I’m late again… clearly my prediction of at least two journal entries a month failed miserably… anyhow, here’s the update for July:
The month’s big event was a trip up the coast with Audrey over four days. We started out with a visit to Piedra Blancas to see the elephant seals, but also managed a few detours to see harbour seals, vultures, kelp birds, and the occasional sea otter. For the evening I’d gotten a room at the Carmel Valley Ranch, which was ridiculous – after dinner at their fancy restaurant we went back to the giant room and threw a couple of logs on our awesome fireplace. The following day we lounged for a bit before heading to the Talbott Winery for some imbibing, followed by the town of Monterey for some crab.
The next day we moseyed up through Gilroy and eventually to Chow’s in Lafayette where we met Ma & Pa Holliday for lunch. For reasons no one really understands Pa showed up all dressed up and then sweltered in the heat, but all was well in the end. After departing the family we moved south again to the Mountain Winery. Only in California can you see a concert at a winery, and we had a three-course meal prior to a show by the Indigo Girls while surrounded by old winery buildings and with a view of most of the Bay Area. And lest anyone feel the need to comment on the fact that I was at an Indigo Girls concert, they rock and the audience was tilted heavily towards the better-looking gender; it was a great night.
The drive home the following day started with a trip to meet Ted & Renee for breakfast, followed by a stop to see the seals and otters at Elkhorn Slough. Many hours later we returned to Culver City, and since then work has been taking up a disturbing number of hours each day. We’re off for another trip (three weeks this time!) in September, and hopefully I’ll be a bit more diligent about keeping the journal up to date on that outing.
