Fin...

Some people have said we need closure on this thing, so here goes:
Our last day in California was a dream, hanging out and shopping and eating in Santa Cruz Proper. Picked up gifts for some folks back home, another great meal, at an organic place called "Fresh" something-or-other. It was nice to see Greta and her mom spending some quality time together. I must say, Greta and Larry showed us a great time- consummate hosts. As I write this, Lisa's mother, brother Marty and daughter Ingrid are out at the opera in SF. Lucky them...
Greta drove us to the airport on Monday night, we flew Song airlines, great airline. Leather seats, TV's, and there were, literally 12 people on the plane, so we both stretched out for some sleep. I think I got more than Li...
When we got to Boston, we picked up our rental car and I took Li to Tufts Dental School, where she sat in the chair and got worked on for almost 9 hours. Yikes.
We spent the night at the apartment of our good friend James Cennamo, a cartoonist and comic, in Arlington, next to Cambridge. We had a quick Italian dinner, then to a little movie theatre to see "Good Night and Good Luck", George Clooney's movie about Murrow and McCarthy. Just as I was deciding I was disappointed in the film (ask me and I'll tell you why), the film broke and we were told the show was over for the night. OooooK.
Next morning, another quick visit to the dentist for Li, then drive to the Cape via Stoughton, where the new IKEA has just opened. Glorioski! Last boat on the HY-LINE was cancelled, for a staff party (dammit!), so we were stuck with the Steamship Authority's notoriously unreliable fast boat, the Flying Cloud (Dying Clod). Sure as shootin', it sucked up a lobster pot into a jet halfway over, and we bounced and bobbed awhile, till the line was freed and we were on our way. Home. At last.
It felt like we'd been gone a year. The house needed to be cleaned, set right , winterized and prepared for the holiday season customers that would be arriving in a couple of weeks. Still decompressing tonight (Saturday, 11/19). All in all we had a fantastic trip. Blues and BBQ and Elvis in Memphis, Sean and Cirque du Soleil in Tulsa, vast open spaces and good vibes in New Mexico and Arizona, goodbye to mom as she heads for a new life in Hawaii, a wonderful time with Anne Meara in LA, Aimee Mann, Aaron and Siobhan and Finnuala, and the still emotional experience of seeing Greta do what she does. And those are just a few of the highlights. If you get the itch to drive across the country, we'd recommend it. Just watch out for that interstate highway coffee...

Closing thoughts and observations:
You can buy a house that doesn't suck for twenty grand in Tulsa Oklahoma. That's a little bit more than the new furnace that just was installed in the Inn...
Something cool is going on in Tulsa, by the way. We might go back and check it out some time...
It was nice to get back to the Island and have someone else pump the gas into the car for a change...
There's a whole lotta Jesus and "Patriotism" out there in flyover country...but there's plenty of NPR, too...
This country is drunk on WalMarts, Targets, Home Depots, etc. Every few miles along the interstate, all across the country, stands an oasis for the weary traveller, consisting of the same Days Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, Super 8, Motel 6, Stuckey's (or Denny's), Cracker Barrel, McD's, Burger King, KFC, Sonic Burger, etc. Sometimes you have the sensation of driving around in huge circles, passing the same interchanges over and over...
There's PLENTY of room out there for LOTS of people. Just need to get water to 'em...
Contrary to the feelings of effete Eastern snobism in the very fiber of my being, I must admit, California does not suck. In fact it is quite nice, and I'd like to go back sometime. Like maybe for Greta and Larry's wedding next Memorial Day Weekend. Yeah, and maybe we could drive there...

See ya.................................................

11/12 & 13...End of the Line...San Francisco

Didn't get a chance to post last night, so here are Saturday and Sunday-
Awoke Saturday morning to the sound and sight of the Pacific surf out our window. This is Greta and Larry's front yard:
Larry makes great coffee, too. Greta got up to San Francisco early in the morning for a math exam. Did we mention that in addition to singing in the SF Opera, she is starting medical school? No flies on her...By the time we got to the city, where Larry and Greta have a beautiful apartment, Greta was napping, gathering strength for the evening's performance. Larry was good enough to show Lisa and I around the neighborhood, which included a stroll through Haight-Ashbury, somewhat of a pilgrimage to Mecca for an old hippie like myself. Here are me & Li at the corner of Haight & Ashbury:
After another of the best damn Mexican meals I've ever had, we walked through Golden Gate Park, a world-class beauty, and the weather was sunny and warm, mid-November. Yeah, we could do this...
We ended up at the deYoung Museum in the park, which had just undergone a huge renovation. It is sort of the SF version of the Metropolitan. Two wings of the building came together at an unusual angle, and I got stuck in the corner where they met:
I know, pretty disturbing, huh?
We walked back to the apartment, put on our evening clothes, and went to meet a bunch of Larry's friends for dinner before the show. The restaurant was one of those big, silly-expensive, trying way too hard to be trendy, OK food, terrible, snotty service, $10 glasses of wine type places, but we survived, and met some nice folks. Then to the Opera.
Going to the Opera, mostly, is just a really cool way to see talented people do art in a big place full of people who really dig it. There is also a whole cultural protocol that one can get caught up in, and dig that part of it, too. We pretty much like to partake of the former and observe the latter, though we do like getting dressed up like grown-ups, shouting 'bravo' or 'brava', and a glass of champagne at intermission. The whole art experience was so good, and sustaining. The singers were talented, and a Beethoven opera is a rare thing. He only wrote one... That was all great. But I have to say that seeing our Greta up there singing and looking like a million bucks, on the stage of the San Francisco Opera ( a very important opera house), in front of what surely seemed like thousands of patrons, in an historic venue such as this, was so moving, and breathtaking. Many are called, very few are chosen at all, still fewer reach this level in their chosen field. Our hats are off and our hearts are full of admiration for what she has achieved...
We also got to see our Finnish friend, who we had had still another superlative Mexican dinner with the night before, play the bad guy up there, and sing his head off. What fun...
Here we are walking across the back of the stage after the performance:
Li also got a chance to see Christa, Greta's aunt and Lisa's ex-sister-in-law. She really loves her a lot, and the feeling seemed mutual. They hadn't seen each other in quite awhile, and I had never met her, though I felt like I knew her, having heard so much about her. It was a real pleasure seeing them get caught up with one another:
Apres-show, we repaired to a nice jazz club across the street and just put an exclamation point on what was a remarkable day...

SUNDAY...
Sleep late, nice. Then off to brunch with the folks we had had dinner and drinks with last night. We went to a famous vegetarian restaurant for brunch, called Greens. Perhaps you have their cookbook? The food was pretty good, and our table looked out at the harbor and the Golden Gate Bridge. Forgot the camera. Just take my word for it. It was lovely.
Then, it was time to do the ceremonial handing over of the Subaru to Amanda. The car had 4,400 miles of grunge on it (yes we had driven 4400 miles since Hyannis), soo I first went to what turned out to be the best car wash I'd ever seen, then went over to Amanda's. It was great to see her and her fella Scott, and Lisa and Greta went shopping, then met us over there for some nice wine and cheese. Here's Li handing over the keys to Amanda, who is so looking forward to shedding her new BMW for an 8 year old Subaru wagon, let me tell you...
Amanda is holding her sister Melissa's dog Wolfgang. After spending some time with him, there may be a terrier in our future. Good dog!
It was emotionally easier to let go of the Subaru than I had thought, though it served us well on the road...
We packed up and headed back toward Santa Cruz with Greta, Larry had gone on ahead earlier. We were so looking forward to dinner with our good friends Aaron and Siobhan, who had moved out here from Nantucket a number of years ago. We were particularly excited to see their daughter Finnuala, who had been born since they left, and we had never met. She did not disappoint:
Aaron and Siobhan treated us to a great homecooked meal in their lovely home on a redwood-festooned mountainside outside of Santa Cruz. Then, Greta drove us home, and all are now in bed asleep, save your faithful correspondent.
Tomorrow night, we board a red-eye to Boston at 10:45 pm, arrive in Boston at 7:40 am, and Li has a dental appointment at Tufts at 9:30. Bing, bam, boom...just like that. We'll let you know what we get up to tomorrow before we leave...

11/11 Made it to Santa Cruz...Almost there!

Woke up at that huge modern hotel in Hollywood. This is the view out the window. I swear that white slash at the top of the hill is the Hollywood sign...
had a great brunch with mom before we hit the road. She chose the restaurant, which was unusual and had delicious food- John O'Groats on Pico. By the time we got on the highway, it was after noon. We took the 5 up, which is less interesting, but faster. Drive, drive, drive, and we got to Watsonville, where we met Greta and Larry at a very unusual Mexican restaurant. With them was one of the singers from the opera and his wife. They are from Finland, and had come down from SF to visit Greta and Larry. Good food and company, and drive back to Santa Cruz. It's really great to see Greta and Mom together
and with Larry


and their lovely dog Coco

Tomorrow, San Francisco!...

11/10 LA All Day!

What a full day in LA... I feel like we spent the whole day in restaurants. First thing, we walked to a Starbucks near the hotel. LA is not, um, a walking town, and we almost got killed trying to ambulate 2 blocks. We did get our coffee, though. Then, breakfast with mom at Mel's, a place on Sunset fashioned after the drive-in in American Graffiti. Nice breakfast! Then, took mom home and headed to the Chateau Marmont for lunch with Anne Meara. Anne and her husband Jerry Stiller are our neighbors and good friends in Nantucket, and it was a treat to see Anne out here. Jerry was at the studio working on King of Queens, so we didn't see him. Their son, Ben Stiller, was there when we arrived, lunching with an associate. It was nice to see him, and he joined us for a bit after his meeting ended. Nice...Lunch was leisurely, 2 1/2 hours, and the Chateau Marmont is a special place. There were definitely some beautiful people there, and it is very discreet. We did, however, manage to get a couple of snaps while we were there:













One really interesting thing about LA- the "look". Wherever you go, people check you out, and you them, with a brief but thorough look, determining the answer to the question "Is this 'somebody?'. It is a palpable thing, and kind of funny, and easy when one is, in fact, 'nobody'.
After lunch, we met my mom at Paramount Studios. My mom worked there for quite a few years, before her boss moved over to Fox and took her with him. She loved working on the Paramount lot, a very historic movie studio, and driving through these gates every day:













Mom got us a drive-on pass, and we walked around the studio, checking out films and TV shows being shot...
After that, dinner (seeing a pattern here?) with mom at the French Quarter on Santa Monica. Good dinner, then, yes, we made it into tonight's Aimee Mann show at Largo, where we met and chatted with a nice young Angelino couple. Stellar show, too.
Then back to our new hotel, the Renaissance, a huge modern hotel in the heart of Hollywood, around the corner from Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and with a view of the Hollywood sign out of our 16th floor window. And all cheap through priceline, too!
Now to bed. Probably off to Santa Cruz and Greta tomorrow.
We'll let you know...

11/9 Sedona to...LA

We took no photos today...a very focussed driving day. As soon as we got 15 miles south of Sedona, the red rocks disappeared. Drove south to Phoenix, then west on 10 to LA. My mom lives right off the 10 (they say "the" 10 here), so as soon as we hit 10 in Phoenix, it was autopilot. The only thing we saw of note on the drive was the most massive windfarm I have ever seen, in Palm Springs. It was many square miles, and hundreds of windmills, all turning and generating power. Massive, and very impressive, and encouraging.
My mom lives in West LA, and is leaving to move to Maui in Hawaii next Tuesday, after living in LA since 1977 (same year I moved to Nantucket). Her house is almost empty, because of the move, so Li and I are staying at the Best Western by her apartment. Very comfortable, but sold out tomorrow. We need to move for tomorrow night, and will probably stay over on Sunset tomorrow.
Talked to Anne Meara, we're having lunch with her tomorrow at the Chateau Marmont. Don't know if Jerry will be there, as he is taping his show "King of Queens" on Friday. Hope to see him.
Tonight we had dinner at the Cat & the Fiddle, an English pub that my mom likes over near Paramount, where she used to work, in West Hollywood. After that, a real stroke of luck. This is what happened:
Li and I are big fans of a singer/songwriter named Aimee Mann. If you don't know who she is, she did the music in the film "Magnolia", and that film was inspired by her music. You should give her a listen. We loved her music way before that, even going back to her days in 'til Tuesday.
Anyway, it is fairly common knowledge that she plays at a small club near my mom's old place, on Fairfax, called "Largo", sometimes, when she is here. (She lives out here) Every time I come to LA, I go there to see if she's playing. Never caught it right yet. Li and I almost saw Jon Brion there once, but couldn't get in.
Tonight, we pulled up and Li went up to see who was playing. It was early and there were a few people there. This was before we went to the pub. Li couldn't find any signs, then asked a woman standing near the door. She came back to the car and said "Aimee Mann is playing tonight. Dinner is sold out, come back later" So we did, and got in. Great seats, small club, great sound, great show. And mom was there to boot.
And she's playing again tomorrow night. Dinner's sold out again, but we'll give it a shot...
What luck!
Also, it hasn't rained once the whole trip, until we got to LA...but it never rains in Southern California!

11/8 Sedona all day...

Woke up in Sedona. Out of the front of our room is a deck, and sitting on the deck we have the most beautiful view. I have to say, we have had much the same vibe arriving here as we did those years ago when we first disembarked on Nantucket.... We're right on the main drag in Uptown Sedona- shops, cafes, etc. We had a great cup of coffee (finally), window shopping, then did the laundry at the hotel across the street. While the clothes were drying, we had breakfast at a Mexican restaurant called Oaxaca. Great Mexican-flavored food. Then, the hotelier gave us a map, and talked us through a nice driving tour, which we set out on. The first stop was a chapel built into the red rocks. Here's a link to some info about it: http://sedona-attractions.10-best.info/sedonachapel.html
and some pictures of us there:


















Most of the rest of the day, we drove around, touring, seeing the sights. We did find a sort of New Age superstore, the Crystal Castle. Li was in heaven. They even had a section in the bookstore section on 'Conspiracy Theories'. I had to drag Li away. As today was my One Year Anniversary of quitting smoking, Li took me out to a lovely place called the Cowboy Club, where I dined on buffalo.
A very satisfying non-travel day, indeed.

This time tomorrow, we will be in Los Angeles, the city of angels. Seriously.
Oh, did I mention that it is beautiful here?
The view out the back of the hotel:












While walking along Oak Creek this afternoon, we wondered aloud whether the people here ever got totally sick of that red/pink/coral color of everything out here, the way we get sick of grey shingles. Then we realised that we don't GET sick of the grey shingles, so that answered that.....

11/7 Sedona, at last...

I think that it's fair to say that Sedona is the place we are most looking forward to visiting, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
We slept a little bit this morning, had the free breakfast at the motel in Grants, and hit the road about 10. The drive from Grants to Sedona would take about 4 1/2 hours. No sweat. Early arrival, a little exploring. Then we took a good look at the map. A look at the Grand Canyon was definitely doable, so we decided to go for it. Then I noticed that we could get off of 40 and drive through Hopi and Navajo reservations, about 200 miles worth. It was out of the way, but what a great opportunity to see the country. Let me tell you, there is a whole lot of country out there. So much of the time we were on a 2-lane road with literally nothing in sight but mountains. And the Painted Desert, which is aptly named. Herewith, some photos:

The colors were remarkable, and, of course, my cheesey digicam doesn't do them justice.

Here is Li at the Grand Canyon. Some things are simply indescribable, and the Grand Canyon is such a thing.

This place really seems to put a lot of things into perspective, physically and otherwise...

We headed south, down from the south rim of the canyon. All of the topography is stunning. There is a smaller canyon, riven by the Little Colorado river, that is beautiful, and right by the Grand Canyon.

The reservation and canyon side trip took many extra hours, but was well worth it. As we got into Flagstaff, we got our NPR fix. It seemed so suburban and normal, after our afternoon. As the sun set, we headed further south from Flagstaff, cut onto 89A, down, down, down into canyons to Sedona. It was dark, but we could feel the beauty. We had no reservations, and stopped at a motel right on the main drag, purely for it's name, The Matterhorn Motel. It promised, "Best rooms, best rates, best views. And free wireless high-speed internet."

Got into the room, got some Tecate beer and settled in to watch my New England Patriots get their lunch and dinner chowed by the hated Peyton Manning and the Indy Colts. Ouch!

Well, at least tomorrow morning I'll wake up to the red rocks gleaming out our window, coffee on the deck, and some exploring to do.

Excelsior! (?)

11/6 Part Deux...

Well, when we left off, we had been to the Murrah Memorial in Oklahoma City. When we left, we passed a big windfarm...they were actually pretty graceful and attractive, especially when you thought about what they were doing...

(You can click on a photo and see it bigger...)

Next, as promised, we stopped into Clinton, OK. Our friend Gordon had seen that our route passed this way, and asked us to take a picture of the Denny's or something in Clinton, as his grandfather came from there. We did stop, and took these:

Most of our route since Memphis has followed parallel with the historic Route 66. Clinton had one of many "Historic Route 66" museums that we've seen...

Clinton looked a lot like what I imagined a small western town to look like...it was late Sunday morning and the streets were empty and the very many churches were full. Had a nice ding from Amanda, she who will receive the car in San Francisco. Thanks Amanda! We're looking forward to seeing you.

We ended up being on the road for 13 hours, and made it to Grants, New Mexico. Li drove for a few hours, while I played with the GPS and watched the movie "The Blackboard Jungle", with Glenn Ford and a very young Sidney Poitier. On arrival in Grants, really tired, and not much to do but eat then sleep.

Tomorrow, to Sedona, Arizona....

See you there!

Blogger.com problems...

The Blogger website seems to be having problems, and everything is excruciatingly slow, so will upload the rest of 11/6 when we get to Sedona.
Love to Brad & Abby, who posted a comment. Hi to Jamie Lebish, who sent an email. We feel like we've got you along with us when we hear from you!

11/6...Made it to Grants, New Mexico....

And boy are we tired! This was the long driving day of the trip. We had originally planned to stop in Santa Fe for the night. Due to the long drive, and the fact that this was just a sleepover stop, we drove straight on 40, not doing the spur to the north for Santa Fe. I wanted to get as far west as possible, hopefully to Albuquerque, to make tomorrow's drive to Sedona that much shorter. We're spending 2 days in Sedona, so the more time there, the better.
We did get on the road at 6:55 this morning, which was great. Oklahoma City was only about 100 miles away, and we decided to take Kate Splaine's advice and stop at the Murrah Building Memorial. It was really worth it, and very moving. It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since McVeigh blew up the Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 innocent people.
We arrived at 9:00 am on a Sunday, and there were very few, if any, people there. It was the same time of day as the bombing, and a beautiful sunny day. There are 2 big black walls at either end, one says 9:01, and the other 9:03. I asked the guard there what that meant, and he explained that the bombing happened at 9:02, so the first wall represented the moment before the blast, and the second represented the moment after, when everything was changed.
Here's a link to the memorial website: http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/ .
This was a very moving time. Here are some shots:



















These are the chairs representing each victim. Many of them are small...
This was a really nice security guy who filled us in on a lot of details...