Mendocin-niversary

 We spent the rest of the post-oysterfest weekend in Mendocino. We celebrated an anniversary of sorts; Kelvin and I had taken a weekend trip (long before we were dating!) to Mendocino while in residency, just about 3 years ago exactly. Back in 2009, we'd planned this random weekend getaway, but then I had a shared continuity OB patient go into labor... it took a lot for me to decline sticking around for the delivery and to decide "I'm going out of town anyway," but K tells me it was obviously the right decision as, if I'd cancelled on him, he says that we'd never have gotten together :) It was fun to go back to the area, now married (and coming up on our 1-year anniversary in a couple of weeks).

Cham and Khuong came with us, too.


Our first stop was the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, which was first lit in 1909 and could be seen for 13-15 miles off the California Coast.

 

We wandered around the State Preserve...

... and even spotted some Harbor Seals sunning on a nearby rock.

We set up camp in MacKerricher State Park which was, by far, the most beautiful campground park I'd ever stayed in. We were right by the ocean (and could hear the waves at Laguna Point) but still secluded in nice forest. Pep loved camping!

(Grey whale skeleton by the entrance)

Laguna Point

(not sure what this is all about!)

Gorgeous trail

"Pep Peeks Out" (but can't see much due to her shaggy bangs!)

 

 Roastin' marshmallows!

Our baby, snuggled by the campfire

 

(seriously, more oysters were eaten that night while I was asleep)

On Sunday, we took Chamreun and Khuong to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, which used to be the city dump around 1949. Now you can still find sea glass of all colors on the sandy floor.

Then (pic taken in 2009)

and now (2012)

 

(same fleece; dog and wife added)

We did a short hike in Jug Handle State Reserve, a park with lots of different ecological "staircases" to explore.

We loved the coastline views (sorry for my squintiness- I hate how I look in pics w/ sunglasses and my allergies were killing me!)

Chamreun loved the berries

Some nature shots ...

 Some forest/tree-climbing

We wandered the streets of picturesque Mendocino, an 1850s lumber town and now a quaint touristy town.

These four dogs sat patiently outside a coffee shop until their owner returned!

We then finished off the weekend by wine tasting at the Pacific Star Winery, right on the coast, which actually lies on a fault line. Can you imagine a more spectacular view while drinking CA wine?

 (photo stolen from the "101 things to do in Mendocino County")

Our favorite wine was titled, "It's My Fault" :)

Another "then" photo (from 7/2009)

...and now

Loving 2012!

Oysterfest 2012!

We have had our calendars marked for some time for this summer's Oysterfest, held on the Arcata Plaza for the 22nd straight year.  If you can't already tell, we LOVE oysters, and living up here has been wonderful for the seafood.  June is peak oyster season here. 

Chamreun, who was up here just two weeks ago (and is very generous with his shucking skills), returned from Orange County with Khuong (living in SF right now) to celebrate. Apparently over 18,000 people attended the 2011 festival, one of California's top food festivals.

There were TONS of differently-flavored oysters to try from different vendors... some which were very tasty (spicy lemon herb butter was great, margarita oyster shooter from Tomo sushi was my favorite!), and others which were just too strange (we tried a "tequila sunrise" one which had marmalade and was just plain gross).  I definitely prefer raw oysters to the barbequed/grilled ones.

Now, there is another "type" of oyster that does not come in a shell-- that is, Rocky Mountain Oysters (if you're not familiar with these, you can read more here).

 

 
Kelvin was the brave one, in actually buying them.

I had a taste... but it, with a very weird texture, they weren't my thing. Maybe it was the thought of what I was eating; I'm not sure.

K even talked Chamreun into tasting one (of the "pair" they came in!), as Khuong ("no way!") looked on...

We enjoyed spectating the "Shuck and Swallow" contest, where this guy somehow shucked and ate 48 oysters in something like 3.5 minutes... truly amazing. While I love oysters, I'm kind of a lazy shucker and prefer that work to be done by someone else!

Here is a trash situation typical for Arcata... separate containers for "truly trash" and then "oyster shells" (as well as "recyclables"). Love it!

Unfortunately, Oysterfest was not 100% dog-friendly, so Pep had to hang out in the car and wait for us... but she enjoyed some little sunshine.

Come join us for Oysterfest 2013!

Sports Rivalries

I have really gotten into sports rivalries lately, including those chronicled by sports documentaries (now with the luxury of having cable!) and some nonfiction novels.

After watching the very touching ESPN documentary The Announcement (about Earvin "Magic" Johnson's revelation to the world that he had HIV-- an extremely powerful film!), I wanted to beef up my sports history knowledge on perhaps the greatest rivalry in NBA basketball.

This book explained it all:

For any basketball fan, this book provided a wonderful glimpse into the lives of these very different once-enemies, great champions, and now friends. K and I also watched the HBO documentary, Magic & Bird; a Courtship of Rivals, with very similar content and which was also well made.  While I remember watching Larry and Magic on the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team," I had no idea how far back their rivalry went... and we may go so far as to watch their 1979 college championship game on Netflix one of these days :)

 

Despite loving Magic, I am a total Laker-hater (sorry, honey) and was sad to see Boston lose to Miami in the Eastern Conference Championships this year.

Tennis is the other sport that I love to watch.

Remember these guys??!

 

You were either a Sampras or an Agassi fan back in those days.. and I was definitely in the Agassi camp.  Agassi's autobiography, Open, shed a lot of light on one of the most interesting tennis players you will ever see and reading it only made me appreciate his game more (and dislike lack-o-personality Pete even more).

 

And now, onto more current tennis rivalries...

I guess you either have to be a Federer or a Nadal fan. I root for Federer.

And, although it seemed that all of France was rooting for Nadal during the recent French Open Final, I tend to say really mean things while watching Rafa play (mostly shocked he wins as many points as he does), and adore Djokovic-- he is certainly one of the most mentally tough players to ever play the game. It was really hard to watch Djokovic/Federer in the French Open semis and pick someone to root for. Although our DVR did not pick up the 4th set of the Final, which is probably a good thing, as I would have been swearing, I was very disappointed at the outcome.

It will be exciting to see more of these guys in the years to come (except I hope my guy comes out ahead from now on). I'm just glad that there's only one Major on clay!  And for my next read:

 

(recently purchased on Kindle as our library didn't carry it!). I'm not sure how much longer this great one will be around.

Oysters, Crabs, & Twins ...

... not all edible.

I spent a good amount of time this weekend at the hospital.
I also spent some time with some shellfish of various types. We had an impromptu visit from Chamreun from OC, who loves oysters as much as we do.

OYSTERS
Here are our lovely fresh (Pacific & Como) oysters [Chamreun gets full credit for the photo], from the "oyster lady" at the Arcata farmers' market, consumed on a picnic bench by Trinidad Head...

 ... with a view like this:

CRABS
In the evening on Saturday, we caught a Crabs' Game. The Humboldt Crabs are an Arcata collegiate summer baseball team, founded in 1945, and is the oldest continually-operated summer collegiate team in American baseball! While I am not a huge baseball fan (a little too slow for me...), it was actually pretty fun to watch on a nice (but still cold) "summer" night.  We enjoyed food and drink while being entertained by the  "Crab Grass Band" and the 9-1 win.

 Chamreun & a ballpark dog

Elise & K

our spot by the 1st base line

TWINS
I had the privilege of doing my first *solo* (i.e. no one there to bail me out/breathe down my neck!) twin vaginal delivery on Sunday. It went beautifully, and was soooo fun and rewarding!

We probably won't have any more twins anytime soon, but we're excited for some more summer games, and the Arcata Oysterfest coming in 2 weekends.... if you're around, join us!

Kinetic Sculpture Race

 winner Melvin

(photos from the North Coast Journal site)

While K and I were in Oregon last weekend, we missed Humboldt County's renowned "Kinetic Sculpture Race," a three-day, 42-mile race over both land and water.

For this annual event held over Memorial Day weekend, artists create all-terrain, human-powered vehicles which have to ride on land through miles of Manila Dune sand, then through the water of Humboldt Bay, then another stretch of land to end in Ferndale.

Spectators can follow along on bikes for much of it. We are sorry we missed it (not to compete, but to watch!), but hope to catch it another year!