The Korbel Winery

On December 30 I wrote that I work that morning to my friend in the room next-door. It was seven. I was being lazy. She had gotten up earlier because of noise and had fallen asleep.

I went down and made coffee. I did a few other things and then rode out to the store.  However, instead of just going out to get breakfast fixins and a sandwich, I rode out to Sunset Beach across Hacienda Bridge for some reconnaissance.  I found a couple of roads which I thought were okay. When I came back across the bridge I remembered to additionally buy some wine and chips.

I rode back and we ate with our companions.  They were getting ready to go on the day’s adventure by then. After a cup of coffee we all loaded onto our bikes and headed to Hacienda Bridge. I showed them the dirt road to Sunset Beach but we decided to take the highway. I yelled about traffic too much - the road was pretty narrow.

We went to the deli at the Korbel Winery before going on the tour. It was interesting because we saw the history of the winery and the innovations which made it world-famous. Afterwards we bought some stuff and rode back.  Aside from minor hiccups, we made it to Hacienda really easy.

We stopped at the corner store and then returned to the rental.  We had a lot to do but later we ordered some pizza and relaxed.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Into Summer Home Park

On December 28 I wrote that I had gotten up at seven and made coffee and then descended to the street with my bike to set up the cargo bike. We started packing around then.  I made more coffee to go and took Market to Duboce Park where we met our companions. 

We rode the wiggle to Golden Gate Park and took Arguello into the Presidio before passing the golf course. We also stopped before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, which was easier than I had anticipated. We saw one of the original mountain bikers as we rode under the 101. Sausalito came and went quickly. We stopped at a grocery store.

We were running out of time then - dashing out onto the marsh and over horse hill. I was really tired. At Tamalpais some lady went the wrong way through the bike path. We rode to Miller and the Corte Madera Creek crossing brought us into conflict with a wheelchair.

Fortunately, we caught the SMART train with three minutes to spare. There wasn’t a lot of room but we managed.  Two stops later we all had seats and one of our companions was live streaming. We ate lunch and had a toast. The stations whizzed by: marsh, bridge, vineyards and towns. I tweeted and later got a cider.

We got off the SMART train at Airport Station and rode after making a couple wrong turns ended up on Shiloh.  The ride began easily. We met a bit of traffic but it wasn’t horrible. At Eastside we made a lot of progress but the uphill sections on Wohler and Westside were difficult.

We crossed into Summer Home Park at four and rode up a giant hill looking for the rental.  We actually found the house at one point but had to descend back to enter it. We decided the house was great and some headed off to the corner store before it got too dark or rainy. When they returned we had a drink, broke down the bikes, ate and had a good time.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Earliest Christmas Noises

On December 25 I wrote that I had gone to sleep in the attic at my friend’s sister’s place in Alameda while the ladies set up the stockings.

Then in the morning my friend bolted out of bed at the earliest Christmas noises at seven. Our hosts had had slept in the sleeping bags in the living room next to the tree and presents. Around 8:30 that I had coffee and guests began to arrive.

We opened all the presents and enjoyed them until noon. There were sticky buns at 10. It was back-and-forth for me. A second pot of coffee was made and I had to venture upstairs because of various noises.  Later we worked on a giant jigsaw puzzle.

By 1130 I had tidied the attic while my friend quietly napped. Later a few of us I went to a neighbor’s house to check the aquarium. We discovered that the park was closed.  When we returned to the house everyone was ready for a walk to the beach . The walk was productive. My friend and I had an amicable conversation about our afternoon plans.

At the house we packed up and her mom lent us her car.  I drove us over Twin Peaks to Rivera and to the moms house. We found a space out front. I was downstairs as dinner was served.  It was good, simple and brief. We quietly open the gifts. I tweeted about an architectural book we had received. There was a disco party downstairs.

While we were doing dishes my younger sister’s family convinced my brother and I to play scrabble.  I dithered over agreeing but my friend said we could.  She started winding down and I was surprized that she actually played. My brother begrudgingly participated.  There was cheating.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

It Was Around 20°

On November 30 I wrote at 5:45 I made coffee and got dressed. I made sure that I was warm. My friend was up, we had food and by seven we were quietly getting dressed. My sister got up at seven and saw us off.

I wasn’t able to pack fast enough and I ended up getting us out at 7:30. My friend was OK at first but as we made our way down Idlewild dodging ice patches and waiting for cars to pass us she started to pave from the temperature - it was around 20°.

I was mortified when we got to the coffee shop - five minutes from the station. Thankfully the train was a little bit late. We had about 40 minutes until it departed. We ended up fine but my friend had suffered from the sprint.

I made a mess repacking because of how we entered the station but by the time we were repack everything was fine. The bikes loaded OK and we quietly set up camp in some seats in the middle coach car.

After that my friend took a nap. I quietly sat in the lounge for a bit and later we had quiet time but I went to get some lunch in the dining car in the middle of it. When I was done we met in the lounge car and she ate.

After that we migrated between seats and the lounge looking at plow trains and a lot of snow. We looked at the yellow bridge and Davis’ bike paths.  We only occasionally spoke to new people. At Benicia we had to wait for the bridge to let a tanker pass and we spoke to the lounge vendor.

At Emeryville we put the bikes in lockers, took the bus in the city and caught an F train to the apartment and I went to get dinner. 

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Seated for Thanksgiving

On November 28 I wrote that I was abruptly woken to noise but didn’t venture out until 715. Someone had gotten up so I made coffee but there weren’t a lot of people up yet.  Later there was a breakfast spread and I made the rest of the coffee I had brought from the city. Later there was another pot but by then I was checking out.

When everyone was up I helped quiet the living room while everyone did exercises. I was alone for an hour after that and later decided to shovel the drive.  After that I went on a walk to Knight and visited the bakery on McCarran. When I returned I had some of the appetizers. I also quietly watched snow plows on my phone.

By four, the turkey was done and we were seated for Thanksgiving. Some family relationships joined us. I ate everything but realized I had had too much and took a nap.

We had dessert after that and the guests went home. Cleanup went well. We killed off the coffee and watched Harry Potter. The movie was a hit but I did have to sit quietly during the scary parts. We wound down and I tidied our room.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Sister's House in Reno

On November 26 I wrote that the day before I fell asleep on the train and then we went over Donner Pass. My friend didn’t sleep. We looked for the bike path out the window after Truckee and Verdi.

At Reno Station she went to the waiting room and I gave my claim checks to the agent before bringing the bikes to the waiting room. The ride up to Truckee River to my sister’s house in Reno was hard because it was so cold and getting dark. However, we managed fine and unloaded quickly. The garage door was open.

My sister had prepared the extra room very lightly so I set to work while everyone else got ready to eat barbecue for pork chops for dinner. I opened a bottle of wine and sat at the dinner table. They offered me snacks and I had a great time.  After dinner we started to wind down but I had to make a cold ride through the night to get stuff at the supermarket. 

In the morning of the day that I wrote this my friend woke twice to make a lot of noise with the air with the air mattress which had deflated. I just lay there quietly. By 830 we were up but everyone else had gone to work. I ate some cereal and then spent a lot of time cleaning the coffee machine and waited for a grocery delivery.

We offered my niece who was around later a cup of SF coffee.  I did some dishes, while my friend was napping.  It was around 2 o’clock when we rode to the Truckee River half for a quick cup of coffee. However, it was too cold to do anything so I took a quiet walk on my own down the river to the island.  It was really cold but I found that quietly tossing rocks into the river was fun.

After that we rode the Truckee River back to the house and had a martini with my sister. Later we had stuffed squash for dinner and settled in to watch the Dolly Parton special.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Winterfest Annual Schmooze

On November 16 I wrote that I went down to the bike and packed up to go with my friend to the Winterfest annual schmooze. We met at the coffee shop and rode with dozens of other Winterfest regulars to the Panhandle. There we waited at a nearby playground for the official bike ride but it seems it did not materialize.

When we got to the venue we parked in the valet and stood for photos.  Directors were impressed and some local politicians said hi. I gave hugs, we signed up for beers and drew on the mural. I saw the executive director and spoke to some people from the region as I checked my jacket.

There was a small bike circuit but the floor was slippery. There were a bunch of people from the local transit agency handing out materials and I visited the artist section where I saw an acquaintance doing prints.  There were so many people I had met over the years.

My friend signalled that I should follow her to a special, quiet room in the back where we saw a bunch of people she knew. I provided help getting wine and spent a lot of time walking back-and-forth getting drinks.  In the process I saw people on local transportation boards, local bike advocates, a friend from Geobeers and the guys who built my transit app.  I was surprised when I saw a coworker too!

I hung out in that quiet back room for a while and people even came looking for us there.  However, we abruptly needed to go. Some of the people we were with were getting ready to go so I said goodbye to people at the valet and we headed to the Panhandle.

The ride was straightforward and I had to let the troup catch up to my borrowed cargo bike twice. 

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.