Dinner with Jill and Mike

We had our neighbors Jill and Mike over for dinner on Saturday night. This is part of Sharon's vision of a series of dinners with couples in our neighborhood. We had Jim and Debi for dinner in May and Heidi, Brad and Clark earlier in July.

We served blackberry gin fizzes as a before-dinner cocktail. Sharon made a great dinner of salmon, risotto and summer squash.

2021 Italy - Day 10 - San Marino [#mustacheaboard]

Jack and Sophia traveled to San Marino.

Home Office

Over the last two weeks, we have emptied out the home office, had a new floor installed, painted the room and had cabients installed. We still have some work to do, but I started working in here on Friday.

2021 Italy - Day 9 - Venice [#mustacheaboard]

Jack and Sophia took a day trip to Venice.

Edgewood Tahoe Scorecard

My scorecard from Edgewood Tahoe on Tuesday.

2021 Edgewood Tahoe Resort - Day 3

Up at 6 am, Sharon and I packed up the room. We pulled away from the hotel at 6:50 am. With a quick stop for egg mcmuffins and coffee at McDonalds, we were back in Carmichael at 9:03 am.

I would definitely like to go back to Edgewood and play golf again. Maybe with the Wongs or the Gainsleys.

We hurried back because the installers from California Cabinets are coming this morning to start work on the den.

2021 Edgewood Tahoe Resort - Day 2

When we got to the lake on Monday afternoon, it was a litte hazy with smoke from the Tamarack Fire. The wind and rain on Monday night cleared everything out. Tuesday was a beautiful day!

We had a lazy morning. Sleeping late, we had room service (Everything Bagel and short pancake stack). We wandered down to the driving range about 10 am. I spent a long time on the driving range working on my swing. While I hit a few nice shots, I felt pretty inconsistent. I hardly ever putt before playing, but spent a few minutes on the putting green.

Sharon and I teed off at 11:10 am. The foursome included Mark from Houston and Matt from Dallas. Matt's wife rode with him.

I was a little apprehensive about the water on the first few holes and playing with other people. I got off to solid start, gained some confidence and built on it. It was probably the best that I have ever played through the first twelve holes. I had a 48 on the front nine. I parred the 520 yard Par 5 fourth hole. I fell completely apart on the last three holes. I ended up with a 109 with two mulligans off the tee in the last five holes. The greens were really fast. The scorecard is here.

The course and the weather were beautiful. I really enjoyed the day.
Afterwards, the group stopped for a drink at the Brooks Deck and Bar. Sharon had a nice time talking to Matt's wife over the course of the round and afterwards at the bar.

After getting cleaned up, Sharon and I had a late dinner sitting outside at the Bistro. It was a nice evening with a great sunset.

For starters and salad, we spilt Roasted Bone Marrow [Onion Jam, Fresh Parsley, Radish, Hawaiian Sea Salt, Brussels Sprouts Leaves, Pickled Mustards Seeds, Toasted Sourdough] and Summer Knights [Fresh Watermelon, Heirloom Tomato, Strawberries, Orange Segments, Baby Arugula, Chevre Goat Cheese, Almonds, Balsamic Glaze]. For entrees, I had the Llano Secco Ranch Pork Chop [Berkshire Center Cut Pork Chop, Grilled Artichoke Puree, Baby Lacinato Salad, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes], while Sharon had Alaskan Halibut [Grilled Halibut, Risotto, Pea Puree, Roasted Cauliflower, Snap Peas, Arrabbiata Sauce, Potato Strings]. For the second night in row, I think that I had the better entree...

2021 Italy - Day 6 - Bologna [#mustacheaboard]

Jack and Sophia traveled from Florence to Bologna.

2021 Edgewood Tahoe Resort - Day 1

Over two months ago, I planned a getaway for Sharon and I to the Edgewood Tahoe Resort. We had dinner and then brunch there in November of 2018 and talked about coming back again some day. Sharon knew that we were taking off for a couple of days, but didn't know where we were going.

Leaving Carmicheal about 10 am, we stopped for sandwiches at Subway in South Lake Tahoe. The area was a zoo. I frankly hadn't considered how busy Tahoe was in the summer.

We were lucky to get a parking space at the trailhead at the Lam Watch Nature Trail. We hiked down to Nevada Beach on Lake Tahoe and found a picnic table for lunch. Afterwards, we hiked back looping north of the meadows. In total, we covered about 2.9 miles in an hour and eleven minutes. I am becoming a big fan of the AllTrails app.


The trail was just north of the resort. We pulled up to the hotel about 2:45 pm. They had our room ready. One nice touch was that they took our golf clubs and told us that they would deliver them to us at the course in the morning.

After getting settled in the home, we wandered the property. We checked out the restaurant. Sharon shopped in the Pro Shop, while I had a beverage at Brooks Bar and Deck.

As we were wandering back to the hotel, it started to get very windy and rained off and on. This turned out to be a blessing; more on that in the next post.

We finished the night with dinner at the Edgewood Restaurant. For appetizers, we split Heirloom Tomato Panzanella [House Pulled Mozzarella/ Bitter Greens/ Black and White Pearls/ Basil Chutney] and Hudson Valley Foie Gras [Walnut Brioche / Roasted Placer Apples / Granny Smith Sphere / 50 Year Aged Balsamic / Red Ribbon Sorrel / Candied Apple Chip]. For entrees, I had Pinecone Smoked Elk Loin [Summer Squash / Fine Herb Black Barley / Roasted Corn Custard / Caramel Corn / Spiced Quince Glace De Viande], while Sharon had Pan Seared Branzino [Young Fennel / Baby Artichokes / Tiny Snap Peas/ Summer Heirloom Tomatoes/ Pink Lemon Beurre Blanc]. We split a bottle of Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir 2018. Mine was the better entree.

2021 Italy - Day 5 - Florence [#mustacheaboard]

Refreshing the Den

Sharon and I spent all weekend prepping and painting the den. We are completely refreshing the room. In a addition to a new paint scheme, we had a new floor put in on last Thursday. Starting Wednesday, California Cabinets in installing built in book cases and desks.

As part of the project, I got rid of a library desk that I bought from the banks in 1992. Larkin helped me carry it upstairs at East View when I bought it.

My one regret is that I failed to taken a picture of the room before we started the project. Almost exactly a year ago, we started working on the refreshing the exercise room. I have really enjoyed the end result.

2021 Italy - Day 4 - Florence [#mustacheaboard]

2021 Italy - Day 3 - Florence [#mustacheaboard]

After one night in Rome, Jack and Sophia jumped to Florence.

More Adventures with Lee

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Heringer (@heringermr)

2021 Italy - Day 2 - Rome [#mustacheaboard]

Landing in Paris at 7:50 am local time, Jack caught an Air France Flight to Rome. It was supposed to take off at 9:15 am, but was delayed until 10:15 am. He was on the ground in Rome just after noon local time.

Taking a train in the central city, Jack checked into their AirBnB. After a short nap, he started out on an eight mile walking tour of the city. Sophia rolled in in the late afternoon.

2021 Italy - Day 1 [#mustacheaboard]

Sharon and I honeymooned in Italy in October of 1996.

Sharon, Jack, Morgan and I spent two weeks in Italy in 2O12.

Jack is heading to Italy for eleven days. He is catching up with Sophia.

Thursday night, Jack caught a 6:35 pm Air France flight from Dulles to Paris. He will be landing in Paris about 7:45 am local time on Friday morning.

Ted Lasso - Season One

Over the long fourth of July weekend, Sharon and I finished watching season one of Ted Lasso. With Sharon asleep on the couch, I actually watched the first episode last fall. At the time, I was very surprised by the tone of episode and touched by the portrayal of the main character. It just took me awhile to get Sharon interested watching it.

Ted Lasso was developed by Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt. Season one premiered on Apple TV+ on August 14, 2020. The season received 20 Emmy nominations.

The show is based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NBC Sports' coverage of the Premier League. American Ted Lasso [Sedeikis] is a coach of college-level American football. He is unexpectedly recruited to coach an English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience with soccer.

This series is surprisingly good. I highly recommend it. The second season premieres on July 23, 2021.

Lee and Kermit

California Historical Landmark #895

Sharon and I walked by this historical marker while we were out for a walk in Palo Alto.

Hostess House
California State Historical Landmark #895
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
This landmark is located at 27 Mitchell Lane, near the Northeast corner of University Ave and El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California. There are 42 other California State Historical Landmarks in Santa Clara County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 37° 26.578 W 122° 09.932.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

This building originally served Camp Fremont as a meeting place for servicemen and visitors. When moved from its original site to Palo Alto, it became the first municipally sponsored community center in the nation. It is the only remaining structure from California's World War I Army training camps. Designed by Julia Morgan in 1918 for the YMCA, it was dedicated one year later to those who died in this war.

Catan

Jack facetimed Drew and I on Friday night excited about the fact that he was a Catan Seafarer Grandmaster!

The three of us played Catan on Sunday afternoon. I won the first game!

Drew was trying to help me beat Jack in the second game, but I didn't understand one of the naunces of game play. Jack went on to win the second game.

Dinner with Brad, Heidi and Clark

After spending most of the day getting the house and deck in shape, we had our neighbors Brad, Heidi and Heidi's dad Clark over for dinner on Saturday night. They bought the house at the end of the cul-de-sac. This is part of Sharon's vision of a series of dinners with couples in our neighborhood. We had Jim and Debi for dinner in May.

We served pomegranate martinis as a before-dinner cocktail. Sharon made a great dinner of Peruvian chicken, rice and Italian flat beans.

Retiring

On Friday morning, Sharon went into work and told her boss that she is retiring as of February 1, 2022.

I have told Sharon for years that they can't remake her. She is a product of a system that doesn't exist anymore. When Sharon started working for Farm Credit in the 1980's, there were three banks in Sacramento and several hundred Production Credit Associations and Federal Land Bank Associations across the Western states. She had the opportunity to see lots and lots of transactions, visit different associations to do legal reviews and learn the UCC from Larry. The same types of learning and training opportunities just don't exist anymore.

Ancil Hoffman with Jim and Debi

Teeing off at 5:56 pm, Sharon and I played golf with our neighbors Jim and Debi at Ancil Hoffman. We walked the course. I can't honestly remember the last time that I walked a course. It might have been 1999 at Mather with Larkin, Boone and Brun.

I got a better start than two weeks ago with the Gainsleys. I bogeyed the 3rd and 4th holes and got a scrambling par on the 5th. The wheels came off on the 6th and 7th. I got into the trees and couldn't get out. I need to learn just to punch out into the fairway, rather than make some herotic shot through the trees.

The weather was beautiful. It was a very nice evening. Debi and Jim dropped at the 7th. Sharon and I played a slow 8th and 9th.

It took us just about two and a half hours to play nine. Sharon and I are both considering buying pull carts. We need to find another night or two to play after work before the end of summer!

Pearson Arastradero Preserve Hike

Using Runkeeper on my iPhone, I generated a Google map and a Google Earth view of our hike on Saturday before Stacey's wedding.

Work from Home - Day 487

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Heringer (@heringermr)

Celebration of Life - Dwight Morgan

It is has been a difficult and an emotional ten days. One of my managers passed away unexpectedly. We held a Celebration of Life at work for him today.

2021 Palo Alto - Day 3

Sleeping late, the plan for the morning was a walk around the Stanford Campus. Looking in the AllTrails app, they had a Stanford Campus Walk that started near the hotel.

We wandered through the campus and then into downtown Palo Alto for brunch. In total, we covered just over five miles in an hour and forty-nine minutes. A map is here. I was surprised to find a Rodin Sculpture Garden along the walk. We also made a quick stop at a California Historical Marker.

We had brunch at Local Union 271. We both had Vegetarian Black Bean Huevos Rancheros [2 cage-free eggs, corn tortillas, breakfast potatoes, tomatillo salsa,cheddar-jack] and mimosas.

Afterwards, we packed up the room and started for home. It took two hours and fifteen minutes to get to Carmichael: 84 [Dunbarton Bridge] to 880 to 80 to 50 to Watt.

We have a couple of more adventures planned for the next month. In August, we are going to head back to San Francisco and finish the SF Crosstown Trail!