Article in the Courier

Saturday's edition of the Courier had an article about the summer strings clinic that I taught with Pat. http://www.claremont-courier.com/pages/Topstory082909.2.html The print edition had a picture of Pat conducing, in addition to the two pictures you see here.

A Nearly New Car

As our trusty '98 Camry encroaches upon 100K miles, Hal thought it was a good idea to have a little overhaul. So, we had the struts replaced, the radiator hoses replaced, the brake fluid flushed and exchanged, the wheels aligned, the engine serviced, timing belt adjusted, and a general tune up (new air filter, fuel filter, PCV valve, spark plug, distributor cap, plug wires).

The car drives more quietly and smoothly. We had not noticed before how old it was feeling. So, hence we need no new car.

However, I wonder what the auto shop guys are buying with their small fortune! Boat payment?

Good Eats

Last evening we had guests for dinner. New and nearly-new to Claremont. I love to bestow tidbits of information on newcomers, especially about some of our favorite places to eat. I thought that I would also share some of our very favorite hole-in-the-wall ethnic places in a blog entry.

Thai

Mix Bowl on Indian Hill south of the 10 freeway

Sanam Luang also on Indian Hill south of the 10

Mexican

Patty's on Foothill and Towne

Los Jarritos near Foothill and Garey

El Merendero in Pomona

Indian

Delhi Palace Express (in the Claremont Village)

El Salvador (pupusas!)

Guasalmex on Holt and Garey in Pomona

Book Club Selection

Next month our book group is going to discuss A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. I'd heard about this book from either NPR or the NY Times, about a mail-order bride in Northern Wisconsin, and it was on my list to read. Well, it's about a mail-order bride, but not at all what I thought it was going to be. The main characters reminded me somewhat about Kate in East of Eden, if that gives you some idea.

Last Day of Summer Strings

This afternoon our great string students played for their families for the final day of our summer orchestra clinic. We played eight pieces which we worked on for the past two weeks, and they sounded pretty good.

Front Yard Bloom

This lovely bloom is in our front yard. Don't know what kind of plant it is, but it seems quite happy in its location. A friend gave us a shoot from his yard.

One In, One Out

One bike in, one bike out. Sold this cute little Peugeot today to a grad student from CGU. She's from Thailand and will be studying political science. I had to lower the seat almost all the way for her, but she seemed very happy with her purchase. (And I didn't buy anything from her!)

Oh, yes, check out my new website on the left - Van Ryswyk Studio....Send me your violin and viola students!

Craigslist Warning!

This weekend we were cleaning out a bit, and Hal put together a cabinet we've been storing in the basement, so I put it for sale on craigslist. Two nice young men came to buy the cabinet, and when they opened up the trunk of their pickup, out popped a bicycle....and to make a long story short, I am the happy owner of a nearly new bike for a good price!

Now, when I list my old bike on craigslist, I wonder what I'll get in return.......

A Little Church Music

This morning Pat, Edris, and I provided the music for church, including Prelude, Anthem, Offertory, and Postlude. I was especially pleased with how the Postlude turned out - my arrangement of Precious Lord, Take My Hand which started out a little bluesy and ended up Dixieland.

Eureka!

Hal and I are starting to watch a sci-fi tv series called Eureka. It's a little quirky, a little campy, and sorta fun. Of course, without cable, we are watching it on Netflix.

Computer Updating

Claire (who left for the East Coast this morning), has convinced me to switch my browser from Firefox to Safari. I am giving it a try, and I like some of the new features, but miss a few things from Firefox. We'll see where that goes.

This week I ordered iLife '09, and I have been working a bit in the new iPhoto and iWeb, will try the iMovie and iDVD soon.

With the iWeb, I am making a new website for my private teaching studio. So far I'm pleased with it, but I'll get some editorial comments from Hal and others soon. I am starting the process of looking for a web host for my site since I seem to have been booted off my free one at HMC. We use TimeWarner / Roadrunner for internet service - so I'm going to check out their product... Any advice?

Feral Rose Bush

We have an old-fashioned rose bush along our driveway, and Hal has deemed it "feral". We keep trimming it back, and it just keeps shooting out its long, spiky branches. It has the most delicate tiny pink roses - some sort of old-fashioned variety.

End of Summer in Sight

Today I had a meeting with the people in the EIMP (Elementary Instrumental Music Program), working out the scheduling and such to ramp up for a new year of teaching. That's one sign that summer is drawing to a close.

Claire is slowly saying good-bye to her new friends as they return to college. Nick left early this morning and is already back in Boston. Caroline leaves for West Virginia tomorrow, and Claire leaves for Philly on Friday (a stopping place for a week before heading to Baltimore). Brandon will stay in Claremont since he graduated from college and is looking for work.

Thanks for the coffee, Nick!

A Blog I'm Following

My sister is spending 6 weeks in Nigeria, doing research and interviewing people for a book she is writing about HIV/AIDS in Jos. If you are interested, you can click on her blog "Notes from Nigeria" on the left-hand side of my page here, under Blogs I Follow.

Teaching Again!

Today began a two-week string orchestra camp at the jr. high - El Roble. Pat and I were joined by 22 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, and we expect a few more tomorrow. I have missed teaching this summer, and it felt great to be with the orchestra kids again. We meet from 1-3 M-Th, so we'll get lots of playing in before school starts.

Quakes

In trying to extend our summer vacation a bit, we decided to go to a Quakes game last night. Claire's friend's mom had some free tickets, so Hal and I ended up in the left field bleachers while Claire and her friends ended up in the cafe. See if you can find Claire in the picture on the right....In honor of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, the night was called Quakestock, and the pictures of the Quakes players were displayed on the board as 60s mod with afros and headbands.

Summer Reading

This is the book I was reading by the Tuolumne River for two days - The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. I heard about it on NPR, and also saw about it in the NY Times, and though I can't say why, exactly, I chose it, I did enjoy it. It's an unusual novel with an unusual website. It does feel like a first novel, with some awkward plot jerks near the end, but I came to like the young protagonist early on, so it wasn't hard to finish.

I did find one wrong item. He talks about one of my favorite childhood books From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, and he calls one of the characters Clara instead of Claudia.

Unwinding

The day after a trip means unpacking, laundry and catching up on the computer. Today I not only changed the header of this blog, but I also uploaded more photos from our journey. Check out Charlotte's Picasa Web Albums link on the left.

Home!

2,650 miles, 435 photos, and 11 days later, we have arrived home! We knew we wanted to leave nice and early so we could have breakfast in Mammoth Lakes, so when the pack of coyotes barking and howling woke me at 5:20, I used that as my alarm clock. Wow! Coyotes howling in the wilderness . . . what a beautiful sound!

It was lovely to see the sun come up over Yosemite as we drove along, and I captured a few photos from the car window.

Home by 2:00 where Claire was waiting for us!

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 11

One thing about the Porcupine Flats campground. I think it is warmer and a little quieter than Tuolumne. It's much smaller, too. Okay, that's more than one thing. Hal rustled up some instant oatmeal for breakfast while I scanned the hiking book and maps. I discovered that there was a nice, fairly level hike to Lukens Lake, about a 4.6 mile round trip starting at White Wolf. I thought we might be able to buy coffee at the restaurant there before heading out, and that's what we did. The hike itself was lovely, and we ended up spending about an hour just admiring the lake, taking photos, and eating leftover lunch from yesterday.

The afternoon plan was to walk to our special spot on the river, but by the time we had hiked back to White Wolf, the altitude had gotten to me, so we drove to another river spot and enjoyed the afternoon of listening to the water and reading some more. (After all this reading, there will undoubtedly be a book review coming up in this blog!)

With more time to spend, we decided on another trip to the Whoa Nellie! Deli for dinner where we actually sat inside (we usually sit outside overlooking Mono Lake) and watched the Cubs on t.v.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 10

Sometimes on vacation we get up early if we're headed somewhere special. This morning we left Sacramento early, beating some rush hour traffic, as we drove to Yosemite. We had no camping reservations, so we made a beeline to the Tuolumne campground and got there by 11. The sites were all taken, so they put us on a waiting list (#11) and told us to return at 2:00. Garnering provisions at the store, we headed to the river in the meadow and ate, took pictures, read books until the appointed hour. While watching the river, I noticed something long and squiggly swimming towards a rock, and out of the water popped a small snake! I had never before seen a snake in the high country, so I made sure to take a photo.

At 2:00 the line at the campground reservations was long, and the ranger came out and said that there were absolutely no spots available! Plan B: hightail it to Porcupine Flat campground, about 25 minutes west of Tuolumne. We needn't have worried, though. There were plenty of sites in this mostly undeveloped site. No water, pit toilets, but space.

Despite our exile, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the meadow, then went down the hill to the Tioga Gas Mart and had dinner at our very favorite Whoa Nellie! Deli.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 9

We started out our morning with a drive down the coast through more redwoods, stopping at Patrick's Point State Park for a 4.5 mile stroll along the ocean, up on the cliffs. The fog often obscured views of the ocean, but we got occasional clear views and some good photos.

Tonight we are in Sacramento where we check internet and take showers before we head to heaven - Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite!

Special Edition: On the Road, Week 2

Reaching the apex of our road trip, we headed south this morning, headed for Redwoods National Park in Northern California. Just after noon we arrived at the north end of the park and inquired about camping places. We opted for one of the two spots available at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park across the street and set up our little backpacking tent. The California Hiking book recommended a lovely hike called the Boy Scout Tree Trail which led to a little waterfall, and we took off across a dirt road through the redwoods to find the trailhead. Great hike - almost no mosquitoes, no need for sunscreen, and the scenery was delicious. 5.6 miles roundtrip with a few tricky areas to navigate.

We drove into Crescent City for dinner and dined overlooking the ocean at the Chart Room since I had been thinking about clam chowder.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 7

Today is our last day with Liesl in Eugene. We enjoyed the Saturday Market (a most amazing Farmer's and Artisan's market), Sweet Life (a patisserie), and several games of Settlers of Catan. This photo shows the great dinner prepared by Liesl and Chris's housemates, Joe and Kat. Liesl made the collard greens she bought at the Market this morning.

Claire took the bus up to Portland to spend a few days with Lucie before she flies home, and Hal and I take off for points south tomorrow. We're headed for Redwood National Park tomorrow where we plan to camp for a night.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 6

Happy 27th Anniversary to us! To celebrate we went to the Oregon coast and saw the ocean and the dunes. Breakfast at Morning Glory in Eugene, pie in Reedsport, pizza for dinner at the Pizza Research Institute in Eugene.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 5

Today's adventure included a hike up Spencer Butte just south of Eugene. We took up lunch and sat on the rocks at the top for a good while enjoying the view, although it was a foggy one.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 4

Before the morning winds picked up, the view of Diamond Peak over the lake was clear. After sleeping in and breakfast, we broke camp and hiked the 5 miles back to the car, through the rest of the mosquitoes. We had thought we might camp at the Trapper Creek Campground, but decided that showers sounded more enticing, so we returned to Eugene.

The highlight of the evening was learning a new game: Settlers of Catan.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 3

Day One of backpacking. We drove south of Eugene to the Deschutes National Forest and hiked five miles up to Diamond View Lake. We saw not one single person along the trail, nor anyone at the lake. However, we were greeted by billions of mosquitoes, so we made camp quickly and spent our after-dinner time playing hearts in the larger of the two tents.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 2

Here are Hal and Chris starting to pack our gear for backpacking tomorrow. We've planned our route, packed our bags, and tomorrow we need to pick up a few supplies. We'll be without internet, electricity, etc. for three days, so I'll check in later!

Special Edition: On the Road

Road trip began at 8 a.m. After a drive through the grapevine, we looked down on the Central Valley.

We stretched our legs in Old Town Sacramento.

Stopped in Redding, CA for the night and had yummy Mexican food at La Cabana. We drove all day, and we're still in California!

Stealth Tenants

Our new tenants pulled into Claremont around 11:30 last night, and by 8:30 this morning, they were done unpacking their UHaul and getting ready to return it. We didn't hear them at all - amazingly enough!