Our second of three consecutive travel weekends is behind us now. We arrived in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon and headed straight down 
to Redwood City, in our very loud and flashy rental car, for my niece (I can now officially call her that) Olivia’s 10th birthday. The party was finishing up when we arrived but we did get to enjoy Marco’s hand crafted Tiki bar. I got to learn a new card game from Gianluca and we had a nice 
visit with Marco and Julie. When we checked into our usual room in Pacifica, I gave Clorinda her gift of some “exquisite” plates (causing Diana to sneeze “sycophant”) I had picked out for her at the Tablas Creek winery in Paso Robles.
On Sunday we headed down to Silicon Valley to catchup with family and friends. Diana had lunch with her friend Aimee and I had a delicious lunch with Finn at the Straits Café. Their roti prata bread with curry dipping sauce is something I had missed. After lunch Finn and I met my friend Sean for a good blether.
Then Sean joined us at Kristina and Cat’s home for dinner. He enjoyed discussing Cat’s new track racing car with him. Dinner had a Greek theme with lamb, Greek salad, dips, and excellent potatoes. As usual there were lots of laughs and entertaining stories. Rather than make the long drive back to Pacifica, we ubered over to the Toll House in Los Gatos to spend the night.
Monday started with brunch with Campbell and Molly at the Los Gatos café and their fluffy soufflé omelets. It was very nice to get to catch up with Campbell and Molly – we hadn’t seen Campbell since the wedding and Molly since our sailing trip in San Diego. We made our leisurely way back up to Pacifica via Half Moon Bay where we stopped into Sam’s Chowder House for chowder and a lobster roll for lunch. That was followed by coffee and a crossword at It’s Italia (where we had Diana’s 50th birthday dinner). We finished up with dinner at Adamo and Amy’s house.
Tuesday started with overdue workouts (Diana’s first time at the 24 hour fitness in Pacifica). In the afternoon we made the drive down to Saratoga for a pre-concert dinner at the Basin. Dinner was very good – particularly Diana’s scallops.
Then the main excuse for the visit to California – Willie 
Nelson at the Mountain Winery. I wasn’t sure what to expect from an 84 year old country singer but was extremely impressed – Willie sang and played the guitar very well. He didn’t hide behind any backup singers or guitarists at all – it was all him out front with minimal backing. His older sister, Bonnie (86), played the piano. Here are a couple of highlights from the show. He opened with Whiskey River, then highlights for me including Georgia, Always on My Mind, and On the Road Again.
The Mountain Winery venue is one of my very favorites with great sound, views, and setting. We’re going to try and pick one concert each year to attend here.
Wednesday morning involved babysitting Massimo and Luciano for an hour or so before heading to the airport for a quick unpack, wash, and pack again for New York. Thankfully they were both well behaved and easy to handle.
I really enjoyed the movie “Hidden Figures” on the flight home. It’s about female African American mathematicians and their contributions to the early NASA flights. Highly recommended.
I heard an interesting version of “Apache” by “The Incredible Bongo Band” this week – reminded me of the trip to Zin Zen with the Halls and the Shadows covers played by the local band.