WHAT DO YOU GET AFTER TWO DAYS OF RAIN IN SANTA CRUZ? MONDAY.

Well, it was an action packed, adventure week last couple of weeks… house full of guests and lots of eating and drinking.

Two weeks ago Thursday Lance popped in on his way home with his new doggie Roo (Rou? Roux? Rū? Rough… as in through?) Anyway you spell it he’s a dandy dog and a boon companion for Lance. Just an overnighter so we ordered Chinese food and yacked the night away.

Saturday and Sunday our friends Jodi and Alex did a quick run away from their busy, urban lifestyle in San Francisco. Tama was out of town so it fell to me to give them the 10¢ tour which, oddly enough, kept circling the dual concepts of beer and food. After the proper (rain drenched…) auto wander past the high points and tourist sights we had to stop (they are blog followers…) at Shadowbrook for the finest in central coast dining.  Soft-shell crab, wood fired pizza, some salad and beers. We caught the little tram car back to the parking lot and, almost immediately decided that we could still go for a little Mexican food (Jodi is currently eating for two, as it were…) Since they had to be back to work on Monday we figured this would be the best time for them to try Casa Rosita, my other top pick for eating… I mean, there is always room for one of those seafood enchiladas smothered in her white, Mexican curry sauce, washed down with some beers. At this point we decided we didn’t have enough room or interest to haul down to the Saturn Café for their truly decadent multi-chocolate dessert so we just waddled to the car and headed back to the ranch for an early night.

Thursday next Tama and I zipped up to San Joe and snagged the first born, Trent, from the areopuerto.  We got back home just in time to heat up a giant pot of homemade pośole and set places for Michelle and Lovely and the elder statesman, Pépe who had motored down on a road trip.  We put Trent in the guest room and the others hung their cooler at the campground half a mile away at New Brighten Beach. The campers showed up with doughnuts next morning so, with a belly full of sinkers and joe, we went off in search of the perfect antique/junk store scores. We saw some cute stuff, some hideously massive price stickers and a couple of take-me-homes and afterwards, since we were just killing time until the series game started at 4:00 and the sugar fix from the pastries was wearing thin, we fed the munchies by going to Casa Rosita for… wait for it now… seafood enchiladas with white sauce.

There were, of course, multiple options for viewing the game, including a bar in Soquel which has chosen to flaunt authority by asking everyone to smoke in the bar, congregated under a large sign which declares, ‘Absolutely No Smoking by Order of The Sheriff’. In spite of Lovely’s penchant for tobacco, we feared that the chimney-like atmosphere might occlude the view of a critical double play or such and so we chose to avail ourselves of the big screen TV at… wait for it now… Shadowbrook, which opened just at game time. Lovely got to see the first pitch (through the door of the bar as we entered…) we got primo seats and went through several cocktails and a variety of appetizers while we watch the Giants edge that much closer to the brass ring.

The Quincy contingent left Sunday morning late and Trent stayed with us through Thursday last and, as they say in cheap screenplays, a good time was had by all…