California – Couple of Boots

March 26th – 28th, 2017

Days 362 – 364: Visiting Dad in Vacaville, CA

We snuck in late last night, when Lindsay’s stepmom, Ouida, had already gone to bed, so we didn’t really get a chance to say hello to everyone until this morning. We spent a good portion of the morning catching up and doing nothing. However, when the afternoon rolled around, my dad put us to WORK.

Four years ago when they came to visit us in Long Island, Lindsay asked her dad if he could help out with some home improvement projects (he’s good at that sort of thing, and we wanted to install a ceiling fan and recessed lighting in our living room). Even though he said yes, we don’t think he really believed we were serious – especially when the project ended up taking 3 full days working from 9AM-6PM each day! We figured we were long overdue for paying them back some blood, sweat and tears, so we were happy to roll up our sleeves and get started.

Well, we must be just THAT GOOD, as we finished my dad’s “weekend project” of spreading mulch in the backyard in about 2hr. That’s it? Really? Wow, we got off really easy! Nothing to do other than relax until Happy Hour & dinnertime!

Lindsay & Igor helping her Papito with yard work

Peruvian presents! My dad’s head is a little fat for the hat (must be all the Trump propaganda…lol)

Birthday dinner out on the town in Vacaville

Don’t ask me who brought it up, but somehow the term “glory hole” was brought up during dinner. All our Millennial-aged friends will be giggling at this point. For all the Baby Boomer family members, allow me to expand your vocabulary:

GLORY HOLE, n. A hole made between bathroom stalls allowing men to engage in anonymous oral sex.

Well, apparently the term also refers to the morning glory-shaped spillway of the Monticello Dam at Lake Berryessa. After discussing the topic at length during dinner, and getting travel tips from our waitress who grew up in the area) we decided to take a short road trip the next day and explore the area. We had beautiful weather and a very scenic drive – good way to spend the afternoon with the ‘rents!

French toast for breakfast – it was so good, Lindsay had seconds!

My dad: every morning he drags out a basket full of a dozen vitamins that he downs in one gulp (not all girls can do that – takes talent!). When city construction workers come to start work on a new road and sound wall, he peers over the fence, muttering suspiciously.

Visiting the Glory Hole at Lake Berryessa

Hmmm…very different from the UrbanDictionary.com definition of a glory hole. Still very cool, tho.

Visiting the Lake Berryessa Glory Hole – a wholesome, family activity (unless Lindsay is there is act juvenile)

On a local recommendation, we stop at the Turtle Rock Bar for supposed “best eggrolls in California”

Cool décor, but isn’t that technically illegal?

These eggrolls are MONSTERS. But very tasty – the reputation is well deserved

Family dinner at home (even the cat joined)

Unfortunately, both Ouida and Papito had to go to work on our last day, but we made the most of our morning together. Lindsay and Igor had a red-eye flight out of Oakland, so we said our final goodbyes in the early evening. Since traffic was flowing pretty smoothly, we made a quick detour to visit Lindsay’s childhood house since neither parent had seen it in years (guys! See pic below!) – a lot has changed in Nor Cal. and no doubt, things will be even more different the next time we are in the Golden State.

Final farewell to my Papito as we leave for the airport. Sniff, sniff, bye Daddy! (notgonnacrynotgonnacry)

Quick drive-by Lindsay’s hometown and childhood home (they painted it BABY BLUE and ripped out all the bushes! Travesty!)

March 25th, 2017

Day 361: Visiting Friends in Sacramento, CA

It’s the freakin’ weekend! That means our working friends have time for visits, so we headed east to the Sacramento area to see Lindsay’s high school BFF, Susan, and her brood. Susan and her husband Rob have two young boys – both absolutely sweet and adorable! Like all young boys, they alternately run around, scream, cry, play nicely, rough-house, and watch TV very quietly. At one point Lindsay thought she caught Igor Googling the word, “vasectomy,” but he claimed it was just a typo.

In addition to making parenting look super easy, Susan and Rob are also grand masters of home improvement – we were in awe as we toured their lovely home (every room was repainted, the kitchen cabinets were refurbished, and Susan was halfway done staining her stairwell banister) and literally green with envy over their backyard (unlike us, they actually planned out where to plant trees and vegetables, instead of randomly sticking them in the middle of the lawn and letting them die). These guys are REAL grown-ups – hopefully we can be like them someday.

Mattie looking for wildlife with a new pair of binoculars (the best available in Laos!)

Nickie is a little overwhelmed to meet Lindsay & Igor for the first time right after his nap

The hat’s a bit big, but he’ll grow into it. Great visit with old friends!

Lindsay hugs the kids goodbye and Nickie stops crying. Trying not to take that one personally… j/k

Our new friends we met in New Zealand, Rachael & Michael, live conveniently halfway between Susan’ house and my dad’s house, so we met up for dinner, drinks and squealing over their teeny Pomeranian puppy (not in that order). Things were going just swimmingly until *someone* in the group made Rachael laugh so hard she fractured a rib. Since she’s recovering from bronchitis and 7mo. preggers, she’s a little too fragile for our knock-knock jokes. Thankfully, she and her baby are just fine – in the meantime, we’re gonna have to schedule another double date in NYC. We have a few months to come up with new material – make sure your insurance premiums are paid up, ’cause we’re gonna SLAY.

This puppy seems too small and too cute to be a minion of evil…or maybe that’s what she wants us to think… (j/k she’s totally sweet)

Driving to downtown Sacramento for dinner. A car parked near Fremont park has quite a collection of tickets!

The Canadian Angel feds us AGAIN! I love her.

March 22nd – 24th, 2017

Days 358 – 360: Visiting Mom in Dublin, CA

Fair warning – the next couple of entries are probably going to be a bit boring for anyone other than the friends and family members included in the posts. While we know there are plenty of fun attractions and amazing parks to visit in California, we’ve already visited a lot of them during previous trips. Our main prerogative this week was to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a long time, relax, and eat and drink as much as we could on someone else’s dime.

When we finally woke up at my mom & Bo’s house, we had a chance to catch up and exchange gifts. Lindsay and Igor brought a warehouse of clothes back from Peru (there may be a few duplicates, please don’t be insulted, guys). While Lindsay would have LOVED to buy a Christmas ornament in each country we visited, it soon became clear that we had neither the money nor space. As an alternative, mom has spent the last 10 months putting together a GORGEOUS collection of ornaments representing the places we’ve visited! Lindsay was ready to grab that little tree and run back to New York with it, she loved it so much! Thank you, Mommy!

We spent the majority of the rest of the day playing games, watching Family Feud, cooking, eating and drinking (except for Bo who was on antibiotics – Lindsay and Igor drank his share of wine for him, ’cause we’re helpful like that).

Belated Christmas gifts! Mom has been collecting ornaments from every country we visited (so AWESOME!). Since Mom and Bo were the first ones we visited, they got first pick on hat & sweater colors from our stash of Peruvian winter gear.

Our second full day in California was nice and sunny, so we actually left the house and spent some time in the fresh air. We drove up to Tilden Park for a half-day of easy walking at Inspiration Point and the Nimitz Way, followed by dinner in town.

San Francisco skyline from the lookout in Tilden Park

Photo op on a graffiti-covered log (so California quirky)

A California Poppy – the official state flower (DON’T pick one! It’s ILLEGAL.)

Enjoying an afternoon walk in the botanical garden

Walking the Nimitz Way Trail. Confession: we only made it 2 miles before Lindsay had to pee.

On the way back, we found a flock of giant wild turkeys! Gobbles!

Dinner out with the ‘rents in Dublin

Pre-birthday dinner at Esin

For Igor’s Special Day, we asked the birthday boy what he would like to do. “Nothing!” Well that’s easy. We spent a rainy day doing nothing, and it was great! A home-cooked meal was the only picture-worthy activity of the day. My husband is so low-maintenance, I really hit the jackpot. I love you, baby – happy birthday!