What a non-blog week. No travel. Perfectly beautiful weather. Just downright normal! Hurrah!
We were finally able to get a tree pruner to come by and remove the damaged portion of our front street-side tree. (You might recall that a major limb was damaged in a strong winter storm almost two months ago.) We also had much of the high growth trimmed to avoid bringing down the overhead electrical lines.
Jeff receives a lot of trial specialty publications in the mail, because he subscribes to a number of architecture and design magazines. But this one takes the cake...so far, at least.
Jeff and I were clearing away some old vines in our garden. These vines pre-dated our ownership, and had grown unruly...flower-tipped tentacles that had begun to invade and tug overhanging tree limbs. Beneath the clutter, we discovered a serene face...happy once again to feel the warmth of the sun. I wonder what her story is.
They need one of those leashes parents use for wandering children :)
I assume folks have been waiting with baited breath for a new photo in my Hotel Window series. This time, live from the Crowne Plaza in McLean, Virginia...my first visit to this hotel.
This was today's weather forecast as posted in the hotel elevator this morning. Oh, c'mon...you wouldn't chuckle at this? :)
I wasn’t all-to-thrilled to fly east today, interrupting a beautiful weekend in San Francisco and a visit by our friend Paolo. But duty called, and Jeff dropped me off at the airport bright and early.
Late yesterday afternoon, while I was in Seattle, Jeff spotted a surprise feathered visitor in the pine tree behind our house. He snapped this quick series of shots before the bird--a red tailed hawk, perhaps?--moved on to other adventrues.
Following my last visit to Seattle (new hotel photo above), I wrote a scathing to Avis about their unsafe rental selection. Well, I am happy to report that Avis responded...surprisingly...and refunded me for two rental days based on my complaint. BRAVO to Avis for listening!
This is one of those stories that’s a bit hard to explain…but that’s also what makes it fun.
First the movie. The Bucket List is an obvious catalyst for this type of trip. Its a heart-tugging movie about friendship and spontaneity...with a great deal of humor and fantastic adventure thrown in to tease the senses. Yes, the movie has gotten mixed reviews, but I will just say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I highly recommend this movie if you go in with the right attitude...this is not an Oscar film...this is a feel-good, make-you-tear-up-a-bit film. It was no more or no less that what it was supposed to be...and it initiated some fantastic conversations about life, family, and happiness.
2. Innuendo. At the Iron Cactus, Jeff ordered a “double boned” pork chop, and that set off childish snickers that would punctuate the entire 24-hour trip. A few notable phrases taken completely out of context: “We're going to ride it all night.”, “You're all expecting big action.”, “You want your chock full of nuts stuffed there?”, “We have two pairs of underwear between the three of us.”, “I was functioning with a goofy ball just fine.”, “Not all history has to be touched.” We also spotted three signs that begged to be recorded: “No In and Out Privileges”, “Condoms To Go”, and “Bone Daddy’s”.
3. A dose of history. As we were driving out of downtown Dallas, we stopped at the site of JFK’s assassination. We skipped the outrageously priced museum (in the old Book Depository), and wandered around Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was shot, including the “grassy knoll”, where a conspiracy theorist approached us and offered to give us the “real story”. Oddly, nearly every tourist darted into the middle of the street to be photographed on one of two painted X’s, marking the locations where Kennedy was hit. An odd historical landmark to be sure.
4. DART farts. We rode Dallas’ DART light rail several stops to and from the movie theatre. In each direction, we distinctly picked up the aroma of farts (or some other nasty smell) from a few of the derelict riders. NASTY.
Oh sure, the Presidential primaries on last week's Super Tuesday captured the majority of the headlines last week (ok...ALL of the headlines last week), but the real news was that San Francisco voters wisely rejected the absurd Proposition C, which would have asked the City government to explore aquiring Alcatraz from the Federal government to turn the island into a Global Peace Center.
For the past week, Jeff and I have been hosting my folks…and we have certainly filled our days and nights with interesting excursions...and quiet evenings in front of the fire. Yesterday, we waved sadly as Mom and Dad passed through the security checkpoint at SFO, knowing that our home would be quiet that evening.
We drove from the historic Ferry Building to San Francisco’s oldest building...the Mission Delores. We toured the sparse Mission, its attached Basilica, and the drizzle-enhanced graveyard.
Next, we took our folks to the always-impressive observation tower at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. No visit to the de Young would be complete without a scrumptious burger at the museum café.
On Sunday, we took advantage of an early break in the rain to view the City from Twin Peaks. Returning showers ushered us back into our car and sent us north into Sonoma.
In the afternoon, we drove home for a fantastic make-shift Super Bowl party. My dad made his wonderful fried chicken, and we drank wine. My personal favorite Super Bowl commercials? The two from e-trade with the baby web-cam...I’ve watched them multiple times since, and they still crack me up...something about a sarcastic, talking baby :)