Late 2023/Early 2024 Things That Were Not Trips (Except for one to Chicago)

I would like to get caught up on some things that haven’t been posted yet…

December 23, 2023: Liz and I took a Saturday trip to Circleville to visit Niece Carolyn at her workplace.

And then we enjoyed a few of the Circleville sites…

…before grabbing Lunch #2 at Rex, a nearly extinct regional roast beef fast food chain, the Circleville branch of which has made its home inside a 1980’s Wendy’s. I loved it! Because it was like Arby’s, but also its own thing.

By the way did you know we have a cat?

January 4: After work I drove over to Chicago for the weekend by my lonesome (and none of my family was home in Oak Park at first, so it was extra lonesome)…why? I’ll tell you soon!

January 5: During lunch I zipped down to downtown Oak Park for a little Sweetgreen lunch and a bit of a walk around.

After work I treated myself to one of my favorite treats: Testdriving station wagons! First I drove a Volvo V60 Polestar, a V90, and another V60 — the Polestar is an especially rare machine, so it was cool that there was one in Oak Park and it’s just too bad our itty bitty little drive didn’t afford any opportunities to see what it’s 415 horse power engine could really do. Nice gold seatbelts, too! The “normal” V60 and the V90 were about the same color so they don’t look so different here, but I really enjoy/appreciate the extra length of a V90.

Then I zipped downtown and test-drove an Audi A6 Allroad. Wow! Immediate impression: Way too nice for me. Just too fancy! BUT maybe eventually I’ll feel we’re ready for each other? It’s fun to imagine! That said: beautiful, amazing. Feels like a definite technology and luxury leap over the Volvos. Yet the Volvos have a ton of charm. It’s fun to daydream, right?

I read about a Thai restaurant called “Pho’s Spicier Thai” so I thought I better go try it. And yep. It was spicier Thai food. I didn’t even enter their outrageous spice levels on my order but these two dishes really had my scalp sweating. I loved it, of course.

Now, while out of chronological order, I want to post this picture from our backyard Friday afternoon:

Because this is what it looked like on the morning of January 6!

Everyone was flying in from California that afternoon so, before picking them up from Midway, I had a giant little taco lunch at Los Cuñados (which used to be Los Barrelitos - love them both).

And now…the big reason of my trip to Oak Park…because they’re about to tear down my High School’s old “girls” pool where the varsity team trained and our swim meets were held (the "boys” pool having already been condemned a few years back?), some brilliant organizer organized an OPRF swimming reunion and swim meet. I did not swim, I was “only” reunited with a very little handful of old teammates (primarily Cynthia and Melissa, below) and my old JV coach, Pete, but Oooh boy did it feel great to be back in the building, up in the stands, down on the deck. Loved it. A magnificent revisit to one of the absolute most formative locations in my whole dang life.

(the next day I went to church with the family and then drove on back to Columbus as quick as I could).

January 13: Liz and I took niece Aubrey to dinner, Sam’s Club, and a movie to belatedly celebrate her movie. We saw Migration. It was … fun? and funny.

January 15: Liz and I have begun to undertake and undertaking that is proving to be quite the undertaking. After appointment #1 we debriefed and plan built over breakfast at the Original Pancake House. (Followed by a Target trip).

January 25th: I had the grand opportunity of attending a basketball game where niece Carolyn was cheerleading.

January 27th: Dropped Liz off at a Hyde Park gig and then I walked way up High Street and back. Enjoyed the rest of her gig and then we went to a ho-hum foodhall. Ho-hum is about as good as it gets with foodhalls, it seems.

January 29: I test drove an A4 Allroad on my way home from work. I was surprised by how much I liked it, given its smaller size. Lots of physical controls, good zip on the highway…felt very at home and comfortable in it. Lovely little wagon.

February 5th: We celebrated Liz’s birthday with dinner at Casa Jalisco, which is probably our favorite restaurant? Favorite restaurant for the favorite gal! And before that we took a walk in a park that was colder and darker than we expected.

February 8th: And here’s just a fun pic of Liz at the mall!

Okay, and that’s the post! Thanks for scrolling. Next Time: A trip to Arizona!!

Christmas 2023: New Year's Day 2024

If you wake up in San Marino on a January 1st, this means something good: You can go up to Colorado Blvd for the Rose Parade! And that is what we did.

Some of the most fun to be had at the Parade is all the goings on that go on before it has started.

And the big exciting part of the pre-parade exciting? The stealth bomber flyover! (followed by a just-as-cool little formation flyover)

And then…the parade begins! Liz and I nearly made it for the whole thing, but we had to scurry back to Grandma’s to get ready to fly back to Columbus. Christmas trips, they can’t last forever or they start turning into Martin Luther King Day trips (which wouldn’t be so bad!) I’m just going to let it rip with the pics, what more can I say than “Look, it’s a parade!”?

Christmas 2023: A Trip to California

This was me and Liz’s first Christmas as a married couple so we went pretty wild with the gift giving and couldn’t sleep for excitement of it so we were unwrapping presents shortly after 6am…I’ll just show that we have “matching” Shetland sweaters now.

Anne and the Gardners came over for Christmas breakfast and the opening of some gifts from Mexico.

And then Liz and I were off to the airport! We flew through the air all the way to Long Beach Airport, which I don’t think I had been to since about 2004? And upon arrival in San Marino what should we find at Grandma’s house but the Last Gift of Christmas.

Monday the 26th: We woke up kind of early and walked down to Lacy Park to enjoy a few laps of the oval on a fine misty morning.

After Lacy Park? A little breakfast at Homestate! Followed by, among other things, checking out station wagons (and sitting in an RS6! [and dang, just when I think I’m done thinking about that monster that photo gets me all excited again]) and a noodley dinner at the Smoke House with Grandma.

Tuesday the 27th: Another beautiful morning, another walk at Lacy Park and then up to Caltech, too.

Then we headed to Hollywood for lunch at Petit Trois cuz it’s been a few years that I’ve been wanting to share this burger with Liz. And a few years I’ve been wanting to try their filet au poivre. And wouldn’t you know, the show got stole by a fennel salad. Funny how that always happens?

Wednesday the 28th: Well, on Tuesday we went up to the Pearson’s from lunch but I don’t really have many pictures from that. But we played the bug in the kitchen game, Christina gave us some amazing crocheted gifts, we talked Tears of the Kingdom, went swimming, rode in the back of the Rivian, ate tamales, really fun stuff like that. Before heading to Burbank to pick up Emily we had In n Out and it was real nice.

Ok, now: Imagine us picking up Emily, meeting up with Greg, and then driving up to a hotel about 45 minutes from Sequoia National Park (and eating at a fun Mexican restaurant before we got there after not finding another Mexican restaurant where it was supposed to be). And then on

Thursday the 29th: We wake up and drive the rest of the way to Sequoia and have a magnificent time among the giant rocks and giant trees!

We drove home that afternoon and were back in time for some pan fried soup dumplings.

Friday the 30th: A cool thing we did was go to PCC for the Rose Bowl Band Fest where we saw, what? Maybe 4 or 6 of the bands that would be marching in the Rose Parade do a whole set of songs each. Lots of fun, lots of family.

Then that night we went to Dave and Buster’s and Din Tai Fung with the Pearsons.

Sunday the 31st! Wow, the year is at its end. Took a walk with Liz down to Huntington Drive to have a look at the Christmas-time bus stop redesign. Real San Marino Grandchildren will remember how this used to be a snowy little chapel and now it’s a gingerbread house.

That afternoon and evening we did all sorts of fun end of the year things, like going to church, dropping chairs off on Colorado Blvd, eating really spicy chicken aaaandd … going over to Pie & Burger (past some nice Pasadena lights)!

And for our year’s grand finale? Went and saw the parade floats lining up for the parade!

Aaaand that’s it for 2023! And let me tell you, we’re almost in March 2024 now and it’s been a great year! I can’t wait to start posting posts about it! And eventually I will!