Our California Adventure The End (Until the Next Time We Go!)

We started our wine tasting day out with lunch at Thornton Winery (also known as "The Champagne Place"). There was a great group of us at a huge table sharing food, wine and conversation. It was so wonderful to see a few folks that I have not seen in over five years; namely, Sue and Dan M. (Sue was my first secretary as an HRD; her husband still works as a (retired) contractor for NOC) and Alberto (friend Patrick's S.O.) Gill, my former boss (from the Plessey Microwave Materials days) also joined us. Rounding out the group was Kathleen (Don had to work), Patrick, Peri, Michael and us. Unfortunately, a few folks that said they'd be there were not able to come. But, as it turned out, that was probably just as well as the size of our group was large enough!

Me and Sue and lunch (I look like a dope!)

After lunch we said good-bye to Sue and Dan (not wine drinkers) and the rest of us went to four wineries off the beaten track that Michael had picked out for us. I'd been to one of them before but not the others.

First off was Keyways (this was the one we'd been to before). Thankfully, this place and the three we went to after were not very crowded at all. We were able to all pretty much stand around the counter and chit chat while tasting. As we'd already purchased a case of wine when we were at Ponte the previous week with Don and Kathleen, this excursion was definitely more about visiting while sipping wine as opposed to sipping wine for the purpose of buying (with one exception, the second winery we visited, more on that in a second).

Alberto and Patrick at Keyways

Add in Michael and Peri!

Me and former boss Gill at Keyways

After Keyways, we went to our favorite of the day, Robert Renzoni. They make wines in the Italian style and there were several of their wines that we truly loved. Unfortunately, they don't yet ship to NC but hopefully they will soon (note to self: CHECK and SEE if they do NOW!) Gill had to leave for another engagement so our group was down to the motley crew you see below!

The wine tasting gang at Renzoni's

The next two wineries were only so-so BUT they were not very crowded and that is what we wanted! At Frangipani, we had fun visiting with the cat, Barrel and Mr. B got a nice picture of the SDSU alumni!

Barrel (who sleeps a lot like our Pete)
The San Diego State Gang!

At the final winery for the day, Cougar, we decided to sit down and have a snack and watched with amusement while some of the other tasters fed the winery dogs spaghetti (I'm sure the winery owners were none too pleased about this later on!)

With Patrick and Alberto at Cougar

Happy Mr. and Mrs. B!

Alas, parting was inevitable. After tasting at Cougar, we said our good-byes and headed back to the resort for our final night of vacation. Being able to spend so much time with my dear friends, both on this day and others, truly warmed my heart and made me miss my former home.

After returning to the resort, Mark packed us up (on our way out, the big suitcase had weighed in several pounds over the limit on our way to California and we had to repack stuff (at the airport) into the smaller one and our carry on bags in order to get to the 50 pound limit). He was determined NOT to have this happen again! Believe it or not, when we got to the airport the following day, it weighed in at 61 pounds and we had to pay a $90 fee. We couldn't figure out how this happened since we did not buy anything to take home. I think it was just another airline scam. Thanks, Delta.

All in all and minor mishaps aside (all airline related, I might add), we had a great time. We'll most definitely return to the resort; maybe in a few years!

:-)

-Seeing all of our friends

-The resort

-The weather

-Excellent food and drink

-Jack in the Box tacos and me and my girlfriend K kicking the guys butts at Euchre!

-Our day at Ponte with Don and Kathleen

-Discovering a new winery

-Cigars on the balcony

-Grocery stores nearby the resort

-Grandpa's Mexican restaurant

-Wild Animal Park

-Stone Brewery with Peri and Michael

:-(

-Delayed flights going out

-Lost bags

-Hard pillows at the resort

-$90 for "fat" bag

Mrs. B

Our California Adventure Part Four

Wow. I STILL have not finished up this series! Best hurry up as we're off for a mini vacation to Edenton NC next week and I'll have to write about THAT!)

Mrs. B

We did go see the museum at the resort yesterday afternoon; not a lot to see. We thought about eating dinner at the resort restaurant but realized we had sufficient leftovers to eat on. So, yet again, we ate in. Ok by us (especially since today in LA we stuffed ourselves!) We finished watching "Leather Heads"; last night; it was fine but not fantastic.

It was great seeing Debbie and Pam again today! Why is it that you miss people more when you see them? The three of us had wonderful times together all those years ago and many special times one on one.

Anyway, we left the resort this morning around 10:30 am and met Debbie at Lido in Redondo Beach (one of my favorite old haunts) at 12:30 for lunch. Other than her being being a tad bit self-conscious (understandable, but, IMO not warranted because she really looks fine (and SKINNY)), all was well. We had a nice lunch, then, went back to her place until 5:30 when we met Pam at Kincaid's (unfortunately, a few other folks who said they might come did not show up).

Mrs. B and Debbie

Pam looks fantastic; hard to believe she'll soon be 64 years old!

Debbie and Mr. B at Kincaid's

I'm glad we made the trip up there even though it was a two hour each way drive and that Mark was willing to do the driving AND sit through all of our gabbing!

Now we're relaxing after our evening cigar on our balcony and gearing up for our 10:24 am tee time tomorrow...

...Golf was ok. I really need more practice, though. It was, at times, a frustrating outing! But, it was a lovely day. In fact, we've had perfect weather our entire trip.

Fountains Course

Mr. B putts

Mrs. B...does something, not sure what!

Peri and Michael got to the resort around 3:45. We went out to dinner to Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido. Stone had been at the World Beer Festival in Durham last month and we liked their beers. Their restaurant is a nice place; huge! It's in a somewhat unusual setting (industry park). We got lost trying to find it AND getting back to the resort. The food (and beer) was excellent.

Us at Stone

Peri and Michael spent the night with us (since we had the extra bedroom) and we all stayed up too late chatting and drinking wine.

Tomorrow is our last day! Kathleen has helped us plan a group wine tasting party starting at Thornton Winery (the champagne place) for lunch. Michael has some suggestions for wineries off the beaten track (it can be quite crowded in Temecula on a Saturday). Should be a fun day!

Our California Adventure Part Three

I am picking up where I left off (guess I've been a bit distracted by the arrival of Pete and Lily, Thanksgiving and the impending Holiday Pops concert tomorrow night!)

Mrs. B

Seeing Kathy (and her folks) after about a twenty-three year hiatus was certainly something. Kathy is about the same; just older (who isn't?) Her two children, Emma and Michael (twins) are adorable (two years old this past April). Mikey is definitely the braver of the two; when we walked in the front door, he thumped his chest and announced, "I'm MIKEY!" Later, he confidently informed me that he had on blue shoes. Emma, although not as talkative initially, warmed up to me later and walked me through her baby book while we were visiting at her Grandpa and Grandma's (Kathy's parents). She explained each picture with something like, "This is baby Emma wearing sunglasses" or (if her brother happened to be in the picture), "This is baby Mikey eating pancakes".

Kathy's husband Kurt, whom I barely remembered, is in the National Guard and was quite chatty! They suggested we eat at a restaurant in Tierrasanta called Andiamo's. It was pretty good and we closed the place down (at lunch time) yakking away.

After we took a few pictures in their backyard, we then went over to her mom and dad's. They live in the same house they lived in when we all first moved to Tierrasanta (which happens to be next door to "our" house on Antigua Blvd.) They've done quite a bit to their house to keep it modern (their kitchen is absolutely to die for). Sadly, the folks that bought our house from mom and dad haven't done "a damn thing and it's a damn shame", or so growled Mr. S (Kathy's dad). BTW, he used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid. Now, he's just a nice old dude. Funny how that works, huh?

It's too bad we couldn't spend more time together; I didn't get nearly enough "alone" time with Kathy to find out more about her past 23 years. Let's hope it's not another 23 years before we get together again.

Last night we stayed in at the resort and ate left-over steak (which Mark made into sandwiches); talked to Peri to confirm that they will be here Friday at 3:00 pm and had our evening cigar (ok, we are on vacation which is the ONLY reason I am allowing myself to smoke a cigar every night). We started to watch a movie about the early days of football called "Leatherheads" but I gave up the ghost fairly early into it.

Today we drove to San Clemente to meet Vesna (one of my TRW buddies) for lunch at a restaurant called The Fisherman's, which was located right on the pier. She looks great and it was wonderful to catch up with her (and for her to meet Mark). Her husband Gary is now working at IBM doing something somewhat similar to what Mark did for them at one point. Her two kids are 13 and almost 7 now. Wow, times flies, doesn't it?

Now we are back at the resort sitting in the sun out on our balcony. It's warm! I'm not sure what we'll do later on tonight; we were going to meet Kathleen for dinner but she is not feeling well. Maybe we'll walk down and check out the Lawrence Welk museum in the lobby of the theatre and have dinner at the only restaurant that is on site.

So far we've been having an easy going relaxed time, even though we've actually been doing quite a bit!

Tomorrow, we'll drive up to Redondo Beach to see Debbie and Pam.

Our California Adventure Part Two

Here is the next entry from our travel journal regarding our California trip!

Mrs. B

The resort is very nice and we are really pleased with our villa. It is HUGE, and nicely laid out, too. It is #252 in the Carnival building up on "Broadway Hill" (apparently every building up here is named after a Broadway musical). We lucked out, also, in that we are in an end unit. The only "bad" thing is the continual drone of traffic from I15 (the freeway that runs in front of the resort). But, as the resort is set back a ways from the freeway (in a valley), it isn't too bad and, since it is continual, you sort of get used to it.

Here are some pictures of it:

After checking in yesterday, we drove to Vons (grocery store) for provisions. I asked a lady in line behind us if we could borrow her Club Card; this saved us over $35!

Mark grilled steaks and asparagus for dinner last night and we also had a Caesar salad. Then, we sat out on the balcony for a cigar (you can only smoke on the balconies which is a very good thing). We tried to watch a movie later (we brought our NetFlix and they have a DVD player in the villa) BUT it was so awful (the movie) that we shut it off after 15 minutes.

Today we went to the Wild Animal Park (thanks to Kathleen for giving us free passes!) It's an interesting place and real nice to walk around. We walked for about 2 1/2 hours and had a few beers while peering at the creatures (Stone IPA, woo hoo!)

After leaving the WAP, we found the Mexican restaurant that I used to take Grandpa T to all of the time (for his margarita and shrimp burrito fix). Yum. The food is still excellent and huge huge huge portions (we both ended up taking about 1/2 of our lunches home.

After that, we found a Trader Joe's to get more wine (FYI $2 Chuck is in fact still $2 in California (unlike the $3 it is in NC)) and some pasta for dinner.

Kathleen came by around 6:00 pm for a glass of wine and to check out the joint. After she left, we had pesto ravioli for dinner. We just finished watching the latest Indiana Jones movie; not too bad (a hell of a lot better than the one we attempted to watch last night). Mark is already snoring away as I write this!

Tomorrow we are driving down to San Diego/Tierrasanta to see Kathy N and others. We "should" also walk around the resort a bit and find out if we can play golf Friday morning.

Did I mention that the average age of guests at the resort appears to be 80 or 82? Wow, we feel young! Even more to like about this place!

So far, this has been a very nice trip (the flight out and lost luggage not-with-standing!)

More soon.

Our California Adventure Part One

I know I blogged about the first part of our "adventure" already but indulge me in a bit of repetition so I can also post a few pictures here that some of my loyal readers probably have not seen yet! Mrs. B

Here we are in Sun City, California with Don and Kathleen. This is actually Day #2 of our vacation, but, it is the first time I've really had the opportunity to write (in my travel journal).

I have to say our travel here from North Carolina was a bit frustrating. Our flight out of RDU to Atlanta was supposed to take off around 4:30 pm. Well, due to "weather" in Atlanta, flights to and from Atlanta were all late. What weather? A few sprinkles? Anyway, departure time moved to 5:30 pm, then 6:30 pm, then 6:55 pm, etc. So, we sat in the bar, had a few drinks, ate some dinner and played cards (Gin).

We finally got on the plane and made it to Atlanta and just barely made our connection to Ontario. Thankfully, that flight was also delayed because the pilot had been stuck in Miami. We got on the plane and sat there waiting for him.

The flight was long and there was a family with two small kids sitting behind me. Ugh. But, all in all, fairly uneventful.

We arrived in Ontario at 11:30 pm, went to baggage claim...no bags for us. So, after filing the claim, we went to Alamo to get our car. The agent tried to talk us into upgrading to a larger car; no thanks. We went out to get our car...no cars (except the larger ones she'd tried to talk us into upgrading to...hmmm...) We ended up with the larger car at no extra charge (obviously, since there were no compact cars!)

Made it safely to Don and Kathleen's (lovely new) house. After a welcome tour and an even more welcome glass of wine (and a bit of a chat with Kathleen) we crashed.

Yesterday we found out our bags would not arrive until 9:00 pm that night and, since they can not deliver to a residence after 10:00 pm, we would be SOL until Sunday morning. This meant we had to make an emergency run to Target for a few essentials.

Despite all of this, we had a wonderful day and evening with Don and Kathleen. We went to Ponte Winery in Temecula for tasting/tour/lunch. We ended up buying a case of wine (no surprise, that; especially since their wine is made in the Italian style that both of us love). Our lunch was wonderful although the guys broke with tradition and drank beer with their meal (Kathleen and I shared a pitcher of Sangria...woo hoo!) On the tour, we learned all about the grapes, the vines, the climate, what "pink" wine is, got to do some "barrel" tastings (stainless steel containers here) and I impressed the tour giver with my knowledge of wine. Ha ha. Seriously, he was a bit of a card, anyway, and, when he said, "What is the best wine in the world?" I shouted "The one you LIKE!" to which he replied, "I love her!" Okay, keep in mind, we went on this tour AFTER we'd been tasting!

The wine tour guy at Ponte

Mrs. B in the vineyards at Ponte

Kathleen, Don, Mr. B and Mrs. B in the tasting room at Ponte

Mrs. B learns about pink wine (wine in the stainless that has yet to be turned into either white rose or red; did not know that!)

Did I mention it was HOT? Something like in the mid-90s. Temecula is in the desert, after all. But still, a tad warm for late October, even by California standards.

We got back to Don and Kathleen's house and settled in for a great evening of chat, card playing (Kathleen and I beat Don and Mark at Euchre...not once...but twice (and I know Mr. B; he'd NEVER EVER let someone win, it's not in his nature)), listening to 80s music ("SISTER CHRISTIAN!") and made a Jack in the Box run for tacos (2 for 99 cents, some things NEVER change) and curly fries (theirs are the best I've ever had).

The signs says it all, baby!

BTW, while listening to music (courtesy of Kathleen's iPod through a boom-box contraption), one song came on that cracked me up SO much that I had to add it to my Play List. It's called "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"; you've GOT to listen to it right now! Of course, Mr. B is already tired of me complaining about my big fat badonkadonk! "Lord have mercy how'd she even get them britches on?"

Indiana James models his Halloween costume

This morning has been laid back; breakfast, mimosas and waiting for our luggage! We can check into the resort at 4:00 pm. The rest of the week will be relatively busy and we'll have to find a grocery store to stock up on "essentials" for our stay at the resort. But, tomorrow is wide open!

James gave me my own private "concert" on his clarinet!