After I last wrote, we had our by now traditional St. Pattie's day "do" at the clubhouse. Corned beef and cabbage were cooked and consumed, beer was drunk (although, Lord knows not nearly as much as in our younger days) and, as usual, a good time was had by all.
I really like the fact that I can actually drink at these parties and stagger back up the hill to get home!! Aside from everything else I miss about David (and way down on the bottom of the list) is the fact there is no more sharing of designated driving duties!
On Sunday, continuing with the fond farewells, I met Geoff.....
...and friend Tom from Vancouver (is there anyone left in Vancouver - everyone from there seems to be here!)
More eating out through the whole week (and one wonders that I am getting fatter and fatter!). Another dinner with Michael, this time at the other extreme from the fine dining experience of last week; we went to the Outback, the Australian steak chain. Michael was appalled when he found out that I have never been, and had to rectify the situation before I left. I am actually rather fond of some of the mid-level chains (like Earl's and Milestones and The Cactus Club in Canada, for example, and Red Robin and The Red Lobster in the US), and I liked this one too. We sat at the bar (the place was packed, even on a Monday night - what recession? - smoozed with the bartender, ate and drank copiously (at least one of us did - see previous entry re designated drivers), laughed a lot, and wre content.
Later in the week, I twigged on the fact that I had not seen friend Ken for the whole season - he stopped going to the gym where we met, and both of us seem to have been busy busy busy. He volunteers at the Palm Springs Art Museum, so we decided to meet at Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant, nearby. Yes, that is twice in two weeks that I have broken my rule about not eating ethnic food outside of Vancouver, but, well, we all know that rules are made to be broken. I was not terribly sorry. Certainly the food was neither as interesting or as fresh as it would have been in Richmond, but it was better than I expected, and the company was great! Ken and I got caught up, and I hopefully convinced him that he should spend some time in Vancouver this summer, when the heat gets too unbearable in Palm Springs.
Bridge lessons continued this week ....
(that's Jamie, our teacher. He's good, and has obviously helped us a lot, even in these brief four lessons. We have gotten master points every time we've play duplicate since we started the lessons1).....
...and a final good-bye dinner with Art and Wally at Billy Reed's on Friday night.
Couldn't resist taking pictures of two of the numerous desserts on offer. Being a diner type place, and in America, the portions were huge, but the food is delicious, and the homeless man outside the restaurant appreciated the three pieces of chicken that were leftover (they served four!), not to mention the potatoes, veggies, and part of the desert! (Yes, I succumbed!)
Saturday was friend Bob's birthday, and neighbor's Arlene and Deb hosted an intimate barbeque and movie night.
.....there's Arlene, hiding behind her glass...
...and the birthday boy....
...and Deb, the gourmet cook
and Bob, changed, to go out and prove his ongoing youth by dancing at the clubs!
The reason for the hillarity was the movie we watched. I was called In and Out, with Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck and Debbie Reynolds, along with many others. I had never heard of it; it came out in 1997, and was about a high school English teaacher somewhere in fly-over country who, on the eve of his wedding (after a 3 year engagement) was "outted" as gay. It was an incredibly funny, feel good story, with a great disco soundtrack (hence Deb's dancing). If you have never seen it, or if it has been awhile, rent it and watch it! At least we said goodbye for the season laughing!
And, on Sunday morning March 24, Michael took me to the lovely Palm Springs airport for the short flight to San Francisco, for the start of my next journey! The flight was as it should be, uneventful, and Hank picked me up from the airport (what did we do before cell phones, not to mention cell phone waiting areas at airports), where we had the first "event" of the trip. Those of you who are familiar with the Bay Area and Half Moon Bay have driven over the infamous stretch of road called "The Devil's Slide" known for its rock slides and consequent road closures. Well, California may be broke, but the Bay Area seems to be awash in money. They have just built a tunnel so that the Devil's Slide can be closed. That is happening this week, so Hank wanted to have one last drive over that road. We were not that far, so from the San Francisco Airport we headed for Half Moon Bay, for a stroll through that still hippie-dippie town and lunch....
and a drive back over Devil's Slide! No piece of history goes unmarked by friend (and historian) Hank1
After a pre-prandial nap, we were ready to eat again, this time at Troya, a Turkish restaurant on Polk Street, suggested by friend Karen, who joined us for dinner.
I must say I was not terribly impressed, but Karen is fond of all things Turkish, and one indulges one's friends! Lord knows I wasn't hungry, so nibbling at my food was not a terrible sacrifice, and, on the bright side, the beer was good!
Monday was spent doing those last minute things that require doing before a long trip - printing out boarding passes, calling credit card companies so they know you are travelling and don't cancel the cards because of miscellaneous charges from Cairo, paying upcoming bills, etc, livened up by a wonderful - what else? - meal at Town Hall in San Francisco, to say goodbye to Peter.
Now that is a restaurant I can highly recommend, a gret "mixologist" for the mixed drinks that are now everywhere in San Francisco, and a great menu - interesting choices, but not so trendy that you need a translator for the menu, and extremely edible1
The whole purpose for eating downtown was to see the new light installation on "the other bridge", i.e., not the Golden Gate. The whole Bay Bridge has been turned into a constantly changing light show for the next two years, at a cost of $8,000,000 (I told you the place is awash with money).
A lovely end to a brief stay in San Francisco. And now, I am off to the airport again, this time heading for Cairo, and the long planned for trip. I am feeling a bit anxious, not, as you might expect, because of the political situation, but because I don't really have a grasp of what I will be doing. (That's the down side of having someone else take are of all the arrangements!). However, Hank's friend Ted is picking me up from the airport with car, driver, and "facilitator" (never had that kind of treatment before!), and I am sure that once I am there, everything will fall into place!
So, stay tuned, for Cairo, the Nile Cruise, camels, and much much more...
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