October-November: Catching up with the Blog

It seems like October went by in a blur. When I looked at the blog site, I realized it's been 6 weeks since I updated it. I returned to San Diego September 24th after an early morning flight from Vermont. I was reminded it is a long flight time across the country. I was feeling quite fortunate to have avoided the colds that Scott, Owen and Annika had come down with while I was in Vermont. My sister Terri and I both dodged it. 

I was happy to get home and recuperate. But then I received a text from the Rahns inviting me to an art show the next day in Carlsbad, about 20 minutes north. The Rahns are always fun and I like art shows so Sunday morning I was on the road.

The art show was fun. A wide variety of art including paintings, wood sculptures, pottery, jewelry, etc. There were many signs prohibiting pictures which I understand. But I was allowed to get a couple for the blog. As we were walking around the art show, my sinuses started bothering me. Felt like allergies. I had already gotten the new COVID vaccine and a flu shot so I wasn't worried. It was quite breezy and I could see pollen blowing around.

Typical ocean paintings

The pictures on the right are done with thousands of tiny little pieces of paper, sort of like a mosaic but the pieces of paper are opaque. Interesting medium. Karen knows the artist. We talked to her about taking a class with her just for fun. We'll see!

After covering the show, we of course we went out for a nice lunch. It was a beautiful day so we sat at a table by a wall that opens to the outside. It was a seafood restaurant and we enjoyed our meals.

I headed home and took my allergy pills which helped. But as the day went on I realized I was getting a cold. I hate to accuse Scott as the origin, but it seems likely. I felt bad about possibly giving it to Karen and Craig. Sadly, Karen came down with the cold the next day! She was pretty gracious about not holding it against me. Craig fortunately avoided getting it.

I have stayed in the same house since I came to Encinitas in June 2020. It is a unit on the second floor of my landlords' home. They are wonderful people and the location of my place is ideal, close to the beach and close to Matt and Wendy. It is fully furnished including pictures. I decided it was time to make the place look more like it was mine. The pictures were nice, but not me.

When I was in Florida I packed up most of my stuff that was still on Yesterday's Dream. I was pretty certain I would be selling the boat to Mychael who has been taking care of it in Marathon. In Ohio, I packed up and sent almost all of my stuff that was still at the Drouhard family farm in Loudonville. Then I did the same at my sister Julie's house in Cleveland. Linda and I had stored some things at her house because we were living on the boat. It wasn't a lot of stuff but it felt good to go through everything and take what I was keeping with me to California. I had some art work, pictures and some sentimental items that I wanted with me. 

Mycheal sent some additional items that were too difficult for me to carry on the plane. One was the certified original Warner Brothers Foghorn Leghorn Sericel, 1995. I always enjoyed the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons with Wendy and Becky when they were kids. Shortly after going to California she bought it for me. We kept it in our aft bunk cabin on the boat. Now it has a happy new home in my living room! Here are a few pictures of my place since I rearranged the furniture and put some of my pictures up. More to come.

Now that I was back home, I set a goal for getting back in shape. We did some serious hiking in Vermont but not much the two previous weeks. I had a three pronged approach. One was walking to the beach and doing the long stairs that are about a mile apart.

The walk down a steep hill
to Swami's Beach

The stairs to Swami's Beach

 

The Stairs at
MoonlightBeach

I was happy to be back riding my bike, although I could tell it had been a while. It doesn't take long to get out of shape. I had to walk up some of the hills I used to ride up.

And then there was my return to our wonderful YMCA. I play pickleball most mornings. There is a group of about 24 people that play regularly. Everyone is friendly and enjoyable. Pickleball is great for improving reflexes and moving in general. But I know it doesn't do much for cardiovascular nor upper body conditioning.

So....  I am trying to stay faithful to doing the weight room three days a week. Its a great weight room with a machine to work on any and all parts of the body. 

My son-in-law Matt helps out at the Challenged Athletes foundation. He was driving a specialized bike up to San Francisco in a truck for one of the athletes. An event started there and ended at San Diego at the end of a week. Matt followed in the truck to handle the bike overnight or if repairs were needed. I went with Matt to help him pick up the bike. The bike is amazing! It was designed by the San Diego State Engineering department for the participant. I should have taken a better picture but you can get the idea. Here is a link for more info. It is an amazing organization. Challenged Athlete Event

 I decided I should check out more of what San Diego has to offer. I drove to Balboa park just to check it out. It's a large complex with several museums and beautiful grounds. I took some pictures outside the Air and Space Museum. It looks quite interesting. It will be a good activity for winter. 

I looked at this jet before I read the sign and wondered, "What the heck are those things that look like skis?" Amazing!

There is still some major construction going on right around me. The house to the south has been completely rebuilt but the yard was in progress. Across the alley across from my balcony they put up an "Additional housing unit." There is such a shortage of housing that CA passed a law that allows home owners to put in an AHU. 

The concrete truck showed up one day to finish the back yard of the house next to me. 

Next a hot tub was installed and a storage shed went up. I believe everything is now finished. Fortunately my windows and balcony are high enough that I see over the top of the neighbors homes.

The additional housing unit behind my place, across the alley, is getting closer to completion. Here is a before picture. 

There is still construction activity on a regular basis. The entire back yard is now the additional housing unit. I can hardly even see the house in front. There is what appears to be a  rooftop deck area going in. 

 

Matt, Wendy and I were waiting for Rebecca's back yard project to be completed so we could visit and see it. The day finally came after the usual construction project delays. 

I went up a day early to stop at the Rahns for a visit and bike ride. The bike ride was once again very enjoyable. We rode on a very nice bike trail along the San Juan River. 

We passed an area where kids have started placing home made bird houses. We've gone by before and the number just keeps growing. It's fun to see them and nice that no one seems to bother them. Unfortunately, as Craig pointed out, the bird houses are so low to the ground that no birds seem to inhabit them. Still fun to see the creativity.

Not far from the Rahns' house along the bike trail, there is a tremendous amount of building going on. There will be single family homes, condominiums and apartments. It seems like construction is springing up everywhere. Fortunately they will preserve the bike trail. 

Karen's "Folded Paper" tree

Karen is still very busy with art projects. She showed me how she made this picture. It is done with folded pieces of paper.  She has a drawer filled with more types and colors of paper than I knew existed. The finished projects are impressive. The framing adds a lot.

Saturday morning I headed to Studio City. I of course took the dogs for a walk. It's always nice to walk around the neighborhood and because it was so close to Halloween it was especially entertaining. Some of the people in Studio City go all out with decorations. 

I was amazed at the number of pumpkins these people had in their display. 

They brought in many bales of hay to put the pumpkins on. I guess they aren't using the garage!

Matt and Wendy arrived so it was time for a tour of the renovated back yard. It looks great. The deck around the swim spa came out great.

A great upgrade was smoothing out the stucco on the garage wall and removing the window. That allowed Rebecca to replace the big screen tarp we had struggled with many times. Because the yard was just coming in we didn't use the outdoor big screen this trip but it will be great next time. 

Very nice lighting makes for a great atmosphere. The ground cover is planted but it will take a while to cover the yard. It's not grass. It's some kind of special ground cover used in Palm Desert.

 I love seeing the roses in Studio City. Many people go all out. Rebecca had this beauty if her front yard.

Just before we went to Studio City, Rebecca discovered that she got free passes for four people to go to Universal Studio. I learned it was because NBC and Universal merged. The passes expired in December. Good timing for us. We visited Sunday and had a fun time. The highlight for me was the castle ride designed to replicate the Harry Potter movies. The Castle is so large I couldn't get far enough away to get it all in the camera. As you wait in line inside the castle there are many displays from the movies. Very fun.

There were many tempting treats available. This particular shop had a wonderful selection of jelly beans and pastries. I bought one of those little pumpkin spice little cakes that was delicious.

There were many opportunities to see Minions. Minions were always Linda's favorites and I had to think she was enjoying them through us. 

Mario Kart is still a favorite for us to play when we get together. There was, of course, a Mario World store. Rebecca tried this headnand on but decided to pass. After all, where would she wear it?

There were a number of costumed characters. Matt, who is always a good sport, got a great picture with Scooby Doo!

As we were walking along, someone spotted the soft serve ice cream stand. Turned out it was better than the average ice cream stand. Rebecca and I settled on multi-berry flavored ice cream cones but Wendy surpassed us. She got a chocolate caramel corn sundae. It was spectacular. Had to think about Grandma Drouhard who loved ice cream, chocolate and caramel corn! I trust she led Wendy to the right choice!.

Steve, Wendy & Rebecca

The caramel corn chocolate sundae

I took other pictures but I found this link that has many great pictures. We all had a fun day!

 Pics of Universal Studio

Matt and Wendy headed for home and I stayed Sunday night. I was in no rush to get home and Sunday afternoons/evenings can be a traffic nightmare. Plus I always enjoy spending time with Rebecca and London and Trevi. Fortunately, Rebecca had time Monday morning before work for us to go to breakfast. I got up early enough to take the dogs for a nice long walk before breakfast. There is a great little out door breakfast place with fantastic food. I had Huevos Rancheros.

It was a great visit. I headed back home Monday morning.

Here is some food for thought.