Barstow and Victorville CA

 November 2008 - Barstow CA

A California Crossroads

The town soon grew around a railroad depot spurred by the Industrial Revolution. A century later, the automobile paved the way for Route 66, Interstate 40, Interstate 15, Highway 247, and Highway 58, lending to Barstow's moniker: Crossroads of Opportunity.

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Some random photos from Motel Barstow on Route 66.

 

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Driving back to Palm Springs.

Victorville

The Legendary Route 66: Victorville's Claim to Fame

Victorville holds a special place in American history as a key stop along the iconic U.S. Route 66. Established in 1926, this famous highway linked Chicago to California, with Victorville playing a vital role as a transportation hub.

Victorville is also home of the Bottle Farm, we visited it on this trip.

Bean Head

 Linking up at Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

Sunday Post

March 2023 - Toronto ON

Sep 2022 - Toronto ON

It rained all day Saturday but since it is usually a PJ day we didn't care. We dawdled over our coffees reading/watching. Did a couple of loads of laundry. Hung my latest embroidery. 

Got rid of cardboard boxes that have started to accumulate.

I have spent some time yesterday and today going through the multitude of CDs we had used as backup. Hopefully I will finish on Sunday. UPDATE I did finish on Sunday! YAY me! I just have to dispose of them. I kept the old laptop with the CD read/write.

I received our new compost bin (I had been using a bowl on the counter). This works really well. 

Sunday was certainly productive for me. A load of laundry, I cleaned out the freezer as repairman coming tomorrow (fingers crossed) reorganized and threw out a bunch of crap. It seems like the freezer is freezing and unfreezing on the right side so any bakery products were mushy, soup stock went in garbage. Then I ended up with a gazillion reusable freezer bags to wash and a bunch of tupperware. Finished CDs as above, washed kitchen floor.

Decluttered the bar and moved the tech chargers/plugs into the drawers of the coffee table that got rid of a basket on the bookcase.

I even had an hour telephone chat with a friend.

John descaled the coffee pot, something we should do more often.

Cleared out the empty boxes were were keeping "in case".

Heck, it's Sunday...

Then I sat down to embroider and watch stuff.

Monday John used the golf simulator. 

Fridge repair guy came, nice guy, said it was because ice was building up blocking fan and unable to push cold air down...Okay...we were told to defrost it for 24 hours. So we packed up the meats and put in the other freezer, got ice and put the rest on the balcony. 

Tuesday we headed to meet friends for pizza at Libretto's, we were early so we took the long way underground.

Since it was 24 hours later, we plugged the fridge in. Waited a few hours, freezer felt cold but bottom is still at around 60 F. We put some stuff back but left the meat in the other freezer.

Wednesday I checked temperature in the morning 54 F.

We left at 9:40 to catch the bus downtown, I noticed the sign said to Dufferin. Sure enough, at Dufferin we had to get out and catch the streetcar. It was not warm out! 

Got off at John St. and walked up to the AGO for the Leonard Cohen exhibit. We found a new mural at OCAD, check back on Monday.

Back of the AGO

Entitled Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill Jungen’s new sculpture for this outdoor space is a monument to creative form and engineering. In his first large-scale work in bronze, Jungen has constructed the figure of an elephant from discarded leather sofas. “The use of discarded couches came from my experiences of walking the streets of Toronto and seeing them abandoned on the sidewalks waiting to be picked up at night,” said Jungen. “This was foreign to me and surprising, but to the residents of this city, accustomed to seeing them, they are invisible. I look forward to making them visible again.”

Intrigued by the tragic story of Jumbo, a captive circus elephant who made international headlines when it was killed by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1885, Jungen is deeply concerned with the terrible price all living things pay when forced to perform for others. That concern is embedded in the title of the work. “Once captured and trained, things are no longer themselves: Jumbo was no longer an elephant, but a monster created by humans for entertainment. Its will and spirit were broken,” he says. The Dane-zaa subtitle of the work, “Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill” translates to “My heart is ripping.”

Click here for our visit to Jumbo in St. Thomas.

Click here for my full post on the Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows exhibit.

After a cappuccino in the Galleria Italia we walked over to St. Patrick Station and took the subway up to St. George and transferred over to Shelbourne for John's birthday lunch at The Shelby.

1883 - The mansion was designed by acclaimed architect David Roberts Jr., who had extensive connections to Toronto’s prominent Gooderham family (the cofounders of Gooderham and Worts Distillery, now known as the Distillery District). Roberts Jr. was also responsible for designing Toronto’s Flatiron Building.

2018 Interloper Cabernet Franc from 13th St. winery in Niagara on the Lake.

Delicious steak frites! We both gave the sauce a miss.

Crème Brule sooooo good.

Other dining rooms. 

My BFF was gardening this morning then sent me a text asking if we were getting the storm? Yes.

We came home to the mystery of the missing crocs. John had put them on the dining room chair, out of the way of the cleaning lady. We couldn't find them anywhere so I messaged her and she said she had no idea. Around 8 PM I went to sit on the couch and found them! I sent a photo to the cleaning lady and we had a good laugh. Her husband said she had probably put them there.

Came home and the fridge was still 54 F. John attempted to contact them and got the run around.

Thursday morning fridge was 49 F but it soon climbed back up. John eventually reached a representative, Eve, who was actually helpful and scheduled another repairman for Tuesday. But he still had to provide the same information over again and again and then to the actual company who sent the previous repairman.

John used the golf simulator and I went to Longo's to get our Friday steaks.

Friday, John's birthday, so we went to Kitchen on 6th for a big breakfast. Delicious, we will be back!

Grapefruit mimosas.

We picked up gluten free cannoli from Holy Cannoli!

Cirque de Soleil Zooza is setting up a new show down the street from us. I also noticed the restaurant in our building had a poster made. It will be interesting to see the impact on traffic.

It was a very rainy day.

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COOKING

Saturday John suggested Chinese curry and I remembered I had bought a mix from Blighty's. When I opened it, it is just a spice mixture so I used it. 

Sunday pizza

Monday pork chops beans and mashed potatoes

Tuesday lunch out - sushi for me and peanut butter cheese and toast for John

Wednesday lunch out - popcorn

Thursday - chicken quarters and salad

Friday breakfast out - steak with gluten free garlic bread. We tried the Schar baguettes and they were great.

WATCHING

We finished The Consultant, not sure how to explain this one...we enjoyed it. It is described as
horror/satire/workplace comedy-drama.

We also watched a movie Dead Drop 2013, After surviving a fall from a plane 3000-feet over the ocean, a former CIA operative turned government contractor re-infiltrates a dangerous North Mexican drug trafficking ring to find his own killer. With his memory unraveling, he descends into a murderous rampage while trying to uncover the truth. Who threw him from the plane? Was it his best friend?

Bullet to the Head 2012.

READING

I finished The Girl With No Past, this was a GOOD read, the ending totally surprised me.

I started A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny's (Three Pines) number 18 in her series and it's got me hooked. It has also introduced me to a fascinating piece of art The Paston Treasure that I am also reading about. Another great article, this one gives an interesting perspective.