Seattle

• 2 glasses Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon - home
  

Departure

• 1 Tanqueray & tonic - The Riv
• 1 margarita - The Riv
• 1 Stone IPA - The Riv
• 1 pint Widmer Hefeweizen - Palm Springs airport

I hate leaving California: The Golden State. The land of Sunshine and Dreams. Los Angeles: The City of Angels. I have so many great memories of family and friends. Even looking at the name brings a special feeling to me. Maybe one day I'll write more about this, but for now....

Riv'in it up

• 1 Makers & ginger ale - The Riv
• 1 margarita - The Riv
  
• 2 glasses pinot noir - The Riv

Swank

• 2 margaritas - Bikini Bar, The Riviera, Palm Springs, CA
• 2 bottles Stone IPA - The Riv
• 1 Knob Creek & ginger ale - The Riv
• 1 glass of malbec - Circa 59, The Riv

the Lobby

the Lounge

the Pool

Huntington Library

• 2 bottles Anderson Valley Winter Solstice - Matt & Diemha's, Pasadena, CA

I love the Huntington Library (which isn't in Huntington Beach, but San Marino - near Pasadena); and my mom loved it too. It offers peace, beauty, and sunshine, and it was wonderful to go back.

Being bonsai.

Zen

I've always loved Japanese bridges.

Candid

London (kind of), Susan, and Michelle

This is Matt. He, his wife, and two daughters live in Pasadena. He was my best man, my first college roommate and is a great friend. They had us over for dinner tonight and it was great seeing him and his family.

Turc

• 1 bottle Endless Summer Light - Wahoo's Fish Taco, Long Beach, CA
• 1 pint Bud Light - Belmont Station, Long Beach, CA
• 5 (?) bottles Miller High Life - Turc, Sunset Beach, CA
• 1 pint Deschutes Black Butte Porter - Yard House, Newport Beach, CA

Turc was a bar I had wanted to drink in for a long time. Nautical theme, pool tables, Big Buck Hunter, tabletop video trivia, aquarium behind bar, miller high life, kick-ass juke box, and lots of other surprises. A great night and I loved this place.

Ivy covered facade

twigged ceiling, "Christmas" lights for ambiance, wood benches

fish aquarium behind bar

puffer fish lanterns

firepit provides additional ambiance

beach-pebble wall

open bbq pit in back corner

Harbor House Cafe

• 1 bottle Bud Light - Harbor House Cafe, Sunset Beach, CA

Harbor House is 24 hour restaurant (and you know I lurrvvee these!) along PCH in Sunset Beach. When I lived in Huntington we'd frequently hit this place after a night of having fun. I wasn't old enough to drink at this time, so "having fun" typically meant driving around the barren streets of the OC looking for things to "have fun" at. After I moved to LA and would go home to visit my parents, we'd ride our motorcycles to Harbor House for late night eats. And the food is pretty good! They make the best milk shakes in the world. I'm serious. The very best. Ever. It's not typical bar or 24 hour food either. There really is quite an assortment of every type of food. Susan and I landed here after a day in LA while heading back to our hotel. And next to HHC is a bar that I had always wanted to go into while I lived in the OC, but was never old enough, or never found the time, or just, well, never made it in. But that was about to change. See you tomorrow. :)

80

• 2 pints Tecate - Taco Surf, Seal Beach, CA

Driving on the freeway in SoCal is like throwing yourself in Class V rapids and trying to stay in control. There are so many cars, in narrow lanes, going unbelievably fast, weaving in and out, with uneven concrete and close-by center dividers; thank God they banned driving while talking on the cell phone. Driving less than 70 mph (and 60 is the legal limit) is the equivalent to the race track at Disneyland; drivers take their speeding serious here. Christopher was doing 100 (in his Dodge Viper truck - yes, this thing is a beast in every sense) on our southSoCal beer run and out of nowhere a cop pulls up behind him....Christopher slowed down to 80, the cop pulled up alongside him and blasted him with "SLOW DOWN!" through his external megaphone, then floored it himself until we lost sight of him. Like I said, everyone speeds here.

Christopher and the Beast quietly parked in the Port Brewing parking lot.

I love being able to drive this fast however. It's such a relief not having to consciously check the speedometer every two minutes like I do in Seattle. I'm terrified of going over 70 here in Washington for fear of being busted, but driving 80 in California was like a ride on my cruiser at Alki; no worries. I actually think I'm a better driver when going this fast - I keep my eyes on the road and not on the speedometer! I love the speed limit in northern and southern Washington on the 5 when it's 70. I still don't chance going 80, but cruising at 75 feels pretty good.

Stoned.

• 4 oz. tasters - Port Brewing, San Marcos, CA
• 1 pint Stone Smoked Porter - Stone Brewing Brewpub, Escondido, CA
  
• 1 pint Mad River Steelhead Double IPA - Stone Brewing Brewpub, Escondido, CA
  
• 1 can Dale's Pale Ale - Christopher's, HB, CA
  
• 1 bottle Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - Christopher's

Christopher and I took a field trip to southern Southern California for some breweries. Port Brewing was our first stop where we tasted some Hop 15, Shark Attack, and others. The tasting room was in the actual storage facility where they make the beer.

The next stop was Stone Brewing. It was amazing! The beer was delicious, the food was delicious (the best vegetarian shepherd's pie I've ever had) and the brewery itself was awesome, as you can see below:

Arrogant Bastard is probably their most well-known beer, but my favorite is the Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Hmmm...I wonder why?

The bar.

The restaurant, with indoor/outdoor seating. (Note the heat lamps in the background.)

Yummers!

• 2 pints Pacifico - Baja Sharkeez, Huntington Beach

Over the course of a week, we ate at several "baja" food establishments >> Wahoo's, Baja Sharkeez, and Taco Surf. We did eat at El Torito Grill, however that isn't really a "baja" restaurant, though it does serve some delicious Mexican food. No Rubio's or Taco Mesa on this trip, but there's always next time. :)

California!

• 1 can Tecate - Michelle's, Shealey's, Winkey's, and Browney's house, Huntington Beach, CA
• 1 pint Green Flash West Coast IPA - Yard House, Costa Mesa, CA
• 1 pint Anderson Valley Hop 'Ottin IPA - Yard House, Costa Mesa, CA
• 1 pint Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - Yard House, Costa Mesa, CA

I always love returning to Southern California. It brings back such great memories from when I lived there and it's always great to see my sister, Michelle, or SOJO (Sister Of Jon), as she has nicknamed herself. We're in the OC for the next several days enjoying the sun and sand and surf and suds (and miSHELL).

The Day After

• 1 bud light - MnM's house
• 1 bud light - home

Happy happy joy joy! Obama is President-Elect! Yay!

O B A M A

• 2005 Clive Zinfandel
• Rex Goliath Cab
  
• 2003 Walter Clove Columbia Crest Private Reserve

:)
:)
:)

It's been twelve years (twelve years!) since the presidential candidate I've voted for has won! It's such a wonderful, tremendously happy feeling! It's overwhelming! I think President Obama (love the sound of that) will bring great things to the US and to the world. Plus, it's gonna be really kind of cool to see a black person lead our United States (kind of like the early seasons of 24). :) instead of some stupid looking white guy with monkey ears.

Yikes!

• Not sure?
  

Leaves

• 1 bomber Full Sail Dopplebock - home
• 1 can of the High Life - The Jeff's

Today was a leaves-raking day! My there were so many leaves! Those horse-chestnut leaves just kept flip-flopping down off their home limbs, turning up and over on the grass and refusing to go away (or "leave" as I might have said thirty-five years ago). Hey Mister Raik, come and help me out; assist me with these leaves, make them neat and tidy so I can pile them high, scoop'em up and toss them in the bin. (thirty-five years ago i woulda jumped in that pile of leaves. five years from now London will be doing just that. and I'll be right behind him.)

Baptism & Anniversary

• One glass chianti - Angelina's Trattoria

11-1-08

5 pm

London's Baptism

Holy Rosary Church : Fr. Raschko

Godparents: Patrick & Kamila

Reception: Angelina's Trattoria

Beautiful clear night

~

11-1-97

5 pm

Jon & Susan's Wedding

St. Benedict's Church : Fr. Waldie

Best Man: Matt Segal : Maid of Honor: Annette Cuccia

Reception: Skansonia Ferry

Beautiful clear night, calm Lake Union water, stars bright.

Halloween

• 2 bottles Hale's O'Brien's Harvest Ale - K & D's

Madge-estic!

• 1 pint IPA - Yaletown Brewing, Vancouver
• 1 pint stout - Yaletown Brewing, Vancouver
• wine, whiskey, tequila - Westin Grand, Vancouver
• 1 pint Molson - BC Place, Vancouver

Grand Westin!
walk/BC Place
it's a sweatband (yeah!)
/breaaathe/breaaathe/breaaathe/

/tiiiiic...toooooock.....tiiiiiick...tooooock/.....can'twaitcan'twaitcan'twaitcan'twait...CANDY SHOP!!!!!!!OMIGAWDIT'SREALLYHER!!!!MAAAADOONNNNAAAAA!...she's so sugary sweet! her sugar is raw.....on and on, on the beat goes.......on and on, on the beat goes....and dance, and dance, and dance....get down - beep beep - gotta get up off a your seat now - "didja get that?"......"music can be such a revelation....dancing around I feel the sweet sensation....i hope this feeling never ends tonight".......*borderline - [she plays guitar(!)]....music - makes the people - come together, yeah.....*ohhhhh!...miles away...i love this song! *"and I feeeeell!!!! quicker than a ray.of.light.*"every little thing that you say or do/I'm hung up/I'm hung up on youuuuu!"/*giVE mE ThE BaSS LiNE!.....[get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don't stop it/get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don't stop it].......left/left/right/right/leftleft/rightright/...gIVe IT To mE!

/sweat/wet/high/
/energy/
/*sweet*/show/

M A D O N N A

Vancouver

• 1 bomber Sapporo - a Japanese restaurant, Vancouver

I love Vancouver. When I first moved to Tacoma from El Lay in 1993, I drove to Vancouver a few weeks later and instantly fell in love with it. I wanted to move there, but after a friend told me, "Uh, you can't just move to Canada. They don't just 'let you in'." So that kind of blew that idea. It reminded me of Seattle, but had the size of L.A. Seattle seemed small to me (and it still does), but Vancouver was the perfect size, and I loved the density and the architecture - endless glass towers that blanketed the skyline. One rollerblading loop around Stanley Park convinced me that this would be a favorite destination during my years in Seattle. Vancouver, Seattle, and San Francisco are my three most beautiful cities in, well, North America. :)

And, as Susan calls Canada; they're our "friends in the attic." This cracks me up! Or, "the country with 20% off". I'm not too sure that this is accurate anymore, however.

One of my favorotist places to eat in Vancouver is Naam. Not only is it 100% vegetarian food, but it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! In-fucking-credible! One year when Susan and I first started dating; Susan, her friend, and I drove left Tacoma on a whim one night about 10 pm just to eat at Naam. We were leaving Vancouver just as the sun was coming up - about 4 am - and rolled into T-Town a few hours later; tired, but full of delicious 24 hour vegetarian food.

This time we were in Vancouver for the Madonna concert. "Give it to me, yeah!"

(no) pumpkin carving

• 1 bottle Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale - home