Birth of Sadie

On Sunday night, we went out to a bar downtown to see my colleague, Martin, do a guitar-playing and singing slot. There was a nice little group of us and it was fun to be out. The bar does fish and chips, so we had that and heartily enjoyed it. However, we didn’t get back until about midnight. Then, at about 3:45 a.m., my waters broke (although it wasn't at all clear to me that that's what it was - nothing like in the movies!). Normally, that doesn't mean you have to go to the hospital until labour starts, but because I tested positive for a bacterial culture (that 10 - 30% of women have), which does no harm to the mother but can be passed to the baby, I had to go in immediately, although I thought I might get sent home. It was not to be, however, and they sent me to a labour and delivery room, put me on an antiobiotic drip (for the bacteria) and started inducing labour with a mild dose of Pitocin. Well, they ended up having to increase the dose later, since things weren't really progressing (the contractions weren't hurting at all, although for a while I thought I was just really hardcore!). I didn't like the first nurse, who apparently gave me the wrong dose of Pitocin (too low) and told me I couldn't eat, even though I'd had nothing since the night before, but got a much nicer nurse in the evening, who kept increasing the dose and let me have dinner. The contractions started to hurt at about 6:00 pm. The problem with Pitocin is that it makes them more intense (apparently) than natural labour. I had some pain relief (a drug that made me feel drunk for the first time in months!) at about 8:30 pm or so, but that soon wore off. Feeling very tired, I asked for an epidural at about 10:00 pm. Well, it was wonderful! I honestly don't know why everyone doesn't have them! I could still feel the contractions but they didn't hurt. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to sleep, but I did get some rest and so did Jon. By about 2:30 am on Tuesday, May 5, I was ready to push the baby out. However, we actually had to take it slow because someone else was having a baby at exactly the same time, and there was only one obstetrician on call. The pushing was really easy, painless and fast when I got into it, and our daughter was born at 4:30 a.m. She looked good and sounded good (cried constantly for 1½ hours) and weighed in at 8 lb 1 oz. We were moved to a recovery room (with a view to the west, just about as far as the Pacific Ocean) about two hours after her birth. The hospital (California Pacific Medical Center) is about 2 - 3 miles from where we live, and - if anyone has seen the movie - is located about two blocks south of where the taxi driver gets murdered in "Zodiac"!

The first day, Sadie slept almost constantly, but I was too excited to sleep. We were both overwhelmed, not really knowing what to do. By nighttime, however, she was waking up every hour, so we didn't get much sleep at all and were rather overwrought on Wednesday morning. Jon came back to the apartment to do some e-mail handoffs (Sadie was a bit early, so neither of us was fully prepared with regard to sorting things out at work), but also to take a break - he really needed it! I got some time alone with Sadie, which was quite good for me. We also got the birth certificate paperwork sorted and I went with her to the nursery while she had some blood drawn for tests and a hearing test performed (passed the latter, we'll have to wait for results on the former). However, Wednesday continued to be difficult - Sadie cried all the time when she wasn't feeding. I was nervous about the feeding, but she seemed to know (and still does) what to do once she got going. In the evening, we had our "celebration dinner" courtesy of the hospital, but we were both stressed out and tired, so it didn't feel very celebratory, to be honest! That night, we took her to the nursery so we could get some sleep. I felt guilty about that, but had hardly had any sleep at all since Saturday night. Unfortunately, they soon brought her back for a feed, but took her away again afterwards and allowed us to get a few hours rest until early next morning.

On Thursday we were discharged at around 1 p.m. A lovely pediatrician came round and checked Sadie over and my doctor checked me over. I don’t need to see him again for six weeks unless I have a problem (seems weird, since I’ve been going there every week recently). I had to pick up some medications from the pharmacy in the clinic next door (where I go for my doctors’ appointments) and also went up to pick up my forms for disability pay (pregnancy/childbirth is counted as a disability!). Here, you hardly get any maternity pay from your company (two weeks, and that’s it!), but the State of California pays out half your pay for about 12 weeks. After that, it was off home.

We were glad to be home and Sadie had a pretty good day overall. However, the first night was terrible. She screamed for four hours solid and we couldn’t calm her. Jon took her off in the car around the city at around 2 a.m., but that didn’t work either. We were both overwrought the next morning and didn’t know how we’d cope on 3 hours sleep a night. However, I spoke to my parents on Skype, which made me feel better, and it was a lovely sunny day, which brightened our mood. We went out for a short stroll and picnic to Washington Square park. We were concerned, however, because Sadie had stopped wetting her nappies and was just passing the nasty orange crystals from the kidneys, which is a sign of dehydration. When the pediatrician called, I explained the situation. He advised me to go and see a lactation consultant at the hospital, but when I called them, it was just an answering machine and no one called back for a few hours. Instead, we decided to take her to the pediatrician’s (she was supposed to go on Monday anyway for a check-up). Well, that was an excellent decision. The pediatrician made me feel so much better! She was down in weight to 7 lb 5 oz, but that’s not uncommon. The doctor didn’t have any real concerns, but said I could supplement the feedings with a little bit of formula if it made me feel better, which it did – just to have that safety net. I felt so much better that I decided to stop by the office where I work on the way back to show off the baby!

Friday night was also so much better. Although I was up three times to feed her and only got just shy of 5 hours sleep (although I could have got more – weirdly, I wasn’t tired), it was all a lot calmer and she didn’t have any prolonged screaming fits. We had her in the other room instead of in our room, which made a big difference, and meant that Jon could get lots of sleep. It was really important to me for him to sleep, so I was delighted, even if I still didn’t get that much. On Saturday, I was surprisingly energetic. We gave Sadie a sponge bath in the morning (you can’t immerse babies fully until the umbilical stump has dropped off), then headed out for a walk along Fisherman’s Wharf to the sealions and on to get some groceries from Trader Joe’s.

Last night, she slept incredibly well. In the end, it was me who woke her up because I felt she needed a feed and I was feeling sore, so I thought it might help me too. In hindsight, it wasn’t a great idea, because she then woke up an hour or so later, which was the time she really wanted to wake up. If I hadn’t woken her, however, I think she would have only been up once. However, I still couldn’t sleep – not sure why. So, since last Saturday night (a week), I’ve had less than 20 hours!

Today is Mothers’ Day. I received a card and a couple of lovely presents – Baileys (hurrah!) and chocolates. We went on another outing to Babies R Us across the Golden Gate in Marin, because there were a couple of things I wanted to get. We then went for a picnic and short stroll at Fort Baker, on the waterfront by the Golden Gate. After we returned, we had our first visitors – my work friend Molly and her boyfriend came around for tea.

So, in short, things are looking a lot better than they were a few days ago. I just hope the good behaviour continues!

The waiting game

It’s well over a month since we returned from Hawaii now. We haven’t moved too far in that time, except for a trip to Tahoe at the beginning of March. I really wanted Jon to have a chance to ski (it’s been too risky for me to do that for a while now), so when we heard that a group was going up one weekend, we decided to join them. This time, we went to the north shore of Lake Tahoe, which I’d never visited before. It was about the same distance and took the same sort of time to get there as South Lake Tahoe, but involves travelling a different road from Sacramento. One of Jon’s colleagues had booked a three-storey condo right on the lakeshore for the weekend. It slept 10 in 5 bedrooms and was truly amazing. The lounge looked right out on to the lake and you could walk straight out of it through the snow to the water’s edge.

On each day, Jon and the others went off to the Northstar resort to ski, while I took it easy back at the house. I also went on a walk into the village and took some photos. The weather was glorious – it may have been -5 C most of the time, but because it was so dry and sunny, it didn’t feel that cold. I managed to amuse myself pretty well the first day, but by the second day, I was feeling a bit bored on my own.

Since then, we’ve mainly been at home on the weekends, making the odd reconnaissance trip to Babies R Us (there are stores in three directions – one over the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin, one in Emeryville in the East Bay and one just south of the city in Colma!), going on smallish hikes and just doing general chores. Jon has been extremely busy at work, which has put him behind with maths and guitar practice (!), so he’s been doing that at the weekends too. During the week, we’ve had pre-natal classes too. We had 4 x 3-hour evening sessions in March. The first two were about childbirth (extremely scary!) and the second two were about looking after the baby in the first few weeks/months. I seem to have put my head back in the sand once more after the childbirth ones, since I’m not feeling particularly afraid. Placing my hopes in the powers of the epidural!

The really good weather took a long time to come this year, but we’ve just had two truly beautiful weekends. Last Sunday, we had a picnic on Mount Tamalpais in Marin. The views from there down the steep but rolling hillsides to the ocean are stupendous. Today has been really warm (people were in the pool, but I didn’t quite feel like braving it, since the apartments are north-facing and the pool is in shadow until later in the Spring). We went for a gentle jog and walk along Crissy Field to the Golden Gate Bridge this morning. I’m delighted that I can still jog about 2 miles in spite of weighing 157 lb! It’s a great start to the day, and something we’ll also be able to do with baby when she’s here.

Other than that, it’s really a waiting game now (waiting for baby’s arrival, that is). Obviously, I’m still going to work, but outside work, my mind is on little else, day in, day out, which is a little strange. I’m gradually getting my stuff together for the hospital stay and last week Jon purchased the stroller and car seat. I see the obstetrician every two weeks, but after next time it’ll be every week until the big day. Last time he told me he thought the baby was in the right position (head-down), which is a relief, although she can still flip over the other way! I’m still feeling well, but do get backaches and am finally starting to feel the fatigue inherent in carrying around that extra 20 lb or so.

Big Island, Hawaii

I’ve not blogged for ages AGAIN! However, I now have something to blog about – we just returned from a week in Hawaii. This time, we went to Big Island (that’s how it’s known by most people – its real name is actually Hawaii, but it sounds odd to say you’ve been to Hawaii, Hawaii). Big Island is the “youngest” of all the islands – it’s still being formed by volcanic eruptions and is the only island in the chain that is still located over the hotspot and consequently has active volcanoes. In a few hundreds of thousands of years or so, it – like the others – will have drifted away from the hotspot and will be getting smaller as erosion takes its toll.

We began our trip by heading north from Kona airport (on the dryer, western side of the island) to the Kohala coast. We camped for our first night – at a really nice campsite by a beach. It was either that or pay $300 per night to stay at one of the very fancy hotels in those parts. The only downside was that the ground was rock-hard and we ruined half our tent pegs trying to hammer them in! It was actually the most pleasant night I’ve ever spent in a tent temperature-wise – as warm, if not warmer than sleeping in a cosy bedroom at home.

After decamping, we headed over the top of the island to the Waipio valley on the eastern side. This is one of the more scenic areas of the island, and one of the few that has the characteristic, vertiginous sculpted “pali”, or bluffs. However, we weren’t able to enjoy it as we’d hoped, because it was pouring with rain (the eastern side is the wet side), so we couldn’t do the hike down to the bottom. Instead, we headed back to the dry Kohala coast and had a lazy afternoon on one of the attractive beaches.

The next two nights were spent near Kealekekua Bay on the Kona coast south of Kailua. We stopped in the town of Kailua on the way down – it was actually a very pretty, historical little town with a lovely waterfront. I wished afterwards that we’d stayed in the town, because the accommodation we had near Kealekekua wasn’t great – pokey and situated right by a very busy road. However, we did enjoy the area. We rented snorkels and hiked down (once we found the trail – which was no mean feat) to the Captain Cook monument – a memorial right by the water, erected on the spot where Captain Cook was murdered in the 1700’s. Before you feel too sorry for him, it’s worth bearing in mind that he did kind of ask for it by kidnapping the island chief after some petty crime was committed against him by one of the islanders. When we arrived at the shore, a group of humpback whales was putting on a show on the other side of the bay – breaching, blowing and showing us their tails. I’ve never seen whales put on such a display (by comparison, they were very low-key in Alaska). Unfortunately, they were too far away for photos, but we got a great view with the binoculars. Afterwards, we went snorkelling in the water, which was fabulous. Admittedly, it was a little scary getting in and out, because we hadn’t brought flippers or sandals down with us and the rocks were covered in spiky sea urchins, but the actual snorkelling was incredible – probably the best I’ve done anywhere apart from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The coral and the sheer variety of tropical fish were stupendous. Later, while eating lunch, we were entertained by a few mongooses (I don’t think it’s “mongeese”) – but these are not so welcome on the island. They were introduced to Hawaii by westerners who hoped they would keep the rat population down. What the people didn’t take into account is that rats are nocturnal while mongooses are diurnal, so the scheme didn’t work and the mongooses promptly gorged themselves on the eggs of Hawaii’s native birds, causing many species to become extinct. After lunch, we headed back up the steep path in the shadeless heat, which was a bit gruelling, but fortunately not too long (the whole hike was just over 4 miles).

From the Kona coast, we headed to Volcanoes National Park, the site of the active volcano, Kilauea. On the way, we stopped at a black sand beach (formed by volcanic activity, of course) and happened upon a sea turtle among the rocks with its head under water. At first I thought it was dead, but when it moved I concluded that it was actually feasting on algae. When we arrived at the volcano area, we decided to do a hike straight away and set out on the Kilauea Iki trail, which takes you through rainforest (characterised by giant tree ferns), then down into and across a crater punctuated by steam vents. It was a lovely walk, and since it was much cooler up there, I found it a lot easier than the one we’d done the day before.

We stayed in a cabin in the volcanoes area, a decision which I ended up regretting, because it wasn’t heated and it turned out to be surprisingly cold, even though it was only 4,000 feet up and 25 miles or so inland. However, we ate and had coffee at the Volcano House hotel, which is perched on the edge of a huge crater and enjoys widespread views across it. Unfortunately, though, at least half the park was closed when we were there, because one of the craters was spewing a large amount of poisonous sulphur dioxide. The next day, we visited a museum which was just half a mile from said crater. While we were there, the wind changed and sent the sulphur dioxide in our direction, so we beat a hasty retreat (past all the signs that said “no at-risk people [including pregnant women] past this point”, which I had ignored a few minutes earlier).

Jon was very keen to see some actual flowing lava, so we enquired about this and were told that we’d have to travel some 40 miles outside the park to view it (you used to be able to see it from the 25-mile-long “Chain of Craters” road within the park, but the flow had shifted since then). We set off and enjoyed some more time at a lovely black sand beach backed by coconut palms along the way. The lava viewing area was managed by the Department of Civil Defence or something. In any case, it was heavily guarded and restricted. We drove as far as the old road went (until it got covered by erupting lava), then continued on a dirt track to a car park. Amazingly, some people had remade their homes (admittedly, mostly just shacks and trailers) on the barren black lavascape. We had to walk about half a mile across the lava to the viewing site, which we were told was another half mile from the active flow. Well, it looked a lot more than half a mile, and the flow was not what I would call active. It was extremely slow-moving, and the only thing to distinguish it from the surrounding rock was a little steam or smoke. When it started to get dark, you could pick out the odd faint pinprick of orange, but that was all. There was a lot of steam where the hot lava hit the ocean, but it was falling from a cliff that faced away from the viewing site, so all we saw was, in fact, the steam. In short, it was a huge disappointment and not worth the drive, although the surrounding area was very nice, which meant that it was not a wasted journey.

After two cold nights in the cabin, we headed back to the Kona coast and visited a coffee plantation there. We received a free tour (very interesting) and tasting. It was like visiting a winery, but for coffee. As well as coffee trees, there were avocado, papaya and orange trees, and we were allowed to take away whatever had fallen to the ground. Afterwards, we headed to a Hawaiian cultural site (a beautiful royal compound/religious site right next to the ocean). Most of these sites are a big disappointment because very little remains of the indigenous settlements and temples, but this one is actually the best preserved in the whole of Hawaii, so it was very pleasant to visit, not least because of its gorgeous setting. In addition, there were a couple more sea turtles on the beach there (this time with their heads fully out of the water and therefore more satisfying to photograph).

Our last night was spent on a small coffee plantation with beautiful gardens inhabited by jungle fowl, pet parrots and peacocks. It was definitely the best accommodation we had throughout the week. The next day, breakfast (included) was served on the lanai (balcony) with its splendid ocean views, and incorporated fresh fruit from the plantation. We were even visited at the table by a tiny but very colourful gecko. We had such a leisurely breakfast, that by the time we’d finished, we had to just pack up our stuff and head for the airport for our flight back to San Francisco.

Back in SF, I realized how much good the trip had actually done me. Work had been very tiring and stressful before I left, not to mention demoralising, since all pay raises and bonuses were cancelled as a result of the economic crisis and all talk was of slashing costs left right and centre. So, I think I derived a great deal from the holiday, even though Big Island can’t hold a candle to its older sister Kauai (which we visited two years ago) in terms of scenery, and even though it was horrifically expensive.

December doings

I begin the blog again with yet another apology for absence – a whole month without an update!

Just before December, we had Thanksgiving. We went around to a friend’s parents’ in Alameda across the Bay for a slap-up turkey dinner, which was lovely. Two days later, we went to one of my colleagues’ apartment for another delicious turkey dinner, followed by homemade pumpkin and raspberry pies. The next day, we went for a long hike along the coast in Marin to walk it off.

December has seen plenty of rain, but we have made it out for another couple of hikes. One was on Mount Tam with a friend of mine, her pug and her friend’s two Labradors. The pug sat on my knee on the way there and back in the car, and I almost got licked to death!

We’ve also had many Christmas parties. Jon’s office party was in the Rockridge area of Oakland, in a small restaurant that we completely took over. A week later was my office party, which was in a tapas restaurant in the Mission district of San Francisco. We also had a party at Jon’s colleague’s place in Castro Valley – they had a portable fire pit, which was a great addition. I’ve made a mental note to get one of those one day for my garden back in England.

For Christmas, we did a big dinner again – this time for 11 people. We ordered a super expensive free range organic turkey from the butcher’s in the Ferry Building, and cooked that with all the usual goodies. I also made my own Christmas puddings, which I must say were excellent, all modesty aside! We set fire to them with some rum. Jon made mince pies, which were likewise superb. To keep up the traditions, we watched the Queen’s speech, had crackers and listened to carols. Afterwards, we played White Elephant, which is kind of like Secret Santa, but allows you to “steal” gifts from other players. It was hilarious – Jon got a “Studs & Spurs Calendar”, which, fortunately for him, was stolen shortly afterwards.

I was back at work on Boxing Day, because it’s not a holiday here, but things were pretty quiet. We then went skiing at the weekend, driving up to Tahoe on the Saturday morning, and getting there in time for a half day’s skiing, which is a bit cheaper than a full day. Driving up in the morning rather than on Friday night proved to be a good idea, since we had our best journey ever at 3 hours 20 minutes. The roads were fine, in spite of the fact that there had been a lot of snow, but it was a little dicey in South Lake Tahoe itself, with plenty of near-frozen slush around, which caused us to skid a little a couple of times. We had a great time skiing – conditions were excellent, and surprisingly, it wasn’t too busy. We stuck to skiing on the California side on the Saturday, moving over to Nevada on the Sunday (the ski area straddles both states). It was clear and sunny, so there were good views over vast Lake Tahoe.

That night, we stayed in a casino-hotel just across the stateline, because that turned out to be the best value (casinos get plenty of revenue from gambling, so can afford to offer cheaper rooms) on a weekend that was very expensive accommodation-wise. We were starving after the skiing, so went out to the Montbleu casino for their all-you-can-eat buffet, which was very good. We then had a long sleep before embarking on another great day’s skiing, taking in one of my favourite runs a couple of times: the Olympic Downhill followed by the Stagecoach run, which takes you right down to the bottom on the Nevada side. I fell over a few times, but didn’t hurt myself. We were lucky that the journey back to San Francisco was snow-free, since snow had been forecast.

Of course, I shouldn’t have been skiing at all, because I’m five months pregnant! Another thing we found out this month, when I went for my ultrasound at 19 weeks, was that it’s a girl. We now need to get working on some names!

After a fairly quiet and unproductive New Year’s Day, we geared ourselves up for our visit back to the UK and braced ourselves for the 10-hour flight. We’ve now made it over and begun our rounds of visits.

November Explorations

I’ve been very lazy on the blogging front yet again. So much has happened in the last month! We have a shiny new president, for one thing! Now, the thought of the Palin woman being just a “heartbeat away” from arguably the world’s most responsible job seems like a distant nightmare. We had a friend around for dinner that evening, so weren’t concentrating on the TV, but I remember hearing the whoop of joy erupt in a nearby apartment as Obama passed the 270 electoral vote mark. What a great day for America! Whatever your politics (and I do know the odd Republican sympathiser), the country now has an intelligent, eloquent front-man that world leaders are lining up to work with. That has to be a good thing, even though he has a very tough job ahead of him. Talking of presidents, a few weeks ago, we saw the new film, “W” at the cinema (about George W. himself, who else?!). Very entertaining, but a little facile in its approach, portraying Bush as a largely innocent dummy who was misled by family and advisors. I don’t buy the idea of him being either that dumb or that innocent, myself, but at least his era will soon be over.

November also brought us a heat-wave. Two weekends ago, I was sunbathing on the beach, enjoying some of the most pleasant temperatures San Francisco has to offer. We topped it off by heading out into the balmy evening on the Alcatraz Night Tour. We had lovely views of the city and bridges from the ferry, then alighted on the island, where we did a very good audio tour and went to a talk about the Birdman. The spookiest bit by far was the hospital wing (coincidentally, where the Birdman had his cell), which was lonely and empty, but for the odd piece of outdated medical equipment, looking for all the world like something out of a horror film. I’d been to Alcatraz before, but that was back in 1999, so I hadn’t visited since moving out here.

We’d had a good few weekends without leaving the city, so I was ready to go somewhere. We decided on a mini-break in Zion National Park and Las Vegas. I’d heard good things about Zion, a “mere” 150 miles from Las Vegas, and we’d recently seen the film “21”, about a group of MIT students who make and lose their fortune playing Blackjack, so we fancied a bit of Vegas action, having only spent an evening there previously, when we went to the Grand Canyon in April. This time, as then, we had the experience of driving to/from the most fake place imaginable to one of world’s most lovely natural landscapes. Zion was a delight – kind of like a red rock Yosemite.

We did a couple of short walks on our first day, one up to the Emerald Pools, the last one of which stops sharp against a huge 1000 foot or more vertical wall of rock. The second was up to a viewpoint a little above the canyon, with vistas of Mount Watchman and the increasingly red hues of the rocks. We set off mid-afternoon (or so I thought), convinced that it would get dark later here, since we were some way south of San Francisco. Of course, I didn’t stop to think that we were actually a fair way to the east, and I also failed to realise that we’d crossed a time zone (Zion is in Utah), and were actually an hour ahead. By the time we got back down from the viewpoint, it was dark, and we startled a mule deer along the path. We made our way swiftly to our accommodation, Zion Lodge, and settled in for the night as the temperatures dropped to a surprisingly chilly level.

Our second day began with a huge breakfast. It was healthy, but enormous. Mine consisted of four immense whole-grain flaxseed pancakes the size of dinner plates and at least half an inch thick, with a berry compote. It was a good job we’d planned to do a fairly decent hike that day. The walk took us relentlessly upwards to a narrow monolith above the canyon with steep drop-offs on either side. The last half mile is really a scramble, using hands almost as much as feet, pulling oneself along by the chains strung along the ridge. People had warned me that it was very scary, but I’m fortunate in not being a vertigo-sufferer, and found it to be no problem at all. The views up and down the canyon were stunning. We were also rewarded with the sighting of a California Condor, the largest land bird in North America (wingspan can be up to 9½ feet) and one of the rarest birds in the world. S/he landed on a rock just a few feet away and posed for a good few photos. Later, we saw him/her soaring past the walls of the canyon, far below. As for us, we hadn’t had enough walking (the hike up to Angel’s Landing and back is strenuous, but only five miles round-trip), so we continued a bit further and found a quiet, sunny lunch spot with splendid views. Before we left the park, we had chance to visit the Weeping Rock, a wall that seeps droplets of water that have run through the porous rock until they reach harder stuff and are forced to dispense themselves. It was then time for the long, monotonous drive back to Sin City.

We were staying at the Bellagio, probably Las Vegas’ most exclusive casino-hotel, but because we were there out of season and on week nights, it was really good value – less than half the price it would be on a high-season weekend. The room didn’t disappoint – a plush marble-floored bathroom with an immense shower and a huge, tastefully decorated bedroom with electrically operated curtains and a view out onto the Tuscan-style pool area. It also features a gorgeous reception area with a glass ceiling by Chihuly (this is the guy whose smallest glass bowls fetch $3,000 – $4,000), a conservatory with regularly changing themes (at this time of year it was harvest and pumpkins) and a dazzling array of fancy restaurants and shops, but still the same old tacky casino area, of course. At half-hour intervals it also offers impressive fountain displays over the huge artificial lake at the front.

The first night, we went to a Cirque du Soleil show, then slept in the next morning and partook of a tasty – if pricey – breakfast down at the café. We then headed out to the pool area and relaxed for a couple of hours on the sun deck, taking the occasional swim. By mid-afternoon, it was turning chilly, however, so we headed across the road to take a look at another casino-hotel, Paris, then made for the one next to ours, the Roman-themed Caesar’s Palace, complete with its own “Fontana di Trevi”, and more reminiscent of modern than ancient Rome. That evening, we dined at the Michelin-starred Michael Mina restaurant in our hotel, which was truly exquisite. I was especially delighted with the way they offered trios of dishes in one – perfect for me, who wants to try everything on the menu. After dinner, we had a go at one of the Blackjack tables. Things started well, and we were soon $20 up. After that, things didn’t go quite so well, and we came away half an hour later with our tails between our legs.

On our last day, I had a quick swim in the morning, then we had crêpes for breakfast at a patisserie with the largest chocolate fountain in the world, before heading up the Strip to take a look at the Venetian, a very elaborate casino-hotel themed around Venice. It had its own Rialto Bridge, Ducal Palace, Grand Canal and Piazza San Marco, including a huge array of exclusive shops. We took a look around the Peter Lik photo gallery (= store) – he’s a photographer who takes wonderful landscape shots, many of which covering places we’d visited in the States. However, I’m pretty sure I overheard someone saying one of the larger pieces was $49,000. That didn’t deter the manager from pursuing us around the shop in the hope that we’d buy something, however.

The desert climate took its toll, as it did last time, on my skin and eyes, noticeably drying them out. And while Las Vegas is certainly lots of fun, I think I’d had my fill of it by the end. It’s really an absurd place. Sure, it has some glamour, but it is also tacky, materialistic and fake. However, it provided an enjoyable and much-needed getaway. We had one day back at work upon our return and now we have four days off for Thanksgiving – hurrah!

Vineyards and stuff

A couple of weekends ago, it was Jon’s work party at Wente Vineyards. This winery is not in the famous Napa Valley, nor even in Sonoma, but out in the East Bay obscurity, near Livermore. We got taken there on a coach (which Jon and I nearly missed because we couldn’t hail a taxi to take us to the departure point for love nor money, and ended up running through North Beach down to the Embarcadero – me in heels at that!) and arrived just before dark. I thought it was a shame we didn’t get there when it was still light, so that we could take in the vineyard. Anyway, we had a good feed and socialise. Afterwards, Jon and I met and chatted to the chef at the bar, who was a nice chap and a big admirer of Gordon Ramsay!

The next day, I took part in a 5km charity run organised by one of our clients, BioMarin. My colleague, Elizabeth, picked me up very early in the morning and drove over the Golden Gate up to Novato, where the run took place. It ended up not being 5km at all, but closer to 4km, since I finished in 21 minutes. I took 2nd place for my age/gender category and got a medal, which is the only thing sporting that I’ve ever won! The company did pretty well in general, as a project manager was 2nd female overall and both she and the boss’ wife were first in their respective age/gender categories, and another participant, Seth, was 2nd in his age/gender category. Back in San Francisco, Jon, Seth and I went out for a hearty breakfast at a greasy spoon in North Beach (in Jon’s case, it was well needed to cure the hangover from the night before!).

The next week was a hot one. Temperatures got up well into the eighties in the city. I walked home part of the way on the Friday night, enjoying the balmy temperature, the gorgeous views of the Bay and Alcatraz, and the joys of living in the most liberal city in America, with Obama posters all over the place and two blokes walking down the street, hand-in-hand, without anyone batting an eyelid.

The good weather carried on into the weekend, when we went on a trip to Napa Valley with some work colleagues of Jon’s. It got up to 32 Celsius over there and the place was absolutely rammed with people. We visited V. Sattui - a very pretty winery, but ridiculously crowded - and then headed to Elizabeth Spencer. Jon had done a tasting there and been very impressed last Christmas, but this year the wines were both more expensive and not as good. However, they did seat us in our own tasting tent in their pumpkin-decorated courtyard, so it wasn’t all bad. After that, we went to Domaine Chandon, a fancy, modern champagne place. It was there that Carly received a call from her uncle and promptly asked us if we’d like to head over to his vineyard. So, off we went, passing through the electric gates, up the hill and past the vines to his beautiful home. The house had an amazing kitchen and was filled with interesting art, but most importantly had a huge covered deck with fabulous views over the valley to the hills beyond. There was also a swimming pool, a fire pit built in a stone wall and an adjacent 3-bed, 2-bath guest house for friends and family! It was lovely to relax there for a while before heading back to the city. As well as vines, the estate boasts lemon and olive trees. Carly’s uncle gave us each a bottle of their home-grown olive oil when we left. I smiled as we drove past his Obama poster as we swung through the gates and onto the highway.

The days of balmy weather are now over, however, as the rain set in yesterday and it has thrown it down all day today. Strangely, however, the wild parrots have been very active and noisy all the same. Yesterday was Halloween, but I was too tired to go out in the evening, although I did spot some costumed people on my way home. Now, we’re building up to Tuesday, the great day when the world could change for the better (surely, THIS time!).

Mendocino getaway

I haven’t blogged again for three weeks – terrible! Well, here’s a quick catch-up. Two weeks ago, we had a friend from Hoddesdon to visit (Tom). On the Saturday, I went with him down to the De Young museum in Golden Gate Park to see the Chihuly exhibition. Chihuly is a glass artist who makes wonderful, colourful formations, which look fabulous lit up against a dark background. In spite of the fact that we had a timed ticket, there were still hordes of people. We spent the rest of the (very sunny) day seeing the main sights, like Alamo Square, Haight Ashbury, the Ferry Building and Pier 39 with the sealions. The next day, we weren’t so lucky with the weather, as some low fog spoilt our plans to go for hike on Point Reyes. Instead, we did a walk on the top of Mount Tam, where it was very hot above the fog layer. I managed to trip and cut a hole in my hand, but fortunately, it’s just about healed now.

Last weekend was a lazy one for the most part (for me at least) - poor Jon was revising for his maths exam, which he had last Wednesday. On the Sunday, I volunteered down at the Castro Street Fair on behalf of the organisation I used to work for, Shanti. It was good fun, but surprisingly tiring standing there for three and a half hours in the hot sunshine.

This weekend, I had booked us a cottage just south of the small coastal town of Mendocino, about 150 miles north. It was the first time we had travelled over the Golden Gate on a Friday night, and the traffic was somewhat stickier than expected. We arrived pretty late, but fortunately, the cottage managers had pinned the key outside their office. We awoke to a beautiful, sunny day on Saturday. We got up slowly, enjoying the luxury of a bacon and egg breakfast and watching hummingbirds hover around the landscaped garden, before heading out to do a hike in a small state park a little way up the coast. The walk took us up from the coast through different types of woodland to a small “pygmy forest”, where trees a hundred years old or more had only grown to a few feet due to poor soil conditions. Afterwards, we drove up to a rather uncharming town called Fort Bragg to see the so-called Glass Beach. Apparently, until about half way through the last century, people just used to dump their rubbish in the ocean there. As a result of the sea smashing against it over the years, the beach got covered in small glass pebbles. Needless to say, no one dumps their rubbish there now, and in fact it is inhabited by seals. Before heading back for a cosy evening in the cottage, we strolled down to the Point Cabrillo lighthouse, built in 1909 to service the booming post-earthquake lumber trade, then stopped in the quaint town of Mendocino itself. The town was settled by East coasters, apparently, which explains the New England style houses, perched attractively on the bluffs above lovely little coves. Nearly every shop was a gift shop, though! When we got back to the cottage complex, we were met by a rather plump English bulldog, aptly called Buddah, and his rather asthmatic French bulldog friend, which belonged to another guest. We lounged around on our little deck, taking in the ocean views before dinner.

This morning, we went for what turned out to be a fabulous run from the cottage, down to the little beach nearby and through part of Van Damme state park. We followed the appropriately named Fern Canyon up a shady creek. It was icy cold, but invigorating. Of course, we passed a couple of mountain lion warning signs along the way. Marvellous. When the activity we were engaged in was jogging – just the thing to incite a big cat’s chase instinct. However, we avoided attack and returned for another well-deserved big breakfast. We then went for a stroll on the Mendocino headland bluffs, admiring the many rock arches and natural harbours, finally wandering into the town for a coffee. Before leaving the area, we took another coastal stroll (the highlight of which was seeing a stag disappear into the undergrowth - too fast for a photo!), then drove back towards the freeway through the gorgeous Anderson Valley. We travelled first through a huge redwood forest (coastal redwoods being the tallest trees in the world), then through rolling hills, apple orchards, vineyards and olive groves. We stopped briefly at a small, unpretentious winery with a cute little tasting shack where the tastings were… wait for it… free! Amazing. On the way back, we tried to get dinner at a fish restaurant by one of the marinas in Sausalito, but the line was so long that we gave up, and went instead to an excellent Thai place in the city. However, we still managed to enjoy some great views across the pink-hued Bay at sunset from Sausalito. Arriving back at the flat shortly after 9, we saw a small red glow out on Angel Island – fire! It’s now an hour and a half later and the fire is covering most of the eastern side of the island, which is really sad. They’ve ferried fire engines over there, but surprisingly, there are no helicopters. No one lives on Angel Island except park staff, but it’s a lovely state park and a gorgeous place to visit, with a few interesting old military buildings.

Jon and are suffering other trials right now, as we can’t get a tenant for our house. The letting agent told us that there has not been much interest, largely due to the crashing economy. If we can’t get a tenant soon, we’ll have to come back, something neither of us wants to do. Whenever we have to do it, giving up the California lifestyle is going to be extremely difficult.