South Bay Tour Day
March 19, 2025
Part of the reason for this trip is to go to Disneyland, and part of it is to show Janet some of my old haunts. Today was a chill day in the South Bay.
We met in the alley behind both of our places at 10:00 and hiked down the Esplanade to the Riviera Village for coffee at Offset.
I’d planned a walking adventure from Torrance beach to RAT to Malaga Cove to the Plaza to our old house and back… but that was not to be, as Janet’s back was acting up, so: shopping instead, then lunch at Turquoise (had a great Kaboudeh wrap).
We each chilled for a bit in our respective cottages then took a driving tour that included my old house, Via Campesina, the Plaza, Malaga Cove, the gazebo, the Neighborhood Church, Bluff Cove, PVHS, the E-ticket portion of PV Dr. West, and then a nice walk at Pt. Vicente
From the Pt. Vicente trail:
A nice view of Catalina.
We then headed to Chris’s. Betsy showed up and then Chris took us all on a great cliff-side walk. Definitely doing that walk again. He got to show me the trail to Indicator (a surf spot) that includes a gnarly hands & knees section that he named Kari’s Corner because it’s the most “alpine” part of the trail.. which he said reminds him of me. Flattered! He’s been wanting to show me that spot for years, so I was glad to see it (though the trail was steep and slippy and I didn’t want to go all the way down to the famous corner, LOL).
My finger’s not exactly pointing to the correct spot. Continue along the trail from where Chris is, then just beyond the spot where the trail seems to vanish is a ledge.. that ledge Kari’s Corner and you have to scooch down — probably on your butt — to rejoin the trail (not visible here). It’s quite a ways yet to the beach.
Here are some shots from the walk along the cliff adjacent to Paseo Del Mar.
Look at these old geezers….
A nice view of downtown LA…
The turnaround spot.. up at the junction of PV Dr. N and Paseo Del Mar. The viewpoint for the submarine races.
We left the Paseo Del Mar trail and headed quickly to Lunada Bay to catch the sunset. And made it!
A beeeeautiful day.
Janet and Kari Hit the Road
March 18, 2025
Here we go! A short little turnaround between trips (which made packing easy!), and by 10:00am, I was honking the horn at 305 Norte Ave, summoning Janet so we could begin our six-day trip to SoCal! (Not really: I walked up to the door because I’m polite that way.)
We stopped at the South Davis Starbs for road coffee, then hit the road. We hit the usual traffic in LA and had a couple stops along the way, arriving to our Redondo beach cottages by 5:30. Seven-plus hours, not horrible.
I was able to book one of my standby cottages on Avenue A (Tiana’s place) and, super-fortunate, Tiana made me aware that the family next door has now added an airbnb to their property and we were able to book that one for the same days. So… we had adjacent cottages, giving us space and alone time as needed, which turned out to be quite brilliant. Both cute, clean, tidy, adequately appointed. And a block from the beach!
We dropped our stuff and headed right to the Esplanade!
We took a good long walk, called Chris, made a quick reservation for dinner, and then caught a beautiful sunset:
No pics, but our dinner at Bettolini’s with Chris was fabulous.
A Sunday in Grinnell
March 9, 2025
Here are some photo highlights of a typical Sunday in Iowa in tow with cousins:
Checked out of the Hotel Grinnell, and headed over to Aunt Bonnie’s where she supplied us with coffee (with Bailey’s) and cinnamon rolls. We talked…
As seen around Bonnie’s house…
Both Kevin and Kyle have painted Iowa barns. Both of these hang on the wall in the great room, Kevin’s on left, Kyle’s on right. Both lovely in their own way and totally reflective of the artist!
Such a cozy home…
After a couple hours, we headed out to tour Grinnell..
Here’s a Frank Lloyd Wright house:
Here’s the house where Bonnie spent the first five years of her life (either that, or it’s the house she was conceived in.. but let’s not worry about that detail).
I love the Iowa aesthetic… simple homes on hills, farms and farm equipment everywhere, corn rows — also everywhere. I enjoy the brown, leaflessness of winter.
There were numerous murals around town honoring Edith Renfrow Smith, who was the first African American to graduate from Grinnell College. She’s still alive, living in Chicago and is 110 years old and counting.
They also had some historical murals celebrating old Grinnell, like this one of the Grinnell High School football team, coached by Kenny Starbuck, Aunt Bonnie’s dad. He also coached basketball and track. And probably taught English, though I’d have to check that out.
Grinnell is a welcoming place, I’m pleased to say:
And then… Bonnie, being Bonnie, wanted to shop! So Matt, Kyle and I followed along. First, we went to Theisen’s (pronounced Ty-son’s). One can get pretty much whatever they want there, including tractors and baby chicks. Matt and/or I got Iowa jerky, Amana-made noodles, Iowa sausages, a large plaid wool-like anorak.. stuff like that.
We then spent another hour wandering the aisles of Walmart. Yup! I got some Iowa swag. When Bonnie says it’s a good day to shop, that’s what we do! She got a Swiffer and a cozy, soft cape. There ya go.
We returned home and Matt did some of this (he’s been fantasizing about sleeping in this leather chair for two years):
Kevin and Karla came by and we sat around and talked for a couple hours (or more). Then they took off and we had dinner. Bonnie made her famous baked minestrone and apple pie:
After dinner — more talk — then said goodbye to everyone, and Sadie, too.
Here are a couple photos of Bonnie in earier years…
A young Bonnie at the bar (when she wasn’t teaching first grade!):
Uncle Al, Bonnie, Kevin, Susan (adopted when she was 5) and Kyle:
Many Cornishes
March 8, 2025
It’s just lovely to wake up at the Hotel Grinnell. It’s a nice place.. simple, solid, spacious, well equipped, clever.
The Periodic Table, their cafe/bar/restaurant is about to be taken over by the Prairie Canary, so we were given vouchers for a couple places downtown for coffee and/or breakfast. We chose coffee and found the wonderful Saint’s Rest:
The rest of the day was all about Cornishes. We headed to Bonnie’s (Cornish) place on Turnbury… and dove right into food and conversation. And a little Bailey’s in our coffee.
Here’s Matt and Kyle (Cornish) diving deep.
We literally talked for hours. In the late afternoon, Keaton (Cornish) showed up and we had some really fun conversation about travel and hiking and Everest Base Camp. Kevin and Karla (Cornish) showed up a bit after that with Cam and Lincoln (Cornish), and most of the Beck clan — Scott, McKenna (formerly a Cornish), Gemma and Deacon (Lila was at her dad’s for the weekend up in Minnesota).
After hanging out for a good long while, we all headed to El Cascabel (which became a Mexican restaurant since last we visited). Had a great time!
We weren’t talked out yet, so went back to Aunt Bonnie’s house for more…
The brothers.. Kevin and Kyle.
I got to talk at length with Karla who told me all about ghosts, her former life as a high school and college athlete, and so much more.
It was exactly the kind of day I was looking forward to.
Iowa Bound
March 7, 2025
A airporty travel day… made more fun by the mid-transcontinental meet-up with Mutt the Butt in Phoenix…
…where we would then board the same plane bound for Des Moines. Late departures from both Long Beach (Matt) and Sac (me) seemed to doom our connecting flight to DM, but for the mechanical problems of our DM-bound plane. Instead of missing our flight, we sat for hours (and hours) in Phoenix. Hilariously, we almost missed that flight, as we’d been oblivious to a gate change along the way (thank goodness for big sisters who check these sorts of things). Our constant text updates to Karla in Grinnell kept everyone apprised, as our dinner reservation at the Prairie Canary kept shifting… but, eventually we met up.
They kept the restaurant open for us, which was great. What a surprise it was to walk in and see not only Aunt Bonnie, Kevin and Karla, but also Kyle, who’d driven up from Hernando, Mississippi to join us for the weekend!
After dinner, cards and presents, we went over to Bonnie’s house on Turnberry. Sat around and talked, while keeping an eye on the women’s college basketball conference tournament (was it the championship game? It might have been..). Iowans really cheer for Iowan teams. Caitlyn Clark (now pro, but who played for U of Iowa) was in the building, which was pretty exciting for everyone. She’s a genuine local super star. Eyes transfixed:
Matt and I then dragged our tired selves to the Hotel Grinnell… which, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is considered an Historic Hotel of America, mostly because it’s housed in a former (huge, brick/concrete) high school. Its hallways are wide, its ceilings high, its windows stretch to those high ceilings. The rooms are cavernous.. and charmingly appointed with school-related things like chalkboards and hall passes. I love the place. Matt’s less enamored (I think he prefers a higher degree of service and comfort). Aunt Bonnie’s dad — Kenny Starbuck — used to teach there (and coach football, basketball and track), and she used to run the halls. I believe they moved before she was school aged, so she never attended Grinnell High School.
Fun Fact: Kenny Starbuck was recently inducted into the Grinnell (something) Hall of Fame. I’ll talk about that in a subsequent post.
The Holidays in a Few Pics
January 2, 2025
Well… as I begin blogging 2025, I have to fess up that I missed a LOT of 2024. It was my intention to backfill all of my missed blogs. I just hated that I missed so many days and fully intended to right that wrong. But as the year wore on and the missed days piled up, I realized backfilling was an increasingly daunting task and was probably never going to happen.
So, I am accepting that 2024 will remain an under-documented year and, in the interest of looking forward and not behind, I am NOT going to spend a single second stressing about that.
For the record, I do plan to do a Guatemala travel blog thing and an Italy-Dolomites-Germany travel blog thing, because I do want a record, and I especially want to enjoy those memories. I may also, from time to time, reach back into 2024 and write about some of the notable goings on, like some of the political stuff, and/or some family milestones…
With that in mind, how about a few photos from the holidays.. an easy place to start!
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On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, folks started to arrive in Davis.. Chris and Pam, Matt, Betsy (for just an overnight on her way to Karen’s), Peter and Maya (who will arrive later this night)…
A lot of catch-up conversation ensued…
On Wednesday, we celebrated Chris’s 65th birthday..
Pam made wonderful lasagna, and I made a spice cake that was amazing..
Thanksgiving day, Peter and Maya were assigned corn bread stuffing — Kamala Harris’s recipe (remember her?). It was beautifully made, but we all agreed we prefer traditional bread stuffing. (Other assignments: turkey and gravy: Jim; mashed potatoes: Matt; sweet potatoes: Pam; green beans, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, Harvard beets: Kari; other pies: Janet.)
Pam also took charge of appetizers again…
We played a bunch of poker while consuming those appetizers..
Here’re a couple of our TG day gang…
We managed some Zoom connections with family far away…one call with Jay and Saythong in Thailand, another call with Aunt Joy in Pleasanton and Heidi in the desert…
Day after hanging out…
Peter’s guitar playing has gotten really really good. Such a joy to hear him play and sing. Maya and Peter do a lot of singing & playing together.
Chris and Pam took off Saturday morning, and the rest of us headed first to Putah Creek Cafe in Winters for breakfast with the John Frames…
Then wended our way over the mountain to Napa/Sonoma for some wine tasting at BR Cohn, and dinner at Mustards Grill.
It was really pretty in Napa in the final days of fall…
And some holiday seasonal flora, Davis style (our front porch Japanese Maple and the colors at Putah Creek)
A couple shots around the house getting ready for Christmas…
A new thing I baked this year… a goat cheese/pesto/parmesan puff pastry Christmas tree, this was for a Christmas gathering with our hiking buds — Ricker, Susan, Heidi (Jimmy J got Covid)
Annual favorite holiday concert — Home for the Holidays…front row, always!
A fantastic holiday neighborhood open house at the Slabach’s. Holy cow they can entertain… this was one of numerous tables loaded with stuff Lisa had made. Ted made a fabulous eggnog martini.
Baking tasks… this year cheese crackers, butterballs and a new almond/walnut brittle with chocolate.. fantastic all.
Christmas Eve was so mellow.. the three of us and Janet for a cranberry pork tenderloin, roasted sweet potatoes and salad.. and plenty of tasty Christmas gifts for dessert.
Added some new ornaments to the tree this year.. photos on acrylic.. fun!
This was a Christmas day surprise… and this is us hearing the news.. that Chris and Pam got engaged!
And those were some of the highlights from Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2024.
Life of Wry 