Flagstaff visit (October 8-10, 2011)

After breakfast at Macy's (10/10)

[Reminder, per new "Lightbox" feature, clicking any photo will bring up all photos for review in enlarged fashion (though without captions) in an overlay (as explained here).]

As discussed at greater length here (and also here), we've long enjoyed going up to the Flagstaff area about this time of year.  Typically to visit Lockett's Meadow and take a look at the aspens changing color.  But a 2010 fire led to flooding that closed the road up to the Meadow.  So this year we had to improvise a bit.

Inside Macy's . . . folks in line, always.

Lots of waiting for the train when walking around downtown Flagstaff.

I'm a huge fan of Flagstaff.  It still seems amazing that one can get in the car here in the Sonoran Desert, and alight up in pine trees in just two hours.  And the town now has plenty of fine restaurants; the old downtown is a pleasure to wander around; the university and hippie communities create a certain flavor; etc.

Kachina Trail (10/9)

PJ among the aspens, Kachina Trail (10/9)

A cold front had swept through the area a couple days before we arrived, and was just clearing out as we hit town on Saturday morning.  Snow had fallen down to about the 8000 foot level (meaning nothing in town).  So the weather was great - no precipitation, the storm had cleared the air so that visibility and clarity were optimal, cool but not uncomfortably so.

nearing trailhead (Kachina Trail (10/9))

from hotel parking lot (Humphrey's Peak)

When we hit town on Saturday, we were looking for lunch (after an early check-in at a thoroughly serviceable Quality Inn (same one we used with the kids several times years ago)).  Ended up at Criollo Latin Kitchen - really enjoyed the place.  Enough to where - out of six possible lunches and dinners on our trip - we ate there four times.  Favorites included the pork belly tacos; patacon (beef over fried plantains); pork dinner entree; not to mention Dale's Pale Ale.  Nice atmosphere in the place, thoroughly reasonable pricing, the kind of flavors we really appreciate, top quality all around.

Had delightful breakfast both mornings at Macy's European Coffee House - it lived up to rave reviews.  Still trying to figure out how they did the egg-on-croissant treat.  Wonderful coffee, great little place.

Also had dinner at Josephine's (more of a fine dining experience, good but we weren't moved) and a Sunday lunch at Lumberyard brewery (solely to squeeze a bit more suffering out of the Cardinals' wretched loss to a wretched Viking team, ugh).

Criollo Latin Kitchen (10/10)

Walked the downtown area a few different times and enjoyed going through the shops.

Pork belly tacos (Criollo Latin Kitchen)

Criollo Latin Kitchen

Hiking:  decided the Kachina Trail (trailhead up near Snow Bowl) was the right mix of moderate exercise and fine views.  It was just delightful up there - plenty warm, plenty of snow on the ground for great visuals, plenty of sunshine, an interesting trail with more big boulders and overlooks than I recalled.

Patacon (Criollo Latin Kitchen) . . . so good . . .

Walnut Canyon on a gorgeous late afternoon (10/10)

Things being so fine, we decided to stick around all day Monday (10/10); I went to the beautiful public library to do some work, then we had lunch (at Criollo).  Took a bit of a road trip out to Walnut Canyon - we've visited numerous times but don't get tired of this.  Had never taken the short rim trail before - very beautiful as we were approaching sunset.  Final dinner (at Criollo) and back home.

Rim Trail (Walnut Canyon) (10/10)

Rim Trail (Walnut Canyon) (10/10)

From Rim Trail (Walnut Canyon) (10/10)

Not-so-wildlife

This healthy fellow caught my eye yesterday while I was slaving away working in my home office.

Second time I've seen him wandering through the 'hood in the last couple weeks.

He looks really well fed; perhaps Smokey; perhaps Jo-Jo will encounter him (I'm hoping, in a nice way)?

I'm using masculine pronouns but haven't confirmed.

Lightbox!

Google - which provides the platform for my blogs - recently provided what I think is a neat upgrade for photo viewing.

Under the "old" system - you could click on a photo to enlarge it.  Then you needed to hit the "back" button on your browser to return to the blog.

Under the "new" system - named "Lightbox" - you can click on any photo in a post, and all photos in that post become available for viewing in a large overlay.  Click on any photo appearing in the overlay to be taken to the next photo.  When you're sick of looking at the photos, just close the overlay (using the typical "X" in upper right hand corner).

In addition to new posts, this feature will work for all previously-published posts (or so I'm told).

I like the feature. (I've been trying to incorporate embedded slide shows for posts with multiple pictures, but haven't much liked that approach.)

D'backs playoff game (October 5, 2011)

We (me, PJ, Chris, PJr, Nedda, PJr's friend (Alan)) attended game four of the NLDS between Diamondbacks and Brewers on October 5, 2011.  This was our second post-season venture in recent years, four years to the day since the last one (see here for description of 2007 outing v. Cubs).  And our second in-season venture to the ballpark (see here). 

pre-game view; we arrived very early.  I like this vantage point.

Diamondbacks looked weak in Milwaukee and had fallen behind two games to zip; not a good thing in a five-game series.  But they had won on Tuesday night, extending the series to game four.

Maybe because of the weak start to the series and uncertainty about getting to game four; maybe just because; the place wasn't filled.  But it certainly was quite loud.  The team gave away 35,000 black T-shirts for what was billed as a "black-out" (complementing the team wearing black uniforms) - I can't say it was terribly effective.  All in all:  we enjoyed the game a bunch - long, lots of scoring, Ryan Roberts grand slam, just a nice outing.  For a full description of the game, see here.

In response to the Brewers' "beast mode" antics, the Diamondbacks (via Miguel Montero) offered up a "snake bite" mode.  An amiable Brewers fan sat beside me, and patiently endured multiple "snake bite" attacks from PJ as the Diamondbacks thrived throughout the game.

The D'backs ended up losing the series on Friday in Milwaukee - many missed opportunities. 

It was a ridiculous season in many respects - a team that had lost 90+ games two years in a row, looked awful in spring training, looked awful on paper, played awful for the first six weeks.  Then caught fire and somehow won 94 games - very entertaining throughout.  The team brought up this kid named Josh Collmenter - a/k/a Chainsaw Jim Duggan (or whatever) - perhaps the single biggest factor.

Return to Montreal and Quebec City (September 9-16, 2011)

L'Echaude' (Quebec City)

PJ and I first visited Montreal and Quebec City in September 2009.  We had such a delightful time in 2009 that we decided on a pretty quick return trip.  Even better the second time around.

Based on the 2009 trip, I posted descriptions of Montreal (here); Quebec City (here); and some of the churches we visited (here).  Those descriptions are pretty much on target, so I won't repeat them.

stuff tastes better when on a menu written in French

Some observations about the 2011 trip:

1.  We added a day in each city (compared to 2009 schedule) - well worth it.  Same hotels - would gladly repeat both.

PJ at our table inside Barroco (first night in Montreal).  I really like this photo.

2.  While we didn't experience any serious hassles in 2009, familiarity with the area made the 2011 trip incrementally easier and more enjoyable.  We had a better feel for French words - English translation generally available, but not on road signs.  We're getting better with menus.

inside St. Patrick's (Montreal)

Sunday afternoon view from atop Mont-Royal (Montreal)

3.  Surprisingly (given high quality in 2009), we ran into better restaurants this time around.  This was particularly the case in Montreal - three unbelievable dinners (Barroco, Bocata and Gard-Manger).  Each in the old port area; each in old stone buildings with the thick walls; great lighting, difficult to get reservations, inventive food, delightful.  Gard-Manger is interesting - no sign, no menus - just a few items scribbled on a chalkboard.  Seating for maybe 40; folks outside clamoring to get seated.  Some of this is due to buzz associated with the chef's TV show, but we felt the food was off the charts.  Restaurant jammed, loud music mix, delightful.  Barroco was a small-plate concept - just delightful.  As to both cities:  where do they source the fresh ingredients?  Wow.

4.  Walked all the way from our Sunday lunch spot up to Mont-Royal; then returned to the hotel via what passes for Montreal's Chinatown.  Fantastic urban walk with payoff views of the St. Lawrence and downtown.  Plus we got to walk with Montreal Alouette fans celebrating a big win over Edmonton, or somebody in the CFL.

inside Notre Dame Cathedral (Montreal)

Lunch - 300-year-old converted mill, St. Laurent, Ile d'Orleans

churches on Ile d'Orleans are perched on the water - stark

5.  Did a better job in Quebec City of getting away from the tourist areas - Rue St. Joseph in particular had some interesting restaurants.  Required lots of walking - all enjoyable.

6.  Returned to L'Echaude' in Quebec City - recalled the maitre'd from 2009, he went out of his way to make the dinners delightful (yes, there's something about comp'd champagne).  Duck confit and veal dishes were amazing.  He touted their blood sausage (black pudding) but we weren't quite up to ordering this as an entree - so he arranged tastings of this on two nights - excellent. 

7.  Something completely different - traveled to Ile d'Orleans - easy and quick trip from Quebec City (15 minutes or so).  This small island apparently always was agricultural.  Now it's full of small farms - fruits, apples, cider, cheeses, chocolates, wineries, six small towns each with its own church.  You can drive around the island in about an hour, great river views throughout.  Had a wondrous lunch at a 200+-year-old converted mill - fresh-caught salmon; Quebec wine; dessert (cheesecake) with coffee - old stone building, we were there during a heavy rain - it was easy to let your imagination run to old France itself.  Stopped at a cider place - they're entertaining and making wonderful drinks.

leaving the winery on Ile d'Orleans; St. Lawrence river and Quebec proper ahead - gorgeous . . .

Doing work at Domaine Steinbach cidery (Ile d'Orleans)

Notre Dame des Victoires (Quebec; walking back from L'Echaude')

8.  PJ is a good travel companion.

9.  Only one really rainy day on the entire trip (other than a bit of rain while we were on the island) - we were walking around Quebec - stopped in an unlocked church (St. Dominic's) - stayed for noon Mass in French.  Nice. Later that day had a wondrous lunch at Clocher Penche.

street scene outside our hotel (Quebec City)

10.  I remain fixated on Willa Cather - and really like this book about old Quebec City - it entirely gets my imagination going.  Jacques and Cecile went into Notre Dame des Victoires to get out of the rain, and sledded on Cap Diamante.  The apothecary shop was on one of the streets connecting the upper town with the lower town.  On their trip to Ile d'Orleans, Cecile and Pierre circled the island and landed at St. Laurent (where we had lunch). 

Bistro du Cap - delightful dinner - seated maybe 20 max?  (Quebec City)

Etc.

11.  We'll happily return.  Not sure when - there are other spots to visit . . . 

25 years in AZ

Today is the 25th anniversary of our moving date to Arizona.

Yes, it's almost impossible to believe that much time has passed.

Top photo:  8/27/86, morning photo, our three intrepid movers pose with the truck.

Middle photo:  8/27/86, afternoon photo, CPG in the emptied-out living room.

Bottom photo:  8/27/86 nighttime photo after arrival at Phoenix hotel (Embassy Suites on Thomas Road).  EPG (four weeks old) is included in this photo, though not in a very photogenic pose.

Unseasonably cool weather in Minnesota that day - the kids were feeling cold given the need to keep the doors open for the movers.  We had packed away everything except their travel clothes so put them into adult stuff, as best we could, for a couple hours during the day.  Our flight landed in Phoenix at night at "Terminal One" (long since closed) - had to descend to the tarmac via stairway in late August heat - we remember feeling the contrast.

Soon enough it was time for (1) PJ to set up the fam in temporary housing in a NE Phoenix condo; (2) NMG to enter Liberty Elementary for kindergarten; (3) me to head off to Del Webb Corporation for new job; and (4) all of us to pursue many AZ adventures.

Interesting tastes, interesting visuals

PJ and I (armed with coupon) tried Roka Akor on Friday.  A few thoughts:

1.  Not normally the type of restaurant we/especially me prefer - everything is overdone.  Corporate place, carefully and perfectly designed interior, showy valet parking, overly attentive and cheerful staff, please leave me alone.

2.  That being said, everyone was quite cheerful, plus PJ looked very nice for herself.  It was a pleasant evening.

3.  Japanese beers just aren't that great (based on a sample of about three over these many years).  But the labels look really cool.  See picture of bottle of the "microbrew" rice lager that I had - 500ml bottle - Koshihikari Echigo.

4.  We were sitting in the area that immediately surrounds the kitchen.  Struck up a conversation with one of the folks back there, and he comp'd us an appetizer - grilled shishito peppers "with ponzu and bonito flakes".  Never heard of this, though I think respectable foodies would be in the know.  Lots of flavor, not too hot at all, I have no idea what ponzu or bonito flakes might be.  But it looked great, and we really enjoyed.

5.  The shishito peppers, and our entrees, were robata-grilled.  Whatever the technique, it worked.

D'backs - Mets (August 13, 2011)

 Our local heroes have exceeded expectations all year, and currently lead their (admittedly weak) division by two games.  CPG, PJr, PJ and I headed out to the ballpark Saturday evening to check things out.

Great seats in second row in left field bleachers - we all liked the vantage point.  It was "Bark in the Park" promotion, featuring a fine doggy parade just prior to game time (and right in front of we fans in left field).

Great seats in second row in left field bleachers - we all liked the vantage point.  It was "Bark in the Park" promotion, featuring a fine doggy parade just prior to game time (and right in front of we fans in left field).

Walked to dinner at Hanny's downtown after the game; then home for unspeakable Euchre games; fun night (except for the last part).

CA trip (August 4-7)

PJ and I made a quick trip over to California.  We much enjoyed last year's visit to Laguna Beach, so decided on a repeat.  Plus it gave an opportunity to visit EPG in nearby Santa Monica.

Easy trip over, we even managed to get an early start.  Mina accompanied us (she was visiting relatives in the area) so had a good chance to chit-chat, the trip went by very quickly.  Weather was absolutely delightful.  We pretty much reprised last year's experiences:  lots of walking on the beach, in the town, in the neighborhoods; lots of sitting on the balcony watching the ocean run up right to us (had the same room as last year); lots of (successful) looking around for interesting restaurants.  Revisited 230 Forest and Nick's; also had good luck at a new place (Asada) though they had to keep comping stuff for us as they screwed up orders and even spilled a bit on PJ.

Friday night's long walk on the beach was particularly fun (we landlubbers even saw several dolphins from not-too-far range), though both evenings had wonderful sunsets.   Great change of pace and weather.

Drove up to Santa Monica on Saturday.  Patrick had a good lunch idea - right overlooking the ocean in the Shangri-La hotel; then we walked the beach area awhile, then rested back at his apartment.  He's made quite a bit of progress furnishing the place, including what has turned out to be a remarkably uncomfortable (though quite nice looking) sofa and loveseat.  So we wandered around shopping for a replacement - eventually located what we all thought was a great set of stuff for his apartment, at what we all thought was a quite fine price.  So that was fun.

Dinner at our old favorite - La Bottega - where they seem to know EPG quite well.  We had enjoyed the food and beer there on our last trip back in late January. 

EPG had a great idea for Sunday:  visit the Getty Center - just a few minutes from his apartment.  As first-time visitors, we were really surprised at the beauty of the setting, the quality of the buildings, the size of the complex, the free admission, etc.  Even the tram ride up is fun.  We will need to stop at this place in the future, as it would require quite a bit of time to get through the various areas.  This was fun.  I'm posting a few low quality photos of art items over here.

Then the trip was over, all too soon, we said goodbyes and headed back to Phoenix.  Another easy trip; unsuccessful stop at the outlet malls; excellent dinner at the Rokerij.

Visiting KHG! (July 21 - 25, 2011)

Some time ago, Chris planned a lengthy trip to Virginia to visit (and stay with) Kerry, spend time with the Jackshaws, etc. (He also pledged, if loosely, to visit Lancaster, but that's another story.) At any rate: over the course of the last couple months prior to his visit, the entire rest of the family, pretty much one by one, made plans to join the fun for the final weekend of that visit. Thus we all (including POC and, now, Nedda) found ourselves in Kerry's apartment in Arlington, VA as of the evening of Thursday, July 21, 2011.

Also in attendance was Kerry's saintly-though-uncanonized roommate (Christina).

And the fun began.



(I will note that the weather was very hot and humid - up to 102 - but didn't end up affecting things very much. In weather terms, it was a relief to get back to Phoenix - which doesn't often happen in July.)

Very nice, very memorable visit. Dinner at the apartment on the night of everyone's arrival (Thursday 7/21) - Chris was heavily involved in making Tinga pork, Kerry had nice beverages for us (including Chimay for me, with glassware (which is important!)). And we celebrated POC's birthday with (berry) cake (successfully made by Kerry) and ice cream. Then some ping pong and pool downstairs in the community room (if I'm keeping the days straight).

A very nice adventure for Friday lunch: a place that serves fresh crabs (Quarterdeck, right in Arlington). I'm not quite sure how these were prepared; I do know (1) they were ordered by the dozen; (2) must have been boiled?; (3) some tasty seasonings that looked like dirt but tasted awesome; (4) it is an adventure to pound these things with a mallet, open them up, discard brains, lungs and guts; (5) they tasted wonderful. So this was a great idea on K's part, and definitely something we don't see in AZ. Nicole and POC treated (a substantial treat, let's say).

Friday evening: Patrick treated to a Potomac River cruise - had conspired with the locals to make arrangements. Warm evening, but that actually felt nice once we started moving on the river. A delightful route - various of the monuments are visible, we venture down toward the (pretty) new Washington Nationals stadium, etc. There is definitely something about getting out on the river with a beverage or two, it promotes conversation and was just a nice time. Pizza back at the room - great stuff - then enjoyed the ping pong and pool tables; then back to the room for a game I had never heard of ("apples to apples"). Large group of players, quite fun (even if I was robbed by at least two judges). Steve Jackshaw was the surprise(d) victor, though some scoring shenanigans were a factor.

Saturday was the only day we made it down to the Capitol Mall - a subgroup (Chris, Paul Jr., Nedda and me) took the metro in mid-afternoon. I had wanted mostly to go to the National Gallery - that would have worked better had I checked its hours - we only were able to spend about a half hour before getting kicked out at 5p. Also spent time at the national history museum, then the American history museum - section about military stuff was pretty compelling, I thought. Unoriginal concept: the more you read about things, the more interesting they become. Among other things, I much liked a Viet Nam war setup shown on multiple video screens displayed in period TV sets - nice, and evocative. Nice burger place for dinner.

Sunday - among other things, a few of us (PJ, Kerry, Christina, Nicole, me) went to Eastern Market - I can see why Kerry and Christina like it. Had absolutely delightful crepes for breakfast and walked the area until overtaken by the heat. Enjoyable mid-day consisting of food, euchre games, some video game about Twilight; then Nicole and POC had to leave. In the evening: Kerry had reserved the community room - worked perfectly - we ordered in Thai food. Richard Frank stopped by; also Allen and Heather Gibby and daughter (who was knock-out cute and well behaved). Charlie, Beth and Mark arrived about halfway through. Among other things: celebrated Patrick's 25th birthday a few days early. And it was fun to sit around talking. Then switched to euchre games until we were kicked out at 11p. Chatted on Kerry's nice patio for awhile and considered it a fine day.

Monday was travel day. Christina took Chris to airport very early; Kerry (with PJ and me) took Patrick to airport somewhat early; Richard came by, also Charlie, Beth and Mark; lunch at Cosi; enjoyed a bunch of conversation and a bit more euchre (CCG and me providing some instruction to the youngsters). Kerry ran Nedda to the airport (Reagan), then ran PJ and me to Dulles. End o' trip, sad to be leaving Kerry behind.

Kerry has a delightful apartment, and shares it with a delightful roommate. It's hard to describe the degree of disruption that we imposed on these folks, and the degree of graciousness and generosity with which they managed the disruption.

Only wish we had blocked out more time for this trip.

A lot of people seem very happy about this engagement

And you can definitely put PJ and me right at the top of the list.

Photo taken in Santa Monica, CA on 7/13/11, courtesy of EPG.

Haboob

This video (and other similar videos) has been widely distributed but I want to post it here so I don't forget about how impressive this looked. We've had a "haboob" or three during our time in AZ, but either they didn't look this massive, or the photographers weren't as effective. The time-lapse method is great for this.



At our house: no storm, but it looked like a very heavy fog had rolled in. Highly unusual. In the morning we could see that absolutely everything is covered in dust. The newly-refinished streets in our little subdivision no longer look black (despite the efforts of the street sweeper shown in left photo below, which mostly just stirred up the dust) (and note all the dirt on my office window).

I had gone hiking at 40th street earlier that evening, and bottom right photo shows the mildly ominous look of the sky at that time.

July 4th weekend (hotel/concert)

OK, all our activities were over by 11p July 3, and PJ worked a full shift on July 4. But it still felt like a fine 4th of July holiday weekend.

We revived an old practice (maybe even a "tradition") by staying over at a Scottsdale hotel for the holiday. The revival was instigated by Chris and Paul Jr, who figured out that the event (last held in 2002, we think) probably wouldn't happen again unless they made the reservation themselves. So, we were on. Arrived July 1. Parked beside a 2003 Kia which we correctly interpreted to mean that Patrick had shown up (unannounced) all the way from Santa Monica. It's not easy to pull off a surprise, but he did it. Once his mother recovered from the shock, we checked into the room, went to the happy hour (the property does draw an interesting, shall we say, crowd), to dinner at the onsite restaurant, out for a little swimming, and back to the room for a little euchre to finish off the day.

Full day at the hotel on July 2. The breakfast hasn't changed. Card-playing marathon; Nedda and Pat H joined in. Lunch. Some swam, the older folks napped a bit. Mary Beth joined us later in the afternoon. Back to the manager's reception. Sat outside by the pool and listened to "live music" after happy hour each night - it was not unpleasant, but gosh what a gig for the performers ("entry level" minus, I'd say). July 2 was the hottest day in Phoenix in several years (118F). Had a delightful dinner at Roaring Fork - right within walking distance - this place has a wonderful happy hour menu available all evening in summer. The green chile pork stew is the star of the show. Ate PJ's fancy holiday dessert (pictured above), played a bunch more cards, tried to teach Nedda euchre (but I think perhaps she was teaching us).

Checked out Sunday 7/3 after breakfast - just a delightful weekend, and it was v. nice EPG made the road trip.

It happened that Paul Jr. had bought four tickets for a Jeff Bridges concert at the Biltmore hotel in the evening of 7/3 - the music from the movie "Crazy Hearts" was quite fine, and the guy is now releasing an album. So PJ and I attended with he and Nedda; we were in the first row behind the tables thanks to the intercession of someone they knew from Greenberg. Nice setting, nice music, nice evening; Jeff B wasn't really effective at communicating with the audience so that was a small minus. Dinner at Rokerij.

PJ and I appreciated being treated to the hotel and to the concert.