonight we are asked, “Where do leprechauns live?”

“I have no idea,” I say.

He turns his attention immediately. “Daddy, where do the leprechauns live?”

“I don’t know, Tau. Ask your Mom — she knows all these things.”

I give Dave the stink eye. “In case you didn’t know, you’re also on the hook for explaining mythical characters.”

St. Paddy’s Day has no meaning for us. Leprechauns? We just don’t care. But at preschool, every Hallmark holiday is fair game — good for a marching parade, a party, themed story books and art projects on the subject.

Later as we dress him in PJs, Tau stares up at the world map on his wall. “Where do the leprechauns live?”

“Up in that white part at the top,” Dave says matter of factly.

We all set our focus on Greenland, which is all-white on this map. We have told him that this is where The North Pole is located, that it is super cold there, and it takes 11 (eleven!) airplanes to get there. So we won’t be visiting any time soon.

“Santa lives at the very top of Greenland,” I tell him, picking up where Dave leaves off, “and the leprechauns live at the very bottom of Greenland.”

“Because they are  green,” Dave adds, with authority.

Last Weekend in the Park

Last Sunday we met friend James, Vix and Harry in the park for a picnic, and Vix snapped a few family pics for us.

I haven’t had a chance to really work with them but will be sending them out throughout the year for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays and so on.