Camp Verde Prescott Valley Blues: Tuesday, February 13th!

A man that is ashamed of passions that are natural and reasonable is generally proud of those that are shameful and silly. -Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, author (26 May 1689-1762) 

Humphrey Bogart 

Photo: Yousuf Karsh/Library and Archives Canada

Hello Bridge Fiends, et al! I do apologize for not being in touch sooner but, as Ragin' indicated, I have been having too, too much fun to have time for anything but riding, hiking, sipping Tequila, playing bridge, sipping Tequila, having fabulous meals and sipping Tequila! At any rate, up at 6:30 am as I heard the rain burbling in the gutters. Under other circumstances I'd have dozed off again, lulled back into sleep by the delicious sound. However, we have a reasonably long drive ahead of us, (probably eight hours worth, with Tinsel Town traffic waiting at the end), so I wanted to be up and about, hoping/planning to leave by 8:00 am, 9:00 am at the very latest. Zapped myself a mug of java and will digitate until rest of Sleepy-Heads show up.

We will leave Tinsel Town on Tuesday, February 20th for the night in Berkeley, then on to Portland for the night of the 21st or 22nd, depending on when we leave Berkeley and how long detour to Healdsburg takes, [to collect wine]. One way or another, we plan to arrive in Vancouver, no later than the 23rd. Saturday would work best for us for Bridge Fiesta. Sarge, are you interested/available. Lady Dar could play, if needed, but I'm sure she'd be happy to say hello to everyone and then visit elsewhere. 

Also, are we welcome to stay with you and Flamin', Sarge on both Friday and Saturday nights, [perhaps Thursday the 22nd, as well, if we make Portland by the 21st], or do we make do with Branko's recently vacuumed pad? Thank you, Ragin', for being Bridge Coordinator, thank you Penguin, for offering to host on Saturday and sorry, Eduardo, that you cannot join us. [In that vein, perhaps the weekend before I leave for Paris, April 14th/15th but more closer to the time, of course.] So let us know if you will join group, Sarge, and we'll plan accordingly Here Endeth the Executive Summary. Read on, only if of a masochistic bent!

Until next we meet, take care of yourselves. Fondest from Lady Dar, just now struggling out of bed. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Attack of The Killer Titis on our last morning in Manuel Antonio! What we gaze upon from Spiller Road Folks' house in Rock Creek. Imagine what cycling is like with these magnificent giants everywhere you look! Compare Cathedral, through the rain and mist, as opposed to the day before; Chapel and surrounding buttes.

Thanking our generous hosts, we waved goodbye at just before 9:00 pm, (8:00 am LA time), and headed out, making for Prescott. Originally, had planned to go north to Flagstaff to catch I-40 west but there was fresh snow there and Phillipo advised against it. It's a busy truck route and even with snow tires I didn't want to have to worry about possible difficult conditions. Consequently we retraced our steps on I-17 South to a bit beyond Camp Verde where we took 169 through the Prescott Valley and the Prescott National Forest to rejoin I-10, near Brenda, just before Quartzite. 

Had never driven this route before and Philster said it was a very good highway. However, had not anticipated the quite narrow road, tortuous curves and 25/35 mph speed limit through the Prescott National Forest. Felt like Sterling Moss although I'm sure Porsche Man would have been screeching through the corkscrew descent like a bat out of hell. Once we reached Peeples Valley I thought we had reached rock bottom but not so as another incredible, breath-taking descent, [Might as well have been rock climbing and Lady Dar had white knuckles!], before we were back on the flats. Certainly glad we had decided to head back this way as it was, for much of the journey, a truly spectacular drive. What a way to enjoy and discover new territory.

Once back on 1-10 the rest of the trip was easy-peasy as one freeway bled into the next and traffic, by and large, was very light going west. Really only started to back up when we were on the last stretch, 101 Ventura Freeway, but we only had three or four exits before Woodman and then we were home, by 4:00 pm, roughly eight hours from start to finish.

Ayn had given us a garage door opener and keys to her apartment so we unloaded the car. Once everything we needed was upstairs, Lady Dar took Winston for a walk and I repacked a number of the bags we'd left, when back from Costa Rica, taking them down to the car, so we have room to move in our alcove! Ayn had a very long, busy day and wasn't home until close to 7:00 am. I'd made a Greek salad by then and she sautéed shrimps and grilled some fabulous salmon steaks so we had a delicious meal and visited, catching up. Watched the fascinating documentary about Dennis Hopper, Along for the Ride, before heading to bed. 

 
You are welcome to stay at our place that weekend. W Hi Flamin' and Sarge! Thanks for allowing us to stay. We plan to leave Tinsel Town between 8:00 am - 9:00 am this coming Monday. Will take the 101 as we would like to pop into Caparone, one of our favourite wineries, just out of Paso Robles, from early days of wine tasting in California. Drive is about seven hours +/- so, with stop, I imagine we will be struggling up to Base Camp Everest, Villa Vicente, at sometime after 4:00 pm, depending on traffic, etc. We plan to head out from Berkeley on Tuesday morning so imagine we will be at Coffaro, to collect a case of wine, around 11:00 pm, perhaps earlier should we manage to wave goodbye to Nancy and David around 8:30 am and traffic cooperates.

Not sure if we will make it all the way to Portland so will decide, once we are on I-5 what ETA there would be or whether we'll overnight in Redding or Ashland. At any rate we'll be in touch when we know when we expect to arrive in Vancouver, probably, Thursday, February 22nd. Trust this is still fine. As well, are you interested in playing bridge on Saturday? Let me know so that I can let Ragin' know. Thanks. Fondestos from Lady Dar! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Dad, Mom, Thanks for the good thoughts, I’m actually writing Valentine’s Day morning so keep your fingers crossed one more day!!! Drive was fine I took the coq and I made it from Pen to Modern nail in just over 4 hours so was happy. All the ladies say hi!!! Running around today seeing my doctor and chiropractor and acupuncturist then dinner in Horseshoe Bay to see Maya with Gaelan and Robbie. Amanda and Kayla are taking care of the cats, I hope they’ll be ok, that Duke needs a lot of attention. Love you, sorry it was raining. Break a leg tomorrow sister!! You know this stuff and you're ready now xoxo!!!!