Westward, Ho! Volume IV
12/30 Dreamt something about "3 Idiots". Car smelled kind of funny... then we realized the problem with buying gifts and souvenirs in Gilroy (although the cooking has since been fantastic). Triple-bagged the garlic. Drove down to the waterfront, saw Morro Rock clearly; the previous night it was just a silhouette of black-on-black. Saw deer randomly wandering along in bushes near the road leading into the bush. Despite the excitement of seeing it clearly, it was kind of plain and we had miles more to go. And in the vein of said miles to go, we followed a winding Highway 1 up along the coast, clinging to edges and hopping over valleys. Saw the elephant seal rookery; mostly big blobby snoring animals, but neat to see them wriggle their noses and toss sand onto themselves (and inevitably each other) and occasionally take a dip. Another neat "scenic stop" had a roundabout around a little spindle of rock, where we danced.
Crawling through woods, we passed a gas station/gift shop/restaurant that said, "next gas 40 miles"... and was selling gas for $4.50 a gallon. Sweetheart insisted we go back, despite my protestations. The whole place was a trap of created urgency, although I can see some people appreciating the convenience in a pinch. In a short while, NPR was talking about how most gyms were funded by people who don't go, and we were pulling in to Carmel. Another mission, all kinds of seriously cute houses and streets. Made our way along 17 mile drive, along which the winds were reminiscent of Petrified Forest. We had a meal that was more expensive than the one at the gas station, but it was also infinitely higher quality and included a lovery view of the bay. I think we finished off with flaming pineapple upside-down cake?
However it was, Sweetheart realized through multiple phone calls that there was a mix-up in coordination, and (as we passed through Gilroy again, although not stopping for presents) only a few of her friends could make it to dinner. Interestingly, almost her entire class ended up in San Jose. I met with them for dinner (one new face, I met the other two last time), we talked about education and vegetarians and who knows what else. The restaurant had a distractingly danceable soundtrack, and we later discovered they sometimes have a dance floor.
12/31 The second floor of the hotel at which we were staying had a landing that opened up from the stairway. This landing had a Christmas tree, a fireplace, a table, and a collection of comfortable chairs. So naturally, rather than being subjected to morning news and plastic chairs and whatnot, we decided to pick up plates of food and make our way to our own little cozy corner outside the official breakfast room. Called my friends too early, arranged for lunch at the Elephant Bar. Judging by their treatment of the child and the interaction with the wait staff, they are doing an excellent job of raising said child to consider choices and state needs and wants. Sweetheart left a little early to meet (for coffee) the friends she missed the previous night, while I finished catching up with my friends.
I walked a few blocks and found Sweetheart and friends. After briefly enduring the exhalations of an unnecessarily loud shock show, one friend's husband and I decided to step outside and walk a ways. In the course of talking I mentioned my game, and he told me about a shop in a nearby mall. I have to say, that was all kinds of awesome - "Legends" has branched out into board games, comics, role playing, and models, and split it into four different storefronts. We got along quite well, my learning about his background and introducing him to some levels of geekery, although I'm afraid I can no longer remember his name.
Mum invited us to another gathering. One of her friends apparently has a jazz jive every New Year's Eve. We ate nice finger foods and danced a bit and listened to good music and watched the last sun of 2014 set. Shortly thereafter we picked up a Cold Stone jar, snacked on some of it, and deposited the rest in the freezer. Oh, and unloading was fun - however clever it might be to have multidirectional wheeled suitcases, we discovered a problem unique to such: Sloped surfaces. Sweetheart's new suitcase started ambling towards the highway. However it is, we cleaned up and made our way to tango in what used to be called Cellspace but is now owned by other people - but they still rent the space out, so the tango group rents from them every Wednesday instead of whoever was previous. I had a very nice time, although they left the doors open and as such one had to keep one's jacket on if one wasn't dancing.
Crawling through woods, we passed a gas station/gift shop/restaurant that said, "next gas 40 miles"... and was selling gas for $4.50 a gallon. Sweetheart insisted we go back, despite my protestations. The whole place was a trap of created urgency, although I can see some people appreciating the convenience in a pinch. In a short while, NPR was talking about how most gyms were funded by people who don't go, and we were pulling in to Carmel. Another mission, all kinds of seriously cute houses and streets. Made our way along 17 mile drive, along which the winds were reminiscent of Petrified Forest. We had a meal that was more expensive than the one at the gas station, but it was also infinitely higher quality and included a lovery view of the bay. I think we finished off with flaming pineapple upside-down cake?
However it was, Sweetheart realized through multiple phone calls that there was a mix-up in coordination, and (as we passed through Gilroy again, although not stopping for presents) only a few of her friends could make it to dinner. Interestingly, almost her entire class ended up in San Jose. I met with them for dinner (one new face, I met the other two last time), we talked about education and vegetarians and who knows what else. The restaurant had a distractingly danceable soundtrack, and we later discovered they sometimes have a dance floor.
12/31 The second floor of the hotel at which we were staying had a landing that opened up from the stairway. This landing had a Christmas tree, a fireplace, a table, and a collection of comfortable chairs. So naturally, rather than being subjected to morning news and plastic chairs and whatnot, we decided to pick up plates of food and make our way to our own little cozy corner outside the official breakfast room. Called my friends too early, arranged for lunch at the Elephant Bar. Judging by their treatment of the child and the interaction with the wait staff, they are doing an excellent job of raising said child to consider choices and state needs and wants. Sweetheart left a little early to meet (for coffee) the friends she missed the previous night, while I finished catching up with my friends.
I walked a few blocks and found Sweetheart and friends. After briefly enduring the exhalations of an unnecessarily loud shock show, one friend's husband and I decided to step outside and walk a ways. In the course of talking I mentioned my game, and he told me about a shop in a nearby mall. I have to say, that was all kinds of awesome - "Legends" has branched out into board games, comics, role playing, and models, and split it into four different storefronts. We got along quite well, my learning about his background and introducing him to some levels of geekery, although I'm afraid I can no longer remember his name.
Mum invited us to another gathering. One of her friends apparently has a jazz jive every New Year's Eve. We ate nice finger foods and danced a bit and listened to good music and watched the last sun of 2014 set. Shortly thereafter we picked up a Cold Stone jar, snacked on some of it, and deposited the rest in the freezer. Oh, and unloading was fun - however clever it might be to have multidirectional wheeled suitcases, we discovered a problem unique to such: Sloped surfaces. Sweetheart's new suitcase started ambling towards the highway. However it is, we cleaned up and made our way to tango in what used to be called Cellspace but is now owned by other people - but they still rent the space out, so the tango group rents from them every Wednesday instead of whoever was previous. I had a very nice time, although they left the doors open and as such one had to keep one's jacket on if one wasn't dancing.