retired from what?

It isn't easy getting away from the familiar. I won't bore you with a list of all the things that are the same between any two western countries. Those things have been well enumerated, thus one must find fun in the little differences, like what gets served as an airline salad. Yum! eXtra tentacles.  It was a long travel day but all went smoothly and in Amsterdam and thus far in Portugal we have never had to use hand signals and drawings like we often had to back when we wuz young.  Tomorrow we head south to the water and begin our adventures an Andalucia. 

More views from the left coast with bits of narration. Below, at a stop in Big Sur where the chairs are actually in the creek. Talk about chillin. There were many beachside stops. We saw whales, but only as large dark lumps that barely surfaced for air, and one black fin swimming alone that I think was a shark. When we stopped for picnic lunch, we also saw this memorial. She was 19. How it happened, why here, these are things we do not know but it's sad and sobering all the same. No one should have to bury their child. On a jolly note, the elephant seals were stinky and hilarious. Two would suddenly rise, bob and weave at each other with loud yelling and aggressive actions and then just stop and fall back asleep. This happened over and over up and down the beach while others seals just slithered over their sleeping pals who seemed not to notice.  I don't often say "Oh look, a flea market. Let's stop."  But I did in Santa Cruz.   But in the end, it was a grey vacay...

In every trip there are so many photos without obvious places in the narrative. Here are some.  We begin with more from Ai Weiwei at Alcatraz. So glad to have had the opportunity to see this show, which closed today.                                      It is easy to forget that California had a long history before it became a state. San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey (below) was founded by Father Junipero Serra on June 3, 1770, on the shores of Monterey Bay, as the cornerstone of his Mission. A year later, Fr. Serra moved the Mission to Carmel. The church remained as a Royal Chapel for the soldiers guarding the new Spanish Presidio of Monterey. The present sandstone church was completed in 1794. The significance of San Carlos cannot be overstated. It is the oldest continuously functioning church and the first stone building in the State of California. It is California’s first cathedral and ...

Headed on down from Monterey and saw another friend who left Michigan for California in the 70s but this time 'twas someone we'd not seen in 37 years. He was still a couple of degrees (literally) from finding his career and now he's retired!  Meet Mike, y'all.  We went to the beach and enjoyed his cooking and talked and talked and then talked some more at lunch the next day that lasted 3 hours. Mike is one  example of how a technology has changed who we think of as friends.  We stumble across friends of friends we knew briefly in real life and get to know them again. A work aquaintence from the past can become a true confidant via email.  We become friends (or at least "friends") with people we barely remember from high school.  I used to think it odd, the people in our lives who are there in an "e" way. Now I just shrug that that is how modern life goes and I'm glad for it. 

There has been for some time a trend in America for old school motels and motor courts to be purchased by folks from India and run as a family business. This led to some moteliers to post signs saying "American Owned" which was of course code for owned by white people because Americans come in all flavors, but you know that. When traveling NOT for work, we seek out the NOT chain places and if they have some 20th Century charm, all the better. We are completely comfortable doing this because our experience has been that the new owners toss a bunch of money into their motor motels in all the right places, like good mattresses, nice sheets and double glazed windows. But they don't replace the things that don't need replacing.  I'm in love with the salmon colored porcelain!  As far as we are concerned, this is a very positive trend. Comfort, charm, originality and a bit of nostalgia all at prices that vastly beat the chains. And do I love it when we get a cabin? You k...

I took the train.  Thought I was leaving early, but the Caltran car I stepped into was packed with Giants fans in full regalia on their way to the game.  A dad with his 2 young sons (both with those black anti-glare strips high on their cheeks - cum SF logo) found a seat and revealed an elderly couple, stone-faced with concentration, wrapped in fleece team blankets.  There were 4 middle-aged guys a few rows back arguing over the best seats per dollar at AT&T Park.  Must have been half the riders going to the game on the 9:53 northbound for a 12:45 first pitch!  Including the 2 young dudes at the far end, each in $95 Posey jerseys, about to finish off their PBR Tallboys (based on how far they were tipping 'em back). Apparently everybody meets beneath the Say Hey Kid... My favorite inscription, attributed to a SF sportswriter:  "The only person who could have caught that ball, hit it." Not exactly a koan...but certainly worth meditating on for a moment or...

The Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Yes, there were other sea creatures but the octopuses and their kin were too dark to photograph, I've seen plenty of fish and nothing is as amazing as jellyfish.