Travels with The Rayman

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  So we signed up for night golf.  Having never done this before, it sounded interesting.  We had no earthly idea what night golf entailed…so we just showed up at the Morro Bay Golf Course to find out.

Basically night golf started at 9 p.m.  We were given special golf balls that had a cylinder drilled through the ball.  Into that space we inserted a rod that came in a small package.  To activate the rod, it needed to be bent.  When bent, it glowed green.  Well, that’s all well and good so once we walked to the 17 hole to start our 9 hole tourney, Ray teed up and hit his ball.  Well, no one told us that the light should be perpendicular to the club head.  So, when Ray teed off, the green rod sailed about 20 yards and we never did find the ball.  What to do?  Well, we tried calling the club house.  No answer.  There were no spare balls.  Ray was miffed.

I teed it up and went about 50 yards.  Yikes.  This was not going to be easy.

On the 18th hole (our second hole), my green rod flew out and we never found my ball.  Ray called the club house.  Things were getting tense.  No answer.

When we arrived at the club house, we got two more special balls.  That’s when we found out that the ball needed to be positioned properly.  So, off we went on the 10th hole.  Things were going better now.  Except that I couldn’t hit the ball.  It would just veer off to someplace I was not aiming toward.  A real test of patience and perseverance.

 

And did I mention that the fog rolled in?  Yes, it did.  About 8:00 p.m.  So that full moon tonight…was obscured by the fog and so we couldn’t see anything.  Ray downloaded an iphone app for a flashlight.  Chuck, our playing partner called home and had Ted bring a flashlight which was delivered on the 10 tee box.  The thing was though, if you weren’t right next to the light source because you had inadvertently hit your ball into the trees, you couldn’t see the clubs in the bag.  Not that club selection was that important because a lot of our shots were either way too short or way too long.  The flagstick had a green rod on it that was about 8 inches long.  And there was a green light in the cup.  Other than that, it was pretty darn dark out there.  See picture above.  Like that.

But I digress.  When we got to the 12th hole, I finally hit a good drive.  So did Ray.  We hit in the same vicinity.  This introduced a problem because we did not know if the first ball we came to belonged to him or me.  Chuck said it was mine.  So I hit it and it careened off my club and headed toward to the sprinklers.  Did I mention that the sprinklers were on?   For some reason, they were WATERING THE COURSE.  So as I approached the sprinklers, Ray was yelling at me to just go pick it up and bring it to a place where the sprinklers did not reach.  Well, that was all well and good except that I really could not see through my glasses because they got pelted by water as I approached the sprinklers.  Then I got hit by the sprinkler as it came back from where it had just been.  My pants got soaked.  Then while trying to dodge the other sprinkler (there were two right together), I got nailed by that sprinkler on my pants again.  OMG.  Does the term drowned rat mean anything to you?

So, Ray couldn’t find his ball.  Well, I didn’t much care because I was drenched and it was cool.  So Ray fished around in his bag and found some rain pants.  So, there I was in the middle of the 12th fairway taking off my nice light weight wool pants and putting on some old nylon rain pants that had no pockets (while the guys behind us was hitting into us).  And Chuck who had gone on ahead, started back toward us with his flashlight aimed at us.  While my pants were off.  Ray said, “Great, you’re undressed and now he points the light our way.”  Once I had the rain pants on,  I put my tees into what I thought was the pocket and they all fell to the bottom on the pant leg which was elasticized and there they stayed until I bent over to retrieve them.  That happened twice.  Meanwhile, Ray was screaming at the guys behind us, “We are in the middle of the 12th fairway and you almost hit us!”.  They yelled back, “What?”.  Ray repeated himself at a higher decibel level than before.  They yelled back, “Okay”.

By now I was toast.  My glasses were spotted with water, my pants had no pockets, I had no ball.  Uncle.  I called it a day and talked Ray into giving me his cell phone and the car keys and I trudged back up to the hill to the club house.  And that’s where I sat from 10:15 until 11:15 waiting for Mr. J.  Seems he and Chuck came up on a five-some and had to wait on every hole.

On the way home we decided night golf was for young stupid people.   Though I did make a great putt on 11!!!  And Ray remarked that it was pretty amazing that he hits his woods (golf clubs) better in the dark than in the light.  Uhmmmmm.

 

How did we spend the end of June through the fourth of July?  Traveling.  Again.  Still.  Do we ever stay home?  Good question.

Sometimes.

Anyway, the Rayman drove to Corvallis to see the new and improved son.  He lost weight and looked great!!!  They played golf and wine tasted.  Shock and awe!!

Moi stayed home and rested up for the ensuing trip.  The plan was to take the train to Salinas, spend the night in Gilroy with friends and travel the next day to Lincoln (north of Sacramento).  This all happened.

Meanwhile Ray travelled from Corvallis to Tahoe Donner (by Truckee) so that he could party and play golf and poker with Indian Guides friends.   Which he did.

By the time we met in Lincoln, he was half dead from driving the car, driving the golf club and driving himself.  He had a cold and kept me awake all night hacking.  We stayed with our friends, the Dunleys and had a great time.  We went to a party on Wed., a party on Thurs., another party on Friday and a 70th birthday party on Saturday.  These guys know how to party.  And between parties we played golf.  And did I mention it was hotter than Hades?

We then left and drove to Nevada City and stayed at our friends there.  They were in Oregon on a 400 mile bike ride which followed a hike up Mt. Shasta.   Darn I feel lazy.

The highlight of Nevada City is the charm of the town, the Magic Theater (we saw Midnight in Paris) that still uses reels to show the movies and they had an intermission to reload the reels.  Very small place…makes the Palm look palatial.   Very fun.  We went to the 4:00 p.m. show and found out they don’t do matinees during the week.  At the 7 p.m. show there were two women behind the bar selling tickets and popcorn(organic), and cookies and things.  The woman in front of us bought a ticket for her husband who has, “brown hair with some gray, but really mostly brown.  I keep telling him he looks distinguished but he still insists that he has brown hair, so if he shows up you will probably recognized him by his brown hair with some gray in it.”  She bought the tickets and we bought ours and we ended up sitting directly behind them.  It ends up she lived a year in Paris when she was 13 and then they moved down by the Med and she attended a school where no one spoke english.  She absolutely loved it.  She had already seen the movie but her not her very gray haired husband, so she dragged him out to see it because she loved it so much, “and I’m sure he’ll really like it.”  He didn’t speak.  Not because he was a Walter Mitty type.  She just specialized in talking and she was a hoot.

And our friend’s home.  It is fabulous…I dubbed it the trapezoid house.  It is full of angles and colors.  A wonderful, magical house.  It had a big dark purple wall, yellow walls, green walls…and windows everywhere that looked out on pines of various ages and heights.  And manzanita.  Stunning.

Today we are perched in a tree house of sorts.  We traded for two days for this prefab green house that sits on Rollins Lake near Coxfax and Grass Valley.  All the windows open like accordions and you truly feel like you are in a tree house because of all the pines and other species of trees crowding the slope around the house.  Get this, this house will build and transported to City Hall in San Francisco as part of perhaps, Earth Day celebration a few years ago.  The owners saw it and went through it with about 220,000 other people and they bought it.  A picture of it adorns a book cover.   See below.   So while it was being transported to this piece of property they owned, the truck driver would not go down the narrow road to the lot and so he put it down on the side of Hwy 174 and left it.  This gives new meaning to the phrase, “well, there’s a picker upper!!   They had to hire another outfit to bring it in.

The house is 700 square feet.  And it is totally off the grid.  That’s because PG&E wanted to charge them $50,000 to bring in electricity.  So, they have solar panels that sit on the roof of a “shed” nearby.  With a back up generator (read lots of shade here).  And their water is stored underneath the porch in two big plastic tanks, much like a catamaran…brings back memories.  So, it is very instructive to stay here.  We were instructed by a very detailed book they have here to conserve.  I mean, really , really conserve water.  And electricity.  Which we did.  And while there was a tiny inconvenience (short shower), we enjoyed conserving.  It felt virtuous and it was enjoyable.  Did I mention, no TV.  Well, there was a TV but only for DVDs.  That’s when we discovered that, yes, we had already seen Sex and the City.  So left to our own devices…well, I’ll leave that to your imaginations…OH, heck, I’ll confess.  I read Theodore Rex and Ray played Angry Birds.

We did have 3G so the new ipad was a plus.  But really, we just didn’t need for anything.  It was quiet, relaxing, and really beautiful even in the rain.  The RAIN?  June 28th?  Yep.  It rained most of the day.  A nap was in order.  That’s because on our way here we stopped at the Happy Apple Kitchen on highway 174 because the sign said, “homemade pies”.  We had fabulous sandwiches that were so big and delicious that we took a FRESH CHERRY pie home with us.  OMG.  When was the last time any of you had a fresh cherry pie.  They used fresh cherries to make this pie that weighed about 4 pounds.  OMG.

But I digress.  The lunch was so big, a nap was in order.

We also stopped at a store for groceries.  Bought chicken to barbecue.  But alas, it rained.  So…we drove to Grass Valley and ate at Goomba’s, an italian restaurant located in a “hard for Glenda, the GPS” to find.  Sure glad we did find it.  We ordered a pizza and it was divine.  The place was decorated with old pictures of Italians…all family members of the owners.  Family owned restaurant in Grass Valley…a real find for a down to earth joint.  Met the owners.  They were wonderful.  She was a little thing and he was, well, not so small.  She confessed she was afraid to look at Yelp.  That’s how we found them so we encouraged them to check it out.  They are very popular on Yelp.

So.  Here is the deal.  I fell down on my blogging.  It got busy and I was so worn out by all the business that I just didn’t blog.  OH, well.

After we left the eco house, we drove up to Fallen Leaf Lake to visit my cousin, Susie who was staying at a cabin of friends.  What a fabulous place.  Pat, the hostess, cooked us a great dinner which we ate on the deck of the house.  I kept warm in a new sweatshirt that I bought at the store at Fallen Leaf Lake while we were out viewing the sights.  OMG.  Just too cool.  Did I mention that we got lost looking for the cabin?  Glenda, our GPS, steered us wrong and so I approached a cabin that might be the place.  It sat right on the lake.  As I approached the door, I looked around and noticed someone sleeping on the deck, her head covered by her hat.  I said hello and she sat right up.  What a delightful woman.  Her name was Irma Jean Rombauer or something close to that.  She had been coming to the lake since she was 5 years old.  She married a boy that leaved in the cabin next to her families’ cabin.  We had a delightful conversation on the deck of her vacation cabin while classical music floated through the air to provide beautiful background sounds.  Well.  Bottom line, I was one street off.  So…I took leave and found the right street.  Larry was in the street fending off a couple of big barking dogs.  We arrived at last at the cabin.  Here’s the view and some other pictures.

Me and cousin Susie on hammock.

Sue, Pat and trees.

Ray swinging                                    Ray at the falls

A lake above Fallen Leaf Lake                Me on the deck at Fallen Leaf Lake

Ray and Pat in the back of the cabin

Our hosts, Pat and Dick.

This cabin was so much fun.  You can see that in the pictures.  And before we left the next morning, Susie cooked us some eggs.  The really wonderful thing about cooking is that the stove has to be lit.  Literally.  It is a very old stove that requires kindling, wood and fire.  Here’s some more pictures.

So, this all started when our friend, Neta, bought a coffee table cookbook.  Not just any cookbook.  Thomas Keller’s French Laundry cookbook.  Have you seen it?  It’s huge in size and Amazon probably charges extra to ship it…it is that big.

Well, Neta decided to sit down and read it.  And as she read she decided that, “wouldn’t it be fun to have a French Laundry Dinner where couples were assigned recipes from the book and I’d do the main course, and of course we would pair each course with wine?”

Yep.  That’s how it all started.  Well, talk is cheap.  I’ve been on the planning end of cooking parties that never materialized.  So, agreement was just that.  Agreement.  Would it happen?  Probably not.  Only nobody told Neta.

Now for those not in the know, Thomas Keller is like one of the best chefs in the world.  His French Laundry Restaurant is located in Napa, heart of the rich and famous wineries.  To wine lovers, Napa is the wine country in California.  Wine Spectator highlights wine from Napa constantly.  They rarely mention Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Amador, Temecula…other wine growing regions in California.  Nope.  It’s all about Napa.  

But I digress.  A prix fixe dinner at the French Laundry will run you about $280 today and that’s without the wine.  And we know why.  Everything Thomas Keller does is extremely labor intensive.  OMG.  Who could even think this stuff up?  Guess that’s the other reason it’s so expensive.

Well, then.  Here we were.  Neta and her idea of having a French Laundry dinner.  Most of us thinking it wouldn’t happen.  But, the phone rang.

Neta says, “would you like to help me publish the menus and ask for participants from our Winers and Diners gourmet dinner group?”

“Well, okay.  I could do that.”  Just like that I lost my mind and said yes.

As luck would have it, Neta had developed not one, but two menus because she could only seat 10 comfortably at her dining room table and she “just knew” that everyone would want to do this.  Everyone in this case is 16 people that are members of our gourmet dinner club.

Let me digress.  We have a dinner group that has been in existence more or less for 4 or 5 years.  There are 8 couples, 16 people.  Three couples host a dinner within a two month window that they are assigned.  i.e. Jan./Feb.  Those three couple have three other couples that are assigned to their dinner party (assigned by the dinner club leaders).  Therefore three different groups of 8 eat together once every other month.  They are never the same groupings.  We try to shake it up so the groups are different.  It’s fun that way.

It is incumbent on the host couple to decide the theme of the dinner and then they either assign dishes (you bring appetizer), provide a recipe to be cooked, or ask for volunteers of the attendees what they would like to bring and then work it out from there.  What could go wrong?  Always something.  But that’s part of the fun.  Like one time, I assigned recipes out of Susan Goin’s cookbook.  Her recipes are for 6.  They could probably feed 12.  So, we had so much food that by the time we got to the main course, everyone was too full to eat it.  It was fabulous anyway.  

So, back to the story.  Neta came over, I typed up the menus and an invitation (aka a call to arms) was issued.  

This was dinner number two.


Cornets:  Salmon Tartare with Sweet Red Onion Creme Fraiche

Shrimp with Avocado Salsa

Ashed Chevreaux with Slow-Roasted Yellow and Red Beets and Red Beet Vinaigrette

Citrus-Marinated Salmon with a Confit of Navel Oranges, Beluga Caviar, and Pea Shoot Coulis

Roasted Rib Steak with Golden Chanterelles, Pommes Anna, and Bordelaise Sauce

Whipped Brie de Meaux en Feuillete with 
Tellicherry Pepper and Baby Mache

Ile Flottante
Slow-Baked Meringues with Creme Anglaise and Bittersweet Chocolate


Here’s the menu for the first dinner

French Laundry Dinner

June 5th menu

Canapes

Gruyere cheese gougere
shrimp with Avocado Salsa

Soup

Puree of English Pea Soup with White Truffle oil and Parmesan Crisps

Salad

Salad of Petite Summer Tomatoes

Fish

Pan Roasted Striped Bass with Artichoke Ravioli

Meat

Double Rib Lamb Chops with Cassoulet of Summer Beans and Rosemary

Dessert

Strawberry Sorbet Shortcake




So, the stage was set.  Would could possibly go wrong?  There were volunteers for every course (some people did two items).

Did I mention that we are all amateurs.  And did I mention that we are extremely lucky to live in California by the ocean and near growing fields of veggies and trees of fruit and all things wonderful?  In other words, I don’t recommend this in Iowa or places that are land-locked and that don’t have fabulous fruits and veggies because you’ll have to spend a fortune air expressing all the ingredients you’ll need.  It could cost hundreds.  As it was, we Californians had issues.  Thomas called for truffles (the kind found by pigs).  Not in season.  Thomas called for chervil.  None to be found.  As Margaret stated in her email to me after the dinner, “Locally Available.  Salmon season has been very difficult locally.  We got no guarantee from Captain Mark that Salmon would we available.  Alas we ordered but had little hope.  We purchased some Pacific Wild Salmon from Costco (Mon Dieu!) BUT miracle of miracles, Mark T called on Saturday morning and a boat had come in with six King Salmon (the best ones!) and we were spared the embarrassment of saying our fish came from a Box Store.”

And Margaret continued, “The directions about squaring off the round end of the celery and flattening the celery, then putting it longitudinally through the mandolin were ridiculous.  Perhaps if you did not use organic celery like we did, it would be possible. But organic celery is not fat, so the long slices were holey.  Cette domage!  We did manage to make the little nests (celery nests, OMG)  and they were a wonderful green color with the Salmon but what effort for a bit of eye candy!  That took longer than everything else combined.  I believe in one photo you can see the long "show & tell" pieces I brought.




And the other thing.  These recipes are written for the professional cook for heaven’s sakes.  Thomas assumes everyone knows to use only the freshest foodstuffs.  He assumes price is no object.  He assumes the average kitchen cook owns a silpat.  Oh, and the stencil for tuiles cookies.  And don’t even get me started on the french language as several in the group know french, but there are many that don’t.

Okay.  So.  We all did our best.  But some things were just way over the top esoteric. 

I did the dessert,  meringues with Creme Anglaise and Bittersweet Chocolate

Floating Island.  Ah, yes.  Had I ever done one before?  No. However, I have done many meringue desserts from scratch so I was not fazed.  At 8 a.m. I started measuring the ingredients for the creme anglaise (custard), the mint oil (heretofore unmentioned), the chocolate mousse (also unmentioned), the tuile (also unmentioned) and the chocolate salad (also unmentioned).  But in Thomas’s defense, does one really want to mention all those things in the name of dessert?  It might give one pause.

The meringues were to be only partially baked in a water bath in the oven for 20 minutes.  Then I was to check to see that they were set but not firm.  Good luck on that one.  I guessed they were set but not firm and removed them.  Then they were to cool in the refrigerator.  Then I started on the mousse.  Vanilla bean scrapped and steeped in milk and cream and allowed to cool.  Fine.  Except that I was to reserve some of the meringue for the mousse so I had to whip up some more egg whites and sugar to insert into the chocolate, the milk, the cream, the whipped cream.   
















Well, then.  The mint oil.  That required blanching 4 cups of fresh mint in heavily salted water for 15 seconds and then, boom, into a cold water bath with the mint.  The mint leaves were then cut with scissors and placed in a blender with canola oil.  About 12 minutes of blending off and on and presto magic, mint oil.

Did I mention that needed to warm cream to simmer and while it was on the burner, it boiled and Ray had to run to the store to get more cream?  And did I mention the mess that made around the burner?

Once the mousse was completed, I had to scoop out some of the meringue from each ramekin filled meringue and stuff the created cavity with the mousse.  Then that went back into the refrigerator.  

The cookie was next.  Tuiles means tile in french and these cookies were to be super thin and the way to get them that way apparently is to use a stencil which I didn’t have (and I have a really well stocked kitchen).  So I winged it because at this point, it was getting late.  And I was tired of Thomas’s grand ideas.

Suffice it to say that the cookies were a little thicker than he would have made them.  And the chocolate salad?  That was bittersweet chocolate shards that I managed to produce.  I’ll spare the dear reader the details.

So.  That was it.  With about an hour or so to spare.  The big question was:  will the meringue release from the ramekin?  Will it hold it’s shape?  Will the cookie make it hard to eat?  And what about that mint oil?

The dessert was fabulous.  It took all day, but it was fabulous.














Of course, everyone else had their stories too.  One of the funniest was the pea shoot story.  Our friend Shary, was assigned (or stuck with, I’m not sure) with whipping up a pea shoot coulis (sauce).  So, she was on a mission from god to find pea shoots.  Calls were made, contacts were shared.  This was not going to be easy.  Plus, she had to leave town to go to northern CA for something (other than pea shoots).  Well, she dug up a guy that dug up pea shoots for her.  Well, she was running late and would not make his place in time to pick up the pea shoots.  He had all these pea shoots that he harvested especially for her and he needed to unload.  Calls were made on cells phones.  They finally decided to rendeveous at the parking lot of Jack in the Box.  She said she would driving a certain kind of car with the license plate that read “Shary”.  So picture this.  He drives up and parks near her.  He has a brown paper bag filled with pea shoots.  He approaches her car and says, “are you Shary?”  “Yes”, she sings out.  Money is passed.  Pea shoots are handed over and everyone leaves the parking lot.

Now really.  We told her she was lucky she was not comprehended by the DEA.  It looked fishy.  Illegal even.  But alas, she made a quick getaway and that’s how she got the pea shoots.











And the picture above includes the pea shoot coulis.  And below is a picture of Shary and husband John preparing the salmon.















Some of the other dishes.  Ron and Ted!!   Champagne pouring.

















Chris gilding the appetizer of salmon tartar.  The salmon tartar was to be served in cornets (home made), but the recipe didn’t work.  So, you do what you do.
What was wrong with that recipe?  I dare to say that if it was a Julia Child’s recipe, it would have worked.  













Our hostess and brain child for Doing the Laundry…Neta on the left.  And her fabulous meat and potatoes and mushroom entree!!  The potatoes had prunes and the sauce had a bottle of wine!!!














So, here’s the thing.  We have another date for another Thomas “Killer” dinner planned this fall!!!

I may be addicted to blogging.  It’s 3:45 a.m. and here I am siting in bed writing because I can’t sleep.  It’s too hot in this room because the air conditioning is off because it gets too cold and I can’t open a window because our room is hermetically sealed from the outside and the wonderful tropical breezes are not to be enjoyed tonight.  Or this a.m.

So, having spent the last hour composing a blog entry in my mind, I decided to turn on the computer and write much to my husband’s dismay although it appears he has managed to get back to sleep.

What about this trip anyway?  One of the main benefits was that we were unplugged from the “outside” world for two weeks.  And I may be ready to continue that existence.  I mean really.  Today we arrived at the Sheraton Old San Juan to meet up with our captain, first mate and fellow crew members Pat and Richard.  We learn that Anthony Weiner apparently just entered the hall of the shamed and might I suggest really, really stupid men by Twittering pictures of himself to women who found him disgusting enough to “expose” him.  Now, really, my life was happier not knowing this.  Ray explained to me that he is a man before he is a Congressman.  Well, that says it all.  But, really, you would think that a man that “rose” to that level of accomplishment in life would have seen what happened to any number of his colleagues and decided that maybe if he did that…he would be caught and that the fallout might be a little bit more that he would like to endure.  Like it might ruin his life.

But I digress.  We met up with our boat mates and had dinner at a place called Dragon Fly.  I really liked their logo.  But my heart was back in the rain forest where the hillside cafe had Puerto Rican music playing rather than techno disco that was so loud we couldn’t talk until we asked them to turn the music down, there was no view as we were packed like sardines at a table about the size of half a door long perched on high chairs in a dark windowless cavern.  Very trendy.  We had a great time…but my heart was in the rain forest.

While in Puerto Rico, we saw no skunks, opossums, raccoons.  What we did we were dogs, chickens, guinea hens, cows…very happy cows.  Much happier than CA cows in my estimation because they were grazing in fields of green stuff as high as their cows’ eyes.  A beautiful thing to witness.  I always feel sorry for our cows.  Very little shade, using their copious lips to ferret out morsels of green grass in the rainy season and stubble the rest of the time.

Oops, I digressed again.  May be the time of day.  Anyway we jet back to L.A. via a three hour stop over in Atlanta armed with our cortisone cream and a dermatologist appointment for Ray on Thursday as that coral scrape rash  is not going away..  He still needs to make a dental appointment.  Did I mention that on the cruise he lost a major portion of a major tooth?   It appears he will be allowed to keep his toe as of this date.  Me, I’m ok.  The bug bites are slowly disappearing and I’m waiting to see what the Dr. will treat Ray with for the coral scrape.  He called today for the appointment and the phone answerer who is usually a bit cold and unfriendly in this particular office exclaimed, “Oh, Dr. will be really interested to see you.  This will give him something besides skin cancer to look at!”.  Ray responded that it might be interesting to the Dr., but for him, not so much.

If you are interested in what our mainland roads might end up like if we don’t raise taxes, you owe yourself a visit to Puerto Rico.  Huge potholes.  Disappearing  lines that are designed to keep one car from hitting another car by delineating lines to stay within.  And the drivers here are unique.  They make CA drivers look thoughtful and considerate.  People merge from odd places, drive often times in the middle of a two lane road leaving us in the bushes, honk incessantly and stop to visit with pedestrians when the mood strikes them.  Having driven around one quarter of the island, the back roads are much more interesting but nonetheless just as dangerous.  On the back roads you see roadside vendors with their fresh grown fruit and veggies, smoothie stands, families walking together along the side of the road.  And they don’t need lawnmowers here.  Just a good machete to whack the green stuff that grows like weeds (could they be?).  Oh, Deere.  They really don’t need nurseries here because if you went and bought a 6-pack of impatiens, you’d be drowning in them in no time.  They are every where.  They grow like weeds.

And get this.  We went to the rain forest and it only rained once for about 45 minutes.  Our friends stayed in San Juan and it poured.  Go figure.  The weather is like the drivers of P.R.  Unpredictable.

Well, Glenda the GPS got us to the Dollar car rental return location and we were crammed into a van with too many other people and then sat squished up while we hurried to a traffic jam that went on and on.  Ray was getting twitchy but we obviously made it.  What’s going on is that President Obama visits P.R. in a week and so the people are sprucing the place up.  Trees being planted, flowers placed in meridians, curbs given a fresh can of paint.  And all this is occurring on the route to and from the airport where I’m sure they will take him.  And that’s the same route we were using so that was the reason for the big jam.  They seem excited and annoyed that he is coming.  They are impressed that a sitting President is visiting but annoyed, I think, that he will only stay four hours.  That’s very limited access but, hey, it’s better than no access at all.

So, here we are, zooming through the sky with no idea where we are because the whole country is covered in clouds which stretch out before us to the horizon.  Let’s see, we’ve been in the air three hours now starting out from Atlanta.  Where would that put us?  Our flight is about 4 1/2 hours.  New Mexico perhaps?  or are we further north, Colorado.  Well, we can rule out CA.  It is taking forever to get back to the golden state.

Ray is reading and I’m pecking at this keyboard to stave off boredom.  Ah, ha.  The clouds are breaking up and the flight attendants are gathering empty containers and Ray’s wine soaked napkin that he used to wipe off his seat after I knocked the dregs of a glass over onto HIS seat.  OMG.  There are a few lights down there.  It’s 9:09 Pacific time and the horizon is a beautiful orange red which contrasts nicely with the dark blue black earth.  Oh, well.  Whatever.  We’ll be there before you know it and then home tomorrow and then on the road north and then home again and then on the road south and then home again and then off to Australia and New Zealand and then home and it will all go so fast…but we will be richer for the experience and poorer for the expenses!!

There exists such a love-hate relationship with travel.  Lines, searches, haggling with the airlines, nailing down the car rental, navigating the unfamiliar.  And then there is the thrill of meeting wonderful people, seeing beautiful vistas, learning something new about a part of the world you don’t occupy all the time.  It is mind expanding is so many ways.  But I state the obvious.  That I am sure is why we all do it.

And may I recommend spa music on the airline dial?  I’ve got a headset and am tuned into Spa (one of the choices under music) and it is all musical and relaxing and melodious.  Enjoying it very much.  I’m listening to William Eaton, Ascending Cloud at the moment.  Very nice.  Now Weinburg and Beck performing Tranquility.  Such a good choice instead of Headline News or Sports.   Relaxing and soothing.  Check me into a spa!!

I’ve got some pictures.  Here they are.

Rain forest pictures.  Ray is standing up at the restaurant and next to that picture is a picture from our room.   I’m standing in front of the falls and a snail (very big)

Guina hens in the road and an interesting sign in Old San Juan.

Quite a day here in the rain forest.

It started with reading the NY Times (only moi).  Sounds like we didn’t miss to much except perhaps in Yemen, Tripoli, and Lebanon.  Then we had a great breakfast with the other people staying at the ecolodge.  There was a biology professor from a college in Connecticut and her stay-at-home ex-nuclear sub navy  husband and their three year old that had more energy than should even be allowed in a human being, two women from Atlanta that were foodies, and a very young and hip couple from New York who were “getting away”.  Great time was had by all.  Then we hiked down to the falls and the pool of water that was a bit too cold to swim in so it ended up that wearing my bathing suit wasn’t such a grand idea…but hey, be prepared.  The walk was astounding…orchids, impatiens, all kinds of ferns on steroids, bamboo everywhere…snails the size of cinnamon rolls.  The forest is amazing.  Many species of birds that don’t exist anywhere else,  28,000 thousand acres of green house plants the size of which would definitely not work in your home as a house plant.  Problem was the entire hike was downhill to the falls…and you guessed it…what goes down must go up.  And when we arrived at the falls, we traversed the falls on a rope because if the rope wasn’t there and you didn’t hold on to it, you would slip and fall and never be heard of again.  Here’s some pictures.

Ray on the trail.  Me pointing at a snail.

Pretty amazing.  And then we drove out of the rain forest down to the freeway heading north, turning on to another road that led to another “portal” to the rain forest.  On the way, we saw this interesting sign:

Then we went to the visitors center and saw a movie about the rain forest and then we preceded to drive up the road for a bit and saw this fall.

I did mention that this was a rain forest?  It didn’t rain the entire day until we parked the car at the ecolodge and walked to our room and opened the windows.  Then it started to rain.  Watch this movie.

Well, as it turns out, the movie is a problem so I can’t use it.  I’ll take this up with the Apple people when I return.

And then we went to dinner and ran into the same principal/superintendent that we met the night before.  He was there with three of his friends and we had a grand time talking spanish/english or spanglish.  He invited us to return and stay in his home even though he found out that I don’t care for basketball (apparently the Miami Heat were playing tonight and his son teaches in Miami).  I reciprocated and invited him to Cayucos.  We had a great time, exchanged addresses and hugged.  Ray in the meantime was trying to explain what happened to his toe and didn’t know the word for “boat” in spanish along with “blood” and “smashed”.  But a reenactment did wonders for his cause.  We all laughed and had a great time.

The Puerto Ricans are fabulous, friendly people.  They are generous and thoughtful and willing to help strangers.  They also have great senses of humor.  We loved them and we think they liked us too.  This led to Ray remarking that the value of travel is really meeting the people.  And he is so right.

Then we came back to the room and there we are.  I’m blogging, he doing a numbers puzzle and we’re both listening to the calphony of coquis doing their thing along with the sound of the raging waterfall.  It is priceless.

If you’ll turn your computer or your head sideways (your choice), you can view and hear the falls we are listening to right now.  Can’t show this to you, dear reader, either.  So sorry.

 

We’re off the boat.  What an adventure.  Nothing like we’ve ever done before.  Thanks to our friends, the crew.  It is not easy for 8 people to be locked up together negotiating wind, rain, cooking, cleaning, manning the boat…however, we did it and we did it with grace.  Everyone got along.  We left each other wind fond memories and some funny stories.  A post BVI party is already in the plans!!

So, we bid our fond adieus at the San Juan airport.  Six of us headed for Sheraton Old San Juan and two of us (Ray and moi) headed for the El Yueque rain forest in south east quadrant of Puerto Rico.  And here we are.  It is unbelievable.  I had high expectations for this place, but it has exceeded my expectations in spades.  Casa Cubuy EcoLodge is where we are spending two nights.  At 1500 ft. it is cooler and oddly less humid considering the moisture in the air.  We have never experienced anything quite like this.  The leaves of the plants are enormous.  Everything is green.  All the plants are tall.  We are perched on the side of a hill.  This is not a 4 star resort.  On the contrary.  The walls need painting, the awning is moldy, the bed is lumpy.  But, oh, the sounds of the forest and the water fall and rushing water of the river are intoxicating.  We are loving it.

Just got back from dinner.  For a while we were two of four customers.  We met a native of this place.  He was a teacher, turned principal, turned superintendent of in a public school system here.  Charming, delightful conversation ensured.  He’s retired now and here at the restaurant sharing a drink with what we presume is the owner.  He encouraged us to speak spanish.  So we tried.  And he spoke some english so we had a great time talking with him while dinner was being prepared.  Pictures follow of the young women in the kitchen.  And the view from the restaurant.  And the view from our room.  And a movie from our room…not x rated.

About the last week or so, we crew of the Caty Wampus, fantasized about taking a long show and slipping between the sheets of a freshly changed bed.  We also fantasized about flushing the toilet without priming the pump so to speak and without having to throw the TP into a basket because you don’t want to put paper in the ocean.  Well, while our friends are luxurating at the Sheraton, we have a shower that is 50 years old, our bed is bumpy, there is a spider on the wall, we saw a gecko on the way up to to Unit One…and we can’t put paper in the toilet.  EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK on the last point.  However, the concert and view are worth the inconvenience for two more nights.  Who knows, perhaps we are adapting to third world amenities.  OMG you say.  A yacht is third world?  In a way, relative to the toilet requirements.  Is this too much information?  Probably, but my sophisticated readers can handle it.

Well, time to close and read my book.  No TV here.  I tried to get WiFi.  It appears the ecolodge has it but I’ll probably have to be downstairs to get it.  And anyway, this trip has been interesting for another reason.  Except for once, we’ve been out of the new cycle for 13 days.  And we have two more to go.  It has actually been quite peaceful.  Who knows what in the world has happened?  Not us.

Perhaps when we return to our abode, the TV will be on less.  Although I think I will have enjoying having my NY Times paper back.

So, nighty nite.  It’s time to listen to the sounds of the rain forest!!!!!