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.

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.

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.

42 and a Few Weeks

Dave turned forty-two recently. Over a month ago in fact. And I meant to post this picture, taken after the Solana Beach Triathlon but the month kind of got away with us.

Tau and I made him a birthday cake and we had a nice dinner and our last bottle of Blackenbrook Sauv Blanc, bought at the small winery next to the cottage we stayed at near Nelson, NZ, last December.

At one point during the birthday festivities, Dave muttered under his breath about how freaking old 42 was. And I smiled, because getting older is the last thing I think of when it comes to my husband.

Consider that he and his triathlon mates came third in their category (Mens Relay), even though yes, he was the oldest member of his team and he doesn’t get out on his bike to train as often as he’d like.

Consider, though, that he does makes it a priority to cycle to work twice a week and get out on a Sunday morning to ride 25 to 40 miles along the coast.

And consider — not that I’m biased, noooooo! — that he still has the body (if not the energy … thanks Tau!) that he had in his twenties.

Dave also recently took a wine appreciation course and got excited all over again about the grape. He’s now a fundi on the subtleties of wines from countries we’d never tried and varietals we’d avoided — gasp! — even Chardonnays! Every night or two now it’s a new wine and we go through the paces — holding the glass up against a white background to appreciate the color, the paler meniscus, swirling it to observe the legs and guess at the alcohol content. And then sniffing the bouquet, lightly sipping and letting it roll in our mouths. Yes, we’re learning wine all over again.

If this is forty-two, it ain’t so bad!

Also wanted to post this one
of Dave in the early 70s.
Cute, huh?

The faded original is here … enhanced using Picnik.

Oh The Bean!

Sticking with the “quality is more the norm than the exception” theme from my Savvie posting, Sue asked me to blog about the coffee in New Zealand.

Shortly after arriving in Auckland, I let AJ and our newly introduced sister-in-law Jules know that I was partial to good coffee. Turns out they are too. This gave AJ and Jules every opportunity to show off their local stomping grounds, starting with the coffee shop in their local Warehouse outlet.

AJ cringed with embarrassment. His sister and brother-in-law arrive from the US — home of Starbucks, Peets and Seattle’s Best — and the first coffee shop we frequent in Auckland is at the Warehouse! Later that afternoon AJ demonstrated his own perfected latte-making skills. Their coffee of choice is Gravity because, as the ad goes …

 
Tiny Mairangi Bay Village, where AJ and Jules live, has about 30 shops ranging from a FoodTown to a yoga studio to upscale dress shops and everything in between. Coffee can be ordered in at least six restaurants and cafes in the village, such is the love affair locals have with their Joe. Much as in the US/Canada Pacific Northwest, coffee is intricately woven into the Kiwi lifestyle. Coffee shops are filled with folks reading the paper or magazines, working on laptops, coffee-moms meeting girlfriends for a morning latte after walking the kids to school, toddler and dog in tow, business folks brokering deals in suits and the occasional tourist contentedly taking it all, trying desperately to learn the local coffee lingo:

• Skinny latte = Latte made with skim milk
• Long black = What we call an Americano, served without milk or cream
• Long black with milk on the side = Americano with milk on the side (the closest to what we drink here in the US)
• Short black = Espresso

Some shops we visited, like The Red Beret in Motueka and Zest in Nelson, are so busy that customers find themselves cleaning their own tables in order to be seated. Once seated, the patron can then sit back with their long-black-with-milk-on-the-side and pastry, only to politely have to stand a few seconds later to let a new mom pass with her pram. An aside: the prams in NZ are generally larger than most Kiwi cars, which makes for a tight squeeze in coffee shops.

We found the Kiwi roast of choice to be medium-dark and espresso shots were always extremely flavourful. None of the “this espresso’s so weak I can see my mother-in-law through it” shots that our friends at Starbucks have become really famous for. The kind where the espresso shots are no longer “pulled” by hand but triggered into action by the cash register/computer and then shot off by an automated espresso machine.

Sign at Mariposa Palms Nursery and Cafe

Two really unique coffee destinations that AJ and Jules took us to were Morris and James Pottery & Tileworks & Mariposa Palms — both in Matakana, an hour north of Auckland. The Morris and James cafe sits in the courtyard outside the sales center for their very unique and beautiful pottery. And Mariposa Palms cafe is nestled under the palms sold at their plant nursery. In addition to pairing a serene setting with superb coffee, Mariposa also offers free puppies and espresso to unruly children.

Even though we were fortunate enough to frequent some very memorable coffee shops throughout our time in NZ, it is this story that I like to tell to highlight just how good Kiwi coffee is. When we were staying up in Paihia, Sue, Tau and I drove out to Matauri Bay for a morning on the beach. After leaving the main road, the rural drive passes more livestock than homes and finally makes it way up and past the Matauri General Store before the steep road down into the bay.

Being low on supplies, we decided to stop and pick up something for lunch. We then realized that while one half of the very humble looking general store was exactly that, the other half was the local bar. On the counter of the bar sat a very high-end espresso maker. I was floored. Beer, wine and coffee – the Kiwis know a thing or two. After ordering lunch at the bar, we sat out back in the sunshine and drank our long-black-with-milk-on-the-side and ate our meat pies (Kiwi meat pies really ought to be the subject of an entirely separate post). Here in the middle of very rural New Zealand, miles from the nearest town, the owner knocked out a couple coffees so smooth and rich that they rivalled any other cup we tasted in urban NZ or the US for that matter.

Aerial View of Matauri Bay

Wherein I Touch Briefly on Serenity and Reawakening and Simple Pleasures

Oh my. I’ve been trying to tell you all about our lovely week away in Santa Barbara for two weeks. And every time I do, we end up having to take our kid to the emergency clinic and so I tell you about that instead.

So, the short version, lest we be interrupted again. And to be honest, it’s Sunday evening and I’d like an early night but I really want to tell you about the fabulous time we had away.

We love Santa Barbara. Love it more every time we go there.

This time, Dave booked four nights in a snazzy little condo he found on the Internet. A property belonging to a couple that have clearly traveled extensively, as evidenced by the eclectic decor and shelves and shelves of travel books. I should mention the gourmet kitchen and the comfy couch that was big enough for all three of us to sit on to watch Clifford the Big Red Dog and the toddler-proof, easy-clean hardwood floors. No carpet to stain. But instead, I’ll suggest you go and take a look at our Santa Barbara set on Flickr. It really felt like home without, you know, feeling like home.

Gifting Prowess

Album Cover for Angelique Kidjo’s Djin Djin

We are not that big on lavish birthday gifts and such. Tend to buy what we need as we need it. And we both hate getting gifts that are not quite right or, worse yet, downright awful. Money and gift certificates are our best thing.

So a week or two ago I said to Dave, “Haven’t got anything for your birthday yet. Is there something you’re crying on your pillow over?”

My ever-so-subtle way of digging for suggestions.

“Not really. Let me think about it.”

Somebody Turned F#r*t^%y-One Yesterday

We won’t say who but here’s a hint …

I love the resemblance between this picture and this naughty one of Tau at about 10 months.

And here is the life-sized birthday card we made for him — note the outline of the little guy’s bod! Tau and his buddies at daycare decorated it with Crayola markers and a whole lot of frenetic toddler glee.

 

What did the birthday boy do on his day? He took the day off to do some chilling and cycling, and then last night we all went over to friends Gerhard and Evi’s for a wonderful dinner!

West Coast Wine-ing

(Posted by Dave)

When we started planning our trip to Oregon some months back, Stu and I spent a considerable amount of time researching places we would like to visit in Portland, the Willamette valley and at the coast. (Sue and Kristi, in unison: “No kidding!”)

Arriving in Portland in mid-morning, Sue, Tau and I headed off to Trader Joe’s for groceries and Hollywood Espresso for lunch.

This seemed as good a jumping off place as any to our overnight stay in Portland. Hollywood Espresso serves up Portland Roasting coffee, wine by the glass and terrific Panini sandwiches served up by efficient and friendly staff. Not a bad start to our week away.

Father and Son

When you marry a man, you’re not thinking this far ahead.

And when you birth a screaming, slippery boy you can’t imagine a time when he will sit this still, this intent on his favorite cartoon character, while his father clips his nails.

I am so fortunate.

Happy Father’s Day!

Silly Saturday: Drumming

Tour de Julian

Mark and I at the start of Tour de Julian 2006

Sue has asked me to write a couple entries of our latest meanderings around the sunshine state.  The first was trip was to the “mountains” near San Diego for some cycling, and the second was a trip to the Californian Central Coast for some R&R.

So my workmate, Mark, roped me into a weekend of road and mountain biking on Nov 11/12 in the small town of Julian (http://www.julianactive.com/tour%20de%20julian.htm & http://www.julianca.com), which is a scenic hour drive inland from San Diego.  Off we went, wives and kids in tow.  Unfortunately Sue & Tau had come down with a case of the winter cold/flu, yet were willing to go along with the flow – mostly for my sake. 

Look ‘n Learn

As a kid, I was a voracious reader of Look ‘n Learn comics. My Granny Sylvia used to hide them in her bedroom cupboard for us to “find.” These, along with packets of Jelly Tots hidden behind a flap cut in the cardboard box under the budgie’s cage, were one of many delights for us to discover when we visited Granny’s house. My brother Andy and I were in on the secret – we knew exactly where to look!

My favorite Look ‘n Learn characters were Nurse Susan and Doctor David, a little brother and sister who wore mini uniforms and spent their days nursing dolls and teddy bears back to health. Their very chic (then retro-fifties) mother hovered like a veritable June Cleaver in the back of the strip, dispensing steaming bowls of soup and cotton bandages. But it was little David and Susan who did the real doctoring and nursing. Who knew I’d end up marrying the good doctor?!