Emily and Linda’s Travel Blog

Sunday Jo introduced us to the sport of hatchet throwing since these Brooklyn girls had never experienced such a thing.  Hatchet throwing is often combined with beer drinking, but we were happy to experience it without alcohol (hatchets and booze - what could go wrong?). We were outside the Hatchet House early Sunday afternoon when it opened.  Jo got me an official T-shirt so I could fit in.

 [Linda has one too, but she decided to wear her other gift from Jo - the Humboldt Crabs T-shirt  (the Crabs being a point of Humboldt pride as the oldest continually-operated summer collegiate baseball team in American baseball).] 

We got a lesson on throwing and safety from the Hatchet House staff and then they turned us loose. 

It’s all about distance, speed and keeping your wrist straight. Not easy, but each of us did get at least one in the creditable zone

You can see Jo got off the best shot  

Here’s Linda lettin' er rip

After all that we came home for a dinner of sausage, leeks, and peas pasta - with peas fresh shelled from Jo's garden. Sadly no picture. The peas deserved better. 

Saturday is the weekly Arcata Farmer’s Market which is part market and part street festival. 

Friday was a beautiful sunny, clear day so we went off to the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka to visit the new Redwood Skywalk. 

Thursday was a grayish day, pretty common in this part of NoCal. We had a lazy morning and then ventured out for lunch. Jo took us to her favorite taco truck and invited us to compare its food to the previous day's tacos. Both were very good. Linda preferred hers from the day before. I liked the new ones better because they were herbier (lots of cilantro), but both were excellent. 

The truck was parked in an interesting spot - an industrial park dedicated to businesses that make products from "shake" - the part of the marijuana plant that’s left after the buds are removed. 

After lunch, we "acted like Italians" according to Jo by planning our next meal immediately after finishing the previous one. Jo and Linda went off foraging and purchased some California-sized leeks among other things. 

After dinner, Molly took Jo and Linda for a walk to see the llamas at a farm nearby

Wednesday morning Linda joined JoAnn and her dog Molly on the daily dog walk - a group of folks that meet with their dogs every morning. They alternate easier and more challenging walks so folks of different abilities can join in. Wednesday's walk was on a foggy beach. "A tired dog is a good dog" as they say.  Possibly true of the humans as well? 

Here’s Molly chilling later on in the day 

Back at the house, Jo gave me a lesson in gluten free pie crust making.

Jo is definitely a star baker. Her GF cherry turnover (with cherries from her own tree) was the best I've ever had. She managed to get the perfect flaky crust without wheat. 

For lunch, we hit one of the local food trucks for tacos which were fabulous (too tasty - forgot to take pictures of the food). 

While waiting, Jo led us in pre-taco stretches and silliness

We finished our culinary explorations for the day at Humboldt Pie, owned by 2 women who produce a wonderful variety of sweet and savory pies. Linda is a huge fan of chicken pot pies so we picked up some of those for dinner. My gluten free version was a little flatter than the regular, but still flaky and delicious. No suffering here for the gluten free eater. 

Beautiful weather for our driving day. I've tried in the past to capture the beauty of this drive, but let’s just say, Ansel Adams I'm not. I never remotely capture my sense of the gold fields studded with wind-sculpted trees or the wide expanse of pine forested hills so I won’t try. Here’s a brief video though of one stretch through redwoods. What doesn’t come across is the twisting nature of the road. Linda handled the curves admirably, but noted that she had to peel her right hand off the steering wheel when we got through that part.

In the bigness of Northern California terrain, there’s plenty of opportunity to contemplate one's smallness in the grand scheme and also the magnificence of the natural world. And then there’s this:

Even as a young child I pondered the usefulness of this kind of sign. Is it really giving you information that’s useful? Should we be practicing our dodging-rocks-while-avoiding-oncoming-vehicles-skills? Or is it a warning to get your prayer life in order? Should we be recalling that life is short and our end time unknown? So much to consider on a long drive. 

Life's fragility acknowledged, we arrived intact and were met by a wonderful representative of joy in all things and especially for old friends. Our host, Jo had some other business to attend to so we were greeted by Molly Dog who made us feel most enthusiastically welcome

After initial greetings were taken care of, she offered me an opportunity to participate in the much loved butt-rubbing ritual and made sure I understood the requirements of my role

Jo arrived a bit later, but no photos were taken because we were too busy enjoying the deep goodness of being friends for more than 40 years, reunited after a mean pandemic separation.  

If you know us at all well, you know that getting up at 5:00 am to catch a plane is NOT on our list of favorite things to do (I was reminiscing this AM about a time in my young life when that was exciting - Linda recalled no such time). But despite our (my) worries about new pandemic rules and horrible wait times, everything went pretty smoothly. Jet Blue remains my favorite domestic carrier. They just don’t make it more awful than it needs to be.  

We arrived in San Francisco and were delighted to see that since we were here last, the new terminal has been named for Harvey Milk, gay activist and first openly gay Supervisor in SF who was assassinated 11 months into his first term.  It was moving to see his pictures and the story of his life all around us as we deplaned. 

Bucking the modern trend, there were a number of comfy lounge areas and even a special one for kids

Our early departure meant we were able to pick up a car and beat it out of SF before rush hour. But really, do you mind traffic delays when you’re in San Francisco? So much to look at and wonder about while waiting. Despite traffic, we arrived in Petaluma, CA in plenty  of time for some of our signature lounging before dinner at the Wild Goat Bistro which was a highlight of our 2018 trip. Linda ordered exactly the same meal as last time - the "4 cheese, fig and pig pizza" (fig, cheeses, prosciutto, and arugula)  and declared it equal to her fond memory 

We shared a pair of crab cakes with corn puree and I had carrot ginger soup and salad - all delicious

Back at the hotel now. Our goal is to stay up until 9:30 PDT. We'll see. 

Tomorrow off to Arcata, CA in beautiful Humboldt County. 

These days we have to take our adventures where we can. Today I had business in Murray Hill (East 30s in Manhattan). I ventured onto public transportation for the first time since March. Since I was right by the East 34th St. Ferry slip, I decided to take the all outdoors ride home.  On the way, I passed this good boy wearing his mask and balancing a full sized taxi on his nose (outside the Hassenfield Children’s Hospital). 

Waited in line for about 10 mins then boarded the ferry

The route took us to Hunters Point first, then stops in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and DUMBO.  Hunters Point was a surprise of autumn color

Perfect time for a cruise along Lower Manhattan 

Reminders that Brooklyn is still a working Port

Finally landed at DUMBO with great views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan BridgeS And the Carousel just as the lights were coming on.

9 weeks of being on "Pause" in NYS. Some counties are starting to re-open, but Brooklyn will be a while yet. 

Last week we had some visitors from Cologne, Germany - Sam And Hannah (Sam is the son of an old friend from Berkeley). On their last night in New York, we decided to take them out for shuffleboard at the Royal Palms in The Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. 

It's a quirky fun spot in what used to be an industrial area, but is now part of hipster Brooklyn. 

The first court available was in 45 minutes so we checked out a card game to play and got drinks at the bar. Good thing I chose Uno because they knew the rules Linda and I had long ago forgotten. 

After our brief lesson (included in the court fee), we spent a very enjoyable hour playing badly, but with enthusiasm.  

Then afterwards, we made our way to the bay designed for a rotating roster of food trucks (the specialty that night was meatball sandwiches) and had dinner while watching other folks playing their matches. 

The bouncer outside kindly took a picture of our group before we headed home.