Early Xmas in Louisiana - Dec 2018

At Honny's House

We went to Shawna's mom's house in Louisiana to celebrate an early Christmas.  Shawna was in Hartford that week so we both met up in New Orleans late on Thursday night.  We stayed over at the Best Western by the airport and woke up early on Friday morning to drive to Honny's.  That day, Keith worked from the house while Shawna and her mom went to Alexandria to get in some Christmas shopping.  That evening, we had gumbo and opened gifts.

On Saturday, we had planned on visiting Ginger and her family.  However, Ms Katie (Ginger's mom) was not doing well - she had stage 4 colon cancer and was not recovering well from her surgery.  And since Shawna was sick with a cold, we did not want to get their family sick so we decided to stay home instead.  It was a cold, rainy day so we stayed in and watched movies.  That evening, we had dinner at the Brown Bag which was delicious - we shared a pork tenderloin dish and shrimp and grits for an appetizer.

On Sunday, we relaxed at home in the morning, visited with Nicole for a short time and then had lunch before we drove to New Orleans to head back home.  Shawna ended up returning to Louisiana on Wednesday evening of the following week because sadly, Ms Katie had passed away.  She attended the funeral, burial and lunch on Thursday and then worked from her mom's house on Friday before flying back to Phoenix that evening.

Dodds Family Thanksgiving Visit - Nov 2018

 

Dodds Family - Brown's Ranch

Usually, we'll either go to Texas or Louisiana for Thanksgiving - instead we had Texas come to us!

In order to accommodate all the various family logistics, we invited everyone to come the weekend before Thanksgiving until Thanksgiving morning.  All but Lily arrived from Dallas at 7pm - Keith picked up a 14-seater from the rental car center and then met them all at the curb outside baggage claim.  Graham stayed at the airport to meet Lily while Keith took the rest and an enormous amount of luggage back to the house.  He then went back to the airport to get Graham and Lily an hour later - now all 10 of us were settled in the house for the weekend: Margaret and kids in the beach room, Jean and Dick in the Asian room, and Graham and kids in the gym.  Since everyone had eaten diner in TX, we just had some wine and cheese at the house before bed.

Boone, Josie, Lily - Botanic Gardens

Saturday started off with breakfast at the house before departing for two destinations: Margaret, Owen, and Keith hiked Camelback (record time up at 50 minutes) while the rest of the gang walked around the Botanic Gardens.  Boone decided to have an incident with a jumping Cholla cactus (otherwise known as jumping Boone cactus), then Graham had some excitement with it himself as he tried to remove it from Boone!  

Graham, Owen, Margaret - Camelback

Shawna drove the group back from the gardens to pick up the hikers and to go to Keith's office for a quick change and also some free snacks at the Wolff snack bar!  It was then a quick drive to the Cornish Pasty Co for lunch outside before heading over to Top Golf for a couple of hours.  While most of the kids and Margaret had been to a Top Golf, Graham and Dick  had not and they were the best of the group! 

The Golfers!

We then went home for a swim - the pool was heated to 75 degrees which was a bit chilly until we got going.  We tried to play volleyball but the shorter kids struggled a bit since they could not touch the bottom!  Dinner that night was grilled beef/chicken kebabs, couscous, roasted cauliflower, corn on the cob, and asparagus.  Graham worked the grill and turned out some delicious kebabs. The dinner was topped off with homemade ice cream c/o Josie -it was really quite good for only 4 ingredients! 

Pool Volleyball in November!

On Sunday, we stared off with a heavier breakfast: Mexican Tostados (though the kids stuck with their honey nut cheerios).  We then all drove to Browns Ranch for a couple hour hike.  It was back to the house for a light lunch before going to the Butterfly Wonderland and Aquarium for the afternoon.  Shawna went back to the house early to start the cooking; the rest of us got home around 5pm.  This evening was our Thanksgiving dinner: fried turkey, stuffing, brussel sprouts, scallop potatoes with mushroom, corn on the cob, and two - yes, two - steamed puddings with birds custard.  Jodi stopped by for an hour to meet Keith's parents before we all had dinner.  The food was delicious - the turkey was just about perfect as was the rest of the meal.  The night was wrapped up with some karaoke before bed. 

Thanksgiving Dinner

Monday was the beginning of the road trip.  Shawna was unable to go with us as she had work commitments so there were 9 of us heading north.  The first stop was Sedona - with a Pink Jeep tour scheduled for 11am.  We made it in plenty of time so the family walked around the main street and had their picture taken with snakes as Keith parked the car.  We had to split into two groups - Margaret with the kids and Jean/Dick/Graham/Keith in the other jeep - though we saw each other at each of the breaks. 

Pink Jeep Tour

Lunch was a quick stop at Wildflower Café before we went over to Courthouse Butte for a hike.  We were originally doing a loop hike, but once the kids saw that you could climb UP Bell Rock we split into two groups, with Jean and Dick sticking to the loop hike.  There were a lot of scrambles up the rock, and some steep areas which were fun.  As we wrapped up the hike, Margaret ran back to the van to get a change of clothes for the kids so they could take their "formal" Christmas photos just at sunset.  We then drove up Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff where we stopped for dinner at NiMarcos Pizza - listed the best in Flagstaff!  It was only about another hour from there to the Holiday Inn Express in Grand Canyon Village where we stayed the next two nights.

Bell Rock

Tuesday morning we ate at the hotel (the kids loved the breakfast there!), grabbed a Starbucks in town, and drove to Grand Canyon Airport for our morning helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon with Grand Canyon Helicopters!  Keith and Margaret went with the 4 kids while Jean/Dick/Graham went in another helicopter.  We did well with the front seats - Margaret, Josie, Owen, Jean, and Dick all got front seats.  It was a great flight - about an hour - and also cool because the very first view the kids ever had of the canyon was as we went over the rim in the helicopter.  It was also fun with the flight starting with a Star Wars song!

Helicopter over Grand Canyon

Once the flight was over we drove up to the park - with free entrance care of Dick's lifetime park pass he bought for ten dollars!  We parked the van at the visitors center and walked the 2 mile rim walk over to El Tovar - taking pictures the whole way.  We then walked back toward the visitor center, stopping at the Market for a quick bite to eat.  We then drove back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner - which was at El Tovar back in the park.  Keith ate with the kids and had the lamb shank which was delicious (kids ate off the kids menu).  Jean/Dick/Graham/Margaret were at their own table and were not as impressed with the dinner.

Josie, Lily, Keith and Owen

Wednesday we copied the breakfast plan from the day before (hotel and Starbucks) and then went back to the park for a hike down South Kaibab Trail past Ooh Ah point to Cedar Ridge.  Everyone had a bathroom break there, then we started the 1.5 mile hike back up.  Boone was pretty stressed the whole way as he was desperate to be "first" - Keith gave it the college try to explain to Boone that it was not critical to be in front but it was a losing argument!

Ooh Ah Point - South Kaibab Trail

We then drove back to Grand Canyon Village to see the Imax movie (great imagery), have lunch at Wendy's, then began the 3.5 hour trek back to our house!  We made super time, arriving at 5:30pm after stopping at Chick-Fil-a for dinner for the kids.  Keith showered and then drove the 4Runner to the airport to pick up Rachel and her parents who were in AZ for a 5 day visit of Page, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon.  Keith brought the three of them back to the house for Gin & Tonics, wine, and cheese (which was dinner for all of us).  Keith then drove the van to the Townplace Suites with Rach and her parents following in the 4Runner which they were borrowing for their road trip. 

Sedona

Thursday morning was busy - Keith took Graham, Margaret, and kids to the airport and got back to the house in time to join Jean, Dick, Shawna, and the Bunnings for a breakfast of avocado toast before Rachel and her parents headed up to Sedona for their tour.  Then we went for a hike up Sunrise Peak with Jean and Dick.  While on the hike we made a game-day call for dinner - rather than going to the Hilton and having more turkey we changed the reservation to Zinc Bistro so Dick could have his fill of French food!  We showered when we got home, Keith had a nap, we had another round of Gin & Tonics, and then Ubered to dinner.  Graham and Margaret graciously bought our dinner - it was delicious. 

Sedona

Friday morning we had our coffee, took Jean and Dick to the airport, and spent the rest of the day up to our ears in laundry - cleaning all the sheets, duvets, and towels that were used over the weekend!

Brown's Ranch

It was a really fun time hosting the whole family and everyone seemed to have a great time!  

AZ Taco Fest - John and JoAnna Visit - Oct 2018

 

AZ Taco Festival

For our third year of going to festivals with John and JoAnna, we decided to stay local (and thus make it cheap) by going to the Taco Festival in Scottsdale.  John and JoAnna flew in Thursday afternoon - Keith picked them up at the airport and that afternoon/evening we hung out in our pool, drinking beer and catching up.  Shawna cooked a yummy meal of roast lamb, couscous, tomato/cucumber salad, roasted cauliflower with chickpeas and hummus with pita.  The lamb did not come out as good as we had hoped but it was still tasty. 

Chez Dodds

On Friday, Shawna and JoAnna did the Lost Dog Wash hike which took about 1.5 hours in the morning.  The afternoon and evening was spent going to breweries and then testing our ability at Top Golf after too many beers!  Our first stop was OHSO on the canal where we had individualized pitchers of beer (served 2.5 beers each) for only $7 - what a deal! We also snacked on artichoke dip. Keith had calls for work so he met us at the next stop which was the Cornish Pasty place where we had pasties, salad and more beer.  We all then walked to Goldwater Brewery where we tasted some of their beer and snacked on popcorn.  Our final stop before heading to Top Golf was Coach House which is one of the oldest bars in Scottsdale. 

Coach House

That evening, we played four rounds of Top Golf with the girls winning three of the rounds.  We snacked on pretzel bites and flatbread while continuing with the beer drinking.  Apparently, the beer helped Shawna because she golfed the best she has ever done so far!

Top Golf 

On Saturday, we had intended on doing a hike in the morning but the weather did not cooperate as it rained for most of the day.  Instead, we relaxed at home, planning some of our future trips.  We went over to the Taco Festival around noon and tried many different tacos along with beer.  Because it was raining, we mostly hung out in the bar tents, running out to grab tacos from time to time to bring them back to the tent to eat.  We watched the pepper eating (which was hilarious) and taco eating contests and then being full, we finally left around 4pm. 

Iceland Moon Walk Dance at Taco Fest

Back at home, we hung out in the pool and then grilled some kabobs which we ate with the leftovers from Thursday night.  We then played a few rounds of board games - Battle of the Sexes and I Love the 80s which were won by the boys.  John wanted some port with our dessert so we had one bottle which apparently was a bit old - Keith could not get the cork out so we had to 'drain' the wine through a napkin.  Surprisingly, it was still pretty tasty, although at this point, not sure if we would have noticed the difference between good or bad port!

John and JoAnna had to fly out early on Sunday so we had breakfast and relaxed a little before Keith drove them to the airport.  It was another fun weekend filled with laughs!

Patrick and Lauren Wedding in San Diego - September 2018

At Patrick and Lauren's wedding

We were thrilled to hear that Patrick and Lauren were engaged, and even more thrilled that they included us in the occasion!

Ceremony

It was an easy flight to San Diego - 50 mins in the air and we were on the coast.  We had bought a late afternoon flight so landed by 4:30 and were at the Indigo Hotel in Del Mar by 5:30pm.  We both needed a shower - then walked the 15 minutes to dinner at Sbicca, just the two of us.  We sat upstairs and outside - gorgeous temperature.  We ordered several shared plates including tacos, meatballs, shishito peppers and brussel sprouts.  The food was good, but not excellent.  We finished a bit early so walked down to the beach before walking back up and meeting the wedding party at Il Fornio.  We chatted with Patrick's parents and sister before going over to Enoteca Del Fornio where we had a few glasses of wine.  It was there that we chatted with Diego (Patrick's former roommate), John and Terry (Keith knew them from St Vincent's), and Chris (in Patrick's High School class).  It was good to chat with them all.

View on hike in Torrey Pines

The next morning, we had breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel before embarking on a 2.5 hour walk to and through Torrey Pines - ending up on the Beach and Razor Point trails.  It was a beautiful walk along the beach and then through the park - and helped burn off some of the wine from the night before.  Lunch was just a couple of granola bars.  We showered, dressed, and walked the 15 minutes over to the wedding, stopping by Starbucks for an iced tea and L'Auberge to take a picture at the bar by the outdoor fireplace where a colleague of Keith's had her first date with her now husband.  The wedding was at the Del Mar Powerhouse on the beach.  They advertised that the bar was open before the wedding ceremony - a stroke of genius that we did not think of for our own wedding!  We carefully arranged ourselves on the back row - so we could take pictures w/o interrupting but also so we could be first at the bar after the ceremony was over.  In true Patrick and Lauren fashion, the ceremony was casual but very sweet - their friend who officiated was terrific and their vows beautiful - complete with a couple of laughs.  The food was delicious and the dancing and music a blast as we both cut a rug on the dance floor.  There was an after-party at Jimmy-Os - we stopped by for a few minutes but it was proof we are too old - because it was too loud!

Gang at the wedding

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast again at the hotel restaurant and did another hike in Torrey Pines - this time on the Parry Grove and Guy Fleming trails.  We showered back at the room and checked out before storing our luggage and walking out for a sushi lunch at Shimbashi, back at Del Mar Plaza.  On the way home, we were thrilled to bump into Patrick and Lauren who were grabbing a burrito lunch alone.  We chatted for 10 minutes and then they walked us back to the hotel - it was great to get at least a little bit of time alone with them during the weekend!  Sadly, we were then off to the airport after 48 hours in SoCal - but the trip did remind us that we would love to live there some day!

Torrey Pines Hike

Dawn and Stuart Visit - September 2018

 

Keith, Shawna, Stuart, Dawn

 Keith's friend Dawn from his University of Surrey days was doing a west coast tour with her husband Stuart - we were excited to host them for a day of their whirlwind tour.  As they were driving down from the Grand Canyon, we met them for a day in Sedona.  It required us to get up at 4:30am and leave by 5:45, but with no traffic we made it into Sedona in only 1:45.  We had planned to meet them at the Java Café next to the Pink Jeep Tours office so they arrived in time for us to chat 30 minutes before our Broken Arrow tour.   We went for a bit of a walk down the main street of Sedona before driving over to The Hudson for lunch.  The food was as good as last time: we shared some bruschetta and pretzel bread to start and then had the Kale salad and Chopped salad.

Pink Jeep Tour

After lunch, we hiked around Bell and Courthouse - it was 95 degrees so a bit hot, but gorgeous scenery as always.  It was then a drive home to cool off in the pool with margaritas and guacamole before our dinner of flank steak, sausages, elote, and sweet potato stackers.  We managed to also plow through three bottles of wine and a taste of the cider brandy they brought us!

Dawn and Shawna

We slept in until 8am on Sunday - having a relaxing morning before leaving at 11am for a Taliesin West tour.  We then convoyed over to the Cornish Pasty Shop for lunch before Dawn and Stuart drove away to get to Santa Barbara for their next overnight.

Taliesin West

NYC for Alex Feinberg Bar Mitzvah - Sept 2018

Fun photo booth at the party!

The last time we were in New York City, we had dinner with Kim/Tom and Mark/Alicia.  Over dinner, Mark mentioned that the four of us would be invited to their son Alex's Bar Mitzvah.  So a year and four months later, we were attending our very first one!

We were both on the road the week before the event: Shawna in Minneapolis and Keith in Vegas.  So, we both arrived in NYC on the Thursday night separately - Shawna checking into the AC Marriott Times Square in the late evening, with Keith crawling in to bed at 1:30am.  The hotel was pretty cool - the bed super comfortable, the room and bathroom spacious, and the lobby airy.  We did both manage to get up on the Friday for a workout: Shawna to the hotel gym and Keith to do a live Jennifer Jacobs 80s ride at the Peloton Studio.  The rest of Friday we both worked: Shawna in the room and Keith in the lobby of the hotel.  The day did include one celebrity sighting: Katie Couric passed through the lobby.  Keith was well behaved and did not run up to her to say he saw her on the tarmac at the airport in the Galapagos!  We wrapped up our work day at about 4pm and managed to squeeze in a power nap - which helped set Keith up for a later night than otherwise!

Slate - Bar Mitzvah Party

After receiving text updates from Kim and Tom who were also staying in the same hotel, we showered and headed up to the rooftop bar at our hotel for a few drinks before dinner.  We were a bit earlier than the cool crowd so were able to get a prime table and chatted before heading to dinner at Cosme.  The style is contemporaneous Mexican - it was very flavorful with quite a few veggie options for Kim.  Of course, the veggie items were very flavorful so we "helped" Kim out!  The food was served as shared plates, with the best being the duck with tortillas.  We were able to make it through three bottles of Albarino over dinner, and then made the "wise" decision to have a final glass of wine back on the hotel rooftop before bed.

Feinbergs

On Saturday morning, Keith did a quick run to Starbucks for caffeine and breakfast before we met Kim and Tom in the lobby at 8:45.  The first stop was Tom's office to grab his jacket, then a store to get Alex a card, and then over to Temple Shaaray Tefila for the 2 hour service.  We had never been to temple before so it was really interesting - and the rabbi and cantor were fantastic.  We skipped the Kiddush luncheon and instead went next door to Calexico for a Mexican lunch.  We all decided a nap was in order before going to Central Park for a walk.  We walked the bridle path for a softer surface and stumbled upon our old favorite singer Guitar Man.  We listened to him a bit: it appears that his songs and stories are roughly the same as 20 years ago - though age seems to have motivated him to wear a shirt now!  After the walk, we were back at the hotel to change for the evening's festivities at Slate.  The event started in the lower level with appetizers and drinks, then moved upstairs for the dancing and dinner.  Just like Mark and Alica's wedding, Keith was unaware that the appetizers were not the main dinner!  The evening was pretty cool - and Alex and his friends danced the night away. We got silly trying on all of the party favors that lit up! We wrapped up the evening with a drink on the rooftop bar at our hotel again.

On Sunday, we met Kim and Tom for a walk again - this time down the west side - starting at Hudson Yards and finishing at World Trade Center.  We saw the fountains at WTC and then went into the new Westfield Mall and transportation hub to take the subway back to the hotel. Our last stop on the weekend agenda was to meet Carmen at Demarchlier on the upper east side. It was a good lunch and fun to catch up - then we took a cab - first to Penn Station for Shawna to train up to Hartford, then Keith went to Newark for a flight back to Vegas.

Walk along West Side

Point Reyes - Labor Day Weekend - Sept 2018

Happy Campers

For this Labor Day weekend, we rented a house in the Point Reyes area with Rakesh and Simran.  Simran had been eyeing this house that she wanted to try so we booked it.  It was a very relaxing weekend filled with walks, biking, and lots of eating!

Marshall, CA

We both arrived in San Fran (on separate flights) on Thursday night with Shawna arriving first in time to have dinner with Rakesh, Simran and Ria. Simran made hamburgers which shrunk quite a bit and looked lost on the bun and while we made fun of them, they were still tasty!  Keith arrived shortly before bed so he said his quick hellos and then we all went to sleep.

Ranch at Straus House

On Friday, we took care of a few calls in the morning and then drove off in separate cars, stopping first to rent a bike for Keith.  We stopped in Petaluma to have lunch at Della Fattoria - we had been to their farm to table dinner a few times.  The restaurant is lovely and the food was really good - we ordered a bunch of salads and appetizers that we all shared with a bottle of wine.

Della Fattoria

After lunch, we bought a few food items in town for the house and then went wine tasting in Sebastopol.  First stop was Merry Edwards which is Shawna's favorite Sauvignon Blanc (she bought two bottles for the house) - Keith unfortunately had to do a call so he missed this tasting.  Second stop was Emeritus which has a nice modern tasting room and a yummy Rose and Pinot Noir - Simran joined their wine club so we could get a few bottles of the Rose which is limited to wine club owners only.

Merry Edwards Winery

On our way to the house, we stopped at Bohemian Creamery and did the 'speed' tasting of all of their cheeses - we settled on three to buy for the house.  We then drove to the house (Straus Home Ranch) which is located in Marshall on a farm across the road from the bay.  It is owned by the owners of Straus Family Creamery which sells dairy products in CA.  The house was beautiful with four bedrooms upstairs and two living rooms, a dining room and a fabulous kitchen downstairs.  After getting settled in, we drove into Point Reyes Station to fuel up on groceries for the weekend.  We then had dinner at Nick's Cove, a great restaurant very close to the house, located on the bay and known for their drinks.  We shared a few appetizers for the table and then Keith and Shawna shared the scallops for an entree.  All of the food was very good.

Straus Home Ranch

After breakfast on Saturday, the boys went for a bike ride into Point Reyes Station while the girls went for a hike at the Tomales Bay Trail and then went into town to walk around and grab a coffee.  We met back at the house in time for Ria and Simran's parents as well as Stacie and her boys (Luca and Mateo) to join us for the day.  We had lunch at the house outside with salads, cheese and bread followed by a tour of the farm given by one of the owners.  We went inside the barn which had been renovated for events and then walked into the field to see (and attempt to pet) the cows.  We were all shocked that Simran's mom was in the pasture with us, given her affinity for cleanliness!

Lunch at the House

That afternoon, we relaxed and then cooked dinner - steak with mushrooms, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes and homemade peach and berry pie (courtesy of Stacie).  Everything was delicious.  With the wine flowing, we took the opportunity to take some funny selfies!  After dinner, Stacie and her family as well as Simran's parents drove back to San Fran.

Silly Selfies

Dinner at the House

After breakfast on Sunday, the boys went for another bike ride - this time much longer.  The girls drove out to Dillon Beach and walked along the beach for over an hour.  Unfortunately, on the way back, they got stuck in Tomales as they were having their Founder's Day Parade and would not let any cars through.  So they made lemonade out of lemons and parked the car, watched the parade and got some food at the food stalls - tacos, chili and meatball sandwich.  There was no cell reception (which was a challenge all weekend) so Shawna had to 'steal' wifi from a cafe to send a note to the boys to let them know to have lunch on their own back at the house.  The parade finally ended and the girls met the boys back at home.

Dillon Beach

The girls then drove back into Point Reyes Station to walk around, check out the shops and to pick up Ria's friend, Etta, who stayed with us Sunday night.  We also stopped and bought some oysters at The Marshall Store.  Ria and Etta challenged Rakesh and Keith to a balloon and water gun fight - despite all of their planning, Ria and Etta were defeated!  That evening, we had oysters for an appetizer - Shawna tried them for the first time in a very long time and enjoyed them - much to her surprise.  Rakesh also made a pasta with sausage and veggies - very yummy.  After dinner, we played Taboo - Shawna won.

Oysters - Yum!

Monday was a bit lazier.  After breakfast and lounging around in the morning, we drove out to Bodega Bay, walked along the beach and had lunch at the Fishetarian Fish Market - we shared the clam chowder and fish tacos.  We returned back to the house for a nap before we packed up and drove back to San Fran.  That evening, Simran's mom made us chicken biryani which was amazing!

Beach at Bodega Bay

On Tuesday, Keith had a meeting in Menlo Park so Shawna worked from the house and then we both met up at the airport that evening to fly home.