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recent almost-three-week-long trip to the United States.
I experienced a certain amount of anxiety, almost trepi-
dation, about the trip. Previous excursions to the U.S.
had been marked by unfortunate events, either present, past
or onsuing. My 1988 business trip to Minnesota was greeted
by -30C temperatures and a blizzard. The 1989 venturing forth
featured a catastrophic earthquake as I was lunching with my
sister before viewing the SF Giants vs. the Oakland A's
World's Series. The 1990's forays were eneventful, except
two of our friends divorced shortly after we returned to
Japan. Our 2000 trip was blessed by seeing in the Mllennium
at my sister and brother-in-law's new dream house on Whidbey
Island, Washington. In 2001, I went to the US when my mother
died shortly after the Sept. 11th catastrophe.
I hadn't been back to the US for 7 years. From reading
foreign language newspapers, the situation in the US
was reported to be dire...social & economic woes, etc.
Soon after landing in San Francisco, I found that a bit
of positive thinking can go a long ways. Sure, gasoline
prices were much more than they were on my previous
trips...but so what? Living in Japan had accustomed me
to using public transportation to the max.
We were here to visit friends and places we loved and
nothing would deter us from that task. This blog is
mostly devoted to our experiences in Mendocino, on
the northern California coast, 150 miled from San
Francisco.
First, people we love. The first photos are of Lenny
& Gloria Grosso and John & Susan Ristow. They were
originally from the Philadelphia/Trenton are and were
my good pals & associates from the Mendocino days,
when I had the Prince of Whales Restaurant there.
The next photos are of the Ristow's opulent back
yard and of a nearby farmer's market where a cornu-
copia of fresh fruits & vegetables are available.
We rented a car and drove through the Anderson Valley
and Redwood groves along Hwy.20 to the coast.We took
a breather at the Heritage House, a gorgeous inn/
resort where I used to work. The photo is of my
former house near the Heritage House which is now a
flower shop.
Two miles up Hwy.1 was my Prince of Whales restaurant,
which I either have, or will write about. We stopped
at the Seagull Inn before having a night's rest.
Finally, we stopped at Val Pawek's ranch, where I
spent many happy times when I had my restaurant.
More of this to come in my further writings.
We then ventured on to Ashland, Oregon. Mo' to
come, Ya'll.
Yurz,
Martin
