perseids 2016

the moon through the telescope

The mister and I first met in August of 2002, right around the same time of the month as when the debris stream otherwise known as The Perseids crosses paths with us...or the Earth does with it and vice versa. Every year on our first date anniversary, aka the rootbeer-float-a-versary, we check to see if the skies will be clear enough to go out and have a looksie. Having moved up to SLO, we are lucky enough to be about n hour away from the Carrizo Plain which is the perfect spot to rest our heads for the night in search of meteors and falling stars and all that happy spacey stuff. This year, we brought along the sister-a-go-go and her fella.

 

It takes about an hour or so along a very windy road to get there. The air is dry enough that we do not have to worry about mosquitoes and so we do not bother with a tent, just our camping pad and a pile of blankets...it can get chilly over night.

Mister brought his telescope so we could ooh and aaah over the moon and other heavenly bodies the mister finds through the viewfinder. I never get tired of how cool the moon looks through the magnification. Snacks are in abundance and us girls have our p-styles handy just in case. Once the sun set, we saw a good meteor every few minutes. By good, I mean one that is large and has a long sparkly tail...the kind that makes everyone shriek as if they were watching a fireworks show.

up before the sun

At some point, our eyelids droop and we snuggle down into our makeshift beds. Throughout the night we wake up to watch the sky and are always rewarded. From shooting stars to the calls of the owls (screech, barn, and burrowing) and meadowlarks, it's all pretty cool...even the kangaroo rats that scurry about looking for crumbs are cool...a little less cool was the realization that the holes in the ground all over the campsite were probably for tarantulas and not squirrels like we thought. How did we know that? We saw one come out...that was actually kinda cool...until I started overthinking it...

goofy portraits

the old ranch

greeting the sun on the drive home

We were up and on our way before the sun was fully out. A makeshift breakfast of fruit and yogurt was gobbled up, pictures were taken, and sights were seen. We'll see you again in 2018...in 2017, we will be in Wyoming for the solar eclipse!

dropping the mister off...

The mister is going on an eight day hike on the John Muir trail. We headed down to L.A. two days before the send-off to enjoy friends and food. Our first stop was Ba Le Banh Mi, of course. Good golly I wish we had a good Vietnames eatery up here in SLO. Drooooool.

 It was a bit hot in L.A. so we headed to the home house of the mister's hiking buddy and old friend. The plan was to meet up with other people in the evening so until then...we napped.

The eatery idea was nixed and so we chowed down on doctored up frozen pizza at a dive bar in Altadena. I'm not much of a drinker and after trying to order cocktails with spirits only to find only beer and wine were served, I settled in with some bubbly. The pizza was really good, the company delightful. After awhile, the mister realized he performed here back in his band-playing days...he played bass guitar...one of their songs was even on a skate punk compilation. Hee-hee.

 The mister made himself a hiking kilt. He's become one of those nutty "make everything yourself" types...there's an actually acronym of some kind for his hiking archetype but I can't recall what it is. For some reason, all I can think of is MOPAR, but he's not a Valiant...

We spent two nights in the nifty basement apartment at the homestead. No matter how often we stay there, I always find something of interest to photograph..at least to me.

This is not the frozen pizza from the bar, but homemade pizza that our host made using tomatoes from his garden. We ate it for breakfast and it was delicious. I should have unburdened some of those tomatoes off of our host. Drats!

Of course we had Fosselman's. Summer time means peach ice cream. The mister and I will share a triple scoop. He picks a flavor (toasted almond or peach), I pick a flavor (always chocolate dipped strawberry), and then we go with either horchata or blueberry.

eureka: mini road trip

Eureka, California is one of the rainiest towns in the state. We spent three days up there in November and the weather was perfect, not a drop in site until the morning we left for home. Here's a sneak peek at some of the happy color Old Town had....not bad for a normally grey and gloomy kind of place, not bad at all!

and then there was the accordion festival....

The mister and I have not been to the Accordion Festival in ten years so we decided it was time we took a mini road trip up north. We loaded the car up with a few snacks, beverages, and tunes, and hit the road.

 

But first, lunch at Jimtown Store in Healdsburg, California (aka Napa Valley, where there are more wineries than you can shake a stick at). The driving was slow but the gas prices were great! It had been about eight years or so since we visited Jimtown so it was a must see in my book (the food is fantastic!) We chowed down on burgers that were so good I am still thinking about them (the pickels made them). I had many glasses of the best hibiscus tea ever. After we ate, there was a quick wander around the shop where while I forgot to pick up a jar of those amazing pickles, I did pick up two enamelware mugs to replace our fire king on camping trips.

Our digs for the weekend was at your average run of the mill Motel 6 that charges you $5 for wifi! The rooms were clean but that service fee is stupid. We said no thanks to that and hit up both Starbucks and Burger King for an instagram fix each day. It helped that the motel was in the same parking lot as a Black Bear Diner which is where we fueled up for breakfast.

I had to be at school on Monday so we only hit up the festival for one day. One very long, music-filled day. It was great! We picked up a nifty contraption to use when sitting to help ease back pain and all that jazz. The guy selling them did not have a card or website and I can't find anything like it online right now but when I do I'll let you know. It went around your waist and looped over your knees using your own body weight to counter balance your position so your back would not hurt. The mister and I paired off throughout the day and our backs felt great! I also got a nifty wrap-a-round skirt dealio that doesn't actually wrap around me but is ruffely and will look nifty with jeans, and boots. Kinda steam punky a la jek.

So many great acts and interesting people to see. There were accordions everywhere of course and I am happy we made the trek up for it. It was really crowded though and some of the people used up way more space than they should have and that may have make me a little bit cranky but overall it was a great day.

There were food vendors, candle makers, parasol sellers and more. There was a dance dance set up for polkaing and waltzing, and there were various other acts scattered about the grounds. We're thinking this may be a neat place for the mister to peddle his ukes at next year. 

We ended the day with a delicious Vietnamese dinner and some fresh fruity Paletas from fru-ta. Woke up early the next day for a quick bite at Bovine Bakery before heading south to IKEA in Emeryville so that I could pick up a shelf for the classroom. Phew! More Cotati pics to follow!

we went on a wee road trip

up the coast

coffee in carmel

a little bit of wandering as well

a most amazing torta lunch in seaside

another wander around monterey bay

in the late afternoon

that magic light

looking for color to photograph

checking out the nooks and crannies

the touristy parts

then time for tv and arm knitting

     

the tarantulas are late this year

 

Last weekend we hit the road and drove out towards Pozo to see if we could find and tarantulas. Their wanderings tend to build in number around the time of The Orionids which usually hit just before Halloween. We usually spy them around the first week of October so I packed both lenses and we headed out....

We saw quail, deer, turkeys, goats, cows, horses, magpies, and lizards....

 

But no Tarantulas.

So we enjoyed the drive and wished for rain...perhaps that is the kick in the pants they need to wander...

Here's hoping.