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Pretty freakin' cool. See the story on LaughingSquid.

Photo Friday - Vacation

Ahhhhhh.......

Sumo

No real reason behind this - just saw this pic and got a kick out of it.

And then I'm all, "ooooohhhhh"

So, interesting day thus far (as I have low standards for entertainment). Had a nice ferry ride in chatting with Michelle C (see link to her blog at right) and The Dohmer (former coworker). I was feeling a tad hungry after my workout this morning (20 mins of invervallic training on the bike followed by some core strength training (and a nice quick steam). So, I don't have any cash on me, but I'm not worried - everybody takes debit. I belly up to the counter at Golden Gate Meat Co for some yummy goodness. Well, they've got a sign for a new thing - steak and egg sandwich for $7. Steak and eggs sounds good, but I already feel like I'm getting fiscally cornholed spending five bucks on a breakfast sammich. So, I ask for the "regular" breakfast sandwich.
I swipe my card, put in my PIN, etc, and I notice she's charging me $.25 for using the debit card. Normally, I resent being charged a fee for these kind of things, but I'm in a good mood (and I'm really hungry) so I just leave it be. I pay my $5.25, get the sammich, and start walking. So, I'm still in the Ferry Building, I've got my sunglasses on, so I can't see really well. I open up the wrapper on the sammich and take a bite and the bacon doesn't taste right. It's NOT smoky, it's NOT salty, it's just kinda wrong. I stop and look at the sandwich (now with a huge chunk out of it) and figure out IT'S STEAK - once I recalibrated and expected to taste steak, the sammich was really good.
So, that's it - no real point, but, that's life.

Sea Ranch Photos

Vacation was great. I have photos to prove it. Michelle and I both enjoy taking photos and our pics alternate between snapshots and more esoteric compositions. Here's a mix of both. We headed out on Sunday morning, making a quick stopover for breakfast burritos at Whole Foods in Petaluma. From there, we headed out to Highway 1 and cruised up the coast. Here's a shot of the coast road just north of Bodega Bay.



Once we got checked in at the rental house, we took the puppies to the dog park for some ball time. They love the dog park at Sea Ranch - it's huge and they can run full out, sniff, dig, play ball. Here they're waiting for me to throw the ball. Notice the intense focus!

Here's a shot of Michelle at the park


We weren't really sure what to expect of the weather for the week. On our previous trips, it's been cool and foggy with an almost persistent mist. This time, it was gorgeous! Clear, blue skies, mid sixties to low seventies, moderate wind (one day had high winds in the afternoon), clear skies at night for star gazing. It was amazing.
We secured provisions for the week at the Surf Market in Gualala (our favorite local market) and headed back to the house. Here's my idea of relaxing at the coast - beer, chair, ocean view, warm sun, cool breeze... Marz has similar views on vacation - although he doesn't drink beer.

Most days, I was up before dawn and I spent a couple of mornings watching the colors of the landscape change with the rising sun. We took a sunset walk along the bluff one night and got some interesting photos.

Sunset along the bluff. This is just down the trail from the rental house near Shell Beach.










A driftwood sculpture sat out on the bluff, overlooking the meadow.

Awash in the rich evening light, it's difficult to find a more beautiful part of the country.

Michelle surveys the incoming surf.

Remnants of aquatic flora washed up on the shore, some of which appeared entirely alien.

Ultimately, the sun sat in dramatic fashion, casting a warm blanket of orange light over the cool shore.

















Michelle created an anniversary tableau on the beach.

This was, after all, our anniversary trip. We had dinner at the house that night - I made pan roasted frenched veal chops, asparagus, and a green salad. We had an excellent bottle of Ponzi Reserve Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Overall, we ate well all week. We went to Pangea in Gualala for dinner one night and had an outstanding meal with a bottle of Wolf Blass reserve Shiraz (an amazing wine).

We had lunch a couple of times at Bones' Roadhouse, the local BBQ/Biker hang - I recommend the Texas Brisket sandwich with house made potato chips!

The dogs had a great time. They finally destroyed their rope toy. Michelle got this shot - I love it. One of the great things about the house we rented was that it had an atrium where we could let the dogs run around. They could go out and sniff, explore, hang out, or whatever. They also had a great view of the deer and jackrabbits that came through the meadow. They made a significant fuss the first time a group of deer came by the house - you would have thought we were in imminent danger of a deer uprising.

I like this shot. This was the end of a delicious gin and tonic after a tough round at the Sea Ranch course. I took this by setting the camera down on the armrest of the chair and letting it fly. I think it turned out pretty well.






We had some camera fun in downtown Gualala on Friday.

This one was fun (note the reflection).




There was a Pirate Faire in Gualala on Friday. So, there was a Pirate Festival in Vallejo recently - it was big and pretty cool, actually.

The Gualala version was much smaller; just five booths, all of which were run by the organizers. We popped by for six minutes and took in the sights.



The Sea Ranch Chapel is probably the most interesting structure on the Mendonoma coast, at least to me. We stopped by on Friday afternoon for some snappies - there were lots of interesting things around the chapel.

The unique architecture of the building makes it seem organic and naturally occurring; I find it difficult to picture people actually building it.

The roof line almost looks like a spine - interesting how it curves and twists and how the shingles are layered like feathers or scales.





There's a fountain outside the chapel entrance. It was difficult to get the water in focus - I ended up having to trick the camera to get this shot.

































Michelle got the shot below - I really like how this one turned out.We're back home now and we're already planning our next trip to the coast. Maybe Labor Day weekend?

All I want for summer vacation is a dead cell phone

Seriously, what the Hell is the deal with these damn things? We leave for the coast in, oh, about 46 hours or so. That means in 49 hours, I will have no signal, no Internet access, no Skype, no connection to the outside world but good old fashioned person to person communication. Not that I really want to talk to anyone when we're out there (except Michelle, of course), but it's nice to unplug from time to time.
The weather next week is supposed to be really nice - should be in the sixties to low seventies. Maybe we'll get some sun! I'm really looking forward to some hiking in the redwoods and on the beach, some golf, sitting in the hot tub, blah blah... Oh, and GOLF! How could I forget! I love that course! I proposed three rounds to Michelle and she didn't flinch. Will might even come up for a day to play.
Now, I just need to wrap up all the loose ends at work and home so I can actually go away on Sunday....

Okay, so...

Okay, so, golf's getting better. And worse. And better. Here's the perfect example: 18th hole at Wente - 412 yard par 4. I crushed my drive, high, soft draw, 325 yards - right down to the cart sign. The second shot was a 75 yarder (my nemesis range lately) and I airmailed the green. This keeps happening over and over.... I take a half swing with my lob wedge and hit it 100 yards. What the hell? It's frustrating too because my bestest golf buddy moved away and I'm having a hard time finding people to play with who are fun to be around, play at my level or better, don't flake, don't just drink their way through the golf course, and who are interested in helping each other get better at the game. I signed up on a site called mygolfbuddy.com - maybe that'll yield some results. I'm going to throw a posting up on craigslist also - who knows, maybe that'll pay off? Seems pretty desperate, but I guess I am at this point. Sigh...