Two weeks ago we drove down to La Jolla Shores and back on a Friday. On September 4th, another Friday, we’d planned on going to Catalina Island for the first time. We figured it would work better during a pandemic because nobody would be interested in going there. Most of the restaurants would be closed, […]
First Trip of the COVID Season
In early March my parents boarded a plane at LAX to take them home after spending a few days in California with us. In the preceding long weekend, we had driven up the coast to Monterey and back down. Sam and I had no idea at the time that it would be our first and […]
Parents PCH
On Wednesday night I picked up my parents at the Burbank airport. It was still relatively early in California, so they were up for dinner. We went to Ribs USA, which is a favorite (of everyone who eats there) for BBQ and the associated sides. Since this was a special meal, we sort of went […]
Downtown Los Angeles 2019
It’s been a few years since I set aside time to walk downtown LA just to take photos. With Sam in China for two weeks and the winter days short, Saturday the 14th seemed like a good opportunity. That and the new camera to shoot with (since last time). Unlike the last few times, I […]
NOLA
A few months ago my newly-retired mother decided it was time for her fifth trip to New Orleans. She asked us if we’d like to join. Although we hadn’t planned to travel again until 2020, we agreed to go for just a couple days since we’d never been. Unfortunately, my grandfather’s health took a turn […]
Last Shaw’s Cove of the 2019 Season
Every good fish story starts with a fire alarm. On Saturday morning at 5am a resident of our 73 unit building thought it would be a great prank to pull the fire alarm. As such, we got a late start on the drive south to Orange County. We didn’t get out on the beach until […]
Eosinophilic esophagitis
I waited for twenty years to hear that phrase. I blogged in the past about an eating problem I’ve had since college. Last fall it was “solved.” I didn’t write about it because I was playing the long game to see how the medication worked, whether I could get the photos from the surgeon, and […]
The Return of Shaw’s Cove
I’d been checking the conditions forecast throughout the week leading up to a possible Sunday trip to Shaw’s Cove. Conditions went from calm, low wave energy and low surf rating (a zero is optimal) to high energy and a 1 surf rating (not too bad, but could be iffy depending on wave energy). I almost […]
La Jolla 2019
Every summer Sam and I drive to La Jolla. Many times a rotating group of friends joins us. Half the time, leopard sharks join us too. This year, neither of them did. I had read reports of a massive influx of sharks two weeks prior to our trip and got really excited. Then, just a […]
First snorkel of 2019 season
Last Saturday Sam and I rolled out of bed, got in the little blue convertible, and drove to Laguna Beach. We stopped at the Pavillions on the PCH for beach food, as we always do, and then looked for beach parking. Sometimes we luck out and get parking pretty close to the stairs to the […]