Not a very blog-worthy weekend

After such a stream of activities, we needed a quiet one, so last weekend was spent cleaning and tidying the flat, shopping, running/gym, doing homework (maths for Jon, Spanish for me) and relaxing. We did, however, go out for a mediocre Italian meal in our neighbourhood, North Beach, on Saturday, and then invited Rob – our friend from university days who works for Google and has just moved over here – for dinner on Sunday. It was good to see him again.

I had my final Spanish exam on Tuesday. Now the course is over until they restart in August. Today, I decided to try walking to work in a bid to fit more exercise in. It was great – took about the same time as public transport, afforded a good workout (some of the hills are REALLY steep!) as well as fabulous views of both the great bridges, Twin Peaks, Coit Tower, downtown, everything! You can even walk past Danielle Steele’s mansion. The fantastic thing is that you never have to do the same route twice – because the streets are laid out in a grid (in spite of the hills), there are endless options for variation. And it’s great that now I have Spanish skills I can understand the slogans on the T-shirts of Hispanic labourers (“Busco una novia che sa adapta a mis bajos instintos” = “I’m looking for a girlfriend who will adapt to my base instincts” – nice!).

So, not much of excitement to report this week. I am hooked on American Idol of course, and routing for David Cook. On that note, I’d better turn the TV on for tonight’s results!

Las Vegas & the Grand Canyon

We’ve just returned from a long weekend in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Las Vegas was incidental – it was the closest airport we could fly to for a reasonable price, but still lies some 280 miles from the big hole in the ground we really came to see. We only had one night in Sin City, as it’s also called, so did a whistle-stop tour of some of the immense casino-hotels that line the Strip, each more absurd or lavish than the next. We ended up having dinner in New York New York, complete with its own Statue of Liberty, Empire State and Central Park, before heading through Camelot-inspired Excalibur to Luxor, a huge black pyramid fronted by a sphinx and concrete obelisk. My first impression was one of fascination, but also distaste: it was all too artificial, too mindlessly hedonistic, too infantile, too vulgar. What were these people thinking of, sitting comatose at slot machines, feeding in an endless stream of quarters, or stumbling around drunk, winding their way between living adverts for plastic surgery on the one hand and the good folk of middle America who’d downed a few too many burgers on the other?

So, I was not really too sorry to leave Vegas behind on Saturday, as we headed out on our long trip to the Grand Canyon. The guide book had described the journey as 300 featureless miles through the desert. This didn’t turn out to be entirely true. While it was certainly a long way, and very sparsely populated, it wasn’t anything like as barren as I’d expected. In fact, there was plenty of vegetation, although the land was pretty useless for anything productive (which might explain why there were ads everywhere selling acres of it for next to nothing). We stopped for lunch at Seligman, a little town in the middle of nowhere on Route 66, at a great diner with a very authentic feel.

Our first night at the Canyon was not very eventful: we had a nice room at a quality but not especially characterful hotel, were unable to get a table at the decent restaurants, so resorted to an acceptable but bland cafeteria. We awoke early next morning, packed up what we needed for the next two days, had a decent breakfast and set off on our big hike down into the depths. We followed the South Kaibab trail, the steeper of the Canyon’s two main paths, which plunges down just short of 5,000 feet over 7 miles. The biggest surprise was how green it was – and how many gorgeous flowers were everywhere, from blossoming cactuses to spindly little blooms growing impossibly out of the red earth.

The descent was tough on the joints, but not overly so. Still, we were glad to reach the suspension bridge over the Colorado River, which would take us to our campsite. The latter turned out to be beside a rushing creek, a tributary of the Colorado, in its own miniature version of the Canyon. We pitched the tent and headed off to the beach to take some rest and soak up the rays. No chance of swimming in it, though – it was mighty cold and alarmingly fast-moving.

After a very makeshift dinner (we had to carry all our own food), we went to a ranger talk just as it was growing dark. This was followed by a highly amusing scorpion hunt. The little beasties fluoresce when ultra-violet light is shone upon them, and of course, the ranger had a special torch. They were everywhere! On the way back to the tent, whilst trying to avoid scorpions, we spotted a ringtail dart across the path, a squirrel-cum-skunk with a stripy tail and one of the more agreeable animals we’d heard about during the talk.

It wasn’t as cold as I’d feared, going to “bed”, but when I awoke at around 5 a.m., it was pretty chilly. I dozed for a bit longer, then we got up, breakfasted and decamped. It was important to make an early start, so that the hard part of the ascent wouldn’t be in the heat of the day, or so we thought! The first part of the hike back up along the Bright Angel Trail – supposedly less steep than the South Kaibab, but longer at around 9 miles – followed the Colorado River past yet more lovely plants and even sand dunes.

The ascent to Indian Garden, half way in distance, didn’t seem too bad, in spite of the heavy backpacks, and I felt some rather unjustified elation at having broken the back of it, without it having broken my back! We had a snack and watched those not hard enough to hike head down on their guided mule tour, while a friendly lizard amused us doing press-ups and the pesky squirrels tried to steal our food. Little did I know that the worst was to come: Indian Garden was, in reality, perhaps only a third of the way up in terms of elevation, and it was followed by several long, hard sets of switchbacks in the blazing heat, ascending through the different geologic layers. We had lunch a mile and a half from the top, but that last push was tough, with screaming calf muscles and burning shoulders. Still, we got lots of respect from the day-hikers and sightseers near the top, who were full of admiration for our feat. As I reached the brink of the South Rim, I finished the last drop of my three litres of water. Jon had downed four, and we’d had another “emergency” litre to hand just in case.

It was truly delicious to board the shuttle bus and get ourselves clean back at the hotel (the same one we’d stayed at before), then to head out and actually strike lucky getting a table at the Arizona Room at Bright Angel Lodge. There was a short wait, but we spent it watching the light fade over the amazing folds of the Canyon. An elderly couple from Las Vegas engaged us in conversation. Within a couple of minutes, they’d told us they didn’t like San Francisco, “because everyone’s on welfare” (!) and justified it with the explanation that they were Republicans! Not a lot you can say to that, really.

The next morning, we took the shuttle bus to some more viewpoints along the South Rim and took our leave of the awe-inspiring views. It was then back on the road for the return trek to Vegas. We’d liked the diner in Seligman so much, that we decided to stop there again, and were amused to find tumbleweed scuttling across the road ahead en masse as we left the freeway – so typical of middle-of-nowhere, just-like-the-movies America!

We decided to stop at the Hoover Dam briefly, although we didn’t get a really good look. Exiting the car was like entering a fan oven – it was nearly 100 degrees and a strong desert wind was blowing. On the one side, the dam’s not very exciting, but on the other it plunges to unfathomable depths (I didn’t manage to see the bottom from the road).

We arrived in Vegas with a good forty minutes or so to spare, so decided to take a look at another casino, namely the Bellagio (which the San Francisco-hating Republicans had recommended, amusingly enough). Expecting it to be murder to park, we were surprised and delighted that it had a free parking lot… but of course – they want to make it easy to take your money off you! Entering the Bellagio was like slipping into an oasis – its main features are a cool, beautifully cultivated atrium, a stupendous glass ceiling and other works of art bedecking its classy walls. Of course, it still had the slot machine hell, but I caught a glimpse of what Vegas could be like, at its best. To be honest, I’m still on the fence about the place, as I told my work colleagues today, as they waited with almost bated breath to hear me cast judgement. It’s seedy, tacky, disgustingly indulgent, literally built on bad habits, but at the same time fun, deliciously opulent and perhaps one of the most truly democratic places in the world - where else would you get the super-wealthy rubbing shoulders with the American equivalent of chavs, where no one looks down on you because all that rules is the mighty dollar and they’re happy to take your money off you, whoever you are?

The return flight was on time and super efficient, just like the outward one (why UK airports can’t operate like this, I don’t know). And, as ever, in spite of it being an epic trip, I was happy to return to my beloved San Franciso and even to head to work (well, almost!). It can’t be that bad when you get to commute by cable car!

Photos are available on the Fotki site: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/las-vegas--the-gran/ (password: moocow)

Last ski of the season

My illness last week turned out to be proper, full-blown flu. I had a miserable day on the Saturday. I was panicked and tried to get to see a doctor, but could only get an appointment if I was prepared to pay $300 (not covered on my insurance). I decided to sit it out.

Jon got home on Saturday evening and cheered me up greatly. I started to improve on Sunday morning, and managed a walk down to the beach, then on the sealions and finally to an ice-cream parlour in North Beach. It was a beautiful day – if I hadn’t been sick, I’d have been in the pool for sure!

I kept on improving through the week. On Monday I managed to go to an Eels concert (fortunately, it was sit-down), then on Tuesday to Spanish class. On Wednesday and Thursday we had visitors – my friend Charlotte from my PGCE course, who was on her honeymoon! And her husband, of course. We went out both nights – firstly to a local Italian, then on Thursday to Chinese (in Chinatown), followed by a drink at my favourite bar, Vesuvio.

Having made it to the end of the week, it was time to head up to Tahoe for the last ski of the season. This time there were just three of us: me, Jon and Tom (from Jon’s work). It was very windy on Saturday, so not many lifts were open. As it’s the end of the season, it was really quiet on the slopes, which meant there were no lift lines, so I’m afraid we soon got a bit bored with doing the same couple of runs over and over again. Add to this the fact that the lower parts of the slope were very slushy, and therefore difficult to ski on, and we were ready to finish early. However, we made the most of the day by heading out on a little drive to lovely Emerald Bay, home to Lake Tahoe’s only island, which is were some rich woman inspired by Norwegian castles built her tea-house many years ago. We walked down to the beach and took photos of this lovely spot, before heading back to South Lake Tahoe.

We ended up eating at Fire & Ice, a “Mongolian wok” style place, where you pick all your raw food, then have it cooked before your eyes on a huge hot plate, while the chefs do cheesy entertainment numbers, juggling spatulas and the like. It was good fun, and certainly a great feast. There’s no way we’d ever be able to get in there at high season without a wait of several hours, so it was a good time to go. Afterwards, we went for a drink in Montbleu Casino (the casinos never fail to strike me as very weird places!) and then set off on a very cold walk back to the motel in the icy wind.

Today, in spite of the prevailing winds, nearly all the lifts were open, so we boarded the Heavenly gondola and were swept up to the slopes for a great day. Again, it was very quiet, with no lift lines, so we did a huge amount of skiing (my sore calves are evidence of this!), including the Olympic Downhill twice. In the afternoon, we headed down the black run I did the last weekend I was in Tahoe, but this time it was really icy. However, feeling more confident after my lesson in March, I made it down just fine. It was a really cold day, though, which made for crunchy snow (still, that’s better than slushy!), and at one point Jon’s beard and moustache iced up!

UK visit and return to the Golden State

Haven’t blogged for a while. Mainly because I’ve been away in the UK – went for a week to visit family and friends, and to go to a wedding. If you’re reading this, then you’re probably one of the family and friends that I visited!

The weather was atrocious when we arrived a week last Saturday – throwing it down with rain. However, Jon still managed to drag me down to the Thames to watch the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, as it went past Hammersmith Bridge. We all got soaked by the wake of one of the speedboats following the crews. It was one of those moments of truly British camaraderie – all camped out in the rain, getting soaking wet, to watch thirty seconds of action. That night we stayed in a hotel in Kensington (I would have said it was the smallest hotel room ever, but the receptionist actually moved us to a supposedly “bigger” room when he saw our bags, so I can only assume that smaller rooms do exist). We went out for a curry with our good friends Karen and Duncan. It was nice to partake of a beer or two in a British pub.

On Sunday, we picked up a hire car from Heathrow and went up to stay with my parents for a few days. The journey seemed very short after our long weekend treks to Tahoe and the like! On Monday we made other visits: to my aunty June and then to Jon’s gran, who was actually due to come out of hospital that day. We ended up taking her home from the hospital. Then, in the evening, my brothers came around for dinner.

The next day, we went out for a posh lunch to Hassop Hall, in the Peak District. I’d been there once before, and it was just as lovely – a beautiful stately home turned hotel in the heart of some delightful countryside, with good food to boot. It was great to get out with Mum and Dad.

After three nights in Derbyshire, we headed down to Bristol to stay with our friends, Andy and Dipika. We had a nice meal together (with yet more wine! – Quite a lot got drunk during the week). The next day, we saw Jon’s dad and step-mum Pam, who came up to Bristol from Devon. We had a lovely day out in Clifton. The weather was good enough to sit outside, which we did, having lunch at a pub with great views of the gorge and suspension bridge. That evening, we went out for dinner with Andy and Dipika to a really cool tapas-type restaurant.

Friday was the day of the wedding. It took place near the school where I used to work in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. In fact, the parking was in the school car park, and I bumped into my old boss, which was a bit unexpected! The wedding was lovely: the bride and bridesmaids looked gorgeous (the latter were in bright turquoise with pink tulips) and Emily’s three little nephews, which look like different-sized clones of each other, were charming (as are their names: Archie, Billy and Herbie!). We moved on to the reception at Quendon Hall, another former stately home, just north of Bishop’s Stortford (passing through the amusingly named village of Ugley!). The weather was kind, and we were able to sip champagne outside in the lovely gardens. Over dinner, I talked a lot to Emily’s German friend, who owns an ice-cream café in Hamburg. In the evening, my replacement at the school, Antje, was there, so I got to catch up on some gossip.

On Saturday, we moved on to Dan and Michelle’s place, near Hertford. It was great to see them again – as well as our gorgeous ex-cat, Pebbles! In the evening, we went out for a dinner at Marconato restaurant in Hoddesdon with lots of friends. It was a bit difficult to get to talk to everyone, but I think I managed it. It was wonderful to see so many, including Jon’s brother, who’s lost loads of weight – well done, James!

On Sunday, we awoke to snow on the ground. I couldn’t believe it! Not only would I have to contend with Terminal 5, but most likely a dire journey there through the snow! However, in the end, the journey was fine. Jon drove me over there. My flight was delayed almost three hours due to the snow and general Terminal 5 disorganisation, but I filled the time by using it to do my Spanish homework. Couldn’t sleep a wink on the plane (I never can), so I watched movies and did more Spanish homework. I also wandered around quite a lot, as I had an aisle seat for once. It was cool looking out of the window at the ice floes between Canada and Greenland!

Back in San Francisco, I’ve had a bit of a rough time: first with jetlag, then with a flu-like illness (apparently Dan and Michelle have had the same thing, so I’m guessing I caught it in England). Managed to go to Spanish class on Tuesday, but then had to leave work early on Wednesday. I did a long day on Thursday, but that did me in, and now I’m back to square one, so I’ve only been into work for a couple of hours today. It’s so frustrating, especially as today is the warmest so far in the year, and would otherwise be a sunbathing and pool afternoon! I miss Jon, especially as I really could do with having someone to look after me. Still, things can only be so bad when you’re in San Francisco. I get to travel by cable car. I get to see great architecture on my way to work. I get to look out over the Bay and the mountains beyond on a cloudless day when I’m home sick. I just hope I can get well soon, so that I can get back to enjoying it all.

Oh, I haven’t commented on the Olympic torch relay, which came through on Wednesday. It was a shambles, as far as I can tell. They advertised a route, then changed it completely at the last minute, without telling anyone, and they also cancelled the closing ceremony – again without telling anyone. You have to ask, what IS the point?!

Photos from my UK visit are available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/uk-visit-marapril-08/ (password: moocow)

Hiking and imbibing

The last two weekends I’ve had plans to go whale-watching. The trip was cancelled both last weekend, and again this one, because of “heavy winds and rough seas beyond the Golden Gate”. You could have fooled me – we’ve had lovely weather now for a long stretch. I can only conclude that they must try to take you out whale-watching on a rowing boat!

Jon’s been busy working and doing his coursework for the Open University, so I’ve had to entertain myself a bit. Last Sunday, I took myself off on a hike on the coastal path – bussing it as far as Cliff House, then picking up the trail and walking through Seacliff, along Baker Beach, past the Golden Gate Bridge, then through Crissy Field to the Marina. It’s nice to have the option of going to do a great hike on your own, without having to get in the car.

Yesterday, I went out with Cassie. We headed up to the winelands (Sonoma valley) and did a hike in the hills. It was the first really warm day, which made scaling the gradient pretty hot work. After we’d finished the hike, we went to lovely Château St Jean winery, which has delightful grounds. We did a tasting there and I bought a bottle of their Riesling. Back on the road, we didn’t have to go very far until we got to another tasting room: this time one that offered tastings of wines from a variety of very small vineyards. The servings were pretty big, so I was slightly fuzzy-headed on the way back (fortunately, Cassie was driving!).

Last night, we decided to try a restaurant that recently opened on our block, namely the Belgian-themed eatery and beer emporium, La Trappe. We were swept down to their basement, which had a big bar, lots of atmosphere, and more importantly, a menu featuring some 150 or so beers! It was only when I got back and checked my e-mail that I found out the whale-watching trip had been cancelled for the THIRD time!

Today was another gorgeous day, so we decided to head out and do a hike I’ve been wanting to do for a while, starting at Stinson Beach and climbing up Mount Tamalpais. The drive along Highway 1, which hugs the coastline, was stunning as ever. It was a fairly steep climb, but we were rewarded for the effort when we came out on the smooth, grassy shoulder, which afforded fabulous views north to Point Reyes, out west to the Farallon Islands (which we were supposed to visit on the boat trip!) and then south towards the city. We had lunch on top of a knoll and did a bit of sunbathing at the same time, as it was really pleasant. The hike back down followed a creek and went past some big redwood trees. Back in Stinson Beach, we decided to have an ice cream, then head for the beach to catch a few rays. As days go, it was pretty perfect, in spite of the disappointment about the whales!

Photos are available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/hiking-adventures (password: moocow)

More Tahoe fun

Made use of the ski pass once again and went up to Lake Tahoe on Friday evening after another rather tough week at work. This time there were four of us: me, Jon, Cassie and Sarah. We stayed at the Highland Inn, which had put us up before in an emergency and was incredibly cheap, in spite of having nicely refurbished rooms, kitted out with enormous flat-screen TVs!

We had a very sunny couple of days. On Saturday we took advantage of the fact that we were mere walking distance from the gondola and headed off up from the motel, doing lots of skiing on the Nevada side, which has some nice long runs. I was a bit slower than everyone else, so I had to push myself a bit to keep up. On the whole, this worked well, but I did take a tumble in the afternoon, which left me with a sore left ankle. A nice après-ski beer at the bottom of the gondola largely sorted it out, though.

That evening we thought we might go and sample the buffet at one of the casinos, but having arrived there (on the 18th floor!), we found there was an hour-long wait. So, we headed to a brew-pub instead – also very busy – and had dinner there. We were pretty tired from the day, and knew we’d lose an hour in the night (the clocks have gone forward), so we went back to the motel afterwards.

This morning, we drove to California Lodge and went up on a different lift. Did some nice skiing in the morning, then headed back down. Jon had brought his laptop with him and had some work to do (poor thing). The girls wanted to have a lesson, so I thought I would have one too, taking advantage of the hefty discount you get with a season lift pass. I got put with Sarah (just the two of us) and an Aussie ski instructor. It was really worth doing, as I haven’t had a lesson in a long time, and knew I’d slipped into a few bad habits. He did a lot of work with us on turns (specifically carving) and took us down our first few black runs! I’d never dared to do anything harder than blue, but the ones we did were fine and I wasn’t scared at all. When we’d finished, Sarah had had enough, so she went down the lift with the ski instructor, but I skied all the way down to the bottom, albeit on some rather slushy snow (it had been a very warm weekend).

We drove back through some lovely mountainous scenery, which we could see for once because of the hour change, stopping for dinner in Fairfield. It was a brilliant weekend – gorgeously sunny (to the extent that I’ve actually got a red neck, as I only applied sunscreen to my face!) and great fun.

Exploring Point Reyes

Last week was another busy one at work – I’m just getting into my new role in the Linguistic QA department. I also had Spanish class on Tuesday (am miffed because didn’t get an A+ in the test, in spite of having a score of 97% ;-)), went out with a friend on Wednesday (ate at a *not very good* garlic-themed restaurant, then had cocktails in a rather better establishment) and went to step class on Thursday. Jon arrived back from his week at the test event in New Hampshire late on Friday night. He’d had lots of snow there, so was happy to return to the Spring-like climes of California.

We didn’t do a lot yesterday: chores, food shopping, a short run. Jon was pretty tired from his week. We did get cracking with planning our Alaska holiday, though, and I’ve sent a reservation request for a camping trip late June/early July (see the details here: http://www.travelalaskaoutdoors.com/tours_classicalaskan_7.htm).

Today, we got up early and headed out on a trip to Point Reyes. This is the large coastal wilderness area a little way up the coast. It’s actually an errant bit of the earth’s crust on the Pacific plate, separated from the mainland by the San Andreas fault, and it's been travelling up the coast from Mexico for the last several million years at an average rate of two inches per year. Although I’ve visited the area a few times, I’d never been up to the far north-west, which is almost 2 hours’ drive from San Francisco. It was forecast to be a beautiful day, so we went up there in the hope of seeing whales, which are beginning their migration north about now.

The drive there in itself is amazing. We took Highway 1, which clings to the rocky coastline, but also offers views of the interior to Mount Tamalpais, before passing through Stinson Beach and by the tidal Bolinas Lagoon. We had to leave our car at the visitor centre at Point Reyes and take a shuttle bus to the two main visitor spots in that area: the lighthouse and Chimney Rock. It was very, very windy, but the views were wonderful, as it was such a beautiful, cloudless day (something to be appreciated in a spot that is often shrouded in mist). It was a tiring hike back up the (300?) steps from the lighthouse. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales (although 5 were observed yesterday), but we did see plenty of other wildlife, including murres (penguin-like birds), several deer (from our picnic spot), elephant seals (babies and big-snouted males), an owl, falcons, scoters and vultures. The views from the path to Chimney Rock especially were fabulous – on the one side was the Pacific Ocean and on the other, Drake’s Bay, so-called because Sir Francis himself landed there when the area was inhabited by Miwok Indians and called it Nova Albion, as the white cliffs reminded him of Dover. Back at the visitor center, we took a little stroll onto the beach, before heading off.

En route (actually, following a small detour), we stopped at our favourite eating place in the area, Coast Café in Bolinas. I am now very stuffed of oysters (from Drake’s Bay!) and chips, having washed it down with a champagne cocktail called an “epicentre” (what else?!). Bolinas is famous for being a hippy hang-out, and indeed someone who looked like “Wurzel Gummidge with war-paint” (I’m quoting Jon here) did drift in. After dinner, we returned to San Francisco, stopping to admire the stars along the way, as there’s no light pollution out there. Photos are available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/day-trip-to-point-reyes/ (password: moocow).