Easter Sunday

7:51 am - Monday - April 2nd - SoCal - 55º F, 79% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south by southwest.....heavy overcast once again with a forecast high of 70º f today.  The marine layer should burn off by noon time giving way to partly cloudy, but mostly sunny skies.

Usually SoCal gets what we call 'May/June gloom' in May and June (duh!) each year which is caused by a heavy marine layer moving on and off the coast each day, but it appears we are getting that 'May/June gloom' in April this year.  Typically we will wake up to heavy overcast skies each morning which usually 'burns' off anywhere from mid morning to noon time leaving us with sunny skies the rest of the day.  It keeps the temperature from getting too high.  In some past years the 'May/June gloom' has extended well into July making for a cooler than normal summer.

Since we returned to SoCal we have had some sort of appointment, or activity scheduled every single day, and Sunday was no exception......for the 9th consecutive day we had something scheduled.....Easter dinner at my oldest son's home.  We left our coach around 11:30 am arriving at Chris' home by 11:50.  We were looking forward to visiting with Rochelle's (Chris' wife) side of the family, including her father and mother, Ed and Linda, but Ed had been admitted to the local hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery Friday night, and was still in the hospital on Sunday.  The operation was a success, however, the doctors wanted to keep him in the hospital for observation for a couple of days.  At any rate we had a lovely time with everyone, and a great dinner before heading home a little after 2 pm.

Not much else to report about Sunday.....I spent time watching the final round of the PGA Houston Open ultimately won by Ian Poulter in a one hole playoff.  Then I watched the NCAA women's basketball final between Notre Dame and Mississippi won at the final buzzer by a 3 point shot by a Notre Dame player.  I had no favorite in the game, and just wanted a close game.....well, I got that for sure!

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Back in the saddle.....finally!

7:28 am - Sunday - April 1st - SoCal - 55º F, 77% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the southwest.....heavy overcast with a forecast high for today of 74º F.....Happy Easter!

I've had my Cannondale Bad Boy put together for a few days, but hadn't taken a ride yet.  It has been a long time since I just took off on a ride with no particular distance goal in mind and just rode.  I took 10-15 mile rides early in the summer at Yellowstone, but the only riding option I had was outside the Park riding along US-89 north towards Livingston, and after a while that got boring, plus the shoulder I rode on was quite rough with lots of debris.  I suffered a couple of flats due to that debris, so I gradually stopped riding and just focused on hiking on our days off work.  I had the same problem at the Grand Canyon....there were no shoulders on any of the roads, and riding in a traffic lane on a busy highway is not an optimal experience, so my 'rides' consisted of 30 minute jaunts on my stationary bicycle.....that gets amazingly boring after a while, also.  The last month, or so at Desert View I rarely rode my stationary bicycle.

I looked forward to taking more than a few rides while here in SoCal, but until Saturday we had either an activity almost every day that conflicted with taking a ride, or it was too hot (Thursday and Friday).  I was determined to get out for a ride Saturday and escape the gravitational pull of the Newell.  Finally, about 9:30 am I was dressed in my riding togs and off for who knows how long a ride west on the Pacific Electric Bicycle Path which runs right behind the Elks Lodge here in Fontana....  

......as I merged on to the bike path I thought I might ride 5 miles west and then turn around....that would give me a good 10 mile ride, but as I hit the 5 mile mark I just kept going.  The early morning air still very cool, and I felt good.  By the time I turned around I had covered about 10.6 miles.  As I crossed back into Rialto my cyclo computer read 20.7 miles.......

.....and by the time I parked my Cannondale next to the trailer it was reading 21.3 miles total distance covered....

.....nice to know the 'old guy' still has it in him.  I was pleasantly tired after spinning those pedals for one hour and 37 minutes and burning 1,194 caloric units.  After a quick shower I was relaxing and watching the latest PGA tour event interspersed with a few naps.

Around 3 pm I turned on the 'Final Four' broadcast to see which two teams would make it to the final game to be played Monday evening.  The 'Cindarella' team (Loyola Chicago) controlled the game until about 5 to go in the game, and were still up by 6 points over Michigan, but they totally collapsed those last 5 minutes and lost to Michigan by 12 points in the end.  The second game featured two #1 seeds....Kansas vs. Villanova, and was expected to be a close game, but it was anything but that.  Villanova got out to a 17 point lead, and pretty much kept it there for the duration of the game.  So it is Michigan vs. Villanova in the final.....hope it is a close game!

We got in the VW around 4:55 pm to drive a few blocks over to Mariscos del Pacifico to meet my son Tim, and his wife Laila for some great Mexican seafood. TLE and I discovered this little treasure two years ago when we stayed at the Elks Lodge here in Fontana for the first time, and have been back over and over again.  Yelp has them at 4.5 stars on 224 reviews, and we would have to agree.  All four of us ordered their Picositos Tacos (shrimp) which include homemade tortillas......we all cherished every bite!  We sat and talked until almost 6:30 before we finally surrendered out table and headed for home.  A great way to end a great Saturday!

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A tale of two meals....

7:29 am - Saturday - March 31st - SoCal - 56º F, 64% humidity, wind - CALM.....ahhhh....CALM.  Forecast high for today is 81º F with partly cloudy skies.

Once again, we did not have much planned for Friday except a hair appointment for TLE at Forte Salon in Claremont where Amanda, long time family friend, has worked for several years.  Whenever we are in town TLE has Amanda tune up her coiffure.  The appointment was for 11 am so we left the Elks Lodge around 10:15.....Google maps thinks it should take 40-45 minutes to make the drive, but we arrived there at 10:45 in spite of 'slow and go' traffic on I-10.

While TLE got her 'do' done I sat outside on a bench enjoying the late morning air.....why be inside when it is so nice outside?  Within 30 minutes Amanda had TLE's coif looking great again, and we were on our way over a few blocks to one of our favorite local gastro pubs in the area.....The Back Abbey (also in Claremont)....Yelp gives them 4 stars on over 1,700 reviews, and we would agree.....maybe even a 4.5 for us......

.....we quickly ordered two glasses of their Kasteel Winter Porter, which we have had before.....it has this obvious chocolate aftertaste with a hint of smokiness.....very, very unique.  For my entree I ordered the Back Abbey Burger (aged gouda, mustard aioli, and caramelized onions).....OMG.....what tasty burger!  TLE ordered their Bistro Frisee Salad (frisee lettuce tossed with apples, toasted pecans, grapes, bacon lardons, fourme d'ambert cheese, a soft poached egg and dressed with apple cider vinaigrette.....I don't usually list the ingredients of our entrees, but come on....don't these descriptions just make you want to order them?)

Once again, because we can, we ate and drank al fresco......such a lovely day to be outside!  By 1 pm we were on our way home......no stops in between.....just home.  Now, normally, if we eat one meal out that is pretty much it for the day....we may snack late in the day, but usually we are still full when dinner rolls around.  However, we forgot we had promised to meet our fellow Elks, and good friends, Steve and Candy for dinner at our Elks Lodge at 5 pm.  Hmmmmm, maybe I should have ordered a Bistro Frisee Salad, too.

Nonetheless, there we were at 5 pm walking into the Elks Lodge for our second meal out of the day....Tempura Shrimp, rice, green beans, and a few more beers, of course.  We had a lovely time with Steve and Candy, but oh were we ever full when we walked back to the Newell around 8 pm! (I am still full as I write this morning's missive).

So, that was our Friday, and so comes to an end our first week back in lovely, balmy SoCal.  Thanks for stopping by!

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