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.

Oct 1st: Euclid Lake front follow-up and Burlington with the Scott family

 

I added some information to the last blog after I posted it, so here it is again in case you missed it. There were a couple signs explaining some of the restoration work that was completed at the Euclid waterfront. It was great to see the efforts made to keep contaminants out of Lake Erie.

Here is a link that talks about the project. Euclid Erosion project  Also, the video describes the project in depth. The picture of the shoreline includes the end of Julie and Jim's street. (About in the middle of the picture.)  Lake project video

Panoramic view of the main floor

I arrived at my sister Terri's and brother-in-law Scott's house Friday evening. I had not seen it since they finished construction a few months ago. I really liked the house and the setting. Here are a few pictures. Some are panoramic views.

Panoramic view of the backyard
 from the second story deck

The weather forecast for Sunday through Friday was for a lot of rain, but Saturday looked good. So we took full advantage. My niece Stephanie selected a hike for us. She and Scott always picks winners. This was no exception. I took so many good pictures it was ridiculous. I just had to include a lot!

We all thought this sign was quite creative and effective!

Notice how tall the trees are in this picture. It was like we were walking in a canyon.

Some of the leaves were starting to change colors along the edge of this meadow.

We followed the hike with a wonderful lunch at Ideltyme Brewery. The food was excellent. I had one of the best Rueben Sandwiches ever. This is clearly a favorite of the Scott's. Scott was lamenting that he forgot to wear his Ideltyme T-shirt. And I neglected to take a picture! But here's one I got off of the internet. 

Idletyme Brewing Co.

After the hike I had a chance to get together with Chris, Theresa, Annika and Owen. We watched Owen play in a basketball. game. He has grown quite a bit and improved a lot since last year. The seating arrangements did not allow me to get a good picture, but I thought I'd have other opportunities. Turned out I was wrong. We got a call that Annika came down with a cold and would be staying home from school Monday. That meant no soccer game to watch. Then Tuesday, we got word that Owen was also sick. So no more athletic events while I was in town.

We were watching the Monday weather forecast closely. It looked like Terri and I could squeeze in a kayak ride at Stephanie's house, which is on Lake Arrowhead. It looked a little iffy, but it was going to be rainy the whole week I was here. So away we went. The kayaking was excellent. Stephanie's place is a natural wonderland. The pictures say it all. The pictures of her place are from last year when it was sunny, but the kayaking pictures are current.

This is a picture of Lake Arrowhead, taken from Stephanie's deck. The tower had an osprey nest last year and an eagles' nest this year.

We walk downhill on Stephanie's long driveway to get to the water and the kayaks.

This picture is taken from the back of her property toward the storage barn on the right and the house further back on the left. Stephanie, with some help from Scott and Terri, planted that entire field with wild flowers.

Snapping turtles make the long trek up to this backyard area to lay their eggs. Once in a great while Stephanie can spot a newly hatched turtle heading to the water. It is a long treacherous journey given the eagles, osprey, and other predators. She spotted this little guy the day before we arrived and she gave it a free ride to the safety of the water. The turtle is about 2 - 3 inches long, quite tiny!

Newly hatched snapping turtle.

The picture below was taken from my kayak across the lake looking toward Stephanie's house. There is a large marsh in the middle which is fun to paddle around and through. You can see the osprey/eagle tower also in the picture in front of her house.

We enjoyed the kayaking despite the cloudy and sometimes rainy conditions. We turned around to head back three times when it started raining, but then stopped and turned back around. We were able to finish our chosen route without getting completely soaked. 

Great Blue heron

We saw wood ducks from a distance, a kingfisher, an egret, several great blue herons, as well as a few other birds. The picture of this blue heron is an indication of the weather, it's all hunched down and it let me get close enough to get this picture.

Purple loosestrife 

There were very few flowers still blooming but these very pretty purple/pink flowers seemed to be growing all over. Terri identified them as Purple Loosetrife. Unfortunately, it is an invasive species that have a negative impact on wetlands. Purple Loosestrife impact

The lake is very nice for kayaking because there are large open areas but also many little channels, like the one below, which kept us out of the wind.

There is quite a variety of natural beauty. Here are just a couple samples.

Typical marsh water path

Monarch butterfly chrysalis

When we got back to Stephanie's house she had returned from her run. She showed us a Monarch butterfly chrysalis she had been watching. A couple days later it disappeared so hopefully the butterfly is on its way to Mexico!

Joint birthday celebration - 2019

September 20th is Linda's birthday. In the past, because we were often travelling, we had a joint birthday party for Linda (9/20th), Wendy (8/8th) and Rebecca (7/23rd). 

Terri was on top of it and suggested we celebrate Linda's birthday with some desserts from Mirabelles bakery. We of course all agreed. We rationalized that we were going to try to beat the rain once again by hiking on the causeway on Lake Champlain. Then we'd go to the bakery.

Once again the forecast was iffy but the sky didn't look too bad. We had a short hike through the woods to get to the causeway and then walked along the lake. After hiking a mile or so along the lake we heard thunder. Hmmm! Seemed like it was pretty far away so we kept walking. We saw some darker clouds coming toward us and decided it was time to turn around. Scott had earlier decided he was not going as far as Terri and I. Terri walks a very fast pace, which happily I was able to keep up with. Of course the rain caught us before we got to the protection of the woods about 10 minutes away. We walked very fast and got to the car just before the downpour started. My wonderful brother-in-law had gotten to the car ahead of us so he picked us up at the opening of the trail. Scott, Terri and I all got a little wet but not soaked. We were happy with our decision to go for it.

So now it was on to the well deserved bakery. We bought a chocolate raspberry mousse cake, but then I saw the chocolate eclairs, one of Linda's favorites. So I added that to the purchase. Then I noticed an unfamiliar item. It was a glazed, Mexican, chocolate, little pull apart cake. Had to try that also! (I was told the Mexican cake was not spicy so I thought I'd try it. It was just okay. The cake and the chocolate eclair were top notch!) We had a toast to Linda and enjoyed our treats. There was enough cake left to share with Chris, Theresa, Owen and Annika at a seafood dinner we planned for Friday.

Then Scott started getting a cold. It seemed like he was getting worse by the hour, because he was! There was a lot of sneezing and coughing. Terri and I tried to stay away, but we had all been together in the house and car for several days. We had a major kayaking event planned Wednesday at Green Reservoir. Chris and Stephanie were joining Terri and I. Scott is not into kayaking so we left him home sneezing and coughing! 

Launching the kayaks

It was cloudy but there was no rain forecast. The reservoir is very protected, no houses nor cottages nor motor boats. We carried the kayaks to the water and embarked. As you can see from Terri's outfit, it was neither hot nor sunny. But it was warm enough.

 A few trees had started to change colors.
 

Chris brought fishing poles for us which was fun. We each caught some bass and pickerel. They all were released.

 We were paddling along when we heard some loons calling. Then a little while later we heard them calling loudly and excitedly. Stephanie spotted a bald eagle in a tree that the loons did not like. I was able to record the loons. (You can't see them in the video. Turn your volume on to hear them.) It's always fun to hear loons calling. 

We saw several loons while kayaking. We're not supposed to get too close so the picture is a little fuzzy but I got a good look at these as they were swimming toward me. They are both juveniles so the coloration is different than the typical very distinctive black and white. 

We kayaked for several hours. It was very enjoyable. I was hoping the sun would come out to enhance the colors but that didn't happen. It was just that kind of weather week! At least it didn't rain!

Beaver lodge

We were somewhat separated when Chris went around a corner and we heard a big splash. We were looking around to see what it could be. Then we spotted a very large beaver lodge. The splash was obviously the beaver smacking the water with its tail. I figured it went into its lodge but then we saw it just floating near shore

I figured it went into its lodge but then we saw it just floating near shore

It was not very skittish. It just watched us for a while and then crawled up a bank into some bushes. 

Beaver tail

His tail was hanging out into the water. (In the picture, what looks like a double tail, is actually a reflection in the water.) The beaver was huge. The largest any of us had ever seen. It was the hit of the day.

Here are some interesting and fun facts about beavers.

The American Beaver

Also, here are a lot of pictures of the reservoir. Green Reservoir, VT

Christopher and I enjoy sea food a lot. Therefore we planned a seafood dinner Friday night. The kids were back in school and Scott was feeling pretty good. We picked up swordfish for an appetizer, and lobster for the main course. That afternoon Chris called and said now Theresa was getting the cold. Well at least Theresa doesn't like seafood so she wasn't going to mind missing that. Stephanie, also not a sea food fan, decided she was staying away from all the germs! The rest of us got together for a great dinner.

I had an early morning flight from Burlington because it was by far the best flight. Terri was good enough to drive me to the airport at 5:00 AM. I was connecting at O'Hare in Chicago, always scary. But all went well. Having in theory, gained 3 hours, I arrived home at 12:45 California time. Having gotten up at 4:15 AM it didn't feel like I gained 3 hours!