Mission Beach, San Diego October 9-16

 

 We had a long drive to Mission Beach from Monterey with lots of traffic with many huge highways and lots of highway changes. Mark did the bulk of the driving which was quite harrowing - so many multi lane highways!

 

We moved into a small studio apartment in a new part of the bay to us - 3578 Bayside Walk. The parking lot is small! We drove to Ralph's and got enough food to start our week as we were too tired to shop more than that.

Day One

We took a nice walk and settled into the apartment.

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For lunch, we drove up to Convoy Street to go to a Chinese restaurant, Golden Dynasty, that Mark looked up on Yelp. It was delicious - we had pea greens (a new dish for us and we liked it) and fried chicken.

We got tickets for a matinee at Old Globe Theatre to see a new musical, The Gardens of Anuncia. We had to show our vaccination cards, a first for us and masks, of course, were required. We liked everything about the play. The set, for one, was amazing. The play was written by Michael J. LaChiusa and based on the life of his friend, an Argentine actress/choreographer, Graciela Daniele. It was staged by flashbacks by an older Anuncia who's on the way to get a life-time Emmy. (true) It tells the story of how she was raised by three strong and independent women - her mother, her aunt and her grandmother during the time of the Perons. The dancing was amazing, the songs were so well done and beautifully sung. The actors had impressive resumes. We were very impressed and hope that it goes to Broadway. 

On the way home, we stopped at a pasta restaurant on Tourmaline St, got uncooked homemade pasta with two sauces and made it at home and sat on our patio. 

Day Two

We started our day with a nice walk along the bay - and saw several dolphins which we heard is quite unusual for the bay. At 10:30 we headed to visit Frank and Linda Morral in La Jolla. We always have wonderful conversations and we also had an in-room lunch with them as their dining hall is not yet open to outside visitors. Later we took them for a tour of Mission Beach down to the end, where they had never ventured. Then, we sat at "our" apartment's patio and chatted more. Linda and I took Rojo for a walk along the bay.

Day Three

Today we spent at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, about 40 minutes north. It was the perfect day for the park - quite empty with gorgeous weather. It involved a lot of walking, but we also took one shuttle and a tram around the African savannah section. We saw a cheetah, lots of varieties of deer/antelope, several elephants including at least 3 youngsters, one lion, 2-3 gorillas, one tiger, giraffes, rhinos, kangaroos. Getting photos was not easy as there are many long shots a lots of fencing. We lingered at the bird exhibits. We ate lunch in the park and made a day of it. We walked about 3 miles in the park. Afterwards, we sat on "our" patio and watched the high school crew teams practicing across the bay.

Day Four

We started with a walk on the other part of the inner bay where we stayed a few years ago. We also got our flu shots at a nearby CVS. We had tacos for lunch before Barbara had a Zoom Cemetery Commission Meeting.

We met Frank and Linda and went to the dog park on Fiesta Island. On the way home, we visited Soledad Mountain Memorial which has a huge concrete cross that was the subject of constitutional controversy about a religious symbol being on federal land. It was solved when a private group bought the part with the cross. There are over 3500 memorials to veterans on the monument. The mountain has one of the best views of the San Diego area.

Day Five

We met Frank and Linda for lunch at White Sands. Linda and Barbara took a nice walk along the La Jolla shores with Rojo while Mark and Frank talked theater. It's always great conversation. Then we said goodbye to them. We came "home" and took another walk along the ocean side of Mission Beach and had dinner on our patio. We also had a quick video call with Christian and Nick in Charlotte.

Day Six

Another beautiful day.  I had a Zoom meeting for the Historical Commission at 7 a.m. (time zones!) Afterwards, we took the car to the car wash - not something we do often. Then we drove up to Cabrillo Point- so beautiful, where we had a cup of coffee and wandered around.

In the afternoon we met Lindsay Goldsmith at the Communal Cafe and Bakery which was also attached to a flower shop. Lindsay is in an intensive, accelerated nursing M.A. program. It was lovely to see her. She is so evidently passionate about her profession.

Then we came "home," packed up and ate fish tacos on our veranda. 

Coast of Northern California October 5-9

    We left Bandon in the rain and it rained pretty much all day. We slept in Eureka which is a rather ugly town divided by Route 101 which goes through the heart of town. We stayed at a Best Western Plus which was okay.

We drove into the old Victorian district which is said to have one of the largest concentration of Victorian homes. One, the former home of a lumber baron, is now a private club. We did find a good Indian restaurant, Tandoori Bites, which had a pretty unappealing outside, but very good food. They told Mark how to make paneer cheese at home as they have to make their own because it is not available in Eureka.

   Mendocino Day One

Mendocino, the walk to town from our hotel

   The weather was lovely today which was a nice surprise. We drove down 101 to Route 1.  We stopped by to reminisce at Richardson Grove State Park in the redwoods where we camped with the kids when they were young and also with Christine and Ken years later. We walked about, ate a muffin and looked up Eel River where we had swum years before. Sadly, it is now closed to swimming because of toxic algae.

Route 1 was probably a mistake - it was 25 (at least!) miles of hairpin turns and twists and turns. Both of us felt motion sick, but Mark more than Barbara because she was driving. We were both really glad to be done with it. 

Richardson Grove

Mendocino

Good Life Cafe

    Mendocino, California, Day One

After the harrowing drive, we pulled into Hill House at Cabot Cove in Mendocino. We are in a Victorian room. The town is in severe drought with many water restrictions.

Last time we were here, we were camping somewhere out of town with Christine and Ken. 

The woman who checked us in said that some of the crew of Murder She Wrote, stayed here, hence the name. We drove into town and had a good late lunch at the Good Life Cafe sitting outside in a tent. The town is incredibly Covid conscious and has made many arrangements to keep people safe. Every place requires masks and there are many outdoor venues.

After lunch, we walked a lot of the town and down to the beautiful cliffs. Then we went to the grocery store for a few items and drove some more of the cliffs.

Mendocino, Day Two

Today we walked down to the Good Life Cafe for breakfast - Barbara a breakfast tostado and Mark spinach scramble. mmmm Then we walked back and took a drive - first to Big River State Park under the bridge where we walked along the river and later to Little River State Park where we watched people go out rock cod fishing in small kayaks. We learned that collecting of abalone has been halted for 10 years here to give them a chance to recover.

We took another walk to the headland where we saw brown pelicans, ravens and oyster catchers. (We walked over 3 miles today) And, for dinner we went to Mendocino Cafe where we ate outside. (All restaurants are outside here for Covid) Mark had rock cod fish in a sandwich and Barbara had an Asian veggies/tofu stir fry.

One Day in Monterey

    We left Mendocino and drove to Monterey. The first part of the drive included the first section - Rt 128, some twisty turny. We are in a rather standard motel, but it's quite expensive for what it is. We walked along the harbor to Fisherman's Wharf which seemed a bit honky-tonk. We are too tired to drive out to Carmel. We went to a mall and got some good tuna poke

The Coast of Oregon - October 1 - 4

We left Portland and drove Route 5 to Route 20, the longest road in the U.S. (Just over a 2 hour drive.) We checked into the Embarcadero Resort in Newport where we have a King Studio. We have a little balcony with a view of the Bay and Newport's bridge.

We had lunch at Clearwater, a restaurant on the water. We sat outside where it was actually hot and sunny.

This is the other end of Route 20 - photo by JuliAnn

The Pacific Harbor Seals were right below where we were seated - noisy, but fun to watch. Barbara had  poke tuna salad and Mark had a ginger noodle dish with Dungeness crab. Ships that participated in the show "The Most Dangerous Catch" are anchored here.

From there, we drove to Yaquina Head Lighthouse House where it was very windy and rather chilly, especially in contrast to where we sat at the restaurant shortly before. It is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. From there we drove by Agate and Nye Beaches, wide sandy beaches. Then - to Fred Meyers grocery store to get supplies for snacks tonight and a picnic tomorrow.

Yaquina Head lighthouse

 

Newport, Day 2

   In the morning we drove first to South Beach, a huge sandy beach. We are surprised at the immensity of the sand beaches. 

Agate Beach

Then we drove back into Newport and bought some tomatoes at the farmers' market to eat with our sandwiches. Then we drove a bit further north to Beverly Beach State Park (so many yurts!). 

And, from there we went to an overlook where we actually saw a whale spouting, but quite far out. 

Then we went a little south to Devil's Cauldron where we had a picnic, watched surfers below, and saw lots of brown pelicans.

For dinner we went to Clearwater again. We decided to treat ourselves to an anniversary-like dinner. We started with a Dungeness crab cocktail. Barbara had the "catch of the day" which was a flatfish like a flounder with spinach and gnocci. Mark had king salmon with asparagus and mashed potato. 

Then we went back to South Beach, walked and watched the sun go down in the sea.

 Bandon, Day One

Another sunny day! We drove down Rt 101 to Bandon, Oregon, stopping for a picnic in the Oregon Dunes State Park. We are at a funky, odd, somewhat decrepit little cottage perched half-way down a cliff. There are actually 3 units; we have half of one floor and a great balcony. There are steep stairs down to the cottage and steeper (and wonky) stairs down to the beach. The view is spectacular with crashing waves and scary rocks. The waves are noisy! (If we have a quake or a tsunami, we will not survive!)

We drove into the old town and got fish and chips and chowder and brought them back to eat here.

Bandon, Day Two

We woke to fog and chilly weather. We took a drive a bit south to Face Rock, which legend says is an Indian maiden who resisted a demon and ended up being turned to stone along with a basket of kittens.

Then we drove to Bullard State Park and out to Coquille lighthouse (which has been decommissioned.) 

And...who should we see walking toward us but Cindy and Kirk Winner! Cindy is one of Barbara's longest friends; they met in the first grade and have been meeting in Pennsylvania at Cindy's lakehouse for the past several summers. Cindy lives in Gasquet, California and she and Kirk with their son, Michael, and his wife, Blakely are camping in the park with sons Mateo and Miles. It was a wonderful chance meeting! The kids watched people crabbing and we chatted for quite a while.

Later, we went back into Bandon for another fish lunch (a fish taco for Barbara and a fried oyster combo dinner for Mark) We drove out to the townside jetty and up to Coquille Lookout where we strolled and sat as the sun came out. The rock islands off the coast here are protected and a nesting and roosting place for many birds.

 

Portland, Oregon, Sept 28-30, 2021

Columbia River

   Sept. 28 - a 4 state drive - Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon - 563 miles which is a really long drive for us. We left early with coffee and sandwiches. It rained for the first two hours as we wound our way through the mountain passes of Montana and Idaho.  At one point, it dropped to 41 degrees, a real difference from the 80 degrees of the day before in Missoula. Then, we got into the flat, dry plains of eastern Washington where the sun came out. Then we dropped down into Oregon and followed the beautiful (but dammed and controlled) Columbia River. 

As we got closer to Portland, it rained a bit more. We are at the Park Lane Suites Hotel, a somewhat funky and old hotel, but more than adequate to our needs.

View of Mt Hood from our bedroom

 

We walked to the Elephant Deli which was hip and delicious where we both had some dilled salmon  and Barbara had some tortilla soup and Mark had macaroni and cheese.

First full day in Portland - Washington Park. We walked a lot today! First, we walked (uphill) from our hotel to Washington Park. The park has a free shuttle bus which is awesome. We first took the entire circuit to get a sense of the park which is incredibly beautiful, large and very hilly. After that, we got off at the Rose Garden which was still in bloom. Unfortunately, the Japanese Garden, which we really wanted to see is closed until after we leave. Mark had a sausage at the Rose Garden. 

Then we hopped back on the shuttle and went to Hoyt Arboretum which is huge and we walked the Redwood Trail, part of the Fir and part of the Spruce Trails. (Mark got a t-shirt - "May the Forest be with You.") Then, we walked back home. Over 3 miles in total. 

That afternoon we walked to The Soop, a wonderful Korean restaurant where we met the very interesting owners who grow their own microgreens at the restaurant. Barbara had bibimbap (rice bowl with lots of veggies and a spicy sauce to mix in) and Mark had japchae (glass noodles with beef.) Delicious. The owners invited us to come for coffee the next morning.

An observation: Portland is incredibly compliant about masking. Everyone wears masks inside and a lot wear them out on the street. We feel so much safer here than we did in S. Dakota and in Montana.

Second (and last) full day in Portland. A cloudy, rainy day. First, we went back to The Soop and had siphoned coffee, courtesy of the owners who let us in before they were even open. Then, they brought out delicious avocado toast, again complimentary. Lightly toasted bread, spread with some guacamole and thinly sliced avocado, an egg and then covered in sunflower microgreens and balsamic vinegar. Amazingly delicious. And, the owner also showed us how to grow the microgreens with a bedding of wet jute paper. Turns out that he went to Harvard Business School for MBA and spent 13 years in finance in the S.F. Bay area. He and his wife, also highly educated, decided they wanted to farm. So, they got an RV and camped their way up the Oregon coast, but settled on the restaurant in Portland. Business has been tough during the pandemic, but they seemed optimistic. (They still want a farm in the future.) 

After that, we walked to Providence Place (near the soccer stadium) and got "Honored Citizen" all-day passes for the public transport. Honored citizens are elders, by the way. ($2.50 each) We took the tram and got off at "Library" and walked our way to the Portland Art Museum. It was nice to see art that we've never seen before, even from artists like Monet and Van Gogh. 

A Van Gogh

There was a lot of Native American art and quite a lot of African -American contributions. There was an exhibit of Victor Jorgensen's photographs of WW II sailors. They were so young and we couldn't help feeling the pang of nations sending the young to war.

Then we walked down to the waterfront which we found underwhelming, got back on the tram and back to the hotel in the drizzle.

Tonight we tried Burmese food for the first time at "Top Burmese." Mark had a chicken curry with coconut rice dish and Barbara had coconut soup. The descriptions do not do justice to the layers of flavor. We want to try to replicate them at home and took photos of the menu descriptions of the variety of spices used.