Road Trip to the Coast

Today my father, sisters, Bernice, Stacey and I drove down to Point Lobos State Reserve, just south of Carmel (according to their website, this is "The Greatest Meeting of Land and Water in the World"). We climbed on the rocks, walked around a bit, and spotted sea lions (in the water) and a deer (on land). It was crowded, but it was a beautiful bright day.

Susy and Bernice are one (two?) with nature

Susy examines the rocks

Becky hopes for sea lion sightings

Stacey's first trip to the (continental) Pacific coast

Better weather than I am used to at Thanksgiving

Working off all the pie

Not even a little bit scared of us

From here, you can hear the sea lions

After Point Lobos, we drove up to Monterey for lunch and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which features two of my favorite marine organisms (otters and jellyfish) and one of my least favorite land organisms: Stupid People. Especially Stupid People with Strollers. I have nothing against what's in the strollers, but people seem about as proficient at driving them as they are at driving cars which, in California, is NOT VERY. Don't even ask Stacey about this unless you have some free time and an ear for cursing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My sisters, father and stepmother flew out to California to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We are all rubbing our bellies now after a big feast that included two turkeys: one roasted by Stacey and me...
...as well as one that my cousin Rick deep-fried:

The fried turkey definitely wins the crispy skin contest, but is more of a production in a lot of ways. Also I found it frankly a little distressing, what with all the boiling oil. I am a bit of a pansy that way.

Hope you all found many things to be thankful for today and didn't stuff yourself as much as we did (or did, and enjoyed it).

Autumn in California

For those East coasters who think we don't have foliage (or fall) in California, here is a picture of the courtyard from our patio. Though most trees here do lose their leaves, for the most part they just turn brown, shrivel and drop. But some species do turn colors in this area. I have no idea what this one is, but it's a nice view from our living room.

Stacey and I are gradually finding the interesting places to eat in San Jose. We very much like Falafel's Drive-In (yes, Falafel's, as if Falafel owned the drive-in, which he does not), which is entertaining partly because of the novelty of a drive-in Middle Eastern restaurant, partly because of its flashy sign, and partly because the food is just good. They throw a little of a delicious thick chili sauce on their hummus -- yum! -- and their gyros are more like meatballs than that greasy, crusty pressed-meat weirdness you usually get (which, don't get me wrong, I love -- but this tastes more like real food).

We also like Taqueria La Victoria in downtown San Jose for their "hot sauce" or "orange sauce," which is essentially chorizo-flavored sour cream in a squeeze bottle. Don't knock it till you've tried it. But personal health necessitates that we limit our visits to Taqueria La Victoria. Sad.

I am also including a picture of the 20-foot statue that guards Babe's and Lightning Muffler Service on our street, where Stacey recently had our car serviced. Why? Because it's just weird. That's a golf club he has in his hands, by the way. I don't know what that has to do with mufflers, but when I walk by Babe on my way to the train station, it looks like he's going to whack me with it.