Santa Barbara and More Southwest

Santa Barbara

July 1998

Tuesday, 7/21: 

Son Matt’s having a good time doing music in Santa Barbara, why should he have all the fun?  A parental visit sounds good to us.  Our very early flight leaves on time before 7am, but rerouting around some thunderstorms makes us late into Chicago.  Luckily, connecting flight also delayed, we’re only a little late into LA at 11:15.  Pick up our Thrifty car, a Neon, and head to Santa Barbara about 100 miles up the coast.  Clouds there, some hazy sun later, about 75°.  Weather along the coast usually low clouds & fog in the AM (a “marine layer”), at least some clearing by mid-to-late PM.  Plus nice cool temps & fresh breezes.  Into the Sandpiper Lodge, outside the city but on the main road, so easy access.  No AC when we arrive (tho it hardly seems necessary), but install it by our return on Thursday.  A drive thru ritzy Hope Ranch residential area  ̶  beautiful homes and landscaping  ̶  and along the shore and harbor areas, views of surfers, beach volleyball, other California diversions.  

We meet up with Matt at Music Academy of the West, in Montecito, where he’s rehearsing w/ percussion buddies.  A walk around the pretty grounds w/ flowers and a giant fig tree (these are common around here), then into Montecito to an Italian restaurant that’s a favorite of Matt’s.

Gardens

GARDENS

          This blog focuses on trip journals & photos. But some venues offer photo ops that cut across trips. In particular, 3 stand out: gardens, churches & other religious sites, and cemeteries. Here are photos from some favorite gardens & flowering locales. 

Marjorie’s gardens

          My most favorite (and most frequent) garden photo ops come courtesy of the resident gardener. There were humble beginnings at our first house, when fertile earth had to be created in space that had been an above-ground pool. With assistance from some helpers, that turned out well.

Block Island, Capes, & More Northeast

Block Island

September 1999

Thurs./Fri. 9/16-17:

          The original plan for Marjorie’s birthday weekend was to ferry to Block Island Fri. AM and return Mon.  But Hurricane (by now “Tropical Storm”) Floyd puts a crimp in those plans, coming thru Thurs. into Fri. AM w/ very high winds and lots of rain: about 6” here, a new 24-hour rainfall record (over 12” in Cairo, a little south of us).  We lose power for about 6 hours Thurs. evening and the water is more than our backup sump pump can handle.  Matt’s here and helps move most stuff away from the water in the basement (including a lot of his percussion equipment!), but carpeting on one side gets soaked.  And needless to say, ferries to BI are canceled Thurs. and Fri.  After mopping things up as best we can, Fri. night Matt makes his Mom’s birthday dinner, excellent ravioli with spinach; I supply treats from Bella Napoli for dessert.  Promising weather reports for the weekend, we decide to head for BI on Sat.

Midwest Road Trip and More Midwest

          We’ve traveled pretty widely thru the Midwest: Marjorie grew up in Wisconsin and we lived in Madison while I was in grad school; we have family & friends in Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Springfield IL; professional conferences have taken me to cities like Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Following is the account of a driving trip back to Wisconsin for Marjorie’s high school reunion. Our other travels in the Midwest have mostly entailed family visiting or other not so much “trip journal” stuff. But I’ll include some of that after the reunion trip journal.

The Great Reunion Road Trip

Summer 2010

          Marjorie has been a regular attendee of her Portage HS class reunions, I’ve joined in a couple of times.  When Year 45 was coming up she suggested making a road trip out of it.  I was skeptical – nearly 2 weeks with lots of driving!  But she put together an itinerary of good friends and family (also good) to see to & fro, and I’ve gotten to be friends with several of her classmates, so I concluded (to get in a Wisconsin mood): “You betcha, Marge!”  We could be guided by some MapQuest directions and Penelope (as we call our GPS voice); I’m more a map person, Penelope & I would have a few run-ins along the way, but we learn to accept each other’s quirks and I come to appreciate her soft entreaties (“take the motorway,” or “turn around” if I’ve gone against her wishes).  I wasn’t going to bother with a trip journal a la our European and other jaunts, but changed my mind a few days in – we’ll cover a lot of ground, see a lot of folks along the way, so there’s lots to remember (for us anyway; I suppose this has less cachet than my accounts of European travel).

Vienna, Prague, & Budapest

A Group Experience in Vienna/Prague/Budapest

May/June 2002

Fri., 5/24:

We’re embarking on our 1^st escorted group travel experience, with Trafalgar Tours.  Plus we have our own “group of 7”: my brother Doug & sister-in-law Ann, Wisconsin friend Kay, Kay’s brother Dick & sister-in-law Sherrie.  Doug & Ann arrived in Vienna Thurs. for extra touring of the countryside, the Wisconsin contingent arrived today.  We’ll rendezvous tomorrow.  Friend Sherry drives us to the airport, only 10 minutes to get thru ticketing & security.  Feel we’ve packed efficiently, including handy Trafalgar carry-on bags.  Looking for warmer weather in Central Europe, since it snowed here last Sat.!  Depart Albany about 3pm for Washington/Dulles.  Shuttle (basically a room on wheels) to international terminal for Austrian Airlines direct to Vienna, departing 6pm.  Not as roomy as our last European flights on British Airways, but smooth quiet ride.  Video screen on backs of seats give views of takeoffs & landings, animated safety instructions in German & English, choice of movies (in 4 languages).  And duty-free shopping in the aisles (just in case you need a head start)!  Dinner after takeoff, a little breakfast before landing.

London

LONDON

April 2004

Saturday, April 3:

          A typical Saturday: take trash to the dump, vacuum, Marjorie at the fitness center, call Mom . . . leave for London!  On the road listening to “Chris Warren” (the nom de radio of Marjorie’s boss who moonlights as a DJ).  Cold & rainy here lately, snow forecast for tomorrow, but nicer today and more spring buds in NYC; we hope that foreshadows London.  Hangin’out at son Matt & Anthea’s with cat Lucy until Matt finishes a rehearsal to drive us to JFK.  We got air/hotel package thru go-today.com, a Frommer’s favorite.  We’re on our own this trip, no accompanying family and friends  ̶  hopefully we’ll get along OK.  At JFK an attendant helps w/ our first effort to check-in on a computer screen w/ e-tickets.  United flight leaves a little early at 9:15pm.  We start daylight saving time while in-flight.  I suspect there might be a “rip in the fabric of time” over the mid-Atlantic; Marjorie rolls her eyes.  We’re a bit worried when a large group of kids boards the plane, but they’re well-behaved, it’s an uneventful flight.  We’ve become pretty blasé now about trans-Atlantic flights.

Sunday, April 4:

Early into London Heathrow about 10:15am, beautiful view coming in of Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben.  Sunshine, spring flowers and buds more advanced here than NYC.  Customs guy tells Marjorie there’s lots of shopping in London  ̶  like she didn’t know that!  But it’s expensive (1 pound=$1.80), as we particularly notice in meal prices.  Transfer ride to hotel yields first sights of London traffic, classic cabs & double-decker buses.   

To our Queens Park Hotel, on Queensborough Terr. off Bayswater Rd., above Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.  We learn later Marjorie’s British co-worker Emma stayed here recently.  On a nice street w/ mix of small hotels and apartments, a good location w/ “underground” stops (aka the “tube;” “subway” here refers only to underground pedestrian walkways) 2 blocks away on Queensway, which also has lots of shops & restaurants.   

A very tiny (and very slow) lift to our tiny room, just big enough to maneuver single file past the bed, where Marjorie settles in for a brief nap.  Room’s on the 5^th (top) floor, view below of pretty gardens and a pool with big koi fish.  The hotel has mix of young people, families, older couples, and tour groups (mostly German).  We know we're in Europe: showers are a challenge (this time too much hot water!) and no washcloths.

Switzerland & Paris

Switzerland & Paris

June/July 2000

 Tues., June 27:

          Hazy, humid as we drive to JFK.  Marjorie takes 1^st  first Hedgehog shot with very pleasant British Airways ticket agent.  (toy Hedgehog is a “friend” of M’s coworker Liz at WMHT, enjoys having his picture taken as he travels around the world.  We think WMHT should do a “Travels with Hedgehog” documentary.  He’s a good travel companion: flexible, no complaints, fits inside a purse.)  McDonald’s lunch in the airport.  Some Swiss francs at airport exchange, tho we’ve learned to use credit card or ATM to get better rates ($1= 1.65 Swiss F, 6.85 French F).  Interior of the plane is very warm; they announce cooling not working properly but hope to be better when we got going (which it is).  A remote on the seat handle for a video screen on the seat back, allowing lots of viewing choices. [We’re still pretty new to transatlantic flights, doesn’t take much to excite us.]  Have to delay takeoff to not reach London too early; noise abatement rules prohibit landings before 6am.  Good service & food: dinner, breakfast, extra drinks.

Wed., June 28:

          Sunrise over Ireland.  Into London Heathrow a little ahead of schedule at 6:15am.  Somewhat torturous shuttle bus & hike from one terminal to another.  Another breakfast, then on time into Geneva at 10:20.  Partly sunny, low 60s.  Short train to Gare Cornavin (main station in center of Geneva).  Across the street to Hotel les Arcades, our room overlooking the Gare.  Marjorie curls up on the bed right away for a quick nap.  Some rain while resting, then OK most of the day until light rain as we walk back to hotel later.  I get our 1^st-class Europasses validated (for use any 5 days in 2 months; we got these via the WMHT Auction), success w/ Credit Suisse ATM.