kind of a normal weekend at home... kind of

Well, heck, it's 5:37 in the morning, and I've been awake for two hours.  Came home from Van's, I should go downstairs and work out a bit (I will, I will!), but I thought it might be good to dash off a blog entry as a return to real-life blogging.  No luxury hotels or culinary walking tours here.

Yes, we're jetlagged.  I was fading badly through dinner last night and went to bed before 8.  I didn't want to, but I was swooning.  So this will take some time to get back on LA time.  I did make it in to work yesterday (after needing to get roadside assistance to jump the dead battery in my car) for a while, though, and I will be there the rest of this week.  But yeah, things are off.  And it's such the opposite of the trip!  We landed got to our hotel room around midnight in Hanoi when we arrived and got up at a normal time the next morning, and the rest of the trip we were synchronized with the local time and not struggling.  On this end, we got home on Thursday and were in bed at a normal time (10:30ish), but awake by 3:30 the next morning.  It was worse through the weekend with bedtimes and badly needed power naps.  I am dreading setting the clocks back this coming weekend and the effect that will have.

Anyway, we got through the weekend, so how about a weekend report?

Friday, not much to say.  I was heartily tired of eating out so much, and I badly wanted to cook in.  Nothing fancy:  turkey meatloaves.  Goodness, it was a welcome dinner.  Conrad and I watched Great British Bake Off and that was our simple evening.  And it was good.

Conrad slept in on Saturday morning, so we skipped the walk and going out.  I didn't go out all day, in fact.  A lot of unpacking to do, and then there was dinner to make for having Van and Olive over.  Simple pasta, a buttermilk fruit cake that was deliciously boozy.  Conrad went to bed early, I pushed through to get dishes done and the kitchen clean, and then I was wide awake until 1 AM.  Yikes.

Sunday came, and we did a walk then on to Amara for breakfast (and yes, we will make it back to Maestro and Mama M this week). 

In the afternoon we had online happy hour with a Halloween theme.  We did that before in 2024, so I was able to pull from that set of recipes and came up with a few drinks. 

I liked the Corpse Reviver No. 2 best - there's a reason it's a classic. 

The Afterlife was my second favourite,

and then the Skeleton Key. 

We cut short our time on the call, though, and headed to Van's, picking up an easy dinner to heat for the three of us.  Van had an overnight appointment to get to after dinner, so we were going to take care of Olive for the night. 

That was nice, but again, I was awake until too late (after midnight) and not a good and long night of sleep after that.

That was the weekend that was.  Trying to get back to normal, some of the trappings of normal, not yet there.  Two weekends to go before the next one out of town.  Here's hoping that we get back to normal fully in that time! 

long weekend in Washington (minus the music)

A whole big, long, fun-filled weekend in Washington state for two and then three of us.  I can go chronologically here, but let's do it thematically instead for a change.  Or something like that.

Dining.  Meals good and ok.  Our first night, at our hotel in Seattle, we had dinner at the restaurant in the lobby.  A shared serving of their genuinely good clam chowder with smoked salmon, a shared burger with their rather substantial fries.  A boulevardier, not the best I ever had but reasonable.

  

Night two we had dinner at Visconti's,

where we had dined four years before.  Thomas, the (slightly nerdily but also muscular) bartender that night took care of us at the bar, making us each a Last Word with the last of his green chartreuse and recommended the Dungeness crab and lemon pasta for me, and he was right.  Van and I split a date, gorgonzola, and pancetta appetizer and chocolate ricotta filled cannoli.

Lunch the next day was at The Huck @ Pybus where I had a burger that started great and then veered too much into the huckleberry in the jam on the burger.  Really great fries.  The huckleberry mimosa was kind of fun, but I remain not an especial fan of mimosas.  Huckleberries are good, though!

 

Night three we went back to Visconti's.  If it ain't broke....  The place was funnily waaaay busier on a Sunday night than it was on the Friday.  We sat at a table rather than the bar, but Thomas still took care of us.  A boulevardier for me, and then a pork chop that I had eyed on the menu before and Thomas steered me from.  Sigh.  The pork was fine, a little overcooked, but the risotto was, well, not great.  Ah well.  I did like the lemon tart we shared.

Last night was in Seattle, and we went to Bar Cantinetta, meeting up with Jessica for dinner.  Natasha was supposed to join us, but she was still getting over a case of pneumonia.  A Last Word to start with, a little on the tart side, and then switching to wine.  We shared a great meal there that was surprisingly mushroom heavy:  a fontina fondutta that had truffle butter, a lobster mushroom and chickpea dish, and a chanterelle pizza.  There were also two pasta dishes, and although the papardelle and ragu was tasty, I liked the more lightly-sauced rici more.  A gem lettuce salad for some green stuff.  Zepolle that were tasty, and a pistachio-ricotta cake that was delightfully light and not too sweet.

 

Driving to and from.  We took one route to and another route back.  The way there we went through Cle Elum as we did before, stopping at the bakery we remembered and picking up a few treats.  Nice little town. 

It seems like a place where monied people from Seattle buy second homes to have a Cascades retreat for fishing/hunting/outdoor activities. We poked in another store, walked up and down the main drag a bit, and then got on the road again.  On the way back to Seattle we took what I thought was a nicer drive, into the Wenatchee National Forest

then on through Leavenworth, stopping only momentarily.  The next stop was in Skykomish, a cute little village with some history tucked in a river valley.  I loved how when we left Wenatchee, it was clear and sunny, but in the village in the valley, it was overcast and dreary. 

Perfect Pacific Northwest weather!  A nice stop.  We also took a quick break in Sultan (not photos) where Chris and Amos live, then to Seattle to the hotel.

Flying to and from.  Van and I were upgraded on the way to Seattle, which means we had a little meal of a salad on the plane. 

Not bad!  But it was cool seeing Mount Rainier relatively close as we approached Seattle. 

Comfortable trip!

Hotels.  Two Residence Inns and an airport hotel whose room smelled a little of mildew.  I took no photos of the rooms, but they were fine enough for what we needed.  The views were not much, alas.

Seattle.  Not much time spent there, alas.  I do like that city.  At least there was a nice walk with Conrad in the morning to Starbucks that took us through the University of Washington campus on the way back. 

Before we headed to the airport, we headed to the Filson flagship store so that Van could shop, then went nearby to Macrina for a little lunch. 

Not even 24 hours in the city.  We'll be back.

Wenatchee.  Not our first time in Wenatchee.  I liked that this time we stayed on the west side of the Columbia River, in the main city, instead of over in East Wenatchee.  East Wenatchee does have nice parts and the pricier real estate in town (plus good views of Wenatchee and the mountains beyond) as we found on a Sunday afternoon drive and adventure. 

But Wenatchee is a nice little town in and of itself.  For one thing, they've done a very nice job of parks and pathways along (and above!) the Columbia River. 

A bonus is the wealth of public art in the parks, downtown, and elsewhere. 

The downtown has a few blocks of stores that feel at least somewhat vital, which is nice to see, and some other nicer old and new buildings. 

Not everything was open on a grey, damp Sunday, but we poked in a few.  And then there is Pybus Public Market, which also had a farmers market outside on the Saturday. 

It seems to be a thriving town, what with the all the fruit growing in the area and packing and shipping going on. 

It also seems to be kind of Republican.  The expensive houses had great views and were large but not very interesting.  Oh, stop being a bitch, Peter.  We won't move there, but two visits there have been quite fine.

Other.  Nope, that's it!

We had a good weekend, truly.  Saw some sights, ate some good for the most part.  I look forward to a next trip up to Washington, to Seattle, to the Gorge.  We shall see....