Bonding with My Brother

One of the greatest things about this 5 month sabbatical is, no surprise, all of the time off. And coincidentally, my days off now coincide with my brother’s normal days off of Tuesday and Wednesday. As a result, I have been taking this time to hang out with my brother Cody. We have spent the past few months hanging out, going to the movies (The Hangover and Inglorious Bastards…both amazing and worth checking out, assuming you like guy movies and Tarentino films, respectfully), enjoying a few beers and dim sum on random Tuesday mornings. I even had the chance to watch my brother and dad play in their summer softball league (they came in third place in the championships, which considering the amount of alcohol consumed during the playoffs by the team players and the lack of motivation to win, since it meant having to play again, was no small feat).

But the highlight of my time with Cody so far has been dinner with him and his guy friends. Every week, my brother makes a gourmet dinner for his close guy friends… Scott M. brings wine to perfectly compliment the meal and Scott C typically brings dessert. I consider these meals, and in reality all meals cooked by Cody, as sacred so I was super stoked to be invited for last week’s affair.

I showed up wearing my largest pair of pants (I didn’t want fashion to get in the way of good food) and was ready to hang out with the boys. And while I am not sure if it was the presence of a girl or the desire to get drunk, but it all of sudden seemed like a good idea to play chandeliers before dinner. Thankfully this was not my first rodeo, so I was able to maintain some composure after the game and actually enjoy the three courses Cody cooked…I wish I could say the same about some of Cody’s friends. (I might be older, more mature and a girl, but I can still play a drinking game or two.)

Dinner consisted of a cold gazpacho soup with cucumbers, grilled halibut over a white bean salad topped with a jalapeno sauce and basil and prosciutto stuffed chicken breast served with zucchini and a parmesan cheese cream sauce. Everything was to die for! Not to be out done, Scott C had brought over Mint Chip Its Its for dessert (for those not familiar with Its Its, they are an ice cream sandwich comprised of cookie, ice cream then cookie, dipped in chocolate to hold it all together…I would sell my first child for one on a hot evening).

After dinner and too many glasses of wine, I had to once again call my dad for a sober ride home (I had to call him the previous night after hanging out with the girls in SF…you know, living at home does have some perks). He picked me up around 11 and I spent the car ride home eating my Its Its like it was my last meal on earth, reeking of alcohol, and constantly repeating just how amazing Cody’s dinner was, especially the parmesan cream sauce. I hope I didn’t ruin my chances at getting invited again.

Tour de California with Martin and Betsy (the Rental Car)

Martin and I just ended our 15 day Tour de California which took us fly fishing in Dunsmuir, hitting up the highlights of San Francisco, being beach bums in San Luis Obispo, camping at Lake Pilsbury and relaxing in Tahoe….and of course, no tour of California is complete without a trip to my home town of Lafayette. Like all good things, the trip went by too quickly, but we did manage to squeeze in a few good stories and master our ability to take photos of ourselves using the extended arm technique.

Betsy, our Ford Focus rental car, got us everywhere…a mere 1,905 miles when it was all said and done. She was a trooper for most of the trek, being ever reliable and gas friendly. However, I thought we were going to have to put her down after the dirt road in and out of Lake Pilsbury when the tires (or possibly the breaks) started squealing so loudly that our arrival was heard blocks before we came into sight. And, as if she wasn’t hurting badly enough already, she was rudely rear-ended on the last day of the journey (we were sitting outside my brothers restaurant and were able to watch the poor girl behind us put her car into drive rather than reverse). Yes, Betsy gave her all to us, and for that we thank her.

The stories below are from the travels, posted, as always, chronologically.

The Brutality of Memory Lane

Lafayette, California is a small suburb town east of San Francisco where I grew up. My parents still live in the house I was brought home to from the hospital, and I still have the same bedroom since I was a child. This place and I have history; some good, some bad and some ugly. So no trip of California would be complete without a stop over here for at least one night.

We arrived to an empty house (the parents were out socializing) and, with a few hours to kill before dinner, I thought it would be fun and only right to share some of my childhood photos with Martin. He, it should be noted, was more than willing to indulge my curiosity when I went to his house in Germany…Unfortunately, my trek down memory lane (via the scrapbooks so carefully and lovingly put together by my mom) turned into a bitter spiral of disappointment including lost potential and ambition (voted most likely to be a millionaire and president, with goals of becoming the first female astronaut on mars and/or the moon), lost athleticism (highlighted by the yearly team photos of swim team, softball, soccer, gymnastics, etc) and a reminder of my not-so-cute years (approximately 4-19 years of age). The photos alone (me with bad teeth, bad clothes, big hair and bigger eyebrows) prompted involuntary cringes equal to an 8 minute abs work out. I eventually had to skip over the book that covered my life from 12-15 years old for fear of pulling a muscle. I am hoping that, like fine wine and stinky cheese, I am only getting better with age.

Thankfully, Martin is a gentleman, and polite enough to not kick someone while they are down. He only slightly giggled at the worst photos and has not brought it up again since his departure. Note to self: preview all photos and scrap books before sharing. It took an afternoon walking around town, dinner with the parents and a walk around the reservoir the following morning to bring me out of my funk. Martin was leaving on Saturday and we only had one night left together…there was no time for sulking.

Lake Tahoe

With two full days to enjoy at Lake Tahoe, and Ange and Scott at work, Martin and I each got to choose a day’s worth of activities. It only seemed fair.

We started my day off with breakfast at the Squeeze Inn followed by the hike down to Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay. Unfortunately I had only been there before via boat and, without access to the island, I found the bay less than I had remembered. Not to be completely disappointed, the walk down to the lake and back up the valley was refreshing and a great way to wake up. After completing the “exercise” portion of the day, we drove to Chambers Beach for the famous Chambers Punch and to lie in the sun and swim. With the sky cloudless and water warmer than I remember, the afternoon was perfect… both before and after getting kick off the private beach…in my defense, there is a public beach, we just got confused as to where it was in relationship to the bar. We left the beach, laughing like delinquent high schoolers and headed back to the house. Lying on the deck, we welcomed Scott and Ange home from work with beers and set off for dinner at Cottonwood Restaurant to enjoy the warm summer evening and sites over looking Truckee.

For Martin’s day, we began with breakfast burritos at the house and an attempt at floating down the Truckee River. Unfortunately the companies that float the river had closed the previous day for the season, so Martin opted for a hike along the Tahoe Ridge Trail instead, which also happens to be part of the Pacific Crest Trail (a big sarcastic thank you to Scott for suggesting the hike… we could have spent another beautiful day on the beach). But in all seriousness, I was sort of looking forward to some more serious exercise…and I actually got excited once we reached the top of the ridge and got a complete view of Lake Tahoe below. However, sensing that the views wouldn’t get any better and the hike could potentially go on for at least another hour, I may or may not have accidentally on purpose slipped and fell to end the hike early. Thankfully Martin was not the slightest bit disappointed; he was also ready to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.

That evening, Martin and I packed up a gourmet picnic spread (including veggies and dip, cheese, salami, crackers, brie, grapes, a baguette and, of course, wine and beer)…the four of us were heading to the Wednesday night Concert in the Park that Truckee puts on every week in the summer. The band was great, playing all of the classic songs we grew up with…“we“, meaning Ange, Scott and myself; poor Martin didn’t recognize a single song, but I suppose I would have been more surprised if he had. And in reality you don’t really need to know the song in order to enjoy it, or dare I say, dance to it. Truly, a perfect evening and a great way to end our visit in Tahoe.

We said good bye to Ange and Scott and made our way back to Lafayette for one night with the parents.