Landed

After three attempts, Anna and Doug finally arrived yesterday. I was ready. We had a nice chat before driving down the coast to the dive with the fantastic food and the goat farm. Doug was so intrigued by the operations of the goat farm and loved all the free samples. They even had habenero and goat cheese stuffed truffles.

Lunch was fantastic, Doug had the famous artichoke soup and loved it, Anna and Michael each had a crab sandwich and they had oysters. I had a steamed artichoke and a small hamburger without a bun. I didn't want to eat a lot.

Anna and I stayed at the house while the boys took a drive up the coast in the Porsche. Gave us a time to chat! Simple, small appetizers were served out on the side patio (and cocktails!) followed later by baked open-faced sandwiches with a side of cantaloupe, basil and sugared bacon. Oh, did I mention the chocolate cake frosted with ganache then covered in pralines? Doug told me it should be illegal.

They we out for a walk around the neighborhood while I cleaned up the kitchen. We all fell into bed around 9:30.

Today, we are going to Ano Nuevo, which is a state park down near the Santa Cruz county line where the huge, slug-like Elephant Seals hang out. It is a nice hike down to the water from the parking lot so we will get a little exercise in today. For lunch, we will stop at a camping place for the rich Silicon Valley people who want to get away. It is glamorous and did I mention very expensive to stay there? Well, they have a fantastic restaurant on the property, not too expensive but great and unique food. An experience. Tonight's dinner will be a couple appetizers.

Tomorrow is Jay's memorial service. We are leaving Anna and Doug here at the house so they can hike the trail to have lobster rolls for lunch. Anna is excited! When we get home, we are going to haul them to the city.

I am holding up well, for the first day. We'll see how I am tomorrow!