Holy Catfish Batgirl!

This was taken today outside San Quentin Prison. Nice view from there, huh?

Where did I find the chopper? Well, the nicest young man had it. Yeah, I'm friendly like that. So was he!

Honey and Harry just looked on and shook their respective heads.

First we took them to Pt. Isabel in Richmond where there were hundreds if not thousands of dogs just walking along off leash enjoying the sunshine.

Some of those dogs were very small, and very well groomed. Harry and Honey find dogs like that suspect. I was curious why Alex would want to take our badly behaved and non-social gruesome twosome to such a place. The best thing I can say about Pt. Isabel is that we didn't even see one murderer and it was almost noon so I am sure we were just lucky today.

After about 15 minutes, Alex was tired of being dragged all over the place by the lunging snarling 170 pounds of canines trying to avoid the well behaved dogs, so we hit the road.

I took photos of San Quentin, but it is a very depressing place so I'm not posting them. I also took photos of the Transamerica Pyramid in SF but I'm sure you all have seen it. Still, here's my shot of it! I did take a quick look to see if I could see any famous criminals, Scott Peterson and maybe Charles Manson, but I didn't see them. (No the guy with the motorcycle did not have on an orange jumpsuit.)

We also drove down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. Wow! That is a trip! Make sure you have good breaks for this one boys and girls! It is so steep and so crooked that it almost makes you dizzy. And crowded! Tourists with cameras are everywhere walking and in cars. I think we may end up on the front page of some foreign newspaper. Harry and Honey too! It's nice to be famous, huh?


We also drove over the Golden Gate Bridge but Honey slept through that. Harry looked pretty unimpressed. Still, I think it's cool! I used to walk to the middle of the bridge every year during SF Fleet Week. That was when my son, and when my husband were on carriers! I love Fleet Week. But then I love sailors!

Honey did have a fat cop start toward her out the open back window on his motorcycle then think better of it and back away. Good call, Officer.

We drove around the City for an hour and the traffic was horrendous so we opted to come back to Alameda where things are safe and sane. Plus, we don't want to overdo this vacation thing all in one day.

Dawg Tour - Day Three

No, this is not an exotic location. This is our backyard. We have had enough of exotic locations for a day! We did take Honey and Harry to Coast Guard Island, a small military base 5 minutes from home.

Harry chased the ducks and geese into the water. Honey found a tree to lie down under. At 4 PM on a Friday, the base is empty just about. (Coasties are off by then so nobody gets in the way of two dogs chasing birds into the San Francisco Bay.)

We belong to a wine club and our latest parcel was awaiting us at the local winery. We drove over to pick up our wines and Alex and I thought about doing a little tasting. (We can take the dogs in with us if they are good.) Unfortunately, there was a little poodle in the tasting room already and Harry and Honey consider poodles to be either a strange religious cult or terrorists or maybe both. So we decided to take our wines home and do our own tasting in the back yard.

We also picked up a wonderful fresh baguette from a local bakery. Their bread is the closest thing to Paris I've ever found. We also had some wonderfully spiritual brie and enjoyed that! Honey and Harry also loved the bread and brie. I mean who wouldn't?

Today Alex wants to go to a place called Point Isabella. That sounds lovely, doesn't it. Unfortunately, it's in Richmond, California, and I am pretty sure Richmond is the murder capital of the world. Never mind. We'll go early because everybody knows murderers sleep late.

Who Dat?

This is a photo of a guy who was standing on the corner in Oakland when we were coming home. He was so resplendent, I had to take his photo!

The man was even wearing a crown, so I guess he could be royalty. Harry and Honey were looking at him in amazement too! (Sometimes they can be so provincial!)

Alex said he thought the guy was a pimp. Excuse me? No pimps I know dress like that!

The man did not appreciate his photo being taken, but he did not want to walk toward the car with the slathering beast, or Harry and Honey either.

We went on vacation again today. (This vacation business is tiring me out.) We drove to Princeton By The Sea and had a wonderful little lunch in an outdoor cafe. The Mexican owner liked me so he brought me a plate of crab legs on rice with a mango salad on top of our lunch. Here is a picture of what we had to eat. Oh, and there's also a picture of my arm too. That Alex! What an eye for photography! Actually, in this photo it looks like I have an extra arm
but that is not the case. What that piece of skin is, I'm not sure. But I know for sure it is not an extra arm.

I took photos of trees we passed, and of 18 wheeler trucks but thought you all have seen those many times yourselves so why would you be interested in seeing the ones I captured. I also took a photo of the Coliseum (where the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's play) but thought that might bore you as well.

The food at this little outdoor dining establishment did not bore me. It was superb!

After lunch, Alex took the dogs over toward the water but I went to the bar next door for a drink. Lots of heavily tattooed ladies and one homeless looking guy. One of the ladies liked me and I liked her too. They were funny gals! The one who liked me wanted Honey to come in and have a margarita with her. It sounded like a good idea to me, but we had other places to go and see.

Here's a picture of Honey hiking on a trail near the ocean. She looks cute!
Honey does not walk very far because of her joint pain, but she does love to get out there and sniff! We told Harry and Honey we were taking them to Hawaii today on vacation, but Honey didn't believe it for a minute.

Harry kept looking for hula girls to sniff. When he finally got down to the beach, Harry got hit by a wave and ran for his life. He pulled himself out of his collar and took off up the side of a cliff. Alex and I had to chase him down. He's a sensitive guy.

Here is a photo of Alex and Honey and Harry at the beach. We all had a fun day of it. And please notice, when I take photos I don't cut off heads or make anyone with 2 arms look like they have 3 arms.

Even the royalty pimp obviously has two arms, two legs and a curly cane. I thought his sandals were a nice touch.

Dawg Tour - Twenty Ten

Alex is on vacation for the next couple of weeks. We are using the days to take Honey and Harry on their Dawg Tour. Most years we go to the Rez. Not this year.

Money is tight and long trips are too hard on Honey. They are hard on Harry too because he can't/won't lie down in a moving car.

We started today. We piled them both in the wagon (the K-9 Cruiser) and took side streets from Alameda to the heart of Berkeley. This trip took about 25 minutes but ran through the heart of Oakland so it was an interesting journey for the pups.

We went to a cafe in Berkeley where we can take our dogs and eat outside. Harry and Honey really loved people watching. Berkeley has quite the wide array of people to watch. Dread locked folks, homeless folks, people heading to the infamous People's Park, and college cuties were all wandering past.

At one point a couple of dogs walked past and Harry and Honey started acting like total fools so Alex took them for a little walk on the lawn next to the restaurant.

They sniffed and really enjoyed the new scenery. Harry's urban ass thought he was in the country. Honey just went along for the ride. We had great burgers, fries, and beer for lunch and shared a little bit with the dogs. That little treat stuff goes a long way toward making them feel like they are on vacation.

We then took them into the area up closer to the University (UC Berkeley). People were congregated all over the streets buying things like tee shirts. I'm not sure why.

The tee shirts did not do anything for me or Alex. We already have tee shirts. Still, Honey and Harry loved seeing all the people out on the street. They sniffed a few and got a few pats. They also had people cross the street to avoid them because some folks think they look scary.

Tomorrow we may come up with a better plan. They like going to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. That really is fun. Neither dog understands the waves, but they like them.

I think we're also going down the coast one day and staying at Pacific Grove one night. Oh, and going up to Mendocino one night too to stay near the ocean and drink wine. Yeah, we could just drink wine at home but that would not be part of the Dawg Tour - Twenty Ten.

Kangaroos and Karate

I got this stunning award from the lovely Peg at Square Peg In A Round Hole last weekend. I was delighted by the award, but have to admit, I had also gotten it from Peg's beautiful sister, Suzicate, at The Water Witch's Daughter several weeks ago.

I put the award on my desktop, but then overlooked it for a spell and I'm really sorry. My brain gets cluttered sometimes and I think I'm catching Harry's ADD. And in case you were wondering what Kangaroos have to do with Karate, well, they look like they would be good at Karate, don't they?

I believe I'm supposed to list some things that I have mastered, but I am not good with following directions so I have to do it my way.

*I am a very good cook. That's why my husband and I are a little fat.

*I am a great pet owner. I take wonderful care of my dogs, my cat, and even my fish out in the pond. I feed them well, buy them toys, clean up their poop (and examine it to make sure it looks right every day), play with them, and teach them right from wrong. The amount of money we have spent at the vet's in the last few years would buy a nice home in many parts of the US, and would probably finance a revolution in several countries.

* I have mastered making my husband think I am doing things all day when I really am not. When he says "how was your day?" I say with a straight face "busy". He does not know I just read blogs all day and wait till he is on his way home to even get dressed.

* I am good at talking on the phone for hours at a time.

* I am good at not laughing when somebody is saying something that I think is dumb. I try and use my Mexican Oprah expression on them and say things like "Very interesting."

* I am really a master at wearing high heel shoes and I've worn nothing else since I was 14 years old. Yes, I can walk for miles in them and yes I can run in them.

Okay, now I get to pass this on to six awesome bloggers:

First goes to My Kentucky Girl, Lee, at Token Blogger. Lee is a very talented and funny lady. She also makes wonderful videos that she shares on her blog. She did some amazing videos for me! Check her out! And if you have kids or pets or something you want on film, talk to Lee!

Small Town Girl is enough to make me want to move to Texas (except for the hot part). She's hysterically funny!

Sammy, at To Unravel is another favorite of mine. He's hot, funny, studly, with some "Father Knows Best" mixed in. And he's got the most gorgeous family I have ever seen.

Nicky, Mike, and Jepeto are the best time you can have with your clothes on. If you haven't been to "We Work For Cheese" you must go if for no other reason than to see the photos of Nicky (gorgeous, bosomy 22 year old), Jepeto (hot as a firecracker but a little kinky), and the handsome but shy Mike (but the back of his head is sexy as all get out.)

Ziva, the mysterious and glamorous, at Ziva's Inferno. She makes strong men (and women - ask me and Nicky) weak in the knees. I really am thinking about leaving California and moving to Finland just because of Ziva. She is a goddess!

Shoot, is that right? Is that six? I mean, if I count We Work For Cheese as three, then I've got 7. I told you I have trouble following directions. Don't eat a cake I made if you come to my house.

Searching For Jimmy Hoffa - The Summer of 1976

This is a photo of the Blue Fox restaurant in San Francisco.

I ate there in the wine cellar room when I was 30 years old. I was married to the Manager of Transportation for Chevron at the time, and I think one of the major railroads hosted the evening.

I had been searching for Jimmy Hoffa since the first of June with no luck what so ever. I went to the docks, the piers, and the basements of a lot of old buildings in San Francisco. I even went to Chevron's Richmond, CA refinery to take a look see. Nothing even vaguely suggesting Jimmy's bones was to be found.

Now Jimmy Hoffa was last seen at a restaurant called the "Red Fox" near Detroit, in an area located in "Oakland County". Fine, are you with me now? Red Fox, Blue Fox, San Francisco, Oakland. Coincidence, I think not. I did sneak into the kitchen at the Blue Fox at one point and tried to question a busboy, but he didn't speak English.

I returned to the Blue Fox a couple of times and pretended I wanted to look over the facilities for a party I was hosting. They were very pleasant, but refused to let me go into the areas where something (like Jimmy) could be hidden. The Blue Fox closed quite a few years ago. I lurked around the area for all of the summer. I just knew something would come up and point me in the right direction but it never did.

Jimmy Hoffa was a big Union guy. I guess he was kind of a crook too. Still, it just seems wrong that nobody ever found him. My Dad was in the Police Officer's Union in San Francisco. He never crossed a picket line, until he died. The gravediggers were on strike so that one time, he did cross. My sister was pissed at the Union guys with their signs. I thought it was funny.