IN 2010?
IT'LL BE HAPPY TIMES FOR US AGAIN!

LIFE IS ALREADY GETTING BETTER SWEETIE!

NEW YEAR'S ON LONG ISLAND!

For a New Year's visit, I took the Catamaran to catch a Red-Eye out of SFO this time. I went to the airport very early as there had been a failed bomber a week before.

As it turned out TSA was about the same. Then again I'm used to the procedures, and was prepared.
I ended up in the last window seat with the middle vacant at the extreme rear of the aircraft. I carried on my down parka and planned to get some sleep overnight. Too bad I ended up with an unexpected late check-in passenger next to me. Could have been worse though. There was the woman with the screaming kid 2 rows up from me. Guess it was OK though, as I know I finally DID get some rest. In the morning, I blearily uncovered my head to this view.

On the ground it was different than the California I had just left. I thought Vallejo was cold with nights dipping to 44º.

On Long Island, 20º days, 12º nights and gusts to 50 were a bit of a shock. I was happy to stay inside working.
I did miss seeing the Cross Country skiers on the snow covered beach with surfers in the back ground.

Here is Sally running away humming.....

NAH NAH NAH NAH.......
NAH NAH NAH NAH.......
HEY HEY HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOO...OOD, BYE MEAN......FIELD!!!!!!

Happily, Sally got her old job back, but she had to work quite a bit while I was there. This trip my 1st official act was to buy a scaffold at the Home Depot 20 miles away. I spent my time scrubbing, scraping, filling, sanding, painting and caulking again. It was worth all the effort.

We done GOOD!
Only a couple more rooms to go now.

ST PATRICK'S DAY IN CALIFORNIA!
Sally was laid off (for now) so she had an extended stay in Sunny California. When I could get some time off, we took the Ferry to San Francisco and had Brunch at SINBAD'S

Eggs Benedict, a Shrimp Melt, and a nice Pinot Grigio. It was a beautiful day and the view of the bay was terrific.

We walked downtown to the Metreon Theater to see Avatar IMAX 3D. DEFINITELY worth it!!
The architechture is very interesting in the park near there. The boat shown is actually a Terrarium of sorts. They placed mud from deep offshore near the Farallon islands in the bottom. Then it was completely sealed. Now it cycles through the life and death of the plants that came from the mud.

While nowhere near as busy as Manhattan, there is ALWAYS something interesting to see in San Francisco. We apparently stumbled upon Bridezilla's wedding party on Union Square.

We worked our way through the entourage to the hidden treasure of the Clift Hotel bar. I was surprised that they had finally put up a sign so you could find the doorway. The entire bar, room and furniture was built from the wood of a single Redwood tree in the 1930's.

Drinks and appetizers were great, but @$15 a pop we took it pretty easy, and saved ourselves for the next stop.

WHICH WAS FARALLON!
Theme here is the ocean depths. The chandelieres are jellyfish.

Note the fishscales and tentacles over the bar. As it was already late, we only had a couple of mango martini's before we had to catch the Ferry home.

Back in Vallejo, we happened upon people soaring over the hills

We ALWAYS take time for a Champagne Sunset here!

And what a beautiful one it was. Even the "Sleeping Lady" of Mt. Tamalpais was looking great!

My friend Dan took his race car out to Infineon, so Naturally we went to give support. With his new tires though, He DID cut an amazing 4 full seconds of his previous times. Unfortunately the following day he missed a shift, over revved the motor and sucked a valve.
He also let us take his HOT convertible SSR for a drive too!

A few days later we had an afternoon Delight at the Dead fish.
The weather was beautiful, and the view was as good as the food and wine!

We watched the world go by from our vantage point in the sun.
After we finished we each threw in a coin and made a wish. Even though our coins hit the surface in two separate areas, they settled to the bottom right beside each other.

We left and worked off our meal with a hike up through Briones park. There was a welcoming committee waiting for us.... At least I THINK they were welcoming us???? Sally wondered where the fences were. We have "Free Range" fun here! Even the Cows are happy! Of course that also means PROVIDING THERE'S NO BULL

The views of the Sacramento river running past Benicia were good, but not for everyone. For us though, it was a great time enjoying the sunny day and each other.

A few days later we took another trip to the city. This time we rode the BART train under the Bay. No, this is the world renowned Cable car to the sky. You know, the San Francisco treat. Speaking of treats, we were heading to Houston's for lunch. We caught an F line Trolley but were told Houston's was no longer there.

Lucky for us the driver said it had merely changed names to Hillstone. Same owner and similar menu, so we gave it a try.
Although there was some confusion of being seated, we eventually got a nice spot looking out onto the Embarcadero. We ordered up a bottle of Pinot Grigio with a wonderful artichoke and cheese dip.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Full, and perhaps a little buzzed, we took advantage of ANOTHER gorgeous day to stroll down along the waterfont towards Fisherman's wharf.

What we really came for was to see the Sea lions. They were so happy to see us again that they waved as we arrived.

As the shadows fell we had a sunset dinner at the Pier Market Across from the Hard Rock Cafe.

A couple days later, we returned to Briones.

This time I'm not so sure the cows were pleased with where we enjoyed our Champagne.

Now it was time for a trip up The Napa Valley.
Destination..... THE Calilfornia Geyser.
However a stop at V. Sattui is ALWAYS a necessity!

The grounds here are very nice, as is the winery. But for me, the real star is the DELI!

So many good things to eat and drink, so little time! There is a small wine museum down in the cellar showing the history behind Sattui.

Incredibly I came back to my HHR and found a very rare SSR just like Dan and Lucy's parked next to us. Only 100 were originally produced in Red.

Nothing like a sunny day to keep you smilin'!
The Salame, cheese, bread and wine made for a heavenly afternoon feast.

Next stop, THE GEYSERS!

Sally started making friends right away. OK, the grain really made the llamas take notice.
But the main event is the geyser. It erupts about every 15-30 minutes all year around shooting steaming hot water over 60' in the air. The time interval and height varies when an earthquake is imminent

After watching all that steamy stuff, we checked into Golden Have Spa to get steamy ourselves.

No photos, but take it from me, we did the whole enchilada. It all began with

followed by

Mud Bath, 104º hot tub soak, herbal wrap with nap, and a massage. We went back to our room the consistency of noodles. And I don't mean Al-Dente either. This is a VERY relaxing place I highly recommend to everyone!

A short drive from here was the Petrified Forest. Ollie Bock bought this property in 1914 after he discovered part of a tree that had "Turned to stone".

The reality is that he found a piece of a much larger buried tree trunk that was blown down in a volcanic eruption 3.4 millions of years before. The water and calcium seeped into the tissue, and as the tree deteriorated away left a perfect replica of the origninal. He began charging 50¢ a person to visit the grove. He used the money to pay geology students helping to unearth the huge trunks. Many are still buried there. It is a great place for a picnic after stopping at Sattui.

On the way back down the Valley, we stopped off at Vintage 1870 for a little window shopping. About the time we were leaving, I spotted one more store we hadn't seen. Napa Style is owned by Michael Chiarello of food network fame. It was full of many interesting and expensive items, but there was one unique thing I never expected to find there. I made eye contact with one of the wine purveyors and said BRE? Her eyes focused, and she said Oh my God you look so familiar. Did we meet on a Celebrity ship? Oh no, much worse I replied. WINDJAMMER she shouted! We hadn't seen her in nearly 5 years, and 5,000 miles. We had a nice visit and toasted to our friends who had passed.

We finished off the day at a TAPAS, (not topless) BAR, ZUZU'S of Napa

It's all small plates here, so we had Ceviche to start off with and pork wraps.

The incredible Lamb chops they call Ice cream cones are to die for, and Kung Fu girl wine was the topper.

STRESS KILLS, AND IN APRIL IT WAS TIME FOR A LITTLE "MENTAL FLOSS"

So I droppped in for a quick visit to the Atlantic Coastline.

And an Appletini or three........... The license plate says it ALL!

Took a trip to the city for the 'Million Dollar Band"

JUNE MEANS HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY!

JetBlue provided some excitement on the flight. Note the weather strip holding the flaps open above the nacelle.

Can you believe a Lawyer owns this VW? We were originally headed to Jordans Lobster farm, but decided to take a stroll around the docks where we had Kayaked the year before. It all began with a chance visit to Paddy McGees.

The seating by the waterway was pleasant, and the people were very friendly. Of course when they announced ½ priced drinks during happy hour we just HAD to check it out. They make some of the best Calamari rings I've ever tasted. Tender and delicious!

CLICK TO SEE THE NORWEGIAN JEWEL TO NASSAU

The next day we caught the Long Island Railroad to the City, then a cab to the Dock.

Due to the trouble we endured for over a year this was a comforting sight indeed.
We found the ship was smiling as if to welcome us aboard.

So we fit right in with shipboard life and began ordering Boat Drinks.

In November Sally came back to California for the gorgeous weather.

She left JFK at 7º and touched down at OAK for 70º! We got a chance to go sailing on a very rare flat and windless day on the San Francisco bay

Even the notorious "Potato Patch" just outside the Golden Gate was calm.

The year came to an end with the magic of Christmas in New York City!

Although it was chilly we stayed warm in each other's arms.

Even the full moon was smiling on us. Sally got us tickets for the world renowned Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Although it was geared towards children the show was a fantastic production of song and dance!

Of course no visit with Ralph is complete without him making a mess somewhere.....

But it all comes back together by the time I leave. Ok, well MOST of it does. Like a good union worker, I gotta leave something to do for next time.

And just in time for the Family to visit.

Christmas at Deedy's was a fun time with the "Queens of the show", Yoda and Gracie!

Although it was sunny most of the time, I got to experience biggest blizzard in 15 years while I was there.
Sally normally gets 3 to 4 inches of snow that doesn't accumulate.
This New Year's she got 3 to 4 FEET and wind gusts up to 50 mph

Thank God for the snowplows.

This is the parking lot at Waldbaums. In the back left, you can see a 4wd is stuck in the snow with the driver trying to dig himself out.

He is behind a 18 wheeler who was already stuck and called for a big wrecker to pull him out.

Unfortunately He also got stuck trying to move the big rig.