Monthly Archive: April 2007

In all our years together, Barb and I have only spent a couple of weekends doing our “own thing”.  I was off  to El Dorado Hills on Friday for a bike trip with Camello and Vandenbusch on Saturday.  Barb over to Diane’s in Felton for a “girl’s night out” on Saturday Night.

I left Fremont around 2pm Friday and picked up Kate in Sacramento before heading to dinner with the Kahuna and family. Ann and Mike have a great new house in gold country.  Had a great dinner of BBQ chicken with pineapple, spinach salad with strawberries, roasted red potato, and a real good chilled broccoli salad.  Drinks by the backyard fire pit and pie and ice cream for desert. ALL GOOD!!! Thought I was going to pop.

I had brought up some old photo albums from our Disneyland trip in 1999 and the famous Maui trip of Easter 2000. Had a great time re-living all the great great memories of days gone by. We all agreed that although it didn’t seem like the time had passed so quickly, the girls (who all looked like babies in the pictures) were all grown up in the eight years we have all known eachother.

Saturday morning it was up early to get ready for the ride. Although earlier weather predictions called for possible showers, and then passing showers, it rained pretty much all day. Vandenbusch made the drive up early morning and was in the driveway when we all woke up. Kahuna’s cousin’s husband, also named Steve, was along for the ride too. We decided to go out and get some breakfast and hope the rain would pass.  Scarfed four orders of steak and eggs at a local joint called the Purple Place and we were ready to ride!

Back to the house to load up the bikes then over to old town Folsom and the beginning of the American River Trail. This trail goes from Folsom to old town Sacramento.  A nice paved trail with single track, off road trail,  running “parallel” to the paved trail along many parts.  We road the single track trail most of the way, occasionally coming back onto the paved trail for a short time, then hopping back onto the single track.  What a great ride!  Light rain = no people,  so we pretty much had the whole trail to ourselves.  Of course, the rain did make the trail a bit muddy.  By the time we pulled into the Natomas fish hatchery, we were all covered in mud and soaking wet. Although we had only gone 7 miles or so, it felt like more. We headed back the way we came and called it a ride after 15 miles. All in all a great great ride. The Kahuna was right when he said that it felt like being ten years old again,  plowing through the mud and riding in the rain and just having a grand old time. Then it was back to Mike’s house to hose off, shower and hit the road for home. It was such a great time that we vowed to do it again real soon. And we will!

Barb and I traveled  to Napa for dinner yesterday evening. Staci had given us a “special dinner out” for Christmas and made reservations for us at the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant in the Culinary Institute of America, St Helena, in the heart of the Napa valley wine country. Grey Sky in Fremont made way to blue Sky in Napa. We arrived a bit early so we stopped at V. Sattui winery for a quick wine tasting before we headed to dinner. A drink on the outside patio while we waited for our table. Sunny spring day in Napa. Seated at a table for two inside, we settled in for a great meal. We shared most everything and ordered the Heirloom Apple Salad with mesclun greens, gorgonzola dolce.  Grilled Angus Hanger Steak with  porcini mushroom-mizuna salad, toasted brioche, sauce Poivrade. Barb ordered the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops with housemade gnocchi, Jerusalem artichokes, chanterelles, porcini foam. Capped things off with the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake, Pineapple Tart with coconut ice cream, coffee and cappuccino.  What a fantastic meal! Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING!) was great. Thanks Staci!