“1,950 miles later”
The drive from Las Vegas to Pacifica was pleasantly uneventful. The border checkpoint from Nevada into California wasn’t even manned as we made 
the crossing. I continue to turn into a “grumpy old man” – night driving with oncoming traffic not separated by a median is getting pretty difficult. I struggle to see where I’m going with the oncoming glare. So, the Pacheco Pass at night wasn’t really much fun. It’s very twisty and ill lit. That whining aside, we arrived at the hotel in Pacifica around 9pm. 1,950 miles in the books. I should have about 10 days now with no lengthy drives.
Once in our hotel room, Diana went on a mission to install the Amazon Firestick so that we could watch all our normal TV and streaming shows. She was so tired that it was easy to see her brain working but not easy to interpret what was (or wasn’t) being said. Problem one was that in order to connect to the hotel WiFi one needed to check the “Accept Terms and Conditions” box, but the remote wouldn’t go to the box. An hour later Diana noticed the “cursor mode” option and that problem was solved. Problem two – the firestick was installed and working fine but the remote wouldn’t control the TV volume and power, even after a bunch of fancy settings updates by McD. I looked at some YouTube videos of how to fix the issue and tried a number of things. An hour later, Diana finally gave up and sat down at her computer. I decided to try the regular TV remote that we had thought only controlled the Dish satellite system. Whaddaya know? Controlled volume perfectly. Two hours lost, but all TV and streaming options fully installed for our hotel stay. I wish I had some of that escapade on video. Funnily enough the firestick remote started controlling the volume just fine the next day with no changes.
We decided to be very safe and get a COVID test before visiting with Diana’s Mom. Another late hour of work showed that “Project Baseline” was the best option. After 30 minutes of data entry the site told us that we could make appointments for the Half Moon Bay location on Wednesday morning. We assumed we could walk in on Tuesday morning and planned that as our early morning activity.
The drive down to Half Moon Bay was quick and pleasant but there was no evidence of any testing activity at the church, other than a couple of tents set up in the parking lot. I tried to search for related testing locations and came up with a county run drive through site in Daly city – just south of San Francisco. We finally found the location and 30 minutes later had completed our tests with a 1 to 3 day waiting period for results.
After that interesting activity we were ready for some lunch. I spotted the City Kebabs and Gyros shop as we approached a traffic light and we decided to give it a try. The Mediterranean food was delicious with all my favourites – humus, falafels, dolmas, chicken and lamb. We were able to eat at the little table outside – one day before even patio dining was shut down.
We met Will and Christine for dinner at Town in San Carlos on Tuesday evening. The street was closed off and the restaurants had made some big investments in building outdoor dining. We were warm with the heaters and shades even though the temperature was in the forties. It was funny to listen to Diana and Will deciding on which steak and preparation they were going to share. I loved my sea bass and had some leftovers for lunch on Wednesday. It was a real treat to hang out and have a meal with Will and Christine. We had debated which night to meet and it was fortuitous that we chose Tuesday as all onsite dining shut down in California on Wednesday.
Wednesday began with a walk from Rockaway beach over to Lindamar Beach. This involves zig-zagging up a decent sized hill.
I enjoyed a good macchiato at Soul Grind at the mid-point of the walk while Diana ran back for a work call.
The surf was the biggest that I’ve seen in Pacifica – the waves cresting at 15 to 20 feet. There were a few brave surfers at Rockaway and you could tell they certainly knew what they were doing. I really enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the sea and surfers. Listening to the surfers in the Soul Grind parking lot sharing their experiences was hilarious – they really do have that whole special slang that you see in movies.
The sunsets in Pacifica are equally impressive:
We still didn’t have our test results on Wednesday evening and so stayed at the hotel for dinner with Diana picking up food at the Moonraker restaurant across the street. This is one of the nicer places in Pacifica (not really a high bar) and has a great view of the surf when the restaurant is open. I enjoyed my lobster BLT sandwich and clam chowder.
Thursday started the same way as Wednesday with a pleasant walk between the two beaches and a coffee at Soul Grind. We worked most of the day from the hotel room and then joined our respective work happy hours. Diana’s was quite entertaining with one of her colleagues playing a Christmas carol on the tuba. We finally received our negative COVID test results on Thursday evening and were cleared to head up on Gypsy Hill and visit the family.
Diana chose to start her birthday with a run – and conquered the zig-zag path up the hill – most impressive. She had texted a picture to Marco (the ultra-marathoner) and asked if he thought she could do it. He coached her to stand up straight and take little strides – seemed to work. After her run we did another walk over for coffee and then enjoyed a sandwich from Dinosaur’s – such great Vietnamese sandwiches on yummy bread.
Birthday dinner was hosted by Adamo and family at their home. I enjoyed looking over the kid’s task lists for the day.
Massimo’s tree in his room is certainly right up there with the Charlie Brown version:
Luciano is quite proud of his ability to count to one hundred. I liked Diana’s bobbing head encouragement:
McD likes to have surf and turf for her birthday meal and Adamo made sure she was fully taken care of:
Those are lobsters that he caught diving and they were delicious. While the cooking was underway, Diana was reviewing her hand made cards from the boys.
After dinner Grammie and Massimo relaxed and watched Rudolph.
One other thing that I came across that I thought was worth sharing. Look at this 4th birthday card that Andy made for Massimo – he’s so creative with his cards. He had seen Massimo in that jacket and thought he looked like a zebra.
Saturday was a pleasant and quiet day. We ordered dinner from Mezza Luna in Princeton (just down Highway 1 from Pacifica) and ate with Adamo and the noise making crew. The pizza and calamari were both very good.
Sunday started with another walk across the hill for coffee and a breakfast burrito at Soul Grind. Then we packed up and moved from the hotel to Clorinda’s house just in time to watch the Cowboys defeat the San Francisco 49ers. The Saints played really well against the Chiefs in Drew Brees first game back from injury but were edged out in the end. Adamo and I are in the midst of a project to install a TV at Clorinda’s. Our small helpers are being exceptionally helpful.
We listened to the Ann Cleeves book “Raven Black” on the second section of our drive. This is the first in the Shetland series – I read the 4th “Blue Lighting” a year or two ago, a gift from Mum and Dad and enjoyed it. This one was a tad formulaic with the introduction and exploration of all potential guilty parties and Diana and I enjoyed trying to figure out who we thought were the leading contenders. Neither one of us was close.
The story is set against the local Shetland festival of Up Helly Aa which celebrates the Viking history of the island, and culminates in the burning of a long boat. The Guizer Jarl is the leader of the squad that builds and ultimately burns the boat, and one of the characters in the book was the Guizer for that year.
I was introduced to the “Nutcracker Suite” by Duke Ellington this week and really like it a lot – terrific arrangements and playing.
This led me to Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite” which might be even better.
I came across this performance of Led Zeppelin covers by Government Mule with Jason Bonham (son of Zeppelin drummer John Bonham) on drums. What a great job Warren Haynes does on guitar and vocals – he really is one of the most under-appreciated guitarists working today.
I’ll finish with another Christmas related song that I heard for the first time this week – “Christmas Must Be Tonight” by The Band. Great stuff:
Stay safe and patient- there’s an end in sight.