This will be short, because Geoff wants me to join him to watch Shark Week on the Discovery Channel....
Tonight we were invited by one of the radiology residents in my class (Jess) to join her and another couple for a sunset cruise in Mission Bay on her 20 foot sailboat. It is a modest but comfortable vessel and she's a good sailor. We all contributed to the spread of appetizers and drinks and enjoyed them all as we sailed until just after sundown. I got to steer the boat and no one got whacked by the boom. It was great!
Anyway, this is the kind of thing we get invited to out here.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Comic Con 2007
The first time I visited San Diego was in 2001 for the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, held in the Convention Center in the Gaslamp district of San Diego. After mingling with 35,000 of my colleagues, I realized that we must look to the public like a swarm of nerds, so I started calling us the "nerdoscientists." Well, I think we've been usurped.
Unbeknownst to us, for the past 37 years, more than 125,000 people from all over the world have been flocking to San Diego each year for Comic Con International. 
Lucky for us, this weekend was the 38th annual meeting.
Lucky for us, this weekend was the 38th annual meeting. 
Tauted as a celebration of pop art, this convention is as much about costumes as anything else. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to people watch, we headed downtown with our camera and shot a few (well 136) pictures. Here are some of the best, but if you're hungry for more (and a good belly laugh), just let us know, and we'll invite you to view our album on Shutterfly! So some were actually pretty cute...
(Check out the Vulcan chatting on her cell phone.)
My favorite were these three girls, who made their own costumes(someone please enlighten me as to who they're supposed to be).
(Check out the Vulcan chatting on her cell phone.)
My favorite were these three girls, who made their own costumes(someone please enlighten me as to who they're supposed to be).
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Planning your upcoming trip
Just so you know, we spend each weekend trying out new and wonderful things in our area in anticipation of your upcoming trip. (o;
So far, we've decided that you're going to have to check out the Zoo, we'll definitely want to take some time to explore Balboa Park , you'll love going to the dog beach (preferably the one in Coronado), and there are a bunch of great restaurants and bars even in our own little neighborhood that we'll want to take you to.
This morning, we took Mishka to Balboa Park for a walk before brunch. It was gorgeous. We could hear music drifting from a huge pipe organ within a Spanish-style amphitheater. The place is Spreckels Organ Pavilion, and the music was from a man was practicing in preparation for the free concert on Monday night. Up the way a bit was the spectacular 1920's Botanical Building at the foot of a long lilly pond full of koi. We took turns watching Mishka as the other explored the plants (Geoff loved the carnivorous plants, I didn't even see them!). Outside, a little old Mexican man with a sombrero was singing in Spanish with his guitar, and, when we threw a dollar in his guitar case, he started substituting the words "Thank you, thank you, thank you, berry much!" for the regular words to the song. It was totally worth it.
From there, we went straight to Baha Betty's to meet our new friend Kari for brunch. Kari is an interventional radiology fellow whom I met during orientation, so, unlike our other pals, we don't pay her to hang out with us. SD is dog-friendly, so Mishky came along. YUM!
I was in the mood to walk around, so we went back to the zoo and explored the snake and lizard exhibit, gawked at the gorillas and orangutans, and marveled at the
hummingbirds and all of the colorful birds in the aviary. Here's Clyde, one of the orangutans. We went to the sea lion show and can't wait to take our nieces to that. There are lots of little baby animals at the zoo at this time of year, too. The animals are surely amazing, but even if you never looked at a single one, the San Diego Zoo is so gorgeous and so relaxing that it would definitely be worth a visit!
We'll be ready to accept visitors once our renovation is complete. After that, we hope we'll see you soon!
So far, we've decided that you're going to have to check out the Zoo, we'll definitely want to take some time to explore Balboa Park , you'll love going to the dog beach (preferably the one in Coronado), and there are a bunch of great restaurants and bars even in our own little neighborhood that we'll want to take you to.
This morning, we took Mishka to Balboa Park for a walk before brunch. It was gorgeous. We could hear music drifting from a huge pipe organ within a Spanish-style amphitheater. The place is Spreckels Organ Pavilion, and the music was from a man was practicing in preparation for the free concert on Monday night. Up the way a bit was the spectacular 1920's Botanical Building at the foot of a long lilly pond full of koi. We took turns watching Mishka as the other explored the plants (Geoff loved the carnivorous plants, I didn't even see them!). Outside, a little old Mexican man with a sombrero was singing in Spanish with his guitar, and, when we threw a dollar in his guitar case, he started substituting the words "Thank you, thank you, thank you, berry much!" for the regular words to the song. It was totally worth it.
From there, we went straight to Baha Betty's to meet our new friend Kari for brunch. Kari is an interventional radiology fellow whom I met during orientation, so, unlike our other pals, we don't pay her to hang out with us. SD is dog-friendly, so Mishky came along. YUM!
I was in the mood to walk around, so we went back to the zoo and explored the snake and lizard exhibit, gawked at the gorillas and orangutans, and marveled at the
hummingbirds and all of the colorful birds in the aviary. Here's Clyde, one of the orangutans. We went to the sea lion show and can't wait to take our nieces to that. There are lots of little baby animals at the zoo at this time of year, too. The animals are surely amazing, but even if you never looked at a single one, the San Diego Zoo is so gorgeous and so relaxing that it would definitely be worth a visit!We'll be ready to accept visitors once our renovation is complete. After that, we hope we'll see you soon!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Making new friends
One of the weirdest things about moving to a new area is having no friends.
The contrast has been quite dramatic for us, because we spent so many years in NC, where we have a great group of friends and were used to seeing people we know all the time. Here, we're strangers. Every person we meet could be our new friend...or not (like the neighbors, for instance). Mishka is going through a similar adjustment, only her social interactions involve a lot of butt sniffing that we try to avoid.
So far our best friends are Sona and Aaron Arnzen whom we met at Laura and Winston Parker's wedding. Here they are with us at George's in La Jolla just last weekend. Anyway, by serendipity, they happened to live in SD and she's a real estate agent for Prudential, so we hired her on the spot. Sona is, without exaggeration, the most wonderful agent we could ever imagine. Geoff called her our "Life Coordinator." Seriously, we couldn't have made it out here without her, and we're erecting a Sona Shrine as part of our renovations.
Other people that we have met and who seem really nice and interesting are our designer, Jodi, our contractor, Wally, and our banker, Chrissy. Notice a theme? It could turn out that all of our new friends are actually paid to hang out with us. Don't worry, though - we're getting to know some people at work, too.
In any case, we miss all of you and love hearing from you. Hopefully this blog is fulfilling its purpose, which is to help us stay close to all of you. But, we want to hear about what's going on with you, too!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Trouble in paradise
Perhaps we fell too hard, too fast. But, we were lonely, we missed the friends and family we left behind....
When, on the day we moved in, the retired couple living next door dove in and offered us their gardener Inocencio to help us unload the truck, we thought we had been sent a couple of guardian angels: Mr. Charlie and Mrs. Toni L.
Our yard was suffering from overgrowth and death and lack of water, so we were grateful when Toni sweetly offered to send Inocencio to attend to some sorely-needed garden maintenance on our property. That morning we both went to work, and that night we returned to find the yard gutted. Any plant or tree showing the slightest weakness of constitution was summarily sacked. I sensed Geoff's unease and immediately bought a bunch of plants to fill the void. But, we convinced ourselves that none of the old plants had a shot, we didn't discuss the partial removal of the trellis, and we joked about the whack job on the trees. At the end of the day, she had done us a BIG FAVOR. We hugged her, paid back the $120 she had paid Inocencio, gave her our house key, accepted her invitation to check on Mishka while we're gone, and thoroughly snuggled into this ideal neighborhood friendship. They had already begun calling us "The Kids."
That's when they started mentioning The Tree.
The Tree is a large, gnarly pepper tree on the hill between our house and the Langdons that overhangs our deck in the back. In case you didn't know (we didn't), that peppercorn in your shaker didn't pop off a plant or spring from a flower. It comes from a tree, where it and about a gazillion of its closest friends hang together in pink clusters like tiny grapes. In fact, we tasted them - these peppercorns are good enough for any shaker, but not for long...
Toni and Charlie casually started mentioning how the invasive roots of The Tree had lifted their patio, how a root had grown into their pool, how cheap the former owners had been when they mentioned "dealing with it," how maybe we could find a way to contain the beast. Feeling indebted and all eager-beavery as only newbies to San Diego can feel, we instantly called Tree Companies, Arborists, Landscapers and collected opinions and quotes. I mean, how expensive can this be?
"The Tree has to come out." That was the resounding consensus, albeit with very different supporting opinions ("it is diseased"... "the neighbors must have whacked at its limbs and roots one to many times because the damn thing is leaning"... "it really isn't fashionable anymore...that's a '70's tree - perhaps you'd prefer a more updated palm?") . And, how much? Only a mere $1400, well maybe as much as $2500, to make this lovely, innocent, bountiful specimen of nature disappear. Hmmm. We naively wondered once or twice if the tree people might be biased. But, we convinced ourselves that it was the best for everyone. We are Good Neighbors.
Wanting to get full credit for being the conscientious neighbors that we are, we cheerily updated Toni and Charlie on our quotes and our progress. That's when they started bringing up the idea of The Retaining Wall.
See, in Southern California, there are a lot of hills, but the soil is very loose. Erosion is a big deal. We had already noticed that the soil was eroding out from under their deck struts (which is about 10 feet above the level of our property) and towards our house, a bad situation for both homes. Smiling, they offered to go in 50/50! Heck, we were planning to put in a retaining wall along that short portion of the property line anyway, so this sounded great! ...except that each time we talked to them, the wall grew taller and longer and wider. Many times, we've smiled and explained to them the scope of our planned renovations, but they don't seem that interested. "We'll end up eating only rice and beans!" I joked nervously to Toni. "Well, you know, beans are very nutritious," she replied sagely.
I got home yesterday after running some errands. At the grocery store, I picked up a little potted rose for Toni, since she was recently put in a foot cast, and some fresh corn on the cob for Charlie, who loves the stuff. On the way back, I realized that I had forgotten to close the garage door for the second time. When I got home, though, it was closed. They must have closed it. I wanted to drop off the little gifts anyway, so I went over to thank them for watching out for me, my Guardian Angels. They invited me to sit down in their parlor. Yep, Toni had closed the garage door for me. (Oh, those kids!) Considering her bum foot, I asked her how she did it (when we forget, we just press the button inside then dash out before the door is down). She described getting the key, going to the back, and tsk tsk, the back door was unlocked, so she closed it and the garage door then brought Inocencio over there and the two of them took out a blah blah blah.
I didn't really catch all of that, but I brought the conversation back to the Retaining Wall, since an engineer had come out that morning to assess the back yard, and I thought it would impress them that we had made progress on the issue. I must have alluded again to the fact that our idea of a wall was much more modest than theirs, because they looked at each other and Toni said "You need to tell her, Papi." (Maybe this is a good point in the story to mention that Toni is Hispanic and Charlie is half Chinese). Charlie resisted, "No, Mami, it is only hearsay." (He wears Hawaiian shirts and likes to button one or zero of the buttons.) Back and forth a little longer they went until Toni concluded that I needed to know, since I might as well hear it from someone else as we gather estimates.
So, they dropped the bomb: "Someone told us that when one neighbor builds a wall along the property line, the other neighbor is obligated by the law to pay half." I was flustered and expressed disbelief and confusion. My heart started racing. How can that be? I stammered on awkwardly then made some excuse about why I needed to leave. Before I left, though, I asked: "What was that you said you took out of the garden?" "Oh, that dying thing over the archway. We took it out." "The jasmine vine, over the archway?" "She doesn't know what I'm talking about, Papi. It was dead."
No, it wasn't.
The top leaves may have been browned, but the vine was alive. Without so much as a warning, she and Inocencio had decapitated the one specimen that joggers and landscapers alike have repeatedly told us NOT to remove, that it is very much alive and spectacular when in bloom. We were really looking forward to seeing it.
I went back to our house, SHOCKED. Geoff couldn't answer his cell at work. Had they actually made a litigious allusion? Had she really taken the liberty to chop down that vine without asking? Are we being bullied?!
WE ARE NOT KIDS!
So far we haven't run into them, but we've rehearsed our firm lines in a cordial tone. We've got to nip this in the bud but we can't make enemies (she alluded one time to parking close to the driveway to purposely make it hard for the prior owners to see when backing out). We will be kind but we will cut ties. To be sure, we'll get the key back ("Yeah, Toni, you see, the contractor needs a key, and you have the only spare. Can I borrow it back for awhile?").
But, most of all, we won't fall so easily when we meet the neighbors on the right.
When, on the day we moved in, the retired couple living next door dove in and offered us their gardener Inocencio to help us unload the truck, we thought we had been sent a couple of guardian angels: Mr. Charlie and Mrs. Toni L.
Our yard was suffering from overgrowth and death and lack of water, so we were grateful when Toni sweetly offered to send Inocencio to attend to some sorely-needed garden maintenance on our property. That morning we both went to work, and that night we returned to find the yard gutted. Any plant or tree showing the slightest weakness of constitution was summarily sacked. I sensed Geoff's unease and immediately bought a bunch of plants to fill the void. But, we convinced ourselves that none of the old plants had a shot, we didn't discuss the partial removal of the trellis, and we joked about the whack job on the trees. At the end of the day, she had done us a BIG FAVOR. We hugged her, paid back the $120 she had paid Inocencio, gave her our house key, accepted her invitation to check on Mishka while we're gone, and thoroughly snuggled into this ideal neighborhood friendship. They had already begun calling us "The Kids."
That's when they started mentioning The Tree.
The Tree is a large, gnarly pepper tree on the hill between our house and the Langdons that overhangs our deck in the back. In case you didn't know (we didn't), that peppercorn in your shaker didn't pop off a plant or spring from a flower. It comes from a tree, where it and about a gazillion of its closest friends hang together in pink clusters like tiny grapes. In fact, we tasted them - these peppercorns are good enough for any shaker, but not for long...
Toni and Charlie casually started mentioning how the invasive roots of The Tree had lifted their patio, how a root had grown into their pool, how cheap the former owners had been when they mentioned "dealing with it," how maybe we could find a way to contain the beast. Feeling indebted and all eager-beavery as only newbies to San Diego can feel, we instantly called Tree Companies, Arborists, Landscapers and collected opinions and quotes. I mean, how expensive can this be?
"The Tree has to come out." That was the resounding consensus, albeit with very different supporting opinions ("it is diseased"... "the neighbors must have whacked at its limbs and roots one to many times because the damn thing is leaning"... "it really isn't fashionable anymore...that's a '70's tree - perhaps you'd prefer a more updated palm?") . And, how much? Only a mere $1400, well maybe as much as $2500, to make this lovely, innocent, bountiful specimen of nature disappear. Hmmm. We naively wondered once or twice if the tree people might be biased. But, we convinced ourselves that it was the best for everyone. We are Good Neighbors.
Wanting to get full credit for being the conscientious neighbors that we are, we cheerily updated Toni and Charlie on our quotes and our progress. That's when they started bringing up the idea of The Retaining Wall.
See, in Southern California, there are a lot of hills, but the soil is very loose. Erosion is a big deal. We had already noticed that the soil was eroding out from under their deck struts (which is about 10 feet above the level of our property) and towards our house, a bad situation for both homes. Smiling, they offered to go in 50/50! Heck, we were planning to put in a retaining wall along that short portion of the property line anyway, so this sounded great! ...except that each time we talked to them, the wall grew taller and longer and wider. Many times, we've smiled and explained to them the scope of our planned renovations, but they don't seem that interested. "We'll end up eating only rice and beans!" I joked nervously to Toni. "Well, you know, beans are very nutritious," she replied sagely.
I got home yesterday after running some errands. At the grocery store, I picked up a little potted rose for Toni, since she was recently put in a foot cast, and some fresh corn on the cob for Charlie, who loves the stuff. On the way back, I realized that I had forgotten to close the garage door for the second time. When I got home, though, it was closed. They must have closed it. I wanted to drop off the little gifts anyway, so I went over to thank them for watching out for me, my Guardian Angels. They invited me to sit down in their parlor. Yep, Toni had closed the garage door for me. (Oh, those kids!) Considering her bum foot, I asked her how she did it (when we forget, we just press the button inside then dash out before the door is down). She described getting the key, going to the back, and tsk tsk, the back door was unlocked, so she closed it and the garage door then brought Inocencio over there and the two of them took out a blah blah blah.
I didn't really catch all of that, but I brought the conversation back to the Retaining Wall, since an engineer had come out that morning to assess the back yard, and I thought it would impress them that we had made progress on the issue. I must have alluded again to the fact that our idea of a wall was much more modest than theirs, because they looked at each other and Toni said "You need to tell her, Papi." (Maybe this is a good point in the story to mention that Toni is Hispanic and Charlie is half Chinese). Charlie resisted, "No, Mami, it is only hearsay." (He wears Hawaiian shirts and likes to button one or zero of the buttons.) Back and forth a little longer they went until Toni concluded that I needed to know, since I might as well hear it from someone else as we gather estimates.
So, they dropped the bomb: "Someone told us that when one neighbor builds a wall along the property line, the other neighbor is obligated by the law to pay half." I was flustered and expressed disbelief and confusion. My heart started racing. How can that be? I stammered on awkwardly then made some excuse about why I needed to leave. Before I left, though, I asked: "What was that you said you took out of the garden?" "Oh, that dying thing over the archway. We took it out." "The jasmine vine, over the archway?" "She doesn't know what I'm talking about, Papi. It was dead."
No, it wasn't.
The top leaves may have been browned, but the vine was alive. Without so much as a warning, she and Inocencio had decapitated the one specimen that joggers and landscapers alike have repeatedly told us NOT to remove, that it is very much alive and spectacular when in bloom. We were really looking forward to seeing it.
I went back to our house, SHOCKED. Geoff couldn't answer his cell at work. Had they actually made a litigious allusion? Had she really taken the liberty to chop down that vine without asking? Are we being bullied?!
WE ARE NOT KIDS!
So far we haven't run into them, but we've rehearsed our firm lines in a cordial tone. We've got to nip this in the bud but we can't make enemies (she alluded one time to parking close to the driveway to purposely make it hard for the prior owners to see when backing out). We will be kind but we will cut ties. To be sure, we'll get the key back ("Yeah, Toni, you see, the contractor needs a key, and you have the only spare. Can I borrow it back for awhile?").
But, most of all, we won't fall so easily when we meet the neighbors on the right.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
San Diego is paradise, for sure...BUT it comes at a price.
A good example is our house, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch-style home in South Park, an up-and-coming neighborhood close to Balboa Park. This house, which cost more than four times our NC home, is actually a fixer upper. Charming, no? Don't feel bad for us, though - we knew what we were getting into and chose this over some turn-key places for a variety of reasons. So, we're in the thick of a home renovation that leaves no corner unaltered. Even before we got here, we were anxious to get started and planned not to unpack most of our boxes while the house is in flux. As soon as we arrived, we began interviewing contractors. One told us within the first 3 minutes that he had been "clean for nine years" and is suing the doctors because his son has cerebral palsy. The next guy walked around dreamily muttering something about not having any "helpers" and never got back to us. It is amazing, then, that we found anyone at all.
The way we found our contractor Wally can only be described as serendipity. The story is too long to tell here, but it is all thanks to Mishka, the fireworks and two incredibly charming, under-medicated children with ADD. Wally has a very talented daughter-in-law Jodi, who is decorator with an eye for architectural design, and she is helping us a lot, too. In case the word "Interior Decorator" makes you think of a floral explosion of Laura Ashley or hunter green plaid and woodland ducks, here's what her house looks like:
Although there is no way our house will ever look even half that gorgeous, we have great hopes for 2208 Pentuckett, so stay tuned for our Extreme Makeover.
We'll post some before, during, and after pictures so you can appreciate the transformation. It should be pretty dramatic, since they're going to knock down walls, move windows and doors, gut our kitchen, change the flooring, rebuild the deck, and so on.... We'll be ready for visitors when this is all over and we get some guest bedroom furniture, about 4 months or so is the estimate. We really hope you'll visit!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Our neighborhood ROCKS!...except for the coyotes
We just got back from the South Park Walkabout, a neighborhood event where shops and restaurants are all open and offering samples and live music. It turns out we are in a very hip little hood!! There are awesome coffee shops, brunch places, cute boutiques, pizza joints, indie rock bars, alternative movie rental places, cheap Mexican restaurants, upscale fusion cuisine...you name it! Plus there were all kinds of cool people selling their own creations, and we bought a little somethin' somethin' for Baby Osc
ar (pictured right) on behalf of Mishka, who pines for her 6-lb fuzz of love.
The only really scary thing about our neighborhood is the fact that we live near a bunch of canyons, which means that coyotes and foxes live here, too. Today we were on a run with Mishka through a nearby canyon when we came upon a rough looking guy and his chubby little pimply son, each carrying big sticks. They asked us if we had happened to see any dead animals in the canyon. Perplexed, we said no, and they explained that their little chihuahua "Chewy" had been picked off from their yard at dusk the day before by what they surmised was a fox or a coyote. Geoff asked what a coyote might do to a dog the size of Mishka. The big guy didn't waste a breath: "They'd gang 'em. Go straight for the jugular." We consoled ourselves by dismissing the guy as an ignorant redneck. Later on, Geoff Googled the subject and we saw a very disturbing news story. Needless to say, we're locking Mishka inside the house, windows bolted, and we're teaching her to pack heat.
ar (pictured right) on behalf of Mishka, who pines for her 6-lb fuzz of love.The only really scary thing about our neighborhood is the fact that we live near a bunch of canyons, which means that coyotes and foxes live here, too. Today we were on a run with Mishka through a nearby canyon when we came upon a rough looking guy and his chubby little pimply son, each carrying big sticks. They asked us if we had happened to see any dead animals in the canyon. Perplexed, we said no, and they explained that their little chihuahua "Chewy" had been picked off from their yard at dusk the day before by what they surmised was a fox or a coyote. Geoff asked what a coyote might do to a dog the size of Mishka. The big guy didn't waste a breath: "They'd gang 'em. Go straight for the jugular." We consoled ourselves by dismissing the guy as an ignorant redneck. Later on, Geoff Googled the subject and we saw a very disturbing news story. Needless to say, we're locking Mishka inside the house, windows bolted, and we're teaching her to pack heat.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Mishka at the Coronado Dog Beach
It was overcast this morning, as you can tell by the picture, but it cleared by afternoon. Mishka didn't mind either way! Can you believe this salty dog was once afraid of the ocean?!!!The daily grind
So, we've been having a lot of fun while trying to get started in our new jobs and move forward on a major home renovation (we hope to provide some fun Before and After photos!!). All we're missing is our friends and family...you have to come visit!!!
Right now as I write, there's a hummingbird hovering outside the window. We've figured that San Diego is actually owned by Disney and all of this is staged.
Recently, Mac and Mildred came to San Diego, and we enjoyed two evenings with them (thanks, guys!). This is a view of the Pacific in La Jolla outside before dinner on Sunday. Mildred and I each independently dubbed it "The Hand of God":
Recently, Mac and Mildred came to San Diego, and we enjoyed two evenings with them (thanks, guys!). This is a view of the Pacific in La Jolla outside before dinner on Sunday. Mildred and I each independently dubbed it "The Hand of God":
These photos are from the Marine Room, a room with an amazing view of the ocean waves, lapping right up to the picture windows:
I should make this a quick entry because I want to take Mishka to the Coronado dog beach this morning before my meetings starting early this afternoon (basically, my job right now is to meet with scientists and learn about their research then pick a lab for my research this year...I'm also using it to get a feeling of what people are doing on campus and to get new ideas).
Things we are excited about:
Things we are excited about:
- The Pacific!!!
- Dog beaches - how cool is that?!
- The Zoo (we're members now and can go whenever we want! It is so beautiful. Last time we went for a few hours before dinner and saw baby flamingos, big elephants, the snake hut and the pandas and took the aerial tram at sunset)
- Our neighborhood in South Park and tomorrow's Walkabout (there are really awesome restaurants and shops in our eclectic little area)
- The vegetation and palm trees
- Fresh produce
- The temperature (a balmy 70 degrees)
- Geoff's new car
- The SUSHI!!!
- Your coming to visit us!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Driving Cross Country
Our cross country trip was a total blast. We have a bazillion pictures and we actually kept a journal of this trip, but here are some highlights...Our first night was at the Spring House Inn in Pleasantville, TN, where an ex bomb squad member was our innkeeper and made the most delightful eggs benedict and fruit parfait, garnished with a strawberry fan. (The place was lovely, but we forgot to take pictures.) On arrival to our room, we found a delicious spread of gourmet appetizers and champagne, gifts from Lorrie (Geoff's former nurse) and her family. YUM!! That night we ate in Nashville at the famous Loveless Cafe with Mark and Jeanne Wallace (he was one of my thesis advisors).
Graceland. Memphis, TN. A masterpiece of interior design. Pictured on the left is the King's formal LR, and on the right is the informal LR (complete with wall fountain), dubbed the "Jungle Room." We also have pictures of Elvis' round faux white fur bed, fabric-lined billiards room, and array of caped jumpsuits. We LOVED Graceland...Memphis? Not so much!
On the main page of the blog is a picture of Elvis' porcelain monkey from the TV room...
long lost monkey bowl relative?!
Lizard Springs Lodge. The Ozarks, AR. Despite the deluge, we left the log cabin opposite 
this old barn and drove to the top of a nearby mountain for a hike (that was rained out). It wasn't a loss, however..we (meaning Geoff) spotted a bear, many deer and stags, an armadillo carcass, and a possum feather (we were getting a little silly by the end).
this old barn and drove to the top of a nearby mountain for a hike (that was rained out). It wasn't a loss, however..we (meaning Geoff) spotted a bear, many deer and stags, an armadillo carcass, and a possum feather (we were getting a little silly by the end).Texas is big...REAL BIG. As we were leaving Amarillo, TX, (after an artery-clogging meal at the Big Texan), we stumbled upon a piece of Americana: the Cadillac Ranch, where cattle meet Cadillac...and Andy Warhol.
Blue Horse Inn. Placitas, New Mexico.
This place was as visually stunning as it was comfortable. We spent the early evening on a walk along paths in the desert scrub, Mishka wildly chasing jackrabbits and the last of the day's lizards. The sunset was, by our estimation, one of the best we had ever seen. Our innkeepers shrugged and gave it a 3 (out of 10). You be the judge:
After a great day exploring the Grand Canyon, we had an early, yet very elegant meal at El Tovar Restaurant. After that meal and the awesome bottle of wine we drank, the GC was even more grand. Looking out at the GC at sunset was euphoric. To add another layer of excitement, our camera battery was dying and we had to switch memory cards in the middle, but we managed to get some great pix:
After Flagstaff (where we stayed in a B&B that was more like your grandma's house than you might want in an inn), we passed through the quaint town of Sedona, nestled amid red rocks and cliffs. We spent a few hours at a little river (a favorite local spot), leaving when we got kicked out by the park ranger for having Mishka there (specism). We ate dinner at a great Thai place, Wild Thaiger, in Phoenix, AZ, where they let us sit outside with Mishka and it was 101 degrees at 8:30PM. We spent the last night at a Best Western in nowheresville (Blythe, CA), in the middle of the desert, nearly ran out of gas in our mad dash to SD to make it to our closing, and then arrived to our new house, exhausted, but faced with a huge moving truck (which arrived at 6 PM). Mishka was happy, though, because we bought her a hedgehog in Sedona. Here she is carrying it around in her new home:
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Settling in
Hello from Sunny San Diego! We're keeping this blog as another way to stay in touch with our close family and friends back east...and maybe as a way to entice you to come for a visit!
We've been here for three weeks now and it is hard to tear ourselves away from all of the wonderful things there are to do long enough to do the things we have to do...like find the two Blockbuster movies or the missing electric toothbrush base, to name a few.
I had meetings all morning (and Geoff worked), but I was done by mid afternoon, so I took Mishka to the Coronado dog beach for the second time. That place is doggie (and people) heaven - the sand is literally gilded, and, when the waves wash in, the little golden flecks swirl around like Goldschlager. For the first time since we got here, she finally seemed comfortable in her surroundings and with all of the new dogs. She played with the other doggies on the beach and splashed in the ocean, jumping over waves. It was really fun to watch. She had the greatest grin on her face.
Late this afternoon, we went to Zensei Sushi up the street for happy hour. We were almost tempted into going to see Transformers, but we pulled it together and managed to wash both cars. I got to wash G's brand new Subaru - piece of cake - and he was stuck with my Jetta, with its caked-on grime from the cross-country tour.
Now, we're about to settle down for part two of our meal: delicious California artichokes and corn on the cob. G is calling me....!
We've been here for three weeks now and it is hard to tear ourselves away from all of the wonderful things there are to do long enough to do the things we have to do...like find the two Blockbuster movies or the missing electric toothbrush base, to name a few.
I had meetings all morning (and Geoff worked), but I was done by mid afternoon, so I took Mishka to the Coronado dog beach for the second time. That place is doggie (and people) heaven - the sand is literally gilded, and, when the waves wash in, the little golden flecks swirl around like Goldschlager. For the first time since we got here, she finally seemed comfortable in her surroundings and with all of the new dogs. She played with the other doggies on the beach and splashed in the ocean, jumping over waves. It was really fun to watch. She had the greatest grin on her face.
Late this afternoon, we went to Zensei Sushi up the street for happy hour. We were almost tempted into going to see Transformers, but we pulled it together and managed to wash both cars. I got to wash G's brand new Subaru - piece of cake - and he was stuck with my Jetta, with its caked-on grime from the cross-country tour.
Now, we're about to settle down for part two of our meal: delicious California artichokes and corn on the cob. G is calling me....!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
