Saturday Clearlake to Oakland

The Weekend Starts Here


Reflecting on Clear Lake, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

On Saturday morning I woke up pretty early and went out to get a last look at the lake. The water was completely smooth, it was a mirror reflecting the mountains along the far shore. Some ducks came up close to Ian and me while I took a few pictures of their steady advance.

We said our goodbyes and then I got into the car with Robbie and Nicky and we started back for the bay area. Kay and Wayne live in Piedmont, which is a suburb of Oakland. I got directions to their house from Google maps and we drove through some scenic mountains and then Napa Valley on our way. We got to the house in the afternoon, Wayne was home. Kay was at a bridge class, so we sat and talked to Wayne for a while and then Robbie and Nicky left to the Mission where they spent the night before taking off at 6am.



I spent some more time talking to Wayne and then Kay came home. We still had some time before dinner and the weather was great, so Kay took me out on a walk to upper Piedmont to see the views of the city. It was foggy over San Francisco, but I could make out the skyline. From this vantage point, we had a great view of downtown Oakland. We saw a lot of fruit, and Kay pointed out a few apple trees that had several different varieties of apples hanging from different branches grafted onto one tree. We also saw lots of redwood and eucalyptus trees. I even saw a kiwi vine with a bunch of kiwis growing from it! Kay and I had a good conversation, she is just like a family member... it's easy to feel comfortable around her and Wayne. Kay was my Aunt Lynne's friend from a country club in Dubuque. She became a friend of all the Bartons. Kay-Kay is such a close family friend, she is like a part of the family. I'll call her Aunt Kay-Kay now.





After we got back, it was about time to get dinner. Wayne drove us to a Thai / Mediterranean fusion restaurant that they frequent. We started out with an order of mussels that was perfect! The mussels were sweet and juicy. I ordered a roast duck breast with a balsamic reduction or something and some greens. The duck was really good, but filling. Kay had some scallops that she let me try and they were amazing!

After dinner we went back to the house and opened a bottle of wine. It was the tasty dessert wine that got me into trouble back at Clear Lake! Wayne and Kay showed me their photos from a trip they took to Morocco. It looked like a great adventure, I will visit Africa some day. Isabelle owns property in Cameroon and her mother has been building a house there, so we already have our pied a terre back in the "old country" ... but I digest. After showing Kay and Wayne a couple of my own travel photos and a few websites, it was time to get some sleep. I went up to the bedroom and fell asleep.



- Andy

Speed Boat!

Day 7


Cool Matthew, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

On Friday morning I had nothing better to do, so I rode with Robbie, Brian, and young Matthew to Lakeport to pick up a speed boat so we could do some water-sports today. It was going to get HOT! The photo above is Matthew getting pirate lessons from Robbie, Brian, and me.

It took us about an hour to get over there, mostly because the GPS freaked out and had us in some weird subdivision for 15 minutes. The town where we rented the boat was pretty much as far as you could get from the resort and still be on the lake. Once we got there, the woman gave us the pitch. We had to head back to this side of the lake before 2:30-3:00 if it was windy because the narrow area between the north and south parts of the lake got too choppy to be safe.

We finally got the boat in the water and took off for the south end of the lake. The ride back took about 45 minutes but that boat could FLY! Robbie had it going 55mph on smooth water, it was pretty fantastic. When we got back, some kids went out on the tube for a few hours and then came back. Then I took the boat out with David, Valerie, Kevin, Melissa, and Chris. I got up on skis twice, the second time I went in and out of the wake a bunch of times and then just let go of the rope. After we'd been out for an hour, we came back.



Robbie took the boat out again, loaded up with revelers. When he got to a safe distance from shore, he ramped up the throttle and disaster struck! The motor ran aground and hit rocks. Robbie killed it immediately and they felt around and could tell the prop was mangled. It limped back to the dock, but every time he'd try throttling up, it died.

We needed to call the rental company, they said a guy would be there with a new prop within the hour. When he showed up, he took the boat out of the water. The prop was toast... he pulled it off. He said, "It's okay, you weren't the first and you won't be the last. If this shaft is bent though, we're in trouble." I watched as he rotated the shaft and I could see it was quite bent.



We didn't get any insurance on this boat, it wasn't even offered. The total damage was $900. Fortunately, the generosity of the Barton family distributed this hit and made it easier on our wallets.

The dinner that night was leftovers. The jambalaya made its final appearance. Brian sucked down the last Barton salad. Then we watched our last Clear Lake sunset. We had our last late-night talks. Even though we'll all go back home and the seasons will change along with our moods, a piece of this moment will always be with me. Even more comforting than that in these last moments of the reunion is the knowledge that I have an incredible family, and they will always be with me no matter how far I wander from home.



This is one to remember... this was a great reunion. It can be difficult to separate the real, authentic experiences from the imitations. Well, for the Barton family... there are the reunions. The enjoyment we receive from this is not about novelty or showing off, it's about the human condition and indelible connections. That's real.

The Greatest Family on Earth


The Family, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Oakland where I'll spend the night at Wayne and Kay's house. I'm really excited about San Francisco!

- Andy

Thursday in the Parks

Day 6


Meadow, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

On Thursday a bunch of family members got up early and went to the coast to do some sightseeing. Others went wine tasting in Napa County. I decided to borrow my mom's Passat and drive to some of the parks around Clear Lake to do some hiking and get away from getting away for a day.

My first stop was Anderson Marsh State Historic Park. This was a great park, but pretty flat terrain. There was a huge meadow filled with giant thistle-like plants. After walking through the meadow, I came to a boardwalk that went over the marsh. There was a lot of duckweed growing on the surface of the water and I saw a few birds. After the boardwalk, I walked through a live-oak forest teeming with blackberries! I ate a few, very sweet. Then back through the meadow to the ridge on the other side. There were large piles of rocks and a great view back over the meadow. Most of these trees look like live oaks, but there are also some valley oaks. Finally, I walked back to the car and moved along to the next park.





We visited Clear Lake State Park earlier in the week, but I didn't really get to see the park. We spent a few hours at the beach, but didn't hike around at all. Well I'm glad I returned because the views here were some of the best I'd seen. First I went to the visitor's center, which was closed. Then I got a map and went to the first hiking trail. This trail took me up the side of a mountain for a spectacular view of the lake and surrounding walnut groves and vinyards. After this, the trail went back into the forest and wound back down through granite outcrops to the valley floor. I saw several mule deer, one was just feet away while I was photographing a lizard. There were also lizards everywhere, scattering away whenever I took a step.





By the end of all that hiking, I was pretty exhausted. I had developed a few new blisters on my feet, but I wanted to cook something for the meal that my family was doing. Michael and Katie were already making linguini with clam sauce and Robbie and Nicky were making garlic bread. My mom was making the Barton salad. I was going to make some jambalaya. I've got a recipe that's pretty simple and easy to make for large groups. I've made it for the Doctor Who group and it made its debut for the Bartons in Asheville where it was a hit. This time, I made one batch spicy and the other mild.



Dinner was a huge success, everybody loved the jambalaya and the linguini was not too shabby as well. Lucas even told me the jambalaya was his favorite! I promised Meryl that I'd send her the recipe, so here it is:

Easy Jambalaya

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
8 ounces Andouille sausage (don't skimp, this is where the flavor comes from!)
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Saute chicken and sausage until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder (for extra oniony flavor!), salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until veggies wilt. Add rice, then stir in chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.

Giddyup!

Clear Lake at Night


Last Sunset, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

I just wasn't in the mood for ice cream, it tends to make my stomach bubble, especially with certain foods. Jambalaya is one of those foods. I sat back at the resort, out on the peninsula. I watched the sun set behind the mountain once again. I could never tire of this spectacular view! It's these quiet, solitary moments that hold my life together. The sound of the waves, the birds, the weather, everything is exactly how it should be... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

- Andy

More Hanging Around

Day 5


Happy Family, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

An hour into my slumber on Tuesday night, my phone rang. Work! We're trying to build a new database cluster and it's not performing well. I'm trashed! Okay, so I spent some time troubleshooting some things and then went back to sleep. Problem is now Troy's phone keeps calling me because he didn't lock his damned keypad. The next morning I got up and worked a little more but MAN I HAD A HEADACHE!

Then I started to remember what I had done the night before. Oh yeah, the dessert wine! Oh no... I think that was Kay Kay's wine! Then my mom stopped over and read me my rights. I apologized to Kay Kay and fortunately everything was all good in the end.

After I crawled out of my cabin on Wednesday morning, I wandered over to Uncle Rob's cabin. I made my apology to Kay Kay and then had some thai basil / hamburger salad that was eaten by wrapping the ingredients in lettuce. It was really good! I went back to my cabin and got my book and sat by the pool reading for a while. Then I heard some pork was being prepared for dinner... so I made a beeline for the grills.

The Grabers made dinner, we had some great guacamole made by Nick. He also marinated some pork tenderloins and Uncle John grilled them. I stuffed myself and then stuffed myself some more. My aunt Lynne made an asian salad with cabbage and noodles. It was all very, very tasty! While dinner was being consumed, Robbie and Nikky arrived. They had been touring northern California and had spent time camping in Yosemite. Nick, Chris, Kevin, Robbie, Nicky, and I all talked back in our cabin, catching up and watching some TV at the same time. Then it was lights out.



- Andy

Hanging Around

Day 4

Tuesday was a good day to just hang around. After a day of wine tasting, it was clear that many people wanted to sleep in. By the time I rolled out of bed, breakfasts had all been served. I managed to find P-Ju cooking some fried rice. I grabbed my camera and took some photos of the cooking process.


Tim the Fisherman, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

After that, I saw my dad teaching Tim and David how to clean all the bass they'd caught. I don't think I'd mentioned this... but Clear Lake is teeming with fish. Some family members went out on a boat at night and caught many pounds of meat out of the deep dark waters. Anyways, there were maybe a dozen large bass in the cleaning station sink and they were destined to be in our bellies by the end of the day.



Kay Kay and Wayne arrived from Oakland. I really like both of them! I spent the entire day shuffling around talking to family members and in and out of the swimming pool. This is vacation at its very best. Dinner involved eating fried, wild-caught bass and catfish. The catfish was awesome. The bass was probably not at its best breaded and fried.

That night, some of us stayed outside and drank wine at the picnic table in the dark. I spent a few hours talking to my dad about stuff and then we ran out of wine. I ran up to the cabin and said, "Dad said we need more wine!" to which my mother replied, "Oh no you don't!" ... so I grabbed a bottle that was on the counter and snuck out.

Well, that wine was *really* good... a dessert wine... brought by Kay Kay. We drank it all. Then we went to my brother's cabin and played Wii for a while. I ate some more food there and drank more wine. Finally I had enough and I went back to my own cabin and collapsed in a moaning, farting, semi-conscious heap.

Ah... Vacation!

- Andy