See Worthy

Thursday, March 4. The skies are brilliantly blue and everything below sparkles in the sun, still glistening from yesterday's rain. We don't have much planned today, which means there's plenty of time to catch up on blogs and take stock of what we haven't done and what we just have to do before we leave on March 9 (five days). I'd like a hike in the woods and a visit to Tor House, Phil would like to visit San Francisco again and to visit Pebble Beach Club House. Four locations in five days definitely sounds doable, even on top of the requisite house cleaning and grocery restocking chores.

After breakfast, I took Dixie for a little neighborhood walk. Every day, she seems a little more relaxed walking with us. I was unpleasantly surprised at how chilly it was even with the brilliant sunshine. I've become a real coddled Southern Californian who thinks sunny automatically means warm. Back at the house, I got a call that I might get my proofreading job at CSULB thesis department in April. It would be nice to get some money coming in even though I will have to take a pay cut. Phil and I talked about things to do to get out of the house. Phil suggested a quick shopping trip to Trader Joe's (weren't we just there yesterday?) so I surfed the net for nearby restaurants and came up with two possibilities: Fresh Choice and Gayle's Bakery.

We chose Fresh Choice because it was close to Trader's, but when we got there we found out it was a cafeteria style restaurant and since we had Dixie with us, it seemed too complicated. We walked over to Trader's and I shopped for stuff while Phil stood outside and got compliments from ladies on his cute little dog. I got a sandwich and a salad and we drove to Seacliff Drive and parked at Seacliff Mini Park, which is a minimally landscaped area with a few benches on the palisade overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Visibility was incredible and the sparkling water stretched for miles in every direction but east. We ate our takeout lunch in the sun-warmed front seat with a million dollar view. Dixie seemed to enjoy just being near us. She sat still and pricked up her ears every time either one of us talked.

Back home, we unpacked the groceries and made some coffee. Phil did some work and then headed out for nine holes at Seascape. He got me and Dixie started on another walk down to Hidden Beach. She did very well, prancing ahead and sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. The beach was lovely in the sunshine even though the surf wasn't as wild as yesterday. I got back home before Phil and did some reading. He came home chilled through so we had a beer and chips sitting next to the stove after he built a fire.

We talked to Tony as we ate supper, leftover burritos and soup. We spent the evening close to the stove, reading, chatting and Sudoku-ing. It's starting to feel a lot like home.

Out of this World -- in Santa Cruz and Beyond

Tuesday, March 2. We woke up to heavy rain this morning which escalated to a downpour. I settled in to write some blog posts while Phil had a telephone interview. With the rain pelting the windows and hammering the roof, we began to feel a little stir crazy. I got the assignment of finding a place to go for lunch. After surfing the Internet for a while, I came across the Saturn Cafe. It had great reviews and the website was a treat for the eye.

By the time we drove to Santa Cruz, the rain had let up to a drizzle. The Saturn Cafe is at 145 Laurel on the south end of the downtown shopping district. It's part of a row of stores with parking in the back, but its circular exterior sets it apart from the average minimall. The interior design is truly kooky, quirky and one of a kind. Many of the globe ceiling lights have pink rings around them like, well, Saturn, and lots of the furnishings, like the fifties era refrigerator near the entrance reflect the pink flamingo color scheme. The booths around the outer ring of the dining room have plexiglass tops over shallow display areas with kitschy knick knacks from bygone eras. Our table had butterflies and flowers and doves in assorted day glo colors.

The menu features vegan and vegetarian comfort food. I had corn dogs and Phil had a Tuno Melt -- both of them soy based imitations of the kind of thing you'd expect in any diner. We also had thin fries which wer delightfully crisp. Our waiter was happy to explain to us about the origin of Tuno and how the Saturn had a special recipe for its tuno salad to make it even more fishy tasting.

Phil had a phone interview, so while he talked in the car, I went for a little stroll up Beach Hill to get a view of the ocean and check out some of the glorious old Victorian homes along Main Street. The most glorious of all is Golden Gate Villa, an imposing multi-gabled beauty with an equally ornate carriage house behind it. It's so large I assumed it must have been built as a boarding house for vacationers, but it was actually a private residence for many years and now appears to be up for sale for a mere $8,500,000. What a time to have forgotten my camera.

By the time I got back to the car, Phil had finished his interview, so we headed for home, stopping off at Aptos Coffee Roasters for a couple of cups to go and some low fat oatmeal cookies. After a while, we put Dixie on her leash and headed for Hidden Beach again. Because of the downpour earlier, there weren't many people out so we walked all the way down to the beach. The breakers were phenomenal, cresting about ten feet above the water's surface in row after thundering row. The water was so churned up that frothy clumps of foam lay scattered over the beach like huge meringues. We walked along the water's edge for a while, but the surf was so loud that having a conversation was impossible. We climbed stairs labelled "No Trespassing! No Loitering! Observe Leash Law!" over a massive molded concrete sea wall and into a gated community.

Lucky for us, this enclave of million dollar homes carefully tiered row after row up the palisade to maximize the ocean views just happened to be the terminus of Club House Drive. We trudged up the hill, across the train tracks, and around the bend, braving the seemingly endless stream of SUVs and minivans blythely doing 50 in a 25 mile an hour zone. Everyone, even Dixie, was relieved to finally make it to the actual club house so we could detour into the relatively quieter limited access streets and finally home.

We thought Dixie would be exhausted by the long walk, but she was more energetic than ever, circling the living room as break neck speed and barking up a storm. Before our "little glass of wine," we had a meditation session and Dixie seemed disturbed by our sitting so still. She had a couple of extended barking spells and needed a lot of petting to reassure her after we were done. With our wine, we had a nice dinner of Greek salad and salmon, ratatouille and pita bread with bread pudding for dessert. We talked to Phil's aunt and Drew and Tony after dinner and settled down in front of Steve's toasty stove for an evening of emails and Sudoku.

Rainy Days and Sundays

February 28. It was a little sad waking up Sunday and realizing that Drew and Tony have to leave today. We had a very healthy breakfast of oatmeal and bran muffins, and then they started packing and even fitted in the extra set of golf clubs Phil had brought up for Peter. The weather was fine, a brisk wind and blue skies with dramatic billowing clouds. We drove two cars to Pacific Grove and stopped at Toastie's for brunch. It's got a great country kitchen decor and generous servings and the place was bustling with the after church crowd.

We walked around town a bit and then went down to Lover's Point to watch the surf. Maybe is was the aftermath of the earthquake off Chile or maybe it was storms at sea, but the breakers kept thundering in and booming against the rocky coastline. We walked from one location to another and took lots of photos of course. Silly us, how can you possibly make a wave stand still? Phil got a call from Peter and learned that his mother was doing better and would be able to go home on Monday.

Around 2 pm, Drew and Tony got in the Mitsubishi and headed south, and Phil and I got in the Honda and took the coastal route by the golf course and even drove through Asilomar. We decided if tomorrow was not rainy, we'd return to Pacific Grove. Phil hoped to get 9 holes in and I wanted to see the butterfly grove and the Pinos Point Lighthouse. We had put off a special Valentine's Dinner (we had thought Peter would be visiting us that weekend) so we decided to find a nice restaurant in Pacific Grove and have a dinner out there.

The drive from Aptos to the Monterey area is much less hectic than the drive north. The road passes massive sand dunes and acres and acres of cultivated fields, strawberries and artichokes mainly. Now and then, there'll be a farm stand with piles of brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables, and glimpses of farm towns like Castroville and Watsonville in the distance. It's just a thumbnail of all the growing that goes on in the Salinas Valley and the San Joaquin further east, but it's very restful and reassuring taking a Sunday drive in the country--a throwback to childhood.

As we passed the huge towers of the power plant at Moss Landing, a long-legged crane stood right by the side of the road, watching us pensively as we passed. The Elkhorn Slough is a well-known bird sanctuary and has become a kayaking mecca of sorts. It was fun to think we'd bagged a birder's trophy from the comfort of our car.

Back home, we took Dixie for a long walk all the way to Hidden Beach. She was in high spirits, prancing ahead of us on her leash. We met a Pekinese mix (with an owner attached) and the owner explained "parallel socialization" to us. If two dogs are confrontational meeting head on (as Dixie and the Pekinese were), they may slowly accept each other if they walk side by side for awhile. We tried it with excellent results for the humans. The Pekinese's owner had lots to tell us about his trips to India and the care and feeding of small dogs. Sad to say, the two dogs were still a little snippy with each other as we parted ways at the intersection of Los Altos and Dolores.

The pathway into Hidden Beach, hemmed in by two steep hills, is always a little spooky to me, made even spookier by the shadows among the towering eucalyptus trees and the ominous hooting of an owl. Phil had heard the owl when he walked the golf course, so he knew what hole we were near. Most of the families at the playground were packing up to go home, and we passed several dog walkers heading home too. We did make it to the crest of the path by the park benches for a look at the surf. Thick cloud cover made the sunset pretty murky so we didn't linger. Dixie is such a little trooper. She made it all the way home on her own steam and gobbled up her dinner.

We had a more leisurely dinner of fat free refried beans and tofu burritoes and rice with half a beer. We have been reading passages from the Jon Kabat Kinn book and wanted to be relatively clear-headed for a meditation session. It went well. Dixie sat quietly on the sofa between us, like a miniature Buddha. (Hats off to Ron Burgundy) Then we finished watching Hitchcock's Vertigo and I got curious about the San Francisco locations. Phil said we could stop by San Juan Bautista on the way home if the timing was right and the rain wasn't falling.

Oddly enough, having spent most of the day away made Steve's house seem more like home to us. We settled in to a nice deep sleep. We can't figure out why we're sleeping so well. Is it the quiet or the cold or pushing back our sleep schedule to 11 pm or is it pretirement?

Here Comes the Sun

Thursday, February 25. At last, the sky is bright blue and everything below is rain-washed and sparkly. As usual, the morning was quiet and full of work. I'm almost caught up with my diary of the trip and I did a load of clothes so there won't be much housework while Drew and Tony are here. I went up and fixed lunch while Phil talked to people at work as he walked around the backyard.



Phil suggested we sit out in the sun on the deck to eat our lunch and Dixie came out to join us. She seems much friendlier this morning than she has before. I called Phil's aunt to confirm that we were coming over on Saturday and she seemed very happy to hear it. Dixie continued to be attentive and Phil suggested we take her with us on our after-lunch drive. To our surprise, when Phil opened the door of the Honda Fit, Dixie jumped right in and then curled up in my lap, happy and excited.



We drove south on Highway 1 to check out Pajaro Valley Golf Club. Phil's on the lookout for a driving range and was also happy to see the low greens fees are there. Then we drove over to Sunset State Beach but didn't stay because there's a $10 fee and we weren't sure dogs were allowed. We drove along a windy country road with the coastline just out of sight, which reminded me of my family's trips to beach when I was a girl before interstates and franchises. The region south of Aptos is refreshingly undeveloped and agricultural. La Selva Beach seems prosperous and not as congested as the Rio Del Mar area.



We came home and I did a little more blogging. The day was so beautiful, Phil decided to head out to golf the back nine and I took Dixie for a long walk down to Hidden Beach. She still resists me when I hook her up to the leash, but after she gets out and starts to sniff all the exhilerating doggy smells, she forgets and lets herself go. We came across a few other dog walkers, but everybody made nice with no incidents. Both Dixie and I were tuckered out by the time we got home, and it wasn't long before Phil came in and we got started on dinner--veggie burgers and oven roasted potato skins. We talked to Drew and Tony just approaching Paso Robles and decided it would be 10 pm or so before they arrived.