Archive through November 06, 2002
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Archive through November 06, 2002
Tntitanfan | Thursday, October 31, 2002 - 07:36 pm     Gassed up? Ready to go? 9/21/02 Saturday to Gilroy We left about 8 and moseyed our way north. After an abrupt turn inland, we lost the fog! We drove through miles and miles of romaine and broccoli fields. Where the broccoli had just been harvested, we could smell it very strongly! We got to Gilroy in the late morning and had a tour of the "farm" and met all of Joanie's animals. We met her last year on the cruise, and she and Barbara have maintained an email correspondence since then. I was a little hesitant to plan to spend a whole WEEK with someone I didn't know. I asked her to plan a FULL week of activities for me but told her that I was perfectly willing to go and do by myself so that she and Barbara could have more time to visit. Another "gal" from the cruise had come down to spend the week as well. Joanie's younger daughter came down and joined us for dinner. and we had a great time. 9/22/02 Gilroy After my walk at the nearby outlet mall I was off to San Jose to visit the Winchester House. Sarah Winchester - after losing both her baby and husband - went to a medium who told her that the spirits of Indians killed by Windchester rifles would continue to bring diaster to her. She was only safe as long as she was building a house - no, I didn't get the connection either, but so the story goes. At the time of her death in 1922 at the age of 88, the house had 160 rooms, and there were sufficient building materials on hand that building could have continued for another four years. There were many oddities about that house like doors and windows that opened into walls, a staircase from the floor to the ceiling, etc. What was really more remarkable was the lavish use of Tiffany stained glass and the wonderful craftsmanship of the woodwork and floors. She had her own little kingdom on the grounds including a fruit drying shed, an engine house where electricity for the house was made, a car wash, a gas plant which produced the gas used before the house was converted to electricity, and several other buildings. I then took a twisty trip up into the mountains to an observatory. Sorry I can't remember the name!! Fabulous view for miles and miles and miles - I stopped at the store on the way home and fixed dinner that night. See what a good house guest I am! 9/23/02 Monday We toured the Indian motorcycle plant there in Gilroy which was very interesting. When they are going full tilt, they can produce 40 cycles a day. Joanie showed us the old part of Gilroy and the Gilroy museum. We visited a couple of garlic specialty shops - Gilroy is the garlic capital of the world - and sent some gifts home. We ate at our first CA Mexican restaurant for dinner - excellent food! |
Juju2bigdog | Thursday, October 31, 2002 - 11:23 pm     Thanks, TnT. Winchester Mystery House is fascinating, I thought. Weird and spooky too. |
Abbynormal | Friday, November 01, 2002 - 10:20 am     Tnt, your trip sounds wonderful and I have enjoyed reading about it. I think driving across the country is one of the most fab things. I've done it twice and am ready to go again! Yes, how about that Winchester House? Some people just have too much money. |
Lancecrossfire | Friday, November 01, 2002 - 10:38 am     TnT--cool story about the house--160 rooms is something I just can't imagine being in 1 house! That is really neat about the Indian motorcycle factory!! It sounds like you were able to relax and just wander around as much as you wanted. A great break after all the driving up to that point. Thanks for you continuing to share your days with us |
Urgrace | Friday, November 01, 2002 - 12:36 pm     Going back to the seat covers topic I wanted to add this tidbit received in an email today: The Stance My mother was a fanatic about public toilets. As a little girl, she'd bring me in the stall, teach me to wad up toilet paper and wipe the seat. Then, she'd carefully lay strips of toilet paper to cover the seat. Finally, she'd instruct, "Never, never sit on a public toilet seat." And she'd demonstrate "The Stance," which consisted of balancing over the toilet in a sitting position without actually letting any of your flesh make contact with the toilet seat. But by this time, I'd have peed down my leg. And we'd go home. That was a long time ago. I've had lots of experience with public toilets since then, but I'm still not particularly fond of public toilets, especially those with powerful, redeye sensors. Those toilets know when you want them to flush. They are psychic toilets. But I always confuse their psychic ability by following my mother's advice and assuming The Stance. The Stance is excruciatingly difficult to maintain when one's bladder is especially full. This is most likely to occur after watching a full-length feature film and it is nearly impossible to hold The Stance. You know what I mean. You drink a two liter cup of Diet Coke, then sit still through a three-hour saga because, for God's sake, even if you didn't wipe or wash your hands in the bathroom, you'd still miss the pivotal part of the movie or the second scene, in which they flash the leading man's naked derriere. So, you cross your legs and you hold it. And you hold it until that first credit rolls and you sprint to the bathroom, about ready to explode all over your internal organs. And at the bathroom, you find a line of women that makes you think there's a half-price sale on Mel Gibson's underwear in there. So, you wait and smile politely at all the other ladies, also crossing their legs and smiling politely. And you finally get closer. You check for feet under the stall doors. Every one is occupied. You hope no one is doing frivolous things behind those stall doors, like blowing her nose or checking the contents of her wallet. Finally, a stall door opens and you dash, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter. You hang your handbag on the door hook, yank down your pants and assume "The Stance." Relief. More relief. Then your thighs begin to shake. You'd love to sit down but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold The Stance as your thighs experience a quake that would register an eight on the Richter scale. To take your mind off it, you reach for the toilet paper. Might as well be ready when you are done. The toilet paper dispenser is empty. Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny napkin you wiped your fingers on after eating buttered popcorn. It would have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It is still smaller than your thumbnail. Someone pushes open your stall door because the latch doesn't work and your pocketbook whams you in the head. "Occupied!" you scream as you reach out for the door, dropping your buttered popcorn napkin in a puddle and falling backward, directly onto the toilet seat. You get up quickly, but it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with all the germs and life forms on the bare seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper, not that there was any, even if you had enough time to. And your mother would be utterly ashamed of you if she knew, because her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, "You don't know what kind of diseases you could get." And by this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, sending up a stream of water akin to a fountain and then it suddenly sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged to China. At that point, you give up. You're finished peeing. You're soaked by the splashing water. You're exhausted. You try to wipe with a Chiclets wrapper you found in your pocket, then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks. You can't figure out how to operate the sinks with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past a line of women, still waiting, cross-legged and unable to smile politely at this point. One kind soul at the very end of the line points out that you are trailing a piece of toilet paper on your shoe as long as the Mississippi River. You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and say warmly, "Here You might need this." At this time, you see your spouse, who has entered, used and exited his bathroom and read a copy of War and Peace while waiting for you. "What took you so long?" he asks, annoyed. This is when you kick him sharply in the shin and go home. This is dedicated to all women everywhere who have ever had to deal with a public toilet. And it finally explains to all you men what takes us so long. (and you always had to wear clean underwear in case of an accident-do you think kids are taught this stuff today?) (I don't know about any of you, but at my age, it is hard to do "The Stance" !!!!!) |
Egbok | Friday, November 01, 2002 - 10:48 pm     Oh Urgrace, that was a hoot! I really enjoyed reading "The Stance" and had a good laugh because I've been there too many times! |
Tntitanfan | Saturday, November 02, 2002 - 07:15 am     Webkitty - I will try to get by your spot on the message board today or tomorrow and leave a longer description of Hearst Castle. I LOVE houses (and CAVES and ZOOS), but try to be brief so folks who don't share these enthusiasms won't fall asleep! |
Tntitanfan | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 08:21 am     And the stay in Gilroy continues - 9/24/02 Tuesday - Gilroy Up early and away to Benecia to visit Dee's parish church and her partially restored home. Dee is the other visitor that we also met on the boat. We had lunch at a nice place on the water and hit a couple of antique shops in the quaint downtown area. Our next stop was a redwood forest near Santa Cruz. They have to be experienced to be believed! Who knew they give off their own distinct fragrance? We had dinner at a diner in Santa Cruz and got home only shortly before ELEVEN! 9/25/02 Wednesday - Gilroy Today's jaunt was to Monterey and the wonderful aquarium there. I believe my favorite was the jellies - they were truly amazing. I think the trick to showing them off so well was the lighting - after all we are talking about almost transparent organisms here. We took the "17-mile Drive" through Pebble Beach to Carmel. It was nice to see how the other half lives and, let me tell you, they live VERY well indeed! I got to try a new seafood treat for dinner. I had never had sand dab before but will certainly have it again given the chance! 9/26/02 Thursday - Gilroy Today was our hostess' birthday, and she had invited six other friends for lunch. I baked 1-2-3 cheese bread and prepared baked beans and corn pudding while Barbara prepared chicken on the grill outside. I repeat - see what a good house guest I am!! Well, actually Barbara too , I guess! There was a fire burning in the hills not too far away. Acres and acres burned as well as a few houses. Lots of people were evacuated. It was eerie to look over there at night and see the hills glowing. |
Tntitanfan | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 08:38 am     Webkitty - The Hearst Castle details are on the message board for you - |
Buttercup | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 09:59 am     Tnt, you are making me homesick!!! I love it
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Tntitanfan | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 02:00 pm     I don't know what has happened! When I just went to Webkitty's message board, the looooooooog description that I wrote her of the Hearst Castle is GONE!! Did somebody take it? I know it couldn't have been moderated, could it? I will try to do it again shortly, but that was pretty discouraging!! |
Juju2bigdog | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 03:59 pm     TnT, I think you should just put all of your travel messages here. Don't worry about boring anybody. If they are bored, all they have to do is hit the Back button. Otherwise, the rest of us are waiting with bated breath. Keep them coming. |
Webkitty | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 04:39 pm     Tnt, please don't worry about posting Hearst Castle in my folder! You have enough to do keeping us informed about your trip without that added hassle! {{Tnt}} ~waits for next installment~ PS: I know what you mean about the Redwoods, the fragrance is unique and soothing. |
Abbynormal | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 05:58 pm     So I am reading your latest installment of your trip. Thouroughly enjoying it as I can picture you so easily. Redwoods, wow! Love redwoods! Carmel! Wonder if she say any celebs houses? Then I get to the good part. Corn Pudding?!!!! Tnt knows how to make corn pudding???? This was the best part of the whole installment for me. LOL I must have your recipe, I know it must be great! |
Schoolmarm | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 06:51 pm     Type fast, TnT! I leave for Vegas on Wed. and I want to read about your trip before I leave. I'm TOTALLY NOT ready to go...gotta email KSTME again...laundry...pack...teach...find my tickets... It will be much better once I actually get on the plane! |
Lancecrossfire | Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 08:23 pm     Tnt, thanks for the next installment You made some yummy sounding food!! I agther these 3 dasy you wrote about were fairly relaxing (well, except for the cooking). The forest sounds wonderful! |
Tntitanfan | Monday, November 04, 2002 - 07:03 am     Here is the re-write of lots more than you probably want to know about Hearst Castle - At the Visitors' Center we watched a very interesting movie about the constructions of "The Ranch" as Hearst called the property. Building was begun in 1919 and completed in 1947. He employed one of the few women in the profession of architecture for his estate whose formal name is "La Cuenta Encantada" - "The Enchanted Hill." We took Tour #1 which is the suggested tour for first-time visitors. I believe there are three other tours available. We began with Casa del Sol (House of the Sun), an 18-room guesthouse which included bedrooms, baths, and sitting rooms as did the other two guesthouses - Casa de la Luna and Casa del Monte (houses of the moon and mountain respectively.) There was no food served outside of the main house as Hearst wanted everyone to eat there with HIM. We explored part of the formal gardens which have ancient sculptures displayed throughout them. Neptune Pool - the outdoor one - took its theme from a "fragment" - about the size of the front of my house - of Greek temple Hearst bought and had located poolside. This was the third edition of the pool as neither of the first two built pleased him. The Roman Pool - the indoor one - is decorated with Roman statuary and tiled floor to ceiling with 1 inch square tiles. At one time Hearst thought he would like a salt-water pool so tons of salt were dumped into this pool. This corroded all the pipes and pumps, and they all had to be replaced. In Casa Grande - which I am not going to translate as its name in English is a slang term for prison - has 70 thousand square feet - hence, no doubt, its name! We saw the Assembly Room, the largest of the four sitting rooms. In the Refectory (the dining room), decorated as a medieval monastery's dining hall would be, it was interesting to learn that no matter how formal the meal Hearst's favorite condiment - Ketchup - appeared at four to five foot intervals along the table. In the Morning Room and Billiard Room the most notable feature was the splendid tapestries in both rooms. We finished up the tour in the Theater where Hearst, his long-time live-in girlfriend Marion Davies, their two dogs, and other guest would watch Hollywood movies flown in by private plane. On the drive back down we were able to see the ruins of Hearst's private zoo, the largest private one in the world at that time. |
Juju2bigdog | Monday, November 04, 2002 - 12:01 pm     Thanks, TnT. Brought back memories of my visit there. |
Tntitanfan | Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 08:27 pm     Bump - |
Teatime | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 04:40 am     Tnt, thanks for taking us all along on your trip. Everything west of Carlsbad Caverns has been new to me. I am loving this! It's so cool that you thought to keep a journal. Schoolmarm, hope you're getting off to a smooth start to Vegas today! Good Luck! |
Webkitty | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 05:16 am     Tnt, thank you so much! (if I could give you one of those animated clapping cliparts, I would) |
Tntitanfan | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 06:58 am     Ready to roll? 9/27/02 Friday - Gilroy We drove over to Los Gatos to have lunch at the Califoria Cafe with another group of Joanie's friends. Since we got there a bit early, we had time to go across the street and do a bit of looking and shopping at Sur La Table - Oprah's favorite, remember? I bought a couple of Christmas gifts there, and they were less expensive than I would have expected. PLUS I got a S L T shopping bag! All the way home it rode in splendor on the back seat so that I can use it for one of the Christmas gifts I bought!! How's that for subtle name dropping? 9/28/02 Saturday - to San Francisco After we loaded up the car, we went to visit one of the ladies we met at Joanie's Thurday birthday luncheon. She and her son have an antique caboose in the back yard. The house is filled with lovely antiques as well, even a player piano. Coming into SF on a Saturday turned out to be a poor choice as it took us three tries to find a home for the night. Since we didn't particularly care for that motel, I got on the phone and made reservations for the next two days further downtown. While I had my dialing finger in motion, I made arrangements for a city tour for the next day as well. 9/29/02 Sunday - San Francisco Our new home turned out to be within walking distance of Fisherman's Wharf! We took an extensive tour of the downtown district, North Beach known as Little Italy, Pacific Heights with its beautifully preserved Victorian houses, Richmond which has Chinese and Russian overtones, and Nob Hill where the swanky hotels are. We made a stop on Twin Peaks for an overview of the city - a rare treat we were told as fog often prevents such a view. Other stops were made at City Hall, Cliff House, and Golden Gate park. Once we were dropped off at Fisherman's Wharf, we strolled down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions that had relocated there from the Cliff House area following the '89 earthquake. Glad you all are enjoying the trip - we certainly did too! I imagined the clapping clipart, Webkitty, and it was very nice! Thank you - |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 08:57 am     TnT, sound like you did a creditable Best of SF tour. Not a lot of tourists know to go to City Hall, but it really should not be missed. It is one impressive building. |
Tess | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 06:26 pm     Wow, Tnt. If you were in the Chinese part of the Richmond district and in the Golden Gate Park anywhere near the Pacific you were in BOTH my old neighborhoods. I grew up halfway between the park and the Zoo just 1/4 mile inland from the Pacific in the Sunset district. When I got my first appartment I moved to "Little Chinatown" in the Richmond. You sure are bringing back memories. |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 07:20 pm     Me too. Sniff. I lived about a mile from where Tess grew up. |
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