San Francisco - September 2013

Ria, Simran, Keith and Shawna - Hiking on Lands End Trail

 We are thinking about going to Singapore/Bali with Rak and Simran in Dec' 14 so we used the excuse to visit them in San Francisco for a weekend to do some trip planning.  Keith had found Tara, a friend from his Steak and Ale days, on Facebook and found that she and her husband Leix live in Sacramento.  So, Keith flew to Sacramento on the Thursday night and had dinner with them at Frank Fats downtown.  It was fantastic to catch up with Tara after almost a quarter century - and oddly enough her sister Krissy was in Denver the same weekend - so Keith was destined to see one of the sisters that weekend!

Tara and Keith

After dinner, Keith headed toward Marin and stayed the night in the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield.  The next day Keith went to a couple of his properties in the Bay area and then got to Rak and Sim's in the late afternoon.  Shawna flew in directly from Hartford while Rak was coming in from Boston, so we were all at the house by about 8pm.  Sim's parents are in the US at the moment (they are looking to move to the states) so the Friday night cuisine was delicious homemade Indian - amazing!

The first event of the day on Saturday was a hike on Lands End trail in Golden Gate National Park where we walked to the Cliff House.  It was a relatively easy walk and a gorgeous day with great views of the bridge.  Following the walk, we headed over the bridge to Pelican Inn, an old British-style pub in Muir Beach.  Rak had been there many times when he was younger - mountain biking there and back.  We had a delicious shared lunch of Salad, Mussels, and Fish and Chips.  After lunch, we went back to the house for a nap, before heading out to see Babe which was playing at Film in the Fog in the Presidio.  However, Ria had not napped at the same time as we did, so she did not make it through the movie.  So, we headed home, dropped her off with Sim's parents, and then the four of us had an awesome dinner at Roku. 

Keith Torturing Ria with a Hug!

House of Air

On Sunday morning, we got up and went to House of Air, an indoor trampoline park.  Shawna thought it was a brilliant business idea and had some immediate dreams of opening her own in Denver! Keith, Rak, and Ria played a lot of trampoline dodge ball and were almost able to hold their own with the ten year olds playing!  Following that, we headed over to the Ferry Terminal for a walk around as well as lunch, where Sim's parents met us - then we separated with them taking Ria to basketball.  On the way home, Shawna and Sim went to Folsom Street for some shopping, while Keith and Rak were old men and went for another nap.  We closed out the weekend with everyone on the balcony with wine and cheese before we headed to the airport to go home.

We never really got to do much trip planning for Bali but as usual we had a great time visiting!

Keith's Mother's Birthday in Seattle - September 2013

Seattle (view from seaplane)

For Keith's mother's 70th birthday, we decided to do another family trip like we did to Napa for his dad's birthday - this time to Seattle.

Accommodation:
Grand Hyatt - we stayed here for a single night before heading to the cabin.  It is a great location downtown, close to Pike Place Market

Shawna and Keith

VRBO Cabin - Margaret found this cabin on Vacation Rentals by Owner.  Wesley, the owner (who oddly lives in Fort Worth), was very easy to work with and quite accommodating.  The cabin is a half-mile off I-90 at exit 32.  The cabin has a nice large great room, a kitchen table that seats 6, and 4 bedrooms.  Jean and Dick had the master room on the ground floor, Keith/Shawna and Margaret slept in the two rooms downstairs, and Graham was in the loft bedroom above the living room.

Graham, Keith and Margaret

Activities:
In order not to miss any work time, we flew to Seattle on Tuesday night after work.  The flight was delayed so we did not get to the hotel until midnight - which was tough since Shawna had a 5am call as she was living east coast time while on the west coast.  Keith went downstairs to the Starbucks in the hotel to work all morning.  Kristin, a former colleague, met Keith for coffee for a couple of hours as well.  We left the hotel for lunch at Pike Place Market, just a few blocks down the road.  After that, Keith went to see an apartment community that his company owns that is currently being redeveloped while Shawna worked in the hotel.  On the way to the cabin that we rented for the weekend, we stopped by another of Keith's apartments - though Shawna slept in the minivan while Keith toured the community.  We left the community and headed up 405 to 90 and actually had Graham and Margaret pass us on I-90 - Graham had picked Margaret up from the airport and had stopped by Whole Foods to stock up the house.  Keith's parents were already at the house as they had been in Washington for the week.  After getting settled in, Graham cooked us an awesome diner and then it was an early bedtime as we were really tired from the night before.

Pike Place Market

Margaret had planned the activities for the weekend, and the first event of the trip was a hike to Rattlesnake Ledge.  The start of the hike was only 4 miles from the house and was 4 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet.  There was a beautiful lake at the start and it was a nice hike to start off the weekend.  We then set off to Seattle, about a 30 minute drive from the cabin.  We walked around Pike Place, had a coffee at the first Starbucks (Keith's dad's version of mecca), and then went on a really cool seaplane flight.  We were late for the flight because of traffic but the company was able to get us all up anyway.  We went in the plane with Graham and Margaret while Keith's parents went on a separate flight.  The planes took off from Lake Union and then flew over the Space Needle, the bay, downtown, then back to Lake Washington where we flew over Bill Gates' house, then back for landing in Lake Union.  It was only 20 minutes but was really fun.  After the flight, we went to dinner and then back to the cabin.

Rattlesnake Ledge Hike

Seaplane Flight

Friday was another full day arranged by Margaret.  We started the day at Snoqualmie Falls, a waterfall with an old hydro plant from the 1800s.  Unfortunately it was foggy and drizzly so we did not see too much of the falls.  We were also a day early - the trails there had been closed for years and were re-opening the following day.  We then stopped by Boehm's Candies and Chocolates for a tour and taste, but the not-so-happy person in the office was less than accommodating.  So, we did a fast power-tour of the factory windows by ourselves and then headed off.  From there, we went to Woodinville to the Chateau St Michelle winery.  The grapes are actually grown in eastern Washington but this was the actual winery.  The tour of the production facility was quite good - and capped off with the obligatory wine tasting.  Following the winery, we headed back to Pike Place to have lunch before going to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit in Seattle Center, the 1964 World's Fair grounds.  The exhibit was quite well done, particularly in the exhibition hall.  We then walked to Lake Union to join a harbor cruise for an hour and a half before heading to dinner.

Wine Tasting at Chateau St Michelle

Chihuly Glass Exhibit

Jean, The Bday Girl!

Since Sat night was the big dinner, we decided to do a harder hike to work up our appetite.  Margaret found the Mount Si hike, which was 8 miles round trip and a 3500 foot elevation gain.  We got to the parking lot and discovered that a permit was required - so Keith and Margaret went to pick up the permit while the rest started the hike.  It was only 20 minutes total to get back and forth to the permit so Keith and Margaret met everyone about 1.5 miles in to the hike.  The trail was really well done and not too steep.  We started in fog but ended up with beautiful blue skies at the top, with the cloud layer well below us in the valley.  We skipped lunch and just had a couple of bites of apple on the trail - with the food the last few days we did not really need much!  After a quick shower and a glass of wine at the cabin, a white stretch limo picked us up to take us to the Herb Farm for the main event of the weekend.

On Top of Mount Si

Dressed for Dinner at the Herb Farm

Sunday saw most of us heading out - first Graham and Margaret to the airport and then we left at about 10:45am - with Jean and Dick staying at the cabin for one more night.  We went to Kelly and Reed's house where Kim and Keith also came over for a lunch with everyone and the kids.  It was fun to catch up with everyone as it had been three or more years since we last saw them.  We then drove to the airport to go back home to reality!

Herb Farm

Restaurants:
Chef Graham - Graham made dinner at the cabin the first night - starting with guacamole and chips then a delicious dinner of grilled red snapper, tomatoes, and mushrooms that he had picked earlier that day on the Olympic Peninsula.  Keith's parents had picked up the wine in eastern Washington earlier that week. 

Keith and Shawna at the Herb Farm

Tilth - A play on "till the earth", this is an organic restaurant where the chef (who is also the owner) is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Northwest.  We shared a very tasty and fresh fish dish with a watermelon carpaccio for an appetizer.

Keith and Graham Cutting Up at the Herb Farm

Pike Place Chowder Company - We had a great lunch here.  There was quite a big line which actually moved fast - and we ate standing up around a high-top table.  The salmon chowder was delicious.

McCormick and Schmick's - We had a couple of reservations later in the evening but did not want to stay downtown too late so made a game-day call to eat here, overlooking Lake Union and downtown. 

Jean and Dick at the Herb Farm

Herb Farm - We had been here in 2006 with Kim and Keith and at the time had thought it would be a great place to return with Keith's parents.  The dinner started at 6:30pm with a tour of the actual herb garden which is just across the road from the restaurant.  The dinner is 9 courses with 6 wine pairings.  The place holds about 70 people and everyone is served banquet-style.  The chef and sommelier were introduced and they explained the entire dinner and wines.  We were served a triptych of salmon, tomatoes with scallops, corn and chanterelles, duck three ways, bison, apple skillet with cheese and pretzel bread, peaches with pie crust ice cream, and a chocolate tart.  It was a delicious meal and we capped it off with the "oldest wine served in the world" - one ounce of 1795 Terrantez Madera

Keith and Margaret on Boat Cruise

Raleigh Gang Visit - Aug 2013

 

The Gang at Linger

Several of our friends from Raleigh (John, Joanna, Phil, Joyce, Kim and Jonathan) decided to visit us in Denver for Labor Day weekend.  We had a packed weekend of activities and hosted a Suppa Club!

Phil and Joyce

We picked up everyone at the airport on Thursday night around 10pm.  John had a few companion tickets on USAir so they all flew in together.  After showing them around the house, we had a few drinks while catching up on the latest news.

Joanna, John and Keith

On Friday, John, Joanna, Jonathan, Keith and Shawna went for a walk in the park while the rest of the gang slept in and got ready for the day.  After the walk, Joanna, Kim, Jonathan, Keith and Shawna went to Coors to do the brewery tour which turned out to be pretty cool - the tour was not only interesting but also free and you get 3 tastings at the end.  We had planned to grab lunch in Golden but the tour took longer than expected so we rushed over to Mod Market by our house and quickly grabbed a healthy and yummy lunch there.  While we did the tour, Phil and Joyce went to see a friend in Evergreen and John stayed home to do some work (which was an interesting turn of events to see John work while we all went on a brewery tour).  We all met back at our house around 2pm and then caught a cab downtown for an afternoon/evening of beer.

Coors Brewery Tour

We went on a walking tour downtown of breweries, visiting Rock Bottom, Wynkoop, Falling Rock and Breckenridge Breweries.  The tour was not that informative and the tastings were not the best (the tour guide was big on stouts) but we still had a good time.  After the tour, we went to the rooftop bar at The Tavern Downtown and had a few drinks and appetizers.  We then went to dinner at Euclid Hall where Keith and Shawna split the roasted cauliflower salad and the dan dan noodles.  We also shared a few appetizers for the table.  After dinner, there was a nomination for ice cream so we cabbed it back to our neighborhood to try out Bonnie Brae Ice Cream which was quite yummy!  Keith and Shawna were quite annoyed to learn that the ice cream was this good and so close to home - they did not need this temptation!!  We walked home from there, attempting to burn some of the calories from the day!

John and Joanna on Brewery Tour

Joanna and Joyce on Brewery Tour

Cog Railway

On Saturday, we got up early, packed a lunch and drove down to Colorado Springs.  The boys were in the 4Runner while the girls went 'topless' in the Audi.  The drive down there was beautiful.  We first went on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway which takes about 3 hours round trip.  The scenery was mostly of the forest during the first part of the trip but then when we got above the tree line, you could see the surrounding mountains and lakes.  We only had about 30 minutes at the top so we quickly pulled out the picnic lunch, scarfed down our food and then ran around to take a few pictures.  A few of us napped on the ride back down since the train goes the same way. 

Breathing Less Air On Top of Pikes Peak

View from Pikes Peak

We then went to the Garden of the Gods where we walked around the main hiking path and also drove over to the leaning rock to take a few pictures.  While there, we watched a few rock climbers and saw one woman fall 30 feet, banging against the rock a few times before she came to a stop.  She was conscious but certainly looked like she was in pain as she had smashed her face against the rock.  The rescue team had to climb above her and then belay down to get her on a backboard and lower her to the ground.  Seeing this certainly sealed the deal for most of us that we would never rock climb!

Garden of the Gods

The Album Cover

When we got home, we napped for a short while and then took a cab to Linger where we had a few drinks on the rooftop bar and then had dinner.  We shared several of the dishes - all were very yummy. There was another coup for ice cream so part of the group went over to Little Man Ice Cream and waited in line for about 45 minutes to get ice cream while the rest of the group stayed at Linger for another couple of drinks.  When we got the ice cream, we all enjoyed it out on the patio (Shawna especially liked the salted Oreo cookie flavor) and then took a cab back home.

Kim and Joanna at Linger

Joanna, Keith and Jonathan at Linger

On Sunday, we had planned to go to the Taste of Colorado festival and to Elitch Gardens but Shawna had found out from a few people that the Taste of Colorado was not good - they mainly served the type of food that you would find at a carnival and the only interesting thing was judging who had the best mullet.  So we changed the plans.  We walked over to Agave Taco in our neighborhood for lunch where we tried several of the tacos along with margaritas and beer.  We then returned home to watch a movie and relax.  We had planned to cook at home that evening and invited Sarah and Kristina to join us.  John also invited Craig, a friend of his, who came with his wife Jennifer.  We made beef, pork and chicken kebabs along with meatball tagine, couscous, greek salad and roasted vegetables.  After filling up on food and drinks, the girls and boys competed in tournament of ping pong, pool, darts and Pictionary - we ended up tied with the boys winning ping pong and pool and the girls winning darts and Pictionary.

John and Shawna at Linger

Phil and Joyce at Linger

We slept in on Monday and relaxed around the house before we went over to Fourteen Seventy Two restaurant on Pearl Street for lunch.  The service was very slow but the food was good - Keith and Shawna split the seafood salad and mussels.  After lunch, we dropped off the gang at the airport and then returned home to clean up.  The house felt quite empty and quiet after everyone left!

Shawna, Kim and Jonathan

It was awesome to have everyone visit and to have the opportunity to host a Suppa Club at our house.