The Streets of San Francisco

 

a cactus garden in a tree stump

We drove into San Francisco, walked up to Coit Tower and then over through Chinatown.  I took pictures of "the little things" that add flavor and fun to the city streets.

Don't Do It

Friend on a brick

A touch of spring

Creative street gate

Graffiti with a message

A tea bar in China town

By the bus stop

Interesting brick facade

What choices!

A small corner of a mural

Remember your friends TODAY

Painted or Real?

Site of the first mass in San Francisco,  a few blocks from the mission

Sort of a Mexican moment

Riding for Sweet Treats!

Many folks ride bikes for the sheer fun of pushing those pedals and having the scenery roll by at a manageable speed.  But I like to ride to get the exercise and to earn those sweet treats at local bakeries.
So yesterday we set off to West Marin to try out our new Thule bike rack.  The rack worked great and we easily loaded our bikes and went over White's Hill.

We set off for the Bovine Bakery in Pt Reyes Station.  There was a rather cold headwind so we quickly changed that idea!  We don't like to ride our bikes into the wind any more than we like sailing our boat into the wind.

So we stayed on the cross Marin trail through San Geromino Valley and Samuel Taylor Park.  What a gorgeous trail -- bird calls, butterflies, redwoods, spring flowers, and a gurgling creek.

Along the road someone has put up birdhouses -- maybe 15 or 20.  All are uniquely hand crafted and certainly colorful and whimsical.  This is one of our favorites:

Then we were back to the car, over the Hill and parked in Fairfax.  We tried the Fat Angel Bakery and give it high marks, at least the chocolate pillow, ginger orange scone, and small latte that were our biking reward.

Calendar Confusion

The weather forecast called for a rainy and cool day.  So, we opted to enjoy a wintery dinner:  roasted red pepper, leek and potato cream soup with rye bread.  The captain was thrilled.

Here is the soup recipe.

Red Pepper, Leek, and Potato Cream Soup.

2 red peppers or 1 jar of roasted red peppers.
4 T butter
3 C diced leeks (white and light green parts)
8 C diced, peeled potatoes
6 C vegetable broth
1 sprig thyme (or other seasoning)
1 C half and half (or cream)
salt and pepper
green onions or chives for garnish.

1.  Roast and remove skin from peppers or use from the jar.
2.  Melt the butter and add the leeks.  Cook 5+ minutes till soft and add the red peppers.  Cook a few minutes longer.
3.  Add the potatoes, broth, and seasoning.  Bring to a simmer and cook (partially covered) for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
4.  Remove from the heat.  Use an immersion blender to puree the soup; or do with a food processor.
5.  When it is all smooth add the half and half and reheat till preferred temperature.
6.  Ladle into bowls and add garnish.

I have also add pear to the soup mix (instead of peppers) and topped with blue cheese.  YUMMY.

Anyway -- the calendar confusion was really evident at the Farmer's Market to day with selections of cherries, blueberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, eggplant, and all sorts of summer fruits and vegetables make their debut!

Now we need those warm and sunny skies!

Settled into San Anselmo

It didn't take too long to get settled back into San Anselmo.  We got internet installed, bought a magicjack for phone service, re-upped Netflix, scheduled garbage pickup, and got the postal service to stop forwarding our mail.  It was all pretty easy (well, except for the postal service) and within a few days we felt like we had been swallowed up by San Anselmo.

The house was in good shape this time--no RATS had taken up residence.  But we had water leaks, especially over the kitchen, and with late spring rains....it drips in again and again.  They are planning to put a patch up there soon.  We know the house will be torn down next spring so no need to plan for that 20 year fix.

San Anselmo is a lovely town in Marin and we aim to make the most of our remaining months here!

We have been out riding our bikes -- enjoying those views, headwinds no matter what direction, and getting back into shape.  Cruising is many things, but not a really aerobic sport.  I suppose I could swim but the water was still cold (wet suit cold) and I had no interest in suiting up to sweat!  We hope to ride our bikes in the Canadian Rockies this summer and our goal is to ride to Nipomo, CA to visit Warren & Diane in their new home this September, about a 300 mile ride.   Today we did a bit under 40 miles with a trip out around the Tiburon Peninsula.

We pushed ourselves to get the yard in shape.  We filled 4+ green matter containers the first week, but it looks so much nicer now!  We have planted cherry tomatoes and basil; filled in a few flowers (the back yard looked wretched!).  The hot tub is clean and hot.  Life has been good to us.

And we are working on that boat part list.  There is always something to find, fix, or figure out.   This list is quite manageable with the biggest wild card being refrigeration.  It was the bane of our season #1 so we are researching options but figure it is all a crap shoot in the end.  However, we'd like a cold drink this season for our daily sundowners routine!  We are also trying to sell a fair bit of boat gear we have accumulated over the years:  bits and pieces from Silhouette and now from Magic.  We opted out of a swap meet when the forecast was for rain and freezing temps (well, anything under 50 degrees is freezing to us!).  Anyone want inflatable kayaks (1 or 2 person?), liferaft, EPIRB, sailing dinghy, VHF radio and RAM mic.......etc.

We have had friends for dinner, hiked our favorite trails, shared a visit from Bryan for a weekend, begun planning meals around what is fresh at the Thursday farmer's market (oh that asparagus is heavenly), renewed our relationship with Barton's Bagels and Arizmendi Bakery, started catching up on recent movies, and looking around at the house and talking about just how much we will end up putting in storage.  Just seemed too easy to get settled.

Long term -- we want to drive to Seattle to visit David and Monica, car camp through the Canadian Rockies in July, host my parents in August, cycle to visit Warren and Diane in September, and then take a trip to Mexico in October.  We will work on Magic and maybe get down to the Copper Canyon.  We will be back here for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the great house packing.  Then, it is back to Mexico in early February.

Short term -- We are going to the Greek Festival in Novato this week.  And Bryan wraps up his very successful freshman year at Davis in early June and we will go pick up him and his gear.  We plan to bike and hike and cook and have fun every day.  Stay tuned!

Sierras, Snow, and San Anselmo!

This trip home we opted to head up route 395 and see the eastern Sierras; we wanted to enjoy the mountains, snow views, green trees, and fabulous vistas.  We were not disappointed.  We were surprised by a forecast that included snow falling!!!  The lakes are still frozen and the trails probably hidden under snow and slush.  So we watched the scenery from the car windows and imagined coming back to the area for more in depth exploration.

We did have some snow along the way -- it is snowing in this picture:

Up and over several Sierra passes; and finally into Davis.  We have no phone so hoped we could just find Bryan and find him we did.  He was leaving the dorm as we walked up:  SURPRISE!  He was totally caught unawares and did not expect to see us until this up coming weekend.  It was fun for all of us!  

Then we did the last leg to San Anselmo.   We are here for 9 months and want to enjoy every bit of being dirt dwellers.

On the Road

Our last week in Mexico was solid work:  cleaning, washing, decommisioning, measuring, planning for the future, errands, and more cleaning and washing.  We had originally scheduled our haul out for May 5 --but alas -- that is a holiday so we moved up a day.  The haul out was uneventful (again the best news is NO news!) and we finished up on the hard for a few last projects.  Then On the Road headed north.

Due to the holiday there was almost no truck traffic; no federales; and only a minor wait at the border.  We were in Tucson in time for dinner at our favorite vegetarian restaurant, The Loving Spoonful.

We drove the next day through Phoenix to buy sunbrella fabric at a very good price and then on to Prescott.  A quaint old mining town, but we wanted to see real forest so we continued.  Drove along old Route 66 for a bit which was fun and Alan could reminisce doing that drive with his brother when they were teenagers and had the family car for a trip to Texas.

Today we continue west with Bishop CA being our goal.  We want to explore the eastern side of the Sierras.  And see some of that record snow pack!

Two stories.
a.  We are crossing the border and the very polite customs agent gives us the once over look.  The car is only about half full; I'm driving; and the sailing dinghy is upside down on the roof.  And he asks:  "Are you bringing anything back to the US?"   Yes, I point to the roof:  a boat.  "Oh, yeah.  Anything other than a boat?  Any cigars?"  We all laughed.

b.  Everyone is always cautious about our safety in Mexico.  We felt totally safe and never saw any signs of violence or disturbance at any time.  We get back to Arizona and in the stores around Phoenix there were several with signs in the window that "NO GUNS ALLOWED INSIDE."  Everyone there must be packing their heat and there is a real wacko element....so we ended up more concerned for gun violence here than in Mexico.

Pictures to follow....

And a belated, but heart felt birthday wish, to our own Cinco de Mayo son, Bryan.