Tracy & Scott Visit

Tracy had flown to Phoenix on Thursday then she and Scott drove to Casa De Randy on Friday.  Tracy needed her beach fix.

Enjoying the view from Del Mar dog beach

I worked that Friday so we agreed to meet at Del Mar 15th street.  I would surf some while T&S walked the beach.  The waves were mishmash with a strong southern current.  By the time I got out past the waves I was swept several hundred yards to the south.  That was 1 ride session.

So off to Pizza Port - hey it WAS Friday.  The usual PP Friday night crowd was there.  We found a spot and enjoyed a pint and a pizza.

Saturday after breakfast T&S took off for a beach walk while I cleaned up Bert’s board.  I picked up T&S again at 15th street Del Mar and we dropped off the board at Roper's.  Having missed lunch, we wanted something light since we provisioned for grilling that evening.  Somehow we ended up again at Pizza Port for a pint and wings.  We did plan on the veggie platter but it came so late that we had it to go.  2.5 hours later Tracy assumed the alpha role with the grill.  Scott was alpha on the clams.  I basically set the table and opened the wine.  Jon joined us and we feasted.

We dine very, very well

Sunday T&S covered Cedros Avenue while I checked out the surf (decided against it).  We met up at the Solana Beach Farmers Market for lunch.  Then they took off back to Phoenix.

My Zonies

Red, White and Bordeaux Leah Party

While having a telephone conversation with Leah, she asked when my next bay area visit is scheduled.  I responded, "for your next house party".  A few days later a Red, White, and Bordeaux evite party showed up in my inbox.

Leah, Damon, and Finley met me at Oakland airport.  We traveled home for wine, dinner, and great conversation.

Saturday was preparation day for 2 events.  Some of Leah’s relatives were stopping by for lunch as well as the evening party.  Damon and I were in charge of cleaning up the backyard and traveling to get an additional outdoor heater.  The weather was forecast to be rainy and windy but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. 

Karen showed up early to assist with food preparation.  I shifted to also food preparation and the obligatory wine opening.  We did have a fun time trying to understand a French salad recipe.

  

We guessed about 50 people showed up.  And we successfully kept the party in the backyard with 2 outdoor heaters and a fire pit providing heat in the 50F evening.  Patricia showed up and we have another great conversation.  I see Patricia every 1.5 - 2 years and we have the most intense deep conversations.  Our plan is to have dinner at Leah’s on my next bay area visit.

Leah and Patricia.  Do we have enough wine?

I faded out before the end of the party so Sunday morning was a continuation of party cleanup.  Our weekend joke was that Leah shipped in the party help (me).

Brunch was Dim Sum on the bay, then to the airport.  Another Leah party/visit and I feel exhausted and refreshed at the same time.

Another Rusty for the Quiver

Rusty Moby Fish #2

The upside of storing the Rusty Moby Fish in Nosara is (1) no travel fees of $150-200 ONE-WAY and (2) the anxiety of will it arrive unbroken?  The downside is going without the board while back in SoCal.

Solution:  get a clone.  So I ordered a clone on 28 November 2014 and (finally) it arrived on 20 February 2015.  This has the plain logo (guess I needed to specify a logo with blue) and slightly different fins.  At first, the fins bothered me then I realized I will never rise above intermediate level so I will not feel the difference.

Over The Rhine @ Belly Up

Must bring camera NEXT TIME.

Over The Rhine played a seated show for $22.  $22!  Seated shows seem to have different configurations.  Stanley Clarke show had tables/seats, and the Andy McKee and OTR shows have rows of chairs.  I wonder what drives the configuration.

Karin and Linford were joined by one other performer who switched between several stringed instruments.  Linford alternated between keyboards and guitar.

The minimalist performance let Karin’s voice and Linford’s keyboard shine.  The three selections from “Drunkard’s Prayer” were beautiful.

Gin Blossoms at The Coach House

Gin Blossoms were playing at the Coach House.  I’ve always liked the first album (yes, that long ago) but thought they would not sound like that since the lead singer is no longer with the band.  But for the sum of $30 then I would know.

I had ponied up an additional $10 for better seats and the $10 goes to whatever is on the dinner menu.  You don’t go to the Coach House for the fine food.

Coach House said ‘need to get there no later than 6pm for the dinner menu’.  Unsaid was, ‘and since you are there almost 3 hours before the main act, you might as well spend $$ at the bar’.  W-a-y took early.

But my seat was a good location with my back to the walking aisle.  More on this later.  Paul, a transplanted Londoner took the seat next to me and 2 women and a man sat across.  Time to kill so we talked about Gin Blossoms, music in general, work and soccer.

Gin Blossoms took the stage about 9pm.  The lead singer worked the crowd, and passed out 2 tambourines to audience members so they can participate.  They played almost 2 hours.  The lead singer wanted everyone to stand for the last 3 songs of the main set.  The Coach House is a table-seated area but when everyone stands, people will move forward and fill the aisles.  Not really a problem for me since the aisle was behind me but I suddenly had arms holding IPhones reaching over my shoulders.  Too close to me.  I pushed a few away from me.

The band was good but I did have the feeling I was watching a tribute band.  Lead singer’s voice was different just enough to give me that feeling.

Nosara Surf Vacation

I spent the past 4 weeks on a surf vacation in Nosara.

The Holden loves Nosara waves

Earlier in 2014, I noticed the Cymer corporate calendar showed the company would not consume ‘mandatory’ vacation days as much as in the past end of year holidays.  And while investigating flights I discovered I had enough for an economy delta flight.  So, the usual blackout fly dates made the 4 weeks a reality.

The pack list included the new Rusty and the oldest Holden.  I cannot see going to the best waves I would see this year and not having a good board.

I stayed at Kaya Sol this year in suite 3.  It had minimal requirements: walk to surf, internet, and air conditioning.  This was an upgrade from Harbor Reef in that it also had a table/chairs.  Suite 3 had an extra futon and I also got a mattress.  Suite 3 had iguanas living in the roof.  You could hear them scratching around in the morning, going to sunning spots to warm up.  And a coconut tree would overhang and drop coconuts in high winds.  Very loud and would dent the metal roof.

Notice the smaller Iguana and another Iguana's tail

Jasmine joined me for the first week.  We both had some wave adjustments that hampered first-day wave count.  She had to leave earlier than expected for family reasons.

It was Great to have Jasmine there

I got my surf funk on after Jasmine departed.  Most days were waist to chest high and off-shores until 11am.  Then the wind shifted to onshore and surfing was done for the day.  Concerning tides, only low tide was to be avoided.  I tried to be in the water no later than 6:30am to get a session in, head back to mi casa and follow up with another session before the onshore started.

Bill Whalen and Rick Soliway joined for the last week.  They were brave enough to rent a car at LIR and drive to Nosara.  At night.  Bill was OK with white-water surfing whatever board I wasn’t using and did venture out past the white-water a few times.  Rick took a surf lesson from Juan @Juan Surfo’s Surf Shop and realized a decades-old hip breakage does not work well with surfing.  They also tried their snorkeling gear with mixed results.

Delta changed my return time to 9am from 2pm so I booked a reserved taxi for a 4:30am departure.  Worked well.

Observations:

I am glad I sweated bringing the Rusty and Holden after seeing the available board rentals.  They were left at Juan Surfo’s in a travel bag.  Guess I committed myself to more Nosara trips.

Suite 3 a/c is only in the bedroom.  The main room would be 7 degrees warmer.

Surfing the north end of Guinoes beach had less crowd and good waves.  I tried the south end 1 day and found the surf classes always in the way.  The north end did have (smaller) classes but not as numerous.

The best dining was at Beach Dog and Harbor Reef.  Harbor Reef had an incredible blackened fish sandwich.  Bill tried the blackened fish and had a lesser experience.  Taco Tuesdays is quite a scene.  A reserved table for 5 young ladies did not have any chairs at reservation time, leaving the ladies to troll the crowd to find chairs.

Thumbs down for the Gilded Iguana.  I ate there twice and felt the quality was blah and overpriced.
And it seems most places are now into live music for dinner.

Andy McKee at the Belly Up

I always see the acoustic guitarist whenever he visits San Diego.  The bonus for this visit was that his show at the Belly up was a seated show.  This works so well in that I have an unobstructed view at the end of the bar.

Great View from the Bar

Andy played all of his well-known songs: Drifting, Africa, and Rylynn.  The encore was Michael Hedge’s Aerial Boundaries.  This concert date was the 17 anniversary of Hedge’s death due to an auto accident.  Later, Andy said he found it hard to hold it together while playing the piece.