Another Nice Day in San Francisco - Day 50

Once again, the weather was predicted to be rainy and cold. And, once again, we had sun for the bulk of the day. Great! We started with a visit to the Main Library in San Francisco to look at photos in the San Francisco Room on the sixth floor. It turns out that we could have done all the looking online. But, we still spent an hour browsing the photo collection, looking at old photos of the harbor and the city.

Then, we drove by the Embarcadero, stopping for a short walk. Mark bought himself a rain jacket and I bought two pashminas. Then, we drove around the Fort Mason and the Presidio area, taking the time for another bicycle ride along the beach. The area has great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and of Alcatraz. The waves were huge, estimated to be about 18'. We then wandered into the Sunset area and ate at Pine Restaurant, a Korean Barbecue place on Noriega Street. We had a spicy pork barbecue dish and spicy ramen noodles. It was good.

We also decided to abbreviate our camping trip to Napa Valley because of the weather. We will tough it out for two nights, then go to Las Vegas for four nights, with a stopover in Bakersfield en route. Mark got a sweet deal in Las Vegas for only a little more than our campsite.

We had dinner tonight with Katie S. and Will S., who both live in San Francisco. Katie is working in an after-school program for ESL students and Will is working at a start-up computer software company. We ate in the Mission District at a southern Indian Restaurant called Upangi (sp?) Palace. I had a dosa, which was a spinach-filled dish. Mark had a giant garlic dish like a papadam with a vegetable korma. The conversation and the company were both excellent.

Golden Gate Park - Day 49

Today was supposed to be a rainy day, but it turned out to be mostly sunny. So, after breakfast at the hotel, we headed for Golden Gate Park to take advantage of the weather. We started by a visit to the Conservatory of Flowers in the Park. It is the oldest wooden conservatory of its kind in the U.S., having been built in the 1878. We saw a GIGANTIC philodendron that is over 100 years old, and a lot of orchids. Their special exhibit was a model train going through historic sites in San Francisco, all made by artists with discarded, recycled materials.

Afterwards, we drove through the Park, parked the car at the beach and biked up to a spot we'd never visited before where we had a great vista of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Along the ride, we saw the remnants of the Sutro Baths, what was a Victorian era, million dollar multi-leveled bath house. It later became a skating rink and the giant structure eventually burned in 1966. Today, the waves were huge and crashing against the rocks and cliffs. The trees were beautiful and shaped by the winds.

We then went to a grocery store, bought a baguette, cheese and ham and went back to Golden Gate Park for a picnic by a lake.

So, all in all, our "rainy" day turned out to be quite a treat.

Drive to San Francisco - Day 48

Today we drove the almost 400 miles to San Francisco. We have usually gone up the coastal road, but, this time, we decided not to stop overnight en route, so we drove Highway #5. With the bikes on the back of the Prius, fully-loaded and going steadily uphill, we lost mileage all day. The scenery through the hill passes was gorgeous. We drove up the fertile San Joachin Valley and then through the windmill area into San Francisco. The temperature dropped steadily, from the 80's into the high 60's. We are staying at The Opal, a nice old hotel on Van Ness Street, where we have stayed once before. We are a bit worried about our Napa destination later in the week as the weather is supposed to be cold and rainy. We walked to a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner.

Pupusas, Biking and a delightful evening - Day 47

We have been to L.A. now several times. Yet, never have we gone into the center of the city. We have hung out along the coast, Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica. So, we decided that we would rectify that and drive into the center of town. We headed for the Central Market, an old marketplace right downtown. We were seeking Sorita's Pupiceria, a Salvadorian eatery that Mark saw reviewed on The Best I Ever Ate. So, we had pupisas, which is a filled dough dish. I had cheese and spinach and Mark had cheese and chicken. Yum...and each costing $2.40. Then, we drove around downtown and visited a Japanese mall, too.

In the afternoon, in 80+ degree weather, we biked the waterfront of Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.

Then, in the evening, we had a wonderful dinner with Elaine M. and her boyfriend, Glenn, at RocknFish in Manhattan Beach. We had great food and great conversation.

Family Tree Updated in L.A. - Day 46

Today we met Clare A., my second cousin, once removed. We met Clare only once before, when she was only about 7 when we visited England. She is now 36, and the daughter of Susan and Andre. Susan's Dad and my Mom were first cousins. Clare and I met via Facebook. Clare married Chris A., an American and they live in L.A. and work for Splash.com. They picked us up for lunch and we went to Redondo Beach and ate at a lovely restaurant, sitting outside. Then, we went to their lovely apartment within walking distance of the Redondo Beach Pier. We chatted a lot and Clare showed me all the hard work she has done on our family tree, including documents like census records. It was all very fascinating and I have learned a lot about the family. Then, we all walked along the pier before they dropped us back at our hotel. It was a lovely, lovely day.

L.A. and seeing /hearing Michael M. - Day 45

We broke camp today, always sad to say goodbye to Dana Point. We took the SLOW route up Route 1 to where we are staying in Lawndale outside of Los Angeles. Lots of traffic! And, we are not in a particularly nice neighborhood at the Baymont Inn. When we arrived, the police had the street blocked off as there had been a violent domestic dispute across the street. We checked in and went out to Inn & Out Burger. While we have vowed not to eat at chain restaurants, we have excluded Inn & Out as it is a rather limited chain. (hmmmm...)

The highlight of our day was going to a club in Sherman Oaks to hear Michael Maury and his acappella group Evolution sing. It involved a 29 mile drive....California and driving just seem to go together. And, Michael's group did not even go on until 10:30...rather late for old fogeys! Before Evolution went on, five song-writer/singers performed. It was very impressive and enjoyable. Michael's group is made up of 5 guys. We SO enjoyed the performance and are so glad that we were here to be able to see them.

3rd day of camping - Day 44

Another relaxing day, although, once again, the night was fairly cold. It is still hard to get into that shower!

We went to a famous Mexican restaurant Olamendi's for lunch. To work off that lunch, we took a long bike ride all around Dana Point marina, a really huge one.

Then, we had peanut butter and jelly for dinner and had a lovely, hot campfire.

Day 2 of camping at Dana Point - Day 43

It did get quite cold last night...probably down to 50 degrees. It was not easy dragging my cold body into the shower, but felt great to get the bones warm. As the day went on, it got warm enough for shorts, though. Mostly we sat around and read. Mark is reading The Children's Book and I am engrossed in The Help. It was nice to be able to just sit and read.

We went to busy Laguna Beach to see Can You Be More Pacific? at the Laguna Beach Playhouse where we saw Brownstone two years ago. It was an improvisational play by Second City to spoof Orange County. The six actors were talented and sometimes funny, but some of the jokes passed us by as we don't live in O.C.

First camping day on this trip - Day 42

We took the short drive from San Diego to Dana Point today. We set up our tent at Doheny State Park. We took a short bike ride along the beach and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. Mark made a nice campfire. Very relaxing. This is one of our favorite camp sites as you are camping in the dunes. We did find out that the campground was flooded out by a storm surge earlier in the year and needed quite a lot of repair. The beach was definitely shorter than it was the last time we camped here.

We fall into the Pacific....Day 41

Today we had a sea kayaking trip in La Jolla. It was a bit overcast and cloudy and we almost wimped out. Mark and I shared a kayak, mostly because I was a bit nervous about being able to handle the surf. There were 10 kayaks in all, including the 2 guides. We were out about 2 1/2 hours. We were supposed to kayak into some caves, but the surf was too rough and we could only look at them. There were a lot of sea lions. Sea lions have ears, unlike seals. They are more equipped for land than seals are, with stronger front "legs". They often hold a flipper out of water to get warmer. We also saw a lot of cormorants and brown California pelicans. It was interesting to see the La Jolla cliffs from out to sea. We saw the house where Theodore Geisel wrote many of the Dr. Seuss books. Coming in to shore, we dumped our kayak! So, we both got soaked...and, it was pretty cold in both the water and the air. But, we didn't feel that cold as we'd been exercising pretty rigorously. We went right home and jumped into the jacuzzi to warm our bones!

We went to Point Loma for a late lunch to Hodad's, a cool hamburger place featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. That was a treat....not healthy, but...a treat.

We had a late dinner at Humphrey's, where we are staying. We got a $75 food credit as part of our TravelZoo deal and we had a delicious prix-fixe menu. I had sea bass and Mark had steak. From there, we went to the blues bar and heard a blues band with singer Michele Lundeen. She was backed up by a fabulous sax player, drummer and two guitarists. Her voice was on the style of Janis Joplin. It was a very enjoyable evening and a wonderful day.

Food, biking, more comedy....Day 40

We had a fabulous lunch today. It was a bit of a comedy getting there, though. We were told by a local that the best place for Asian food in San Diego is Convoy Street. And, we were pointed to a restaurant called "New Seoul Barbecue". We did not have a decent map, so were navigating by an inadequate hotel map. After several misturns, we finally did get there. By then, we were starving. But, the restaurant was closed! We almost gave up, but went one strip mall up the road to a very nondescript looking restaurant called "Phuong Trang"; wow....it was quite an experience. We knew as soon as we walked in as we were just about the only non-Vietnamese in the place. Mark looked over at another table and asked the waiter for "that." "That" turned out to be a meal for two people called "Beef 7 Ways." They brought out a huge plate of vegetables to start with - lettuce, mint, basil, cucumbers, carrots, some other greens we couldn't identify and pineapple. Then, they brought rice wrappers for us to briefly soak. Next came two plates of thinly-sliced beef. One was to be cooked (by us) in butter with lemongrass and onions. The next was to be cooked (again, by us) in vinegar. Then, we made wraps with any combination of the beef/veggies that we wanted. It was amazingly delicious. Next came a beef, vermicelli soup. Yum! And, next 5 different combinations of rolled beef - with spring onions, with edamame etc. It was a real experience overall and we were very happy to have gone there.

To help work off that amazing meal, we took our bikes to Balboa Park and rode around before the play, Alive and Well at the wonderful Globe Theatre there. The play was very good and very new. It was about a Southern Civil War re-enacter and an uptight New York journalist who go on a camping trek from Petersburg to Antietam. Of course, along the way, they fight and...fall in love. It was very well acted and Mark immediately thought it might be a good play for Theatre Workshop, but not for high school.

Food, Biking and Comedy - Day 39

Lunch took us several hours to find! We thought we might go to HooDad's in Point Loma, which is a great hamburger joint. But, the line was out the door. So, then, we set off WITHOUT a decent map to find Convoy Street where the Asian community of San Diego lives. I had looked up the directions to a highly-recommended restaurant (New Seoul Barbecue) but we got turned around. We eventually figured it out by some miracle of problem solving and looking at an inadequate tourist map. When we finally got there, ravenous at 1:30, having eating nothing all day, the restaurant was CLOSED! So, we took a chance on a nondescript-looking restaurant called Phoung Trang. Once we stopped inside we knew it was going to be an adventure. The place was filled with Vietnamese eating wonderful-looking food. We were among the very few non-Vietnamese. The waiter helped us to order. We had 'Beef in 7 courses' for two people. In the courses, we had to soak our rice wrappers, cook some slices of beef in vinegar and cook some beef slices in a skillet with butter and onions. We had a huge pile of vegetables to put into our rice wrappers - lettuce, basil, mint, cucumbers, carrots, pineapples. We had a wonderful beef, vermicelli soup, plus beef with edamame, beef rolled around spring onions etc etc. It was an exquisite food and an adventure.

From there, we drove to La Jolla to ride our meal off by biking. But, it was very crowded as people are out and about enjoying the lovely weather. So, the biking was pretty slow as we wound around the people and the cars. But, it was still nice to be out. We saw seals and seal pups on the beach.

Then, we BARELY made it to Horton Plaza because there was a lot of traffic and it was a Friday night. Triple Espresso was supposed to begin at 7:30 and we got out of the car at 7:28. We had no idea where the theater was in the mall, so we ran around and asked and, by some miracle, got there at a full run....Luckily, the show began 3 minutes late and we JUST made it. It was good, but not what we were looking for as something we could do with the Drama Club. The play was written by 3 guys who wanted a vehicle to showcase their particular talents - singing/song writing, physical comedy and magic. Two of the original writers are still in the show, which was written in 1996. The first act was a bit corny, but we both enjoyed the second act which picked up the pace and was just funnier.

Desert to Coast - Day 38

We had a wonderful traveling day today. We decided to go by back roads through the Anza-Borrego State Park so that we might see some wildflowers in bloom. We didn't see too many, but it was a fascinating ride.

We drove south along the Salton Sea and then headed west. At that point we got a glimpse of a subculture of Americans who ride ATV's and quadrunners and there were hundreds of RV's out there buzzing around the dunes. Once we got into the park, the ATV's disappeared. The elevation rose from around 400' to over 4,000' on a very twisty road through deep rock canyons. It was austere and remote, but beautiful at this time of year. I don't think I'd want to take the same route in the summer, though. We climbed into the town of Julian and stopped there. It is a really touristy town and it was jammed. They were having their Daffodil Day! So, we stopped at their little Town Hall to see their flowers. We had a nice chat with them about Nantucket's Daffodil Weekend. They were interested as this was the first year of their festival. The town is known for its apples, so we couldn't resist a slice of homemade apple pie at a restaurant that was churning out HUNDREDS of pies. The smell wafted through the whole town.

From there, we drove to San Diego. We are staying at a very nice hotel, Humphrey's Half Moon on Shelter Island. It is more posh than we usually stay at, but Mark got a deal on TravelZoo. It is right on the harbor and has plush gardens and a lovely pool area. We ate at their restaurant, again, very upscale with wonderful harbor views. We had a lovely meal of two appetizers. Mark had a spicy shrimp corn chowder that was excellent and he really appreciated it.

Then, we drove into Horton Plaza and almost missed the beginning of the play, Triple Espresso. There was a lot of traffic in the Gaslamp district and we got there with seconds to spare. Mark ran through the mall ahead of me to make sure to get tickets even though we didn't even know where the theater was. So, we started out with our own comedy. The play was written by three men in the 1990's who concocted it out of their various talents - singing, song-writing, physical comedy and magic. Two of the original actors were in the performance here. We had hoped it would be a good play for some of our Nantucket kids, but it is too based on these particular guys' individual talents to be replicated at the high school level. For one, there would need to be a talented magician. At any rate, we definitely laughed, especially in the second act.

Our Last Day of Tennis! - Day 37

We had a nice day, trying out our new bikes, taking a swim, doing the wash and packing to get ready to leave.

In the evening, we went to the stadium to see a semi-finals match between 19-year old Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark beat Agnes Radwanska of Poland. The two are good friends. There were some good rallies, but it was pretty clear from the outset that Wozniacki was in control of the match and she took the match in two sets. It was a lovely evening and the first one that we did not wear a jacket or use the blanket. We got to know some of our seatmates around us, which added to the fun tonight. The couple behind us are from Chicago and the couple beside us are from Utah.

The second match of the night was a men's semi-final doubles match. The man from Chicago went to the gates to ask for people's tickets who were leaving and got tickets for us and for the couple from Utah. So, we were able to watch the doubles from courtside. The match was between #1 seeded Nenad Zimonjic/Daniel Nestor and the young, tall Americans, Sam Querrey and John Isner. Zimonjic/Nestor won fairly easily.

Rafa Nadal on Center Court-Day 36, March 18

As the tennis tournament winds down, we are only going to the 7:30 sessions. This leaves our days a bit freer, although we have been sleeping in. We bought some pretty cheap bicycles today as renting them is so expensive. We are unsure about how it will affect our driving with bikes on the back, so we may leave the bikes behind at a Goodwill at some point. So, yesterday, after a nice dip in the pool we took a spin around the complex where the timeshare is located. Neither bike fits us perfectly, but...they are sufficient.

We saw yet another exciting match tonight. We have been so lucky as we have not seen many blow-outs. Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic took on Rafael Nadal. Berdych put on a competitive and gutsy performance. But, Nadal's play was a thing of beauty with an over-the-shoulder shot. Both men played the net and played the angles. Both have big serves. It was not a walk-in-the-park for Rafa, even though he did win. 6-4, 7-6, the last set going to a tie break.

Then, we went down to courtside for a semi-finals doubles match between Kveta Pesche/Katarina Srebotnik and Chan Yeng-Jan/Zheng Jie. A nice couple from Chicago who sits behind us in the stadium got tickets from people leaving, so we sat together. We had all seen Zheng Jie play Caroline Wozniacki the night before and enjoyed seeing her play the angles in doubles. It looked as if the Chinese pair would win handily as they took the first set 6-1. But, as the wind picked up, so did the play of the other pair and Srebotnik/Pesche took the second set, 6-3. This forced a tie break. By this point, the wind had really picked up and lots of trash came floating onto the court, making the ball kids scramble to catch it. The tie break was won 10-4 by Pesche/Srebotnik. We got home, again, after midnight.

Sunning and two exciting tennis matches 3/17 Day 35

As the tennis tournament gets into the final days, there are fewer and fewer matches. So, today we didn't get to the tennis garden until 5 o'clock. We got there in time to see an exciting match on Stadium 2 between Marcos Baghdatis and Tommy Robredo. Baghdatis had the win of his life the night before over Roger Federer and we think he was just too tired. So, he lost to Robredo, but it was still an exciting match which went the distance. In the second set, it looked as if Robredo was out, but...he came back in the third. So, it ended 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 to Robredo.

We stayed in Stadium #2 despite the fact that Roddick was in the center stadium playing Jurgen Melzer. (Roddick won.) We were more interested in the match between #2 Caroline Wozniacki play #18 seed Jie Zheng, a small and explosive player. It was a thrilling match with long rallies which played the angles. There were many service breaks. Wozniacki, only 19 years old, took the first set, 6-4, but Zheng was on fire in the second set and it looked as if the balance was tipping her way. She took the set 6-4 and it looked as if Wozniacki had no answers to beat Zheng. But, in the third set, Wozniacki rallied and Zheng tired. Wozniacki took the set 6-0. We left before it was over as the conclusion looked certain.

So, we went to the main stadium to see the second set of Andy Murray versus Nicolas Almagro. Murray is one of the players we have never seen, so we were looking forward to watching him. We settled into our seats, watched Murray take the first game of the second set....and, then, disappointingly, Almagro withdrew due to an ankle injury. So, we got to see Murray for just one game. It was our first early evening. But, it was a great day anyhow, as we got to see two really exciting three-set matches.

Tennis - DAY AND NIGHT! 3/16 - Day 34

Wow. We had day and night tickets for today....talk about overdosing! We were skeptical about doing the day pass as the weather forecast predicted it would be in the high 80's. So, we were well prepared with frozen water bottles.

We caught the end of a match where #5 seed Agnes Radwanska beat #11 seed Marion Bartoli. (6-3, 6-2.) Then, we saw Feliciano Lopez, seeded 28, beaten by #6 seed Robin Soderling from Sweden. The first set went to a tiebreak and the second set went 6-4. It was a good match with lots of hard hitting.

The next set was a real treat! It featured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the ninth seed, versus Albert Montanes. These two really battled with lots of hard hitting and angles. Tsonga prevailed in the end. [4-6, 6-3, 6-3]

Then, we went back to the timeshare for a break and to change into warmer clothing. We saw another thriller on Stadium #2 between James Blake and Nicolas Almagro, both of whom are unseeded. They both really wanted to win and battled every point. Naturally, the crowd backed Blake. But, eventually Almagro won in 3 sets.

We actually left the Blake match before it was finished because we wanted to watch Roger Federer, seeded #1, take on Marcos Baghdatis, seeded 27. We never want to miss a chance to watch Federer as he is such an artist on the court. The match was unexpectedly competitive and lasted almost 2 and a half hours. The battle was on from the first serve. We really like Marcos Baghdatis as he has such heart and personality, but...we also admire Federer for so many things. So, we wanted to see a close match with a Federer win. It was a real nail biter. The first set went to Federer 7-5 with just one break of serve. The second set was the same, but taken by Baghdatis the same way, with one break of serve. The third set, unbelievably, went to a tie break as Federer had been up TWO break with a 4-1 lead. However, the fighter, Baghdatis, did not give up and tied it up. And, Baghdatis won. The crowd was stunned. Federer looked stunned and Baghdatis was ecstatic.

It was well past 10 o'clock and poor Alisa Kleybanova came out on the court for another late night match. The stadium emptied and we got to move down to court side. We stayed for the first set which was won by 21-year old Carla Suarez-Navarro. Shortly into the second set, we left as it was late. We found out that Kleybanova battled back and took the next two sets.

Another night of exciting tennis! 3/15 Day 33

Beware the Ides of March...especially if you are a seeded tennis player!

We started in Stadium #2 and saw Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who took out Marin Cilic earlier, take on, and defeat a Brazilian, Thomas Bellucci. Then, we saw an unexpectedly lopsided match between German Tomas Berdych and Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco was expected to win, but was very off and Berdych was on. So, Berdych won 6-0, 6-3.

The next match scheduled was supposed to be Victoria Azarenka, the #3 seed, against #28 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. But, that match got moved to Stadium #3 because of the popularity of James Blake and Andy Roddick as a doubles pair. The stadium was filled to capacity and it was noisy and fun. Blake and Roddick took on the #1 seeded pairs team of veterans Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic. Blake and Roddick gave a great fight, but lost in a raucous tie-break. (4-6, 6-3 and tiebreak of 7-10.) Meanwhile, in Stadium #3, Azarenka lost. So, another seed bit the dust.

We then moved over to the main stadium and saw a heartbreaking loss by Kim Clijsters, who is on the comeback trail. She lost the first se (4-6) and won the second set easily (6-1). Then, she lost the last set in a tiebreak to 20 year old Alisa Kleybanova. It was already past ten, so we decided to call it a day. We did not stay for the set between Sam Querrey and John Isner, who play doubles together. (Isner won and they went on to win their doubles match the next day.)

More tennis, anyone? Day 32

Skip these blogs if you don't care about tennis!

We had the best weather so far for the tournament. For once, we did not need our winter jackets, gloves and hats! It is strange getting to the tournament in the full sun in our jeans and long-sleeved shirts with our backpacks full of winter gear. But today the temperature stayed in the low 60's, so, we used our blanket for bleacher padding and didn't need to wear all the layers we had to wear in the previous nights.

We started by seeing Elena Dementieva, #4 seed beat the Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-2. That was followed by an exciting game between James Blake and #13 seed David Ferrer. Blake was on fire and Ferrer must have been having an off day. But, the play was fast and entertaining. Blake won in two sets. We stayed to watch a little of the Nadia Petrova match against Shuai Peng, which Petrova won handily.

Then, we went to the main stadium to see Andy Roddick beat a fiery Taiwanese player in 2 sets. But, though the score was 6-4, 6-4, Yen-Hsun Lu gave Roddick a good match that took just over an hour. Then, the stadium emptied as it was after 10 o'clock. But, we stayed to the end to see #2 seed Caroline Wozniacki beat Maria Kirilenko in a lopsided match. The crowd was so thin that everyone was invited down to courtside early in the first set, so we had great seats and didn't mind getting home after midnight.

A day of upsets for some top women -Day 31

Today was gorgeous weather - it reached 77 with blue skies. We spent a bit of time at the pool in the afternoon.

But, our main feature of each day is tennis, tennis, tennis.
We watched three sets in the small Stadium 3 in the front row, so were only a few feet away from the players, which was amazingly cool.
First, we saw #8 seeded Marin Cilic defeated by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in quite an upset. 6-7, 0-6.
Then, we saw #21 seed and two-time Indian Wells Champion, Daniella Hantuchova beaten by veteran player from Italy, Roberta Vinci. Sitting on the sidelines for Hantuchova was Darren Cahill and Jose Reyes, as well as her mother. It was pretty cool to see Cahill and Reyes. It was painful to watch Hantuchova's struggles.

Vinci outplayed her and won in two sets: 6-3, 7-5.

Then, continuing the disaster for women stars, we saw Anna Ivanovic, seeded 24 beaten by a 19-year old Latvia, Anastasia Sevastova, also in two sets. 2-6, 4-6. Again, it was painful to watch Ivanovic, who has been struggling for the past year. She had a lot of unforced errors and had problems with her serve. The Latvian made fewer mistakes and covered the court well. Ivanovic was visibly upset to be eliminated so quickly.

Having sat in the hard and cold bleachers for over three hours, we were glad to move to the main stadium for a three-set match between #2 seed Novak Djokovic and American veteran Mardy Fish who had met Djokovic two years ago in the Indian Wells final. It started out very lopsided with Djokovic taking the first set 6-0. It looked as it was going to be a blow out. But, Fish rallied, with great crowd support and took the second set, quite stunningly - 6-1. By this point, the rather small crowd was involved with most rooting for Fish. However, there was a loud Djokovic continent, as well, many of them displaying Serbian flags and shouting "Ay Da", which means something like "Let's go!" While Fish put up a valiant effort, Djokovic's strong play prevailed in the end, and he took the set 6-3. So, although we got home past 11, it was well worth it.

What a day of tennis!

A Night to Remember! Day 30

What a night! Because we had night tickets for today, we automatically got into the "Hit for Haiti" event organized by Roger Federer for earthquake relief. What a treat. It started with a doubles "match" featuring Martina Navratilova and Justine Henin versus Steffi Graf and Lindsey Davenport. Martina provided most of the comedy with her comments, grunts and groans. (Unfortunately for Justine, she had been eliminated from the tournament earlier in the day, so it can't have been easy for her to go on court.) But, the match was just so much fun.

Then, it was followed by a highly-entertaining, and sometimes a bit intense, "match" of Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal versus Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. And, Rod Laver came out for the ball toss. Andre supplied most of the commentary and was hilarious. He interrupted servers and bantered with everyone else on court. For example, to his partner Nadal, "You look a lot faster on t.v." But, they all added commentary and humor, so it was great entertainment all around.

At the end, Tony Bennett came out and sang, "Smile," which was also very moving and cool.

A doubles match took place after the "Hit for Haiti" ended between young Americans, John Isner and Sam Querrey and Ivan Ljubicic and Marin Cilic. We did not stay for the entire match, but know that the Americans won in a close match.

Almost a Perfect Day! Day 29

What a great day we had today!
We started off with a desert hike outside of La Quinta. We met a nice couple from Ottawa. He had been a principal at Glebe High School, where he had also been a student and then a teacher. His wife was also a retired teacher. We had a lot in common and thought along the same lines. We agreed about the foolishness of high stakes testing and hiring administrators without enough teaching experience.

After our hike, we came back to the timeshare and read all afternoon. Mark is reading The Help on our Kindle and I am reading The Children's Book.

Then, we attended the night session of the PNB Paribas Open. The gates open at 4:30. We started in Stadium 2 and saw Mario Ancic beat the American Bobby Reynolds. (We saw Ancic two years ago, too.) We next saw women's doubles in the same stadium. Jelena Jankovic and Tatiana Garbin beat Lucie Safarova and Vera Zvonareva. It was quite exciting with excellent players. They all seemed to be relaxed and having fun, especially Jelena Jankovic who had a big smile most of the time. It began to get quite cold by this point and we were shivering. We next went to Stadium 3 for a very competitive match between 29 year old Sybille Bammer and 28 year old Katarina Srebotnik. Bammer won in the third set; both were real sluggers. Finally, we went into the main stadium to see Taylor Dent beaten by Ryan Harrison. Everyone was cold by the end of the night. We had a lovely chat with a mostly-retired profession from Queens College who volunteers for this tournament. We asked him if he thought the area was quite conservative and had a wonderful political conversation about holding children hostage to conservative tax cuts.


All in all - quite a perfect day - a hike, a quiet read and exciting tennis. Who could ask for much more?

No tennis - Day 28

We went to another farmers' market, this time in Palm Desert. Then, we went to Lake Cahuila State Park. It is definitely no New England lake! It is a man made reservoir, surrounded by desert and not very attractive. We would not put it on our list of "Need to Return"!

Day 27 - More tennis

Today we also went to the qualifying tennis tournament at Indian Wells. We did not see any outstanding matches, but, sadly did see Sebastien Grosjean lose, so he will not go through to the main draw. We watched Karolina Sprem of Croatia, who we also watched yesterday, go through to the main draw. We saw #2 seeded Caroline Wozniacki practicing, as well as the young Melanie Oudin. It was very windy and somewhat chilly, too. We saw an umbrella at a table filled with young ballboys bend right over.

Day One of Tennis! Day 26

Today was our first day of tennis. It was a lovely day to spend at the tennis garden as it was only around 70 degrees, so we wore jeans. We saw some first rounds of the women's qualifiers. We know that most people are not interested in tennis the way that we are, so we will keep these blogs fairly short. The qualifying rounds are free and there aren't crowds. It is all quite casual.

We saw: P. Mayr beat V. Tetreault in 3 sets; Karolina Sprem beat A. Yakomova in 2 sets; Tsvetana Pirankova beat K. Kucova in 2 sets, but the second set went to a tie break. And, we saw a fierce match between Michelle de Larcher and Klara Zakupalova which de Larcher won in 3 sets. The set with Pirankova was a bit more intense for us as we sat next to her mother. We noticed that the woman next to us had the same look as Pirankova and then noticed that she had on the same sneakers. So, Mark leaned over and asked her and she nodded that she was, indeed, Pirankova's mother. Her coach/father was also sitting up near us. It would have been very hard to cheer for the other girl. I later read that the mom had been a champion swimmer and the dad had been a champion canoer.

Rainy, cold day in the desert - Day 25

It rained all day...so, no repeat of seeing polo. And, it is cold - in the 50's. But, maybe it all means that the flowers will bloom, which will be great.

We did go to a farmer's market in Old Town, La Quinta which was very sparsely attended due to the downpour.

So - what to do on a rainy day? Go to the movies! So, we went to see Shutter Island, which was one of our book club books a few years ago. We quite enjoyed it and thought that Leo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo did excellent jobs.

Polo and a Street Fair - Day 24

Today we went to a HUGE polo grounds in Indio. There is a women's tournament going on with players from all over the country. It is a TRULY rich person's sport. We talked to players to learn some of the rules etc. They told us that it costs $100-$300 to lease a horse for just one day. Each period is called a chukkar. There are 4 riders per team. It was interesting and a glimpse of a different world. The horses are taken care of better than most children in the world.

Then, we went to a big street fair at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert. We bought some fresh dates (yum), some asparagus and a hat for me as I left mine behind in Nantucket.

Drive to Indio, California -Day 23

Today we drove about 250 miles from Phoenix to Indio, California, which is in the Palm Springs area. So, we drove through quite a lot of desert today. We pulled off the road at Quartzite, Arizona, which is a very weird place. A town of just a few thousand, it attracts 1,000,000 visitors in January and February to rock and mineral shows. The main street of the "town" is lined with rock shops, trinkets, bead stores.... And, there are many, many RV parks. We couldn't imagine staying there for any length of time as there really is nothing in the town other than the trinket sellers. Mark and I bought some beads in a shop with a huge collection. And, mind-bogglingly, it was one of many such shops. It was easy to imagine the women who were shopping, going back to their RV's and beading.
Anyhow, we arrived at the timeshare in Indio where we will be for two weeks. It is nice to be settled for a bit. We shopped at Trader Joe's and had our first home-cooked meal in a while. We did a load of laundry and sat in the jacuzzi.....a bit too cold for the pool as it is only 70 degrees and a bit windy. Certainly can't complain!

Cacti and sitting where "W" sat - Day 22

Today is our first day out of snow and cold. It is sunny and in the low 70's in Phoenix.

We visited the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden today. It was fabulous.
Some facts:
Suguaro Cactus: They don't grow arms until they are at least 50 years old. The holes in them are made by nesting birds and do not harm the cactus. Their roots go out as deep as they are tall. And, the roots are only about 4 inches below the surface.
Agave Cactus: They throw out a tall shoot with a flower on it only once in their lives, then die.

Dick's Hideaway Restaurant. This was a real find. It was recommended to us by a fellow guest in the La Quinta where we are staying. We had a memorable, fabulous meal. Mark had smoked pork in a red chile sauce. I had skewers of beef, shrimp, chicken and sausage with 4 different dipping sauces: tomatillo, green chile, cheese and bean. The restaurant is so exclusive that it does not advertise at all- not even a sign outside.

It is not listed in the phone book! We had to ask someone in the parking lot where it was...and, we were right in front of it! It is very small with benches and cushions. After we were seated, we were told that we were sitting at the same table that George W Bush sat at....hmmm....we did consider moving, but thought that would be very petty. So, we have now sat where a president has sat. And, it didn't even smell!

For dinner, we went to Fenix, a French restaurant, which was reviewed as having the very best French onion soup. And, it was good. We didn't know if it was the best ever, but it was very good. We also had a fabulous beet salad with roasted red pepper and some slices of brie on the top.