Greetings from the Road: Day 9

Peace and Love, San Francisco!

Addie cruised the Mission on Chris' shoulders after grabbing falafel sandwiches for a picnic in Golden Gate Park before going to the new De Young Museum. Refusing to nap in the stroller, the museum trip was a cut short by a very loud girl named Addie, but we did go up to the observation floor in the tower which rewarded us with truly amazing views of the city.


Afterwards, we watched the tango dancers in the bandshell in the park adjacent to the museum before heading back to Chris and Erene's cool loft in SoMa to grill fish and drink wine. Ahhhh.


On our way down from Humboldt Saturday, we had a fun diversion in Napa where we met up with Birthday Boy Ross, Niki (Baby Sawyer's Aunt and Uncle) and the Armstrong's (Sawyer's Grandparents) for a little wine tasting. Happy 3-0 Old Man!

Greetings from the Road: Day 6

Addie is gonna miss the country life. She loves kickin' around in the dust, roaming the redwoods and wreaking havoc on Jason's abode.
Today we romped around the redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants and then treated ourselves to enchiladas at a biker bar slash Mexican Restaurant slash hotel. The Harley biker babes thought Addie was cute and a typically bearded biker dude wanted to know where he could get a pair of Addie's gold sneakers.

I also got to have one of my dreams realized. I saw my first banana slug. Jason feared I'd be disappointed but I was so excited. I've been hunting them since the first time I was in Santa Cruz in 1996. It took me 11 years to finally see one. Sorta looked like the constant stream of Addie boogers that live on her upper lip.


See ya Humboldt County. We're heading back to the land of the ubiquitious Starbucks - San Francisco.

Greetings from the Road: Day 5

Wow. And I thought Santa Cruz had a lot of hippies. It is totally, amazingly beautiful here so I can see why people come to live off the land. I must say I am very thankful for basic modern amenities and thankful that Jason recently transitioned from an outhouse to a composting toilet at the Octagon, his pad about 15 miles outside Garberville in Humboldt County. Funny because the Octagon, as Jason pointed out, is actually a hexagon but who's counting. The super best part of Humboldt County however is the cool black, plastic Casio digital AND analog watch I found on the bank of the Eel River Wednesday.

The best part of my day today though was spent sitting under a giant fir tree perched on an old wooden skid 20 feet from the Octagon. While Addie napped, I cracked the door so I could hear her and then sat on my flat, read Harry Potter, and peered at wild turkeys through my binoculars. Later when Addie woke up we sat together under the fir and played with sticks, bark, moss and pine cones.

Addie is just so amazing and I've been in awe of her this whole trip. She cracks me up everytime she takes a gigantic bite of a banana, so large she can barely close her mouth. And how she says "more" when she wants another bite. I've also learned that Addie can understand so much more than I had imagined. We can tell her not to stand on the furniture or not to touch the food in Jason's open pantry and she'll obey. And how I can ask her to find me a pine cone and she'll go pick one up. She amazed me the other day when we asked her to find the wooden block with the duck and she was able to sort through a small pile to find it. What is perhaps even more amazing, is that it was the caretaker at the b&b in Santa Cruz that showed me this. I guess it does take a village.

Greetings from the Road: Day 3

Cap and I are watching our second episode of Battlestar Galactica in the living room while Miss A snoozes one floor above. We finally found a use for our baby monitor!


Santa Cruz. Same coast, same bulbous slimy kelp, but oh so so so different from Cambria. Addie got to play the bongos in her first street hippy band and eat tofu scramble. After one night in our "funky" b&b I actually feel more at home. For the first 4 seconds I wanted to hop in the car and drive south again but after a walk on the beach, a hike in the redwoods, an insanely good grilled cheese on oatmeal molasses bread and then green tea ice cream, I was rather liking Santa Cruz. Of course, it also helps to hang with Cousin Nicholas and Alisabeth who graciously chowed down on vegan food with us at our b&b after Addie got a bloody lip from an overly rambuncious romp around the restaurant.

Tomorrow we head to Humbold County to stay 3 nights with Cap's pal Jason D.

Greetings from the Road

We're on a California Coast road trip cruising Highway 1. First stop was gorgeous Cambria for one night, and now we're in Santa Cruz staying at a super funky B&B and by funky I mean there is a 2 foot statue of a nude Hercules with a pinhead in our room. Gotta jet to the tidepools before Addie's cabin (B&B) fever explodes.


Fog over the pines at our lodge in Cambria


The beach in Cambria


Vineyards in Paso Robles

Fashion Statement

I've been trying to write a "real" blog post and not just toss in filler photos, but I'm experiencing writer's block. In desperation, I'm posting this photo of, yes, my underwear. I promise it is clean. See how desperate I am?

Addie first carried it around the house arm through the leg hole like it was a fabulous purse. Then she draped it around her neck like a stole and finally it ended up on her head like a chippy little beret.

I apologize for airing my (clean) laundry in public. It was this, or nothing. Maybe I should have gone with nothing.

Dang, those shoes are hot!

Jealous?

I wish I could pull off gold sneakers and pink laces.

no addie here

Sick as a dog all weekend, I hibernated in bed and didn't snap a single photo of Addie. I did emerge however to see The Decemberists play at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic on Saturday night. I love them, and Cap was able to snag 2 tickets even though the show was sold out. Two awesome tickets super duper close to the stage. Doped up on alka seltzer flu, I had an amazing time and practiced shooting night shots on manual settings. Double the fun!

Grandpa Mit and his bad kidneys watched little Miss A. Addie was so excited when he arrived, that she showed off all her new tricks like climbing on the ottoman and handing him every object in sight. How I love having a Grandpa in town.

O! say can you see

Addie done it right. Hot dogs (tofu of course), star spangled plates, best friend Clara and new pal Pearl the Dog.

oh boy

Up on the coffee table. Yup, that's the worst one. We turned our backs and found Addie perched on the ottoman. Soon after she conquered the coffee table in her commando bikini. The next day the coffee table conquered her. Maybe the table was just mad after being smacked with coasters and remote controls and it finally fought back. Don't worry, she'll show that table who's boss.